Abstract:
A door handle reinforcement plate that is positioned on the inner surface of a vehicle door. The plate is mounted using the fasteners of the existing door handle. The door handle reinforcement plate adds strength and rigidity to the vehicle door to prevent the vehicle door from flexing or distorting in an undesirable fashion.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is based on, and claims priority from, Provisional Application No. 60/886,529, filed Jan. 25, 2007, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to a method and device that aids in vehicle restoration, and more particularly to a reinforcement plate for a door handle of a vehicle. 
         [0003]    Restoration of vintage and classic automobiles is a common hobby for many car enthusiasts. Restoration may involve purchasing a classic or vintage automobile, obtaining the necessary parts to restore the vehicle, performing the work necessary to assemble the parts, etc. In many cases, finding the parts necessary to adequately restore a vehicle in and of itself is a difficult task. 
         [0004]    Vehicle doors of classic or vintage automobiles often require restoration. The vehicle doors of older cars are often manufactured from a single sheet of metal of a relatively small thickness. The vehicle door includes a door handle which is received and secured through openings extending through the sheet metal. Over time, repetitive pushing and pulling on the door handle may weaken the metal surrounding the door handle. Disadvantageously, the metal surrounding the door handle may eventually dimple, buckle or bubble, which may detract from the overall appearance of the restored vehicle. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a reinforced vehicle door handle which is strengthened in the area of the vehicle door surrounding the door handle and is of a simple design that is easy to manufacture. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a vehicle door having an example door handle reinforcement plate; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic side view of the vehicle door illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  illustrates the example door handle reinforcement plate; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the example door handle reinforcement plate illustrated in  FIG. 3 ; and 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates a method for reinforcing a vehicle door. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a vehicle door  10  having a door handle  12 . The vehicle door  10  includes an outer surface  14  and an inner surface  16 . The outer surface  14  faces the exterior of a vehicle, while the inner surface  16  faces an interior compartment of a vehicle. 
         [0013]    A reinforcement plate  18  is positioned at the inner surface  16  of the vehicle door  10  directly adjacent to the door handle  12  (See  FIG. 2 ). A latching mechanism  20  of the door handle  12  is received through the reinforcement plate  18 . A plurality of fasteners  22  attach the reinforcement plate  18  to the door handle  12  and tightly secure the reinforcement plate  18  and the door handle  12  to the vehicle door  10 . The reinforcement plate  18  provides increased structural integrity of the door handle  12  relative to the vehicle door  10  and prevents the dimpling or buckling of the area of the vehicle door  10  which surrounds the door handle  12 . The example vehicle door  10 , the example door handle  12  and the example reinforcement plate  18  illustrated and described herein are not limited to any particular size and shape and may vary depending upon the model of vehicle these components accompany. 
         [0014]      FIG. 3  illustrates the example reinforcement plate  18 . In the example shown and discussed herein, only a left handed reinforcement plate  18  for the vehicle doors  10  of the left side of a vehicle is shown for clarity. Those skilled in the art will understand that a right handed reinforcement plate for the vehicle doors of the right side of the vehicle could be a mirror image of the left handed reinforcement plate  18  illustrated and described herein. 
         [0015]    The reinforcement plate  18  includes a body portion  24  and a pair of flange portions  26 . The body portion  24  extends between the flange portions  26 . The reinforcement plate  18  defines a length L and a width W. The body portion  24  is disposed along a substantial portion of the width W of the reinforcement plate  18  and extends along the entire length L of the reinforcement plate  18 . It should be understood that the actual length, width and thickness of the reinforcement plate will vary depending upon design specific parameters, including but not limited to, the model of vehicle and the type of door handle included with the vehicle door. 
         [0016]    The body portion  24  of the reinforcement plate  18  includes a latch opening  28  and at least one fastener opening  30 . In one example, the body portion  24  includes two fastener openings  30 . Although two fastener openings  30  are shown in  FIG. 3 , it should be understood that the actual number, size and shape of fastener openings  30  will depend upon the type of door handle  12  included with the vehicle door  10 . The latch opening  28  receives the latch mechanism  20  of the door handle  12  where mounted to the vehicle door  10 . In one example, the shape of the latch opening  28  directly corresponds to the shape of the latch mechanism  20 . A worker of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure would be able to design the latch opening  28  to receive any latch mechanism  20  of any door handle  12 . 
         [0017]    The flange portions  26  of the reinforcement plate  18  extend transversely from the body portion  24 . In one example, the flange portions  26  extend at an angle Y of 45 degrees relative to an axis A defined by the body portion  24  (see  FIG. 4 ). In another example, the flange portions  26  extend at an angle Y of 27.5 degrees relative to the axis A defined by the body portion  24 . In yet another example, the flange portions  26  are angled at angle Y relative to the body portion  24  such that the body portion  24  contours the natural body line of the vehicle door  10 . It should be understood that the actual angle Y of the flange portions  26  relative to the axis A of the body portion  24  will vary depending upon the design of the vehicle door and the door handle. The flange portions  26  provide strength and integrity to the reinforcement plate  18  when the reinforcement plate  18  is attached to the door handle  12 . 
         [0018]      FIG. 5 , with continuing reference to  FIGS. 1-4 , illustrates an example method  100  for reinforcing a door handle  12  of a vehicle door  10 . At step block  102 , an appropriate reinforcement plate  18  is selected based upon the model of vehicle and the type of door handle  12  included on the vehicle door  10  of the vehicle. For example, where the vehicle being restored is a 1970 Dodge Dart, an appropriate reinforcement plate  18  having a latch opening  28  and fastener openings  30  which correspond to the door handle  12  of the 1970 Dodge Dart is selected. 
         [0019]    Next, at step block  104 , the door handle  12  of the vehicle door  10  is at least partially inserted into openings of the vehicle door  10  to position the door handle  12  against the outer surface  14  of the vehicle door  10 . Where required, such as where an entire new vehicle door  10  is necessary, holes may be drilled through the vehicle door  10  to receive the door handle  12 . 
         [0020]    The reinforcement plate  18  is positioned at the inner surface  16  of the vehicle door  10  at step block  106 . In one example, the reinforcement plate  18  is positioned such that the flange portions  26  extend in a direction toward the inner compartment of the vehicle. The latch mechanism  20  of the door handle  12  is extended through the latch opening  28  of the reinforcement plate  18  and the reinforcement plate  18  is pushed directly against the inner surface  16  of the vehicle door  10  such that it is directly adjacent to the door handle  12 . At step block  108 , the fastener openings  30  of the reinforcement plate  18  are aligned with the existing fastener openings of the door handle  12 . 
         [0021]    Finally, at step block  110 , the fasteners  22  are inserted into the fastener openings  30  at the inner surface  16  in a direction towards the outer surface  14  of the vehicle door  10 . The fasteners  22  are torqued in a known manner to securely tighten the reinforcement plate  18  relative to the vehicle door  10  and to securely affix the door handle  12  to the outer surface  14  of the vehicle door  10 . The reinforcement plate  18  provides structural integrity to the door handle  12  and the vehicle door  10  as the door handle  12  is pushed and pulled to open and close the vehicle door  10 . That is, the reinforcement plate  18  distributes the forces that result from pushing and pulling on the door handle  12  over a greater area of the vehicle door  10  to increase the stiffness and strength of the mounting of the door handle  12 . 
         [0022]    The foregoing description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense. A worker of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claim should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.