Abstract:
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a handle unit including: a main body including: a pair of bearings; and a pair of holding walls separated from the pair of the bearings; a handle including: a pair of support walls; and a pair of rotational shafts projecting outward from the pair of support walls to be engaged with the pair of the bearings, wherein the handle is rotatable between a stored position and a operating position, wherein the support walls are formed to not face the holding walls when the handle is in the stored position, and formed to face the holding walls and contact the holding walls by being deflected when the handle is in the operating position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-179087 filed on Jul. 6, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     An aspect of the present invention relates to a handle unit which is attached to a trunk board which closes an accommodation space within a luggage compartment of an automotive vehicle for use in opening and closing the trunk board. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a storage space for storing a spare tire and/or a tool set is provided under a floor of a luggage compartment of an automotive vehicle. As shown in  FIG. 8 , an upper opening of this storage space is closed by a floor board called a trunk board  1 . A handle unit is attached to the trunk board  1  for lifting up the trunk board  1  by gripping a handle  30  of the handle unit to open the upper opening of the storage space. 
     Conventionally, there are many handle units in which a main body and a handle are connected to each other with a single metallic pin. The handle which is rotatably attached to the main body with the metallic pin does not come off the main body even when the handle is subjected to a large pulling force and has the strength that can withstand a long-term usage. Since the independent part such as the metallic pin is necessary, however, the number of parts involved is increased, and the assembling work and part management become complex and troublesome, leading to a problem that the product costs are increased. 
     To cope with this, there have conventionally been proposed handle units in which, instead of using the metallic pin, rotational shafts are formed integrally on a handle, one of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,332. In a latch unit described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,332, as is shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C and 7A to 7B of the same document, a pair of rotational shafts (projections) projects from external sides of a handle, and the handle can easily be assembled to a housing by inserting the rotational shaft into bearings (openings) formed in the housing. 
     In the configuration disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,332 above, however, when the handle is gripped to lift up a trunk board, the force with which the handle is pulled up is applied on the rotational shafts. In general, a trunk board is heavy, and when the trunk board is attempted to be lifted up, a strong pulling force is applied on the rotational shafts, and arm portions of the handle which are linked with the rotational shafts are deflected by the pulling force. As a result of this, the rotational shafts are shifted in a direction in which they come off the bearings, leading to a fear that the rotational shafts are dislocated from the bearings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a handle unit which can realize a reduction in the number of parts by integrally forming rotational shafts on a handle and which can be free from a fear that the rotational shafts are dislocated from bearings even though a large pulling force is applied on the handle. 
     According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a handle unit including: a main body including: an inner wall; a pair of bearings that are formed on the inner wall at both sides; and a pair of holding walls that are formed so as to be separated from the pair of the bearings, respectively; a handle including: a pair of support walls; and a pair of rotational shafts that project outward from the pair of support walls, respectively, and are engaged with the pair of the bearings, respectively, wherein the handle is mounted on the main body to be rotatable in a range from a stored position to a operating position, wherein each of the pair of holding walls and a corresponding one of the pair of support walls are formed so as to not face each other when the handle is in the stored position, and so as to face each other when the handle is in the operating position, and wherein, when the handle is in the operating position, each of the pair of the support walls contact the corresponding one of the pair of the holding walls by being deflected. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention, a length between each holding wall and the corresponding side of the inner wall may be set smaller than a length from each supporting wall at a side facing the corresponding holding wall to a distal end of the corresponding rotational shaft. 
     According to a third aspect of the present invention, a length between each support wall and the corresponding holding wall may be set smaller than an inserted amount of each rotational shaft into the corresponding bearing. 
     According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a length between each support wall and the corresponding holding wall may be set larger than a length from a proximal end of each rotational shaft to the corresponding bearing. 
     According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the main body and the handle may be mold-formed of a resin. On the support wall, a first bearing surface having a flat shape may be formed to surround a proximal end of the rotational shaft. On the inner wall, a second bearing surface having a flat shape may be formed to surround a periphery of the bearing. 
     According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the main body may include a spring support piece that is monolithically formed with the main body to intersect with a line connecting the pair of bearings. 
     According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the rotational shafts are formed integrally on the support walls of the handle, the number of parts is reduced, and the assembling work and part management can be simplified, whereby the product costs can be reduced. Moreover, even though a strong pulling force is applied on the rotational shafts to generate deflection in the support walls and the support walls are displaced in the axial direction, since the holding walls are brought into contact with the support walls from inside to regulate the deformation of the support walls, there is caused no fear that the rotational shafts are dislocated from the bearings. 
     In addition, since the positions where the support walls and the holding walls are formed are adjusted such that the support walls do not face the holding walls when the handle is in the stored position, the handle is pushed into the main body so that the handle is received in the stored position, and during this process, the rotational shafts can be inserted into the bearings while the support walls are deflected, thereby the assembling work of the handle to the main body being facilitated. 
     In particular, through the configurations according to the second and third aspects of the present invention, even though the strong pulling force is applied on the rotational shafts, generating deflection in the support walls, since the holding walls are brought into contact with the support walls from inside so as to regulate the deformation of the support walls before the rotational shafts are dislocated from the bearings, the dislocation of the rotational shafts from the bearings can be surely prevented. 
     According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the length between the proximal end of the rotational shaft and the opening of the bearing regulates the play of the rotational shaft in the axial direction. By making this length smaller than the length between the facing sides of the holding wall and the support wall, even though the rotational shaft shifts in the axial direction, since the shift is restricted before the support wall reaches the holding wall, a fear can be eliminated that wear due to the contact of both the walls and uncomfortable striking noise in association with the collision of both the walls are generated, and a good operability can be obtained. 
     Further, when the respective constituent parts of the handle unit are molded from a resin, in general, the machining accuracy of portions corresponding to corner portions such as the periphery of the proximal end of the rotational shaft and the periphery of the opening of the bearing is decreased. To cope with this, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the flat bearing surfaces are formed to project from the periphery of the proximal end of the rotational shaft and the periphery of the opening of the bearing, so as to regulate the play of the rotational shaft in the axial direction between the bearing surfaces, thereby making it possible to adjust the play with high accuracy. 
     According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a torsion coil spring is mounted on the spring support piece, so that the handle can be configured to return from the operating position to the stored position by the urging force of the torsion coil spring. Since the spring support piece is formed integrally with the main body, there is caused no situation in which the number of constituent parts is increased. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  are perspective views showing an overall configuration of a handle unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, of which  FIG. 1A  is a view showing a state in which a handle is in a stored position, and  FIG. 1B  is a view showing a state in which the handle is in an operating position; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing the overall configuration of the handle unit according to the embodiment; 
         FIGS. 3A to 3C  are development views showing the handle of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 1A  is a top view,  FIG. 1B  is a rear view, and  FIG. 1C  is a side view of the handle; 
         FIGS. 4A to 4C  are development views showing a main body of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 4A  is a top view,  FIG. 4B  is a side view, and  FIG. 4C  is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in  FIG. 4A ; 
         FIGS. 5A to 5C  are sectioned side views showing rotating positions of the handle of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 5A  is a view showing the handle being in the stored position,  FIG. 5B  is a view showing the handle being exposed from the stored position, and  FIG. 5C  is a view showing the handle in the operating position; 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are drawings showing a relationship between a rotational shaft and a bearing of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 6A  is an enlarged perspective view, and  FIG. 6B  is an enlarged sectional view; 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  are enlarged sectional views showing a relationship between the rotational shaft and the bearing when the handle of the handle unit according to the embodiment is in the operating position, of which  FIG. 7A  shows a state in which an external force is not applied on the handle in a direction in which the handle is pulled upwards, and  FIG. 7B  shows a state in which the external force is applied on the handle in the direction in which the handle is pulled upwards; and 
         FIG. 8  is a drawing showing the handle unit attached to a trunk board of an automotive vehicle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail by reference to the drawings. 
       FIGS. 1   a  to  7   b  are drawings showing a handle unit according to the embodiment.  FIGS. 1A and 1B  are perspective views showing an overall configuration of the handle unit according to the embodiment, and  FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing the overall configuration of the same handle unit. 
     As is shown in  FIGS. 1A to 2 , the handle unit of the embodiment includes a main body  10  which is attached to a portion of a trunk board  1  to which the main body  10  is designed to be attached and a handle  30  which is attached to the main body  10  and is adapted to rotate freely within a preset range from a stored position to an operating position.  FIG. 1A  shows a state in which the handle  30  is in the stored position, while  FIG. 1B  shows a state in which the handle  30  is in the operating position. As will be described later, the handle  30  is normally disposed in the stored position by the urging force of a torsion coil spring. 
     In addition, the main body  10  and the handle  30  are resin molded products made from a synthetic resin, such as plastic. 
     As is shown, for example, in  FIG. 8 , the handle unit is attached to a position which lies in the vicinity of the center of one side edge of the trunk board  1  which closes a storage space under a floor  2  of a luggage compartment of an automotive vehicle. This trunk board  1  normally closes an opening of the storage space, and the opening of the storage space can be opened by the handle  30  of the handle unit being gripped and pulled up so as to lift up the trunk board  1  from the closed state. 
       FIGS. 3A to 3C  are development views showing the handle of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 3A  is a top view,  FIG. 3B  is a rear view and  FIG. 3C  is a side view of the handle. 
     As is shown in  FIGS. 2 to 3C , the handle  30  of the handle unit has a proximal end portion  31  which is pivotally supported on the main body  10  and an operating portion  32  which continues from the proximal end portion  31  and which is opened in the center thereof. On the proximal end portion  31  of the handle  30 , a pair of support walls  34  that extend downwardly from respective side edges of the proximal end portion  31  and a pair of rotational shafts  33  that project outwardly from respective exterior side of the support walls  34  are formed integrally. 
       FIGS. 4A to 4C  are development views showing the main body of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 4A  is a top view,  FIG. 4B  is a side view and  FIG. 4C  is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in  FIG. 5A . 
     As is shown in  FIGS. 2 to 4C , a storage recess  12  is formed on the main body  10  of the handle unit in such a manner as to be recessed from a surface  11  thereof. In this storage recess  12 , a front portion thereof is formed as a first recessed portion  13  which has a given depth for storing the proximal end portion  31  of the handle, and a rear portion thereof is formed as a second recessed portion  14  for storing the operating portion  32  of the handle  30  which is made shallower in depth than the first recessed portion  13 . These first recessed portion  13  and second recessed portion  14  are formed continuously, and a stepped portion  15  is formed in a boundary portion therebetween. In addition, a bulge portion  16  is formed in the rear portion of the storage recess  12  in such a manner that a substantially central portion protrudes from the second recessed portion  14  to the same height as that of the surface  11  of the main body. 
     A pair of bearings  18  made up of through holes are opened in inner surfaces of both side walls  17  of the storage recess  12  which face each other at both ends of the first recessed portion  13 . The rotational shafts  33 , which will be described later, of the handle  30  are inserted into these bearings  18 . In the embodiment, the bearings  18  are formed as through holes. However, the bearings  18  may be formed into concave or recessed grooves. 
     In addition, in this storage recess  12 , a pair of holding walls  19  and a pair of rotation stoppers  20  are formed integrally in the first recessed portion  13 , and furthermore, a spring support piece  21  is formed integrally on the stepped portion  15  between the first and second recessed portions  13 ,  14 . The pair of holding walls  19  are formed, respectively, in positions which are spaced a given distance apart from the corresponding bearings  18  in such a manner as to be in parallel, respectively, with the side walls  17 . On the other hand, the rotation stoppers  20  are each formed into a shape which protrudes from the first recessed portion  13  while being inclined at an arbitrary angle, so that a further rotation of the handle  30  is restricted through a contact between a proximal end of the handle  30  and the rotation stoppers  20 . The rotation stoppers  20  define the operating position of the handle  30  to be pulled by a user. 
     As is shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4B , in the spring support piece  21  which extends from the stepped portion  15 , a base portion  21   a  extends from the stepped portion  15  of the main body  10 , and furthermore, a cylindrical spring support portion  21   b  horizontally extends from a distal end of the support portion  21   a,  a distal end of the spring support portion  21   b  being made a free end. The spring support portion  21   b  is positioned on a straight line which passes through the pair of bearings  18 , and a torsion coil spring  40  is mounted on the spring support portion  21   b.  The handle  30  is normally urged in a rotating direction directed from the operating position towards the stored position by the urging force of the torsion coil spring  40 . In this embodiment, since the spring support piece  21  is formed integrally with the main body  10 , the number of constituent parts is not increased. 
       FIGS. 5A to 5C  show sectioned side views showing rotating positions of the handle of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 5A  shows the handle being in the stored position,  FIG. 5B  shows the handle being exposed or tilted up from the stored position, and  FIG. 5C  shows the handle being in the operating position. 
     As is shown in  FIG. 5A , the support walls  34  and the holding walls  19  are set so as to not face each other, when the handle  30  is in the stored position. When assembling the handle  30  on the main body  10 , firstly, the torsion coil spring  40  is mounted on the spring support piece  21  of the main body  10 , and following this, the pair of rotational shafts  33  of the handle  30  are inserted into the corresponding bearings  18  from inside of the main body  10 , whereby the handle  30  is assembled on to the main body  10  (refer to  FIG. 2 ). As this occurs, since the support walls  34  of the handle  30  are brought into contact with the side walls  17  of the main body  10  to thereby generate deflection therein, by assembling the handle  30  onto the main body  10  while keeping the posture thereof so as to be in the stored position, the support walls  34  are prevented from interfering with the holding walls  19 , and the rotational shafts  33  can be brought into engagement with the bearings  18 . 
     In the handle  30  assembled on to the main body  10 , the rotational shafts  33  are pivotally supported in the bearings  18  so that the handle  30  can rotate freely on the rotational shafts  33 . 
     By lightly pushing the proximal end portion  31  of the handle  30 , the handle  30  is rotated from the stored position, whereby the handle  30  can come out of the storage recess  12  (refer to  FIG. 5B ). After the handle  30  came out of the storage recess  12 , the handle  30  is rotated to the operating position by being gripped at the operating position  32  thereof. The support walls  34  and the holding walls  19  are made to face each other when the handle  30  is in the operating position (refer to  FIG. 5C ). 
       FIGS. 6A and 6B  are drawings which depict a relationship between the rotational shaft and the bearing of the handle unit according to the embodiment, of which  FIG. 6A  is an enlarged perspective view, and  FIG. 6B  is an enlarged sectional view. 
     As is shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B , a flat bearing surface  33   a  is formed on the periphery of a proximal end of the rotational shaft  33  in such a manner as to protrude from an exterior side of the support wall  34 . In addition, a flat bearing surface  18   a  is also formed on the periphery of the opening of the bearing  18  in such a manner as to protrude from an interior side of the main body. These bearing surfaces  18   a,    33   a  are disposed to face each other when the handle  30  is assembled on to the main body  10 . A play of the rotational shaft  33  in an axial direction thereof is regulated by a length L 5  defined between these bearing surfaces  33   a,    18   a.    
     With the main body  10  and the handle  30  which are the molded resin products, the machining accuracy of portions corresponding to corner portions such as the periphery of the proximal end of the rotational shaft  33  and the periphery of the opening of the bearing  18  is reduced in general. Because of this, the handle  30  may be loosely assembled on to the main body  10  due to a gap being defined between the support walls  34  and the side walls  17  of the main body  10 . In the embodiment, however, the flat bearing surfaces  18   a,    33   a  are formed on the periphery of the proximal end of the rotational shaft  33  and the periphery of the opening of the bearing  18  in such a manner as to protrude therefrom so as to regulate the play of the rotational shaft  33  in the axial direction between the bearing surfaces  18   a,    33   a,  whereby the play can be adjusted with high accuracy. 
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are enlarged sectional views depicting a relationship between the rotational shaft and the bearing when the handle of the handle unit according to the embodiment is in the operating position, of which  FIG. 7A  shows a state in which no external force is applied on the handle in a direction in which the handle is lifted upwards, and  FIG. 7B  shows a state in which an external force is applied on the handle in the direction in which the handle is lifted upwards. 
     As is shown in  FIG. 7A , with the handle unit according to the embodiment, when the handle  30  is in the operating position, a length L 1  defined between a side of the holding wall  19  which faces the support wall  34  and an inner side of the side wall  17  is set to be smaller than a length L 2  from a side of the support wall  34  which faces the holding wall  19  to a distal end of the rotational shaft  33 . In addition, looking at this from a different point of view, a length L 3  defined between the facing sides of the holding wall  19  and the support wall  34  is set to be smaller than a length L 4  over which the rotational shaft  33  is inserted into the interior of the bearing  18 . 
     Then, when the handle  30  is gripped to lift up the trunk board  1 , a strong external force is applied on a contacting point between the rotational shaft  33  and the bearing  18  in a direction in which the handle  30  is pulled upwards. The support wall  34  is deflected in a way as shown in  FIG. 7B  due to the external force being so applied, causing the rotational shaft  33  to attempt to come out of the bearing  18 . However, since the lengths are set to satisfy L 1 &lt;L 2  and L 3 &lt;L 4  as has been described above, the support wall  34  is brought into contact with the holding plate  19  before the rotational shaft  33  comes out of the bearing  18 , whereby a further deflection of the support wall  34  is restricted. Because of this, the rotational shaft  33  is prevented from being dislocated from the bearing  18 . 
     In addition, as is shown in  FIG. 7A , a length L 5  defined between the respective bearing surfaces  18   a,    33   a  which are formed on the peripheries of the rotational shaft  33  and the bearing  18  is set to be smaller than the length L 3  defined between the facing sides of the holding wall  19  and the support wall  34 . Consequently, even though the handle  30  shifts in the axial direction within the range of the length L 5 , the support wall  34  is never brought into contact with the holding wall  19 , whereby the generation of wear due to contact of the side wall  34  and the holding wall  19  and striking noise due to collision of the walls can be prevented, thereby making it possible to obtain a good operability. 
     Note that the invention is not limited to the embodiment that has been described heretofore, and hence, the invention can, of course, be modified and/or altered variously without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. For example, the invention can be applied to the handle unit with the latch which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,332. 
     As has been described heretofore, according to an aspect of the present invention, since the rotational shafts are formed integrally on the support walls of the handle, the number of constituent parts is reduced, and the assembling work and part management can be simplified, whereby the product costs can be reduced. Moreover, even though a strong pulling force is applied on the rotational shafts to generate deflection in the support walls, since the holding walls are brought into contact with the support walls from inside to regulate the deformation of the support walls, the rotational shafts are surely prevented from being dislocated from the bearings.