Patent Publication Number: US-6698262-B2

Title: Access system for a vehicle

Description:
The invention pertains to an access system of the type indicated in the introductory clause of claim 1. The door handle is first moved by a motorized actuator between a first or retracted position, in which it cannot be gripped effectively, to a second or extended position, in which the human hand is able to grip the handle properly. In the retracted position, the door lock is closed, which is also true for the second, extended position. Starting from that position, however, the handle can be moved further by hand into a final position, in which the door lock can be opened by mechanical control means. 
     In the known access system of this type (DE 197 40 827 A1), the actuator consists of a drive element, which can be moved between three different pivot positions by actuation of a lock cylinder or by a motor; a drawbolt projects from one side of this actuate, a pushbolt from the other. The handle comprises a cover, which, in the first or retracted position of the handle, is flush with the exterior skin of the door to prevent the intrusion of dust and moisture into the handle recess. In this first, retracted, position, the drawbolt grips under the linkage of the door handle and prevents the door from being opened in an emergency, e.g., when the electronic circuitry fails. In the retracted position, furthermore, the cover, which is flush with the door, cannot be gripped effectively to make it possible for the door to be opened in an emergency. 
     In another known access system of this type (U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,274), the door handle is spring-loaded to move outward. In its retracted position, a locking bolt engages positively in openings in the handle and holds it in the retracted position. When a key is used to actuate the lock cylinder, the bolt releases the handle, as a result of which the spring can move the handle into its extended position. The return of the handle from the spring-loaded extended position to the retracted position must be accomplished manually. Because of this manual return, the handle cannot be operated remotely. 
     In an access system of a different type (DE 198 16 603 C1), it is known that the handle can be gripped by hand while it is in its first handle position and moved manually to a second handle position, where normally a blocking element prevents further movement to the third handle position. The blocking element is removed only after the identification means in the vehicle accepts the access authorization; as a result, the handle can then be moved into its third position. In this known access system, it is necessary for it to be possible for the human hand to grip the handle reliably in its first handle position. For this purpose, there must be sufficient room to bring the hand to the handle and/or to the adjacent exterior door panel. This design causes an undesirable increase in the amount of drag on the vehicle when it is in motion. In addition, the state of the art just described involves a keyless access system, in which the failure of the electronic circuitry cannot be tolerated. This latter aspect limits the range of applications of this known access system. Because the handle is spring-loaded and thus is always trying to return to the first handle position, it would be possible in the known access system for the hand to be caught if the person were to hold onto the handle too long. But if the handle is released before that, e.g., while it is in the outermost, third handle position, very unpleasant noise is produced as the handle moves back under the force of the spring into its first handle position. 
     The invention is therefore based on the task of developing an access system which is streamlined when in the retracted position, which can also be used in the case of door lock controlled by a lock motor, and which can be operated reliably even in an emergency, when the electronic circuitry fails. This is accomplished according to the invention by the measures to which the following special meaning attaches: 
     A cam is used as the actuator, on which the door handle or its linkage is supported; in the rest position, the linkage is supported nonpositively on the point of minimum eccentricity of the cam, and when in the working position it is supported on the point of maximum eccentricity. The profile of the cam forms an adjustable stop for the door handle or its linkage. For this reason, the invention can also be used in an access system in which the door lock is controlled by a lock motor. That is, starting from the second or extended position, the door handle or its linkage can be lifted away from the maximum eccentricity of the cam and moved into a fourth or pulled-out position, which is between the second or extended position and the third or final position. In the pulled-out position, the lock motor is rendered operative. 
     The invention can also be applied just as effectively in an emergency, when the electronic circuitry fails, as it can in an access system without a lock motor. In this case, the previously mentioned fourth or pulled-out position is simply omitted, and the door handle or its linkage can be lifted manually away from the point of minimum or maximum eccentricity and moved to the third or final position, in which the door lock is opened via mechanical control means. 
     In an access system which controls the door lock by way of a lock motor, there no danger that the hand will be caught when the handle is moved back from its fourth or pulled-out position to its second or extended position. That is, the further return of the handle to its first or retracted position occurs electrically, where the cam is turned back with respect to the handle or its linkage from its point of maximum eccentricity to its point of minimum eccentricity. Even though force may be exerted on it, the door handle returns to its retracted position with practically no noise at all. 
    
    
     Additional measures and advantages of the invention can be derived from the other subclaims, from the description, and from the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 shows a top view of assembly, including the handle, of the access system according to the invention in the starting position of the components; 
     FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal cross section through the assembly shown in FIG. 1 along line II in that figure; 
     FIG. 3 shows a cross section through the assembly of FIG. 1 along discontinuous line III in that figure, when the components are in their starting positions; and 
     FIGS. 4-6 show schematic diagrams similar to that of FIG. 3 of the same assembly when the components are in their three other possible positions. 
    
    
     Only the most essential parts of the assembly belonging to the access system according to the invention are shown, the most important component of which is a door handle  10 . In the exemplary embodiment, the door handle is able to pivot around an essentially horizontal axle  11  in the directions of the arrows  12 . 1 - 12 . 4  in FIGS. 3-6. What is present here, as will be explained in greater detail below, is a pull-flap handle. It is obvious that the handle  10  could also be designed in some other way; for example, it could be a handle which pivots around an essentially vertical axis. 
     The handle  10  is supported in a housing  20  by an axle  11 , which extends between two housing tabs  21 . The handle  10  is attached to the axle  11  by two arms  13 ,  14 , which can be connected to each other by a crossbar  15 . The handle  10 , the arms  13 ,  14 , and the crossbar  15  form a fixed handle linkage. A sidepiece spring  16  is supported by its two sidepieces between a stationary housing part  22  and the handle linkage. The spring  16  exerts a return force on the handle  10 ; this force thus acts in the direction of the force arrow  17  in FIG.  3 . 
     As can be seen in FIG. 2, the two handle arms  13 ,  14  pass through openings in the housing, which is attached by fastening means  23  to the door, and terminate in an opening in the interior surface  14  of the exterior door panel  25 , which opening is merely suggested in broken line. In FIG. 1, the exterior door panel  25  is omitted, so that it is possible to see through to the housing  20 . The handle  10  has plug elements  18 ,  19 , by means of which it is connected to corresponding receptacles in the two arms  13 ,  14 . The one plug element  18  comprises electrical contact means  28 , which are electrically connected to corresponding counter-contact means (not shown), and lead via electrical lines from the arm  13  to other electrical control means in the vehicle. These electrical control means fulfill certain functions associated with the actuation of the handle, which will be explained in more detail below. These electrical contact means originate from electrical components  26 ,  27 , which are integrated into the handle  10 . These components can consist of a capacitor  26  or an antenna, which serves to release the control means leading to the door lock during the access authorization process, and/or a membrane switch  27  in the terminal section of the handle  10 , which is intended to lock this control means. The other plug element  19  has a fastening means  29  to establish a mechanical connection between the handle  10  and the handle linkage  13 - 15 . The handle linkage is then able to pivot jointly with the handle  10  in the direction of the arrows  12 . 1 - 12 . 4 . It is also advisable to provide a mechanical attachment or latching element in the area of the previously mentioned first plug element  18  on the first arm  13 . 
     As already mentioned, FIGS. 1-3 show the rest position of the components. As can be seen in FIG. 3, this is characterized in that the handle  10  is completely retracted and conforms ideally to the external contour of the exterior door panel  25 . The housing has been left out in FIG. 3, and the arms  13 ,  14  have been cut away in the area where they are supported on the axle  11 . This is also true in the following FIGS. 4-6. The handle  10  is in its first handle position, illustrated by the auxiliary line  10 . 1  in FIG. 3; this position is called the “retracted” position below. This retracted position  10 . 1  is determined by a cam  30 , which is driven by a motor  31  shown in FIG.  1  and which, when the handle is in the retracted position  10 . 1 , is in its “rest position”, characterized in FIG. 3 by the auxiliary line  30 . 1 . In this rest position  30 . 1 , the cam  30  acts with its minimum eccentricity on the arm  13 , which coincides with the second arm  14 , visible in FIG.  3 . In its retracted position  10 . 1 , the handle  10  rests so closely on the exterior door panel  25  that, as can be seen at  32  in FIG. 2, there is no room for the human hand to grip the handle  10 . 
     The handle  10  can be provided on the rear with sealing means  33 ,  34 , which, in the retracted position  10 . 1 , provide a seal against dirt and water both in the area of the contact means  28  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and in the area of a lock cylinder  35 . Although, in the exemplary embodiment shown, authorization to access the door lock  40  is provided by electronic means, nevertheless, a mechanical key is also provided in the invention for safety reasons so that, in an emergency, e.g., after the electronic circuitry has failed, it is still possible to lock and unlock the door lock  40 , the vehicle-side identification means-of which is the lock cylinder  35 . In the retracted position  10 . 1  of the handle  10 , the sealing means  34  covers the key insertion opening  36  in the end surface of the lock cylinder  35 . As can be seen in FIG. 1, both the lock cylinder  35  and the housing attachment  23  are inaccessible when the handle is in the retracted position, which is also true for the handle attachment  29  behind the panel according to FIG. 2 described above. 
     Unauthorized persons are denied access to the vehicle by security means and even largely prevented from manipulating the handle. To gain access, the authorized person must use his/her access authorization to implement the measures which are accepted by the identification means in the vehicle. For this purpose, any of the known means can be used in the access system according to the invention. The access authorization means available outside the vehicle can consist of a mechanical key or of an electrical, remote-control key or—in the case of a so-called “keyless entry” system—can be based on a smart card available to the authorized person. In the latter case, the authorized person approaches the vehicle to a within a certain distance from a transponder, which functions as the identification means in the vehicle, and announces his/her intention of entering the vehicle by an additional measure such as by touching the previously mentioned capacitative switch  26  on the handle. The access authorization which has been determined in one or another of these ways causes the identification means to activate the electrical and/or mechanical control means for a door lock. 
     One of these control means is a switch (not shown), which switches the previously mentioned motor  31  on so that it moves the cam  30  to its “working position”, characterized by the auxiliary line  30 . 2  in FIG.  4 . In this working position  30 . 2 , the maximum eccentricity of the cam acts on the handle arm  13  against its restoring force  17 . As a result, the handle  10  arrives in the second handle position characterized by auxiliary line  10 . 2 , which is referred to in the following as the “extended position”. During this transition, the handle  10  is forcibly moved as indicated by the arrow  12 . 1  in FIG.  3 . 
     Another possibility of reaching the extended position  10 . 2  can consist in that, starting from the retracted position  10 . 1  according to FIGS. 1-3, a remote-control key is used to unlock the associated electrical control means in the vehicle. It is also advantageous to use certain operating situations of the vehicle as a basis for shifting the handle  10  from its retracted position  10 . 1  into its extended position  10 . 2 . An especially good example of such a situation is when the vehicle&#39;s engine is stopped. This is determined by sensors. The sensors electrically or mechanically cause the handle  10  to move into its extended position  10 . 2 . 
     In the extended position  10 . 2  shown in FIG. 4, the handle  10  can be easily gripped from above and/or from below by a human hand  37  as indicated in dotted line and manually moved in the direction of the pivot arrow  12 . 2  into a third handle position, shown there in dash-dot line, as indicated by the auxiliary line  10 . 3 . This position  10 . 3  is shown in FIG.  5  and is to be referred to in the following as the “pulled-out” position. During the pivoting movement  12 . 2 , of course, the handle linkage  13 - 15  connected to the handle pivots along with it. The cam  3 . 0 , however, remains in its working position  30 . 2 . The actuating element of a microswitch  38 , shown in FIG. 1, projects into the path of the pivoting movement  12 . 2  of the handle linkage. The actuating element can cooperate with, for example, a control surface  39  on the previously mentioned crossbar  15 . This microswitch  38  is a component of the electrical control means, which acts on the door lock  40 , indicated schematically in FIGS. 3-6. The control means can act on a lock motor provided in the door lock  40  and move the door lock  40  into the position which releases the door. Now the door can be opened. In the pulled-out position  10 . 3 , as can be seen in FIG. 5, the handle arm  13  of the handle linkage is lifted against the action of the handle restoring force  17  from the resting cam  30 , as can be concluded from the existence of the gap  48 . The previously mentioned path of the pivoting motion  12 . 2  can be relatively short, i.e., on the order of 5 millimeters. 
     After the door has been opened and the handle  10 , gripped in FIG. 5, has been let go, the handle moves automatically back again because of the handle restoring force  17  already mentioned several times and thus returns to the preceding extended position  10 . 2  according to FIG.  4 . The handle remains in this extended position  10 . 2  when the door is shut again and the mechanical lock system of the door lock  40  is mechanically or electrically returned to its locked position. In the second, i.e., extended, position  10 . 2 , the handle arm  14  is positively supported on the cam  30 , where the cam is in its position of maximum eccentricity. The door can thus be shut by pushing on the extended handle  10 . 2 . The starting situation with the handle  10  in the retracted position  10 . 1  according to FIGS. 1-3 can then be reached again in various ways, which depend not only on the type of selected access authorization but also on the operational state of the vehicle. 
     If the authorized person is in the vehicle and if he/she starts the engine, sensors ensure that, as soon as the vehicle reaches a certain speed, such as 5 km per hour, all handles  10  are automatically moved from the extended position  10 . 2  into their retracted position  10 . 1 . The lowering of the door handle  10  in the direction of the arrow  12 . 1 ′ of FIG. 3 is accomplished by the activation of a switch, which causes the cam motor  31  either to continue turning in the same direction or to turn in the opposite direction until the cam  30  has returned from its working position  30 . 2  of FIG. 4 to its rest position  30 . 1  of FIG.  3 . The handle restoring force  17  ensures that, when the cam  30  turns, the return movement of the handle linkage is damped. The handle  10  reaches its retracted position  10 . 1  with practically no noise. An automatic reversal of the control means serving to open the door lock, i.e., the automatic return of the control means to its inoperative position, can also be associated with this movement of the handle. 
     If, while the vehicle is stopped, it is desired to lower the handle from its extended position  10 . 2  in the direction of arrow  12 . 1 ′ from the outside, the actuating commands specified for the selected access system must be given. In the present case, the above-described membrane switch  27  in the handle  10  can be used for this purpose. When this is actuated, the previously described rotation of the cam  30  occurs, and the vehicle is secured by the deactivation of the control means acting on the door lock. Another possibility would be to actuate an electronic remote-control key, which acts on the cam motor  31  by way of the identification means in the vehicle communicating with it to move the cam  30  in the manner previously explained. Here, too, after the handle  10  reaches its retracted position  10 . 1 , the control means which actuates the lock  40  is rendered inoperative again; the vehicle is secured. 
     The access system according to the invention remains functional even if the previously described electronic circuitry fails. There is, namely, a fourth handle position of the handle, illustrated by the auxiliary line  10 . 4  in FIGS. 5 and 6, which is reached by the manual pivoting of the handle  10  in the direction of the pivot arrow  12 . 3  in FIG.  6 . In this fourth position  10 . 4 , the door lock  40  is mechanically unlocked and mechanically opened. Because this occurs only in an emergency in the present exemplary embodiment, this fourth handle position  10 . 4  is referred to as the “final position”. 
     The way in which this final position  10 . 4  works is illustrated in FIG.  6 . The end surface of the lock cylinder is now accessible. A mechanical key  51  can be inserted, and the door lock  40  can be opened by turning the key. In this final position  10 . 4 , of course, the door lock  40  can also be locked by the key  51 . A lever  42  supported on the axle  11  was not actuated in the previous positions  10 . 1 - 10 . 3  and was in the rest position, characterized by the auxiliary line  42 . 1 . In this rest position, an angular gap  30 , shown in FIG. 3, was present at all times between a control arm belonging to the lever  42  and the handle linkage. This does not change until the final position  10 . 4  is reached. 
     The lever  42  is supported on the axle  11  and is designed here with two arms  43 ,  44 . A sidepiece spring  46 , shown in FIG. 1, acts on the lever  42 . One end of the spring  46  grips under a fixed housing part  22 ′, whereas the other end of the spring exerts force on the lever  42  in the direction of the arrow  47  of FIG. 3, so that this normally rests against a rotational end stop  49  on the housing and produces the previously mentioned rest position  42 . 1  of the lever  42 . This rest position  42 . 1  is, as previously mentioned, present in the three previously described handle positions according to FIGS. 3 and 4. The reason for this is that the lever  42 , with its control arm  43 , which allows it to be pivoted, is normally separated from the handle arm  14  cooperating with it by the previously cited gap  50 . In the fourth handle position  10 . 3  of FIG. 5, i.e., the pulled-out position  10 . 3 , the most that can happen is the occurrence of contact between the handle arm  14  and the control arm  43  of the lever  32 . The lever  42 , however, has not been moved yet. 
     If the electronic circuitry in the vehicle fails, it is nevertheless still possible in the invention to open the door lock  40 . Starting from the retracted position  10 . 1 , the door handle  10  is moved in the direction of the arrow  12 . 3  to the final position  10 . 4 . Over the last part of this distance, the handle arm  14  strikes the control arm  43  and carries the lever  42  into the switch position characterized by an auxiliary line  42 . 2 . A rod  45 , which is connected to the arm  41  on the door lock  40 , is seated on the other arm  44  of the lever  42 . This lock arm  41  is normally located, in analogy to the lever  42 , in a rest position characterized by an auxiliary line  41 . 1 , in which the door lock is mechanically unaffected and can be moved into its open position by a lock motor upon the preceding electrical activation, as previously described. After the actuating arm  44  of the lever has pivoted into the switch position  42 . 2 , the lock arm  41 , however, is moved to its open position, illustrated by the auxiliary line  41 . 2  in FIG. 6, which opens the door lock  40  by mechanical means. 
     During this pivoting movement of the lever  42 , the previously described cam motor  31  remains at rest. In FIG. 6, in the third or final position  10 . 4 , the cam  30  remains unchanged in its rest position  30 . 1 , as shown in FIG.  3 . The cam  30  is acting here with its minimum eccentricity  30 . 1 . During the pivoting  12 . 3  of FIG. 6, an especially large open gap  48 ′ is therefore created between the handle arm  14  and the cam  30 , which has no influence on the switch position  42 . 2  of the lever  42 . The pivoting movement of the lever  42  occurs against the action of the spring-loading  47 , which, for the following reasons, should be considerably stronger than the handle restoring force  17 . 
     The difference in force between  47  and  17  is obtained through the use of springs  46 ,  16  with different spring constants. This obviously has an effect-on the manual pivoting movements  10 . 2  and  10 . 3  of the door handle  10 . Normally, when the electronic system is functioning, only the handle actuation illustrated by the motion arrow  1 . 2  in FIG. 4 takes place, which must occur merely in opposition to the handle restoring force  17 , in order to move the door handle  10  into the pulled-out position  10 . 3  shown in FIG.  5 . As already emphasized, up until this point the lever force  47  has not yet become operative. This does not occur until, as already mentioned, the manual pivoting movement occurs in the direction of the arrow  12 . 3  of FIG.  6 . The much stronger lever load  47  then becoming operative now acts as a “torque barrier” during the normal actuation of the handle. The human hand  37  detects a “stop signal” after reaching the pulled-out position  10 . 3  as a result of the spring resistance which theft occurs. The person actuating the handle  10  is thus informed that he has properly covered the manual actuating distance  12 . 2 . If needed, this torque barrier could be reinforced by latching elements between the handle linkage and the housing  20 . The greater expenditure of force  47 ′ during the manual pivoting  12 . 3  of the door handle  10  does not have a negative effect on the ease with which the handle  10  can be operated, because, as mentioned, the final position  10 . 4  is aimed for only in exceptional circumstances, namely, only in an “emergency”. 
     The latter, however, will be modified when the previously described access system is not intended to act on the door lock  40  by means of electrical or electronic control means but rather exclusively by mechanical control means. The assembly of the access system according to the invention shown in the exemplary embodiment can be used in this case, too. The design and function of most of the components can remain unchanged, which means that a wide field of application becomes open to the access system according to the invention for electrical, for mechanical, and for the previously described combined electromechanical control means. A completely manual pivoting into the third handle position  10 . 4  of FIG. 6 is now required, whereas the previously described fourth handle position  10 . 3  can be omitted. Otherwise, the effects already described remain the same. Because the omission of the third handle position  10 . 2  eliminates the need for a clearly detectable torque threshold, it will be possible to reduce the elastic force  47  acting on the lever  42  in comparison with that used in the preceding exemplary embodiment. That is, this force is acting even in the normal case when the handle is being moved between the position of FIG.  4  and that of FIG.  6 . This mechanical solution thus also has three different handle positions, namely,  10 . 1 ,  10 . 2 , and  10 . 4 . 
     It is of independent inventive significance to give the door handle  10  the new function of being a covering means for the end surface of a lock cylinder, which is installed in the vehicle as identification means. That has already been explained in detail at the beginning of the special description. 
     List of Reference Numbers 
       10  door handle 
       10 . 1  first handle position, retracted position 
       10 . 2  second handle position, extended position 
       10 . 3  fourth handle position, pulled-out position 
       10 . 4  third handle position, final position  11  axle of  10   
       12 . 1  arrow of forcible pivoting-open movement between  10 . 1  and  10 . 2   
       12 . 1 ′ arrow of the forcible pivoting-closed movement between  10 . 2  and  10 . 1   
       12 . 2  arrow of the manual pivoting movement between  10 . 1  and  10 . 3   
       12 . 3  arrow of the full manual pivoting movement of  10  between  10 . 1  and  10 . 4  (FIG. 6) 
       13  first handle arm of  10 , handle linkage 
       14  second handle arm of  10 , handle linkage 
       15  crossbar between  13  and  14 , handle linkage 
       16  sidepiece spring for  10   
       17  handle restoring force of  10   
       18  plug element on  10  for  13   
       19  plug element on  10  for  14   
       20  housing 
       21  bearing tab on  20  for  11   
       22  fixed housing parts for  16   
       22 ′ fixed housing parts for  46   
       23  fastening means for  20   
       24  inside surface of  25  (FIG. 2) 
       25  exterior door panel (FIG. 2) 
       26  electric component, capacitative switch 
       27  electric component, membrane switch 
       28  electrical contact means at  18  (FIG. 2) 
       29  handle fastening means at  19  (FIG. 2) 
       30  cam 
       30 . 1  rest position of  30   
       30 . 2  working position of  30   
       31  motor, electrical control means 
       32  residual gap between  10  and  20  (FIG. 2) 
       33  sealing means at  18  (FIG. 2) 
       34  sealing means at  35  (FIG. 2) 
       35  lock cylinder (FIGS. 1,  2 ) 
       36  key insertion opening (FIGS. 1,  2 ) 
       37  human hand 
       38  microswitch (FIG. 1) 
       39  control surface on  15  for  38   
       40  door lock 
       41  lock arm 
       41 . 1  rest position of  41   
       41 . 2  open position of  41   
       42  lever 
       42 . 1  rest position of  42   
       42 . 2  switch position of  42  (FIG. 6) 
       43  control arm of  42   
       44  actuating arm of  42   
       45  rod between  44  and  41   
       46  sidepiece spring  42   
       47  lever force, spring-loading of  42  by  46   
       48  gap between  30  and  14  (FIG. 5) 
       48 ′ large gap between  30  and  14  (FIG. 6) 
       48  open gap between  30  and  14  (FIG. 5) 
       49  rotational stop for  42  on  20   
       50  angular gap between  43  and  14  (FIG. 3) 
       51  mechanical key (FIG. 6)