Abstract:
A vehicle door handle wherein a lever, operated manually by a user, has a core having a seat and an aerial housed inside the seat and for identifying the user; the seat being insulated from the outside by at least one continuous layer of thermoplastic material at least partly surrounding the core and separated from the aerial by at least one spacer body.

Description:
The present invention relates to a vehicle door handle. 
     More specifically, the present invention relates to a handle of the type comprising a connecting structure fitted to the vehicle door; a lever hinged to the connecting structure and operated, in use, by a user to open a lock on the door; and a detecting aerial housed inside the lever to identify the user. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In most applications, the lever is formed, normally molded, in one piece, and has a seat for the aerial, which is inserted inside the seat through an insertion opening formed in the lever and closed by a respective cover with the interposition of seals and/or the formation of sealing labyrinths. The aerial has its own electric wiring, which extends through a passage formed in the lever and projects outwards through a further opening normally different from the aerial insertion opening. 
     Known handles of the above type have several drawbacks, all due to the design characteristics of the lever, in which, above all, the aerial is never completely sealed off from the outside and therefore normally operates in a damp environment, which rapidly impairs reliability and efficiency. Besides involving a good deal of time and cost to produce or assemble, the openings, cover, labyrinths and seals do not permit levers to be formed with seamless outer surfaces, i.e. with no breaks such as lines, gaps or recesses, which, as is known, are very often undesired, especially for purely aesthetic reasons. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle door handle designed to solve the above problems in a straightforward, low-cost manner. 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a handle for a vehicle door, the handle comprising a movable member operated manually by a user to control, in use, a lock on said door, and said movable member comprising a strengthening body, a seat formed in said strengthening body and having a respective access opening, detecting means for identifying the user and housed inside said seat through said access opening, and closing means for closing said access opening; characterized in that said closing means comprise at least one continuous layer of material at least partly surrounding said strengthening body and sealing said seat in fluidtight manner. 
     In the handle as defined above, said closing means preferably also comprise at least one spacer body interposed between said detecting means and said layer of material to separate the detecting means from said layer of material. The spacer body is conveniently made of insulating material. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A non-limiting embodiment of the invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a section of a preferred embodiment of the handle according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 show views similar to FIG. 1, of two different variations of a FIG. 1 detail. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Number  1  in the accompanying drawings indicates a handle for controlling a lock on a vehicle door (not shown). Handle  1  comprises a connecting body  2  connected to the vehicle door (not shown); and a lock operating lever  3 . Lever  3 , in turn, comprises a strengthening body  4  conveniently made of plastic material and, in turn, comprising an intermediate grip portion  5  projecting, in use, outwards of the door and gripped by the user&#39;s hand, and two lateral portions  6  and  7  extending crosswise to portion  5  and inside connecting body  2 ; portion  7  being hinged to connecting body  2  to rotate about a hinge axis; and portion  6  being connected to a known lock control transmission  9  not described in detail. 
     Intermediate grip portion  5  is covered with a continuous layer  11  of known thermoplastic material preferably deposited directly or co-molded onto portion  5 , and partly defines a seat  12  having a respective access opening  13  and housing a known detecting aerial  14 , not described in detail, for identifying the user or owner of the vehicle. Aerial  14  is connected by wiring  16  to a known processing and control unit not described in detail  16 . 
     In the FIG. 1 embodiment, wiring  16  comprises a cable  17  embedded in portion  7 , and a known connector  18  housed inside seat  12 ; and opening  13  is closed in fluidtight manner by an intermediate portion  19  of cover layer  11 . 
     Handle  1  is produced by first forming—preferably molding—body  4 , in which cable  17  is embedded during the forming process, with respective connector  18  housed inside seat  12 . Aerial  14  is then inserted inside seat  12  and connected to connector  18 ; and layer  11  of covering material is then formed—conveniently molded—so that portion  19  permanently closes opening  13  to seal aerial  14  inside a fully and permanently sealed chamber. 
     In the FIG. 2 variation, a spacer body  21 , conveniently made of thermally or other insulating material, is interposed between aerial  14  and intermediate portion  19   a  of layer  11  closing opening  13 , and is inserted inside opening  13  to partly define seat  12  and separate aerial  14  from portion  19   a  of layer  11 . 
     In the FIG. 2 variation, seat  12  communicates with a channel  22 , which extends along portion  7 , is defined partly by body  21 , and is engaged by cable  17 . An intermediate portion of channel  22  close to seat  12  is sealed in fluidtight manner by a portion  23  of layer  11 , which fully occupies the gap left in channel  22  by cable  17 . 
     In the FIG. 3 variation, portion  5  of body  4  defines a through conduit  25 , which extends substantially the whole length of portion  5  and comprises two portions  26  and  27 ; portion  26  having a larger diameter than portion  27  and defining seat  12 ; and portion  27  being engaged by cable  17 . As shown in FIG. 3, portion  26  houses a plugging body  29 , which is conveniently made of thermally or other insulating material, partly defines seat  12 , and in turn houses an end portion of aerial  14  to maintain aerial  14  in a fixed position inside the lever. Plugging body  29  is also covered externally by a respective portion  30  of cover layer  11  to seal the end of conduit  25 . Cover layer  11  also comprises a further portion  31 , in which an intermediate portion of cable  16  is embedded, and which closes the opposite end of conduit  25  in fluidtight manner. 
     At the production stage, once body  4  is formed, aerial  14  is inserted inside portion  26 , and cable  17  is threaded along portion  27  and out through the opposite end of conduit  25  to that in which aerial  14  is inserted. At this point, plugging body  29  is inserted inside portion  26  to secure aerial  14  inside portion  26 , and portion  5  of body  4  is then covered with layer  11  to perfectly seal the whole of conduit  25 . 
     Layer  11  of handle  1  described therefore provides for housing aerial  14  inside a respective sealed chamber, thus enabling aerial  14  to operate at all times in the best possible, i.e. dampfree, conditions, as well as for enabling the formation of a lever with a seamless outer surface, i.e. with no breaks such as lines and/or grooves, and hence a handle of a highly attractive appearance. 
     As will be clear from the foregoing description, bodies  21  and  29  provide for separating aerial  14  from cover layer  11 , and, in particular, define a heat barrier for protecting aerial  14  from heat during the formation of layer  11 . Bodies  21  and  29  therefore enable any type of aerial to be used, including those particularly sensitive to variations in temperature. 
     Clearly, changes may be made to handle  1  as described herein without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, the cover layer may extend along only part of portion  5  and, at any rate, only along the part necessary to close the openings connecting the seat to the outside and to make the seat airtight. Moreover, a number of cover layers may be formed, and provision made for a number of spacer bodies other than that shown.