Patent Description:
Such vehicle door handle assemblies have generally three positions: a rest position where the handle is retracted and flush with the vehicle door body, a deployed position where the handle steps out of the vehicle door body and an opening position where the handle is pulled by a user in order to unlock and open the vehicle door. Such vehicle door handle assemblies with a handle translating between its rest position and its deployed position is becoming more common and requested by manufacturers.

When the user releases the handle and it comes back from its opening position to its deployed position, the manufacturers may require a transition with a soft sound in order to increase the feeling quality of the handle to the user. For standard handles which do not have a rest position, it is current to have a dumper positioned between the handle and the vehicle door body or a bracket of the vehicle door handle assembly.

However, for vehicle door handle assembly having a rest position, where the handle is retracted and flush with the vehicle door body or a bracket, such method is hardly transposable due to the complexity of the mechanism permitting the movement between the rest position and the deployed position.

A known solution to this problem is to add a damper into the mechanism in order to slow down the return of one extremity of the handle from its opening position to its deployed position. However, this solution has a high cost and is complex to integrate into the mechanism.

<CIT> discloses a vehicle door handle assembly comprising a bracket and a handle wherein the vehicle door handle assembly also comprises a dumper in order to dampen the sliding of the extremity of the first or second lever in its pivot-slide connection with the handle when the first extremity of the handle moves from its opening position to its deployed position, <CIT> discloses a handle wherein a dumper is positioned on the housing and <CIT> discloses a handle with a dumper on the handle body.

One aim of the present invention is to provide an economic and simple solution permitting a transition with a soft sound when the user releases the handle and it comes back from its opening position to its deployed position.

To this end, the invention relates to a vehicle door handle assembly comprising a bracket and a handle, said handle comprising a first extremity and a second extremity opposed to the first extremity,.

The vehicle door handle assembly may further comprise one or more of the features described hereinafter, considered alone or in combination.

The dumper could be an elastic part placed at the extremity of the pivot-slide connection, the extremity of the first or second lever pressing the dumper when the handle is in its deployed position.

The dumper could be made of a thermoplastic elastomer.

The thermoplastic elastomer could have a hardness of Shore A between <NUM> and <NUM>, preferably a hardness of Shore A <NUM>.

The dumper could comprise at least one strip designed to come in contact with the extremity of the first or second lever when the handle is in its deployed position.

The first or second extremity of the handle bearing the pivot-slide connection with the first or second lever could have a hollow compartment, the first or second lever being inserted into this hollow compartment, and the dumper could also be positioned onto this hollow compartment.

The dumper could comprise a recess designed to receive a pin in order to maintain said dumper into the first or second extremity of the handle.

The pin could be a pin of a fixing clip of the extremity of the first or second lever to the first or second extremity of the handle.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:.

In these figures, identical elements bear the same reference numbers. The following implementations are examples. Although the description refers to one or more embodiments, this does not necessarily mean that each reference relates to the same embodiment or that the features apply only to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments can also be combined or interchanged to provide other embodiments.

<FIG> shows a vehicle door handle assembly <NUM> in a rest position. The vehicle door handle assembly <NUM> comprises a bracket <NUM> and a handle <NUM>. The bracket <NUM> is designed to be fixed on the vehicle door (not represented). In this rest position, the handle <NUM> is retracted into the bracket <NUM> in order to be at the same level of the door body when installed.

The handle <NUM> comprises a first extremity <NUM> and a second extremity <NUM> opposed to the first extremity <NUM>. The first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is connected to a first lever <NUM> and the second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is connected to a second lever <NUM>.

The first lever <NUM> is also designed to be connected to an opening lever (not represented) to open a latch of the vehicle door. The first lever <NUM> is designed to rotate between a rest position (represented in <FIG>) where the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is in a rest position, a deployed position (represented in <FIG>) where the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is in a deployed position outside the bracket <NUM> and an opening position (represented on <FIG>) where the first lever <NUM> actuates the opening lever.

More precisely, the first lever <NUM> comprises a pivot connection <NUM> with the bracket <NUM> around which the first lever <NUM> rotates between its different positions. A first extremity of the first lever <NUM> is connected to the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> and a second extremity of the first lever <NUM>, is connected to the opening lever. The first lever <NUM> may also comprises an elastic mean <NUM> (visible in <FIG>) passively bringing back said first lever <NUM> from its opening position to its deployed position. This elastic mean <NUM> may be a spring positioned for example on the pivot connection <NUM> between the first lever <NUM> and the bracket <NUM>.

The second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is connected to a second lever <NUM>. The second lever <NUM> is designed to rotate between a rest position (represented in <FIG>) where the second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is in a rest position, and a deployed position (represented in <FIG> and <FIG>) where the second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is in a deployed position outside the bracket <NUM>. The second lever <NUM> comprises a pivot connection <NUM> with the bracket <NUM> around which the second lever <NUM> rotates between its different positions. A first extremity of the second lever <NUM> is connected to the second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM>.

The connections between the first lever <NUM> and the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> and between the second lever <NUM> and the second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> comprise preferably a pivot-slide connection and a pivot connection. In the examples represented in <FIG>, the connection between the second lever <NUM> and the second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is a pivot-slide connection. The second extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> comprises here a recess <NUM> and the second lever <NUM> comprises a slide opening <NUM> for example to receive a pin (not represented). The connection between the first lever <NUM> and the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is here a pivot connection <NUM>.

The first <NUM> or second <NUM> extremity of the handle <NUM>, bearing the pivot-slide connection with the first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever, may comprises a hollow compartment. The first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever may be inserted into this hollow compartment and attached to the first <NUM> or second <NUM> extremity of the handle <NUM>. This attachment of the first extremity of the lever <NUM>, <NUM> could be performed by a first fixing clip <NUM>. An example of a first fixing clip <NUM> is illustrated with more details in <FIG>. This first fixing clip <NUM> comprises an oblong opening <NUM> in which the pin connected to the first extremity of the lever <NUM>, <NUM> can slide. The first fixing clip <NUM> also comprises some hooks <NUM> to be fixed to the side of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> extremity of the handle2.

The other extremity of the handle <NUM>, bearing the pivot connection with the other lever, may also comprises a hollow compartment. The lever may also be inserted into this hollow compartment and attached to the extremity of the handle <NUM>, for example by a second fixing clip <NUM>.

The first <NUM> and second <NUM> levers may be connected together with at least one rod <NUM> in order to synchronize the movements of the two levers <NUM>, <NUM>. More exactly, the rod <NUM> transmits the rotation of the second lever <NUM> from its rest position to its deployed position to the first lever <NUM>, rotating said first lever <NUM> from its rest position to its deployed position. The rod <NUM> may comprise a pivot-slide connection with any of the first <NUM> or second lever <NUM> so that the first lever <NUM> can rotate from its rest position to its deployed position or from its deployed position to its opening position without rotating the second lever <NUM>. In the example illustrated in <FIG>, the rod <NUM> comprises a first extremity connected to a second extremity of the first lever <NUM> by a pivot connection <NUM>. The rod <NUM> comprises a second extremity connected to the second lever <NUM> by a pivot-slide connection. The second extremity of the rod <NUM> comprises a slide opening <NUM> and the second extremity of the second lever <NUM> comprises a pin <NUM> inserted into said slide opening <NUM>. The handle <NUM>, the first lever <NUM>, the second <NUM> lever and the rod <NUM> are designed and connected like a parallelogram and move together synchronously. The other connection of the rod <NUM> with any of the first <NUM> or second lever <NUM> is preferably a pivot connection.

The vehicle door handle assembly <NUM> could also comprise an actuator <NUM> connected to the second lever <NUM> in order to rotate the second lever <NUM> between its rest position and its deployed position. The actuator <NUM> could comprise an electric motor <NUM> in order to pull or push the second lever <NUM> according to the direction of rotation of said electric motor <NUM>. The actuator <NUM> may also comprise a slider-crank linkage <NUM> in order to convert the rotational movement of the electric motor <NUM> into a linear movement. The slider-crank linkage <NUM> may be connected directly to a second extremity of the second lever <NUM> or connected to any of the at least one rod <NUM>. The actuator <NUM> is preferably installed into a housing (not represented).

The <FIG> represent the different positions and cinematic steps of the deployment and retraction of the handle <NUM>.

As described above, <FIG> is a representation of a rest position where the handle <NUM> is retracted into the bracket <NUM> in order to be at the same level of the door body when installed. The first lever <NUM> and the second lever <NUM> are in their rest position. These two levers <NUM> and <NUM> are maintained in their rest position due to the actuator <NUM>. In this rest position, the inside of the handle <NUM> may also rest on a rest portion <NUM> of the bracket <NUM> placed between the first <NUM> and second <NUM> extremities of the handle <NUM>.

<FIG> represents a deployed position of the handle <NUM> where the first lever <NUM> and the second lever <NUM> are in their deployed position. These two levers <NUM> and <NUM> are maintained in their deployed position due to the actuator <NUM>.

<FIG> represents an opening position of the handle <NUM> where the user can grab the handle <NUM> and pull it in order to open the vehicle door. When the user pulls the handle <NUM>, it rotates around the pivot connection <NUM> between the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> and the first lever <NUM>. The first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> is pulled in an opening position rotating the first lever <NUM> from its deployed position to its opening position. The rotation of the first lever <NUM> is not transmitted to the second lever <NUM> by the rod <NUM> due to the pivot-slide connection. When the user releases the handle <NUM>, the first lever <NUM> rotates back to its deployed position due to its elastic mean <NUM>.

The vehicle door handle assembly <NUM> also comprises a dumper <NUM> visible in <FIG>. This dumper <NUM> is positioned into one of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> extremity of the handle <NUM> in order to dampen the slide of the extremity of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever in its pivot-slide connection with the handle <NUM> when the first extremity <NUM> of the handle <NUM> move from its opening position to its deployed position. Thus, the movement of the handle <NUM> from its opening position to its deployed position is slown down and the sound emitted by the handle is soft. For example, the dumper <NUM> could be positioned into the hollow compartment of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> extremity of the handle <NUM>.

The dumper <NUM> could be an elastic part placed at the extremity of the pivot-slide connection. When the handle <NUM> is in its opening position, as represented in <FIG>, the extremity of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever is not in contact with the dumper <NUM>. When the handle <NUM> is in its deployed position, as represented on <FIG>, the extremity of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever presses the dumper <NUM>.

The dumper <NUM> could be made of a thermoplastic elastomer. To enhance the quality of the sound emitted by the handle <NUM>, this thermoplastic elastomer may have a hardness of Shore A between <NUM> and <NUM>, preferably a hardness of Shore A <NUM>.

As represented in <FIG>, the dumper <NUM> could comprise at least one strip <NUM> designed to come in contact with the extremity of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever when the handle <NUM> is in its deployed position. This strip <NUM> increases the damping of the first <NUM> or second <NUM> lever and the mitigation of the sound.

Claim 1:
Vehicle door handle assembly (<NUM>) comprising a bracket (<NUM>) and a handle (<NUM>), said handle (<NUM>) comprising a first extremity (<NUM>) and a second extremity (<NUM>) opposed to the first extremity (<NUM>),
the first extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) being connected to a first extremity of a first lever (<NUM>), said first lever (<NUM>) being designed to be connected to an opening lever to open a latch of the vehicle door, said first lever (<NUM>) being designed to rotate between a rest position where the first extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) is in a rest position, a deployed position where the first extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) is in a deployed position outside the bracket (<NUM>) and an opening position where the first lever (<NUM>) actuates the opening lever,
the second extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) being connected to a first extremity of a second lever (<NUM>), said second lever (<NUM>) being designed to rotate between a rest position where the second extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) is in a rest position and a deployed position where the second extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) is in a deployed position outside the bracket (<NUM>),
at least one of the first (<NUM>) or second (<NUM>) lever being connected to its respective first (<NUM>) or second (<NUM>) extremity of the handle (<NUM>) by a pivot-slide connection, wherein the vehicle door handle assembly (<NUM>) also comprises a dumper (<NUM>) positioned into one of the first (<NUM>) or second (<NUM>) extremity of the handle (<NUM>) in order to dampen the sliding of the extremity of the first (<NUM>) or second (<NUM>) lever in its pivot-slide connection with the handle (<NUM>) when the first extremity (<NUM>) of the handle (<NUM>) moves from its opening position to its deployed position.