JP4968905B2 - Vehicle door handle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle door handle (hereinafter simply referred to as a “door handle”) used when a door of a vehicle (for example, an automobile) is opened. It relates to a door handle that does not give an electric shock.

  Various types of door handle devices are attached to the door portion of the vehicle in order to open the door. For example, there is a configuration in which the door lock mechanism is released by holding the door handle (handle body) of the door handle device and causing it to the front side, and the door can be opened by pulling the door as it is. .

  Here, the normal vehicle is grounded by the vehicle body (vehicle body grounding). For this reason, the potential difference of the vehicle body is always 0 (zero) V. When getting on the vehicle, when the user touches his / her hand with the conductive part of the vehicle, the static electricity charged to the human body is suddenly discharged (grounded to the vehicle body), and an electric shock is given to the human body. There is a risk that. In particular, in recent vehicles, a system that locks or unlocks a vehicle door by performing wireless communication between a device on the vehicle side and a portable device (referred to as “keyless entry”, “remote control door lock”, etc.) As a result, the driver who tries to get on the vehicle often touches the door handle first.

  If the door handle is conductive (for example, if the door handle is entirely decorated with a decorative plating) and the door handle is connected to the vehicle body, static electricity will be charged to the human body. , It flows to the vehicle body through the door handle and is grounded rapidly. If the static voltage at this time is large, the human body will be shocked. For example, when the charged electrostatic voltage of the human body is about 5 KV, the strength of the electric shock may extend from the palm to the forearm. If the door handle is not conductive, or if the door handle is conductive, if the door handle and the vehicle body are not connected, the static electricity charged to the human body is suddenly grounded. It will never be done. However, when a user who is seated in a vehicle seat comes into contact with a metal part (for example, a body), static electricity charged on the human body flows to the vehicle body and is abruptly grounded, causing electric shock to the human body.

In order to prevent electric shock caused by static electricity when a human body comes into contact with a door handle, the following applications are disclosed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, the technique of Patent Document 1 does not have good decorativeness, and the technique of Patent Document 2 has a problem that the facility becomes large.
JP 2005-340115 A JP 2002-178859 A

  In view of the above-described circumstances, an object of the present invention is to remove static electricity charged on a human body when a user contacts a door handle.

Means and effects for solving the problems

The present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
A vehicle door handle in which at least the surface is electrically conductive and the driver is grasped and caused to unlock the vehicle door, and the door is opened.
The door handle and the vehicle body conductive part are electrically connected, and a resistance is provided in the conductive path, and a static electricity removing circuit is provided for removing static electricity from the human body over a predetermined time ,
The door handle is pivotally supported by a non-conductive base around an arm provided at one end thereof,
The base is provided with a terminal portion for connecting the door handle and the vehicle body conductive portion,
The terminal portion is fixed to a mounting plate portion provided at one end of the base, and is always in contact with the door handle,
An elastically deformable thin plate having conductivity is formed by bending in a Z shape so that the two groove portions face in opposite directions,
The first terminal piece forming the first groove portion is relatively inserted into the mounting plate portion of the base and is elastically restored to be fixed in a sandwiched state to the mounting plate portion.
The second terminal piece forming the second groove portion is formed so as to be able to contact the arm portion of the door handle assembled to the base while being fixed to the mounting plate portion of the base . .

  When a user charged with static electricity on the human body grabs the door handle, the static electricity flows from the door handle to the static electricity removal circuit via the vehicle body conductive portion, and is grounded after a predetermined time. In other words, the static electricity charged on the human body is not removed rapidly in a short time, but gradually removed over a predetermined time. For this reason, giving an electric shock to a human body is avoided.

  It is desirable to arrange a surge absorbing element that prevents a voltage exceeding a certain voltage from flowing through the vehicle body conductive portion on the downstream side of the resistor in the conduction path.

  Since a voltage exceeding a certain voltage is removed by the surge absorbing element, there is no possibility that an excessive current flows in various electronic devices connected to the vehicle body conductive portion in a conductive state. For this reason, various electronic devices are protected.

  The door handle may have conductivity by being plated on the surface thereof.

  By plating the door handle, the decorativeness of the door handle is enhanced. And even when a door handle having such a decorative property is used, it is possible to prevent the user from being shocked by static electricity.

  The predetermined time may be 1 to 5 seconds. The constant voltage can be 24V.

  As a result, the static electricity removal circuit can be matched with the actual use situation of the vehicle, and no extra cost is required.

  The door handle apparatus 100 of the Example of this invention is demonstrated. 1 is a perspective view of the door handle device 100, FIG. 2 is a front sectional view, FIG. 3A is a front view of a terminal clip 200, FIG. 3B is a plan view, and FIG. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the door handle device 100 of this embodiment includes a door handle 1, a base 2, and a static electricity removing circuit C <b> 1. At the front part of the door handle 1 (on the left side in the drawing of FIG. 1), an arm part 4 serving as a pivot point 3 when the door handle 1 is raised is bent forward from below the door handle 1. It is protruding. A guide portion 5 that guides the rotation of the door handle 1 when the door handle 1 is raised is located below the door handle 1 at the rear portion of the door handle 1 (on the right side in FIG. 1). It is protruding. The base 2 is provided with an arm insertion portion 6 for inserting the arm portion 4 of the door handle 1 and a guide insertion portion 7 for inserting the guide portion 5. A mounting plate portion 8 to which the terminal clip 200 is attached is provided at the front end portion of the base 2. The door handle 1 incorporated in the base 2 is rotatable about a rotation fulcrum 3 provided on the arm portion 4. When the opening operation of the vehicle door is performed, the door handle 1 held by the user's hand is raised to the near side. The door handle 1 of the present embodiment is plated throughout. For this reason, the door handle 1 of a present Example has electroconductivity. In FIG. 1, the door handle 1 is shown in a raised state.

  Next, the terminal clip 200 for electrically connecting the door handle 1 and the base 2 will be described. In a normal vehicle (automobile), a ground is taken by a vehicle body (not shown) which is a conductive portion (vehicle body ground). The normal base 2 is made of a non-conductive resin material and is not plated. For this reason, the base 2 does not have conductivity. Therefore, in the door handle device 100 of the present embodiment, the terminal clip 200 is attached in order to reliably connect the door handle 1 and the base 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the terminal clip 200 is obtained by bending a thin metal plate that can be elastically deformed into a substantially Z-shape. That is, the terminal clip 200 has the upper terminal piece 11 formed by bending the right end of the terminal main body 9 upward, and the lower side formed by bending the left end downward. Terminal piece 12. An upper groove portion 13 is formed between the terminal body portion 9 and the upper terminal piece 11, and a lower groove portion 14 is formed between the terminal body portion 9 and the lower terminal piece 12. Yes. The upper groove portion 13 and the lower groove portion 14 are formed so that their openings face in opposite directions. The mounting plate portion 8 provided at the front end portion of the base 2 is inserted into the lower groove portion 14. The tip of the upper terminal piece 11 is bent obliquely downward. In addition, a plurality of protrusions 15 protrude from the upper surface portion of the upper terminal piece 11 at regular intervals in the length direction and the width direction. The lower terminal piece 12 is formed by extending a bent portion (formation portion of the lower groove portion 14) curved in an arc shape obliquely upward. For this reason, the vicinity of the tip of the lower terminal piece 12 is substantially in contact with the terminal body 9. Further, a pressing portion 16 that presses the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2 is formed at a substantially central portion in the length direction of the lower terminal piece 12.

  Both end portions in the width direction at a substantially central portion in the length direction of the lower terminal piece 12 (near the pressing portion 16) are separated from the lower terminal piece 12, and a pair of locking claws 17 are formed. Yes. The pair of locking claws 17 are connected to the lower terminal piece 12 only at their base end portions 17 a, and their distal end portions are bent so as to be close to the bottom surface portion of the terminal main body portion 9. Yes. Further, at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the lower terminal piece 12, a portion separated from the lower terminal piece 12 protrudes downward in a state of being curved in an arc shape, and the tunnel-shaped electric wire connecting portion 18. Is formed.

  The terminal clip 200 is attached to the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2 in advance. As shown in FIG. 4, the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2 is inserted into the lower groove portion 14 of the terminal clip 200. At this time, the lower terminal piece 12 of the terminal clip 200 is expanded (elastically deformed) by the mounting plate portion 8. In a state where the terminal clip 200 is attached to the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2, the elastically restored pressing portion 16 presses the mounting plate portion 8. And since the front-end | tip part of the latching claw part 17 bites into the mounting board part 8 and is locked, it becomes difficult to isolate | separate the terminal clip 200 from the mounting board part 8. FIG. As a result, the terminal clip 200 is held by the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2 in a retaining state.

  Next, the static eliminating circuit C1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the static electricity removing circuit C1 of the door handle device 100 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the electric wire 19 connected to the electric wire connecting portion 18 of the lower terminal piece 12 is connected to the resistor 21 and the downstream side thereof. In addition, it is connected to a conductive vehicle body via the surge absorbing element 22. As described above, since the vehicle body is grounded (vehicle body grounding), static electricity charged on the human body flows through the static electricity removal circuit C1 via the door handle 1 and the terminal clip 200 and is grounded (described later).

  The surge absorbing element 16 used in the static electricity removing circuit C1 of the present embodiment is a ceramic element sintered by adding a specific additive to zinc oxide, and its resistance value changes depending on the applied voltage. It has characteristics. For this reason, even when an excessive voltage flows in the static electricity removal circuit C1, the voltage is limited by the surge absorbing element 22 (the maximum voltage at this time is referred to as “limit voltage”) and connected to the vehicle body. An excessive current is prevented from flowing to another electronic device. In other words, when the surge absorbing element 22 is attached, protection of another electronic device can be achieved.

  The operation of the door handle device 100 of this embodiment will be described. A terminal clip 200 is attached to the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2 in advance. The terminal clip 200 is easy to attach because it is only necessary to relatively insert the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2 into the expanded lower groove portion 14.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the arm portion 4 and the guide portion 5 of the door handle 1 are inserted into the arm insertion portion 6 and the guide insertion portion 7 provided on the base 2. In this state, the door handle 1 and the base 2 are relatively slid in opposite directions, whereby the door handle 1 and the base 2 are assembled. At this time, the arm portion 4 of the door handle 1 is relatively slid while holding the upper terminal piece 11 of the terminal clip 200. As a result, the upper terminal piece 11 is elastically deformed, and the bottom surface portion of the arm portion 4 of the door handle 1 and the upper terminal piece 11 are pressed against each other. Since the protrusion 15 is provided on the upper surface portion of the upper terminal piece 11, the arm portion 4 and the upper terminal piece 11 are reliably in contact with each other.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the door handle 1 is raised when the door opening operation is performed. Even when the arm portion 4 of the door handle 1 is rotated around the rotation fulcrum 3, the upper terminal piece 11 is in elastic contact with the arm portion 4. The contact state with the upper terminal piece 11 is maintained. In FIG. 5, the arm part 4 in the middle of rotation is indicated by a two-dot chain line. Further, in addition to the pressing portion 16 of the lower terminal piece 12 pressing the mounting plate portion 8 of the base 2, the pair of locking claw portions 17 are locked to the mounting plate portion 8, The terminal clip 200 is not detached from the mounting plate portion 8 due to vehicle vibration or the like.

  The user holds the door handle 1 with his / her hand in order to open the door of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the static electricity charged on the human body of the user flows to the static electricity removing circuit C <b> 1 through the door handle 1 and the terminal clip 200. Since the static electricity of the human body is gently grounded by flowing through the resistor 21 having a predetermined capacity, electric shock given to the human body can be reduced.

  The applicant of this case decided to determine the size of the resistor 21 by performing a test. Here, the time required for the user to touch the door handle 1 to open the door and sit down on the vehicle seat (in other words, until the user releases the door handle 1) is 2 seconds. And Then, the voltage immediately after the start of discharge (discharge voltage) is 5 KV (about twice the static electricity charged on the human body), and the insensitive voltage (voltage that cannot be felt by the human body) after a predetermined time is 1 KV. Under the above settings, it was tested how much resistance 21 passed through the discharge voltage (5 KV) to become a dead voltage (1 KV) after 2 seconds. The test results at that time are shown in FIG. 6A corresponds to the case where the discharge voltage is grounded to the vehicle body as it is (when the door handle device 100 of the present embodiment is grounded without going through the static electricity removing circuit C1). Corresponds to the case where the discharge voltage is grounded to the vehicle body via the resistor 21 having a predetermined magnitude (100 MΩ in the present embodiment) (when grounded via the static electricity removing circuit C1).

  As shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the discharge voltage was grounded as it was, the time required until the insensitive voltage was reached (static removal time) was about 0.5 seconds. However, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the discharge voltage is grounded through a 100 MΩ-sized resistor, the time required until it becomes insensitive voltage (static elimination time) is about 2 seconds. Met. That is, by disposing a 100 MΩ resistor 21 in the static electricity removing circuit C1, the static electricity charged on the human body of the user who performs the opening operation of the vehicle is gradually reduced over a predetermined static electricity removing time (about 2 seconds). It was confirmed that it could be removed.

  In the case of the door handle device 100 of the present embodiment, a surge absorbing element 22 is attached to the downstream side of the resistor 21. The surge absorbing element 22 prevents the limit voltage from flowing through the static electricity removing circuit C1. As a result, there is no possibility that an excessive current flows in various electronic devices connected to the vehicle body, and the electronic device is connected to the vehicle body. Various electronic devices are protected. The limiting voltage can be set to 24 V in accordance with, for example, the standard of a withstand voltage test for automobiles.

  The static elimination circuit C1 of the first embodiment described above is a case where the surge absorbing element 22 is arranged on the downstream side of the resistor 21. Thereby, the various electronic devices connected to the vehicle are reliably protected. However, as shown in FIG. 7A, the static electricity removing circuit C2 having only the resistor 21 may be used.

  Further, the resistor 21 in the static electricity removing circuit C1 of the first embodiment is 100 MΩ. By disposing the resistor 21 of this size, the static electricity charged on the user's human body is reduced to the insensitive voltage after a predetermined static electricity removal time (about 2 seconds) after the user touches the door handle 1. Can be made. In other words, even if the user touches another metal body (for example, a body) about 2 seconds after touching the door handle 1, the user does not feel electric shock. By increasing or decreasing the size of the resistor 21, the predetermined time can be lengthened or shortened. For example, in the static eliminator circuit C3 of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 7B, the time during which static electricity is reduced to the insensitive voltage by using two resistors 21 (the size of the resistor is 200 MΩ). Can be lengthened (eg, about 5 seconds). In consideration of the fact that the capacity of static electricity charged to the human body is practically about 3 KV, the time for reducing static electricity to the insensitive voltage (static elimination time) is shortened (for example, about 1 second). You can also

  The door handle 1 of the present embodiment is a case where the surface is plated to have conductivity. However, when the door handle 1 has conductivity by being coated with conductive paint, or when the door handle 1 is molded of a conductive material (for example, a resin material containing carbon). There may be.

1 is a perspective view of a door handle device 100. FIG. It is a front sectional view similarly. (A) is a front view of the terminal clip 200, (b) is also a plan view, and (c) is a bottom view. It is an operation explanatory view in the state where terminal clip 200 is attached to mounting plate part 8 of base 2. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the terminal clip 200 when the door handle 1 is rotated. (A) is a voltage drop curve when the resistor 21 is not provided, and (b) is a voltage drop curve when the resistor 21 is attached. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the static elimination circuit C2, C3 of another Example.

Explanation of symbols

1: Door handle
2: Base
19: Electric wire (conduction path)
21: Resistance
22: Surge absorbing element C1 to C3: Static electricity removal circuit

Claims (5)

A vehicle door handle in which at least the surface is electrically conductive and the driver is grasped and caused to unlock the vehicle door, and the door is opened.
The door handle and the vehicle body conductive part are electrically connected, and a resistance is provided in the conductive path, and a static electricity removing circuit is provided for removing static electricity from the human body over a predetermined time ,
The door handle is pivotally supported by a non-conductive base around an arm provided at one end thereof,
The base is provided with a terminal portion for connecting the door handle and the vehicle body conductive portion,
The terminal portion is fixed to a mounting plate portion provided at one end of the base, and is always in contact with the door handle,
An elastically deformable thin plate having conductivity is formed by bending in a Z shape so that the two groove portions face in opposite directions,
The first terminal piece forming the first groove portion is relatively inserted into the mounting plate portion of the base and is elastically restored to be fixed in a sandwiched state to the mounting plate portion.
The second terminal piece forming the second groove is formed so as to be in contact with an arm portion of the door handle assembled to the base while being fixed to the mounting plate portion of the base. Vehicle door handle.   2. The vehicle door handle according to claim 1, wherein a surge absorbing element that prevents a voltage exceeding a certain voltage from flowing through the vehicle body conductive portion is disposed downstream of the resistor in the conduction path. The vehicle door handle according to claim 2, wherein the constant voltage is 24V . The vehicle door handle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the door handle has conductivity by being plated on a surface thereof . The vehicle door handle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the predetermined time is 2 to 5 seconds .

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