Access system for a vehicle

• US 6,698,262 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2002
• Issued: 03/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Huf Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co. KG
• Original Assignee: Huf Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co. KG
• Inventors: Wittwer, Reinhard
• Primary Examiner(s): BARRETT, SUZANNE LALE DINO
• Application Number:
  US10/204,564
• Publication Number:
  US 20030019261A1
• Time in Patent Office: 559 Days
• Field of Search: 702/08, 702/37, 70D/IG.31, 292/336.3, 292/DIG.30, 292/DIG.31
• US Class Current: 70/208
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/34 Protection against weather or dirt, e.g. against water ingress closures or guards for keyholes E05B17/14
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/42 Means for damping the movement of lock parts, e.g. slowing down the return movement of a handle E05B77/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/06 using rotary motors
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/76 Detection of handle operation; Detection of a user approaching a handle; Electrical switching actions performed by door handles
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/01 Mechanical arrangements specially adapted for hands-free locking or unlocking handles with means for initiation of a hands-free locking or unlocking process E05B81/78
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/103 creating a completely closed wing surface
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/107 Pop-out handles, e.g. sliding outwardly before rotation
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/18 a longitudinal grip part being pivoted about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the grip part
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 292/31 Lever operator, flush
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/57 Operators with knobs or handles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5761 Retractable or flush handle
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5889 For automotive vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5978 With switch
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/7068 Actuated after correct combination recognized [e.g., numerical, alphabetical, or magnet[s] pattern]

Abstract

The invention relates to an access system in which an access authorization that can be disposed of outside of the vehicle communicates with identification means located inside the vehicle. If the identification means respond, control means which operate a door lock (40) from a door handle (10) are transferred out of their inoperative position into an operative position. To this end, the door handle (10) can move between three different positions (10.1, 10.2). In the first position, the door handle (10) is located in a retracted position (10.1), which cannot be grasped by the human hand, but rather is streamlined. Only when the door handle (10) is in a protruding extended position (10.2) is the latter possible. The door handle is then manually displaced into a third protracted position in which the door lock (40) is opened. According to the invention, this mode of operation is ensured by an actuator (30) configured, for example, as an eccentric.

Claims

1. Access system for a vehicle with at least one door,

in which an identification means installed in the vehicle responds to an access authorization available outside the vehicle;

where, when the identification means responds, electrical and/or mechanical control means moves a door lock out of an inoperative position into an operative position;

with a door handle (10), which can be moved at least between three different positions (10.1, 10.2, 10.3) with respect to the door;

where the door handle (10) is initially in a first position, namely, an essentially lowered, retracted position in the exterior door panel (25), in which the door lock (40) is locked and the door handle (10) cannot be gripped at all or only insufficiently by the human hand (37);

and the door handle (10), furthermore—

if the identification means responds to the access authorization—

is moved from this retracted position (10.1) into a second, extended position (10.2) projecting from the door, in which position the door lock (40) is still locked but the handle (10) can be properly gripped by the human hand (37);

and the door handle (10) can be moved manually into a third or final position (10.4), in which the door lock (40) is opened by electrical and/or mechanical control means (42, 45, 41);

with a controllable actuator (30), which can be rotated electrically between a rest position (30.1) and a working position (30.2), which actuator shifts the door handle (10) between its first or retracted position (10.1) and its second or extended position (10.2);

and with a restoring force (17), which pushes the door handle (10) or a linkage (13-15) of the door handle into the first or retracted position (10.1), wherein

the actuator is a cam (30), on which the door handle (10) or the linkage (13-15) is always supported nonpositively as a result of the restoring force (17), either on the point of minimum eccentricity when the cam is in its rest position (30.1) or on the point of maximum eccentricity when the cam is in the working position (30.2),

but which, in the case of a door lock (40) controlled by a lock motor, allows the door handle (10) or the linkage (13-15) to be lifted manually away from the point of maximum eccentricity and defines a fourth or pulled-out position (10.3) of the door handle (10), which is between the second or extended position (10.2) and the third or final position (10.4) and in which the lock motor is rendered operative; and

in that

in an access system without a lock motor or in an emergency

such as when the electronic circuitry fails

the fourth or pulled-out position (10.3) is omitted, and the door handle (10) or it-s the linkage (13-15) is lifted manually away from the point of maximum or minimum eccentricity (48′

) and moved into its third or final position (10.4).

2. Access system according to claim 1, wherein the electrical control means comprises a switch (38) and a lock motor on the door lock (40),

where the contactor of the switch (38) is located in the path of manual movement of the door handle (10) or the linkage (13-15) between its second or extended position (10.2) and the third or pulled-out position (10.3); and in that

the switch (38) responding to the manual movement (12.2) of the handle renders the lock motor operative and opens the door lock (40) by means of the motor.

3. Access system according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical control means comprises a lever (42), which acts on the linkage (13-15), which lever is spring-loaded (47), normally rests against an end stop (49), and is held by an arm (43) a certain angular distance (50) away from the handle linkage (13-15), where this angular distance (50) is greater than or equal to the path along which the handle linkage (13-15) travels between the first or retracted position (10.1) and the third or pulled-out position (10.3) of the handle (10).

4. Access system according to claim 3, wherein the spring-loading (47) acting on the lever (42) is stronger than the restoring force (17) acting beforehand on the door handle (10), and in that, when the handle is actuated, the point at which the effect of the lever spring-loading (47) begins produces a perceptible force threshold, which acts as a limit on the third or pulled-out position (10.3) of the handle (10).

5. Access system according to claim 3, wherein the handle (10) is supported by two terminal arms (13, 14) on an axle (11) so that it can move like a flap, and in that this axle (11) serves simultaneously to support the lever (42).

6. Access system according to claim 3, wherein the handle restoring force (17) and the lever spring-loading (47) are provided by two sidepiece springs (16, 46) with different spring constants, these springs having several turns, and in that the turns of the two sidepiece springs (16, 46) pass coaxially around the axle (11) serving to support the handle (10).

7. Access system according to claim 1, wherein access authorization for the door lock (40) occurs by way of a mechanical key, to which a lock cylinder (35) is assigned as identification means for the door lock (40) inside the vehicle;

in that

the end surface of the lock cylinder (35) with the insertion opening (36) for the key is covered by the door handle (10) when the handle is in its retracted position (10.1); and

in that

the key insertion opening (36) is not accessible for the insertion and rotation of the key for the locking or unlocking of the door lock until after the door handle (10) has been pulled out completely in the final position (10.4).

8. Access system according to claim 7, wherein the door handle (10) is provided on the rear with a sealing means (34), which, when the handle is in the retracted posit(ion (10.1), rests with a sealing effect on the end surface of the lock cylinder (35).

9. Access system according to claim 1, wherein in the case of a keyless entry system, the person authorized for access must first bring his/her access authorization identification, such as a smart card, to within a certain defined communications distance from the identification means in the vehicle;

and in that the person authorized for access must then inform the identification means of his/her intention to access the lock by a certain action such as touching the handle, whereupon the handle (10) is moved from its first or retracted position (10.1) into its second or extended position (10.2).

10. Access system according to claim 1, wherein in the case of an automobile, the inoperative state of the automobile engine automatically moves the door handle (10) from the first or retracted position (10.1) into the second or extended position (10.2).

11. Access system according to claim 1, wherein in the case of an access authorization system working with an electronic remote-control key, the door handle (10) is moved (12.1) automatically from its first or retracted position (10.1) to its second or extended position (10.2) when the remote-control key is actuated in the unlocking direction, and in that the door handle (10) is moved by a motor in the opposite direction (12.1′

) from its second or extended position (10.2) to its first or retracted position (10.1) when the remote-control key is actuated in the locking direction.

12. Access system according to claim 1, wherein in the case of an automobile, the door handle (10) is moved by a motor back from its second or extended position (10.2) into its first or retracted position (10.1) when the engine of the automobile is started and/or when sensors responding to a certain speed limit detect that the automobile is traveling faster than this limit.

13. Access system according to claim 1, wherein the door handle (10) is moved by a motor back from its second or extended position (10.2) to its first or retracted position (10.1) when sensors (27) in the vehicle are activated.

14. Access system according to claim 13, wherein the sensor (27) is integrated into the door handle (10) and can be actuated manually.

15. Access system according to claim 11, wherein by returning the actuator or turning back the cam (30) from its working position (30.2) into its rest position (30.1), the door handle (10), which is initially in its second or extended position (10.2), is lowered in a damped manner into its first or retracted position (10.1).