Soft touch automotive latch handle

Details Soft touch automotive latch handle Soft touch automotive latch handle

1999-06-28

2001-01-30

Loney, Donald (Department: 1772)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Structurally defined web or sheet

Edge feature

C428S157000, C428S172000, C428S213000, C428S217000, C016S110100, C264S241000, C264S297200, C264S328100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06180212

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to manufacturing technology for creating ergonometric handles and more particularly to technology that provides a finger handle that feels soft to the touch but does not deflect excessively, does not deteriorate rapidly in use, does not require extra space to function, and has improved tactile feel in gripping effectiveness when pulled in a shearing direction.
DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
A common way to make handle designs for a soft feel is to use a hard, rigid core element over which is laid a foam layer of about one-half inch or greater, and thereafter covering the entire assembly with a thin, flexible cover. Unfortunately, the foam layer introduces too much deflection and the finger movement required when grasping the handle tends to distort control as a result of such deflection. The foam layer occupies too much space which is not consistent with the needs of recessed handles that limit the space of the recess.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,306, an attempt was made to make a non-recessed automotive door handle by eliminating the use of foam and eliminating the necessity for complete encapsulation. The core in a soft plastic skin was used to replace the flexible cover of the prior art. Since the skin is uniform in thickness, its shape is dictated by the shape of the hard core; this limited its ability to provide ergonomic improvement in local areas or regions and caused the total assembly cost to be rigidly high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a process for making generic latch handles that ergonomically improve the gripping contact and feel between the latch handle and the fingers operating the latch handle.
An aspect of this invention that meets the above object comprises a method of making an automotive latch handle intended for operation by manually pulling fingertips across a margin of the handle, the process including the steps of: a) molding a latch handle of a first essentially rigid plastic defining an area support for the margin, which plastic when fully solidified and cured has a stiffness of 0.8-5.8 GPa and a durometer ratio of 710,000 shore A; and b) overmolding the support area of the first plastic with a second plastic to define the margin, which margin when fully solidified and cured defines a finger gripping pad that has a stiffness of <0.01 GPa and a durometer ratio in the range of 35-85 shore A.
Another aspect of this invention that meets the above object is an automotive latch handle structure that comprises: a) a generally flat paddle having means facilitating linear or pivotal movement, the paddle having been formed by molding of a first essentially rigid plastic with a stiffness of 0.8-5.8 Gpa; and b) an integrally overmolded second plastic defining a gripping pad for the fingers, the pad being molded to a margin of the paddle at least along one edge.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5037687 (1991-08-01), Kavgarzadeh et al.
patent: 5298306 (1994-03-01), Miller
patent: 5412839 (1995-05-01), McCollom

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