Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Automobile
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-20
2003-08-05
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Automobile
C362S496000, C362S155000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06601978
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The object of this invention is a handle assembly for vehicles, used particularly for illuminating the rear registration plate on automobiles.
The invention has particular, but not necessarily exclusive, application in the sector involved in the production of finished components for the automobile industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles, such as automobiles, are widely used. Each one has a means of identification, which is a registration plate with a series of letters and numbers, with one at the front of the vehicle and one at the back.
The front one, as is well known, is not illuminated, while the rear one is well lit, as is required by the law in all countries, in order to make it easier to be read, especially at night.
To make it even easier to read, the registration plate is located in a position in order to make it more legible, and one of these positions is often on the door of the boot.
Since the door is fastened and hinged to the chassis of the car, it obviously has to be opened and closed in some way in order to gain access to the inside of the boot of the car. This leads to the companies involved in the sector requiring a single component which fulfills more than one function. This is made possible by using a handle which allows a hand to be inserted in order to open the boot or for it to be opened by using a control means, and which is also used to house the lighting system for illuminating the rear registration plate.
The said handle, which is a translation from German of the technical term known as “griffleist”, is to be found in a wide variety of more or less similar examples which are very widespread, a fact which certainly does not help in the development of the article, and there are a number of persistent drawbacks to this system, which today are no longer acceptable.
Traditionally, a handle is made up of basically two elements. The first element is a longitudinal support, with an aesthetically pleasing shape used for trimming purposes, also known by the term “blende”. The second element, or support, when joined on the bottom side of the first element, allows the lighting equipment used for illuminating the rear registration plate and, where foreseen, the boot opening mechanism to be housed. In the most common solutions, the support element is usually made out of a single piece of moulded plastic and has two distinct seating units, positioned to the side of the central area used as a hand grip. Each seating unit is made in order to position the relative lighting units, made up of a light bulb, a bulb holder and a cover, and which is closed off by a protective lens which sits on a seat around its perimeter, formed by lowering the area close to the access openings for the said seats. While the external side of the support is basically flat, the inside part has a series of sectors and seating areas of various shapes and sizes in order to house the electrical wiring for the lighting units, and in order to attach it to the boot of the car. Basically, it is a single body that is shaped and formed so that none of the internal components may come into contact with each other. Once the support and the trimming are joined together by uniting the various attachment points, there are various parts which are pre-assembled beforehand, that stick out from the back of the support and that are used for attaching it to the metallic part of the boot. These parts may be the holders for the lighting units, while in the middle of the support there is the electro-mechanical boot locking mechanism with its relative socket, used to connect it to the main control unit.
To guarantee a good joint between the handle and the door of the boot, there are a number of holes drilled in the door of the boot where the parts that protrude from the assembled support are inserted. Finally, to avoid water leaking in to the joint of the said two parts, the handle has a soft seal over the whole of its surface.
A second solution, which is used by various automobile manufacturers in order to overcome some of the problems regarding the first solution, foresees the use of box-type modules that are snapped on to the trimming. According to each solution, these modules may include either the lighting unit or the electro-mechanical boot-opening mechanism. For obvious reasons, this type of solution also has a seal between the joint of the handle and the door of the boot.
Yet another solution has been recently adopted -by another automobile manufacturer. This solution also has a trimming or “blende”, and which has a pseudo-technical insert attached to it. The characteristic of the said insert is that it has only a single support, which completely integrates the two lateral lighting units of the registration plate. The said support is made from one single, longitudinal element which may be attached to the trimming without fastening it or using adhesives, but by using its back part which is coupled to the longitudinal isolating support base at the ends of the light holders. The said base has a seal made out of flexible material on the opposite side to where the moulded circuit is positioned, and which extends over the whole of the surface which comes into contact with it when the handle is attached to the door of the boot. Finally, the said insert does not operate in conjunction in any way with the boot-opening mechanism. There now follows a brief word regarding the membranes which, when subjected to pressure, act upon the control for the boot-opening mechanism. As was previously observed, there is a specially shaped portion in the handle between the two lighting units that are used to illuminate the registration plate, where it is easy to insert the fingers of a hand so that, by applying a certain pressure at the ends, the boot door may be unlocked and opened. Going further into detail, the fingers press on an area which has a membrane formed on the bottom of the central housing unit. The membrane is made up of at least one perimetral ring with elastic properties, with a stretch of rigid material along its central and internal side portion. On the inside of the said support, a slight deformation of the membrane due to pressure acts upon a lever which, being pivoted, acts upon the micro used for opening the boot
In the solutions described above, there are various drawbacks, some of which are in common.
For example, all the above solutions have a large number of components which obviously have to be organised correctly by the stockhouse personnel.
The use of a large number of components to construct the handle means that the assembly phase is long and arduous, and requires a lot of labour with consequently high labour costs which weigh quite heavily on the overall cost of the product and, thus, on the market price. One of the most immediately felt consequences of using a large number of components, along with the fact that the support unit used to contain the components is not standardised, is that it is not very flexible, not very reliable because of its inherent complex nature and the fact that it is not particularly innovative. These are all aspects that make it difficult to justify the high production costs involved, and which are certainly not in line with the requirements of a dynamic company.
With reference to the first type of handle in particular, one of the most frequent drawbacks is given by the fact that the door of the boot has a large number of holes drilled in it in correspondence with the joint surface of the handle. This may give rise to rust problems if there is an infiltration of water between the components, in spite of the use of a seal, and under certain circumstances, the seal may even worsen the phenomenon.
A second aspect which must certainly not be overlooked, regards the fact that the lighting units, as with the boot door opening switch, are not in a perfectly insulated, waterproof position, and the presence of humidity is quite common which leads to electrical problems.
A further drawback regards the assembly aspect wh
Alberto Barbisan
Andrea Collavo
Harrison & Egbert
O'Shea Sandra
Sapa Autoplastics SpA
Sawhney Hargobind S.
LandOfFree
Handle assembly for vehicles, used particularly for... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Handle assembly for vehicles, used particularly for..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Handle assembly for vehicles, used particularly for... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3111658