Outside door handle and motor vehicle equipped with same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10598339-B2
Application number	US-201816136991-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2018
Priority date	Sep 26, 2017
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

An outside door handle, in particular for a motor vehicle, having a handle body comprising an outer contour, having a light source received by the handle body for a front area lighting and/or for a door handle cup lighting, and having a diffuser for scattering the light irradiated by the light source into diffuse light that is inwardly arranged in the handle body at a spacing from its outer contour.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An outside door handle, for a motor vehicle, the outside door handle having:
a handle body with an outer contour,
a light source within the handle body, and
a diffuser within the handle body located between the light source and the outer contour and spaced from its the outer contour, whereby the diffuser scatters light irradiated by the light source into diffuse light and the diffuse light illuminates at least one of an area in front of the motor vehicle and a door handle cup.

2. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the diffuser has at least one of a roughened surface and scattering centers included in its volume.

3. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the diffuser is part of an optical system that is inwardly arranged in the handle body at a spacing from the outer contour for changing irradiation characteristics of the light irradiated from the light source.

4. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 3 , wherein all components of the optical system configured for changing the irradiation characteristics of the light irradiated from the light source are inwardly arranged in the handle body at a spacing from the outer contour.

5. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the outer contour of the handle body is formed independently of at least one of the diffuser and the optical system.

6. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the outer contour of the handle body is free of components and/or sections for changing irradiation characteristics of the light irradiated from the light source.

7. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 6 , wherein the components and/or sections forming the outer contour of the handle body are free of at least one of lens properties, diaphragm properties and light diffusion properties.

8. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the handle body has a light emitting opening.

9. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 8 , wherein the light emitting opening is configured for the emission of the light from the light body that is irradiated from the light source and/or that is changed in its irradiation characteristics by the optical system.

10. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 9 , wherein the light emitting opening is configured for the emission of the light from the light body that is irradiated from the light source and/or that is changed in its irradiation characteristics in particular by the diffuser.

11. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the handle body has a light emitting element for conducting the light from the handle body that is irradiated from the light source and/or that is changed in its irradiation characteristics by the optical system.

12. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 11 , wherein the light emitting element is free of lens properties and/or of light diffusion properties.

13. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein at least one of the handle body and the outer contour of the handle body is formed by at least one handle plate.

14. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 13 , wherein the handle body has a light emitting opening, with the light emitting opening being formed in a handle plate or being defined by marginal regions of adjacent handle plates, and/or with the light emitting element being arranged in the light emitting opening and/or at least approximately fully filling the light emitting opening, and/or with the light emitting element sectionally forming the outer contour of the handle body.

15. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 13 , wherein the light emitting element terminates at least substantially flush and/or step-free with one handle plate, one or more handle plates or both handle plates if only two handles are provided, and/or with the outer contour of the total handle body being substantially unimpaired by the light emitting element, and/or with the extent of the outer contour being substantially unchanged by the transition between the light emitting element and at least one of the handle plates, and/or with the extent of the outer contour sections formed by the light emitting element integrating into adjacent outer contour sections.

16. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein a lens is arranged between the diffuser and the light source, and/or with the diffuser and the light emitting element being formed as at least one of contiguous and in one piece.

17. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 16 , further comprising an intermediate space formed between the diffuser and the light emitting element.

18. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the light source is formed as an LED and/or is arranged on a circuit board and/or is covered by a protective film.

19. The outside door handle in accordance with claim 1 , wherein a support structure is received in the handle body and is configured to support at least one of the diffuser, the light source, the lens and the light emitting element, with the support structure being formed as at least one of contiguous and in one piece with at least one of the diffuser and the light emitting element, and/or with the support structure having support surfaces for supporting at least one of the lens and the circuit board with the light source arranged thereon.

20. An outside door handle having:
a handle body with an outer contour,
a light source within the handle body, and
an optical system within the handle body located between the light source and the outer contour and spaced from the outer contour, the optical system configured to change irradiation characteristics of light irradiated from the light source.

21. A motor vehicle having at least one door and one outside door handle affixed to the door, the outside door handle having:
a handle body with an outer contour,
a light source within the handle body, and
both a diffuser and an optical system located between the light source and the outer contour within the handle body and spaced from the outer contour, the diffusor configured to scatter light irradiated by the light source into diffuse light and the optical system configured to change the irradiation characteristics of the light irradiated from the light source, the diffuse light illuminating at least one of an area in front of the motor vehicle and a door handle cup.

22. The motor vehicle in accordance with claim 21 , wherein at least one of the light emitting opening and the light emitting element faces at least one of a handle cup of the vehicle door and a ground below the vehicle.

23. The motor vehicle in accordance with claim 21 , wherein the diffuser and/or components of the optical system that are configured to change irradiation characteristics of the light irradiated from the light source is/are arranged in a covered manner.

24. The motor vehicle in accordance with claim 23 , wherein the diffuser and/or the components of the optical system are covered by a handle plate section, starting from a point of view that is located at a distance of at least 10 m from the outside door handle and at a height of at least 1 m above the ground below the vehicle.

Assignees

• Witte Automotive Gmbh

Inventors

• Mrnu{Hacek Over (S)}Tik Luká{Hacek Over (S)}

Classifications

• B60Q1/2669 Primary

  on door or boot handles (lighting devices for vehicle interior on door handles B60Q3/267) · CPC title

• E05B17/10

  Illuminating devices on or for locks or keys; {Transparent or translucent lock parts; Indicator lights} · CPC title

• F21W2102/40

  the light being emitted to facilitate access to the vehicle · CPC title

• F21Y2101/00

  Point-like light sources · CPC title

• E05B85/16

  a longitudinal grip part being pivoted at one end about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the grip part · CPC title