Assist Grip Assemblies
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorsMohit Anand Jagasia, Kevin Lyle Gilleo, Sean Wright
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is an assist grip assembly including a handle portion and at least one support structure, the at least one support structure including a securing surface attached to a mounting area of a vehicle body, and a transfer member comprising a flex portion and a contact portion having a contact surface, wherein the transfer member is formed with or attached to the handle portion and when a load is applied to the handle portion in a first direction, the contact surface of the transfer member contacts a contact area of the vehicle body and transfers at least a portion of the load from the mounting area to the contact area.
Claims20
An assist grip assembly comprising a handle portion and at least one support structure, the at least one support structure comprising:
- a securing surface attached to a mounting area of a vehicle body, and a transfer member comprising a flex portion and a contact portion having a contact surface;
- wherein the transfer member is formed with or attached to the handle portion;
- and
- wherein when a load is applied to the handle portion in a first direction, the contact surface of the transfer member contacts a contact area of the vehicle body and transfers at least a portion of the load from the mounting area to the contact area.
An assist grip assembly comprising a handle portion and at least one support structure, the at least one support structure comprising:
- a securing surface attached to a mounting area of a vehicle body, and a transfer member comprising a flex portion and a contact portion having a first contact surface and a second contact surface;
- wherein the transfer member is formed with or attached to the handle portion;
- wherein when the contact portion is inserted into an aperture in the vehicle body, the first contact surface faces a first contact area of the vehicle body and the second contact surface faces a second contact area of the vehicle body;
- and
- wherein when the assist grip assembly is in a first supported position, the first contact surface of the transfer member contacts the first contact area of the vehicle body and transfers at least a portion of a load from the mounting area to the first contact area, and when the assist grip assembly is in a second supported position, the second contact surface of the transfer member contacts the second contact area of the vehicle body and transfers at least a portion of a load from the mounting area to the second contact area.
An assist grip assembly comprising a handle portion and at least one support structure comprising, the at least one support structure comprising:
- a securing surface attached to a mounting area of a vehicle body, and a transfer member comprising a flex portion and a contact portion having a contact surface;
- wherein the transfer member is formed with or attached to the handle portion;
- wherein when no load is applied to the handle portion, the assist grip assembly is in an unsupported position such that the contact surface of the transfer member is free from contact with a contact area of the vehicle body;
- and
- wherein when a load is applied to the handle portion in a first direction, the assist grip assembly is in a supported position such that the contact surface of the transfer member contacts the contact area of the vehicle body and transfers at least a portion of the load from the mounting area to the contact area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.