Handle device for use on trunk lids of automobiles

A handle device for use in imparting a movement to an automobile trunk lid about a horizontal hinge axis for the purpose of opening and closing said trunk lid without necessitating a user's hand coming into contact with a portion of said handle device that is continuously exposed to an outside environment, comprising:

• means defining an opening in a first outwardly facing surface of a panel of said trunk lid, said opening including a second outwardly facing surface recessed within said trunk lid from said first outwardly facing surface of said panel and encircling said opening;
• a substantially L-shaped carrier;
• a handle part on ne leg of said L-shaped carrier, said handle part having a pair of oppositely facing, substantially flat third and fourth surfaces, each of which extends in planes which are transverse to said first outwardly facing surface;
• support means including a pivot bearing arranged on an inwardly facing surface of said panel for pivotally supporting an other leg of said L-shaped carrier for movement about an axis that is parallel to said hinge axis, said one leg being connected to said other leg at an end remote from said pivot bearing, said movement causing said handle part on said one leg and said third and fourth surfaces thereon to be moved into and out of said opening between first and second positions, said handle part, when in said first position, being received within said trunk lid and, when in said second position, only said one leg and said handle part with said third and fourth surfaces thereon extend through said opening so as to be exposed to the outside environment and accessible;
• and
• an end plate on an outer end of said handle part, said end plate having a fifth surface opposing said second outwardly facing surface within said opening, said end plate being oriented so that when said handle part is in said first position and received within said trunk lid, the entire periphery of said fifth surface on said end plate will engage said second outwardly facing surface to block the admittance of dirt and the like into said opening, and when said handle part is moved to said second position, the entire periphery of said fifth surface on said end plate will become spaced from said second outwardly facing surface so that both of said pair of oppositely facing third and fourth surfaces will be exposed to the outside environment and accessible and thereby provide a clean pair of said oppositely facing third and fourth surfaces to facilitate both an opening and a closing of said trunk lid by enabling said clean oppositely facing third and fourth surfaces to be touched to impart a force to a selected one of said pair of oppositely facing third and fourth surfaces to facilitate said opening and closing movements of said trunk lid about said horizontal hinge axis therefor.