Stress reducing plunger tunnel for an improved door handle housing
AssigneeTri/Mark Corporation
InventorsChristopher Richard Zenner, Jason Robert Scanlan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved door handle is provided with a housing having a plunger tunnel designed to dissipate stress forces, such as door seal loads and vibration. The plunger tunnel is D-shaped in cross-section, with a curved interior radius to preclude stress concentrations. The plunger has a complimentary D-shaped cross-section for sliding movement within the tunnel between extended and retracted positions to latch and unlatch the door.
Claims20
An improved door handle, comprising:
- a housing with a plunger tunnel, the housing being adapted for mounting in a door structure;
- a plunger slidably mounted in the plunger tunnel;
- a paddle pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between open and closed positions;
- a pivot plate pivotally mounted on the housing and engaging the plunger to move the plunger between extended and retracted positions with respect to the tunnel in response to movement of the paddle between the closed and open positions;
- and
- the plunger tunnel having a D-shape in cross-section to dissipate stress.
An improved housing for a door handle, the housing being adapted to pivotally mount a paddle for actuating a plunger to latch and unlatch the door relative to a door frame, the improvement comprising:
- a plunger tunnel adapted to slidably receive the plunger, the tunnel having interior and exterior perimeters with different cross-sectional shapes.
An improved door handle, comprising:
- a housing with a plunger tunnel, the housing being adapted for mounting in a door structure;
- a plunger slidably mounted in the plunger tunnel;
- a paddle pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between open and closed positions;
- a pivot plate pivotally mounted on the housing and engaging the plunger to move the plunger between extended and retracted positions with respect to the tunnel in response to movement of the paddle between the closed and open positions;
- and
- the plunger tunnel having curved interior corners to avoid stress concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.