Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
  • E05B—LOCKS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR; HANDCUFFS
  • E05B1/00—Knobs or handles for wings; Knobs, handles, or press buttons for locks or latches on wings
  • E05B1/0061—Knobs or handles with protective cover, buffer or shock absorber
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
  • C23C14/0015—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material characterized by the colour of the layer
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
  • C23C14/06—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material characterised by the coating material
  • C23C14/0635—Carbides
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
  • C23C14/06—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material characterised by the coating material
  • C23C14/0641—Nitrides
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
  • C23C14/06—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material characterised by the coating material
  • C23C14/14—Metallic material, boron or silicon
  • C23C14/20—Metallic material, boron or silicon on organic substrates
  • C23C14/205—Metallic material, boron or silicon on organic substrates by cathodic sputtering
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
  • E05B—LOCKS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR; HANDCUFFS
  • E05B85/00—Details of vehicle locks not provided for in groups E05B77/00 - E05B83/00
  • E05B85/10—Handles
  • E05B85/14—Handles pivoted about an axis parallel to the wing
  • E05B85/16—Handles pivoted about an axis parallel to the wing a longitudinal grip part being pivoted at one end about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the grip part
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
  • E05B—LOCKS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR; HANDCUFFS
  • E05B17/00—Accessories in connection with locks
  • E05B17/0004—Lock assembling or manufacturing
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
  • E05B—LOCKS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR; HANDCUFFS
  • E05B85/00—Details of vehicle locks not provided for in groups E05B77/00 - E05B83/00
  • E05B85/10—Handles

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a vehicle handle, and in particular to a handle with a lever which can be pulled for unlocking and simultaneously opening the door of a motor vehicle.
• the present invention also relates to a process for coating said handle.
• Handles are components whose appearance strongly characterizes the style of a vehicle, so that metallized finishes are now very appreciated for giving a particular aesthetic effect to the handles. Furthermore, the surface finish of the vehicle handles must ensure a suitable protection against the atmospheric agents and the abrasion phenomena.
• Known handles are usually coated by means of a chroming treatment, which consists of a galvanic application of different metal layers onto a base substrate.
• the chroming treatment has the disadvantage of using highly toxic and polluting substances.
• the thickness of the coating obtained by means of the chroming treatment is relatively high (tens of microns), so that the coating requires the use of a relatively high quantity of valuable material and may interfere with and/or shield the electric and/or electromagnetic fields used by electric or electronic devices integrated in the handle.
• a further disadvantage of the chroming treatment is the limited range of the obtainable colors, which is a remarkable limit to the possibilities of the aesthetic finish.
• the coating applied by means of vapor deposition in particular chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD), it is possible to obtain a vehicle handle provided with a very thin metallized coating which is substantially transparent to electric and/or electromagnetic fields.
• CVD chemical vapor deposition
• PVD physical vapor deposition
• the thickness of said coating can be in the order of few microns, especially if the sputtering technique is employed.
• Another advantage of the process according to the present invention is that it is carried out at room temperature, so that it is possible to apply the coating to vehicle handles made of materials sensitive to high temperatures, as for example many plastic materials.
• a further advantage is the possibility of carrying out surface finishes with many different colors, thanks to substances which came out to be particularly suitable for coloring vehicle handles through the process according to the present invention. Further advantages and features of the handle and the process according to the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art from the following detailed and non-limiting description of an embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings, wherein figure 1 shows a sectioned view of the handle.
• the handle according to the present invention comprises in a known way a lever 1 having a shaped extension 2 coupled with a fulcrum 3 of a frame 4 suitable for being fixed to the door of a motor vehicle.
• Lever 1 is provided also with an appendix 5 protruding into frame 4 and coupled with a mechanism 6 for unlocking the door.
• Lever 1 includes at least one cavity 7 for housing a casing 8 containing one or more electric and/or electronic devices which use and/or generate electric or electromagnetic fields Fl, F2, F3 around lever 1. These electric and/or electronic devices are connected to one or more outer connectors 9 through one or more cables 10 which come out of lever 1, in particular through a canal 11 made in the shaped extension 2.
• Cavity 7 of lever 1 is closed at least partially by a cover 12 applied on an opening made on its inner side.
• the outer surface of one or more fixed or mobile parts of said handle, in particular of lever 1 and of a cap 13 arranged beside lever 1, comprises a coating applied by means of chemical or physical vapor deposition, so that the thickness of the coating is less than 10 ⁇ m.
• Lever 1 and cap 13 are made of a plastic material.
• the preferred physical deposition technique is sputtering, wherein a "cathode pulverization" occurs by means of a bombardment with a beam of energy particles (generally ions), accelerated by means of an electromagnetic field, against a cathode of a solid target material inside a treatment chamber.
• the accelerated particles have a certain energy and during the impact they remove atoms, ions and/or molecular fragments of the target material. Said removed atoms, ions and/or molecular fragments thus coat the parts of the handle contained inside the treatment chamber.
• Said treatment allows to obtain metallized coatings having a lot of chromatic variations according to the deposited substance.
• the following substances resulted as particularly suitable for obtaining different colors for the handle parts:
• TiAlN x titanium and aluminum nitrides
• TiC x titanium carbides
• TiC x N x titanium carbonitrides
• a transparent varnish is preferably applied on the coating for further increasing the resistance to the surrounding environment.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Physical Vapour Deposition (AREA)
• Wrappers (AREA)
• Window Of Vehicle (AREA)
• Steering Devices For Bicycles And Motorcycles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=39967752

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (1)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2007
  • 2007-08-03 IT ITMI20071621 patent/ITMI20071621A1/it unknown
• 2008
  • 2008-08-01 JP JP2010518694A patent/JP2010535953A/ja active Pending
  • 2008-08-01 EP EP08786779A patent/EP2183449A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-08-01 WO PCT/EP2008/060161 patent/WO2009019222A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (1)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events