Howa Plastics Co., Ltd.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Hideki Kajio

Kazuhiro Kawamura

Shouji Kawakami

Takahiro Sugiyama

Yoshiyuki Sakuma

Daisuke Kogiso

In a pivot support portion of a hinge assembly of an assist grip, an outer support and an inner support are provided at a distance from each other. Between the inner support and the outer support, a double torsion spring stored in a spring case is inserted, and the grip body is biased toward a non-use position side by the double torsion spring. An opening is formed in a middle portion of the spring case. Legs at both sides of the double torsion spring are retained at the inside of the spring case. A middle leg of the double torsion spring projects from the opening of the spring case to be retained by a part of the grip body.

Assist grip

An assist grip of the present invention includes, but is not limited to, a grip body including hinge cavities on opposite bases and hinge assemblies pivotally supported inside the hinge cavities at opposite sides, respectively, and secured to mounting locations inside a vehicle via the hinge assemblies. Mounting clips are inserted into rectangular openings of hinge bodies of the hinge assemblies, respectively. Each of the mounting clips is formed by bending a pair of resilient legs having spring resiliency into a substantially U-shape, and includes resilient bulging portions bulging outward in the resilient legs at both sides. Each of the resilient bulging portions includes a retention portion to be retained by a mounting location of a vehicle body. The retention portion of the resilient bulging portion includes a recess portion that is recessed inward and provided with an extended region in a pull-out direction of the mounting clip.

A grip body () of an assist grip includes hinge bodies () provided in hinge cavities () on bases provided at opposite left and right ends, and the hinge bodies () are pivotally connected to the hinge cavities () at opposite sides via pivot shafts. A mounting clip () having spring resiliency is inserted into a rectangular opening () provided substantially at the center of the hinge body (), and a cover () is assembled by inserting a clip support portion () into the inside of resilient legs at both sides of the mounting clip () so as to cover the front of the hinge body (). Between the cover () and the hinge body (), a guide groove () and a guide rib () are provided so as to be fitted together and slidingly contact along a push-in direction of a part where the hinge member and the cover slidingly contact when the cover () is pushed.

An assist grip of the present invention includes a grip body provided at both side base portions thereof with hinge recess portions and a hinge portion rotatably and pivotally supported in each of the hinge recess portions of both sides, and is fixed via the hinge portion to a to-be-fixed portion in an automobile. In a pivot support portion of the hinge portion, an outer support piece and an inner support piece are provided at a distance from each other, and between the inner support piece and the outer support piece, a torsion coil spring stored in a spring case is inserted. One end portion of the torsion coil spring is locked to an inside of the spring case, and the other end portion of the torsion coil spring projects from the spring case and is locked to a part of the grip body.

An assist grip includes a mounting clip formed of metal having spring resiliency and bent into a generally U shape. The mounting clip includes a pair of resilient legs. Each of the resilient legs includes a bulging portion that bulges outwardly and is provided with a retention portion to be retained by a mounting location of a vehicle body structure. Each of the resilient legs further includes at the leading end a stepped region for engagement against an inner peripheral region of a rectangular opening of a hinge body. The stepped region includes an extended region and a retaining pawl that extends outwardly relative to the extended region.

Growing community of inventors

Toyota, Japan

Hideki Kajio