Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Lowell W Satterlee

Dante C Zuccaro

Timothy M Farris

Richard Pelachyk

A handle housing intended for attachment on a vehicle door panel is of injection molded plastic construction and has a base adapted to engage against the surface of the door panel. The housing carries at least one anchor leg, and preferably several, which project from the base and extend through registering apertures provided in the panel. Each of these anchor legs has a foot at the end thereof which is adapted to engage and underlie the underside of the panel when the housing is slid longitudinally along the surface so that the foot will engage with the underside of the housing and thereby prevent the housing from being pulled away from the panel. The housing also has a plurality of locking legs projecting from the base and extending through registering openings in the panel. Each of these locking legs has a locking foot carried thereon and having a locking shoulder which lockingly engages with a tab struck from the underside of the panel to the thereby prevent longitudinal sliding movement of the housing along the surface in the retrograde direction which would permit the anchor feet to become disengaged from the underside of the panel. The locking feet preferably carry an integral spring molded finger on the end thereof which bear respectively against tabs struck from the underside of the panel to constantly urge limited retrograde longitudinal sliding movement of the housing to thereby maintain the abutment shoulders of the locking feet in constant engagement with the locking tabs struck from the panel.

Door handle housing attachment for vehicle door

The vehicle door has a mounting panel with a track formed therein by integral flanges struck from the panel. The window regulator arm has a roller carried thereon for engaging with the track to permit movement of the roller along the panel. The track has an open end permitting entry of the roller into the track when the roller has obtained both axial and cross-track alignment with the track. In order to facilitate installation of the roller into the track, the roller has an end face and the panel has an integral portion thereof underlying the open end of the track and being engaged by the end face of the roller to establish the roller in a position of axial alignment with the panel from which the roller may be easily entered into the open end of the track. In addition, the roller may have a circumferential extending face thereof and the integral portion of the panel underlying the open end of the track may be a depression having walls thereof adapted for engagement by the circumferential extending face of the roller to establish the roller in a position of cross-track alignment with the track, so that the roller may be easily entered into the track.

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Clarkston, MI, United States of America

Lowell W Satterlee