|
|
|
|
|
|
At Your Fingertips
What Is It? Key Plastics (Northville, MI) calls it “Intellitouch.” It
does away with all of the rods, cables, counterweights, and springs of mechanical
door handle units, and replaces them with a simple, drop-in electronic unit that
doesn’t move. A sensor located between the handle’s outer shell and
inner surface senses the dielectric constant of a human hand, and uses this to
trigger an electric motor that unlatches the door. “This moves the focus
from the lock/unlock function to the latch/unlatch function,” says Rich Pudney,
directory of Advanced Technology at Key Plastics, “and the electric motor
from the door lock to the door latch.” Not only does Intellitouch do away
with conventional door handles, it eliminates separate door locks by controlling
the latch function, and can be fully integrated with an OEM’s keyless entry
system.
|
With the Intellitouch handle, Nissan could replace its multi-piece 350 Z mechanical door handle with a two-piece-plus-sensor electrnic unit with little or no difference in cost.
|
But What If…? “We’ve tested the prototypes under a variety of
conditions,” says Pudney. A gloved hand can open the door, while the spray
from a car wash, a sudden downpour, or similar won’t activate the latch.
And shutting the door while holding the handle won’t cause it to pop open
because the software in the system has been designed to recognize intent. That
is, a person opening a door follows a specific protocol when opening a door
that doesn’t apply in other situations. So the system can “read”
whether or not the person holding the handle intends to open, or close the door.
Even setting the latch mechanism into its lock position prior to closing the
door won’t trip up the system. Grabbing the handle resets the latch to
its unlocked position prior to closing the door. The Intellitouch system also
can be tuned to meet specific OEM requirements. Should you forget your keyless
entry fob, inserting the vehicle key into a conventional door lock near the
handle allows the driver to “unlock” the door. The unit draws a miniscule
15 micro amps.
Why Should You Care? Simple: There are no moving parts. Counterweights–which
keep a conventional handle from moving in an accident, and can put up to two
pounds (cumulative) along the beltline–are eliminated, as is part stack-up
and production variation. Doors can be made thinner. The outer door panel only
needs two small holes to accommodate the bolts that hold the unit in place.
Styling is improved. OEMs can drastically reduce the number of different door
handles. Pinch points are eliminated. If used on a liftgate, Intellitouch can
eliminate up to 50 separate pieces, allow optimal placement of the trigger mechanism
(e.g. in a recessed area or behind the OEM’s logo), and doesn’t require
the user to squeeze a rubber puck like most of the electrically triggered latches
currently in use. With slight modification it can be applied to interior door
handles, too. “Plus,” says Pudney, “the units are fully tested
before delivery. There’s never any question of a faulty unit being shipped.”
For More Information… Go to www.keyplastics.com.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
