DE102016006323A1 - Locking device for a swing wing - Google Patents

Abstract

In the case of a locking device (18) for a stand (15) connected to a pivoting wing (11), it runs along at least one brake shoe (21) which, by means of a memory wire (25) tightening due to heating under current flow (I), strikes against the stand (15 ) can be applied. The interacting surfaces can be roughened to a weak unsymmetrical profiling (26) or coated accordingly, in order to be able to close the braked open pivoting wing (11) again in an emergency. A lifting of the brake shoe (21) from the stand (15) an abutment (22) opposite when current flow (I) is switched off can be done by gravity or spring force.

Description

When opening a motor vehicle door wing, there is a risk of its collision, especially the long door leaf of a two-door passenger compartment, with a garage wall or with a neighboring parked vehicle. When spring-assisted lift a tailgate or bonnet there is a risk of collision with a low garage ceiling or with an open horizontal swivel placed under them.

Motor vehicle doors are usually equipped with locking devices in the form of sheet metal stamped or rod-shaped, curved extending or linear stands. The are hinged between the door and the body and experienced in a movement of the door in structurally predetermined angular positions - at least in an end position - relative to the body positive or non-positive locking. But the locking effect in the respective angular position is often so weak in practice that the door unintentionally slides over it or springs back from it. And about when boarding or boarding the door is easily unintentionally pivoted out of the desired locking position on until just to be avoided external attack.

From the DE 20 2011 104 981 U1 It is known to form a hinged to the body stand as a linear rack, which is in engagement with a door mounted in the door slot). Whose rotational movement, and thus the pivoting movements of the door leaf are braked in a locking device of a viscous medium, the effect of its temperature-dependent viscosity by the resulting change in volume of a temperature-dependent deforming material (metal or elastomer) to be compensated.

The present invention is based on the technical problem to provide a structurally less complex but reliable-acting and yet small-sized locking device for a pivoting element of any kind, in particular the door leaf of a motor vehicle.

This object is achieved by the combination of the essential features specified in the main claim. Thereafter, in the locking device at least one brake shoe by means of serving as a brake actuator wire of a commercially available shape memory alloy, hereinafter referred to as memory wire, pressed against the erector of the swing gate by the memory wire heated by current flow and thereby tends to be shortened. As a result, for example, a lever against a movable brake shoe and these are pressed against the stand. This leads to a reliable frictional locking of the pivoting wing in his at the onset of current flow through the memory wire just reached pivoting angle position, so that it remains helpful even when getting out of the passenger compartment; until the current flow is interrupted again.

The heating is advantageously carried out electrically, for example by means of a surrounding the memory wire, energizable radiator. Asparatively less costly is to apply the heater directly to the memory wire and to use its resistance heating. In any case, the memory wire cools down again when the heating current is switched off, and the memory wire loses its internal tension - until it is again heated above the shape memory transformation temperature.

Due to the small in relation to the longitudinal extent of the cross-section of the memory wire whose heating to shape memory transition temperature takes place despite relatively low power supply very quickly, which practically suddenly a very large pressure or braking force is effective on the stand; while with switching off the flow of current through the memory wire this cools very quickly due to its comparatively large surface again, so with its mechanical relaxation, the braking effect on the stand again repeals: The swing-wing can then be moved again, as virtually no braking and locking effect occurs more if the brake shoe without brake pressure, for example, only loosely rests on the stand.

If necessary, a small claimed about bending return spring made of metal or plastic in the locking device can be installed so that they, the train and applying force of the energized memory wire on the brake shoe counteracting, after the cooling of the brake shoe from the stand actively minimally lifts. For this purpose, a reset actuator in the form of a further memory wire may be provided, which lifts the brake shoe back from the stand by its energizing during or after the cooling of the locking memory wire. Or the brake shoe is moved to below the erector so that it lifts off the stand when the memory wire is de-energized due to gravity.

The brake shoe to be applied against the erector essentially transversely to its direction of movement can, pivotably hinged on one side, act against the abutment against an abutment, between which and the brake shoe the memory wire is clamped; or the stand moves between pairs or all sides to be applied Brake shoes through, with two-sided fixing of memory wires to the pairwise opposing brake shoes. In all cases, it is generally advantageous to install several memory wires in parallel and energized, because then in relation to the conductor cross section, the conductor surface rises sharply; which promotes rapid cooling of the memory wire and thus rapid relaxation of the brake shoe kinetics after switching off the current.

In any case, in the outermost pivot position, but preferably also in intermediate positions, of the pivoting wing to be locked, a locally frictionally increased braking force is expediently conveyed by coating, roughening or profiling the surface of the erector. This precaution can be driven to positive engagement by forming approximately corresponding triangular or wavy structures on the brake shoes and on the cooperating placer surface areas. Such structures can be shaped in the sense of a ramp-shaped asymmetrical, that they can be overcome, for example, by vigorous manual closing of the door leaf, despite current still energized the memory wire; but that they do not lead to a further opening movement of the erector after insertion of the positively supported braking and locking action. Although such a positive connection is only very weak, it may be advantageous to promote its cancellation after cooling the memory wire by the measures mentioned for lifting the brake shoe from the stand.

In addition, in profiling of the interacting surfaces of brake shoe and stand a tactile gradation of the braking process can be realized in the sense that at risk of the swing wing initially only memory wires are energized, the easy to engage between the two relative to each other, oriented transversely to the direction of profiling with appropriate vibration and noise lead to the warning; and only when a collision is imminent, shorter memory wires are energized, leading to the full braking engagement of these two profiled surfaces against each other.

The initially low cold resistance of the memory wire promotes the switched on current flow and thus the rapid heating of the memory wire for applying the brake shoe against the stand. However, if an excessive current flow, then against electrical overload of the supply source and against overheating of the wire, a current limit or better still a current control may be appropriate; wherein the measured voltage or current values allow conclusions about the instantaneous length and thus contact pressure of a memory wire. On the other hand, as already mentioned, several thinner memory wires can be installed in parallel, which in total provide the desired braking force, but in which, depending on the cross section, higher starting resistances limit the individual inrush currents and thus also the total resulting inrush current.

If brake shoes are running in cross-section circumferentially, designed as a brake bushing through the soft material through the stand, then such device-supported socket for the introduction of brake force of a single correspondingly longer in current heating tend to longitudinally shrinking memory wire be looped about once or several times. In a half wrap only their investment force expediently acts against a device-fixed abutment.

The energizing of the memory wire is expediently initiated via at least one image-processing and / or at least one reflex sensor. The triggers the engagement of the brake by switching on the current through the memory wire when he detects an obstacle in the imminent pivoting of the swing wing, such as during manual or electromotive opening a vehicle door. A door leaf, for example, is then held on the arrested stand before reaching the collision-critical opening angle, so that you can hold on to the door even in confined exit from the passenger compartment without this aufzuschwenken further against a stop. Thereafter, the heating current through the memory wire through programmatically or manually, for example by pressing a door handle switch, or remotely switched off again, the system of the brake shoe against the stand so again dissolved, and the door can be closed manually or by electric motor.

However, it does not need to be equipped with the swivel wing with such approach sensor, if the vehicle is already equipped with (also) laterally oriented distance sensors, such as for automatic parking. Then results arithmetically from the direction of travel and the speed of travel of the vehicle and the distance of the door from the sensor, when a collision critical obstacle will emerge in which angular position of the door to be opened; and there is the angle-dependent locking of the erector when opening the door leaf.

It can be provided, for example when connecting the erector to the swing wing, a predetermined breaking point, which allows the To move the swing-wing "by force" when the memory wire warms up unintentionally due to environmental influences and thus blocks the stand; For example, because the body of a motor vehicle is heated by external influences such as a fire. The predetermined breaking point may be a purely mechanical, constructively created weak point. But it can also be released by a memory wire (or another temperature-dependent acting actuator) due to strong ambient heating for separation, or this actuator moves a bolt to release the swing wing thereby.

Additional refinements and their alternatives to the solution according to the invention will become apparent from the other claims and, taking into account the advantages thereof, from the following description of not to scale abstracted on the functional essentials outlined embodiments of this solution. In the drawing show

1 the arrangement of a locking device on the stand between a device and a hinged thereto pivoting wing in section plan view,

2 a locking device with one-sided brake shoe in longitudinal section,

3 a locking device with oppositely acting brake shoe pair in cross section and

4 a brake shoe bush in cross section.

When in 1 sketched swing wing 11 that is for raising movement to a device 12 is hinged, it is typically a pivoting element as the vehicle door of a motor vehicle passenger compartment as the device 12 , Because of an obstacle 13 is the currently permissible swivel angle, which avoids a collision 14 limited.

A stand 15 in the form of about a linear rod or as outlined a curved sheet metal stamping extending between the swing wing 11 and his device 12 , On one of them is the stand 15 fixed rigidly or pivotally; its opposite, free front end 16 dives depending on the kinematics of the swing wing 11 more or less deep in this or in the device 12 one. Sketched is the example case that a curved running stand 15 rigid with the swing wing 11 connected and concentric with this to a device-fixed pivot axis 17 is pivotable. But also comes the kinematics of a straight, to the swinging wing 11 articulated erector 15 into consideration, which is mechanically higher loadable, as an arcuate stand 15 ,

The stand 15 extends through a locking device 18 , Depending on the kinematics of the erector 15 is the locking device 18 on the device 12 fixed or displaced along a guide. The locking device 18 contains in the illustrated embodiment, a mechanical stop 19 for the about bent or thickened free front end 16 of the erector 15 , whereby in cooperation with the locking device 18 about the arc length of the stand 15 the maximum opening or swiveling angle 14 for the swing-wing 11 is fixed. This maximum swing angle 14 but is not usable, if it was previously a collision of the swing wing 11 with the mentioned obstacle 13 would come.

To such a collision and possibly resulting damage, on the swing wing 11 as well as at the obstacle 13 , to avoid, is about in the locking device 18 , by means of a sensor 20 on the device 12 or on the swing-wing 11 the distance and from this the maximum permissible swivel angle 14 , or the remaining distance to the sideways obstacle 13 , determined; namely by way of retroreflection and, if appropriate, trigonometrically by means of electromagnetic energy, in particular in the ultrasound, in the radar or in the lidar spectrum, or by means of image sensors and image processing.

If the swing-wing 11 a critical approach to the obstacle 13 , such as the corresponding tilt angle 14 has reached is in the locking device 18 from the signal processing of the sensor 20 a locking signal, and a braking torque on the stand 15 , triggered and so, by locking the swing leaf 11 over his stand 15 , a collision with the obstacle 13 avoided due to any further pivotal movement.

For as fast and as reliable as possible stopping the pivoting movement of the swing wing 11 moves its stand 15 within the locking device 18 along at least one brake shoe 21 ( 2 ). The can, a device-resistant abutment 22 opposite, a linkage 23 have the nature of a one-armed lever. In the area of its free frontal end 24 is a stretched from shape memory alloy, stretched wire attached, referred to here as a memory wire 25 , Axially opposite is the memory wire 25 anchored like a fixture, as sketched on the abutment 22 ,

A warming of this memory wire 25 to a switching temperature, which is typically between about 60 ° C and 120 ° C, the tendency shortening has the consequence, namely a tightening for applying the brake shoe 21 against the abutment 22 under pinching between the two situated erector 15 , This is and remains the swing wing 11 in the associated swivel angle 14 arrested, as long as the resistance heating of the memory wire 25 due to current flow I stops. To avoid electrothermal overload of memory wires 25 is the current flow I limited or regulated, or it is as outlined to Stromeinspeisen from a constant current source.

After, for example, manual, switching off the current flow I cools the memory wire 25 rapidly, whereby it loses its elasticity as a result of tendentious extension. Between brake shoe 21 and abutments 22 Therefore, no more braking force acts on the intervening stand 15 , the swing-wing 11 can be swiveled again unhindered; until with renewed resistance heating of the stand 15 again from the memory wire 25 between brake shoe 21 and abutments 22 in the given tilt angle 14 of the swing-wing 11 is trapped.

If a loose resting of the non-activated brake shoe 21 on the stand 15 is not desirable, a small spring (such as a plastic bending spring attached to the abutment (not shown) in de-energized, cooled, so relaxed memory wire 25 the brake shoe 21 take off; or the brake shoe 21 is sketched under the abutment 22 and the stand 15 mounted, from which then the brake shoe 21 gravitationally lifts off below.

Instead of according to 2 the brake shoe 21 from the firming memory wire 25 in the manner of a one-armed lever against the stand 15 can pivot, the brake shoe 21 also across to her, to the stand 15 parallel oriented, longitudinal extension in abutment against the stand 15 be spent by the brake shoe 21 comparable to the illustration in 3 on several memory wires 25 is hung.

To increase the frictional braking effect, the cooperating surfaces of stands 15 and on the one hand brake shoe 21 and / or optionally abutment 22 roughened at least in areas, for example due to coating or profiling. Still going on is the in 2 sketched transition from frictional engagement to weak form closure by triangular or wave-shaped profiling 26 of pairwise interacting surfaces. Especially a wave profile advantageously provides a fast but not jerky, therefore critical shear forces avoiding braking of the erector 15 , Anyhow, if the memory wire 25 in series with a tension spring 27 , which itself may also be made of a shape memory alloy, to the brake shoe 21 connected and profiling 26 between brake shoe 21 and stands 15 sawtooth or similar designed asymmetrically, the locking device 18 be measured by manually introducing a larger torque in the swing wing 11 this, despite not yet turned off current flow I through the memory wire 25 through, against the weaker slopes of the sawtooth profiling 26 to relocate in the sense that about in an emergency the swing-wing 11 manually to the device 12 can be created; while he can not be opened by mistake.

At the occasion after 3 becomes the stand 15 not clamped against an abutment, but between a pair of brake shoes 21 - 21 , by means of at least one memory wire 25 (Preferably by a plurality of them) are mutually displaceable. The brake shoes 21 - 21 on both sides of the stand 15 can for it like in 3 sketched for parallel displacement by means of the memory wires 25 be connected to each other; or they each receive a swivel bearing accordingly 2

According to 4 runs the stand 15 in the locking device 18 by a longitudinally slotted sleeve (not shown) 28 of metal or plastic, within their filling material by concave concavities oriented transversely to each other 29 two mutually orthogonally oriented pairs of brake shoes 21 are formed, as in detail 4 seen. The sleeve 28 can be by means of at least partially wrapped, heated memory wire 25 if necessary against an abutment 22 , centripetal compress, with the result that the erector 15 all around the brake shoe pairs 21 - 21 is trapped, creating a pivoting movement of the swing leaf 11 is reliably prevented without major design effort.

In a locking device 18 for one with a swing-wing 11 rigid or mobile connected stand 15 this extends according to the invention along at least one brake shoe 21 , by means of a warming due to current flow I tightening memory wire 25 against the stand 15 can be applied. The cooperating surfaces can be up to a preferably weak asymmetric profiling 26 be roughened, in an emergency, the braked open swing wing 11 to be able to close again. A lifting of the brake shoe 21 from the stand 15 an abutment 22 opposite when switched off Current flow I can be done by gravity or spring force. Should the braking effect on the stand 15 not be caused by current flow I, but by external influences, then they act on a particular also based on the thermal memory effect emergency release of the erector 15 ,

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

I

Current flow (through 25 )

11

Swing wing (at 12 )

12

Device (with 11 )

13

Obstacle (next to 12 )

14

Swivel angle (from 11 )

15

Stand (between 11 and 12 ; between 21 and 22 by 18 therethrough)

16

Forehead (from 15 )

17

Swivel axis (from 11 at 12 )

18

Locking device (for 15 )

19

Stop (for 15 at 18 )

20

Sensor (on 11 . 12 )

21

Brake shoe (for 15 in 18 )

22

Abutment (in 18 )

23

Linkage (from 21 )

24

Forehead (from 21 )

25

Memory wire (between 21 and 22 or 21 )

26

Profiling (between 15 and 21 / 22 )

27

Tension spring (between 25 and 21 or 22 )

28

Sleeve (in 18 )

29

Excavation (in 28 )

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• DE 202011104981 U1 [0003]

Claims (10)

Locking device ( 18 ) for one with a pivoting wing ( 11 ) connected stands ( 15 ), characterized in that the stand ( 15 ) along at least one brake shoe ( 21 ), which by means of a warming due to warming memory wire ( 25 ) against the stand ( 15 ) can be applied. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the stand ( 15 ) between the brake shoe ( 21 ) and an abutment ( 22 ) passes through. Locking device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the brake shoe ( 21 ) spatially below the abutment ( 22 ) is arranged. Locking device according to one of the two preceding claims, characterized in that the brake shoe ( 21 ) is equipped with a lifting spring. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the stand ( 15 ) between two brake shoes ( 21 - 21 ) passes through, which by means of at least one as a result of warming firming memory wire ( 25 ) are mutually displaceable. Locking device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the surfaces of the erector ( 15 ) is at least partially roughened or coated accordingly. Locking device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that roughenings on cooperating surfaces on at least one side of the erector ( 15 ) as, preferably unsymmetrical, profilings ( 26 ) are formed. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the stand ( 15 ) by one, at least partially by a memory wire ( 25 ) looped, filled sleeve ( 28 ), within whose filling material by transversely oriented concave cavities ( 29 ) two mutually orthogonally oriented pairs of brake shoes ( 21 ) are formed. Locking device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the memory wire ( 25 ) is heated by a current flow (I). Locking device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the current flow (I) through the memory wire ( 25 ) passes through.

Images