DE20214668U1 - Driver for a motor vehicle window regulator - Google Patents

Description

Brose Vehicle Parts GmbH & Co.
Limited partnership, Coburg
Ketschendorfer Straße 38 - 50

D-96450 Coburg

BRO1127

Driver for a motor vehicle window regulator Description

The invention relates to a driver for a motor vehicle window lifter according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a driver comprises a receiving area for receiving a window pane that can be adjusted by means of the window lifter; a connecting section for connecting the driver to a drive device of the window lifter, the position of which is adjustable relative to the receiving area; and an adjusting element with an actuating section that can be actuated to adjust the position of the connecting section relative to the receiving area.

The receiving area of such a driver can, for example, comprise a pair of clamping jaws between which the window pane to be adjusted is received and which are held in place by a clamping element, e.g. in the form of a

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Clamping screw that passes through an opening in the window pane, allowing them to be tightened against each other. The connecting section, via which the driver is connected to the drive mechanism of the window lifter, has a nipple chamber in a cable window lifter in which a cable nipple can be fixed so that there is a firm connection between the driver and the drive cable. The drive cable is in turn connected via a gear to a drive motor or a manual drive, the activation of which triggers a movement of the cable, which is transferred via the driver to the window pane to be adjusted in order to raise or lower it.

When installing a window lifter in a motor vehicle door, it is important to position the window pane in such a way that it is correctly arranged in the associated window seal of the motor vehicle door in its uppermost position (which can be adjusted by the window lifter), i.e. its upper edge is in the sealing area of the window seal provided for this purpose. Such an adjustment of the window position is made possible by the fact that the position of the connecting section of the driver relative to the receiving area of the driver can be adjusted by means of an adjusting element. The adjusting element has an actuating section via which it can be actuated with a suitable tool in such a way that the desired setting of the position of the connecting section relative to the receiving area of the driver is achieved. The adjusting element can, for example, be an adjusting screw whose actuating section is formed by a screw head.

One problem here, however, is that due to the spatial conditions within the vehicle door, when the window lifter is installed, the actuating head of the adjusting screw can usually only be operated using a tool through an opening in the floor area of the vehicle door. This has the twofold disadvantage that, on the one hand, the access to the actuating head of the adjusting screw is difficult for the respective fitter and, on the other hand, that the window pane has to be moved to a lower adjustment position for each adjustment of the position of the connecting section of the driver in relation to the receiving area. After adjusting the position of the connecting section of the driver, the window pane must then be raised again using the window lifter in order to check whether it is in its uppermost position with its upper edge correctly in the assigned area of the window seal. If a new adjustment is then necessary, the window pane must be raised again using the window lifter.

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If correction of the position of the connecting section of the driver is necessary, the window pane must be lowered again, etc.

The invention is based on the problem of creating a driver for a motor vehicle window lifter of the type mentioned at the beginning, which facilitates the installation of the window lifter in a motor vehicle door.

This problem is solved according to the invention by creating a driver with the features of patent claim 1.

According to this, the actuating section of the driver is designed as a gear element which is coupled to a drive element in such a way that when this drive element is actuated with a suitable tool, the adjusting element for adjusting the position of the connecting section of the driver with respect to the receiving area is adjusted.

The solution according to the invention is based on the knowledge that the accessibility of the adjustment element of the driver can be improved if the corresponding fitter (or robot arm) does not directly engage the actuating section of the adjustment element with a tool, but rather a separate drive element, which in turn is operatively connected to the actuating section of the adjustment element, so that when the drive element is actuated, the adjustment element is also actuated at the same time in order to adjust the position of the connecting section of the driver with respect to the receiving area. The drive element can be designed and arranged in such a way that its accessibility is improved compared to the accessibility for the actuating section of the adjustment element.

In particular, it is possible to operate the adjustment element via the drive element from the top of a vehicle door through a shaft opening in the door sill. This means that the position of the connecting section of the driver can be adjusted with the window pane raised and also in a position that is ergonomically much more favorable for a fitter.

In addition to its actuating section, the adjusting element has an adjusting section which protrudes from the actuating section and which, when the adjusting element is actuated, achieves the desired setting of the position of the

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connecting section. The drive element can be arranged next to the actuating section of the adjusting element in such a way that the tool provided for actuating the drive element can be brought into engagement with the drive element in a direction which runs essentially opposite to the direction along which the adjusting section protrudes from the actuating section of the actuating element. The drive element can thus be brought into engagement with a tool in the opposite direction to the actuating section of the adjusting element.

If the adjustment element is designed to be elongated, e.g. as an adjustment screw with an elongated screw shaft, then the tool intended to actuate the drive element can extend substantially adjacent to the elongated adjustment portion of the adjustment element when it is in engagement with the drive element.

To fix a specific setting position of the adjustment element, an additional fixing element can be provided at the end facing away from the actuating section, e.g. a lock nut in the case of an adjustment element in the form of an adjusting screw. The solution according to the invention then makes it possible for the drive element that is operatively connected to the actuating section of the adjustment element and the additional fixing element to be gripped by a tool along the same direction, namely in particular from above through a door shaft - based on the state of the corresponding window lifter installed in a motor vehicle. This means that the installation of the window lifter is made even easier.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drive element and the gear element forming the actuating section are operatively connected to one another via toothed areas, e.g. in that both the drive element and the actuating section of the adjusting element are each designed as gears.

The connecting section of the driver is preferably movably mounted on a base body of the driver and the adjusting element (which is also mounted on this base body) acts on the adjusting element to adjust the position of the adjusting element.

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A motor vehicle door with a window lifter and a driver equipped according to the invention is characterized by the features of patent claim 17.

Such a motor vehicle door preferably has a shaft opening in the region of its door sill, through which the adjusting element of the driver can be actuated by means of a tool by bringing the corresponding tool into engagement with a drive element, which in turn is operatively connected to the actuating section of the driver.
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Further features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the figures.

Show it:
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Fig. 1 an exploded view of a driver with a base body

and a nipple chamber arranged on the base body, the position of which can be adjusted by means of an adjusting screw;

Fig. 2a and 2b two perspective views of the driver from Figure 1, where

additional clamping jaws provided on the base body for holding a window pane to be adjusted are shown;

Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of a driver according to Figures 1,

2a and 2b after installation in a motor vehicle door.

Figures 1, 2a and 2b show a driver for a motor vehicle window lifter, which has a receiving area 1 for a window pane to be adjusted and a connecting section 2 with a nipple chamber 20 for establishing a connection to the drive cable of a motor vehicle window lifter.

The receiving area 1 is formed by a base body 10 of the driver and an associated clamping jaw 11, which can be clamped against the base body 10 by means of a clamping screw 12 in such a way that a window pane can be clamped between the base body 10 and the clamping jaw 11, wherein the clamping screw 12 passes through a window opening provided for this purpose.

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Drivers are well known, so the details of disc attachment are not explained here.

Two bearing sections 16, 18 protrude from the base body 10 of the driver, each of which has an opening 17 or 19 for receiving the shaft 31 of an adjusting screw 3. The two bearing sections 16, 18 are spaced apart from one another along the longitudinal axis L of the shaft 31 of the adjusting screw 3 and thus enable the adjustment of the connecting section 2 with the nipple chamber 20 along this direction. For this purpose, the connecting section 2 is arranged between the two bearing sections 16, 18 on the shaft 31 of the adjusting screw 3, namely by means of a section 21 provided with an internal thread.

To actuate the adjusting screw 3, an actuating section 30 with external teeth is provided in the form of a screw head designed as a gear, which engages with a drive element 4 also designed as a gear with external teeth 40. The drive element 4 is rotatably mounted via a pin 45 in a further bearing section 15 of the driver that protrudes from the base body 10 and has an internal polygon 42 that allows the drive element 4 to be actuated with a suitable tool. The axis of rotation D of the drive element 4 runs parallel to the longitudinal axis L of the adjusting screw 3.

If the drive element 4 is rotated by operating its internal polygon 42 with a tool, this rotary movement is transmitted via the external toothing 40 of the drive element 4 to the actuating head 30 of the adjusting screw 3, so that a corresponding rotary movement of the adjusting screw 3 is triggered. The shaft 31 of the adjusting screw 3 has a thread like a spindle, on which the section 21 of the connecting section 2 of the driver, designed as a nut, is mounted so that it can be moved longitudinally and is rotationally fixed. A rotary movement of the adjusting screw 3 thus causes a movement of the nipple chamber 20 of the connecting section 2 in one direction or the other along the longitudinal axis L of the adjusting screw 3, depending on the direction of rotation of the adjusting screw 3.

The maximum possible adjustment path of the nipple chamber 20 is limited by the distance between the two bearing sections 16, 18 of the base body 10 along the longitudinal axis L of the adjusting screw 3. A lock nut 35 is used to fix a specific position of the nipple chamber 20 between the two bearing sections 16, 18, which is screwed onto the

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the end 32 of the threaded shaft 31 of the adjusting screw 3 facing away from the actuating head 30 can be screwed. For this purpose, the lock nut 35 can be actuated either on an external polygon 36 or an internal polygon 37 with a suitable tool.
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From Figures 1, 2a and 2b it is particularly clear that both the drive element 4 and the lock nut 35 can each be brought into engagement with the associated tool provided for their actuation in such a way that this tool is guided to the corresponding engagement region 42 or 36 or 37 opposite to the direction r along which the threaded shaft 31 protrudes from the actuating head 30 of the adjusting screw 3.

The direction r, along which the longitudinal axis L of the adjusting screw 3 extends and along which the nipple chamber 20 can be adjusted by means of the adjusting screw 3, essentially corresponds to the vertical vehicle axis ζ (see Figure 3) or has at least one substantial component in the direction of the vertical vehicle axis ζ, so that the arrangement shown in Figures 1, 2a and 2b in particular allows an adjustment of the nipple chamber 20 of the driver with respect to the base body 10 of the driver along the vertical vehicle axis. The elements required to carry out this adjustment or to fix a previously carried out adjustment, namely the drive element 4 and the adjusting screw 3 interacting with it as well as the lock nut 35, can each be actuated by a tool guided from above to the driver, which is brought into engagement with the internal polygon 42 of the drive element 4 or the external or internal polygon 36 or 37 of the lock nut 35.

Figure 3 shows a motor vehicle door consisting of an outer door skin A, an inner door skin I, a door module carrier T placed on a large cutout of the inner door skin I, on which different functional components of a motor vehicle door, such as a window lifter, a door lock, a loudspeaker system and a side airbag module can be pre-mounted, and an inner door panel V.

The door has a window pane F which is adjustable in height by means of a conventional cable window lifter, which is connected to the drive mechanism (drive cable) of the cable window lifter via a driver M of the type shown in Figures 1 to 2b and which is guided through a door shaft S in the vicinity of its

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Lower edge U is guided into the area between the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I. There, the window pane F is held by the driver M.

The door shaft S is limited on the side of the outer door skin A by a shaft reinforcement SV and on the side of the inner door skin I by a door parapet B, on which the inner door panel V is suspended. The door shaft S thus forms an opening in the upper area of the door body formed by the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I, through which the window pane F can be guided in sections from above into the area between the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I.

If the window pane F is lowered to its lowest position by means of the associated window lifter (not shown in Figure 3), almost the entire window pane is located in the area between the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I; only the upper edge of the pane O then still protrudes upwards through the door shaft S. If, on the other hand, the window pane F is moved to its uppermost position by means of the window lifter, it protrudes almost completely out of the door shaft S; only the part of the window pane F held in the driver in the vicinity of the lower edge U is then still in the area between the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I.

In the uppermost pane position, which can be reached by means of the window lifter, it must be ensured that the window pane F is completely received with its upper edge O in a section of the pane seal provided for this purpose. Only then does the window pane in its upper pane position ensure that the vehicle interior is sealed against moisture and water to the outside. In order to meet this requirement, the driver M according to Figures 1, 2a and 2b is provided so that the connecting section 2, via which the driver is connected to the drive mechanism (drive cable) of the window lifter, can be moved along the vertical vehicle axis ζ relative to the receiving area 1 of the driver M, which serves to receive the window pane F to be adjusted. As already explained with reference to Figures 1, 2a and 2b, for this adjustment the gear element 4, which is operatively connected to the adjusting screw 3, must first be actuated using a suitable tool. The previously set position of the adjusting screw 3 is then fixed by operating the lock nut 35 provided for this purpose.

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The adjusting screw 3, the drive element 4 and the lock nut 35 are each shown schematically in Figure 3 in the area of the driver M and are provided with the reference symbols E (for the adjusting screw), G (for the drive element) and K (for the lock nut).
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Figure 3 clearly shows that both the drive element G and the lock nut K can each be operated using a tool W that is guided from above along the vertical vehicle axis ζ through the door shaft S to the corresponding element G or K and engages with it. For this purpose, the door shaft S must have such a width in the area of the door parapet B that the tool W can be guided next to the window pane F through the shaft S into the area between the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I.

Figure 3 shows an assembly step in which a tool W extends from above through the door shaft S into the area between the outer door skin A and the inner door skin I and grips the outer polygon of the lock nut K with an internal polygon in order to actuate it, i.e. to fix a position of the nipple chamber 20 previously set using the adjusting screw E (see Figures 1 to 2b). Alternatively, a tool provided with an external polygon could also be used for this purpose if a corresponding internal polygon is provided on the lock nut K.

In the same way, the drive element G can be actuated by means of a suitable tool W (preferably using the same tool W as for the lock nut K) in order to trigger a rotary movement of the adjusting screw E coupled to the drive element G, which in turn leads to a readjustment of the position of the nipple chamber 20 (see Figures 1 to 2b) with respect to the base body 10 of the driver.

The arrangement shown in Figure 3 has the significant advantage that both the drive element G used to actuate the adjusting screw E and the lock nut K used to fix the adjusting screw in a specific position can each be grasped by a tool W from above through the door shaft S, i.e. along the same direction, and that this can be done with the window pane F raised, so that it can be determined immediately whether the current position of the nipple chamber leads to the desired position of the upper edge of the pane O in the associated section of the pane seal.

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This is made possible by the fact that the tool W for operating the adjusting screw E does not engage the actuating section 30 of the adjusting screw arranged opposite the lock nut K (see Figures 1 to 2b). This is because it would not be possible to grasp this section from above using a tool, since the lock nut K and the shaft of the adjusting screw E block access to the actuating section from above. Instead, the adjusting screw E is actuated via the separate drive element G, which is arranged in a plane perpendicular to the vertical vehicle axis ζ or to the longitudinal axis of the adjusting screw E next to the actuating section of the adjusting screw E and whose axis of rotation runs outside (next to) the longitudinal axis of the adjusting screw E. This allows the tool W for gripping the drive element G to be guided past the threaded shaft of the adjusting screw E and extends next to it when it grips the drive element G for operating the adjusting screw E.

Claims (21)

1. Driver for a motor vehicle window regulator with - a receiving area for receiving a window pane that can be adjusted using the window lifter, - a connecting section for connecting the driver to a drive device of the window lifter, the position of which is adjustable relative to the receiving area, and - an adjusting element with an actuating section which can be actuated to adjust the position of the connecting section relative to the receiving area, characterized ,
that the actuating section (30) is designed as a gear element which is coupled to a drive element (4) in such a way that the adjusting element (3) can be actuated to adjust the position of the connecting section (2) relative to the receiving area (1) by acting on the drive element (4). 2. Driver according to claim 1, characterized in that the adjusting element (3) has an adjusting section (31) which projects from the actuating section (30) and which, upon actuation of the adjusting element (3), effects the adjustment of the position of the connecting section (2). 3. Driver according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the drive element (4) is designed for actuation by means of a tool (W). 4. Driver according to claim 2 and 3, characterized in that the tool (W) can be brought into engagement with the drive element (4) along a direction which is substantially opposite to the direction (r) along which the adjustment section (31) protrudes from the actuating section (30). 5. Driver according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the drive element (4) is arranged in a plane next to the actuating section (30) which extends substantially perpendicular to the direction (r) along which the adjusting section (31) protrudes from the actuating section (30). 6. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting element (3) is designed to be longitudinally extended. 7. Driver according to one of claims 3 to 5 and claim 6, characterized in that the tool (W) extends substantially adjacent to the adjustment portion (31) when it is in engagement with the drive element (4). 8. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting element (3) is designed as an adjusting screw. 9. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an additional fixing element (35) is provided for fixing a previously selected setting of the adjusting element (3). 10. Driver according to claim 8 and 9, characterized in that the fixing element (35) is designed as a lock nut. 11. Driver according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the drive element (4) and the additional fixing element (35) can be brought into engagement with a tool (W) along the same direction. 12. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive element (4) - based on the state of the driver installed in a motor vehicle door - can be brought into engagement from above along the vertical vehicle axis (z) with a tool (W) which acts on the drive element (4). 13. Driver according to claim 12, characterized in that the tool (W) can be brought into engagement with the drive element (4) through the door shaft (S), through which the window pane (F) projects from the door body (A, I). 14. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the position of the connecting section (2) relative to the receiving area (1) of the driver, based on the state of the driver installed in a vehicle door, can be adjusted along the vertical vehicle axis (z). 15. Motor vehicle door according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the actuating section (30) and the drive element (4) engage with one another via toothed areas. 16. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connecting section (2) is displaceably mounted on a base body (10) of the receiving area (1) and that the adjusting element (3) acts on the connecting section (2) to adjust its position. 17. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connecting section (2) is mounted on the adjusting element (3) in a longitudinally displaceable manner. 18. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting element (3) and/or the drive element (4) are mounted on a base body (10) of the driver. 19. Driver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connecting section (2) has a nipple chamber (20) for connecting the driver to a traction means of the drive device of the window lifter. 20. Motor vehicle door with a window lifter for raising and lowering a window pane and a driver according to one of the preceding claims. 21. Motor vehicle door according to claim 20, characterized in that the door body (A, I) of the motor vehicle door forms a door shaft (S) through which a tool (W) can be brought into engagement with the drive element (4) from above.