EP0643184B1 - Door holding device for cars - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a door holder for vehicle doors, with a single-hinged door holding strap that can be fastened to a vehicle spar and a holding part to be fastened on the door side, the holding strap and the holding part being connected to one another in a relatively movable manner via a locking device that defines a certain pivoting position of the vehicle door.

Such door holders are described for example in DE-PS 26 19 171, DE-PS 26 44 570 and DE-PS 28 00 256. In each of these known door holders, the latching device consists on the one hand of a housing to be fastened on or in the door and on the other hand of spring elements loaded with spring force and connected to the retaining band. The housing has for each pivot position of the vehicle door or for each detent defining this pivot position on the inside two opposing depressions pressed outwards. The locking elements connected to the retaining band consist of two balls seated in a bush, between which spring elements are arranged such that the balls move away from one another in the direction of the locking recesses having housing walls are pushed. When the vehicle door is moved, the retaining band with the locking balls is moved relative to the housing in the housing, the balls interacting with the locking recesses.

These known door brackets have essentially proven themselves in practice, but their rather complex construction leads to relatively high costs. It has also been found to be disadvantageous that the end of the retaining band which has the latching elements and engages in the housing is not precisely defined in the effective direction of the latching elements or in the direction of force of the springs, because it is practically "floating" over the springs and the balls, ie elastic, is supported within the housing.

The present invention is based on the object of creating a door holder of the generic type which can be produced more economically by a simplified construction, but at the same time has improved properties with regard to its function.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the characterizing features of claim 1.

Through this configuration according to the invention, in a significant simplification in terms of design. Instead of two spring-loaded locking elements (balls), there is advantageously only a single locking element, this locking element being designed as a roller. The locking rail is very simple and inexpensive to manufacture, in particular as a simple sheet metal stamped part, so that the locking behavior of the locking device resulting from the arrangement and contour of the locking recesses in cooperation with the locking roller can be determined very easily or can be adapted to different requirements. It is also of decisive advantage that the locking rail is guided in a very defined manner by its support on the abutment according to the invention.

In connection with the invention, it is now preferably provided that the locking roller is part of the holding part to be fastened on the door side, while the locking rail simultaneously forms the holding strap. The locking rail is connected at one end, in particular via a pivot bearing, to a fastening element to be fastened to the vehicle spar, and at the other end it is guided through the holding part on the door side - cooperating there with the locking roller. When installed, the free end of the locking rail thus projects freely into the interior of the vehicle door; this principle can be called "cantilever".

The latching rail has a flat, preferably elongated, approximately rectangular cross section and is in particular arranged lying in a plane which is cut in at least approximately a vertical direction by the pivot axis of the retaining band or the latching rail forming the retaining band. The locking rail is thus preferably approximately Arranged "horizontally" lying, while the pivot axes of the vehicle door and the retaining strap (here preferably functionally identical to the locking rail) are aligned approximately "vertically". It is advantageous if the locking rail has an arcuately curved strip shape with a convex and a concave longitudinal edge, the locking recesses preferably being formed on the concave longitudinal edge.

Further advantageous design features and special embodiments of the invention are contained in the subclaims and the following description.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Draufsicht des erfindungsgemäßen Türhalters in Richtung der Schwenkachse des Haltebandes, wobei der Türhalter in einer Stellung dargestellt ist, die einer Zwischenstellung (sog. Garagenstellung) einer zugehörigen Fahrzeugtür entspricht,

Fig. 2

eine Seiten- bzw. Stirnansicht in Pfeilrichtung II gemäß Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

einen Schnitt durch den Bereich der Rasteinrichtung in der Schnittebene III-III gemäß Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

einen Schnitt analog zu Fig. 3 in einer Ausfürrungsvariante und

Fig. 5

einen Schnitt durch den Türhalter gemäß der Schnittlinie V-V in Fig. 2.

The invention is to be explained in more detail below with the aid of a preferred exemplary embodiment illustrated in the drawing and some embodiment variants. Show:

Fig. 1

2 shows a schematic plan view of the door holder according to the invention in the direction of the pivot axis of the retaining strap, the door holder being shown in a position which corresponds to an intermediate position (so-called garage position) of an associated vehicle door,

Fig. 2

2 shows a side or end view in the direction of arrow II according to FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

3 shows a section through the area of the latching device in the section plane III-III according to FIG. 2,

Fig. 4

a section analogous to FIG. 3 in an embodiment and

Fig. 5

3 shows a section through the door holder according to section line VV in FIG. 2.

In the different figures of the drawing, the same parts are always provided with the same reference symbols. Therefore, each description of a part that possibly only occurs once with reference to a specific drawing figure also applies analogously to the other drawing figures, in which this part can also be recognized with the corresponding reference symbol.

As can be seen first of all from FIGS. 1 and 5, a door holder 1 according to the invention consists on the one hand of a rigid, rod-like or strip-like door retaining band 2, which can be pivotally attached at one end to a vehicle spar, not shown, about a pivot axis 4, and on the other hand from a holding part 8 to be fastened on or in a vehicle door (also not shown). For fastening to the spar, the holding band 2 has a fastening element 5, to which it is connected via a pivot bearing 7 (axle bolt) in order to pivot about the pivot axis 4 to reach. The body-side or spar-side holding band 2 and the door-side holding part 8 are connected to one another in a relatively movable manner via a latching device 10 (see FIGS. 3 to 5 in this regard), the latching device 10 defining specific pivot positions of the vehicle door. The door is pivotally guided about a pivot axis, this door pivot axis being offset from the pivot axis 4 of the retaining strap 2 such that when the door is opened, the retaining strap 2 is practically "pulled out of the door" relative to the retaining part 8 fastened on the door side , the latching device 10 being effective during this relative movement.

According to the invention, the latching device 10 consists on the one hand of an elongated, flat, strip-shaped latching rail 20, which has latching recesses 24 on a first longitudinal edge 22, and on the other hand, of a rolling guide that runs over the first longitudinal edge 22 and cooperates with the latching recesses 24 and in the direction of the latching rail 20 a locking force 26 acted upon by a spring force F. In FIG. 3, the rolling movement of the locking roller 26 over the first longitudinal edge 22 of the locking rail 20 is illustrated by a double arrow 28; the rotation of the locking roller 26 occurring about its axis of rotation 30 (see FIG. 5) is illustrated in FIG. 3 with a small double arrow. By the interaction of the locking roller 26 with the locking recesses 24, i.e. due to the respective engagement of the locking roller 26 in the locking recesses 24 and the subsequent re-emergence from the respective locking recess 24, the locking roller 26 also moves transversely to the locking rail 20, i.e. in the direction of the double arrow 34. It is now further provided according to the invention that the locking rail 20 with its second longitudinal edge 32 opposite the locking recesses 24 and the locking roller 26 is supported on an abutment 34 against the spring force F (FIGS. 3 and 4).

The locking roller 26 is now preferably part of the holding part 8 to be fastened on the door side, while the locking rail 20 simultaneously forms the holding strap 2. This means that the locking rail 20 practically has a double function; on the one hand it forms a functional part of the latching device 10 and on the other hand it also acts as Tether 2, so that advantageously a separate tether can be saved. This leads to a particularly simple and inexpensive configuration. In this advantageous embodiment, the locking rail 20 is connected at one end via the pivot bearing 7 to the fastening element 5 which can be fastened on the vehicle side. The other end of the latching rail is passed through the holding part 8 on the door side.

It is also advantageous if the locking rail is aligned with respect to its strip shape in such a way that its strip surface defines a plane (or a plane region) which is at least perpendicular to the pivot pivot axis 4 on the side of the rail. It is therefore an approximately horizontal arrangement of the locking rail 20 relative to the approximately vertical pivot axis 4.

Here, the locking rail 20 expediently has an arcuately curved strip shape with a convexly curved strip edge and a concavely curved strip edge. The concave stripe edge is preferably identical to the first longitudinal edge 22 having the latching recesses 24 and the convex stripe edge to the second longitudinal edge 32 of the latching rail 20 supported on the abutment 34. The radius of curvature of the latching rail 20 or the radius of curvature of the longitudinal edges is now advantageously adapted to the pivoting movement of the door-side holding part 8 or the vehicle door so selected that the spring force acting on the locking roller 26 always acts at least approximately perpendicular to the locking rail 20 or to the respective tangent.

The door-side holding part 8 has in particular approximately cuboid housing 36 with through openings 38 for the locking rail 20. In this housing 36, a piston-like guide element 40 is slidably arranged in and against the direction of the spring force F, the locking roller 26 being rotatably mounted via an axis 44 within an axial slot recess 42 of the guide element 40 (see FIGS. 3 to 5). The axis 44 is non-positively, ie not rotatable, in the guide element 40, and the locking roller 26 is rotatably arranged on the axis 44. The latching rail 20 passing through the through openings 38 of the housing 36 is preferably also guided in regions with little side play through the slot recess 42 of the guide element 40, so that the latching roller 26 can interact with the latching recesses 24 on the longitudinal edge 22. The piston-like displaceable guide element 40 is in this case advantageously guided in the housing 36 with a cross-section deviating from the circular shape, in particular essentially rectangular or square, secured against rotation about its axis of movement (see in particular FIG. 5). This cross-sectional shape of the guide element 40 provides good, relatively long guidance for the axis 44 of the locking roller 26.

It is expedient if — as can be seen in FIG. 5 — the guide element 40 has recesses or depressions 46 in the inner region of the slot recess 42, each facing the locking rail 20, for receiving grease.

To generate the spring force F acting on the locking roller 26, a prestressed compression spring 48 is arranged within the housing 36 between the guide element 40 and a housing wall.

That which supports the locking rail 20 against the spring force F. Abutment 34 is formed by a bearing surface 50 on the housing, in particular a plastic insert 52 arranged in housing 36. Also in the area of this contact surface 50 - see FIG. 4 - recesses for grease can be formed. The abutment 34 or the bearing surface 50 can - as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 - to compensate for manufacturing or fastening tolerances at least in one coordinate direction so convex that the locking rail 20 in line or point contact with the abutment 34 or the support surface 50 is. As an alternative to the embodiment shown, the contact surface 50 can also be flat, since a point-like or linear contact is already guaranteed due to the convex curvature of the longitudinal edge 32 of the locking rail 20.

1, 3 and 4, the latching rail 20 preferably has an approximately hook-shaped end stop element 54 at its end facing away from the fastening element 5 and through the door-side holding part 8 or the housing 36, which end element 54 is located in one of the doors -Operating position corresponding position cooperates with the door-side holding part 8 to limit the door opening movement. This means that the end stop element 54 comes to rest on the holding part 8. 1 and 3, the end stop element 54 comes into contact with the housing 36 in the door-open position, the housing 36 preferably having a convex stabilizing bead 56 in the stop region. This largely prevents deformation of the housing 36 by repeatedly striking the end stop element 54. It is also expedient if, according to FIG. 3, the end stop element 54 has a concave recess approximately corresponding to the contour of the stabilizing bead 56 58, which then receives the stabilizing bead 56 in the stop position in a form-fitting manner. This particularly effectively prevents damage, such as cracks, in the area of the housing 36.

In an embodiment variant illustrated in FIG. 4, the end stop element 54 comes to rest in the stop position on an insert part arranged in the housing, which is preferably identical to the insert part 52 having the bearing surface 50 of the abutment 34. This insert part 52 is then made of an elastically deformable plastic manufactured so that striking the end stop element 54 is advantageously also damped.

Alternatively or in addition to this, a stop damping can also be realized in that the latching rail 20 is formed in the area of the latching recesses 24 and / or in the area of the end stop element 54 such that the latching roller is used to dampen the stop just before or when the door opening position is reached 26 is moved against the spring force F increasing it. On the one hand, this can be achieved in that the end stop element 54 interacts with the housing 36 of the holding part 8 or with the insert part 52 arranged therein in such a way that, in the stop position, a movement of the latching rail 20 from the abutment 34 in accordance with the "inclined plane" principle away in the direction of the locking roller 26 and then together with this against the spring force F (see FIG. 4, the element 54 shown in dashed lines and the double arrow 57). A possible, but not shown alternative to this is that the locking rail 20 has a damping section running in a region of its first longitudinal edge 22 upstream of the door opening position About this damping section, the locking roller 26 is moved shortly before reaching the stop position against the spring force F. The stop movement is advantageously damped (braked) by the increase in the spring force F achieved in each case.

3 to 5, the housing 36 of the door-side holding part 8 is preferably designed as a bent sheet metal part, in particular in two parts from a flange-like base plate 60 and an approximately cuboid-shaped hood part 62 with one approximately parallel to the base plate 60 Top wall 64, two longitudinal side walls 66 and two narrow side walls 68. Here, the spring force F acts between the two narrow side walls 68, because on the one hand the compression spring 48 is supported directly on one of the two narrow side walls 68, and on the other hand the insert part 52 forming the abutment 34 is on the opposite one Narrow side wall 68 supported. For this reason, it is now particularly advantageous if the narrow side walls 68 engage with their end regions 69 facing away from the top wall 64 in holding openings 70 of the base plate 60. In this way, a very high stability against spring force-induced bending of the narrow side walls 68 is achieved. This measure can be seen in particular in FIGS. 3 and 4.

For the connection between the base plate 60 and the hood part 62, each longitudinal side wall 66 has a fastening web 72 resting on the base plate 60, the fastening webs 72 being connected to the base plate 60 in particular via push-through joints 74 (embossed shapes; rivet connections without special rivets).

For fastening the holding part 8 on the door side, the base plate 60 has threaded elements in its surface area extending beyond the hood part 62, in particular in the form of so-called press-in nuts 76.

Because of the expedient design, the housing 36 can be manufactured very easily and inexpensively with low weight. Nevertheless, a high stability and thus a long durability of the door holder 1 is advantageously guaranteed.

An advantageous embodiment in the area of the fastening element 5 will now be explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5. This is that the fastening element 5 is preferably designed as a bent sheet metal part, in particular as an originally approximately U-shaped stamped part with a U-web section 80 having a fastening hole 78 and two U-leg sections 82. After punching out, the two leg sections are 82 bent or twisted (twisted) by 90 ° in each case out of the plane of the web section 80 into a position parallel to one another, the end of the locking rail 20 then being arranged between the leg sections 82. A bearing element 84 then extends through aligned bearing openings 86 in the leg sections 82 and the locking rail 20 (cf. also FIGS. 3 and 4). In addition, it can be advantageous if a sliding bushing insert 88 is provided in the region of the pivot bearing 7 (FIG. 5).

Further details of the door holder 1 according to the invention will now be explained. The locking rail 20 has at least two locking recesses 24, through the arrangement of which an opening position and an intermediate position (so-called garage position) the vehicle door are defined. However, it is within the scope of the invention to design the locking rail 20 with more locking recesses 24, and because of the design of the locking device 10 according to the invention, especially because of the small size of the locking roller 26, advantageously even at least up to five locking recesses 24 or door pivot positions can be (depending on the door opening angle). Each locking recess 24 expediently has a concave, circular-arc-shaped contour with a radius corresponding to the locking roller 26.

The locking rail 20 can be formed in a simple and inexpensive manner from a one-piece sheet metal stamped part.

It should also be mentioned that the guide element 40 and preferably also the insert part 52 consist in particular of a glass fiber reinforced polyamide - preferably PA 6 GF 30.

At least the following advantages can be achieved with the door holder 1 according to the invention:

The special design of the locking device 10 leads to a relative freedom of movement between the functional parts, as a result of which installation and manufacturing tolerances can be compensated for within certain limits.

The door holder can be relubricated in the open position.

Very high cogging torques in the range between 20 and 60 Nm can be achieved.

The door holder has a very low weight of less than 200 g and advantageously consists of very few components.

The latching behavior can be determined extremely easily, the areas between the latching positions depending on the requirements being able to be designed as sliding or rolling friction or concave or convex, smooth or stiff. It is also possible in principle to convert the locking recesses 24 into specifically shaped elevations, as a result of which the door holder can practically be converted into a "door brake".

The door holder has a high durability (long service life), including in the area of the pivot bearing 7, because the fastening element 5 according to the invention can easily absorb the respective swelling loads in continuous operation. This means that no deviations from the nominal dimensions can be determined even after 100,000 operations.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown and described, but also encompasses all embodiments having the same effect in the sense of the invention. Furthermore, the invention has not yet been limited to the combination of features defined in claim 1, but can also be defined by any other combination of specific features of all the individual features disclosed in total. This means that in principle practically every single feature of claim 1 can be omitted or replaced by at least one single feature disclosed elsewhere in the application. In this respect, claim 1 is only to be understood as a first attempt at formulation for an invention.

Claims (24)

1. Door catch (1) for vehicle doors, with a door retaining bar (2), which can be attached at one end in an articulated manner to a vehicle pillar, and a retaining part (8) to be attached to the door, the retaining bar (2) and the retaining part (8) being connected to one another in a manner allowing relative movement by means of a latch device (10) which defines specific pivot positions of the vehicle door, characterised in that the latch device (10) has on the one hand a strip-shaped latch rail (20) with latch notches (24) on a first lengthwise edge (22) and on the other hand a latch roller (26) guided so as to roll along the first lengthwise edge (22), interacting with the latch notches (24) and subjected to a spring force (F) in the direction of the latch rail (20), the latch rail (20) being supported in opposition to the spring force (F) against an abutment (34) with its second lengthwise edge (32) which faces the latch notches (24) and the latch roller (26), and the latch rail (20) extending with its strip surface perpendicular to an articulation/pivot axis (4) of the retaining bar (2) and the latch rail (20) on the pillar.
2. Door catch according to Claim 1,
   characterised in that the latch roller (26) is a constituent part of the retaining part (8) on the door, while the latch rail (20) at the same time forms the retaining bar (2) and for this purpose is connected at one end especially by means of a pivot bearing (7) to an attachment element (5) which can be attached to the vehicle pillar and at the other end passes through the retaining part (8) on the door.
3. Door catch according to Claim 1 or 2,
   characterised in that the latch rail (20) has a curved strip-like shape with a convexly curved strip edge and a concavely curved strip edge, the concave strip edge preferably forming the first lengthwise edge (22) having the latch notches (24) and the convex strip edge forming the second lengthwise edge (32) supported against the abutment (34).
4. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 1 to 3,
   characterised in that the latch roller (26) is mounted within a slot recess (42) of a plunger-like guide element (40) which is located in a manner moveable in the direction of the spring force (F) in a housing (36) of the retaining part (8) on the door, the latch rail (20) passing through the housing, and the guide element is subjected to the spring force (F), the latch rail (20) engaging, preferably in certain regions, with little lateral clearance in the slot recess (42) of the guide element (40).
5. Door catch according to Claim 4,
   characterised in that the plunger-like guide element (40) is guided in the housing (36) in a manner secured against twisting by a cross-section differing from a circular shape, in particular being substantially rectangular.
6. Door catch according to Claim 4 or 5,
   characterised in that the guide element (40) in particular in the inside area of the slot recess (42) turned in each case towards the latch rail (20), has depressions (46) for receiving lubricating grease.
7. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 4 to 6,
   characterised in that a tensioned pressure spring (48) is located within the housing (36) between the guide element (40) and a housing wall (68) to create the spring force (F) acting on the latch roller (26).
8. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 1 to 7,
   characterised in that the abutment (34) is formed by a support surface (50) on the housing side, in particular of a plastics insert (52).
9. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 2 to 8,
   characterised in that the latch rail (20) has, on its end which faces away from the attachment element (5) on the pillar and which is guided through the retaining part (8) on the door, an approximately hook-shaped limit-stop element (54) which interacts with the retaining part (8) on the door in a door-open position.
10. Door catch according to Claim 9,
    characterised in that the limit-stop element (54) comes to rest against the housing (36) of the retaining part (8) on the door in the door-open position, the housing (36) preferably having a convex stabilising bead (56) and the limit-stop element (54) having in particular a corresponding concave recess (58) for form-fittingly receiving the stabilising bead (56).
11. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 1 to 10,
    characterised by a means for impact damping in the door-open position.
12. Door catch according to claim 11,
    characterised in that the limit-stop element (54) acts against an elastically deformable insert (52).
13. Door catch according to Claim 11 or 12,
    characterised in that the latch rail (20) is constructed such that for impact damping, shortly before or on reaching the door-open position, the latch roller (26) is moved in opposition to the spring force (F), increasing the latter.
14. Door catch according to Claim 13,
    characterised in that the limit-stop element (54) interacts with the housing (36) of the retaining part (8) or the insert (53) in such a way that, in the stop position, it produces a movement of the latch rail (20), in accordance with the principle of the inclined plane, away from the abutment (34) towards the latch roller (26), and in conjunction with the latter in opposition to the spring force (F).
15. Door catch according to Claim 13 or 14,
    characterised in that the latch rail (20) has a damping section in an area of its first lengthwise edge (22) located before the door-open position in such a manner that the latch roller (26) is moved over the damping section in opposition to the spring force (F) shortly before the stop position is reached.
16. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 4 to 15,
    characterised in that the housing (36) of the retaining part (8) on the door is in the form of a bent plate component and is preferably in two parts comprising a flange-like baseplate (60) and a hood part (62) bent approximately into a cuboid and having a cover wall (64) approximately parallel to the baseplate (60), two lengthwise side walls (66) and two narrow side walls (68).
17. Door catch according to Claim 16,
    characterised in that the narrow side walls (68) which absorb the spring force (F) engage with retaining apertures (70) in the baseplate (60) by means of their end regions (69) which face away from the cover wall (64).
18. Door catch according to Claim 16 or 17,
    characterised in that each lengthwise side wall (66) has an attachment web (72) resting on the baseplate (60), the attachment webs (72) being connected to the baseplate (60) in particular by penetration joints (74).
19. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 16 to 18,
    characterised in that the baseplate (60) has threaded components, in particular insert nuts (76), for attachment to the door.
20. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 2 to 19,
    characterised in that the attachment element (5) connected to the latch rail (20) by the pivot bearing (7) is in the form of a bent plate component, and in particular a U-shaped punched part with a U-shaped web section (80) having a fixing hole (78) and two sections (82) forming the legs of the U, which are both bent at 90° from the plane of the web section (80) in a position parallel to one another, the end of the latch rail (20) being located between the leg sections (82) and a bearing element (84) extending through aligned bearing apertures (86) of the leg sections (82) and the latch rail (20).
21. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 2 to 20,
    characterised in that a guide bush insert (88) is provided in the region of the pivot bearing (7).
22. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 1 to 21,
    characterised in that the latch rail (20) has at least two latch notches (24), the locations of which define an open position and an intermediate position of the vehicle door.
23. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 1 to 22,
    characterised in that each latch notch (24) of the latch rail (20) has a concave contour which is at least approximately the shape of the arc of a circle with a radius [r] matched to the latch roller (26).
24. Door catch according to one or more of Claims 1 to 23,
    characterised in that the latch rail (20) is formed from a single-piece plate punched part.

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