GB2026597A

GB2026597A - Window raiser

Info

Publication number: GB2026597A
Application number: GB7925119A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Paumellerie Electrique SA
Current assignee: Paumellerie Electrique SA
Priority date: 1978-07-21
Filing date: 1979-07-19
Publication date: 1980-02-06
Also published as: ES245011Y; BE877799A; DE2928948A1; FR2431594B1; ES245011U; NL7905511A; IT7968517A0; FR2431594A1; GB2026597B; SE7906213L

Abstract

A window raiser comprises a window support (27), connected to a window base (16) by rollers (23) engaged in a rail (17), the support (27) being rigid with a slide which is guided in a slideway (31) and with a nut (33) which is engaged with a screw (32) driven in rotation by a motor (46). The window support (27) is movable in the slideway (31) with the nut and the slide in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the screw and to the window base (16). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Window raiser The present invention relates to a window raiser comprising a window support in the form of a plate which is rigid with a slide which is guided in a fixed rectilinear slideway of a housing in which a screw is journalled, the screw being prevented from moving in translation and being driven in rotation by a drive device and engaged with a nut which is rigid with the window support, the guiding of the slide in the slideway permitting a movement in translation in the direction of the axis of the screw so as to raise or lower the window.

in a window raiser of this type described in French Patent No 1,294,605 to Anderson, the adaptation to the possible curvature of the window is provided by the flexibility of the two flanges of the support-plate on each of which flanges there is rotatably mounted a roller which is engaged with a mount forming the window base.

The drawback of this arrangement is a defective guiding and danger of blocking of the rollers supporting the mount since these rollers must move transversely under the effect of the deformation of the flanges of the plate which results from the curvature of the window.

An object of the invention is to overcome this drawback and to provide more generally a construction which is simpler than that of the known window raiser.

According to the invention, there is provided a window raiser wherein the slide is guided in the slideway in such manner that it can undergo movements in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the screw so as to enable it to adapt itself to the possible curvature of the window.

The advantage of this arrangement is a good quality of the relative guiding between the platesupport and the window base owing to the fact that these elements have a fixed transverse position, the transverse movements of the nutcarrying slide taking up the differences due to the curvature of the window so that the window rises and descends smoothly with no risk of wedging.

The part forming the slideway of the housing advantageously has a U-shaped section the branches of which form parallel planar faces with which complementary surfaces of the slide have a sliding contact, the open end of the U facing the window support.

The slide may itself constitute a U-sectioned cage the open end of which faces the bottom of the slideway whereas the closed end is fixed to the window support. The nut fixed to the window support is advantageously made from a plastics material which has a low coefficient of friction and is moulded inside a shell of thin sheet metal.

In the case where the window is guided in two parallel slideways of a vehicle door which have unequal lengths, it is advantageous, in order to compensate for the higher friction developed in the longer slideway and the tiping torque which may result therefrom on the window, to provide a pressing member which is carried by the window support and bears elastically against an outer surface of the slideway guiding the slide so as to produce an opposing torque. This pressing member may be a spring strip, a spiral spring or an elastically biased roller.

In order to reduce the friction, the ends of the screw advantageously bear, beyond the radial bearings in which these ends are journalled, on axial bearings of the housing, one of which bearings is fixed whereas the other is resiliently mounted. A centre ball may be interposed between each end of the screw and the thrust plate of the corresponding axial bearing. It is also possible to arrange that the end portions of the screw form points which directly bear against the thrust plates.

The invention will be described by way of example in the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view cf a front right door of an automobile vehicle showing the window raiser according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the door; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the window raiser to an enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on tine 5-5 of Fig. 4, and Fig 6 is a view of a modification of the upper axial bearing for the rotary screw of the window raiser.

The door 1 of the automobile vehicle shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has, in a conventional manner, a generally curved shape defined in the lower half2 of the door by a curved outer panel 3 which is assembled with an inner panel 4 in the form of a box structure 6 in the side walls 7 of which there are fixed two parallel slideways 8 and 9 for guiding the window 11. The shorter slideway 8 is located in the front of the door and terminates at the level of the upper edge of the box structure 6 and the other slideway 9, which is located at the rear of the door, is longer owing to the fact that extends along the pillar 12 of the upper frame 13 of the door.

The horizontal lower edge 14 oi the window 11 is inserted and retained in a U-section member 1 6 under which there is fixed, in a region located at roughly one third of the distance between the two slideways measured from the long slideway 9, Usection rail 17 whose open end faces the inner panel 4 and whose closed end is welded to a plate 1 8 which is welded to the window base section member 16.The flanges 19 of the rail 17 are slightly inwardly deformed so as to define two ribs 21 which are engaged in the groove 22 of two rollers 23 which are rotatively mounted on the respective wings 24, 26 of a window support 27 in the shape of a plate whose centre part 28 is rigid with a slide 29 which is guided in a slideway 31 and is capable of being driven, essentially in translation, by means of a rotary screw 32 which is engaged with a nut 33 fixed in the window support inside the slide 29.

The slideway 31, which has a U-shaped section whose open end faces the outer panel 3 and whose closed end 34 is bolted at 36 to the deformed refions 37 of the inner panel 4, is part of a housing 38 which further comprises two end walls 39,41 which are perpendicular to the axis of the slideway 31 and in each of which a radial bearing 42 receives, rotatively, a smooth end region of the screw 32, and a lower extension 43 which defines a cavity in which a toothed belt 44 transmits to the screw 32 the torque produced by a reversible electric motor 46 in cooperation with two toothed pulleys 47 which are respectively fixed to the output shaft 45 of the motor and to the lower end of the screw 32.The latter end bears axially, through a centre ball 48, on a thrust plate 49 fixed to the housing under the effect of the elastically yieldable thrust exerted on the upper end of the screw, also through a ball 48, by a thrust plate 51 which is biased by a compression spring 52 which bears against the upper end of the slideway 31.

Applied in sliding contact against the inner surface of the branches 53 of the U-section slideway 31 is the outer surface of the branches 54 of the slide 29 which also has a U-shaped section and whose closed end 56 is fixed to the centre part 28 of the window support 27 by means of rivets 54 or like means. inside the slide 29 the nut 33, which is obtained in the illustrated embodiment by a moulding of a plastics material having a low coefficient of friction inside a shell 65 of thin sheet metal, is fixed to the window support 27 by the assembly with two ear portions 57 bent at 900 at the upper and lower ends of the centre part 28 of the window support.

As is clear from Figs. 3 and 5, the assembly supporting the window slide nut can undergo not only a travel in translation along the axis of the screw 13 but also movements perpendicular to this axis of the screw and to the window base 1 6 by sliding transversely inside the U-section slideway 32 under the effect of the curvature of the window 11. More precisely, the slide 29 is movable between the fully withdrawn position, shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 5 and corresponding to the end of the rising travel of the window. and the position shown in full lines which corresponds to the deflection of the path of the window base which is reached roughly halfway along the travel. Notches 58 in the ear portions 57 permit the relative transverse movement of the screw 32 and the nut 33.

In order to compensate for the possible tiping torque of the widow created by the additional friction which appears in the course of the movement of the window 11 along the longer door slideway 9, the window support is provided with a spring strip 59 whose end 61 exerts a frictional contact with the outer face of the corresponding branch 53 of the slideway 31 guiding the slide so as to create an opposing torque.

In Fig. 6, the thrust ball 48 is replaced by the pointed shape 62 of the end portion of the screw against which the thrust plate 51 bears.

The pitch of the screw 32 is sufficiently low to ensure that the screw-nut system is irreversible, that is to say the angle of the threads of the screw is less than the screw-nut friction angle.

In order to ensure that, in the event of failure of the electric motor 46, the window 11 may be shifted manually, the end of the output shaft 45 is shaped in such manner as to be capable of being engaged by a tool whereby it is possible to rotate the shaft and the screw 32. In the illustrated embodiment, a slot 45a is provided for the insertion of the end of a screw-driver.

Claims

1. A window raiser comprising a window support in the shape of a plate rigid with a slide guided in a fixed rectilinear slideway of a housing in which housing a screw is journalled and is prevented from moving in translation and is driven in rotation by a drive device and engaged with a nut rigid with the window support, the guiding of the slide in the slideway allowing a displacement in translation in the direction of the axis of the screw for raising or lowering the window, wherein the slide is guided in such manner that it is capable of moving in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the screw so that it can adapt itself to a possible curvature of the window.

2. A window raiser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slide forms a U-section cage whose closed end is fixed to the window support.

3. A window raiser as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the slide is retained in the centre part of the plate-support between two ear portions of the plate which are bent perpendicular to the axis of the screw and are each provided with a notch through which the screw extends and which allows the transverse movements of the slide.

4. A window raiser as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein, in the known manner, the platesupport of the window comprises, on each side of its centre part, two flanges on each of which flanges there is rotatively mounted a roller which is adapted to be engaged in a rail carried by the window base.

5. A window raiser as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, applied to a window guided in two slideways of unequal lengths of a vehicle door, wherein the window support is provided with a pressing member which bears elastically against an outer surface of the slideway guiding the slide, so as to produce a torque which opposes the tipping torque possibly produced by the additionai friction which is exerted along the longer slideway.

6. A window raiser as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pressing member is a spring strip.

7. A window raiser as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the ends of the screw bear against axial bearings of the housing, one of the bearings being fixed whereas the other is resiliently mounted.

8. A window raiser as claimed in claim 7, wherein the axial bearings are thrust bearings having a single central ball.

9. A window raiser as claimed in claim 7, wherein the axial bearings comprise a thrust plate on which there is directly applied the corresponding end portion of the screw which forms a point.

10. A window raiser as claimed in any one ofthe claims 1 to 9, wherein the screw is driven in rotation by the motor through a toothed belt transmission.

11. A window raiser as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 10, wherein the nut is of a plastics material having a low coefficient of friction.

12. A window raiser as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 11, wherein the screw is driven by a motor, and the end portion of the output shaft of the motor is so shaped as to be capable of being engaged by a tool for rotating the output shaft and the screw manually.

13. A window raiser, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.