JP2001138747A - Opening/closing drive device for sunroof device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an opening/closing drive device for a sunroof device having a simple structure and an excellent assembling property. SOLUTION: In this opening/closing device 1 for the sunroof device, a gear cable 12 engages with an output gear 13 by rotation of the output gear 13 linked to a gear mechanism 14 linked to a motor 11 is pushed and pulled to open and close a movable panel 3 linked to the gear cable 12 and disposed in an opening part 2 formed in a vehicle roof. The opening/closing device 1 has a housing 16 disposed with the output gear 13 outside it, housing the gear mechanism 14; and a box 43 integrally formed with a sunroof frame body 4 openably and closably supporting the movable panel 3, covering a meshing part of the output gear 13 and the gear cable 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an opening and closing drive device for a sunroof device for opening and closing a movable panel formed on a vehicle roof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional opening / closing drive of a sunroof device for opening / closing a movable panel, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-1069 has been used.
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 85 is known.

This conventional device has a case in which a gear mechanism is built in and an output gear is disposed outside and is screwed to a sunroof housing, a case fixed to the case and covering a meshing portion between the output gear and the gear cable and biasing force. And a box for supporting a plate spring for supporting the gear cable and maintaining the meshing state between the output gear and the gear cable, respectively, separately from the sunroof housing.

[0004]

However, in the structure of the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the box covering the meshing portion between the output gear and the gear cable is formed separately from the sunroof housing, and usually, the strength inside the box is secured. It is formed of a metal member such as iron for the purpose. Therefore, this leads to an increase in the number of components related to the opening / closing drive device, and an increase in the number of manufacturing steps is not preferable. Further, in this configuration, after the casing pipe through which the cable is inserted is attached to the box, the casing pipe and the box are attached to the sunroof housing such as the front frame, which is not preferable in terms of assemblability. Further, there is a problem that the weight increases when the box is made of metal.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sunroof device opening / closing drive device which has a simpler structure than conventional devices and is excellent in assemblability, in order to solve the above problems.

[0006]

The technical means taken in the present invention to solve the above technical problem is that the output gear meshes with the output gear by the rotation of the output gear linked to the gear mechanism linked to the drive source. In the opening / closing drive device of the sunroof device which pushes and pulls the gear cable thus arranged and is arranged in the opening formed in the vehicle roof and opens and closes the movable panel linked to the gear cable, the output gear is arranged outside. The housing includes a housing having a built-in gear mechanism, and a box formed integrally with a sunroof frame body that supports the movable panel so as to be openable and closable, and covers a meshing portion between the output gear and the gear cable.

According to this technical means, since the box is formed integrally with the sunroof frame, that is, a part of the sunroof frame forms a box, the housing covers the meshing portion between the output gear and the gear cable. Is fixed to the box, whereby the opening and closing drive device is connected to the sunroof frame. Therefore, the number of components related to the opening / closing drive device is reduced as compared with the conventional device, and the number of manufacturing steps is also reduced.

Further, since the box is formed of resin, the shape can be set arbitrarily in order to secure the strength of a portion covering the meshing portion between the output gear and the gear cable, and the weight is smaller than that of a metal such as iron. Lightweight and suitable.

Further, when the gear cable extending outside the box is inserted into the casing pipe, the sunroof frame and the casing pipe are fixedly mounted by attaching the casing pipe to the box. It is also preferable from the viewpoint of assembly.

[0010] Specifically, the sunroof frame includes a guide rail disposed on both side edges of the opening, and a resin frame formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail. And formed integrally.

Preferably, a supporting member for supporting the gear cable and maintaining the meshing state between the output gear and the gear cable is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the box, and the gear when the gear cable is pushed and pulled inside the box is provided. It is preferable that damage to the cable and the box due to sliding between the cable and the inner peripheral surface of the box is suppressed, and furthermore, it is possible to prevent the gear cable from bulging outward from the meshing portion with the output gear. .

More preferably, the box and the housing are fixed when a holding hole is formed in a side wall of the box through which the gear cable penetrates to hold the casing pipe through which the gear cable is inserted and extends from the side wall to the outside. In this case, the casing pipe can be attached at the same time, and the assembling property is improved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An opening / closing drive device for a sunroof device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sunroof device employing the opening / closing drive device 1 of the present embodiment. An opening 2 is formed in the vehicle roof, and a sunroof frame 4 that movably supports a movable panel 3 that opens and closes the opening 2 is disposed on both side edges of the opening 2. The sunroof frame 4 includes a guide rail 41 arranged on both side edges of the opening 2 and a resin frame 42 formed separately from the guide rail 41 and formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 41. It is configured. In the front frame 42 on the front edge side of the opening 2,
An opening / closing drive device 1 for opening and closing the movable panel 3 by pushing and pulling the gear cable 12 meshed with the output gear 13 by the rotation of an output gear 13 linked to a gear mechanism 14 linked to a motor 11 as a drive source. Is formed,
The opening / closing drive 1 is linked to each link mechanism 5 via a gear cable 12. It should be noted that the gear cable 12 is toothed as is well known, and one end is provided on the guide rail 41.
The sliding guide is provided in the casing pipe 6 and the guide rail 41 through which the gear cable 12 is inserted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an opening / closing drive device of the sunroof device, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the opening / closing drive device of the sunroof device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the opening / closing drive device 1 includes a motor 11, a gear mechanism 14 having an output gear 13 meshed with a gear cable 12 linked to the movable panel 3 and linked to the motor 11,
It mainly includes a circuit board 15 having a control element for controlling the operation of the motor 11, and a gear mechanism 14 and a housing 16 containing the circuit board 15.

The housing 16 includes a box-shaped gear mechanism side case 16A and a circuit board side case 16B which closes the gear mechanism side case 16A to define a housing space. Gear mechanism side case 16A and circuit board side case 16
B is engaged by fitting engagement portions (not shown) formed in both cases. The rotation output shaft 17 of the gear mechanism 14 is
Are rotatably supported by the gear mechanism side case 16A and the circuit board side case 16B so as to traverse the accommodation space. One end of the rotation output shaft 17 extends to the outside through the gear mechanism side case 16A, and an output gear 13 is fixed to one end of the rotation output shaft 17 so as to rotate integrally with the rotation output shaft 17.

A worm gear (not shown) is fixed to a rotating shaft of the motor 11 so as to rotate integrally therewith. The rotation output shaft 17 and the worm wheel gear 32 are supported so as to rotate integrally. The worm gear and the worm oil gear 32 mesh with each other to form the gear mechanism 14. The rotation operation of the motor 11 is reduced by the gear mechanism 14 to rotate the rotation output shaft 17, and the output gear 13
Output from As a result, the rotation of the output gear 13 causes the movable panel 3 to move so that the opening 2 slides or tilts from the open state to the closed state, or changes from the closed state to the slide or tilt open state.

The output gear 13 disposed outside the housing 16 meshes with the two gear cables 12 so as to be pushed and pulled in opposite directions, respectively, and is arranged on the inner periphery of the box 43 and the box 43. The engagement portion is covered by the support member 18. The supporting member 18 is a leaf spring made of iron. The meshing state between the output gear 13 and the gear cable 12 is maintained by supporting the gear cable 12 with the supporting member 18, and the gear cable 12 and the box 43 are pushed and pulled. Of the gear cable 12 and swelling outward from the portion where the gear cable 12 meshes with the output gear 13.

The box 43 is formed integrally with the front frame 42 so as to extend from the center of the front frame 42 to the front of the opening 2 at the time of injection molding of the front frame 42 made of reinforced nylon. During injection molding,
The surface of the box 43 supporting the gear cable 12 is set to be thicker than the upper surface in order to suppress the gear cable 12 from bulging outward. In the side wall 43a of the box 43 through which the gear cable 12 penetrates, two holding holes 43b each for inserting the gear cable 12 therein and holding the casing pipe 6 extending from the side wall 43a to the outside are formed, that is, four in total. One gear cable 12 passes through the opposing holding hole 43b of each side wall 43a. The gear cable 12 extending outside the box 43 penetrates through the inside of the casing pipe 6 attached to the holding hole 43b, and is linked to each link mechanism 5. With the casing pipe 6 held in the holding hole 43b and the support member 18 arranged on the inner periphery of the box 43, the lid 1
9 from below in FIG.
3, the casing pipe 6 and the support member 18 are attached. In the present embodiment, the outer diameter of the end of the casing pipe 6 attached to the holding hole 43b through which the gear cable 12 for sliding the movable panel 3 is inserted is formed wider than the inner diameter of the holding hole 43b. Pushing and pulling of the cable 12 prevents the casing pipe 6 from coming off the holding hole 43b.

The assembling of the opening / closing drive device 1 of the sunroof device having the above-described configuration will be described. First, with the support member 18 disposed in the box 43 and the four casing pipes 6 inserted through the holding holes 43b, the lid 1
9 is fitted into the box 43, and the casing pipe 6 and the support member 18 are attached to the box 43. At this point, the gear cable 12 has not been inserted into the casing pipe 6 yet. Next, the gear cable 12 is inserted into the casing pipe 6 from the end of the casing pipe 6 on the link mechanism 5 side. The housing 1 in which the motor 11, the gear mechanism 14, and the circuit board 15 are disposed
The opening and closing drive device 1 is connected to the front frame 42 by screwing the box 43 and the housing 16 so that the output gear 13 outside the housing 6 is meshed with the gear cable 12 in the box 43. . The front frame 42 is attached to the guide rail 41 in a state where the front frame 42 is connected to the opening / closing drive device 1 to form the sunroof frame 4.

As described above, the box 43 that covers the meshing portion between the output gear 13 and the gear cable 12 is formed integrally with the front frame 42. It is connected to the frame 4. Therefore, the number of components related to the opening / closing drive device 1 is reduced as compared with the conventional device, the configuration is simplified, and the assemblability is improved. Also, box 43
Is molded by injection molding of a resin, it is possible to easily mold a portion requiring strength to be thick, which is preferable in terms of weight and production.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, a damper mechanism is provided between an output gear of a gear mechanism and a rotary output shaft. Drive device or a drive device provided with a detection mechanism for detecting the moving position of the roof panel in the housing.

[0022]

According to the present invention, since the box is formed integrally with the sunroof frame, that is, a part of the sunroof frame constitutes the box, the opening and closing drive device is provided by fixing the housing to the box. Connected to the sunroof frame. Therefore, the number of components related to the opening / closing drive device is reduced as compared with the conventional device, and the number of manufacturing steps is also reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sunroof device employing an opening / closing drive device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an opening and closing drive device of the sunroof device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the opening / closing drive device of the sunroof device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Opening-and-closing drive device 2 ... Opening part 3 ... Movable panel 4 ... Sunroof frame 5 ... Link mechanism 6 ... Casing pipe 11 ... Motor (drive source) 12 ...・ Gear cable 13 ・ ・ ・ Output gear 14 ・ ・ ・ Gear mechanism 16 ・ ・ ・ Housing 18 ・ ・ ・ Support member 41 ・ ・ ・ Guide rail 42 ・ ・ ・ Front frame (frame) 43 ・ ・ ・ Box

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Kitani 2-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi F-term (reference) in Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. 2E052 AA09 CA06 DA03 DA08 DB03 DB08 EA16 EB01 EC01 KA15 KA16 KA17

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gear cable meshed with an output gear is pushed and pulled by a rotation operation of an output gear linked to a gear mechanism linked to a drive source, and the gear cable is arranged in an opening of a vehicle roof and the gear is arranged. An opening / closing driving device for a sunroof device that opens and closes a movable panel linked to a cable, wherein a housing having the output gear disposed outside and the gear mechanism built therein, and a sunroof frame body that supports the movable panel so that the movable panel can be opened and closed. A box integrally formed and covering a meshing portion between the output gear and the gear cable. 2. The sunroof frame includes a guide rail disposed on both side edges of the opening, and a resin frame formed in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the guide rail. The opening / closing drive device for a sunroof device according to claim 1, wherein the drive device is formed integrally with the frame. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a support member for supporting the gear cable and maintaining a meshing state between the output gear and the gear cable is disposed on an inner peripheral surface of the box. Open / close drive for sunroof equipment. 4. A side wall of the box through which the gear cable passes is formed with a holding hole for inserting the gear cable therein and holding a casing pipe extending from the side wall to the outside. The opening / closing drive device for a sunroof device according to claim 1.