JP2003154852A - Opening adjustment device for hatchback-type door - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To steplessly adjust the opening of a door, which is of hatchback type such as in a station wagon or a coupe type car, and stop the door at any position when opening it, by providing a means to regulate the opening in a gas spring that assists the opening-closing force of the door. SOLUTION: In the hatchback-type door that opens with an operating force reduced by the assisting force of the gas pressure of the gas spring, which is installed between the car body and the door that opens and closes in the vertical plane, the opening regulating means is provided between the cylinder of the gas spring and its piston rod to steplessly determine the door opening position and hold the door at any angle. The door opening is regulated by the gas spring that extends to the position adjusted by the opening regulating means when the gas spring is stroked in the direction of opening the door while extending the gas spring.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas spring for assisting the opening / closing operation force of a flip-up type door such as a rear hatch (also referred to as a rear door) provided so as to be flipped up to the rear of a vehicle of a wagon type or a coupe type. The present invention relates to an improvement of a flip-up door opening adjustment device that can adjust the opening of the flip-up door infinitely by providing a degree regulating means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent flip-up doors (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "doors") are highly functionalized by providing a rear wind wiper device, a rear mirror device for confirming a rear view, or the like. For this reason, the weight of the door alone increases, so that the spring reaction force due to the enclosed gas of the gas spring installed between the door and the vehicle body is set to be large as a device for assisting the operating force required for opening and closing the door. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the vehicle 1 is stopped in a parking lot or the like with a low roof to load and unload luggage, or various kinds of leisure equipment such as skis and commercial equipment are loaded on the vehicle roof 2. When loading and unloading luggage in a closed state, when the gas spring 3 tries to make a full stroke by its spring reaction force, the door 4 may pierce the obstacle 5 such as the ceiling of the parking lot or the luggage on the roof. The door 4 is dented and damaged by hitting hard. Therefore, in order to prevent the door from colliding with luggage, it is necessary to develop a device for stopping the door 4 at an arbitrary angle in the middle. Conventionally, as a device for adjusting the opening of a flip-up type door, the technique disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-19867 (hereinafter referred to as "first conventional device") and the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-100242 (hereinafter referred to as "technology") "Second conventional device"), fair 7
-40745 Publication (hereinafter referred to as "third conventional device")
Or a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-294508 (hereinafter referred to as “fourth conventional device”) (for details of the technique disclosed in each of these publications, refer to each publication).

In the first conventional apparatus, a stopper member having a plurality of leaf-shaped inner circumferences is fixed to an outer cylinder of a gas spring provided between a door and a vehicle body, and a piston rod has a plurality-leaf-shaped outer circumference. A stopper member is provided, and the outer cylinder is formed to rotate with respect to the piston rod by 60 ° C. so that the engaging member engages with the stopper member or is disengaged from the engaging position. When it is desired to stop the door at an opening position on the way, the outer cylinder is rotated by 60 ° C. so that the engaging member engages with the stopper member. For this reason, the stroke amount of the piston is shortened by the length dimension of the engaging member, and the door is adjusted to stop at the opening position of the first stage where the opening is small. Further, when the door is opened to the maximum opening degree, the outer cylinder is further rotated by 60 ° C., so that the leaves of the engaging member do not engage with the leaves of the stopper member and are slidably displaced between the stopper members. Therefore, not the engaging member but the piston directly abuts against the stopper member, and the piston is stopped at the second opening position which is the maximum opening position. Thus, by engaging and disengaging the engaging member with the stopper member by the rotation adjusting operation of the outer cylinder, the extension length of the piston rod is restricted to the first opening position and the second opening position. There is.

Further, in the gas spring of the second conventional apparatus, a piston rod movably mounted integrally with the outer cylinder is slidably provided on the inner cylinder of the double cylinder structure consisting of both inner and outer cylinders, The outer cylinder is formed so as to slide with respect to the inner passage as the piston rod expands or contracts. The outer cylinder is screwed to the base end of the piston rod, and the stopper is installed on the outer cylinder by adjusting the screwing amount so that the guide member provided on the piston rod side can be adjusted. The stroke length is regulated by hitting, and the opening of the door is adjusted by this.

Further, in the third conventional device, a cover member having a first engaging hole and a second engaging hole is attached to the outer cylinder of the gas spring, and a gap is provided between the outer cylinder and the cover member. A lever member fixed to the piston rod and having a locking claw at its tip is movably provided. By merely performing the operation of opening the door, the locking claw engages with the second engagement hole, and the door can be stopped during the opening operation. If the user wants to open the door further, the engaging claw that engages with the second engaging hole is temporarily released by using a special operating lever prepared in advance, and the engaging claw is moved to the first engaging hole. The door can be opened to the maximum opening position by engaging with. In this way, the door is stopped at an intermediate position by engaging the locking claw with the second engaging hole.

Further, in the fourth conventional device, a lock lever having a stepped locking step portion is rotatably provided on a piston rod of a gas spring, and the lock lever is rotatably attached to the piston rod side at all times. It is attached so that it can be pushed. The door is opened and the end surface of the outer cylinder is locked to an appropriate locking step so that the once-opened door does not unexpectedly close.

[0007]

However, in the first conventional device, not only the machining for forming the complicated plural leaves on the stopper member and the engaging member is required, but also the outer cylinder is formed. Since these components must be incorporated inside, the production cost of the gas spring is extremely high. Further, since the door can be stopped only at one position on the way, and the door is not configured to be able to stop at any position without any steps, it is inconvenient to adjust the opening degree of the door. In the second conventional device, the opening degree is adjusted by screwing the outer cylinder to the threaded portion provided at the base end of the piston rod, and rotating the outer cylinder to feed it. Therefore, the adjustment amount of the opening adjustment is only in the range where the screw portion is formed, the range of the opening adjustment is narrow and the stroke adjustment is limited, and if the screw adjustment mechanism is not provided between the outer cylinder and the piston rod. However, there is also a problem that the structure becomes complicated. Also, the third
Since the opening degree of the conventional device is adjusted by engaging the locking claw with the second locking hole, only one position on the way can be adjusted and the door cannot be stopped steplessly at any position. In addition, a special operation lever is required to remove the locking claw that engages with the engagement hole. Furthermore, when the door is opened, the locking claw always engages with the second engagement hole. Therefore, when the gas spring is moved to the maximum stroke, it engages with the second engagement hole. There was also a problem that the door could not be opened to the maximum opening all at once, making adjustment of the opening of the door inconvenient, which made loading and unloading the load troublesome. The fourth conventional device is merely a structure that does not close the door once it is opened, even if a force to close the door suddenly acts. It is not a structure that can be positively stopped and fixed at a desired position.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems, and assists the opening / closing operation force of a flip-up type door such as a rear hatch provided so as to flip up behind a vehicle of a wagon type or a coupe type. An object of the present invention is to provide a flip-up type door opening adjustment device which is provided with an opening control means in a gas spring and adjusts the opening of the door steplessly and stops it at an arbitrary position when the door is opened by flipping it up. And

[0009]

The present invention has the following constitution to achieve the above object. That is, claim 1
A flip-up door opening adjustment device according to the invention described above is a gas spring including an outer cylinder and a piston rod that expands and contracts in the outer cylinder between a vehicle body and a door that can be opened and closed in a vertical plane. In the flip-up door that is opened by reducing the operation force at the time of flipping up the door by the assisting force of the gas pressure of the gas spring, the opening of the door is provided between the outer cylinder of the gas spring and the piston rod. The opening regulation means for positioning and fixing the degree at any angle steplessly is provided, and when the gas spring is extended to make a stroke in the direction of opening the door, the gas spring is adjusted by the opening regulation means. It is characterized in that the opening of the door is regulated by extending to the open position.

The invention according to claim 2 relates to the opening adjusting device for a flip-up door according to claim 1, wherein the opening restricting means is fixed at an arbitrary position with respect to the outer cylinder of the gas spring. An opening control member, a stopper fixing member fixed to the piston rod of the gas spring, and a base end side fixed to the stopper fixing member and extending in the longitudinal direction of the gas spring. On the free end side, a stopper member is provided, which is provided with an engaging portion that is engaged with the opening degree restricting member by making a stroke in a direction in which the gas spring extends.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
According to the flip-up door opening adjustment device described, the stopper member, at the portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the gas spring, so as to have a cross-sectional shape along the shape of the outer cylinder of the gas spring. It is characterized by being formed.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below based on the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are views for explaining the outer appearance configuration and operation of a gas spring according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a side view showing a contracted state of the gas spring, and FIG. 1B is a gas spring extended to a maximum position. FIG. 2 (c) is a side view showing a state in which the stopper member is stopped at an intermediate position, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing one component of the opening degree regulating means taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1A, FIG. 4 is a bottom view of FIG. 3 (knobs are not shown), and FIG. 5 is FIG. 5] is a side view showing a structure for fixing the opening control means to the piston rod as seen from the arrow V in FIG. The components of the vehicle will be described by appropriately using the reference numerals shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gas spring 6
Is composed of an outer cylinder 7 that is swingably attached to the vehicle body 1 side and a piston rod 8 that is swingably provided on the door 4 side. When enclosed and the door is closed, the piston rod 8 compresses this gas and contracts into the outer cylinder 7 (FIG. 1A). When the door 4 is unlocked and opened, the door 4 is opened upward while being assisted by the opening operation force by the gas pressure of nitrogen gas (for example, FIG. 1B).

The opening regulating means 9, which is a feature of the first embodiment, is interposed between the gas spring 6 and the outer cylinder 7, and the opening of the door 4 is stepless and at an arbitrary position (angle). The position is fixed by stopping at. This opening control means 9
Is an opening regulation member 10 whose attachment position is adjustable and fixed to the outer cylinder 7, a stopper fixing member 11 which is fixed to the piston rod 8, and a longitudinal direction of the gas spring 6 which is attached to the stopper fixing member 11. Stopper member 1
It is formed with 2. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the opening degree restricting member 10, an adjustment block 10a having a semi-circular arc-shaped recess that holds the outer cylinder 7 and an adjustment block 10b are coupled to each other by a hinge pin 10c so as to be rotatable. Then, the outer cylinder 7 is held so as to wrap it, the knob 10d is tightened, and both adjustment blocks 10a and 10b are tightened so as to surround the outer cylinder 7 to be fixed. Further, by loosening the knob 10d, setting it again at an arbitrary position of the outer cylinder 7 and tightening it, the opening regulating member 10 can be fixed again at another position. In this way, the stroke amount of the piston rod 8 can be adjusted by adjusting the opening regulating member 10 to an arbitrary position of the outer cylinder 7 and tightening and fixing it.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the stopper fixing portion 11 has a holder 11a and a holder 11b each having a semi-arcuate concave portion for holding the piston rod 8 and a holder 11b, which face each other. It can be fixed to the piston rod 8 by tightening with a bolt 11d. Thus, the stopper fixing member 11 forms a base for fixing the stopper member 12 described later. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the stopper member 12 is detachable from the flat plate portion 12a whose main body is formed by sheet metal working and the opening degree regulating member 10 which is bent and formed at the tip of the flat plate portion 12a. It comprises a locking portion 12b. The base end side of the flat plate portion 12a is tightened and fixed to the stopper fixing member 11 by a bolt 11d. Further, a recess 12c for escape is formed in the locking portion 12b so as not to interfere with the outer cylinder 7. Thus, the stopper member 12 is arranged substantially parallel to the gas spring 6 due to the rigidity of the flat plate portion 12a, and the locking portion 12b is provided in the outer cylinder 7.
The opening regulating member 1 to the locking portion 12b without interfering with
The piston rod 8 can be freely stroke-displaced in the section until 0 abuts.

The operation of the first embodiment will be described. Figure 1
As shown in (a), when the opening control member 10 is set and fixed at a position near the outermost side of the outer cylinder 7 and the door 4 is in the closed state, the piston rod 8 moves inside the outer cylinder 7. It is contracted and stored. When the door is unlocked for loading and unloading of luggage, the gas spring 6 makes a full stroke by its assisting force, and the locking portion 12b of the stopper member 12 contacts the opening degree regulating member 10. For this reason,
The door 4 vigorously jumps up to the position 4'shown in FIG. 1 and stops. When the door 4'is tightened, it can be closed and locked by applying a closing force to the door.

When it is desired to adjust the opening of the door 4 (when it is desired to stop the door 4 at an intermediate position), as shown in FIG.
The fixed position of the opening degree regulation member 10 is changed by temporarily loosening the knob 10d of the opening degree regulation member 10 and refastening the knob 10d at a desired position of the outer cylinder 7. Therefore, when the door is opened from the closed state, the piston rod 8 of the gas spring 6 extends from the outer cylinder 7. Then, the locking portion 12b comes into contact with the opening degree restricting member 10, so that the door 4 is stopped at an intermediate position. Therefore, the door 4 does not interfere with the luggage loaded on the ceiling or the rule, and therefore, an effect of reliably avoiding an accident that damages the door is obtained.

Next, the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS.
An embodiment will be described. The difference from the first embodiment is that in the first embodiment, the stopper member 12 is fixed to the stopper fixing member 11 and the locking portion 12b is locked to the opening degree regulating member 10. However, in the second embodiment, the stopper member 13 is fixed to the opening degree regulating member 10, and the stopper portion 13a at the free end of the stopper member 13 is provided at a position corresponding to the stopper fixing member 11.
The point is that it is configured to be locked to. That is, the opening degree regulation member 10 has substantially the same structure as that of the first embodiment. The stopper member 13 is formed of a string material (hereinafter, “stopper member” is also referred to as “string material”), and is fixed to the opening degree regulation member 10 by an appropriate means. The cord 13 is inserted into a small hole 14a provided in a stopper portion 14 fixed to the piston rod 8. A spherical stopper end 13a is fixed to the tip of the cord material 13. A tubular ring 13b is fitted into the cord material 13 between the stopper portion 14 and the stopper end 13a,
By tightening the positioning screw 13c that is screwed into the tubular ring 13b, the tubular ring 13b is fixed at an appropriate position on the cord 13. In this way, by appropriately adjusting the position of the tubular ring 13b, the length of the stopper member 13 from the opening control member 10 to the tubular ring 13b is adjusted, and thus the stroke amount of the piston rod 8 is adjusted. It will also happen.

According to the second embodiment, when the door 4 is closed, the cord material 13 hangs downward from the small hole 14a as shown in FIG. 6 (a). When opening the door,
The gas spring 6 expands, and accordingly, the cord material 13 is pulled through the small hole 14a as shown in FIG. 6B, and the tubular ring 13b has the stopper end 13b and the stopper portion 14a.
It stops while being sandwiched between and. Therefore, the piston rod 8 makes a full stroke and the door is fully opened.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, when the tubular ring 13b is positioned at a desired position of the stopper member, that is, the cord material 13, the tubular ring 13b is adjusted and tightened by the positioning screw 13c at the desired position. . Therefore, when the tubular ring 13b comes into contact with the stopper portion 14 when the door is opened, further extension of the piston rod 8 is restricted and stopped. As a result, the door can be stopped at a position on the way, so that the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

Although the embodiment has been specifically described above, the specific structure is not limited to those of the first and second embodiments, and the design is within the scope of the present invention. The present invention includes modifications and the like. For example, although the stopper member 12 is formed of sheet metal in the first embodiment, the stopper member 12 may be formed of a synthetic resin material, a fiber reinforced resin material, or the like instead of metal, and the main body has a flat plate shape. However, the stopper member 15 is formed in a semi-cylindrical shape along the outer shape of the outer cylinder 7 as in the modification shown in FIG. 8, and the opening regulating member 10 is engaged with and disengaged from one end of the stopper member 15. The locking portion 15a is provided, and the stopper fixing member 18 including the holder 18a and the holder 18b is attached to the other end portion of the bolt 1
You may make it the aspect attached by 8c. Further, it is possible to form the main body of the stopper members 12 and 15 of the first embodiment and the above-described modified examples simply by a rod-shaped member having a predetermined rigidity. In addition, in the second embodiment, the stopper member 13 is formed of a cord material, but instead of this, the stopper member 13 is formed into a wire having a predetermined forming and holding function such as a piano wire, or a thin rod-shaped rod type. It is also possible. Further, in the second embodiment, a positioning means for adjusting the tubular ring 13b through which the cord 13 is inserted into the positioning screw 13c to adjust it to a desired position of the cord 13 is provided, but instead it is shown in FIG. As described above, the positioning means may include a male screw 16 having, for example, a cross-shaped split groove formed in the screw portion, and a female screw 17 screwed to the male screw 16. In this case, a taper 16a is formed at the tip of the male screw 16, and a tightening force from the female screw 17 is applied to the taper 16a to forcibly elastically deform the taper 16a so that the taper 16a is pressed into contact with the cord material 13. It can also be formed so that it can be positioned and fixed. Also,
The gas springs 6 in both the first and second embodiments and the modified examples have been described on the assumption that they are installed inside the vehicle interior. However, the opening springs installed on the periphery of the door opening formed in the vehicle body. It is also possible to adopt a mode in which the weather strip is housed and installed in a concave portion on the outside of the vehicle body formed by the outer side of the weather strip and the drip channel portion along the periphery thereof. Also, although the door is applied to the rear hatch and the like, it goes without saying that it can also be applied to a trunk lid, an engine hood, and a gas spring for a gull-wing type opening / closing door for opening / closing a box-shaped body of a truck.

[0021]

The opening adjustment device for flip-up doors according to the first aspect of the present invention expands and contracts between the outer cylinder and the outer cylinder between the vehicle body and the door that can be opened and closed in the vertical plane. In a flip-up door which is provided with a gas spring composed of a piston rod and which is opened by reducing the operating force at the time of flipping up the door by the assisting force by the gas pressure of the gas spring, the outer cylinder of the gas spring and the piston rod are In between, an opening control means for positioning and fixing the opening of the door steplessly at an arbitrary angle is provided, and when the gas spring is extended to make a stroke in a direction of opening the door, the gas spring is The opening degree of the door is regulated by extending to the position adjusted by the opening degree regulating means. Therefore, the opening position of the door can be adjusted steplessly by adjusting the opening restricting means with a simple structure in which the opening restricting means is provided on the gas spring, and thus the door can be moved at any position. It is possible to maintain the open state by stopping it, and it is possible to further improve the workability such as loading and unloading of luggage. Further, the opening degree regulating means includes an opening degree regulating member fixed to the outer cylinder of the gas spring, a stopper fixing member fixed to the piston rod of the gas spring, and a base end side fixed to the stopper fixing member. And a locking portion that is formed so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the gas spring and that is locked to the opening degree regulating member on the free end side by making a stroke in the extending direction of the gas spring. Since it is configured with the stopper member provided with, by adjusting the fixing position of the opening degree regulating member provided on the outer cylinder to a desired position, the position where the locking portion of the stopper member engages and disengages, that is, the piston rod The amount of stroke can be adjusted, and therefore the opening of the door can be easily adjusted. Further, since the stopper member is formed so that the portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the gas spring has a cross-sectional shape that follows the shape of the outer cylinder of the gas spring, the stopper member does not interfere with the outer cylinder. There is no effect, so there is an effect that a smooth opening and closing feeling is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are views for explaining the external configuration and action of a gas spring according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a side view showing a contracted state of the gas spring, and FIG. A side view showing the stretched state,
(C) is a side view showing a state in which the vehicle is stopped at a midway position.

FIG. 2 is an external assembly perspective view for explaining assembly and disassembly of a stopper member that is one component of the opening degree control unit.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing one component of an opening degree restricting unit taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of FIG. 3 (a knob is not shown).

5 is a side view showing a structure for fixing the opening degree restricting means to the piston rod as seen from the arrow V in FIG. 1 (a).

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the external configuration and action of a gas spring similar to FIG. 1 in the second embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a side view showing the contracted state of the gas spring,
(B) is a side view showing a state where the gas spring is extended to the maximum position, and (c) is a side view showing a state where the gas spring is stopped at an intermediate position.

FIG. 7 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view showing a related configuration of a stopper member and a tubular ring.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of a modified example of the stopper member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing a modified example of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory side view for explaining an open / closed state of a vehicle door.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... Door (flipping door), 6 ... Gas spring, 7
... outer cylinder, 8 ... piston rod, 9 ... opening regulation means, 10
... opening regulation member, 11 ... stopper fixing member, 12 ... stopper member, 12b ... locking portion, 13 ... stopper member (string material), 13a ... stopper end, 13b ... tubular ring,
13c ... positioning screw, 14 ... stopper part, 14a ... small hole, 15 ... stopper member,

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Koichi Ishimaru             16 580, Horikawa-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Within Ryo Automotive Engineering Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2E050 FA09 GA07 HA01                 3J069 AA01 CC09 EE34

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A gas spring comprising an outer cylinder and a piston rod that expands and contracts in the outer cylinder is provided between the vehicle body and a door that can be opened and closed in a vertical plane, and is assisted by gas pressure of the gas spring. In a flip-up door that opens by reducing the operating force at the time of flipping up the door by force, the opening of the door is fixed and fixed at any angle between the outer cylinder of the gas spring and the piston rod. When opening the door by opening the door by extending the gas spring to a position adjusted by the opening restricting device when the gas spring is extended to make a stroke in the direction of opening the door. A flip-up door opening adjustment device characterized in that the opening is regulated. 2. The opening regulating means comprises an opening regulating member fixed at an arbitrary position with respect to an outer cylinder of the gas spring, a stopper fixing member fixed to a piston rod of the gas spring, The base end side is fixed to the stopper fixing member and is formed so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the gas spring, and the opening limit member is formed on the free end side by making a stroke in the extending direction of the gas spring. The opening adjustment device for a flip-up door according to claim 1, further comprising: a stopper member provided with an engaging portion that is engaged with the stopper. 3. The stopper member is formed so that a portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the gas spring has a cross-sectional shape that follows the shape of the outer cylinder of the gas spring. The opening adjustment device for a flip-up door according to claim 1 or 2.