JP2003253959A - Automatic opening/closing device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a layout property of an automatic opening/closing device in a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: An actuator unit 10 has a channel 20 and a rack bar 21. The rack bar 21 is connected to a back door 2 through a connection rod 11. The channel 20 is formed in a curved tubular shape and arranged to curve from the upper end 20a to the lower end 20b toward the front side of the vehicle and fixed to the vehicle 1. The rack bar 21 is arranged to be movable in the channel 20, and guided on the arcuate track 1 along the channel 20. The rack bar 21 opens/closes the back door 2 through the connection rod 11 by reciprocal motion of a power unit 13 having the motor as a driving source. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle which automatically opens and closes an opening / closing member which is openably / closably mounted on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vehicles such as automobiles have doors,
Opening and closing members such as a back door and a sunroof that are openably and closably mounted on the vehicle are provided everywhere. In particular, there are many wagon vehicles, one-box vehicles, etc., in which a back door is provided at the rear end of the vehicle to facilitate the loading and unloading of luggage from the rear of the vehicle. Normally, such a back door is mounted via a hinge attached to the rear end of the vehicle roof, and is pivoted around the rotation center axis of the hinge to be substantially vertical to the vehicle. It is designed to be opened and closed between a fully open state which is substantially horizontal to the vehicle. In this case, since the back door is flipped up above the vehicle, it is also called a lift gate or a rear hatch.

However, since such a back door is often large and heavy, it may be difficult for a woman or a child to open and close it easily. In addition, when the back door is in the fully opened state, the back door is largely flipped up, which makes opening and closing the back door more difficult. Under the situation that family use such as one-box vehicles is increasing, vehicles equipped with an automatic opening / closing device for back doors have been introduced so that even women and children can easily open and close, and there is a tendency to increase. Further, if the automatic opening / closing device is installed, the back door can be remotely operated even if it is out of the driver's seat. Therefore, there are many requests to install the automatic opening / closing device also from this convenience.

An example of such an automatic back door opening / closing device is shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-253241.
An actuator unit having a slide mechanism including channels and a rack bar and a power unit having an electric motor as a drive source is known. In this case, the channel is formed in the shape of a straight hollow square pipe,
The vehicle is fixed to the vehicle with the longitudinal direction being substantially the vertical direction of the vehicle. The rack bar is formed to have a length dimension that is approximately half the length of the channel, is arranged in the channel, and is movable in the axial direction. Further, rack gears arranged in the longitudinal direction are formed on the side surfaces of the rack bar. The rack bar is connected to the back door via a connecting rod connected to the tip of the rack bar.

On the other hand, the power unit has an output pinion gear which is rotationally driven by an electric motor, and the output pinion gear meshes with a rack gear formed on a rack bar at a window portion formed at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the channel. Has been done. When the output pinion gear is rotated by the electric motor, the rack bar moves in the vehicle up-down direction along the channel in accordance with the rotation direction of the rack bar to open and close the back door.

[0006]

However, in such an actuator unit, the output pinion gear is arranged substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction of the channel, and the rack bar reciprocates about this output pinion gear. Therefore, the length of the channel is about twice that of the rack bar. That is, in order for the rack bar to obtain a predetermined stroke, the channel is formed to have a length dimension that is approximately twice the stroke.
Therefore, the entire length of the slide mechanism becomes long, which makes it difficult to arrange the actuator unit in a vehicle in which many systems are mixed.

Further, when this actuator unit is arranged in a pillar at the rear end of the vehicle, a rear combination lamp unit, a rear seat air conditioning unit, an acoustic speaker, etc. are arranged in the lower portion of the pillar. It becomes difficult to secure a space for accommodating all the slide mechanisms.

An object of the present invention is to improve the layout of a vehicle automatic opening / closing device on a vehicle.

[0009]

An automatic opening / closing apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention is an automatic opening / closing apparatus for a vehicle which automatically opens and closes an opening / closing member mounted on a vehicle so as to be opened and closed. A reciprocating member connected to the opening / closing member, a guide member that is curved and guides the reciprocating member along an arcuate path, an output pinion gear that meshes with a rack gear formed on the reciprocating member, and the output. A drive unit that includes an electric motor that rotationally drives the pinion gear, and that reciprocates the reciprocating member between a first position in which the opening / closing member is in a fully closed state and a second position in which the opening / closing member is in a fully open state. And having.

In the vehicle automatic opening / closing device of the present invention, the opening / closing member is attached to the vehicle through a hinge attached to a rear end portion of the vehicle roof, and the guide is provided in a pillar of the vehicle adjacent to the opening / closing member. The member is fixed.

In the vehicle automatic opening / closing device of the present invention, as the reciprocating member moves from the first position to the second position, the moving direction of the reciprocating member and the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are changed. The guide member is arranged so that the angle formed by the guide member increases.

In the vehicle automatic opening / closing device of the present invention, the guide member is a tubular channel, and the reciprocating member is a rack bar arranged inside the channel.

In the present invention, since the guide member is formed in a curved shape, its overall length is shortened, and the layout of the vehicle automatic opening / closing device on the vehicle can be improved.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a part of a vehicle equipped with an actuator unit according to an embodiment of the present invention when the back door is fully closed, and FIG. 2 is shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a part of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 and showing a back door in a fully opened state. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing details of the actuator unit shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a back door 2 as an opening / closing member is provided at the rear end of the vehicle 1.
The back door 2 is attached to the vehicle 1 via a hinge 4 attached to the rear end of the vehicle roof 3 with its opening / closing center axis 4a being substantially horizontal, and is substantially perpendicular to the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. 2 and the fully open state in which the vehicle is substantially horizontal to the vehicle as shown in FIG.

On the left side of the back door 2 in the vehicle width direction, a ball stud 5 is fixed apart from the opening / closing center axis 4a of the hinge 4. Further, a gas damper 6 that expands and contracts as the back door 2 is opened and closed is attached between the rear end of the vehicle 1 and the back door 2 to reduce the load in the opening and closing direction of the back door 2. ing.

The vehicle 1 is provided with an actuator unit 10 as a vehicle automatic opening / closing device for automatically opening and closing the back door 2. The actuator unit 10 has a connecting rod 11, a slide mechanism 12, and a power unit 13, and is fixed inside a pillar 14 on the left side of the vehicle adjacent to the back door 2. Although one actuator unit 10 is provided in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of actuator units 10 may be provided. Further, in the present embodiment, the actuator unit 10 is mounted inside the left pillar 14 of the vehicle 1, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be mounted on either side of the left and right pillars. When a plurality of 10 are provided, they may be mounted in both pillars. Also in this case,
These actuator units 10 may be formed symmetrically.

A connecting rod 11 as a link mechanism has a ball socket 1 at both ends of a rod portion 11a made of steel.
5 and 16 are fixed to each other, and are arranged so as to project from the inside of the pillar 14 toward the back door 2 through an opening 18 formed in the interior trim 17. The connecting rod 11 is swingably connected to the back door 2 by engaging the ball socket 15 with the ball stud 5 of the back door 2.

The slide mechanism 12, as shown in FIG.
It has a channel 20 and a rack bar 21 movably arranged in the channel 20.

The channel 20 serving as a guide member is formed in a tubular shape having a rectangular cross section, and is curved with a constant curvature. The total length A of this channel 20 is
Compared to the case where the channel 20 is formed linearly, the channel 20 is shortened as much as it is curved. Then, FIG. 1 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the channel 20 has a lower end portion 20b located on the lower side of the vehicle 1 than an upper end portion 20a located on the upper side of the vehicle 1, and is located on the vehicle front side, and
It is curved so as to wrap around toward the vehicle front side from a to the lower end portion 20b. When the slide mechanism 12 is linear as in the conventional case, an acoustic speaker (not shown) may be usually placed on the slide locus, and thus the slide mechanism 12 cannot be placed as it is. However, according to the setting of this embodiment, the slide mechanism 12 can be effectively arranged so as to avoid the acoustic speaker arrangement portion. And the pillar 1 of the vehicle 1
It is fixed in 4. A slot 22 is formed on one side surface of the channel 20 so as to extend from a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction toward the tip portion 16a.
On a side surface opposite to the side surface on which 2 is formed, a window portion 23 that is opened at a substantially middle portion in the longitudinal direction is formed. The curvature of the channel 20 is not limited to the setting in the present embodiment, and can be arbitrarily set according to the positional relationship with the vehicle in which the actuator unit 10 is mounted or other system. In addition, in the present embodiment, the channel 20 is curved toward the vehicle front side from the upper end portion 20a to the lower end portion 20b. It may be curved in the direction.

As described above, in the actuator unit 10 of the present invention, since the channel 20 is formed to be curved, the total length A of the channel 20 is shortened, and the layout of the actuator unit 10 on the vehicle 1 is easy. Can be improved.

Further, the actuator unit 1 of the present invention
At 0, the curvature of the channel 20 is changed, so that the channel 20 can have an optimum shape according to the shape of the vehicle to be mounted, the positional relationship with other systems, and the like. The layout property of 1 can be improved.

The rack bar 21 as a reciprocating member has a length dimension of the channel 2 as shown by a broken line in FIG.
It is formed in a substantially rectangular column shape that is about half of 0, and is formed to be curved with the same curvature as the channel 20. It is slidably disposed inside the channel 20 and guided by the channel 20 so as to reciprocate along an arcuate locus l. The rack gears 2 arranged in the longitudinal direction are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rack bar 21, which faces the window portion 23, that is, the side surface.
4 is formed on the side surface opposite to the side surface on which the rack gear 24 is formed.
The ball stud 25 is fixed at the position 1a.
The ball stud 25 projects to the outside of the channel 20 through the slot 22 and can move along the slot 22 as the rack bar 21 moves. The other end of the connecting rod 11, that is, the ball socket 16 is swingably connected to the ball stud 25. That is, the rack bar 21 is connected to the back door 2 via the connecting rod 11, and when the rack bar 21 is reciprocated, its displacement is transmitted to the back door 2 via the connecting rod 11 and the back door 2 Will be opened and closed.

The power unit 13 includes an electric motor 30,
It has a worm gear mechanism 31, a drive pinion gear 32, an intermediate gear 33 and an output pinion gear 34, and is fixed to a substantially central portion of the channel 20 in a base block portion 35. The electric motor 30 is connected to a battery (not shown) via a control device (not shown) mounted on the vehicle 1, and is positively supplied by a current supplied based on a command from a back door opening / closing switch (not shown) provided in the vehicle interior or the like. It is designed to rotate in the reverse direction. Worm gear mechanism 3
1 is connected to the electric motor 30
The output of the drive pinion is decelerated and the rotation direction is changed to drive the drive pinion gear 32 to rotate.

The intermediate gear 33 has a large-diameter gear 33a and a small-diameter gear 33b having a smaller number of teeth than the large-diameter gear 33a which rotates integrally and coaxially with the large-diameter gear 33a.
3a is meshed with the drive pinion gear 32, and the small diameter gear 33b is meshed with the output pinion gear 34.
That is, the rotation of the electric motor 30 depends on the worm gear mechanism 3
1, the driving pinion gear 32 and the intermediate gear 33 are used to reduce the speed and transmit it to the output pinion gear 34. Therefore, the output pinion gear 34 is rotationally driven in the forward and reverse directions by the electric motor 30.
The output pinion gear 34 is meshed with the rack gear 24 of the rack bar 21 in the window portion 23, and the rotation thereof allows the rack bar 21 to reciprocate along the arcuate locus l.

4A to 4C are explanatory views showing the relationship between the thrust direction of the rack bar and the direction of the driving force required by the back door.

Next, the operation of the actuator unit 10 having such a structure will be described.

When the back door 2 is fully closed, the rack bar 21 is in the first position shown in FIG.
It is located on the lower end 20b side. The rack gear 24 meshes with the output pinion gear 34 on the side of the tip portion 21a thereof. From this state, when the open side button of the back door opening / closing switch (not shown) is turned on, the back door 2 starts the opening operation. That is, the output pinion gear 34 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 by supplying a current from the control device (not shown) to the electric motor 30. The rotation of the output pinion gear 34 moves the rack bar 21 from the first position to the upper side of the vehicle 1 along the arcuate locus l, and moves the back door 2 toward the fully opened state shown in FIG. become. Then, when the rack bar 21 continues to move and is moved to the second position shown in FIG. 2, that is, to the upper end portion 20a side of the channel 20, the back door 2 is fully opened and the electric motor 30 is stopped.

At this time, the direction of the driving force F to be applied to the ball stud 5 in order to move the back door 2 from the fully closed state to the fully opened state is as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c). It is in the tangential direction of the movement locus L of the ball stud 5. Therefore, the direction of the driving force F required to open and close the back door 2 changes so that the inclination angle R with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction, that is, the horizontal line H increases as the opening degree of the back door 2 increases. On the contrary,
Since the rack bar 21 moves along the arcuate locus 1, the moving direction of the rack bar 21 is the tangential direction of the arcuate locus 1 at the tip portion 21a. Therefore, the moving direction of the rack bar 21 is such that the angle r between the moving direction and the vehicle front-rear direction, that is, the horizontal line H, increases as the rack bar 21 moves from the first position to the second position. It will change. At this time, the direction of the thrust T applied to the connecting rod 11 by the rack bar 21 is the same as the moving direction of the rack bar 21, and the rack bar 21
Is in the tangential direction of the arcuate locus 1 at the tip portion 21a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the rack bar 21 moves in the first direction in the moving direction of the rack bar 21, that is, the direction of the thrust T.
As the vehicle moves from the position to the second position, it changes so as to increase the inclination angle r with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction, that is, the horizontal line H. In this way, since the channel 20 is arranged so that the inclination angle r increases as the opening degree of the back door 2 increases, the inclination angle r of the thrust T by the rack bar 21 with respect to the horizontal line H and the back door 2 are increased. The driving force F required for opening and closing changes in the same direction as the inclination angle R with respect to the horizontal line H. Therefore, when the thrust T of the rack bar 21 is transmitted to the back door 2 via the connecting rod 11, the thrust T directed in the tangential direction of the movement locus L of the ball stud 5 at the connecting portion between the ball stud 5 and the ball socket 15. The driving force F is the component force of the driving force F. However, as the tilt angle r changes in the same direction as the tilt angle R, a larger part of the thrust T is converted into the driving force F. As a result, the thrust force T is efficiently converted into the driving force F, and the back door 2 can be driven more efficiently than when the rack bar 21 linearly reciprocates.

As described above, in the actuator unit 10 of the present invention, when the opening degree of the back door 2 changes, the direction of the driving force F required by the back door 2 and the direction of the thrust T of the rack bar 21 are in the same direction. The thrust T of the rack bar 21 is efficiently changed because it changes.
Will be transmitted to. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the actuator unit 10 by reducing the size of the electric motor 30 that drives the rack bar 21, and reduce the power consumption.

Next, when the close side button of the back door open / close switch (not shown) is turned on when the back door 2 is in the fully open state, the electric motor 30 is driven by the control device (not shown) in the opposite direction from the open side button. Is supplied to rotate the output pinion gear 34 counterclockwise in FIG. The rotation of the output pinion gear 34 moves the rack bar 21 from the second position to the first position via the rack gear 24.
To the position of, that is, moved downward with respect to the vehicle 1,
The back door 2 is moved toward the fully closed state shown in FIG.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the actuator unit 10 is arranged in the pillar 14, and the back door 2 attached to the rear end of the vehicle 1 is automatically opened and closed.
Not limited to this, the actuator unit 10 may be arranged in other parts of the vehicle such as a vehicle side portion or a lower portion, or another opening / closing member such as a door for opening / closing the vehicle side portion may be opened / closed. Good.

Further, in the present embodiment, the slide mechanism 12 is an inner rack type in which the rack bar 21 is movable in the channel 20, but not limited to this, the reciprocating member is a guide member. It may be an outer rack type arranged on the outside.

Further, in the present embodiment, the connecting rod 11 connected to the back door 2 and the rack bar 21 is used as the link mechanism, but the present invention is not limited to this.
Other link mechanisms may be used.

[0036]

According to the present invention, since the guide member is formed in an arc shape curved with a constant curvature, the total length of the vehicle automatic opening / closing device is shortened, and the vehicle of the vehicle automatic opening / closing device is reduced. Layout property can be improved.

According to the present invention, the curvature of the guide member is changed according to the shape of the vehicle on which the automatic vehicle opening / closing device is mounted and the positional relationship with other systems.
Since the vehicular automatic opening / closing device can have an optimum layout shape, the layout of the vehicular automatic opening / closing device on a vehicle can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, as the reciprocating member moves from the first position to the second position, the angle formed by the moving direction of the reciprocating member and the longitudinal direction of the vehicle increases. The moving direction of the reciprocating member changes in the same direction as the change in the direction of the driving force required to open / close the opening / closing member. Therefore, the thrust force due to the movement of the reciprocating member is efficiently transmitted to the opening / closing member, and the automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle is reduced in size and weight, and the driving means for driving the reciprocating member is reduced in size. The power consumption can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a part of a vehicle including an actuator unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a back door in a fully closed state.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 when a back door is in a fully opened state.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing details of an actuator unit shown in FIG.

4A to 4C are explanatory views showing the relationship between the thrust direction of the rack bar and the direction of the driving force required by the back door.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 vehicle 2 back door 3 vehicle roof 4 hinges 4a Opening / closing center axis 5 ball studs 6 gas damper 10 Actuator unit 11 Connecting rod 11a rod part 12 Slide mechanism 13 Power unit 14 pillars 15,16 ball socket 17 Interior trim 18 openings 20 channels 20a upper end 20b lower end 21 Rack Bar 21a Tip 22 slots 23 Window 24 rack gear 25 ball studs 30 electric motor 31 Worm gear mechanism 32 drive pinion gear 33 intermediate gear 33a large diameter gear 33b small diameter gear 34 output pinion gear 35 Base block A full length l circular locus F driving force L movement locus H horizon R, r inclination angle T thrust

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takashi Hoshino             Gunma prefecture Kiryu city Hirosawa town             Mitsuba Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shioiri Politics             Gunma prefecture Kiryu city Hirosawa town             Mitsuba Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takao Ochiai             Gunma prefecture Kiryu city Hirosawa town             Mitsuba Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2E052 AA09 BA02 DA05 DA08 DB05                       DB08 EA01 EB01 EC01 KA15                       KA16

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle, which automatically opens and closes an opening / closing member mounted on a vehicle so as to open and close, wherein a reciprocating member connected to the opening / closing member via a link mechanism is curved. The opening / closing member includes a guide member formed to guide the reciprocating member along an arcuate locus, an output pinion gear meshing with a rack gear formed on the reciprocating member, and an electric motor for rotationally driving the output pinion gear. An automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle, comprising: a drive unit that reciprocates the reciprocating member between a first position in which the opening / closing member is in a fully closed state and a second position in which the opening / closing member is in a fully opened state. 2. The vehicle automatic opening / closing device according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing member is mounted on the vehicle via a hinge attached to a rear end portion of the vehicle roof, and the pillar of the vehicle is adjacent to the opening / closing member. An automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle, wherein the guide member is fixed therein. 3. The vehicle automatic opening / closing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving direction of the reciprocating member and the vehicle as the reciprocating member moves from the first position to the second position. The automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle, wherein the guide member is arranged such that an angle formed by the front-back direction of the vehicle is increased. 4. The vehicle automatic opening / closing device according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is a tubular channel, and the reciprocating member is arranged inside the channel. An automatic opening / closing device for a vehicle, which is a rack bar.