JP2004084684A - Terminal support device of control cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal support device of a control cable which has high vibration damping performance without installing a weight and can attain operating feeling of the same degree as a conventional one. <P>SOLUTION: The terminal support device 10 is equipped with a casing cap 14 which has a conduit pipe fixing part 12 at one end and a flange 13 at the central part 14a, a pair of ring shaped dampers 15, 16 which are arranged so as to abut to both sides of the flange 13 at the outer periphery of the casing cap, and a first holding plate 17 and a second holding plate 18 which press to hold these dampers to the flange 13 side so as not to restraint their periphery. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a terminal support device for a control cable. More specifically, an anti-vibration structure suitable for supporting the terminal on the engine room side of the push-pull control cable (hereinafter referred to as AT cable) for operating an automatic transmission so that vibrations are not easily transmitted to the shift lever side A terminal support device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, the terminal support device of the AT cable is attached to a stay or a holder of a transmission in an engine room (see FIG. 8). However, in order to minimize vibrations in the engine room to the shift lever side, a control device is provided. The casing cap that holds the end of the cable is mounted in a rubber mount. For example, a terminal support device 100 shown in FIG. 11 includes a casing cap 102 which is crimped to an end of a conduit 101, a vibration isolating rubber 104 attached around a flange 103 provided at one end of the casing cap, and a vibration isolating rubber 104. And housings 105 and 106 surrounding the housing 104. The housings 105 and 106 are fixed to each other by outsert molding the bottom cylindrical rear portion 106 to the cylindrical front portion 105 to form a fitting structure of the concave and convex of the annular groove and the annular projection. At the tip of the vibration-proof rubber 104, a concave portion 109 for swingably supporting the spherical expanding portion 108 of the guide pipe 107 is formed. An annular groove 111 for attachment to the mating member 110 is formed in the front portion 105 of the housing.
[0003]
However, when the vibration isolating rubber 104 is constrained by the housings 105 and 106 as described above, free elastic deformation of the vibration isolating rubber 104 is hindered, and the vibration damping action becomes insufficient. Further, when the anti-vibration rubber 104 is also used as a member for receiving the enlarged portion 108, it is necessary to increase the hardness of the anti-vibration rubber to some extent, which also causes a reduction in the vibration damping effect.
[0004]
On the other hand, if a soft vibration isolating rubber is interposed between the casing cap and the mating member to be mounted, the moderation feeling of the switching operation of the shift lever operation is reduced. Therefore, various devices have been proposed so as not to transmit vibration to the control cable as much as possible without impairing the moderation. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-91429 discloses a cylindrical aluminum alloy casing cap (hub) 102 which is crimped to an end of a conduit 101 as shown in FIG. The outer circumferences of the casing cap 102 and the guide pipe 107 extend from the rear side of the flange 103 provided on the casing cap 102 to the vicinity of the center of the guide pipe 107 through the flange. An anti-vibration support device 114 including a covering rubber member 113 and a housing (cap) 106 attached to the outer periphery of the rubber member is disclosed.
[0005]
The rubber member 113 is divided into a portion 113a surrounding the periphery of the flange 103 from the rear portion of the flange 103, and a cylindrical portion 113b covering from the front portion of the casing cap 102 to the center portion of the guide pipe 107. The feature of this is that a flange 115 extending in the axial direction is provided on the outer periphery of the flange 103, and the thickness of the rubber member 113a is reduced at a portion in contact with the flange. According to the document, great rigidity is provided in a high load range of the cable load, and the operational feeling of the shift lever can be improved.
[0006]
Further, this is lightweight because the casing cap 102 and the housing 106 are made of an aluminum alloy, and has a low vibration damping property. However, when steel or the like is used or a weight is attached, the vibration damping property is increased, but on the other hand, it is not possible to sufficiently respond to recent demands for weight reduction of components and the manufacturing cost is increased. In addition, for the cylindrical portion 113b of the rubber member 113, the steps of manufacturing and assembling parts are complicated, such as baking (vulcanizing) after molding raw rubber around the casing cap 102.
[0007]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, the present applicant has adopted a type in which housings 105 and 106 divided into front and rear are made of synthetic resin and vibration-proof rubber 104 is divided into front and rear in order to improve weight reduction and ease of assembly. A terminal device 116 has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-14810). This is lightweight and easy to assemble, but on the other hand, has low vibration damping properties. In some cases, it is necessary to separately provide a vibration-proof means such as a weight, which causes an increase in cost.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal supporting device for a control cable which has a high vibration damping property without attaching a weight and which can achieve the same operational feeling as that of a conventional cable.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A control cable terminal supporting device according to the present invention (Claim 1) is a casing cap having a tubular shape, having at one end a conduit fixing portion for fixing a terminal of a control cable conduit, and having a flange at a center portion, and a casing cap. On the outer periphery of the casing cap, there is provided a ring-shaped elastic member arranged so as to be in contact with the flange, and a holding plate for pressing and holding the elastic member on the flange side so as not to restrict the periphery. And
[0010]
In such a terminal support device, the elastic member is provided in a pair before and after the flange, the holding plate, the elastic member, the flange, the laminated structure of the elastic member, so as not to restrict the periphery thereof. It is preferable that the first and second holding plates hold the pressure from front and rear (claim 2). Further, it is preferable that the outer peripheral portion of the elastic member has a disk spring shape (claim 3). Further, it is preferable that a portion of the casing cap to which the elastic member is attached has a prismatic shape, and that an inner surface of the elastic member is shaped to fit the portion (claim 4). Further, it is preferable that a locking projection penetrating through the holding plate and locking the elastic member to the holding plate is provided on the outer surface of the elastic member opposite to the surface that comes into contact with the flange (claim 5).
[0011]
[Action and effect of the invention]
In the terminal support device of the present invention, the periphery of the elastic member is not restrained, and is held in a pressed state only in the thickness direction. Therefore, it is easily elastically deformed radially outward with respect to the pressing in the axial direction, and can be held while maintaining the original elasticity. Therefore, it is difficult for the vibration in the axial direction to be transmitted. Also, radial vibrations are attenuated by the elasticity of the elastic member. Further, the elastic member is not limited to a fixed outer diameter, but can be made larger by using a space up to the vicinity of the mounting portion to the mating member, and the vibration damping property can be further increased. Therefore, vibration is not easily transmitted without using a weight or increasing the weight of the casing cap. Furthermore, since the elastic member does not cover the surface of the flange and is merely overlapped, manufacture and assembly are easy.
[0012]
A terminal support device is provided in which a pair of the elastic members is provided before and after the flange, and the holding plate presses and holds the laminated structure of the elastic member, the flange, and the elastic member from front and rear so as not to restrict the periphery thereof. Item 2) can be damped in both directions with respect to axial vibration.
[0013]
In the terminal support device in which the outer peripheral portion of the elastic member has a disk spring shape (claim 3), since the elastic member exerts a spring action based on the shape, the vibration damping effect is further enhanced.
[0014]
The portion of the casing cap to which the elastic member is attached has a prismatic shape, and the inner surface of the elastic member is shaped to fit the portion (Claim 4). Can be received by the holding plate via the elastic member. Therefore, the end of the conduit can be held firmly.
[0015]
Further, the elastic member is provided on the outer surface opposite to the surface in contact with the flange with a retaining projection penetrating the holding plate and provided with a retaining projection for locking the elastic member to the retaining plate (claim 5). At this stage, the elastic member can be held by the holding plate. Therefore, it is easy to assemble.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of a support device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing a main part of an embodiment of the support device of the present invention, FIGS. 2a and 2b are schematic side views showing an embodiment of a method of attaching the support device of FIG. 1 to a mating member, and FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line III-III, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a perspective view before assembling the support device of FIG. 1, and FIG. , FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment of the support device of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing an experimental method of the support device of the present invention, FIG. 9 and FIG. Is a graph showing the experimental results.
[0017]
A supporting device 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a conduit fixing portion 12 for fixing a terminal of a control cable conduit 11 at one end, a cylindrical casing cap 14 having a flange 13 at a central portion 14a, and an outer periphery of the casing cap. In addition, ring-shaped dampers 15 and 16 arranged so as to be in contact with the front and rear of the flange 13, a first holding plate 17 and a second holding plate 17 for holding these dampers under pressure on the flange 13 side so as not to restrict the periphery. And a holding plate 18. In FIG. 1, a gap is opened between the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18. However, as shown in FIG. The dampers 15 and 16 are held under pressure.
[0018]
FIG. 1 also shows a known guide pipe 21 housed at the tip end of the casing cap 14, an inner cable 22 of a control cable, and a bellows boot 24 for protecting a rod (see reference numeral 51 in FIG. 6). . Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, depending on the shape of the mating member 19 to be attached, the second holding plate 18 is attached with separate attaching bolts 20, and the holding plates 17, 18 are connected with each other by the fastening bolts 20a and the nuts 20b. It is fastened while maintaining the pressing force.
[0019]
Returning to FIG. 1, a center hole 26 through which the inner cable 22 passes passes through the center portion 14 a of the casing cap 14 along the axis. The surface of the central portion 14a has a hexagonal cross section at a portion other than the flange 13, that is, at a portion where the damper 15 is fitted (see FIGS. 3 and 5). Thereby, rotation of the dampers 15 and 16 can be prevented. Annular stoppers 27 for preventing the dampers 15, 16 from coming off are provided on the outer periphery of both ends of the central portion 14a. The outer peripheral portion 13a of the flange 13 is made thin, and a step 13c is provided between the flange 13 and the thick base 13b. The conduit fixing part 12 has a thin cylindrical shape, and fixes and holds the conduit by caulking from the outer periphery toward the center. The end of the conduit 11 is stripped, and a cylindrical spacer 28 is fitted. An annular groove 29 is provided in the spacer 28 so as to catch at the time of caulking.
[0020]
A concave portion 31 is provided at the distal end portion 30 of the casing cap 14 for accommodating the spherical enlarged portion 21a at the end of the guide pipe 21 so as to swing freely. Further, an annular locking protrusion 32 for locking the end of the bellows boot 24 is provided on the outer periphery of the end of the tip 30. The outer diameters of the conduit fixing portion 12 and the tip portion 30 are substantially the same as or smaller than the portion of the central portion 14a other than the flange. As a result, the dampers 15 and 16 can be easily mounted on the central portion 14a, and can be mounted without any gap by elasticity. As the casing cap 14, for example, a metal die-cast product such as zinc, a forged product of a metal such as mild steel or aluminum, or the like is used. Of course, it can also be manufactured by cutting from a metal rod.
[0021]
The dampers 15 and 16 include a cylindrical base portion 33 fitted to the central portion 14a of the casing cap 14, a thin disk portion 34 extending outward from one end thereof, and an annular thick portion provided on the outer periphery thereof. And a peripheral edge portion 35 that is formed into a shape. A hexagonal through-hole 33a is formed in the base 33 (see FIG. 5). There is a step at the boundary between the peripheral portion 35 and the disk portion 34, and the step 35 a due to the step fits with the step 13 c of the casing cap 14. The peripheral portions 35 of the dampers 15 and 16 have a dish-like shape in which the outer periphery is inclined away from the flange 13 in a natural state, thereby further improving the spring action. As described above, in the actual mounting state, the holding plates 17 and 18 are brought into contact with each other from the state shown in FIG. Therefore, the peripheral portions 35 of the dampers 15 and 16 are pressed flat, but are shown in a natural state in FIG. The dampers 15 and 16 can be made of a rubber-like polymer elastic material such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or synthetic resin elastomer. The rubber hardness is preferably about Hs 40 to 60 according to JIS, and more preferably about Hs 40 to 50.
[0022]
A projecting piece 36 for attaching to the holding plates 17 and 18 is integrally provided on the rear side of the peripheral portion 35 (the side opposite to the surface in contact with the flange). The distal end portion 37 of the protruding piece 36 serves as a knob for pulling with a finger. At an intermediate portion of the protruding piece 36, an annular locking projection 38 that is locked to the back surfaces of the holding plates 17, 18 is provided. In this embodiment, a pair of protruding pieces 36 are provided on opposite sides of the center. The number of the protruding pieces 36 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of stability and ease of handling, about 1 to 3 pieces, particularly 2 pieces are preferable.
[0023]
The holding plates 17 and 18 include a three-dimensional first holding plate 17 shown on the left side of FIG. 1 and a substantially flat second holding plate 18. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the first holding plate 17 is fitted with an opening 40 through which the base 33 of the damper passes, and a projecting piece 36 of the damper which is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the opening 40. And a holding hole 41 for holding the damper 15. Further, on the upper right and left sides of the first holding plate 17, there are provided legs 42 and 43 for attaching the second holding plate 17 with a space therebetween, and the ends of the legs are outwardly expanded. It is a mounting piece 44 for mounting to the second plate 18. Each of the mounting pieces 44 is provided with a bolt hole 39. By changing the height of the legs 42, 43, the tightening force of the dampers 15, 16 by the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 can be adjusted.
[0024]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second holding plate 18 is provided with an opening 40, a holding hole 41, and a bolt hole 39 similar to those of the first holding plate 17. The first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 can be manufactured by pressing from a metal such as a steel plate.
[0025]
In the terminal structure 10 configured as described above, the dampers 15 and 16 are mounted around the central portion 14 a of the casing cap 14, and the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 are attached to the base 33 of the dampers 15 and 16. By attaching it to the periphery, pressing the peripheral portion 35 against the flange 13 and fitting the protruding piece 36 into the holding hole 41, it is possible to assemble as shown in FIG. In the case of FIG. 2B, the mounting piece 44 of the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 are further fastened with the bolt 19 and the nut 20. The terminal support device 10 assembled in this manner is attached to the control cable by caulking the conduit 11 of the control cable to the conduit fixing portion 14a of the casing cap 14. Note that the conduit may be caulked to the casing cap 14 before assembling the terminal support device 10. Further, the dampers 15 and 16 and the holding plates 17 and 18 may be integrated by inserting the protruding pieces 36 into the holding holes 41 in advance.
[0026]
The terminal support device 10 is attached to an AT cable, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, and further attached to a stay or a holder of a transmission. Reference numeral 51 in FIG. 6 denotes a rod connected to a lever of the transmission. The end of the inner cable 22 is fixed and slidably supported by the guide pipe 21. A protective tube 52 is placed around the conduit 11 connected to the terminal support device 10.
[0027]
A part of the conduit 11 is supported by a bracket 53 for determining a routing route of the conduit and a grommet 54 for waterproofing the room. The other end of the conduit 11 is connected to the terminal support device 55 on the shift lever side. The other end of the inner cable 22 coming out of the conduit 11 is connected to a rod 56 on the shift lever side, and the rod is slidable by a guide pipe 57 that is swingably provided on the terminal support device 55 on the shift lever side. It is supported by. Note that the terminal support device 55 on the shift lever side is substantially the same as the terminal support device 100 in FIG. 11, and a vibration-proof rubber 60 surrounding the flange 59 of the casing cap 58 is adopted. The periphery is restrained by a housing 61.
[0028]
Next, the operation of the terminal support device 10 on the transmission side will be described. First, the vibration in the engine room is transmitted to the shift lever via the rod 51 and the inner cable 22. Further, it is transmitted via the holding plates 17 and 18 and the conduit 11. However, since the inner cable 22 is highly flexible, vibrations passing through the rod-inner cable are easily attenuated. Vibration through the holding plate-conduit is therefore a problem. In the terminal support device 10 of the present embodiment, the openings of the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 hold the periphery of the base 33 of the dampers 15 and 16, so that the vibration transmission from the portions is small.
[0029]
Since the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 hold the pair of dampers 15 and 16 that sandwich the flange 13 of the casing cap 14, the dampers 15 and 16 easily spread outward and are hard. Not restrained. Therefore, the casing cap 14 can be held so as to float, so to speak, in both the axial and radial vibrations (floating support). Therefore, vibration is not easily transmitted from the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18 to the casing cap 14.
[0030]
Next, another embodiment of the terminal support device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The casing cap 14 of the terminal support device 62 has the same thickness from the base to the outer periphery of the flange 13 of the intermediate portion 14a, and does not have a step. The intermediate portion 14a has a columnar shape, and is not provided with a stopper (reference numeral 27 in FIG. 1) at its end. In accordance with the flat surface of the flange 13, the inner surfaces of the dampers 15, 16 are also flat, and the disk-shaped portion 63 in contact with the flange 13 has the same thickness. At the end of the base 33, an annular projection 63a is provided which engages with the inner edge of the opening 40 of the first holding plate 17 and the second holding plate 18. Although not clearly shown in FIG. 7, the peripheral portions 34 of the dampers 15 and 16 are formed in a disc spring shape.
[0031]
In this embodiment, the first holding plate 17 is flattened, and the second holding plate 18 is three-dimensionally configured. Although the bolts and nuts are not shown, the mounting pieces 44 of the legs of the second holding plate 18 are shown in contact with the first holding plate 17. The other parts are substantially the same as those of the terminal support device 10 of FIG. 1, and thus the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.
[0032]
In the terminal support device 62 as well, a floating support that attenuates both axial and radial vibrations is achieved by the elasticity of the dampers 15 and 16. Therefore, the transmission of vibration to the shift lever side is small.
[0033]
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram when the terminal support device of FIG. 7 is used for an AT cable of an automobile. Reference numeral 64 is a holder attached to the transmission, reference numeral 65 is a lever bracket, and reference numeral 66 is a shift lever. The terminal support device 62 of FIG. 7 is attached to a holder 64. As a result, vibrations applied to the transmission in directions T (axial), B (lateral), and H (vertical) are less likely to be transmitted to the shift lever 66.
[0034]
In the above-described embodiment, the holding plate is fastened with bolts and nuts. However, depending on the case, the holding plate may be detachably locked by snap fitting. Further, one or both of the holding plates may be made of a synthetic resin. Since the terminal support device of the present invention has high anti-vibration properties, it is not necessary to provide a weight, but a weight may be used. As a result, even if there is a vibration in a frequency range where the vibration isolation is insufficient with only the terminal support device of the present invention, it can be compensated for, and the damping performance can be further improved. In the support device 10 of FIG. 1, a part of the periphery of the dampers 15 and 16 is covered with the first holding plate 17. However, since it is not restrained, the vibration damping performance is high. The phrase “not to restrict the periphery” in claim 1 includes a case where a part of the elastic member is surrounded in this way.
[0035]
【Example】
Next, the effects of the terminal support device of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples and comparative examples.
[Embodiment] The terminal support device 62 shown in FIG. 7 was attached to an AT cable. The outer diameter of the dampers 15 and 16 was 38 mm, the inner diameter was 16 mm, the thickness of the disk-shaped portion 63 was 3.5 mm, the material was EPDM, and the rubber hardness was Hs50. Further, the degree of tightening of the holding plate was such that the disk-shaped portion 61 was thinned by 1.3 mm from its natural thickness. This was attached to a holder 64 as shown in FIG. 7, and the other end of the AT cable was attached to a lever bracket 65. In this state, vibrations of a predetermined magnitude (vibration acceleration Gf) are applied to the terminal support device 62 at various frequencies in the T direction, the B direction, and the H direction, and the magnitude (vibration) of the vibration in the T direction transmitted to the shift lever side (vibration) The acceleration Gb) was measured. The results of calculating the vibration attenuation from these are shown in the graph of FIG.
[0036]
Comparative Example An experiment similar to the above was conducted using the terminal support device 100 shown in FIG. The thickness W of the portion of the vibration-proof rubber 104 that contacts the flange 103 was 4 mm. However, the outer diameter D was 25 mm, and the inner diameter d was 12 mm. Then, the same amount of vibration attenuation as described above was calculated based on the experimental results. The results are shown in the graph of FIG.
[0037]
As for the vibration in the T direction, in the range of the high frequency of 2 kHz or more, the attenuation of the example is much larger than that of the comparative example. Further, as for the vibration in the B direction, the damping amount of the embodiment is larger than that of the comparative example at all frequencies. Further, as for the vibration in the H direction, it can be seen that the example shows a larger amount of attenuation than the comparative example in a low frequency range of 1 to 2 kHz.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing a main part of an embodiment of a support device of the present invention.
2a and 2b are schematic side views showing an embodiment of a method of attaching to the counterpart of the support device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the support device of FIG. 1 before assembly.
FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the entire AT cable provided with the support device.
FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of a main part showing another embodiment of the support device of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing an experimental method of the support device of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the results of the experiment.
FIG. 10 is a graph showing the results of the experiment.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part showing an example of a conventional support device.
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part showing another example of a conventional support device.
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part showing still another example of the conventional support device.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Terminal support device 11 Pipe 12 Pipe fixing part 13 Flange 13a
13b Base 13c Step 14 Casing cap 14a Central part 15, 16 Damper 17 First holding plate 18 Second holding plate 19 Mating member 20, 20a Bolt 20b Nut 21 Guide pipe 21b Enlarged portion 22 Inner cable 24 Bellows boot 26 Center hole 27 Stopper 28 Spacer 29 Annular groove 30 Tip 31 Recess 32 Locking projection 33 Base 34 Disk 35 Peripheral edge 35a Step 36 Projection 40 Opening 41 Holding holes 42, 43 Leg 44 Mounting piece 46 Bolt hole 51 Rod 52 Tube 53, 54 Bracket 55 Terminal support device 56 Rod 57 Guide pipe 58 Casing cap 59 Flange 60 Anti-vibration rubber 61 Housing 62 Terminal support device 63 Disc-shaped portion 63a Annular protrusion 64 Holder 65 Lever bracket 66 Shift lever

Claims (5)

A casing cap having a tubular shape, having a conduit fixing portion for fixing an end of a control cable conduit at one end, and a flange at a central portion,
A ring-shaped elastic member arranged on the outer periphery of the casing cap so as to contact the flange;
A holding plate that presses and holds the elastic member on the flange side so as not to restrict the periphery,
Terminal support device for control cable. The elastic member is provided in a pair at the front and rear of the flange, and the holding plate holds the laminated structure of the elastic member, the flange and the elastic member by pressing the front and rear so as not to restrict the periphery thereof. The terminal support device according to claim 1, comprising a second holding plate. The terminal support device according to claim 1, wherein an outer peripheral portion of the elastic member has a disk spring shape. The terminal support device according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the casing cap to which the elastic member is attached has a prismatic shape, and an inner surface of the elastic member is shaped to fit with the portion. 2. The terminal support device according to claim 1, wherein a locking protrusion penetrating the holding plate and locking the elastic member to the holding plate is provided on an outer surface of the elastic member opposite to a surface that contacts the flange.

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