JP2004345598A - Current feeding device for slide door - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a current feeding device for a slide door of a compact structure for feeding a current to an apparatus inside the slide door from the body side of an automobile. <P>SOLUTION: The current feeding device for the slide door is structured so that a flat cable takeup device 16, a guide rail 18, and a slider 20 are installed inside the slide door 10. The portion of a flat cable 14 located out of the cable inlet/outlet of the takeup device 16 is fixed to the slider 20 near the inlet/outlet, handed over from the slider 20 to a body side flat cable draw-in part 22, and connected with the apparatus on the body side. The slider 20 and the body side flat cable draw-in part 22 are coupled to each other by a protector 24 for protecting the hand-over part of the flat cable 14. The operation complies with the movement of the slide door owing to the bending of the protector 24 until the slide door in the closed condition opens to the midway, and during a period from the protector being in a full elongated state till the slide door being fully open, the slide door 20 is pulled by the protector and moves along the guide rail 18, and as a result, the flat cable 14 is drawn out of the takeup device 16 to comply with the movement of the slide door. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply device for a sliding door for supplying power from a vehicle body to a device in the sliding door.
[0002]
2. Description of the Related Art In order to operate a device (power window motor, switch, speaker, etc.) in a sliding door, regardless of whether the sliding door is opened or closed, a device (power supply, etc.) on the vehicle body and a device in the sliding door are connected. Must always be electrically connected. Such a constant connection function is required for the power supply device for the sliding door. In the conventional power supply device for a sliding door, a door harness configured by bundling a required number of wires is provided with an extra length so that the door harness can follow the opening and closing of the sliding door, and the extra length of the door harness is provided. Is generally housed in the vehicle body (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2002-2288 [Patent Document 2] JP-A-2002-127847
Since the door harness is a bundle of electric wires, the thickness becomes large and the allowable bending radius becomes large. For this reason, there is a disadvantage that the accommodation space of the extra length of the door harness is increased, and the power supply device is enlarged.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a more compact power supply for a sliding door.
[0006]
In order to achieve this object, a power supply device for a slide door according to the present invention comprises a winding device for winding a flat cable in a slide door, and a flat cable entrance and exit of the winding device. A guide rail extending from the vicinity in the sliding door movement direction and a slider sliding along the guide rail are installed,
The inner end side of the flat cable wound by the winding device is configured to be connected to a device in a slide door,
The flat cable ahead of the flat cable entrance and exit of the winding device is fixed to the slider near the entrance and exit, and the direction is changed so that the width direction of the flat cable is directed to the vehicle body side in the slider in the vertical direction. It is designed to be connected to the equipment on the vehicle body, across the flat cable lead-in part on the vehicle body side,
Between the slider and the vehicle side flat cable lead-in portion, a flat cable is passed inside, and the flexible cable is connected to the flat cable by a bendable, non-stretchable protector,
The protector bends to accommodate the movement of the slide door from the closed state until the slide door is opened halfway.The protector extends when the slide door is opened halfway, and the slider is moved to the protector until the slide door is fully opened. The flat cable is pulled and moved along the guide rail, whereby the flat cable is pulled out from the winding device so as to correspond to the movement of the slide door.
In order to make the power supply device for a slide door according to the present invention more compact, it is preferable that the flat cable winding device has a reversing roll for reversing the winding direction of the flat cable.
In order to obtain a smoother operation, the power supply device for a sliding door according to the present invention is preferably formed so that the protector can be bent to the left and right sides in the longitudinal direction.
Further, the power supply device for a sliding door according to the present invention is preferably such that the outer periphery of the protector is covered with a grommet.
In the power supply device for a slide door according to the present invention, it is preferable that the guide rail is provided so that an opening of the slider guide groove faces the vehicle body in order to smoothly move the slider.
In the power supply device for a sliding door according to the present invention, the flat cable is bent laterally in the slider toward the vehicle body, and the slider sandwiches the horizontal bent portion of the flat cable. Preferably, it has a slot to accommodate.
In the power supply device for a sliding door according to the present invention, it is preferable that the slider has a torsion slot for changing the direction toward the vehicle body by twisting the flat cable without bending it.
[0013]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1A to 1D show an embodiment of a power supply device for a sliding door according to the present invention, showing a process of opening the sliding door. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a slide door, and 12A and 12B denote guide rails of the slide door 10. (A) is a state in which the slide door 10 is closed, (B) is a state in which it is partially opened, (C) is a state in which it is further opened, and (D) is a state in which it is fully opened.
In the slide door 10, a winding device 16 for winding the flat cable 14 by spring force, a guide rail 18 extending from the vicinity of the flat cable entrance and exit of the winding device 16 in the moving direction of the slide door 10, and A slider 20 that slides along the guide rail 18 is provided. The protector 24 is connected between the slider 20 and the flat cable lead-in portion 22 on the vehicle body side. The protector 24 protects a portion of the flat cable 14 extending from the slide door 10 side to the vehicle body side.
It is preferable to use a winding device 16 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 14 denotes a flat cable (two layers are stacked in the illustrated example, but the number of layers is arbitrary), 26 is a case, 28 is a rotor, and 30 is a coil spring.
The case 26 has an annular space S surrounded by an outer annular wall 32, an inner annular wall 34, an upper end plate 36, and a lower end plate 38. The case 26 is composed of an upper case 26A and a lower case 26B joined to each other. The outer annular wall 32, the inner annular wall 34, and the upper end face plate 36 are integrally formed on the upper case 26A, and the lower case 26B is formed on the lower case 26B. A side end plate 38 is formed. A split projection 40 is formed at the center of the lower end face plate 38, and a space between the projections 40 is a locking groove 42 for locking the lower end of the coil spring 30.
The rotor 28 includes a disc 44 located on the lower end face plate 38 of the case 26, one reversing roll 46 and a plurality of guide rolls 48 rotatably provided on the disc 44, And a hollow shaft 50 integrally formed at the center of the disk 44. The reversing roll 46 is rotatably supported by a single shaft 52 protruding from the disk 44, and the guide roll 48 is rotatably supported by a plurality of shafts 54 protruding from the disk 44. ing. The diameter of the reversing roll 46 is set to be slightly smaller than the difference between the outer radius and the inner radius of the annular space S, and the diameter of the guide roll 48 is set to be smaller than that. The guide rolls 48 are arranged at appropriate intervals so as to guide the flat cable 14 along the inner peripheral surface of the outer annular wall 32. The member that guides the flat cable 14 along the inner peripheral surface of the outer annular wall 32 does not need to rotate like a guide roll, and may be, for example, an arc-shaped wall set up on the disk 44. You may.
The hollow shaft 50 of the rotor 28 is rotatably fitted on the inner periphery of the inner annular wall 34 of the case 26. The lower end of the hollow shaft 50 is open, and the upper end is closed by a top plate 56. A split projection 58 is formed on the lower surface of the top plate 56, and a space between the projections 58 is a locking groove 60 for locking the upper end of the coil spring 30. The upper portion of the hollow shaft 50 projects above the upper end face plate 36 of the case 26, and the case 26 is integrally formed with a cap portion 62 that covers the upper portion of the hollow shaft 50. The inner diameter of the cap portion 62 is the same as the inner diameter of the inner annular wall 34.
The flat cable 14 has an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction housed in the annular space S of the case 26. The winding direction of the flat cable 14 in the annular space S is reversed by a reversing roll 46. One end of the flat cable 14 is wound around the outer periphery of the inner annular wall 34 with the reversing roll 46 as a boundary, and then bent at a right angle in the width direction to form a drawing port 64 provided on the inner periphery of the upper end face plate 36. From the case 26. At a position corresponding to the outlet 64 on the outer periphery of the inner annular wall 34, a cover portion 66 that covers the right-angle bent portion of the flat cable 14 is protruded. A clamp 68 is provided adjacent to the cover 66 for gripping and fixing the flat cable 14 on the outer peripheral surface of the inner annular wall 34. On the other hand, the other end of the flat cable 14 is guided by a guide roll 48 along the inner peripheral surface of the outer annular wall 32, and is connected to a flat cable entrance 70 provided in a part of the outer annular wall 32 in a tangential direction. 26.
The coil spring 30 is disposed coaxially in the hollow shaft 50 of the rotor 28, and is twisted so as to apply a rotational force to the rotor 28 in the direction of winding the flat cable 14, and has one end 30a. Is locked in the locking groove 60 of the hollow shaft 50, and the other end 30b is locked in the locking groove 42 of the lower case 26B. As a result, the rotor 28 is given a counterclockwise rotational force in FIG. 2A, but when no force in the pull-out direction is applied to the flat cable 14, the reversing roll 46 is applied to the cover 66 via the flat cable 14. At the end, no more rotation.
This is the initial state. That is, the cover 66 is formed so as to also act as a stopper for the rotor 28.
Next, the operation of the flat cable winding device 16 will be described. FIG. 2 shows a state where no tensile force is applied to the flat cable 14 coming out of the case from the flat cable entrance 70 of the case 26. When a tensile force in the direction of arrow P is applied to the flat cable 14 in this state, the rotor 28 rotates in the direction of arrow Q as shown in FIG. 3, and the flat cable 14 is pulled out. The guide roll 48 has a smaller diameter than the reversing roll 46, and is configured not to contact the cover 66 when the rotor 28 rotates. When the flat cable 14 is further pulled in the direction of arrow P, the flat cable 14 is further pulled out as shown in FIG. Thereafter, when the tensile force of the flat cable 14 becomes weak, the rotor 28 rotates counterclockwise due to the rotational force of the coil spring 30 to wind the flat cable 14 into the case 26, and finally returns to the state of FIG. . In this manner, the flat cable 14 can be drawn and wound without causing the flat cable 14 to be slackened.
The flat cable winding device 16 configured as described above is installed in the slide door 10 as shown in FIG. A connector (not shown) is attached to the end of the flat cable 14 drawn out of the case from the outlet 64 in the inner peripheral portion of the winding device 16, and a device (not shown) in the slide door 10 is attached to this connector. ) Is connected.
The flat cable 14 extending from the flat cable entrance 70 of the winding device 16 to the outside of the case is fixed to the slider 20 near the entrance 70, and the width direction of the flat cable 14 in the slider 20 is directed to the vehicle body in the vertical direction. After passing through the protector 24, it passes through the protector 24 to the flat cable lead-in portion 22 on the vehicle body side, and is connected to equipment (not shown) on the vehicle body side.
As shown in FIG. 5, the slider 20 has a T-shaped projection 72 on the back surface, and the T-shaped projection 72 is formed in a T-shaped groove of the guide rail 18 (the inner portion is wider than the opening. By being mounted in the (groove), it is slidably supported by the guide rail 18. The guide rail 18 and the winding device 16 are fixed to a support member 74 in the slide door. The guide rail 18 is fixed to the support member 74 so that the opening of the T-shaped groove faces the vehicle body. This is to enable the slider 20 to slide smoothly along the guide rail 18 even when the slider 20 is pulled toward the vehicle body by the protector 24.
The slider 20 is formed so that the flat cable mounting surface is positioned on an extension of the flat cable entrance 70 of the winding device 16 while being supported by the guide rail 18. The flat cable 14 extending from the entrance 70 of the winding device 16 is bent downward 90 ° in the slider 20 and further bent 90 ° in the lateral direction. As a result, the flat cable 14 reaches the vehicle body with the width direction of the flat cable 14 oriented in the vertical direction. When the flat cable 14 is transferred to the vehicle body in such a state, the flat cable 14 can be bent smoothly when the slide door 10 is opened and closed. The flat cable 14 is fixed to the slider 20 by bonding or other means.
The protector 24 for connecting between the slider 20 and the flat cable lead-in portion 22 on the vehicle body side is preferably configured as shown in FIG. That is, the protector 24 is in the form of a hollow chain in which a large number of square tubular elements 76 are connected by a shaft pin 78. The protector 24 is bent on both left and right sides in the longitudinal direction as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. It is configured not to bend substantially in the direction. If the protector 24 can be bent to the left and right sides as described above, when the slide door 10 is opened, the protector 24 bends as shown in FIG. 1B in the process of shifting from FIG. Further, when the slide door 10 is closed, in the process of shifting from (C) to (B), the slide door 10 is easily bent to the opposite side to (B). For this reason, the protector 24 does not stretch, and the opening and closing of the slide door 10 can be performed smoothly. If the protector 24 does not bend in the vertical direction, the flat cable 14 extending from the slider 20 to the vehicle-side flat cable lead-in portion 22 is not bent in the width direction, and the protection of the crossover portion of the flat cable 14 is ensured.
As shown in FIG. 5B, it is preferable to cover a rubber grommet 80 on the outer periphery of the protector 24. Thereby, the water resistance and oil resistance of the crossover part can be improved.
The above is the configuration of each part of the slide door power supply device of this embodiment. Next, the operation of the power supply device will be described. FIG. 1A shows a state in which the slide door 10 is closed. The end of the flat cable 14 on the slide door 10 side is connected to a device (power window motor or the like) in the slide door 10, and the end on the vehicle body side is connected to a device (power supply or the like) in the vehicle body. Thus, power can be supplied from the vehicle body side to the slide door side by the continuous flat cable 14, and a signal can be transmitted from the slide door 10 side to the vehicle body side. In FIG. 1A, the winding device 16 is in a state of winding the flat cable 14 (in FIG. 2 or a state close thereto), and the protector 24 is inclined to the front of the vehicle body and almost fully extended.
When the slide door 10 is opened from this state, the slide door 10 retreats away from the guide rail 12A, so that the protector 24 is bent as shown in FIG. When the slide door 10 is further opened, the protector 24 is inclined and extended rearward of the vehicle body as shown in FIG. Up to this point, no force for moving the slider 20 is generated, so that the positional relationship between the slider 20 and the winding device 16 does not change. Thereafter, when the slide door 10 is further opened, the slider 20 is pulled by the protector 24 and moves along the guide rail 18, so that the flat cable 14 is pulled out from the winding device 16. (D) is a state where the slide door 10 is fully opened. In the fully opened state, the winding device 16 is in the state of FIG. 4, for example.
Next, when the slide door 10 is closed from the fully opened state, the flat cable 14 is wound by the spring force in the winding device 16, and returns from the state (D) to the state (C). When the slide door 10 is further closed, the protector 24 returns to the state (A) while bending to the opposite side to the state (B). It is the protector 24 that receives the tensile force in the process of opening and closing the slide door 10, and no tensile force is applied to the crossover portion of the flat cable 14. Since the width direction of the crossover portion of the flat cable 14 is oriented in the up-down direction, the crossover portion is easily bent together with the protector 24, so that no overload is applied. Therefore, the flat cable is less likely to be damaged by opening and closing the slide door.
FIG. 7 shows a preferred example of the slider 20. The portion of the flat cable 14 extending from the slider 20 to the vehicle-side flat cable lead-in portion is bent left and right by opening and closing the slide door. When the laterally bent portion of the flat cable 14 opens and closes due to this bending, the conductor may be fatigue-ruptured at the bent portion. In order to prevent this, the slider 20 forms a slot 82 for accommodating the laterally bent portion of the flat cable 14, and sandwiches the laterally bent portion of the flat cable 14 with the inner wall of the slot 82 so that the bent portion is formed. It is held so that it does not open.
FIG. 8 shows another preferred example of the slider 20. The slider 20 is formed with a twisted slot 84 for drawing out the flat cable 14 bent downward without twisting it without bending. If the direction of the flat cable 14 is changed by passing through such a torsion slot 84, it is not necessary to bend the flat cable 14 in the lateral direction, so that fatigue fracture of the conductor can be prevented.
In the above embodiment, the winding device used was a type in which a flat cable was wound by reversing the winding direction with a reversing roll, but the winding device was of a type in which the flat cable was wound in one direction by a spiral spring. Things can also be used.
In the above embodiment, the winding device for winding the flat cable has been described as utilizing the spring force of the coil spring. However, the winding device uses the elasticity of the flat cable itself to wind the flat cable. It may be used.
[0035]
As described above, according to the present invention, the flat cable take-up device is installed in the slide door, and the flat cable is taken out and pulled out by moving the slider, and the slider and the vehicle body side flat cable draw-in portion are provided. The opening and closing of the slide door is supported by a combination with the swing of the protector that connects the doors in the opening and closing direction, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact and the installation space can be reduced. Further, in a portion where the flat cable extends from the slider to the vehicle-body-side flat cable lead-in portion, the flat cable width direction is oriented in the up-down direction, so that the flat cable can be bent with the protector without difficulty and is not easily damaged. Furthermore, since the flat cable is continuous from the inside of the slide door to the inside of the vehicle body, the number of connection points can be reduced, and cost can be reduced and reliability can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIGS. 1A to 1D are explanatory views showing an embodiment of a power supply device for a sliding door according to the present invention, following a process of opening the sliding door.
2A and 2B show a preferred example of a flat cable winding device used in the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view in a direction crossing a central axis, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the flat cable is pulled out halfway in the winding device of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where the flat cable is further drawn out from the state of FIG. 3;
5A is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the take-up device, the slider and the guide rail of the power supply device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.
6 (A) is a plan view, FIG. 6 (B) is a front view, FIG. 6 (C) is a left side view, FIG. 6 (D) is a right side view, and FIG. ) Is a sectional view.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a preferred example of a slider used in the present invention.
8 (A) is a plan view, FIG. 8 (B) is a front view, FIG. 8 (C) is a right side view, and FIG. 8 (D) is a sectional view showing another preferred example of the slider used in the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Slide door 12A, 12B: Slide door guide rail 14: Flat cable 16: Flat cable take-up device 18: Guide rail 20: Slider 22: Flat cable draw-in section 24: Protector 26: Case 28: Rotor 30: Coil spring 46 : Reversing roll 48: guide roll 80: grommet 82: slot 84: twist slot

Claims (7)

A winding device for winding the flat cable, a guide rail extending in the sliding door moving direction from near the flat cable entrance and exit of the winding device, and a slider sliding along the guide rail are installed in the slide door. ,
The inner end side of the flat cable wound by the winding device is configured to be connected to a device in a slide door,
The flat cable ahead of the flat cable entrance and exit of the winding device is fixed to the slider near the entrance and exit, and the direction is changed so that the width direction of the flat cable is directed to the vehicle body side in the slider in the vertical direction. It is designed to be connected to the equipment on the vehicle body, across the flat cable lead-in part on the vehicle body side,
Between the slider and the vehicle side flat cable lead-in portion, a flat cable is passed inside, and the flexible cable is connected to the flat cable by a bendable, non-stretchable protector,
The protector bends to accommodate the movement of the slide door by bending the protector until the slide door is opened halfway from the closed state.The protector extends completely when the slide door is opened halfway, and the slider is moved to the protector until the slide door is fully opened. A power supply device for a slide door, wherein the power supply device for a slide door is adapted to cope with the movement of the slide door by being pulled and moved along the guide rail, whereby the flat cable is pulled out from the winding device. The power supply device for a slide door according to claim 1, wherein the flat cable winding device has a reversing roll for reversing a winding direction of the flat cable. The power supply device for a slide door according to claim 1, wherein the protector is formed so as to be able to bend right and left sides in a longitudinal direction. The power supply device for a sliding door according to claim 1 or 3, wherein a grommet is put on an outer periphery of the protector. The power supply device for a slide door according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail is provided such that an opening of the slider guide groove faces the vehicle body. The flat cable is bent laterally in the slider so as to face the vehicle body, and the slider has a slot for holding the laterally bent portion of the flat cable in a sandwiched manner. 2. The power supply device for a slide door according to 1. The power supply device for a slide door according to claim 1, wherein the slider has a torsion slot for changing the direction toward the vehicle body by twisting the flat cable without bending.

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