JP2005161925A - Vehicular tailgate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular tailgate which is opened/closed even when only a narrow space is present behind a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular tailgate 10 is constituted so that the vehicular tailgate 10 is folded into an upper part gate 16 and a lower part gate 17 when the tailgate is opened. The vehicular tailgate 10 can be opened/closed even when only a narrow space is present between a vehicle and a distal wall of a garage when the vehicle enters the garage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle tailgate, and more particularly to a vehicle tailgate that is a flip-up type door provided in a rear opening of a vehicle body.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a vehicle tailgate that opens and closes a rear opening of a vehicle body of an automobile (hereinafter referred to as a tailgate) is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
The tailgate of Patent Document 1 is a hatchback-type single door that is pivotably connected in a vertical plane to the upper edge of the rear opening of the vehicle body via a hinge. A tailgate lock is provided at the vehicle width direction middle portion of the lower edge of the tailgate, and a striker that is hooked by the tailgate lock is projected at the vehicle width direction intermediate portion of the rear opening. .
JP 2000-118445 A

  However, the tailgate of Patent Document 1 is a hatchback-type single door that is pivotally supported by the rear opening so as to be rotatable in a vertical plane. For this reason, for example, when the space from the rear edge of the vehicle body to the back wall of the garage is small at the time of warehousing, the tailgate cannot be fully opened and the luggage cannot be taken in and out of the rear part of the car. The tailgate is pivoted up to approximately 90 degrees in the vertical plane. As a result, in order to fully open the tailgate, when the tailgate is closed, a space approximately the same as the vertical length of the tailgate is required between the rear edge of the vehicle body and the rear wall of the garage. .

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle tailgate that can be opened and closed even when only a narrow space exists behind the vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle tailgate that can hold a plurality of partial gates in a folded state.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hatchback type vehicle tailgate that is pivotably coupled in a vertical plane to an upper edge portion of a rear opening of a vehicle body. This is a vehicular tailgate composed of partial gates.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the vehicle tailgate is opened, the vehicle tailgate is folded into a plurality of partial gates. Therefore, the vehicle tailgate can be opened and closed even when there is only a narrow space behind the vehicle.

The type of vehicle is not limited. For example, a first-back passenger car can be employed.
The number of partial gates constituting the vehicle tailgate is not limited as long as it is two or more.
The means for maintaining the folded state of the tailgate is not limited. For example, a latching structure having a tailgate lock and a striker, a wire pulling structure, and the like can be employed. A manual type or an automatic type having a drive unit may be used.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, gate latching means for latching the plurality of partial gates in a folded state is provided between the partial gate on the foremost side and the partial gate on the foremost side. The vehicle tailgate according to claim 1.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle tailgate folded into the plurality of partial gates is latched by the gate latching means between the first partial gate and the first partial gate. Is done. Thereby, a plurality of partial gates can be held in a folded state.

  As the gate latching means, for example, one having a tailgate lock and a striker can be adopted. As the lock structure of the tailgate lock, for example, a latch structure can be adopted.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the vehicle tailgate is constituted by a plurality of partial gates, the vehicle tailgate can be opened and closed even when only a narrow space exists behind the vehicle.

  In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the gate latching means is provided between the rear opening and the frontmost partial gate, the plurality of partial gates can be held in a folded state. it can.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a vehicle tailgate (hereinafter referred to as a tailgate). The tailgate 10 is rotatable in a vertical plane at the upper edge of a rear opening 12 of a vehicle body 11 of a hatchback type passenger car. Concatenated.
The upper edge of the rear opening 12 and the tailgate 10 are connected via an upper hinge 13 whose axis is horizontal. The tailgate 10 extends downward from the upper hinge 13 and is hooked to the vehicle body 11 via the tailgate lock 14 and the striker 15 to close the rear opening 12, and substantially horizontally from the upper hinge 13. It extends to the rear of the vehicle and rotates between an open state in which the rear opening 12 is opened away from the vehicle body 11.

A feature of the present invention is that the tail gate 10 is composed of two upper and lower partial gates 16 and 17 that are foldably connected in the vertical direction.
The upper partial gate (most-most partial gate) 16 and the lower partial gate (most-most partial gate) 17 are connected via a pair of lower hinges 18 arranged at both ends in the vehicle width direction. And are pivotally connected in a vertical plane. The rear window 19 is provided on the upper partial gate 16.

  At the upper edge of the inner panel of the upper partial gate 16 is an intermediate portion in the vehicle width direction, and a base portion of a short arc arm 20 whose lengthwise intermediate portion protrudes toward the rear window when viewed from the side. It is fixed. A partial gate striker 15 </ b> A is fixed to the tip of the arc arm 20. A stopper frame 21 is provided on the lower edge of the outer panel of the upper partial gate 16 so as to restrict the rotation of the lower partial gate 17 in the vertical plane over the entire length in the vehicle width direction.

  On the other hand, the inner panel of the lower partial gate 17 is provided with a tailgate lock 14 for hooking the striker 15 and the partial gate striker 15A at the intermediate portion in the vehicle width direction of the lower edge portion. The tailgate lock 14 is a latch structure. The partial gate striker 15A and the tail gate lock 14 are provided between the upper partial gate 16 and the lower partial gate 17, and the gate latch that latches the pair of upper and lower partial gates in a folded state. Means 22 are configured.

  Further, at both ends of the rear opening 12 in the vehicle width direction, the tailgate 10 with the tailgate lock 14 released is rotated in the open direction (upwardly rotated) in the vertical plane by the projection of each rod 1 A pair of gas springs 23 is provided. The tip of each rod is pivotally supported by the base of the inner panel of the upper partial gate 16.

  One end of a wire 24 that smoothly opens and closes the tailgate 10 is fixed to one upper corner of the rear opening 12 in the vehicle width direction. On the inner panel of the upper partial gate 16, a pair of upper and lower holes into which the wire 24 is loosely inserted are formed at one upper corner portion and lower corner portion in the vehicle width direction. The wire 24 passes through the upper partial gate 16 from the upper hole portion, exits from the lower hole portion, and then is connected to one upper end portion of the lower partial gate 17 in the vehicle width direction. The other end of is fixed. That is, when the tailgate 10 is opened, the wire 24 automatically folds the tailgate 10 by its tension, and accordingly the partial gate striker 15A and the tailgate lock 14 are hooked.

Next, the opening / closing operation | movement of the tailgate 10 of Example 1 is demonstrated.
When the tailgate 10 is opened, first, a handle (not shown) formed on the outer panel of the lower partial gate 17 is grasped, and the tailgate lock 14 is unlocked from the striker 15. Thereafter, the handle is gripped, and the tailgate 10 is rotated in the opening direction within the vertical plane around the axis of the upper hinge 13. This rotation is assisted by the protrusion of the rods of both gas springs 23. In addition, with this rotation, the wire 24 is loosened, and the lower partial gate 17 is rotated in the folding direction within the vertical plane via the lower hinge 18. Finally, at the same time that the upper partial gate 16 is opened, the tail gate lock 14 is hooked on the partial gate striker 15A, and the lower partial gate 17 is moved to the inside of the upper partial gate 16. Folded.

  Further, when the tailgate 10 is closed, the rear opening 12 is closed by the tailgate 10 by sequentially performing the operations described above in reverse order. When the tailgate 10 is closed, the stopper frame 21 prevents rotation of the lower partial gate 17 toward the closing side in the vertical plane.

In this way, when the tailgate 10 is opened, the tailgate 10 is folded into the two partial gates 16 and 17, so that, for example, when entering the warehouse, there is only a narrow space between the passenger car and the back wall of the garage. Also, the tailgate 10 can be opened and closed.
Further, since the folded tailgate 10 is provided with the gate latching means 22 between the partial gates 16 and 17, the upper partial gate 16 and the lower partial gate 17 can be held in a folded state. it can.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a foldable opening / closing operation handle 30 may be provided on the surface side of the upper central portion of the lower partial gate 17. By using the opening / closing operation handle 30, the opening / closing operation of the tailgate 10 is facilitated.

It is a side view which shows the open state of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. (A) It is a side view which shows the state in the middle of opening of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention, or the middle of closure. (B) It is a side view which shows the state in the middle of the state which the open state of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention advanced, or the obstruction | occlusion of the vehicle tailgate advanced. (A) It is a side view which shows the obstruction | occlusion state of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a reverse view which shows the obstruction | occlusion state of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a surface view which shows the obstruction | occlusion state of another vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. (A) It is a side view which shows the protrusion state of the folding handle | steering_wheel of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. (A) It is a side view which shows the accommodation state of the folding handle | steering_wheel of the vehicle tailgate which concerns on Example 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle tailgate 11 Car body 12 Rear opening 16 Upper partial gate 17 Lower partial gate 22 Gate latching means

Claims (2)

In the hatchback type vehicle tailgate that is pivotably connected in the vertical plane to the upper edge of the rear opening of the vehicle body,
A vehicular tailgate composed of a plurality of partial gates that are foldably connected in the vertical direction. The vehicle latching device according to claim 1, wherein a gate latching means for latching the plurality of partial gates in a folded state is provided between the first partial gate and the first partial gate. Tailgate.

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