JP2009127291A - Vehicle door opening/closing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle door opening/closing device capable of appropriately applying tension to a cable while reducing the number of parts to reduce cost, and reducing a workload in arranging the cable to facilitate arrangement work. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicle door opening/closing device comprises the cable 23 locked to the vehicle door to open/close the vehicle door; a drive mechanism having a drive wheel 33 and driving the cable 23 to reciprocate; a guide member 31 guiding the cable 23, extending from the door, to the drive wheel 33 and guiding the cable 23, having passed the drive wheel 33, back to the door; and a plate spring 42 fixed to a support member 41 supporting one of the guide member 31 and the drive wheel 33, and applying tension to the cable 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle door opening / closing device that opens and closes a door provided on a side surface of a vehicle.

  Conventionally, as a vehicle door opening and closing device that opens and closes a slide door provided on a side surface of a vehicle, a cable locked at both ends of the slide door and an intermediate portion of the cable are wound, and the slide door according to the rotation direction There is known a drive wheel that includes a drive wheel that reciprocates and a drive motor that rotates the drive wheel. In such a vehicle door opening / closing device, a tension mechanism is provided so that an appropriate tension is always applied to the cable so that the sliding door is normally opened and closed.

  As such a tension mechanism, for example, in Patent Document 1, tension pulleys are respectively connected to a lead-in cable drawn from the guide rail side to the outer peripheral surface of the driving wheel and a feeding cable drawn from the outer peripheral surface of the driving wheel to the guide rail side. Are engaged from the outside of the cable. These tension pulleys are slidably provided in the same tension case, and are provided with coil springs across both tension pulleys, and are configured to urge them in the direction of approaching each other to apply tension to the cable. It is.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism that uses a vertically long slot provided in a base plate as a mechanism for adjusting the initial tension of the vehicle door opening and closing device. According to this mechanism, when the vehicle door opening / closing device is assembled to the vehicle body and the cable is arranged, the tension case is first fixed in the state of being closest to the drive wheel by using the play by the slot, and the cable is connected. Arranged in a loosened state. Thereafter, when the fixing is released, the driving wheel descends by its own weight, and as a result, the cable is stretched and a predetermined tension is applied.

Japanese Patent No. 3403080

  By the way, in the vehicle door opening and closing device, it is preferable that the cable does not sag, the drive unit preferably has a smaller number of parts, and the cable is easily arranged in the drive unit. Is preferred.

  In this regard, in the vehicle door opening and closing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a mechanism for appropriately maintaining the tension of the cable and a mechanism for adjusting the initial tension when the cable is disposed are separately provided. Therefore, the number of parts increases and the production cost increases. Further, when the cable is arranged, it is necessary to tighten the nut while adjusting the height position of the tension case, and then to loosen the nut again after the cable is arranged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door opening and closing device that can appropriately apply tension to a cable while reducing cost by reducing the number of parts. And It is another object of the present invention to reduce the amount of work at the time of cable installation and facilitate the installation work.

  In order to achieve this object, the vehicle door opening / closing device according to the present invention includes a cable that is locked to the door to open and close the vehicle door and a drive wheel, and that drives the cable to reciprocate. A mechanism, a guide member that guides the cable extending from the door to the drive wheel, and guides the cable that has passed through the drive wheel to the door again, and one of the guide member and the drive wheel A leaf spring that is fixed to a support member that supports one side and that applies tension to the cable.

According to the above configuration, the leaf spring applies tension to the cable when the cable locked to the door by the drive mechanism is reciprocated to open and close the door of the vehicle. It can be maintained to prevent the slack.
Further, since the leaf spring is fixed to a support member that supports either the guide member or the drive wheel provided in the vehicle door opening and closing device, when the tension mechanism is provided, the guide member or the drive wheel is There is no need to perform special positioning separately, and the installation work is facilitated.
Further, by displacing the leaf spring in a direction to reduce the cable tension, the initial tension at the time of cable installation can be adjusted very easily, and the cable installation work is facilitated. In addition, since the mechanism for adjusting the initial tension can be integrated with the mechanism for appropriately maintaining the tension of the cable, the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Here, it is preferable that the leaf spring is fixed inside the cable that circulates between the guide member and the driving wheel and biases the cable outward.

According to this configuration, an outward tension can be reliably applied to the cable via the leaf spring from the inside of the cable that circulates between the guide member and the drive wheel.
In addition, the leaf spring and all the members connected to the leaf spring can be accommodated inside the cable that circulates, so the cable tension is reduced, that is, the cable is displaced further inwardly. If the leaf spring is fixed, the cable can be arranged simply by hooking the slack cable around the displaced leaf spring, and the arrangement work is further facilitated.

  Further, it is preferable that a tension pulley for guiding the cable is pivotally supported on an end portion of the leaf spring which is not fixed to the support member.

  According to this configuration, since the tension pulley is pivotally supported at the end of the leaf spring that is not fixed to the support member, the tension pulley while appropriately applying tension to the cable by the leaf spring. Rotates around the axis, and the cable locked to the door of the vehicle can be smoothly reciprocated.

  In addition, a bent portion that bends in a direction opposite to the tension applying direction is formed at an end portion of the leaf spring that is not fixed to the support member, and the cable is guided outside the bent portion. It is preferable to provide a guide groove for this purpose.

According to this configuration, since the guide groove for guiding the cable is provided on the outer side of the bent portion formed on the end portion of the leaf spring that is not fixed to the support member, The cable can be appropriately guided between the guide member and the outer peripheral surface of the drive wheel by sliding the cable along the guide groove while appropriately applying tension to the cable. At this time, the bent portion is bent in the direction opposite to the direction in which the tension is applied, so that the cable can be prevented from being caught.
In this way, by devising the shape of the leaf spring, it is possible to appropriately pull in and feed out the cable without using a guide roller or the like, so it is possible to further reduce the number of parts and reduce the manufacturing cost. Become.

[First embodiment]
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle 1 provided with a sliding door 2. The vehicle 1 is provided with a vehicle door opening / closing device 10 and can automatically open and close the slide door 2. FIG. 2 is a side view of the vehicle door opening / closing device 10, and FIG. 3 is a top view thereof. As shown in these drawings, the vehicle door opening and closing device 10 includes a guide rail 20 and a drive unit 30.

  The guide rail 20 is provided in the vicinity of the center of the side surface of the vehicle 1 in the height direction, and the drive unit 30 is suspended from the guide rail 20 at an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction. The slide door 2 is slidably attached along the guide rail 20, and the slide door 2 is reciprocated substantially parallel to the side surface of the vehicle 1 to open and close the slide door 2. In this example, the guide rail 20 is provided near the center of the side surface of the vehicle 1 in the height direction, and the drive unit 30 is suspended from the guide rail 20 at the intermediate portion in the front-rear direction. It is not limited to. For example, the guide rail 20 may be provided below the side surface of the vehicle 1, and the drive unit 30 may be suspended from the front side or the rear side of the guide rail 20.

  Two fixed pulleys 21 are supported at both ends of the guide rail 20 so as to be rotatable about the vertical direction of the vehicle 1. The cable 23 engages with these fixed pulleys 21 and is turned back, and both ends are locked to the brackets 22 and arranged around the guide rail 20 in an annular shape.

  On the rail outer portion of the bracket 22, the slide door 2 is supported with respect to the bracket 22 so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis in the height direction of the vehicle 1. Thereby, the slide door 2 reciprocates between the fully open position (FIG. 3A) and the fully closed position (FIG. 3B). When the slide door 2 is fully closed, that is, when the bracket 22 is moved to the end of the guide rail 20 on the bent side, the slide door 2 is rotated so that the slide door 2 and the side surface of the vehicle 1 are flush with each other. Become.

  The sliding door 2 is opened and closed by the drive unit 30. 4 is a perspective view of the drive unit 30, and FIG. 5 is a front view thereof. 6 and 7 are a VI-VI sectional view and a VII-VII sectional view of FIG. 5, respectively. The drive unit 30 includes a drive mechanism 32 and a guide pulley 31. These are fixed to the base plate 36 and covered with a unit case 37 except for a motor 35 described later. FIG. 8 schematically shows the drive unit 30 of FIG.

  The drive mechanism 32 includes a drive wheel 33 around which the cable 23 is wound, and a motor 35 that reciprocally drives the cable 23 by rotationally driving the drive wheel 33. The drive wheel 33 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and an engagement groove 34 is formed on the cylindrical outer peripheral surface. The engagement groove 34 is a groove for sequentially engaging the cable 23, and the cable 23 is wound around the drive wheel 33 along the engagement groove 34.

  The motor 35 is a reversible motor that can rotate in either the forward or reverse direction. The rotation of the motor 35 is transmitted to the drive wheel 33. When the motor 35 rotates in one direction, the driving wheel 33 also rotates in the corresponding direction, winds the cable 23 in the closing direction, and closes the slide door 2. On the other hand, when the motor 35 rotates in the opposite direction, the driving wheel The rotation direction of 33 is also reversed and the sliding door 2 is opened. Thus, when the drive mechanism 32 is operated, the driving force is transmitted to the slide door 2 via the cable 23, and the slide door 2 is driven. The motor 35 provided outside the unit case 37 is not shown in FIGS.

  The guide pulley 31 guides the cable 23 extending from the slide door 2 to the drive wheel 33 and guides the cable 23 that has passed through the drive wheel 33 to the slide door 2 again. Therefore, this guide pulley 31 corresponds to the guide member in the present invention. The guide pulley 31 includes a groove for engaging a cable 23 (hereinafter referred to as a pull-in cable) drawn from the slide door 2 toward the outer peripheral surface of the drive wheel 33, and a slide door from the outer peripheral surface of the drive wheel 33. 2 has a groove for engaging a cable 23 (hereinafter referred to as a payout cable). The guide pulley 31 is pivotally supported across the base plate 36 and the pulley cover 41. Therefore, the pulley cover 41 corresponds to the support member in the present invention. Note that the terms of the lead-in cable and the payout cable are used for convenience of explanation, and are not particularly distinguished on the drawings.

  As described above, the vehicle door opening and closing device 10 includes the cable 23 locked to the slide door 2 to open and close the slide door 2 and the drive wheel 33, the drive mechanism 32 that reciprocates the cable 23, the slide A guide member that guides the cable 23 extending from the door 2 to the drive wheel 33 and guides the cable 23 that has passed through the drive wheel 33 to the slide door 2 again. Furthermore, a tension mechanism 40 for applying a predetermined tension to the cable 23 is provided. The tension mechanism 40 brings about a tension state in which the cable 23 is not slackened, whereby the cable 23 is drawn into or pulled out from the outer peripheral surface of the drive wheel 33.

  The tension mechanism 40 includes an elastically deformable leaf spring 42 fixed to a pulley cover 41 that supports the guide pulley 31.

  In the present embodiment, the pulley cover 41 is provided so as to cover the guide pulley 31 in the left-right direction of the drive unit 30, and is fixed to the base plate 36 at both ends. The vehicle 1 is open in the vertical direction, and the cable 23 is disposed through this open surface.

  Leaf springs 42 are fixed to the inner side surfaces on both sides of the pulley cover 41 at the end portions on one side. Since the leaf spring 42 is fixed to the side surface of the pulley cover 41, the leaf spring 42 is positioned outside the cable 23 that goes around the guide pulley 31 and the drive wheel 33 in this embodiment. Each leaf spring 42 is bent outward from the lower portion of the pulley cover 41 and is bent again at the end opposite to the fixed end (hereinafter referred to as the free end). A pair of opposing support plates 44 that are parallel to each other are formed inwardly at the end portion on the free end side so as to be integrated with the body plate 43 that constitutes the leaf spring 42. A tension pulley 45 is pivotally supported across these support plates 44 and is rotatably provided. These tension pulleys 45 are engaged with a drawing cable on one side and a feeding cable on the other side.

  When the cable 23 that is locked to the sliding door 2 and forms a loop over the fixed pulley 21, the guide pulley 31, and the drive wheel 33 is engaged with the tension pulley 45, the leaf spring 42 is inward compared to the natural state. That is, the two leaf springs 42 are displaced in a direction approaching each other. Therefore, an elastic force proportional to the amount of displacement of the leaf spring 42 acts on the cable 23, and an outward tension is applied to the cable 23 via the tension pulley 45 as shown by an arrow in FIG. .

According to the tension mechanism 40 of the vehicle door opening / closing device 10 according to the present embodiment, the leaf spring 42 applies an outward tension to the cable 23, so that the tension of the cable 23 is appropriately maintained and the slack is reduced. Can be prevented. Further, since the leaf spring 42 is fixed to the pulley cover 41 that pivotally supports the guide pulley 31, when the tension mechanism 40 is attached to the drive unit 30, it is not necessary to perform special positioning and the attachment becomes easy. . Further, the initial tension when the cable 23 is disposed can be very easily adjusted by displacing the leaf spring 42 in a direction that reduces the tension of the cable 23, and a mechanism for adjusting the initial tension is provided for the cable 23. Since it can be integrated with a mechanism for appropriately maintaining the tension, the number of parts can be reduced and the production cost can be reduced. Further, since the tension pulley 45 is pivotally supported by the opposing support plate 44, the thickness of the entire drive unit 30 can be made substantially equal to the thickness of the tension pulley 45, and the entire apparatus can be made thinner.
[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the drive unit 30 according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the tension mechanism 40 provided in the drive unit 30 also includes an elastically deformable leaf spring 42 fixed to a pulley cover 41 that supports the guide pulley 31. However, the shape of the pulley cover 41 and The position where the leaf spring 42 is fixed is different. Hereinafter, this difference will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the pulley cover 41 is provided so as to cover the guide pulley 31 not only in the left-right direction but also downward. At this time, the lower end portion of the pulley cover 41 is routed between the guide pulley 31 and the drive wheel 33 so that the cable 23 can be properly drawn and drawn out without being blocked by the pulley cover 41. An opening is provided in an area that is fixed to the base plate 36 on the inside and through which the cable 23 passes.

  In the present embodiment, one leaf spring 42 is fixed to the lower end surface of the pulley cover 41 substantially at its midpoint. A tension pulley 45 that is pivotally supported rotatably is provided at the free end of each leaf spring 42. These tension pulleys 45 are engaged with a drawing cable on one side and a feeding cable on the other side.

  When the cable 23 is engaged with the tension pulley 45, the leaf spring 42 is displaced inward, that is, in a direction in which both free ends of one leaf spring 42 are close to each other. Therefore, an elastic force proportional to the amount of displacement of the leaf spring 42 acts on the cable 23, and an outward tension is applied to the cable 23 via the tension pulley 45 as shown by an arrow in FIG. .

According to the tension mechanism 40 of the vehicle door opening / closing device 10 according to the present embodiment, the cable 23 passes from the inside of the cable 23 that circulates between the guide pulley 31 and the drive wheel 33 via the leaf spring 42 and the tension pulley 45. Thus, an outward tension can be reliably applied. At this time, since the tension pulley 45 is pivotally supported, a smooth reciprocating operation can be performed while applying a predetermined tension to the cable 23. Further, since the leaf spring 42 and the tension pulley 45 pivotally supported by the leaf spring 42 can all be accommodated inside the cable 23 that circulates, the leaf spring 42 is displaced in a direction that reduces the tension of the cable 23. If fixed, the cable 23 can be arranged simply by hooking the loosened cable 23 around the displaced leaf spring 42, and the arrangement work becomes easy.
[Third embodiment]
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the drive unit 30 according to the present embodiment. The configuration of the tension mechanism 40 included in the drive unit 30 is substantially the same as the configuration of the tension mechanism 40 described in the second embodiment, but the configuration of the end portion on the free end side of the leaf spring 42 is different. Hereinafter, this difference will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the tension pulley 45 is not provided at the free end of each leaf spring 42, and the cable 23 is directly engaged with the leaf spring 42. Here, a bent portion 60 that is bent inward, that is, in a direction opposite to the tension applying direction, is formed at the end of the leaf spring 42 on the free end side. Further, as shown in FIG. 11 which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XI-XI in FIG. When the driving wheel 33 rotates and the cable 23 is drawn or drawn out, the cable 23 slides on the surface of the leaf spring 42 along the guide groove 61.

  According to the tension mechanism 40 of the vehicle door opening / closing device 10 according to the present embodiment, the guide groove 61 for guiding the cable 23 to the outside of the bent portion 60 formed at the end portion on the free end side of the leaf spring 42. Therefore, the cable 23 is slid along the guide groove 61 while appropriately applying tension to the cable 23 by the leaf spring 42, and the cable is connected between the guide pulley 31 and the outer peripheral surface of the drive wheel 33. 23 can be appropriately guided. At this time, since the bent portion 60 is bent inward, the catch at the end of the leaf spring 42 of the feeding cable can be suppressed. Thus, by devising the shape of the leaf spring 42, the cable 23 can be properly pulled in and fed out without using the tension pulley 45 or the like, so that it is possible to further reduce the number of parts and manufacture. Cost can be reduced.

[Other Embodiments]
(1) In the second embodiment and the third embodiment described above, the example in which the tension mechanism 40 is configured by fixing one leaf spring 42 to the pulley cover 41 at substantially the midpoint thereof has been described. However, the two leaf springs 42 may be configured to be fixed to the pulley cover 41 at one end thereof.

(2) In each of the above embodiments, the example in which the leaf spring 42 is fixed to the pulley cover 41 that supports the guide pulley 31 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 12, the same effect can be obtained even if the leaf spring 42 is fixed to the drive wheel cover 46 that supports the drive wheel 33. In this case, the number of leaf springs 42, the position to be fixed, the presence or absence of the tension pulley 45, and the like can be selected as appropriate.

(3) In the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the example in which one leaf spring 42 is completely fixed to the pulley cover 41 has been described. However, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, in these examples, the leaf spring 42 is pivotally supported at the midpoint thereof in a direction parallel to the rotation shaft of the guide pulley 31, and is supported so as to be swingable. May be.
If comprised in this way, when the drive wheel 33 rotates, the whole leaf | plate spring 42 will be united by the tension | tensile_strength transmitted from the drawing cable to the leaf | plate spring 42, and it will be extruded to the feeding cable side centering on the rocking | swiveling shaft 70, This extrusion acts to apply tension to the feeding cable. In this case, since the difference between the tension caused by the extrusion and the appropriate tension necessary for the feeding cable is absorbed by the elasticity of the leaf spring 42, the tension can be reliably applied so that the cable 23 is not loosened. preferable.

  The present invention can be suitably used for a vehicle door opening and closing device that opens and closes a door provided on a side surface of the vehicle.

Side view of vehicle with sliding door Side view of vehicle door opening and closing device Top view of vehicle door opening and closing device Perspective view of drive unit Front view of drive unit VI-VI sectional view of FIG. VII-VII sectional view of FIG. Schematic diagram of the drive unit according to the first embodiment Schematic diagram of the drive unit according to the second embodiment Schematic diagram of the drive unit according to the third embodiment XI-XI sectional view of FIG. Schematic diagram of a drive unit according to another embodiment Schematic diagram of a drive unit according to another embodiment Schematic diagram of a drive unit according to another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

1 Vehicle 2 Slide door 23 Cable 31 Guide pulley (guide member)
32 Drive mechanism 33 Drive wheel 41 Pulley cover (support member)
42 Leaf spring 46 Drive wheel cover (support member)
60 Curved part 61 Guide groove

Claims (4)

A cable locked to the door to open and close the vehicle door;
A drive mechanism comprising a drive wheel and reciprocatingly driving the cable;
A guide member for guiding the cable extending from the door to the drive wheel, and guiding the cable that has passed through the drive wheel to the door again;
A leaf spring that is fixed to a support member that supports one of the guide member and the drive wheel, and that applies tension to the cable;
A vehicle door opening and closing device.   2. The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein the leaf spring is fixed inside the cable that circulates between the guide member and the driving wheel and biases the cable outward.   The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 2, wherein a tension pulley for guiding the cable is pivotally supported at an end portion of the leaf spring not fixed to the support member.   Forming a bent portion that bends in a direction opposite to the tension applying direction at an end portion of the leaf spring that is not fixed to the support member, and guides the cable to the outside of the bent portion. The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 2, wherein the guide groove is provided.

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