JP2013226924A - Grill shutter device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a grill shutter device capable of simplifying a structure of a peripheral section and eliminating the necessity of ensuring an external space for arranging major constructional members.SOLUTION: The grill shutter device is disposed on the front side of a vehicle radiator, adjusts the amount of air introduced to the front side of the radiator, and includes an outer grill 10, an inner grill 20, a shutter 30, and an actuator 40. The outer grill 10 includes an opening section 12 penetrating in the front/rear direction, and the inner grill 20 is mounted on the outer grill 10 from the rear side. The shutter 30 is disposed between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 and is supported to be movable in the front/rear direction by a support section 13 provided on the outer grill 10. The actuator 40 is disposed between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20, and the shutter 30 is moved in the front/rear direction along the support section 13 to open and close the opening section 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to a grille shutter device that is disposed in front of a radiator of a vehicle and adjusts the amount of air introduced in front of the radiator.

  In general, a front grille (also called a radiator grille) that introduces air in front of a radiator arranged in an engine room is arranged at the front end of the vehicle. The engine coolant in the radiator is cooled by heat exchange with the air that passes through the front grille and is introduced to the front of the radiator, thereby suppressing overheating of the engine. The front grille also has a function of improving the design of the vehicle.

  However, for example, during warm-up operation immediately after engine startup in winter, low-temperature air passes through the front grill and touches the radiator, so the warm-up efficiency is low. In addition, when the vehicle is traveling at high speed, the engine cooling water in the radiator may be supercooled by the air that flows quickly in the engine room, or air turbulence may occur in the engine room, reducing the aerodynamics of the vehicle. There is.

Therefore, it is considered that a grill shutter device that adjusts the amount of air introduced in front of the radiator instead of the front grill is arranged on the front side of the radiator.
For example, in the grill shutter device described in Patent Document 1, a rail extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is provided on a member on the vehicle body side, and the slider is supported by the rail so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. The shutter has a plate shape and hangs down from the front end portion of the slider. A motor is attached to the vehicle body side member, and a gear attached to the output shaft of the motor is engaged with the slider. The rotation of the output shaft of the motor is transmitted to the slider through the gear, and the slider is moved in the front-rear direction along the rail. With this movement, the shutter moves in the front-rear direction on the front side of the radiator, and the grill opening at the front end of the vehicle is opened and closed. When the grill opening is closed by or close to the shutter, the amount of air introduced to the front of the radiator through the grill opening is reduced, and the above-described reduction in warm-up efficiency and overcooling are suppressed. At the same time, the aerodynamic loss experienced by the vehicle is reduced. Further, the appearance around the grill opening changes according to the front and rear positions of the shutter, and the design is improved.

Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2003-518221 (FIGS. 5 and 6)

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, a rail that supports the slider and a motor that moves the slider in the front-rear direction along the rail are attached to a member on the vehicle body side. The structure of the part becomes complicated. Further, a space for arranging such rails and motors is required outside the grille shutter device.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and the object thereof is to simplify the structure of the peripheral portion, without securing a space for disposing main components outside. Another object is to provide a grill shutter device that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a grille shutter device that is arranged in front of a radiator of a vehicle and adjusts an amount of air introduced in front of the radiator, and includes a front and rear An outer grille having an opening penetrating in the direction, an inner grille attached to the outer grille from the rear side, and a front and rear by a support part disposed between the outer grille and the inner grille and provided in at least one of the outer grille and the inner grille The gist is provided with a movably supported shutter, and an actuator that is disposed between the outer grill and the inner grill, and that opens and closes the opening by moving the shutter back and forth along the support.

According to said structure, the air ahead of a grille shutter apparatus can flow in between an outer grille and an inner grille through the opening part of an outer grille.
On the other hand, when the shutter is moved back and forth along the support portion by the actuator, the shutter approaches and separates from the opening portion of the outer grille. This shutter becomes the resistance of the air trying to pass through the opening. The closer the shutter is to the opening, the greater the resistance to the passage of air by the shutter. This resistance is maximized when the shutter enters the opening and is closed. As the resistance by the shutter increases, the amount of air passing through the opening decreases.

  A shutter that approaches and separates from the opening of the outer grill, a support that supports the shutter, and an actuator that moves the shutter back and forth are provided between the outer grill and an inner grill attached to the rear grille. That is, in the grill shutter device, the front end is configured by an outer grill, the rear end is configured by an inner grill, and the shutter, the support portion, and the actuator are disposed between the outer grill and the inner grill. Therefore, it is not necessary to dispose the shutter, the support portion, and the actuator outside the outer grill and the inner grill, and the grill shutter device can be collectively assembled to the vehicle, so that the assembling work is simple.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the gist of the invention according to claim 1, wherein the support portion has a rod shape extending in the front-rear direction between the outer grill and the inner grill, and is inserted through the shutter. To do.

  According to the above configuration, the shutter disposed between the outer grille and the inner grille is moved back and forth by the actuator along the rod-like support portion extending in the front-rear direction between the outer grille and the inner grille, thereby opening the outer grille opening. The opening is opened and closed by approaching and separating from.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support portion extends rearward from the outer grill, and the inner grill is fastened to the support portion by a fastening member. The gist is that it is attached to the outer grill from the rear side.

  According to the above configuration, the inner grill is fastened by the fastening member to the support portion extending rearward from the outer grill, whereby the inner grill is attached to the outer grill from the rear side.

  As described above, the support portion exhibits a function of supporting the shutter and a function of guiding the forward / backward movement of the shutter, and also functions as a portion where the inner grill is fastened, that is, a fastened portion.

  The gist of the invention according to claim 4 is that, in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the inner grill encloses the shutter, the support portion, and the actuator together with the outer grill. .

According to the above configuration, in the grill shutter device, the outer grill and the inner grill enclose and protect the shutter, the support portion, and the actuator.
The gist of the invention according to claim 5 is that, in the invention according to claim 4, the inner grill is provided with an inner opening at a location different from the location behind the opening.

  According to the above configuration, in a state where the shutter moves rearward from the opening portion of the outer grill and the opening portion is opened, the air ahead of the grill shutter device passes through the opening portions of the outer grille and the inner grille. Flows in between. In the inner grill, the air passes through an inner opening provided at a location different from the location behind the opening, flows behind the inner grill, and is guided to the front of the radiator.

  According to the grill shutter device of the present invention, since the configuration in which the shutter, the support portion, and the actuator are provided between the outer grill and the inner grill is adopted, the structure of the peripheral portion can be simplified, and the shutter that is a main component member, It is not necessary to secure a space for arranging the support portion and the actuator outside.

It is a figure which shows one Embodiment which actualized this invention, and is a disassembled perspective view of a part (half about a vehicle width direction) of a grille shutter apparatus. The front view of the grille shutter device in one embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the cross-section of a grille shutter apparatus along the 3-3 line of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the cross-section of a grille shutter apparatus along line 4-4 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a change of an actuator and a transmission mechanism, (A) is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the state which advanced the shutter and closed the opening part of the outer grille, (B) opened the opening part by retracting the shutter. The fragmentary sectional view which shows a state.

Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the following description, the forward direction of the vehicle is described as forward, and front, rear, upper, lower, left, and right are defined based on the forward direction. In each figure, “front” indicates the front side of the vehicle and “rear” indicates the rear side of the vehicle. Further, in FIG. 1, each part of the outer grill 10, the inner grill 20, and the shutter 30 is drawn with no thickness for the purpose of illustration.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, air is introduced into the front end of the vehicle at the front side of the radiator 9 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) disposed in the engine room. In addition, a grill shutter device is provided for adjusting the amount of air. The radiator 9 in FIGS. 3 and 4 merely shows the front and rear positions in relation to the grille shutter device, and does not show the shape or size. The grill shutter device includes an outer grill 10, an inner grill 20, a shutter 30, a support portion 13, an actuator 40, and a transmission mechanism 50. Of the above-described components in the grill shutter device, the outer grill 10, the inner grill 20 and the shutter 30 are all formed in a horizontally long shape extending in the vehicle width direction by a hard synthetic resin.

  A mounting hole 11 having a substantially elliptical shape is provided at the center of the outer grille 10 in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction. Further, in the outer grill 10, openings 12 penetrating in the front-rear direction are provided at a plurality of locations around the mounting hole 11. These openings 12 extend in the vehicle width direction while being spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the inner grill 20 is disposed on the rear side of the outer grill 10. The inner grill 20 includes a base portion 21 that occupies the rear portion thereof, and a peripheral wall portion 23 provided at the peripheral edge portion of the base portion 21. A mounting hole 22 having a substantially elliptical shape is provided in a central portion of the base portion 21 in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction. A part of the peripheral wall portion 23 is also provided around the attachment hole 22. The inner grill 20 is in contact with the rear surface of the outer grill 10 at the front end of the peripheral wall portion 23. The base portion 21 is spaced apart from the outer grill 10 by a predetermined distance by the peripheral wall portion 23.

  In order to attach the inner grill 20 to the outer grill 10 from the rear side, the following configuration is adopted. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, rod-shaped support portions 13 that extend rearward are formed at a plurality of locations of the outer grill 10. The rear end surface of each support portion 13 is in contact with the front surface of the base portion 21 of the inner grill 20. Each support portion 13 is formed with a screw hole 14 extending forward from its rear end surface. Further, a screw insertion hole 24 is formed at a location behind the screw hole 14 in the inner grill 20. A screw 25 as a fastening member is inserted into the screw insertion hole 24 from the rear of the inner grill 20 and screwed into the screw hole 14. The inner grill 20 is fastened to each support portion 13 by these screws 25, so that the inner grill 20 is attached to the outer grill 10 from the rear side. Thus, the support part 13 also functions as a place where the inner grill 20 is fastened, that is, as a fastened part.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the shutter 30 is disposed in a space sandwiched from the front and rear by the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20. A mounting hole 31 having a substantially elliptical shape is provided at the center of the shutter 30 in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction. The two mounting holes 11 and 22 including the mounting hole 31 are holes for arranging and mounting an emblem, a millimeter wave radar, and the like. The shutter 30 includes a plurality of shutter pieces 32 that are elongated in the vehicle width direction. Each shutter piece 32 is formed in a size and a shape corresponding to the opening 12 of the outer grill 10 and is separated from each other in the vertical direction.

  The plurality of shutter pieces 32 are connected to each other by a connecting portion 33. In these connecting portions 33, support holes 34 are formed at a plurality of locations corresponding to the support portion 13 of the outer grill 10. A plurality of support portions 13 are inserted through the corresponding support holes 34. Therefore, the shutter 30 is located between a position where each shutter piece 32 enters the opening 12 and closes the opening 12 and a position where each shutter piece 32 moves rearward from the outer grill 10 and opens the opening 12. Thus, it can move in the front-rear direction along the support portion 13. At this time, each support portion 13 exhibits a function of supporting the shutter 30, a function of guiding the forward and backward movement of the shutter 30, and a function of regulating the rotation of the shutter 30.

  A coil spring 35 is disposed in a compressed state around each support portion 13 and between the outer grill 10 and the connecting portion 33 of the shutter 30. These coil springs 35 are used for the purpose of elastically urging the connecting portion 33 of the shutter 30 rearward and maintaining the posture orthogonal to the front-rear direction.

  In the inner grill 20, mounting recesses 26 are respectively formed at two positions spaced from the mounting hole 22 in the opposite directions in the vehicle width direction. Each mounting recess 26 is open at the front surface.

  The actuator 40 is for moving the shutter 30 in the front-rear direction along the support portion 13, and incorporates a motor, a gear mechanism, and the like that can rotate forward and reverse. Each actuator 40 is provided in the same number (two in this case) as the mounting recess 26 and is accommodated in the mounting recess 26. Each actuator 40 is fastened by screws 41 to a plurality of locations on the inner bottom surface of the mounting recess 26 and the like.

  The transmission mechanism 50 is for transmitting the output of the actuator 40 to the shutter 30 and moving it forward and backward along the support portion 13, and is provided for each actuator 40. A part of each transmission mechanism 50 is configured by a feed screw 51 connected to an output shaft (not shown) of the actuator 40 so as to be integrally rotatable. The feed screw 51 extends in the front-rear direction and has a male screw (not shown) on the outer periphery.

  In the shutter 30, a cylindrical portion 52 extends rearward at a position in front of the feed screw 51. A female screw 52A is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 52, and the feed screw 51 is screwed into the female screw 52A. The cylindrical portion 52 having the female screw 52 </ b> A constitutes a transmission mechanism 50 together with the feed screw 51.

Further, in the inner grill 20, inner openings 27 that penetrate in the front-rear direction and allow air flow are provided at a plurality of locations that satisfy the following conditions.
-It is a location different from the mounting recess 26.

  -It is a location different from the location behind the opening 12 of the outer grill 10. In other words, when the grill shutter device is viewed from the front, it is a portion that does not overlap the opening 12.

In the present embodiment, in the base portion 21, inner opening portions 27 are provided at a plurality of locations that satisfy the above conditions.
In the grill shutter device having the above-described configuration, the inner grill 20 encloses the shutter 30, the support portion 13, each actuator 40, and each transmission mechanism 50 together with the outer grill 10. Although not shown, mounting portions are provided at a plurality of locations on the peripheral wall portion 23 of the inner grill 20, and the grill shutter device has a vehicle body in the vicinity of the radiator 9 by a fastening member such as a screw at these mounting portions. It is fastened to the side member. In other words, the grill shutter device is attached to a member on the vehicle body side in the inner grill 20 that is located closer to the radiator 9 than the outer grill 10.

Next, the operation of the grill shutter device of this embodiment will be described.
In the grill shutter device, the opening 12 of the outer grill 10, the space sandwiched between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20, the space between the shutter pieces 32 adjacent to each other in the shutter 30, the inner opening 27 of the inner grill 20, and the like can be air flow paths. . Air in front of the grill shutter device tends to flow through this flow path.

  On the other hand, when the actuator 40 disposed between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 is operated and the feed screw 51 is driven to rotate, the rotation is transmitted to the female screw 52A of the cylindrical portion 52. At this time, in the shutter 30, rod-like support portions 13 extending in the front-rear direction between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 are inserted into support holes 34 provided at a plurality of locations of the connecting portion 33. These support portions 13 allow only the movement in the front-rear direction among the movements of the shutter 30. Rotation of the shutter 30 is included in what each support portion 13 regulates the movement of the shutter 30.

  Therefore, the shutter 30 is moved back and forth along each support portion 13 as the feed screw 51 rotates. Each shutter piece 32 of the shutter 30 approaches and separates from each opening 12 of the outer grill 10. At this time, the coil springs 35 arranged at a plurality of locations elastically bias the connecting portion 33 rearward and maintain a posture orthogonal to the front-rear direction. Therefore, it is difficult for the connecting portion 33 to tilt with the threaded portion of the feed screw 51 and the cylindrical portion 52 as a fulcrum.

  Each of the shutter pieces 32 serves as resistance of air that tends to flow into the grill shutter device (between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20) through the corresponding opening 12. This resistance is the maximum when the shutter 30 moves to the front end of the movable range and enters the opening 12 and closes the opening 12 as shown by a solid line in FIG. 3 and a two-dot chain line in FIG. Become.

  The shutter 30 is moved to the front end of the movable range by the actuator 40, for example, during a warm-up operation immediately after engine startup in winter or during high-speed traveling of the vehicle. When all the openings 12 are closed by the shutter pieces 32, the resistance against the inflow of air by the shutter pieces 32 is maximized, and the amount of air flowing into the grille shutter device through each opening 12, and thus forward of the radiator 9. The amount of air introduced is minimized. It becomes difficult for air having a low temperature to pass through the openings 12 and touch the radiator 9, thereby improving the warm-up efficiency. In particular, since the temperature of the air is low in winter, when this air touches the radiator 9 at the time of starting the engine, the engine cooling water is cooled and the engine warm-up time (time until the engine warms up) becomes long. Become. However, in the present embodiment, since each opening 12 of the outer grill 10 is closed by the shutter piece 32, the air that has passed through the grill shutter device is prevented from touching the radiator 9 and cooling the engine cooling water. The warm-up time can be shortened.

  Further, it is possible to suppress the engine cooling water in the radiator 9 from being overcooled by the air flowing quickly in the engine room when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed. Furthermore, a phenomenon in which air turbulence occurs in the engine room when the vehicle travels at a high speed and the aerodynamic force of the vehicle decreases is suppressed. That is, the aerodynamic loss experienced by the vehicle during high speed traveling is reduced.

  On the other hand, the resistance against the air by the shutter 30 decreases as the shutter pieces 32 move rearward from the openings 12. The resistance is minimum when the shutter 30 moves to the rear end of the movable range and moves far away from the opening 12 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 and a solid line in FIG. .

  Such movement of the shutter 30 is performed, for example, when the radiator 9 needs to be cooled in order to suppress overheating of the engine. The resistance due to the shutter piece 32 is minimized, and a large amount of air flows into the grille shutter device through the opening 12. This air is guided to the rear of the inner grill 20, that is, the front of the radiator 9 through the inner opening 27 provided at a location different from the location behind the opening 12 in the inner grill 20. This air touches the radiator 9 and cools the engine coolant in the radiator 9.

  By the way, a shutter 30 having a shutter piece 32 that approaches and separates from each opening 12 of the outer grill 10, a support portion 13 that supports the shutter 30, and an actuator 40 that moves the shutter 30 back and forth include the outer grill 10 and the rear side thereof. Between the inner grille 20 and the inner grille 20 attached thereto. That is, in the grill shutter device, the front end is constituted by the outer grill 10, the rear end is constituted by the inner grill 20, and the shutter 30, the support portion 13, and the actuator 40, which are the other main components, are formed by the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20. It is the composition arranged between. Therefore, it is not necessary to arrange the shutter 30, the support portion 13, and the actuator 40 outside the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20.

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Between an outer grill 10 having an opening 12 and an inner grill 20 attached to the outer grill 10 from the rear side, a shutter 30, a support portion 13 that supports the shutter 30 so as to be movable back and forth, and a shutter 30 The structure which arrange | positions the actuator 40 which moves back and forth along the support part 13 is employ | adopted (FIG. 1).

  Therefore, unlike Patent Document 1 in which a rail for supporting the slider and a motor for moving the slider in the front-rear direction along the rail are attached to a member on the vehicle body side, the structure of the peripheral portion of the grille shutter device is simplified. Can do. Further, it is not necessary to secure a space for disposing the shutter 30, the support portion 13, and the actuator 40, which are main components of the grill shutter device, outside the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20.

  Further, the constituent members of the grill shutter device can be collectively arranged at a desired location in front of the radiator 9 simply by attaching the grill shutter device (inner grill 20) to the member on the vehicle body side. There is no need to perform the work of attaching the support portion 13, the actuator 40, etc. to the member on the vehicle body side, and the attachment workability is excellent.

(2) The support portion 13 is formed in a rod shape extending in the front-rear direction between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 and is inserted through the support hole 34 of the shutter 30 (FIG. 4).
Therefore, when the shutter 30 is moved back and forth along the support portion 13 by the actuator 40, the shutter portion 32 can be moved closer to and away from the opening portion 12 of the outer grill 10, and the opening portion 12 can be opened and closed.

  (3) The support portion 13 is extended rearward from the outer grill 10. The inner grill 20 is fastened to the outer grill 10 from the rear side by fastening the inner grill 20 to the support portion 13 with screws 25 (FIG. 4).

  For this reason, the support portion 13 can function as a portion to be fastened, that is, a portion to be fastened, that is, a portion to be fastened, in addition to exhibiting the function of supporting the shutter 30 and the function of guiding the forward and backward movement of the shutter 30. The number of parts of the grille shutter device can be reduced as compared with the case where these functions are exhibited by separate members.

(4) The outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 wrap the shutter 30, the support portion 13, the actuator 40, and the transmission mechanism 50.
Therefore, the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 can function as outer shell members of the grill shutter device. The shutter 30, the support portion 13, the actuator 40, and the transmission mechanism 50 can be protected by the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20. Further, exposure of the shutter 30, the support portion 13, the actuator 40, and the transmission mechanism 50 can be suppressed.

  (5) In the inner grill 20 that wraps the shutter 30, the support portion 13, the actuator 40, and the transmission mechanism 50 together with the outer grill 10, an inner opening 27 is provided at a location different from the location behind the opening 12 (FIG. 1).

  Therefore, the air that has flowed into the grill shutter device through the opening 12 of the outer grill 10 can flow backward from the inner grill 20 through the inner opening 27 and can be guided to the front of the radiator 9.

(6) As the transmission mechanism 50, a feed screw 51 and a cylindrical portion 52 having a female screw 52A are used (FIGS. 1 and 3).
Therefore, the shutter 30 can be stopped in the middle of the movable range by adjusting the rotation amount of the feed screw 51 by the motor.

  (7) The inner grill 20 is provided with a mounting portion, and the grill shutter device is fastened to a vehicle body side member near the radiator 9 at this mounting portion. That is, the grill shutter device is attached to a member on the vehicle body side in the inner grill 20 that is located closer to the radiator 9 than the outer grill 10.

Therefore, the attachment portion can be made shorter than the case where it is provided on the outer grill 10.
(8) The opening 12 of the outer grill 10 is opened and closed by moving the shutter 30 back and forth (FIGS. 3 and 4).

  Therefore, the appearance of the grille shutter device can be made different between when the shutter 30 moves forward and the opening 12 is closed, and when the shutter 30 moves backward and the opening 12 is opened, thereby improving the design.

Note that the present invention can be embodied in another embodiment described below.
<About support part 13>
The support portion 13 may be provided in the inner grill 20 instead of the outer grill 10, or may be provided in both the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20.

In the former case, the support portion 13 may extend forward from the inner grill 20.
In the latter case, the support portion 13 may be configured by a combination of a portion extending rearward from the outer grill 10 and a portion extending forward from the inner grill 20.

-The support part 13 may be changed into the aspect different from the said embodiment on condition that the following matter is satisfy | filled.
Item 1: Provided on at least one of the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20.

Item 2: Supporting the shutter 30 to be movable back and forth For example, in the inner grill 20, the peripheral wall portion 23 extends in the front-rear direction, which is the same direction as the moving direction of the shutter 30. By utilizing this, the peripheral wall portion 23 of the inner grill 20 may be used as the support portion 13. In this case, the shutter 30 is moved back and forth along the peripheral wall portion 23.

<About Inner Grill 20>
In the above embodiment, the inner grill 20 has a shape and a size that encloses the shutter 30, the support portion 13, the actuator 40, and the transmission mechanism 50 together with the outer grill 10, and in particular, an elongated one in the vehicle width direction. On the condition that the above item is satisfied, a smaller one than the above embodiment may be adopted.

Item 3: Forming a movable space of the shutter 30 between the outer grille 10.
Item 4: Attached to the outer grill 10 from the rear side.
In this case, with the downsizing of the inner grill 20, the inner opening 27 can be omitted.

The inner grill 20 may be fastened to the support portion 13 by a fastening member different from the screw 25.
The inner grill 20 may be attached to the outer grill 10 at a location different from the support portion 13.

The inner opening portion 27 may be provided in the peripheral wall portion 23 instead of or in addition to the base portion 21.
<Regarding Stop Position of Shutter 30>
The shutter may be stopped at two positions of the front end and the rear end of the movable range, and in addition, may be stopped at an intermediate position of the movable range.

<Actuator 40 and transmission mechanism 50>
In the above embodiment, the number of actuators 40 may be changed to 1 or 3 or more. In one case, the actuator 40 may be disposed between the outer grill 10 and the inner grill 20 and in the center in the vehicle width direction, for example, directly below the mounting holes 11, 22, and 31.

The actuator 40 may be attached to the outer grill 10 instead of or in addition to the inner grill 20.
The shutter 30 may be directly moved back and forth by the actuator 40 without using the transmission mechanism 50.

The actuator 40 and the transmission mechanism 50 may be different from those in the above embodiment. FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example.
In this modified example, a motor 61 is used as the actuator 40. A gear 63, a rack gear 64, and a pinion gear 65 are used as the transmission mechanism 50 for transmitting the output of the motor 61 to the shutter 30 and moving it forward and backward.

  The gear 63 is attached to the output shaft 62 of the motor 61 so as to be integrally rotatable. The rack gear 64 is provided on the shutter 30 and extends rearward. The pinion gear 65 is disposed between the gear 63 and the rack gear 64 and meshed with both the gear 63 and the rack gear 64.

  In the case of this modification, when the output shaft 62 of the motor 61 rotates with the gear 63, the pinion gear 65 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction. As the pinion gear 65 rotates, the rack gear 64 moves in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the shutter 30 has a position where the shutter piece 32 approaches the outer grille 10 and closes the opening 12, and the shutter piece 32 extends from the outer grille 10 as shown in FIG. It moves back and forth between the position where the opening 12 is opened away from the rear.

  In this case, the plurality of rack gears 64 can be moved back and forth with a single motor 61 by configuring as follows. Rack gears 64 that extend rearward are provided at a plurality of locations of the shutter 30. A pinion gear 65 that meshes with the rack gear 64 is provided for each rack gear 64. The plurality of pinion gears 65 are connected by a common shaft 66 so as to be integrally rotatable. The gear 63 is engaged with any one of the pinion gears 65.

  In this modified example, when the motor 63 rotates, the gear 63 rotates, and when the pinion gear 65 meshed with the gear 63 is rotationally driven, the rotation of the pinion gear 65 is transmitted to the other pinion gear 65 through the shaft 66. As a result, the plurality of rack gears 64 are moved back and forth simultaneously.

  In the above modification, the same number of motors 61 as the rack gears 64 may be used. In this case, the gear 63 for each motor 61 may be directly meshed with the rack gear 64 without using the pinion gear 65.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Radiator, 10 ... Outer grille, 12 ... Opening part, 13 ... Supporting part, 20 ... Inner grille, 25 ... Screw (fastening member), 27 ... Inner opening part, 30 ... Shutter, 40 ... Actuator.

Claims (5)

A grill shutter device that is disposed in front of a radiator of a vehicle and adjusts an amount of air introduced in front of the radiator,
An outer grille having an opening penetrating in the front-rear direction;
An inner grill attached to the outer grill from the rear side;
A shutter disposed between the outer grill and the inner grill, and supported by a support portion provided on at least one of the outer grill and the inner grill so as to be movable back and forth;
A grill shutter device comprising: an actuator that is disposed between the outer grill and the inner grill, and moves the shutter back and forth along the support portion to open and close the opening. 2. The grill shutter device according to claim 1, wherein the support portion has a rod shape extending in the front-rear direction between the outer grill and the inner grill, and is inserted through the shutter. The support portion extends rearward from the outer grille,
The grille shutter device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner grille is fastened to the outer grille from the rear side by being fastened to the support portion by a fastening member. The said inner grill is the grill shutter apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which has wrapped the said shutter, the said support part, and the said actuator with the said outer grille. The grille shutter device according to claim 4, wherein an inner opening is provided at a location different from the location behind the opening in the inner grill.