JP2023071183A - Vehicle with step - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve the getting-on/getting-off property of an occupant by enabling a step plate to be drawn to a desired position even when a door cannot be fully opened.SOLUTION: A vehicle with a step comprises: a door 20 which opens/closes a door opening 11 of a vehicle body with horizontal rotation; a step plate 43 which can be horizontally put/drawn on the lower side of the door opening 11; and a conversion device 400 which converts the rotation force of the door 20 into the putting/drawing force of the step plate 43. The conversion device 400 is configured to maximize a protrusion amount of the step plate 43 with the rotation of the door 20 to a prescribed angle θ smaller than a fully-opened angle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle with steps, which includes a door that opens and closes a door opening of a vehicle body by horizontally turning, and a step plate that can be horizontally inserted and removed from the lower side of the door opening.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200000 describes a technique related to a conventional vehicle with a step. As shown in FIG. 17, the stepped vehicle of Patent Document 1 includes a fan-shaped step plate 102, and one side corresponding to the radius of the fan-shaped step plate 102 is attached to the lower edge of the door 100. . Further, an arc-shaped guide rail (not shown) is provided on the underfloor side of the vehicle body 103 to guide the portion corresponding to the sector-shaped arc of the step plate 102 . Accordingly, by rotating the door 100 in the opening direction, the step plate 102 can be automatically pulled out (protruded) from below the vehicle body 103 .

JP-A-2004-136718

However, since the step plate 102 is attached to the door 100, it is necessary to increase the size of the step plate 102 to a size equal to the flat area required to rotate the door 100 between the fully closed position and the fully open position. There is In addition, as the size of the step plate 102 increases, it is necessary to secure a large storage space for the step plate 102 .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. To enable the size of a step plate to be the size necessary for getting on and off.

The above problems are solved by each invention. A first invention is a vehicle with a step, comprising a door that opens and closes a door opening of a vehicle body by horizontally rotating the door, and a step plate that can be horizontally taken in and out under the door opening, A conversion device is provided to convert the turning force of the door into a force for withdrawing the step plate, and the conversion device converts the amount of protrusion of the step plate by turning the door to a predetermined angle smaller than the fully open angle. configured to maximize

According to the present invention, the converting device is constructed so that the door can be rotated to a predetermined angle that is smaller than the fully open angle, thereby maximizing the amount of protrusion of the step plate. That is, while the door is rotated from the predetermined angle to the fully open angle, the step plate is kept in the maximum protruding state (deployed state). Therefore, the size of the step plate can be determined regardless of the planar area required to rotate the door between the fully closed position and the fully opened position. Therefore, the size of the step plate can be set to the size necessary for getting on and off. Also, the storage space for the step plate can be made compact.

According to the second invention, the conversion device includes a door-side gear provided on a vehicle body, a door-side link for transmitting a door turning force to the door-side gear, and a door-side gear provided on the vehicle body. and a step-side gear that meshes with the door-side gear to transmit the rotational force of the door-side gear to the step plate.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the conversion device includes a step-side link that rotates together with the step-side gear, and a linear rail that is provided on the step plate and guides the rotation free end side of the step-side link. When the step-side link rotates, the free-rotating end of the step-side link moves along the rail while making an arc motion, so that the rail and the step plate move in the vehicle width direction. It is a configuration that can be moved to That is, the action of the step-side link and the rail makes it possible to convert the torque of the step-side gear into a force for withdrawing the step plate.

According to the fourth invention, the rail is continuously provided with the linear portion and the circular arc portion which overlaps the moving locus of the step-side link on the free end side of rotation. As a result, the step plate can move in the vehicle width direction by moving the free rotation end side of the step-side link along the straight portion of the rail. Further, even if the step-side link continues to rotate, the free-rotating end of the step-side link moves along the arc portion of the rail, thereby stopping the movement of the step plate and holding it at that position.

According to the fifth invention, the door-side gear and the step-side gear are configured to be disengaged when the door rotates beyond a predetermined angle. Therefore, when the door rotates beyond a predetermined angle, the door rotation force is not transmitted to the step plate, and the step plate stops moving.

According to the present invention, the size of the step plate can be determined regardless of the plane area required for turning the door, and the size of the step plate can be set to the size required for getting on and off.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a door opening of a vehicle with a step according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, viewed from the interior side; FIG. FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 5) showing the underfloor of the vehicle; FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 5) showing the underfloor of the vehicle; FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 5) showing the underfloor of the vehicle. Fig. 2 is an overall plan view showing the door, conversion device, and step plate (door closed, step plate retracted state); It is an overall plan view showing the door, the conversion device, and the step plate (in the middle of opening the door, step plate deployed state). Fig. 2 is an overall plan view showing the door, conversion device, and step plate (door fully open, step plate deployed state); FIG. 7 is an overall plan view (door closed, step plate retracted state) showing a vehicle door with a step, a conversion device, and a step plate according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. It is an overall plan view showing the door, the conversion device, and the step plate (in the middle of opening the door, step plate deployed state). FIG. 9 is a plan view (view from the arrow X in FIG. 8 ) showing a meshing state between the door-side gear and the step-side gear of the conversion device when the door is closed and the step plate is retracted; FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of FIG. 10 viewed from arrow XI; FIG. 10 is a plan view (view from arrow XII in FIG. 9 ) showing a meshing state between the door-side gear and the step-side gear of the conversion device when the door is half-opened (half-open or less) and the step plate is deployed; FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of arrow XIII in FIG. 12; It is an enlarged view when the door side gear rotates further. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the relationship between the door-side gear and the step-side gear of the conversion device when the door is fully open and the step plate is deployed; FIG. 16 is an enlarged view in the direction of arrow XVII of FIG. 15; and FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing a conventional vehicle with steps.

[Embodiment 1]
A vehicle with steps according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. A vehicle with a step according to the present embodiment is, for example, a vehicle provided with a movable step at the position of the front door opening of the vehicle body. Here, front, rear, left, right, and up and down shown in the drawing correspond to front, rear, left, right, and up and down of the vehicle with steps according to the present embodiment.

<Overview of Vehicle Body 10>
As shown in FIG. 1, a side surface of the vehicle body 10 is formed with a front door opening 11 corresponding to the front seats and a rear door opening (not shown) corresponding to the central portion and rear seats. . Lockers 30, which are tubular frames extending in the vehicle front-rear direction, are provided at the lower edges of the front door opening 11 and the rear door opening. A front pillar 12, which is a front support for the vehicle compartment, is erected in front of the front door opening 11. As shown in FIG. A front door 20 is horizontally rotatably connected to the side surface of the front pillar 12 via upper and lower door hinges 21 . That is, the front door opening 11 of the vehicle body 10 is opened and closed by horizontally rotating the front door 20 about the door hinge 21 .

2 and 3, the locker 30 at the lower edge of the front door opening 11 includes an inner locker 31 and an outer locker 32 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and having a substantially U-shaped cross section. It is formed in a cylindrical shape by being aligned in the width direction (horizontal direction). Further, in the locker 30, a reinforcement 35 is provided to reinforce the locker 30 by partitioning the inner space in the vehicle width direction. An edge 14 f of the floor panel 14 of the vehicle body 10 is fixed to the upper surface of the inner locker 31 . Further, a fixed step 37 is horizontally attached to the lower side surface of the outer locker 32 at the position of the front door opening 11 as shown in FIGS. The fixed step 37 is covered with a garnish 23 provided at the lower end of the front door 20 when the front door 20 is closed, as shown in FIG. 3 and the like. Note that the garnish 23 can be omitted. A step plate 43 of a movable step device 40 (described later) is stored below the fixed step 37 .

<Overview of movable step device 40>
The movable step device 40 is provided under the floor of the vehicle body 10, as shown in FIGS. The movable step device 40 projects the step plate 43 outward in the vehicle width direction from the lower side of the fixed step 37 when the front door 20 is opened, and moves the step plate 43 to the lower side of the fixed step 37 when the front door 20 is closed. It is a storage device. The movable step device 40 includes, as shown in FIG. and a conversion device 400 for converting into force. The step plate 43 is formed in a strip shape elongated in the front-rear direction, and is held in a horizontal state parallel to the rocker 30 in a plan view.

<Regarding the four-bar link mechanism 45>
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the four-bar link mechanism 45 includes a link bracket 450 fixed to the lower surface of the rocker 30, a front support link 451 connected to the link bracket 450 in a horizontally rotatable state, and a rear support link 451. Support link 455. As shown in FIG. 5, the front support link 451 is a link formed in a substantially L shape, and one end of the front support link 451 is attached to the step plate 43 while supporting the front portion of the step plate 43 from below. It is horizontally rotatably connected to the center of the front portion by a first connecting vertical pin 451a. The other end of the front support link 451 is horizontally rotatably connected to the front right side of the link bracket 450 by a second connecting vertical pin 451b.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rear support link 455 is a strip-shaped link, and supports the rear portion of the step plate 43 from below. They are connected so as to be horizontally rotatable by a connecting vertical pin 455a. The other end of the rear support link 455 is horizontally rotatably connected to the rear right side of the link bracket 450 by a fourth connecting vertical pin 455b. 5 and 6, the front support link 451 and the rear support link 455 rotate around the second vertical connection pin 451b and the fourth vertical connection pin 455b on the link bracket 450 side. The step plate 43 moves horizontally in an arc parallel to the rocker 30 . As a result, the step plate 43 protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction from below the fixed step 37 or is housed below the fixed step 37 .

<Regarding the conversion device 400>
As described above, the conversion device 400 is a device that converts the turning force of the front door 20 into a force for withdrawing/inserting the step plate 43 . As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the conversion device 400 includes a device bracket 401 fixed to the lower surface of the inner locker 31, a door-side gear 403 horizontally rotatably supported by the device bracket 401, and a step. A side gear 405 is provided. The door-side gear 403 and the step-side gear 405 are both spur gears and mesh with each other. Further, the converting device 400 includes a door-side link 410 connecting the front door 20 and the door-side gear 403, a step-side link 412 rotating integrally with the step-side gear 405, and a roller 412r of the step-side link 412. A rail 415 on the side of the step plate 43 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the door-side link 410 rotates the door-side gear 403 clockwise when the front door 20 rotates in the opening direction, and rotates the door-side link 410 when the front door 20 rotates in the closing direction. The front door 20 and the door-side gear 403 are connected so that the side gear 403 rotates counterclockwise. The door-side link 410 is a strip-shaped link, and one end thereof is connected to a position near the center of rotation of the front door 20 by a door-side connecting vertical pin 410a so as to be horizontally rotatable. Further, the other end side of the door-side link 410 is connected to a position eccentric from the rotation center C1 of the door-side gear 403 by a gear-side connection vertical pin 410b so as to be horizontally rotatable.

As shown in FIG. 2, the door-side link 410 is connected to the door-side gear 403 from below by a gear-side connecting vertical pin 410b. The door-side link 410 is horizontally held below the locker 30 and connected to the pin support portion 24 provided at the lower end of the front door 20 by a door-side connecting vertical pin 410a. Here, the connecting positions of the door-side link 410, the front door 20, and the door-side gear 403 are such that the rotation angle of the door-side gear 403 increases as the rotation angle of the front door 20 increases. position.

The step-side gear 405 that meshes with the door-side gear 403 is manufactured to have a predetermined gear ratio with the door-side gear 403, as shown in FIG. Rotate by a given angle in the opposite direction. The base end of the step-side link 412 is connected to the rotation center C2 of the step-side gear 405 in a non-rotatable state. As shown in FIG. 3 , the base end of the step-side link 412 is fixed to the lower surface of the step-side gear 405 while being held horizontally below the rocker 30 . A roller support pin 412p is vertically connected to the tip of the step-side link 412, and a roller 412r is coaxially provided at the upper end of the roller support pin 412p. The rollers 412r are fitted to the rails 415 on the side of the step plate 43 so as to roll along the rails 415. As shown in FIG.

The rail 415 of the step plate 43 is supported by a bracket 43p fixed to the lower surface of the step plate 43, as shown in FIG. The rail 415 has a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section, and is configured so that the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 can be fitted from below. As shown in FIG. 5 and the like, the rail 415 includes a linear portion 415s extending in the front-rear direction parallel to the step plate 43, and an arc portion 415e provided continuously in front of the linear portion 415s. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the arc portion 415e of the rail 415 is configured to overlap the locus of movement of the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 rotating about the rotation center C2 of the step-side gear 405. . When the front door 20 is closed, as shown in FIG. 5, the step-side link 412 extends obliquely rearward, and the roller 412r is held at the rear end position of the linear portion 415s of the rail 415. there is

<Operation of movable step device 40>
When the front door 20 is closed, the step plate 43 is stored below the fixed step 37 as shown in FIGS. Also, the rail 415 attached to the step plate 43 via the bracket 43p is stored under the locker 30 as shown in FIG. As described above, the step-side link 412 extends obliquely rearward (see FIG. 5), and the roller 412r at the tip of the step-side link 412 is held at the rear end position of the linear portion 415s of the rail 415. there is

In this state, when the front door 20 rotates in the opening direction (leftward rotation in FIG. 5), the door-side link 410 is pulled by the front door 20, so that the door-side gear 403 rotates rightward in FIG. As a result, the step-side gear 405 meshing with the door-side gear 403 rotates to the left by a predetermined angle. As a result, the step-side link 412 rotates to the left around the rotation center C2 together with the step-side gear 405 . As a result, the roller 412r at the tip of the step-side link 412 rolls forward along the linear portion 415s of the rail 415 provided on the step plate 43 from the rear end position of the linear portion 415s of the rail 415 while performing an arc motion. do.

That is, since the roller 412r, which moves in an arc about the center of rotation C2 on the rotation free end side of the step-side link 412, rolls forward along the linear portion 415s of the rail 415, the linear portion 415s of the rail 415 moves toward the roller. 412r receives a pressing force in a right angle direction (rightward direction). As a result, the step plate 43 is pushed rightward (outward in the vehicle width direction) via the rail 415, and the rail 415 and the step plate 43 move toward the rocker 30 by the action of the four-bar link mechanism 45 as shown in FIG. , and protrudes from the lower side of the fixed step 37 . Then, as shown in FIG. 6, when the step-side link 412 rotates to the left and the roller 412r at the tip of the step-side link 412 reaches the front end position of the straight portion 415s of the rail 415, the step plate 43 protrudes. amount is maximized. Here, the rotation angle of the front door 20 when the amount of protrusion of the step plate 43 is maximized is θ as shown in FIG. 6, which is set to a value smaller than the half-open angle of the front door 20. .

When the front door 20 further rotates in the opening direction beyond the rotation angle θ, the door-side link 410, the door-side gear 403, and the step-side gear 405 further rotate the step-side link 412 to the left. As a result, the roller 412 r at the tip (free rotation end) of the step-side link 412 rolls forward along the arc portion 415 e of the rail 415 . Here, the arc portion 415e of the rail 415 is configured so as to overlap the locus of movement of the roller 412r of the step-side link 412. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 rolls forward along the arc portion 415e of the rail 415, so that the amount of protrusion of the step plate 43 is maintained at its maximum.

When the front door 20 rotates to the fully open position, the step-side link 412 rotates to the left rotation limit position, and the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 moves to the arc portion of the rail 415 as shown in FIG. The front end position of 415e is reached. Further, when the front door 20 is rotated in the closing direction (rotated to the right) from the fully open position, the door-side link 410 is pushed by the front door 20 to rotate the door-side gear 403 to the left. As a result, the step-side gear 405 rotates to the right and the step-side link 412 rotates to the right. As a result, the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 rolls backward along the arc portion 415e and the straight portion 415s of the rail 415. As shown in FIG. Then, the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 rolls rearward along the linear portion 415s of the rail 415, so that the linear portion 415s of the rail 415 receives a pulling force in the left direction (inward in the vehicle width direction). As a result, the step plate 43 is stored below the fixed step 37 .

<Correspondence between terms used in the present embodiment and terms related to the present invention>
The front door 20 corresponds to the door of the present invention, and the front door opening 11 corresponds to the door opening of the present invention. Further, the rotation angle θ of the front door 20 corresponds to a predetermined angle smaller than the fully open angle of the door of the present invention. Furthermore, the roller 412r of the step-side link 412 corresponds to the rotation free end side of the step-side link of the present invention.

<Advantages of movable step device 40 according to the present embodiment>
According to the movable step device 40 according to the present embodiment, the conversion device 400 rotates the front door 20 (door) to a rotation angle θ (predetermined angle smaller than the fully open angle), thereby reducing the amount of protrusion of the step plate 43. maximum possible. That is, the step plate 43 can be projected to the maximum before the front door 20 is fully opened. Therefore, regardless of the rotation angle of the front door 20, the size of the step plate 43 can be determined based on the ease of getting on and off. Therefore, the size of the step plate 43 can be set to a required size. Also, the storage space for the step plate 43 can be made compact.

[Embodiment 2]
Next, a vehicle with steps according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 16. FIG. The vehicle with steps according to the present embodiment is obtained by partially changing the configuration of the conversion device 400 in the vehicle with steps according to the first embodiment. That is, in the converting device 400 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, when the front door 20 further rotates in the opening direction (left rotation) after the amount of protrusion of the step plate 43 is maximized, the step An example in which the roller 412r of the side link 412 rolls forward along the arc portion 415e of the rail 415 is shown. On the other hand, in the conversion device 400x according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. Even if it moves, force is not transmitted between the door-side gear 403 and the step-side gear 405. - 特許庁As a result, leftward rotation of the step-side link 412 is prohibited after the amount of protrusion of the step plate 43 is maximized. Members of the conversion device 400x according to the present embodiment that are the same as those of the conversion device 400 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

The door side gear 403 and the step side gear 405 in the conversion device 400x of this embodiment are, as shown in FIGS. That is, the door-side gear 403 and the step-side gear 405 are provided with gear portions 403w and 405w having teeth and notch portions 403f and 405f having teeth. As shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, the gear portion 403w of the door-side gear 403 is maintained until the front door 20 rotates from the fully closed state (see FIG. 8) to the rotation angle θ (see FIG. 9). and the gear portion 405w of the step-side gear 405 mesh with each other. However, when the front door 20 rotates in the opening direction beyond the rotation angle θ, the cutout portion 403f of the door-side gear 403 moves to the position of the gear portion 405w of the step-side gear 405, as shown in FIGS. When the door-side gear 403 and the step-side gear 405 are disengaged.

Therefore, the step-side link 412 of the step-side gear 405 is positioned at the right rotation limit position (see FIG. 8) where the roller 412r is at the rear end of the rail 415 (straight portion 415s), and at the front end of the straight portion 415s. , and the left rotation limit position (see FIG. 9). That is, as shown in FIG. 9, after the roller 412r at the tip reaches the front end position of the linear portion 415s of the rail 415, the step-side link 412 rotates counterclockwise even if the front door 20 further rotates in the opening direction. It is held at the limit position. Therefore, the conversion device 400x according to the present embodiment does not require the circular arc portion 415e of the rail 415, which is required in the conversion device 400 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the size of the rail 415 on the side of the step plate 43 can be reduced.

[Change example]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the movable step device 40 according to the first and second embodiments, the step plate 43 is horizontally supported by the four-bar link mechanism 45 so as to be retractable. However, instead of the four-bar link mechanism 45, for example, a pair of parallel rails and sliders may be used to horizontally support the step plate 43 so that it can be taken in and out. In the first and second embodiments, the movable step device 40 is provided at the front door opening 11 of the vehicle body 10, and the step plate 43 is moved in and out by the force of opening and closing the front door 20. FIG. However, a configuration is also possible in which the movable step device 40 is provided at the rear door opening of the vehicle body 10 and the step plate 43 is moved in and out by the force of opening and closing the rear door.

10: vehicle body 11: front door opening (door opening)
20... front door (door)
43... Step plate 400... Conversion device 400x... Conversion device 403... Door side gear 405... Step side gear 410... Door side link 412... Step side link 412r... Roller (Rotating free end side of step side link)
415 Rail 415e Arc portion 415s Linear portion θ Rotation angle (predetermined angle)

Claims (5)

A vehicle with a step, comprising: a door for opening and closing a door opening of a vehicle body by horizontally turning;
a conversion device for converting the turning force of the door into a force for withdrawing the step plate,
A vehicle with a step, wherein the conversion device is configured to maximize the amount of protrusion of the step plate by rotating the door to a predetermined angle smaller than a fully open angle. A vehicle with a step according to claim 1,
The conversion device includes a door-side gear provided on the vehicle body, a door-side link for transmitting a turning force of the door to the door-side gear, and a door-side gear provided on the vehicle body and meshing with the door-side gear. , and a step-side gear for transmitting the rotational force of the door-side gear to the step plate. A vehicle with a step according to claim 2,
The conversion device includes a step-side link that rotates together with the step-side gear, and a linear rail that is provided on the step plate and guides the free end of rotation of the step-side link,
A configuration in which the rail and the step plate can move in the vehicle width direction by moving the free end of the step-side link along the rail while making an arc motion by the rotation of the step-side link. A vehicle with a step. A vehicle with a step according to claim 3,
A vehicle with a step, wherein the rail has a linear portion and an arc portion that overlaps the moving locus of the step-side link on the free end side of rotation. A vehicle with a step according to claim 3,
The vehicle with steps, wherein the door-side gear and the step-side gear are disengaged when the door rotates beyond a predetermined angle.

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