JP3312244B2 - Air damper - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a cylinder type air damper used for a glove box of an automobile, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional air damper of this kind, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-105482. Although not specifically shown, the conventional air damper includes a cylindrical cylinder having both ends opened, a piston moving in the cylinder, and a cap closing one end opening of the cylinder. In contrast to this, while forming an orifice, an annular groove is formed on the peripheral surface thereof, and a first O-ring, which is sufficiently narrower than the groove width, is formed in the groove in the groove width direction. And a communication groove is formed at the bottom of the groove, and the communication groove is opened and closed by movement of the first O-ring in the groove. Further, a plurality of locking holes are formed on the peripheral surface of the cap, and a projection provided on the cylinder side is locked in the locking hole, so that a second opening is formed on one end opening side of the cylinder. It is configured to be mounted with an O-ring interposed. The opening at the other end of the cylinder allows the piston rod to pass therethrough.

Therefore, when this air damper is used in a glove box of an automobile, a cylinder is fixed to the instrument panel side, and a tip of a piston rod protruding from the other end opening of the cylinder is fixed to the glove box side. Then, when the glove box is moved in the opening direction, the piston rod is gradually pulled out of the cylinder, and the piston moves in the cylinder in the same direction, so that due to the flow resistance of the air passing through the orifice, The glove box is guaranteed to move slowly open. In this case, the first in the concave groove
By the movement of the O-ring, the communication groove is closed.

[0004] When the glove box is moved in the closing direction, the piston rod is gradually pushed into the cylinder, and the piston moves in the cylinder in the same direction. The O-ring moves in the concave groove to open the above-mentioned communication groove and release the air in the cylinder, so that the piston moves quickly in the cylinder in the opposite direction to promote the closing operation of the glove box. Becomes

[0005]

However, in such a conventional air damper, a second O-ring as a sealing material is required even when the cap is attached to one end opening of the cylinder. Then, in order to secure the one-way method, the first O-ring, which is also a sealing material, must be movably fitted in the concave groove of the piston. Needless to say, the first O-ring fitted in the concave groove may move in an oblique posture, although it goes without saying that the first O-ring may become complicated and inferior in assemblability and economy. Due to the relationship with the grooves, there is a high possibility that the operation as an air damper will be hindered. Therefore, the use of O-rings was in any case not preferred.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed in order to effectively solve the problem of the conventional air damper. The invention according to claim 1 has a cylindrical shape having both open ends. In an air damper including a cylinder, a piston that moves in the cylinder, and a cap that closes one end opening of the cylinder, the cylinder forms an annular sealing surface on the inner diameter side of the one end opening,
An outwardly extending extension tube is continuously formed on the periphery of the sealing surface, and the cap has a disk-shaped substrate attached to the extension tube side, and an annular seal flange extending from the substrate and extending in the radial direction. And a configuration is employed in which the seal flange is brought into contact with or separated from the sealing surface by pressure fluctuations caused by movement of the piston in the cylinder.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, based on the first aspect, a locking hole is formed on the extension cylinder side of the cylinder, and the cap is movably locked in the locking hole on the peripheral surface of the base plate of the cap. A configuration is employed in which a stopper is protruded and the substrate of the cap is moved in two directions within the extension cylinder of the cylinder due to the pressure fluctuation accompanying the movement of the piston in the cylinder.

Therefore, in the invention according to claim 1,
The one-way air damper can be provided immediately by moving the piston inside the cylinder so that the seal flange on the cap contacts and separates from the seal surface on the cylinder side. The number of parts is reduced, the assembly is easy and the cost is low, and the operation as an air damper is very stable.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, when the seal flange contacts the sealing surface due to the movement of the cap substrate in the extension cylinder of the cylinder, the hole edge of the locking hole. Since the sealing flange does not press against the sealing surface more than necessary by contact of the locking piece against the seal, it is possible to effectively prevent the settling of the sealing flange, and conversely, when separating the sealing flange from the sealing surface, the locking The substrate of the cap moves together with the seal flange until the locking piece abuts the hole edge on the opposite side of the hole, so that there is no fear that only the seal flange vibrates and generates abnormal noise.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air damper according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. , A piston 2 that moves inside the cylinder 1, and a cap 3 that closes one end opening of the cylinder 1.

The cylinder 1 is integrally formed of a thermoplastic elastomer containing an oil component. As shown in FIG. 2, the cylinder 1 has a ring-shaped seal face on the inner diameter side with respect to the one end opening 1a side. , And an extension tube 5 having a slightly larger diameter than the general surface and extending outward is formed continuously around the periphery of the seal shelf 4, and a plurality of locking members are attached to the extension tube 5. The holes 6 and the cutouts 7 are alternately formed at regular intervals, while the other end opening 1b side is actively reduced to a smaller diameter than the general surface so that the piston rod 9 can be inserted. It is configured to be provided in a targeted manner. Therefore, under the cylinder 1, a relationship of φA>φB> φC is established.

The piston 2 is made of a mere thermoplastic elastomer and is formed integrally with the piston rod 9, and as shown in FIG.
The annular seal projection 11 having a slightly larger diameter than the annular seal projection 11 is integrally formed in a bead shape, and the lower surface side of the disk portion 10 is hollowed out in a concave shape to reduce the bending of the annular seal projection 11 in the cylinder 1. While actively urging the piston rod 9
With regard to, the thickness is made thick to obtain the required rigidity. Therefore, the annular seal protrusion 11 is
It is equivalent to a conventional O-ring, easily bends, and slides while sealing between the disk portion 10 of the piston 2 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 1.

The cap 3 is integrally formed of a thermoplastic elastomer that is softer than the piston 2 and, as shown in FIG. An annular seal flange 14 extending from the substrate 13 and projecting in the radial direction, an orifice 15 is opened at the center thereof, and the orifice 15 is engaged with the engaging hole 6 on the peripheral surface of the disk-shaped substrate 13. Locking piece 16 to be
A positioning piece 17 that is engaged with the notch 7 is formed, and the seal flange 14 is brought into contact with and separated from the seal shelf 4 by a pressure change accompanying movement of the piston 2 in the cylinder 1.

Therefore, when assembling the air damper having such a configuration, simply insert the piston rod 9 and the piston 2 into the inside of the cylinder 1 from the one end opening 1a side, and then attach each positioning piece 17 to the cylinder 1 When the cap 3 is pushed into the extension tube 5 while being applied to the notch 7 formed in the extension tube 5, each locking piece 16 of the cap 3 6, the one-way air damper can be assembled very easily without using any conventional O-ring, as shown in FIG.

Moreover, in this assembled state, the disc-shaped substrate 13 of the cap 3 is kept in the range of the locking hole 6 of the extension tube 5 with its own locking piece 16 locked in the locking hole 6. It will be able to move in two directions. In addition, the seal flange 14 of the cap 3 is placed in a state in which the seal flange 4 is just in contact with the seal shelf 4 of the cylinder 1 with zero touch.

Therefore, when actually used in a glove box of an automobile, although not specifically shown, the cylinder 1 can be turned to the instrument panel side via the mounting piece 8 as in the prior art, though not specifically shown. , And the piston rod 9 may be rotatably fixed to the glove box via the mounting hole 12 at the distal end.

When the glove box is moved in the opening direction, the piston rod 9 is gradually pulled out of the cylinder 1 and the piston 2 moves in the cylinder 1 in the same direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the pressure change in the cylinder 1 causes the disc-shaped substrate 13 of the cap 3 to move its locking piece 16 into the locking hole 6 of the extension cylinder 5.
The seal flange 14 is completely brought into close contact with the sealing shelf 4 of the cylinder 1 like a suction cup, so that air passes only through the orifice 15 and passes through the inside of the cylinder 1. Flows into the
With the damper effect, the glove box can be guaranteed to move slowly to the open state.

Further, in this case, the locking piece 16 formed on the disc-shaped substrate 13 of the cap 3 is
Of the seal flange 14 is not pressed against the seal shelf 4 more than necessary by such a regulating action, so that the settling of the seal flange 14 is effective. Can be prevented.

Conversely, when the glove box is moved in the closing direction, the piston rod 9 is gradually pushed into the cylinder 1 accordingly, so that the piston 2 also moves in the cylinder 1 in the same direction. But this time, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the locking pieces 16 formed on the disc-shaped substrate 13 are pierced by the air accumulated in the cylinder 1 due to the pressure fluctuations in the cylinder 1 so that the hole edge of the extension cylinder 5 on the opposite side of the locking hole 6. The disc-shaped substrate 13 of the cap 3 moves in the reverse direction in the extension tube 5 until the seal flange 14 is separated from the seal shelf 4 by W until the air accumulated in the cylinder 1 The piston 2 can return to the original position without any resistance, thereby promoting the closing operation of the glove box.

In addition, when the air accumulated in the cylinder 1 is released, the seal flange 14 is not deformed by itself, but moves from the seal shelf 4 of the cylinder 1 with the movement of the disc-shaped substrate 13 of the cap 3. Since they are separated from each other, there is no fear that the seal flange 14 itself vibrates and generates abnormal noise.

In the present embodiment, the cylinder 1
Since the molding is made of a thermoplastic elastomer containing an oil component, the seal projection 11 of the piston 2 can smoothly slide in the cylinder 1 by the action of the oil-containing component. As described above, there is no jerky sliding due to the variation in the amount of grease applied. Further, since the seal projection 11 of the piston 2 can reduce the remaining amount of air at the stroke end of the cylinder 1, the damper effect can be expected immediately after the initial movement.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cap-side seal flange is brought into contact with and separated from the cylinder-side seal surface by moving the piston in the cylinder. As a result, the one-way air damper can be provided immediately, so the air damper itself reduces the number of parts compared to the conventional one,
It is easy to assemble and inexpensive, and its operation as an air damper is very stable.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, when the seal flange comes into contact with the sealing surface due to the movement of the cap substrate in the extension cylinder of the cylinder, the locking piece with respect to the hole edge of the locking hole. The contact of the seal flange does not press more than necessary against the seal surface, so the settling of the seal flange can be effectively prevented.On the contrary, when separating the seal flange from the seal surface, the opposite of the locking hole The substrate of the cap moves together with the seal flange until the locking piece comes into contact with the edge of the hole, so that there is no fear that only the seal flange vibrates and generates abnormal noise.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an air damper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cylinder.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a piston.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cap.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state where an air damper is assembled.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part for explaining a state in which air is introduced from an orifice into a cylinder to obtain a damper effect.

FIG. 7 is an essential part cross-sectional view for explaining a state in which air accumulated in a cylinder is released to the outside.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cylinder 1a One end opening part 1b Other end opening part 2 Piston 3 Cap 4 Seal shelf 5 Extension cylinder 6 Locking hole 7 Notch 8 Mounting piece 9 Piston rod 10 Disk part 11 Seal projection 12 Mounting hole 13 Substrate 14 Seal flange 15 Orifice 16 Locking piece 17 Positioning piece

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masaaki Onizuka 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (72) Inventor Katsuya Nakagawa 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation ( 56) References JP-A 64-53534 (JP, U) JP-A-5-76894 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16F 9/00-9/58 B60R 7/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cylindrical cylinder having both open ends,
In an air damper including a piston that moves in the cylinder and a cap that closes one end opening of the cylinder, the cylinder forms an annular seal surface on the inner diameter side of the one end opening, and the seal surface has An extension cylinder extending outwardly is continuously formed on the periphery, and the cap has a disk-shaped substrate attached to the extension cylinder side, and an annular seal flange extending from the substrate and extending in the radial direction. An air damper, wherein the seal flange is brought into contact with or separated from the seal surface by a pressure change caused by movement of a piston in a cylinder. 2. A locking hole is formed in an extension cylinder side of a cylinder, and a locking piece movably locked in the locking hole is projected from a peripheral surface of a base plate of a cap, and a piston in the cylinder is provided. 2. The air damper according to claim 1, wherein the substrate of the cap is moved in two directions within the extension cylinder of the cylinder by the pressure fluctuation accompanying the movement of the cylinder.