JP4009225B2 - Opening / closing drive device for vehicle opening / closing body - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a drive device for automatically opening and closing a vehicle opening / closing body using the power of a drive source such as an electric motor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A tailgate that is provided on the rear opening surface of a wagon car and opens in a flip-up manner tends to be relatively heavy and requires a large opening operation force. For this reason, it is common to provide a so-called gas stay including a cylinder in which oil and gas for assisting an operating force in the opening direction and generating a holding force in the open state are enclosed.
[0003]
In this gas stay, the thrust for holding the tailgate in the open position may be insufficient due to a change in the weight of the tailgate, a change in the rotational resistance of the hinge portion, a change in the ambient temperature, and the like.
[0004]
As a technique for dealing with such inconvenience, an opening / closing drive device using a motor with a speed reducer is provided between the tailgate and the vehicle body, and when it is detected that the tailgate has moved in the closing direction due to its own weight, the clutch Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-107642 proposes to apply a resistance force of a motor with a speed reducer to the tailgate to stop the self-weight closing door and then forcibly close the door with the motor.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-107642
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the configuration of the above prior art, if it is determined that the holding force of the open position with respect to the tailgate is insufficient, the door is unconditionally forced to be closed, and the loading and unloading work is not considered at all. It was not very appropriate in terms of usability.
[0007]
The present invention has been devised to solve such problems of the prior art, and the main purpose of the present invention is when the holding force of the open position relative to the tailgate becomes insufficient. An object of the present invention is to provide an opening / closing drive device for a vehicle opening / closing body configured to be able to load and unload luggage while preventing its own weight from being closed.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such an object, in the present invention, an opening / closing driving force generating means (tail gate 1) is provided between the vehicle body (2) and an opening / closing body (tailgate 1) provided on the vehicle body so as to be capable of turning in the vertical direction. A motor 11) with a speed reducer, a clutch means (12) for intermittently transmitting the driving force to the opening / closing body, and an opening direction biasing means (gas stay 4) comprising a gas-filled cylinder are provided. In the opening / closing drive device for a vehicle opening / closing body that can maintain the open state of the opening / closing body only by the urging force, the opening direction urging means is separated from the opening / closing body after the opening / closing driving force generating means is separated. It should be possible to extend further from the normal stop position that keeps the open state of the opening / closing body in balance with the weight of the opening / closing body, and a lock mechanism (steel ball 26, annular groove 27) is provided at the overextension limit position. , Open / close drive force generation When a dead-weight door of the opening / closing body is detected after the step is separated from the opening / closing body, the opening / closing driving force generating means is connected to the opening / closing body to drive the door to the overextension limit position of the opening direction biasing means. . In this case, the opening direction biasing means may be configured such that the resistance increases immediately before the overextension region that can be further extended from the normal stop position.
[0009]
In this way, when the opening / closing position holding force of the opening / closing body seems to be insufficient, if the opening / closing body is driven to open to the overextension limit position by the opening / closing driving force generating means, the opening state is maintained by the action of the lock mechanism. Is done. The lock mechanism is released by closing and driving the opening / closing body by the opening / closing driving force generating means.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0011]
FIG. 1 shows a main part of a tailgate such as a wagon car to which the present invention is applied. The tailgate 1 is supported by the vehicle body 2 with a hinge shaft 3 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2, and the opening of the vehicle body rear end is opened and closed by swinging the free end in the vertical direction. ing.
[0012]
Between the outer edge portion of the tailgate 1 and the inner edge portion of the vehicle body opening, the tailgate 1 is driven by the thrust from a certain opening angle by the sealed pressure in the cylinder set to balance the weight of the tailgate 1. A gas stay 4 is provided that is energized in the opening direction and is held in a predetermined open state.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, when the thrust for holding the tailgate 1 in the open position is normal, the gas stay 4 has a predetermined dimension S from the extension position of the piston rod 22 that balances the weight of the tailgate 1 at a predetermined opening angle. Only be able to overextend.
[0014]
On the other hand, the top cap 24 of the cylinder 21 incorporates a steel ball 26 that is constantly elastically urged radially inward by a compression coil spring 25, and the cross-sectional shape formed at an appropriate position of the piston rod 22 is half. The steel ball 26 is engaged with the circular annular groove 27 so that the excessively extended state of the piston rod 22 is maintained.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 3, the opening / closing drive device 5 includes a pinion 6 that is rotationally driven by a motor 11 with a speed reducer, and a rack 7 that meshes with the pinion 6 and is driven in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2. The rotational force of the pinion 6 given by the motor 11 with a speed reducer is converted into the thrust of the rack 7, and the thrust is applied to the tailgate 1 via the link 8, so that the tailgate 1 is driven to open and close. Yes.
[0016]
According to the above configuration, the thrust of the gas stay 4 is opened in the region from the fully closed position of the tailgate 1 to the opening angle A due to the positional shift between the rotation center of the gas stay 4 and the rotation center of the tailgate 1. It does not contribute as an auxiliary force, that is, the region up to the angle A is driven to open by the torque of the motor 11 with a speed reducer applied to the pinion 6 exclusively.
[0017]
When the opening angle A is exceeded, the thrust of the gas stay 4 is applied as an opening assisting force, and the torque load of the motor 11 with a reduction gear is reduced (region B). When the opening angle is further increased, the door can be held only by the thrust of the gas stay 4. When this angle position C is reached, the current to the motor 11 with a speed reducer is cut off and the motor 11 with a speed reducer The clutch 12 with the pinion 6 is disengaged, the transmission of the driving force applied to the pinion 6 to open the tailgate 1 is cut off, and the holding force at the fully open position depends on the thrust of the gas stay 4.
[0018]
In such a configuration, if the holding force of the open position with respect to the tailgate 1 is insufficient due to a change in the weight of the tailgate 1, a change in the rotational resistance of the hinge shaft 3, a change in the ambient temperature, etc., the tailgate 1 will naturally move due to its own weight. May close.
[0019]
In order to cope with such inconvenience, in the present invention, the tailgate 1 has reached the normal open position even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the transmission of the driving force applied to the pinion 6 is cut off at the angular position C. If this is not detected, it is considered that the opening position holding force of the tailgate 1 is insufficient. In this case, the clutch 12 is connected and the motor 11 with a speed reducer is started. The tailgate 1 is further driven to open while the gas stay 4 is overextended, and is provided at the end of the overextension region S of the gas stay 4. By engaging the steel ball 26 provided on the top cap 24 of the cylinder 21 with the annular groove 27 of the piston rod 22 to lock the piston rod 22 of the gas stay 4 and mechanically restrain the contraction of the piston rod 22, The tail gate 1 is prevented from closing its own weight.
[0020]
As for the opening angle of the tailgate 1, the contact signal of the limit switch 13 based on the movement of the rack 7 and the pulse signal of the rotary encoder 14 for detecting the rotation angle and the rotation direction of the pinion 6 are input to the control circuit 15. Can be detected.
[0021]
When the door is closed, the clutch 12 is turned on to connect the motor 11 with a reduction gear to the pinion 6 and the tailgate 1 is forcibly driven to close the door, thereby releasing the engagement between the steel ball 26 and the annular groove 27. The door is closed.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 4, the gas stay 4 reduces the cylinder diameter immediately before the overextension region (D1> D2) so that the oil flow resistance between the piston 23 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 21 changes abruptly. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable that the compression coil spring 28 is contracted between the piston 23 and the top cap 24 so that the expansion resistance changes abruptly immediately before the overextension region. In this way, since the resistance increases at the limit of extension of the gas stay 4 when the thrust force for holding the tailgate 1 in the open position is normal, it can be seen that the open limit is clearly reached when the tailgate 1 is manually opened. . Moreover, this becomes a damper effect, and the tailgate 1 is restrained from bouncing greatly at the open position by the gas spring action of the gas stay 4 at the normal time. In addition, by providing the overextension region S, it is not necessary to define the mechanical opening limit of the tailgate 1, and a stopper for that purpose can be omitted, and accuracy control can be made unnecessary. Needless to say, this resistance is set to such an extent that it does not hinder the door opening drive with the motor 11 with a speed reducer.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when it is doubtful whether the holding force of the open position with respect to the opening and closing body such as the tailgate is sufficient, the gas stay is forcibly over-extended by driving the motor, and at the end thereof. Since the piston rod is mechanically locked, the self-weight closing door is reliably prevented. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a great effect in improving the convenience of the electrically driven opening / closing body.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part of a tailgate of a wagon to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of a gas stay according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing another example of the gas stay. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing still another example of the gas stay.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tailgate 2 Car body 4 Gas stay 5 Opening / closing drive device 11 Motor with reduction gear 12 Clutch 15 Control circuit 25 Compression coil spring 26 Steel ball 27 Annular groove

Claims (2)

An opening / closing driving force generating means, a clutch means for intermittently transmitting driving force to the opening / closing body, and a gas-filled cylinder are provided between the vehicle body and an opening / closing body provided on the vehicle body so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction. An opening / closing drive device for a vehicle opening / closing body, wherein the opening / closing body is provided with an opening direction biasing means, and the opening state of the opening / closing body can be maintained only by the biasing force of the opening direction biasing means,
The opening direction urging means further includes a normal stop position that maintains the open state of the opening / closing body by balancing the thrust and the weight of the opening / closing body after the opening / closing driving force generating means is separated from the opening / closing body. It is extendable and has a lock mechanism at the overextension limit position,
The opening / closing driving device connects the opening / closing driving force generating means to the opening / closing body when the self-closing door of the opening / closing body is detected after the opening / closing driving force generating means is separated from the opening / closing body. An opening / closing drive device for an opening / closing body for a vehicle, comprising control means for driving the door to an overextension limit position of an urging means.   2. The opening / closing drive device for a vehicle opening / closing body according to claim 1, wherein the opening direction urging means has a resistance increasing immediately before an overextension region that can be further extended from the normal stop position. .

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