JPH01187278A - Automatic closer for automobile door - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To raise the safety of an automatic closer for automobile door by a method in which the half-latch condition of door is detected, and the door is forcibly closed to a full-latch condition by a closer but restored to an original position in case of anomaly on the way of operation. CONSTITUTION:When a door 1 for auto car is closed to a half-latch position, it is detected by a sensor and a motor 35 and a closer 8 are turned normally to forcibly close it to a full-latch position. On the way of the operation, if anomalous moving of the door 1 occurs by the presence of foreign matter, a restorer is operated by a timer or an inversion switch, and the motor 35 and the closer 8 are reversely turned to restore the door 1 to its original position.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field] The present invention provides a method for moving a door of an automobile to a so-called ajar state (this state is referred to as a half-latched state) by an appropriate driving means such as a motor. This relates to an automatic door closing device that forcibly closes the door from the door to the fully closed position (this state is referred to as the fully latched state).

[Conventional technology]

As an example of this type of device, 1 is available, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-19188.
There is one disclosed in Publication No. 4.

This disclosed device has a cam on either the door or the vehicle body, and a pin that can be engaged with the cam on the other side, and when the door is closed to a half-latched position,
Either the cam or the pin is moved by an appropriate driving means such as a motor, and the engagement between the cam and the pin causes the
The door is forcibly closed from the herb latch position to the full latch position, so that the door can be closed easily.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned devices are actually installed on automobiles in combination with various safety devices, but if they were used alone, a foreign object could get caught between the door and the vehicle body, causing the door to close. If it does not close completely to the fully latched state,
There are problems in that the driving means continues to operate, wastefully consuming power, and the driving means is likely to become overloaded and break down.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vehicle door closing device that solves these problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

Means for solving the above problems is based on a half-latch detection means for detecting a half-latch state of the door, and the operation of the half-latch detection means.

A closure forcibly closing the door from a half-latched state to a fully-latched state using an appropriate drive means; and a return means for reversing the drive means and returning the closure to its original position by operating the door during the operation of the closure. It is characterized by comprising the following.

[For production]

According to the device of the present invention, under normal conditions, when the door is closed to the half latch position and the half latch detection means is activated, the closure is activated and the door is automatically closed to the full latch position within a certain period of time.

If the return means is activated during operation of the closure, the drive means is reversed and the closure is returned to its original position.

Therefore, when the closure drive means continues to operate with a foreign object caught between the vehicle body and the gutter, it is possible to eliminate such a malfunctioning state by operating the return means. Can be done.

Note that the return means is activated by the half latch detection means,
“If we use a timer that activates when the fully latched state is not reached within a certain period of time, the above-mentioned malfunction state will be automatically resolved.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of the main parts when the present invention is applied to a sliding door of an automobile.

In the figure, (1) is a sliding door, which is guided by slide rollers, guide rails, etc. (not shown), and is initially pulled out diagonally rearward with respect to the side of the vehicle body (2) when the door is opened. It is attached to the vehicle body (2) so as to slide parallel to the vehicle body (2).

Inside the sliding door (1), there is a door lock device (3) that engages with a striker (path shown) fixed to the opening end surface provided on the side of the vehicle body (2), and a rod (3) attached to the door lock device (3). 4) etc., and a locking/unlocking operation device (not shown) consisting of a key cylinder (6), a knob (7), etc. road) and door lock device (3
) forcibly rotates the latch (path shown) from the half latch position to the full latch position (8).
) and a controller (9) for electrically controlling the closure (8) using various relays and the like.

A timer (46) (see FIG. 3) is provided in the controller (9) as a return means.

When the timer (46) is activated, the closure (8) can stop its operation and return to its original position.

The locking/unlocking operation of the knob (7) in the locking/unlocking operating device can be performed manually, or as shown in FIG.
This can be done automatically by actuating the actuator (47).

(lO) is a power supply connector device, which is a door-side connector (11) attached to the front end surface (1a) of the sliding door (1).
) and, opposite to this, the center pillar (2) of the vehicle body (2).
a) and a connector (12) on the vehicle body side attached to the connector (12).

With reference to FIG. 2, the power supply connector device (io) will be briefly described.

The connector (11) on the side of the sliding door (1) is connected to the main body (1).
3a), a base (13) consisting of a protrusion (13b), and a mounting piece (13c), and an upper and lower part 1 that is removably fitted into the base (13) and has a hemispherical contact point (14a) at the front end of the bracket.
A pair of conductive moving shafts (14) and a holder (13) which is also fitted into the base (13) so as to be freely retractable, and which slides integrally with the moving shaft (14) by fitting the moving shaft (14) into the base (13). I5) and a compression coil spring (1
6) is provided on the protrusion (13b) so as to be able to come into contact with either side (the lower side in this embodiment) of the moving shaft (14), and is configured to detect when the sliding door (1) has reached the half-latched position. It consists of a half latch detection switch (17) which is a half latch detection means for detecting.

A conductive wire (18) (see FIG. 1) is connected to the rear end surface of each moving shaft (14), and these two conductive wires (18).

It is electrically connected to the controller (9) inside the sliding door (1).

The moving shaft (14) and the holder (15) have a required stroke, that is, the moving shaft (14) has a compression coil spring (I
6) The stroke during which the rear end surface of the holder (15) contacts or approaches the bottom surface of the guide hole (13d) formed in the base (13) while being biased by the holder (15) and positioned at the frontmost position. It is possible to appear at will.

The half latch detection switch (17) has a shaft hole (1
An insulating guide member (19) having an insulating guide member (19) having a diameter of 9a), a proximal end portion serving as a front end is fitted onto the guide member (19), and a guide hole (20a) of a required length is provided from the front end toward the rear. The bottomed insulating case (2o) and the lower moving shaft (
The shaft hole (19) of the guide member (19) is coaxial with the shaft hole (14) so that the leading end can come into contact with the rear end of the moving shaft (14).
a), and is slidably inserted into the large diameter part (21a) at the rear end.
) is a conductive movable contact (21) that is slidably inserted into the guide hole (20a), and the large diameter part (21a) in the guide hole (20a) and the rear bottom surface of the case (20). The movable contact (21) is always urged forward by the compression coil spring (22), and the movable contact (21) is always urged forward by the compression coil spring (22), and the movable contact (21) is connected to the bottom of the case (20) and the compression coil. It is electrically connected to a terminal (23) interposed between the spring (22) and the terminal (23). Moreover, the movable contact (21) is
It is electrically connected to the controller (9) in the sliding door (1) with a conductive wire (24) connected to the terminal (23).

The connector (12) on the vehicle body (2) side is the mounting piece (25a)
a base (25) that is integral with the base (25), and a disc-shaped contact ( 26
a) a pair of upper and lower moving shafts (26), and a holder (27) that slides integrally by fitting the shafts (26);
It consists of a compression coil spring (28) having the same spring constant as the compression coil spring (16) to always bias the moving shaft (26) rearward.

Each movement # (26) can be freely moved in and out by the stroke length during which the front end surface of the holder (27) comes into contact with the bottom surface of the guide hole (25b) formed in the base (25).

(29) is a conductive wire connected to each moving axis (26),
One of them is a controller 5.5 installed on the vehicle body (2) side and having a relay etc. (30) and the other one is connected to the battery (3I) (see Fig. 1).

In Figure 1, the center pillar (2a) of the vehicle body (2)
A power supply switch (32) that is turned on and off by the sliding door (1) is provided nearby, and when the sliding door (1) is closed, the power supply switch (32) The latch is turned ON slightly before the latch reaches the half-latched position.

The power supply switch (32) is electrically connected to the controller (30) with a conductive wire (33), and the power supply switch (32) is electrically connected to the controller (30) with a conductive wire (33).
32) and the controller (3o) control the power supply to the connector (12) on the vehicle body (2) side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the closure (8) is driven by a motor (35) which is a driving means provided in the sliding door (1) and which can rotate in forward and reverse directions, and an appropriate speed reduction mechanism (not shown). , a drive gear (36) linked to the motor (35);
A sector gear (37) is pivotally installed in the sliding door (1) with a shaft (38) so as to mesh with the drive gear (36), and a drive lever (39) is fixed to the sector gear (37). is pivotally mounted on the bracket (40) of the door lock device (3), linked to the drive lever (39) with a wire (42), and integrated with the latch (as shown) in the door lock device (3). The protruding lever (43) is engaged with the protruding lever (43) formed in the
3) for forcibly rotating the latch from the half-latch position to the full-latch position; and a close lever (41) provided on the bracket (40) that forcibly rotates the latch until the latch is in the full-latch position. A full latch switch (44) is provided at the rear of the sector gear (37), and the sector gear (37) has a predetermined position. It is equipped with a limit switch (45) which is turned off when the original position is reached.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to the circuit diagram of FIG.

In FIG. 3, (R1), (R2), (R3), (R
4), (R5) is a relay, (rl), (R2-1),
(R2-2), (R3), (R4), (R5-1) (
R5-2) are their contacts, (46) is a delay timer that is a reset means, (46a) and (46b) are their contacts, and (47) is an operating device connected to the power source (48). (49) shows an actuator that automatically locks and unlocks a locking/unlocking device such as a knob (7) by operating the knob (49). Other symbols electrically represent each of the above-mentioned members.

The sliding door (1) is closed to a predetermined position, and the power supply switch (32) is automatically turned on by the sliding door (1).
When it is N, the relay (
R1) is energized and its contact (rl) closes, causing the battery (31) to connect to the connector (1) on the vehicle body (2) side.
2).

When the sliding door (1) reaches just before the half latch position, the contact point (14a) of the moving shaft (14) in the connector (11) on the sliding door (1) side connects to the moving shaft (26) on the vehicle body (2) side. contact point (26a), and at that moment,
Power supply from the vehicle body (2) side to the sliding door (1) side is started.

From this state, the door (1) is further closed slightly and reaches the half-latch position where the latch in the door lock device (3) and the striker on the vehicle body (both shown) barely engage, that is, the sliding door When (1) is in the ajar state, the rear end of the moving shaft (14) retracted to the rear comes into contact with the movable contact (21) in the half latch detection switch (17), and the door becomes half latch. A signal is issued to a controller (9) provided on the door (1).

When the half latch detection switch (17) is activated, the contact (R3
) and the normally closed action of the timer contact (46a), the relay (R2) is energized, and when the contact (R2-2) of this is closed, the timer (46) is also energized.

The timer (46) starts from this point on for a certain period of time (for example, 5
(seconds).

At the same time as relay (R2) is energized, its movable contact (R
2-1,) is switched to the normally open side, and the motor (35) in the closure (8) is driven to rotate in one direction.

When the motor (35) rotates, the drive gear (36) is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 via a reduction mechanism (not shown), and the sector gear (37) meshing with the drive gear (36)
It is rotated counterclockwise about the shaft (38) from the original position to the front limit position.

When the sector gear (37) rotates, the drive lever (39) that is integrated with the sector gear (37) rotates the close lever (41) that is pivotally connected to the bracket (40) of the door lock device (3).
Hold the wire (42) and rotate it counterclockwise in plan view.

As a result, the latch in the herb latch position is forcibly rotated by the protruding lever (43), which is integrally provided with the latch, coming into contact with one arm of the close lever (41). The sliding door (1), which was in the ajar state, is completely closed.

When the latch is in the fully latched position, the close lever (4
When the other arm of 1) comes into contact with the full latch switch (44) provided on the bracket (40),
When this is closed and the relay (R3) is energized, the contact (R3) that was previously on the normally closed side is switched to the normally open side, holding the relay (R3) self-holding and opening the normally closed side. The contact (R2-1) in the relay (R2) is returned to the normally closed side to stop the motor (35).

Also, at this time, since the contact point of the limit switch (45) provided at the rear of the sector gear (37) has already been closed due to the sector gear (37) coming off from its original position, the full latch switch (44) At the same time as the relay (R4) is activated, the movable contact (R
4), the motor (35) rotates in the opposite direction. This allows the sector gear (
37) is rotated clockwise and returned to its original position, the limit switch (45) is turned OFF, and when the movable contact (R4) in the relay (R4) returns to the normally closed side, the motor ( 35) will stop immediately.

The timer (46) is activated when the contact (R3) is switched to the normally open side and self-maintained by the operation of the relay (R3), that is, when the power to the relay (R2) is cut off and the contact (R2) is switched to the normally open side. -2) is opened, its operation is stopped and the previous timekeeping stops. Therefore, the timer (46) will not operate thereafter.

Furthermore, even if the sliding door (1) is closed all at once to the full latch position without passing through the half latch position, the same series of operations as described above are performed, but the timer (46) is energized in the same way as above. Since the contact (R3) is disconnected when it is not switched, there is no possibility that the timer (46) will operate and the motor (35), actuator (47), etc. will operate thereafter.

By the way, the above-mentioned series of operations is performed when there is no obstacle between the sliding door (1) and the vehicle body (2) and when the timer (46
) is activated within a certain period of time (for example, within 5 seconds), the door (1) is normally closed from the half latch position to the full latch position. If a finger or other foreign object is caught in the door (1),
If the full latch position is not reached even after a certain period of time has elapsed, the timer (46) that measures time immediately after the half latch detection switch (17) is activated, that is, when the relay (R2) is energized, is activated and the contact ( 46a) to the normally open side, and close the contact (46b).

At this time, the power to the relay (R2) is cut off and the contact (
R2-2) is opened, but the timer (46) is continuously energized by closing the contact (46b), so the contact (46a) is self-maintained on the normally open side.

At the same time as the power to the relay (R2) is cut off, the movable contact (R2-1), which had previously operated to the normally open side and rotated the motor (35) in one direction, returns to the normally closed side. and immediately stop the motor (35).

When the motor (35) stops, the relay (
R4) is activated, the contact (R4) is switched, and the motor (
35) is inverted.

As a result, the sector gear (37) is returned to its original position, and at the same time, the sliding door (1) immediately stops closing and returns to the half-latch position, allowing manual opening.

At this time, if the lock/unlock operation device such as the knob (7) is locked, the relay (R5) is energized at the same time as the timer (46) is activated, and the contacts (R5-1) and (R5-2) are activated.
By switching both to the normally open side, the actuator (
47) is activated, and the locked/unlocked operating device is automatically unlocked.

Therefore, the door (1) that has returned to the half-latched position can be opened without unlocking by operating a key from outside or operating a knob from inside the vehicle.

In this embodiment, if one or both of a lamp (50) and a buzzer (51) as shown by the two-dot chain line is provided in parallel with the relay (R5), the timer (46) is activated. At the same time, a warning can be issued by light and/or sound.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the circuit diagram of FIG.

In this embodiment, instead of eliminating the above-mentioned timer (46) and its contacts (46a) (46b), a return means that is activated by operating the outside handle (5) or the inside handle in the door opening direction is used. Connect the reversing switch (52) in series with the relays (R3) and (R4),
It is also provided in parallel with the full latch switch (44).

The sliding door (1) is closed to the half-latch position,
When the half latch detection switch (17) is activated, the door (1) is automatically closed to the full latch position by the same operation as in the above embodiment.

However, in the event that a foreign object gets caught between the door (1) and the door cannot be closed during the operation from the half latch position to the full latch position, the outside handle (5
) or by manually operating the inside handle in the direction of opening the door, the reversal switch (52) is turned on and an apparent full latched state similar to when the full latched switch (44) is activated is created.

As a result, the relay (R3) is energized, and the contact (R3), which was previously on the normally closed side, is switched to the normally open side.

And the normally closed side is opened to connect the contact (R2) in the relay (R2).
-1) is returned to the normally closed side, and the door closing operation is immediately stopped by stopping the motor (35). at the same time.

The relay (R4) is activated and the motor (3) is activated in the same way as above.
With the reversal of step 5), the sector gear (37) returns to its original position, and the door (1) returns to the half-latched position, making it possible to open the door.

In addition, in this example as well, as in the above-mentioned example,
When the reversing switch (52) is activated, a locking/unlocking actuator (47) may be activated.

In addition, the 1 reversing switch (52) may be used in combination with a timer (46) as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 3, so that in the unlikely event that the timer (46) does not operate In such a case, the reversing switch (52) can be activated, further increasing safety.

As described above, in the above embodiment, by activating the timer (46) or the reversing switch (52) as a return means, the door closing operation can be stopped and the door (1) can be returned to the half latch position again. For example,
If the door (1) is closed to the half-latch position against the driver's will due to wind pressure or its own weight when the vehicle is parked on a slope, the gap between the door and the vehicle body may This helps prevent danger in the event that a finger or other foreign object is accidentally caught in the container.

Note that the present invention can be applied to swing-type doors, back doors, trunk lids, etc. in addition to the above-mentioned sliding doors.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, if a door that has been closed to a half-latched position is not completely closed to a fully-latched position,
By operating the return means, the door closing operation can be stopped and the closure can be automatically returned to its original position, so that fingers or other foreign objects can remain stuck between the vehicle body and the door. There is no risk that the drive means will continue to operate or that the door will continue to close.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent wastage of electric power and overload of the driving means, and also to prevent damage to the doors and the vehicle body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an external view of the main parts when the present invention is applied to a sliding door of an automobile. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the power supply connector device, FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment. (1) Sliding door (2) Vehicle body (3) Door lock device (5) Outside handle (8)
) Closer (11) (12) Connector (17) Half latch detection switch (half latch detection means) (32) Power supply switch (35) Motor (drive means) (41) Close lever (
43) Projection lever (44) Full latch switch (
45) Limit switch (46) Timer (return means)
(47) Actuator (52) Reversing switch (returning means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) a half-latch detection means for detecting the half-latch state of the door; and a closure that forcibly closes the door from the half-latch state to the full-latch state using an appropriate drive means based on the operation of the half-latch detection means; An automatic closing device for an automobile door, comprising a return means that is activated during the operation of the closure to reverse the drive means and return the closure to its original position. (2) The return means operates the half latch detection means,
The automatic closing device for an automobile door according to claim 1, which is a timer that is activated when the fully latched state is not reached within a certain period of time. (3) Claim (1) wherein the return means is a reversing switch activated by the door opening operation of the door opening operation device.
The automatic closing device for the automobile door described above. (4) Claims (1) and (2) wherein the door lock/unlock operating device is unlocked when the return means is activated.
) or (3) the automatic closing device for an automobile door.