JPH0326023Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention provides an automobile having a locking member for locking an opening/closing lid, a wire connected to the locking member, and an operating member for operating the locking member via the wire. This invention relates to a lidlock device.

Lidlock devices of the above type are well known and are widely used, for example, in devices for locking the opening/closing lid of a fuel filler port in automobiles. In this type of lid lock device, the operating member and the locking member are separated from each other, and the operating force applied to the operating member is transmitted to the locking member via a wire. In this case, it is often necessary to once change the direction of this operating force and then transmit it to the locking member. For this reason, various configurations have been proposed in the past in order to meet this requirement.One of them is to curve the wire connecting the operating member and the lock member in the middle, so that the operating force is applied at this curved part. It has the advantage of being able to change the direction of the flow, and in that sense it can be said to be a convenient device. However, since the wire is curved in this device, the frictional force between the curved wire portion and the guide member that guides it increases, and this acts as a resistance force that inhibits the operation of the wire. Therefore, a large operating force is required to operate the locking member, which is inconvenient in use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a lid lock device for an automobile that can alleviate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional device and can smoothly operate a locking member with a smaller operating force than the conventional device.

Hereinafter, a specific example of the lid locking device according to the present invention configured as a device for locking an opening/closing lid for a fuel inlet will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an opening/closing lid 2 for a fuel inlet attached to a car body 1 of an automobile. The opening/closing lid 2 has a first
As shown in the figure, it is usually provided in the rear region of the vehicle body 1. The opening/closing lid 2 is supported by a hinge (not shown) so as to be rotatable between a closed position shown by a solid line and an open position shown by a chain line. 3 is a locking member for locking the opening/closing lid 2 in its closed position;
is operated in the directions of arrows A and B, thereby locking or unlocking the opening/closing lid 2. In this case, so that the opening/closing cover 2 can be opened from the driver's seat of the automobile, the operating member 4 is placed at a position away from the lock member 3 at or near the driver's seat.
The operating member 4 and the locking member 3 are connected by a wire 5 (see FIGS. 2 to 4) so that the operating force applied to the operating member 4 is transmitted to the locking member 3. It's getting old. Operation member 4
The device usually takes the form of a lever, handle, or pedal that can be operated by the operator with his or her hands or feet.

By the way, from the viewpoint of safety, the opening/closing lid 2 is
The rear side 2a of the opening/closing lid in the front-rear direction of the automobile opens. In this way, even if the vehicle were to drive with the cover 2 open, the cover 2 would automatically close due to wind pressure or the like. However, if the opening/closing lid 2 is configured so that its rear side 2a opens, the locking member 3
It cannot be provided in the area on the front side 2b of the opening/closing lid 2, but must be provided in the area on the rear side 2a of the opening/closing lid 2 or above and below it, as shown in the figure. On the other hand, an operating member 4 for operating this locking member 3 is provided at or near the driver's seat located in the front area of the vehicle body 1, and by operating this operating member 4, the wire 5 is pulled in the direction of arrow C and the lock is activated. By operating the member 3 in the direction of arrow B, the locking state of the opening/closing lid 2 is released.
The direction C in which the operating member 4 pulls the wire 5 is completely opposite to the direction B in which the locking member 3 is actuated thereby. Therefore, it is necessary to change the direction of the operating force applied by the operating member 4 before transmitting it to the locking member 3. The lidlock device in this example is constructed to easily meet this requirement, and its details are shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

In FIGS. 2 to 4, reference numeral 6 indicates a support member provided near the opening/closing lid 2 (FIG. 1). It consists of a peripheral wall part 8 which is A rotating body 10 is rotatably supported on the base 7 of the support member 6 . That is, the rotating body 10 is rotatably mounted around the pin 9 whose lower end is fixed to the base 7 of the support member 6 by caulking or the like.
The rotating body 10 in this example is formed in a substantially reel shape, and a guide groove 11 is formed on the circumferential surface of the rotating body formed in an arc shape. The guide groove 11 extends in an arc shape along the arc of the circumferential surface of the rotating body.

On the other hand, the wire 5 whose one end is fixed to the aforementioned operating member 4 (FIG. 1) provided near the driver's seat of the automobile is inserted into the outer tube 12, and the tube end 12a of the outer tube 12 is It is fixedly engaged in a mounting groove 113 formed in the peripheral wall portion 8 of the member 6. And this tube end 1
The wire 5 coming out from the rotating body 10 is inserted into the guide groove 11 formed in the rotating body 10.
0 and extends in an arc shape
is curved along. In this case, the wire 5 contacts the guide groove 11 without substantially slipping, and the rotating body 10 rotates as the wire 5 operates. This will be explained in detail later.

The tip side of the wire 5, that is, the wire end opposite to the wire end connected to the operating member 4, is engaged with the locking groove 13 formed at one end of the locking member 3, and the wire A locking ball 14 fixed at the tip is locked in a locking hole 15 connected to the locking groove 13 of the locking member 3, thus connecting the wire 5 and the locking member 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotating body 10 is provided with an engaging portion 16 having a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section, and one end of the locking member 3 is loosely engaged with the engaging portion 16. There is.

The lock member 3 is slidably fitted into a hole 18 of a bush-shaped guide member 17, and the guide member 17 passes through the peripheral wall 8 of the support member 6 and the mounting plate 1a on the vehicle body side. are doing. A nut 19 is screwed into the threaded portion of the guide member 17, and the washer 19a, the mounting plate 1a, and the peripheral wall portion 8 are firmly attached between the nut 19 and the flange 20 provided on the guide member 17. It's tight. This allows the guide member 17 to
The support member 6 is firmly fixed to the vehicle body 1.
Moreover, the lock member 3 is supported by a support member 6 so as to be movable between a lock position and an unlock position, which will be described later.

On the other hand, the rotating body 10 is given a rotational habit in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.
1 is used. This torsion coil spring 21
is wound around the boss portion 10a of the rotating body 10, one end 21a of which is moored to a small hole drilled in the rotating body 10, and the other end 21b is a protrusion 22 protruding from the base 7 of the supporting member 6. It is locked to. Incidentally, this protrusion 22 also serves as a stopper for regulating the range of rotation of the rotating body 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the opening/closing lid 2 described above has its rear side 2a located on the locking member 3 side. 23
A locking member 23 is integrally fixed to the opening/closing lid 2, and this locking member 23 works together with the locking member 3 to lock the opening/closing lid 2.

When the opening/closing lid 2 is closed as shown by the solid line in FIGS. 1 and 3, the locking member 3 also occupies the locked position shown by the solid line, and at this time, the tip of the locking member 3 is engaged with the locking member 23. and lock the opening/closing lid 2 in its closed position. At this time, the rotating body 10 is given a counterclockwise rotational behavior in FIG.
is pressed in the direction of arrow A. On the other hand, the stepped stop portion 3a formed on the lock member 3 is connected to the guide member 1.
7 so that the locking member 3 is held in its locked position.

When an operator (not shown) actuates the operating member 4, the wire 5 is pulled in the direction of arrow C (see also FIG. 1), and the operating force is transmitted to the locking member 3. In this case, since the wire 5 is wound around the rotating body 10 and its direction is changed, the locking member 3 is subjected to a tensile action in the direction of the arrow B, which is substantially opposite to the direction of the arrow C.

When the lock member is pulled and slides in the direction of arrow B, the rotating body 10 has its engaging portion 16 pushed by the lock member 3 and moves clockwise in FIG. 2 against the action of the torsion coil spring 21. It is rotated along with it. When the locking member 3 is retracted to the unlocked position shown by the chain line, the locking member 3 and the locking member 2
3 is separated, and the opening/closing lid 2 is released from the locked state, so that it can freely rotate to the open position shown by the chain line. If a spring (not shown) is provided that biases the opening/closing lid 2 toward the open position, the opening/closing lid 2 can automatically rotate to the open position when the locked state is released. It's advantageous.

When the operating force applied to the operating member 4 is removed, the rotating body 10 is rotated counterclockwise by the action of the torsion coil spring 21, and the locking member 3 is accordingly pressed to the lock position by the rotating body 10. energized,
The wire 5 is also pulled back to its initial position by the locking member 3. When the opening/closing lid 2 is closed with the locking member 3 returned to the locked position in this way, the cam surface 23a of the locking member 23 presses the locking member 3, thereby causing the locking member 3 to return to its locked position. When the locking member 23 and the locking member 3 are engaged as shown in FIG. 3, the locking member 3 returns to the locked position and the opening/closing lid 2 returns to its closed position. It will be locked.

According to the configuration of the embodiment described above, the direction of the wire is changed by the rotating body 10, thereby changing the direction of the operating force applied to the wire by the operating member 4. The configuration can be relatively simple. Not only the rotating body 10
Since the wire 5 rotates in conjunction with the wire 5, the resistance force applied to the wire 5 by the rotating body 10 can be suppressed to a low level, and the operating force required to operate the operating member can be significantly reduced. can.

Although advantageous embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified in various ways. For example, a rotating body changes the direction of the wire,
Since it is linked to the wire, the rotating body can be configured in any other suitable shape as long as this purpose can be achieved. For example, the guide groove 11 may be omitted, or the portion around which the wire is wound may be shaped other than an arc. It can also be formed into an appropriate shape (ellipse, parabola, etc.). Further, in the above embodiments, the wire is simply wound around the rotating body, but the wire and the rotating body may be fixed to each other by appropriate fixing means without hindering the movement of the wire and the rotating body. Furthermore, instead of engaging the rotating body and the locking member by means of the engaging portion 16 of the rotating body, they can also be pivotally connected to each other by other means, for example by pivoting means such as pins. Further, in the above embodiment, a torsion coil spring is used as the biasing means for imparting rotational behavior to the rotating body, but instead of this, for example, a tension spring, a compression spring,
Alternatively, appropriate means such as a leaf spring may be used. Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the lock member and the operating member are connected by one wire, but the part that is wrapped around the rotating body is a wire,
For other parts, it is also possible to connect the locking member and the operating member using a member other than a wire, for example, an appropriate link.

As described above, according to the present invention, the direction of the wire connecting the locking member and the operating member can be reliably changed by the rotating body, and the operating force when operating the locking member can be reduced, improving operability. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the arrangement relationship between the lid lock device that locks the opening/closing lid for the fuel inlet and the vehicle body, Fig. 2 is a front view showing the main parts of the lid lock device, and Fig. 3 is a partial view of the lid lock device. 2 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 2, and the other part is taken along the line '-' in Figure 2. Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing only the main components of the device shown in Figure 2. It is a diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle body, 2... Opening/closing lid, 3... Lock member, 4... Operation member, 5... Wire, 6... Support member, 10... Rotating body, 21... Torsion coil spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A support member fixed to the vehicle body; supported by the support member so as to be movable between a lock position where the opening/closing lid is locked and an unlock position where the lock is released. a lock member; a wire connected at one end to the lock member; rotatably supported by the support member;
a rotating body that rotates in conjunction with the wire by winding the wire around it to change the direction of the wire; and a biasing means that imparts rotational behavior to the rotating body and biases the locking member toward its locked position. and; located at a position remote from the locking member,
and an operating member for pulling the wire to bring the locking member to its unlocked position. (2) The lid lock device according to claim 1, wherein the biasing means is a spring. (3) The lid lock device according to claim 2, wherein the spring is a torsion coil spring.