JPH0532250B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Claim 1: An actuator for rotating the other side of a panel 25, one side of which is rotatably supported on the periphery of an opening of an automobile roof, to the outside of the roof, comprising: a mounting member 6 fixed to the automobile roof side;
an arm member 4 pivotally supported on the panel side; a main body portion 5 having one end pivotally supported by the mounting member 6 and the other end pivotally supporting the arm member 4; The arm member is fixed to a pivot between a rotatably provided worm 1 and a main body portion 5 of the arm member 4, and meshes with the worm 1 in a perpendicular state, and as the worm 1 rotates, the arm member A worm follower 2 for angularly displacing a worm follower 4 in relation to the main body portion 5.

Description The present invention relates to an actuator for a releasable motor vehicle roof, such as a motor vehicle sunroof, which is constructed of a panel and has one edge that pivots outward.

In a typical glass sunroof, a frame and seal are rigidly attached to an opening in an automobile roof. A safety glass panel is screwed onto the front edge of the frame, and an opening and locking mechanism is provided on the rear edge of the frame.

When released, the rear edge of the glass panel rises above the frame to ventilate the interior of the vehicle, while air flows out from the front of the sunroof, which rests against the frame seal through the hinges on the front edge of the glass panel. is not sent directly.

When closing, a mechanism commonly known as a “handle” presses the glass panel against the seal, making it watertight.
Maintain an airtight seal.

It is also possible to produce a releasable roof made of metal instead of glass, for example.

The handle can also be designed to separate the panel from the frame and thus remove it from the vehicle body to free the roof.

The handle has three operating modes: (a) fully open, (b) panel completely removed, and (c) fully closed. Allowing only half-opening upon release is an unavoidable compromise. If the steering wheel is not half-open, the ventilation cannot be adjusted as the vehicle moves forward, drawing air from inside the vehicle. The opening must be large enough to be effective even when driving at low speeds, but when driving at high speeds, such as on a highway, the opening may be too large, increasing the amount of ventilation and causing noise from the wind passing through the opening. rise rapidly.

This invention provides an actuator for a releasable automobile roof that has a panel as its main body and one edge of which pivots outward, and includes a mounting member for mounting the actuator to a fixed part of the vehicle, and a main body portion screwed onto the mounting member. , attached to the main body part,
an arm member connected to the releasable roof panel;
an actuator comprising a worm that engages a body portion that engages a worm follower that engages the arm member, and in which the arm member is angularly displaced in relation to the body portion as the worm rotates; The purpose is to provide the following.

Preferably, the body portion includes a housing in which the mounting member and the arm member are pivotably mounted and pivoted about generally parallel spaced apart axes.

Preferably, the worm extends within the housing between the parallel axes substantially perpendicular to the parallel axes.

Preferably, a handle is connected to the worm for manually rotating the worm.

Preferably, the arm member is a shaft supporting an orthogonal arm, and the shaft is the pivot axis of the arm.

The worm follower is preferably non-rotatably mounted on the shaft of the arm member.

Preferably, the shaft of the arm member supports a pair of orthogonal arms in substantially the same plane.

The arms can diverge from each other, eg, be substantially perpendicular and angled up to about 45 degrees with respect to the shaft.

Preferably, the worm follower is provided on the shaft of the arm member between the arms.

Typically, a connecting member is provided for connecting the arm member to the roof panel, and the connecting member is typically pivotally connected at its distal end to the arm member.

Preferably, the arm member is spaced apart from the body portion, the hinge of the member for attachment to the body portion, the connecting member between the arm member and the body portion, and the distal end of the arm member lie substantially in the same plane. An open position is provided on the actuator.

Preferably, the arm member rests on the body part and once again hinges the attachment member to the body part;
The actuator is provided with a closed position such that the connecting member between the arm member and the body portion and the distal end of the arm member lie substantially in the same plane.

The invention further comprises a frame forming an opening, a panel for closing the opening screwed onto one edge of the frame, and the actuator connected between the frame and the edge of the panel. Releasable roof assemblies for automobiles.

The invention is further directed to a motor vehicle equipped with the roof.

The roof panel of the vehicle is preferably a glass panel.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be introduced with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front-back sectional view of the actuator of the present invention.

2 is a partially removed rear view of the actuator of FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the roof equipped with the actuator of FIG. 1 in a fully open state.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the roof of FIG. 3 in a partially removed closed state;

FIG. 5 is a kinematic diagram showing the position of the roof in relation to the position of the actuator handle.

FIG. 6 is a front-back sectional view of an actuator as another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the actuator of the present invention includes a pivot block 6 that is attached to a releasable roof 24. As shown in FIGS. This mounting member (pivot block) 6
The main body of the actuator is screwed onto the actuator.
There is a housing 5 in the main body part. housing 5
is a generally cylindrical chamber with an open top end and a pair of parallel spaced apart lugs 12 projecting from one side between which the projecting nose of the mounting member 6 is mounted. 13 is in full swing.
Opposite the lugs 12, a pair of lugs 14 extend parallel to each other from the cylindrical portion of the housing.
An actuator arm member is attached to the lug 14.

The nose 13 of the mounting member 6 has an inwardly directed slot 15. A pivot pin 11 is inserted into a pair of concentric holes in the lug 12, and a nose 13 is passed through the pivot pin 11 portion.
1 has reached the inner end of slot 15. The locking member 7 is generally inverted U-shaped, with one leg extending below the other leg. Locking member 7
The longer leg extends through a hole 16 extending downwardly through the nose 13 of the mounting member 6 tangentially to the inner end of the slot 15 . Mounting member 6
In the upper part of the nose 13 of the U-shaped locking member, the hole 16 is enlarged to receive the shorter leg of the U-shaped locking member and the cross member, and the pin 11 is restrained between the two legs of the U-shaped member.

With the locking member 7 installed, the nose 13 of the mounting member, the lug 12 of the housing and the pin 11 together form a hinge connecting the mounting member to the body portion of the actuator.

The leaf spring 10 is moved from the mounting member 6 to the locking member 7 which is attached to the nose 13 of the mounting member 6.
The pin 11 is held in the slot 15 by pressing the locking member 7 downward.

The actuator is equipped with an arm member whose main body is a shaft 17 with arms 4 at both ends. Both arms 4 extend from the shaft in approximately the same plane and are somewhat separated from each other.
The arms 4 are each generally quarter-arc shaped and fit snugly under one half of the handwheel 3 as described below.

The shaft 17 fits into the opening of the lug 14 of the housing 5, and the shaft 17 and the pin 11 are substantially parallel and located on both sides of the housing 5.
It connects to the rotation axis of the arm member and main body part.

Between the arms 4, a worm follower as a worm gear 2 is non-rotatably attached to the shaft 17. The central cylindrical chamber of the housing 5 has an axial slot cut into the wall of the housing in contact with the worm gear 2, through which the teeth of the worm gear 2 extend into the cylindrical chamber.

Inside the chamber, a worm 1 is placed in a housing 5.
is coaxially attached to the cylindrical chamber of the The housing 5 has a circular hole 18 coaxial with the worm 1 and having a somewhat smaller diameter than the body part of the worm 1 at the closed end of the cylindrical chamber of the housing. A worm boss 19 extends through the hole 18 and projects from the housing. The hand wheel 3 is provided with a cylindrical recess 20 which extends over the protruding boss 19 portion of the worm. hand wheel 3
is fixed to the worm with a machine screw 8 that engages with the internal thread of the boss 19.

The diameter of the hand wheel 3 spans the entire housing 5. In particular, when the actuator is in the position shown, the edge of the hand wheel 3 overlaps the bottom of the locking member 7.

At the far end of each arm 4 there is a through hole into which a pivot 9 fits, and an inwardly facing slot 21 dividing the end of each arm 4 into a fork, into which the arm can be releasably attached to a panel of the roof. The lug 22 of the connecting member 23 that connects to is fitted. The pivot pin 9 penetrates the hole in the lug 22 and connects the connecting member 23.
are pivotally connected to each corresponding arm. Connection member 2
The means for fastening 3 to the panel is a conventional member, and its explanation will be omitted.

The operating principle is that the rotation of the hand wheel 3 causes the worm 1 connected to the hand wheel 3 to rotate, and the meshing of the worm gear 2, which functions as a worm follower, causes the shaft 17 to rotate. Rotate an angle. Rotation of the shaft 17 causes an angular displacement of the arm 4 of the actuator arm member in relation to the body part.

As shown in FIG. 3, the actuator is comprised of a frame 24 forming the boundary of the opening, and an opening-closing glass panel 25, one edge of which is screwed to the frame by a hinge 26. Can be installed on roof assemblies. In the open position of the actuator, the arm 4 is substantially in a straight line connecting the pivot 11 and the shaft 17.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the closed position of the actuator, the arm 4 overlaps the main body part;
It passes on both sides of the cylindrical chamber of the housing 5 which houses the worm 1. In the closed position, the pivot pin 11, the shaft 17 and the pivot 9 on the distal end of the arm 4 are again in a common plane and the roof panel is closed.

In the closed and half-open positions shown in FIG. 1, the hand wheel 3 rests on the lower end of the longer leg of the locking member 7. However, in the fully open position, the pivoting of the mounting member 6 about the pin 11 causes the hand wheel 3 to move away from the lower end of the locking member 7. In this state, the locking member 7 can be pushed upward by pushing with a finger against the elastic force of the spring 10. This causes the short arm of the locking member 7 to rise and remove the pin 11 from the throttle 15, separating the actuator body from the mounting member and completely removing the panel from the roof.

In the illustrated actuator, all members other than the pin 11, pivot pin 9, leaf spring 10, and machine screw 8 are made of plastic.

The fixings for the panel itself are also made of metal, but they are not part of the actuator.

The gear ratio of the actuator is generally 7.5:1, with one revolution of the hand wheel corresponding to 48 degrees of angular displacement of the footing arm 4. This is to ensure ease of operation and to prevent shakedown in the half-open state when driving on rough roads.
This is a balance point with preventing down.

Rotation of the hand wheel causes the lifting arm to move, increasing the center-to-center spacing of the pivots 9, 11, and pushing the panel forward and upward. Forward movement is limited by hinges on both edges of the panel (indicated by symbols). The panel therefore rises and pivots about the hinge. Further rotation of the hand wheel causes pivot pin 9,
11 and the lifting arm are aligned in a straight line.

In contrast, when the hand wheel is rotated in the opposite direction, the actuator is in the closed position and the worm gear 2 hits section A of the panel shown in FIG.
The actuator body assembly has a pi-vot at section A between the hinge on the opposite edge of the panel and the connecting member 23, so that the panel closing force applied from the actuator to the panel is
Acts approximately perpendicular to the seal between the frame and the open edge of the panel.

FIG. 5 shows the positional relationship between the hand wheel 3 and the roof panel, as well as the position of the lifting arm pivot 17.

FIG. 6 shows an actuator according to another embodiment of the invention. The primary difference between this actuator and the actuator of FIG. 1 is the release mechanism that engages the hinge between the body portion and the mounting member.

The actuator shown is in the closed position. The mounting member 6 shown in FIG. 1 has a nose 13 with an inward horizontal slot 15 into which a pivot pin 11 fits. The jaw 27 is located almost vertically, and the vertical groove at the bottom of the nose 13 is lined. The upward hooked end of the jaw 27 retains the pin 11 within the slot 15. The jaw 27 is attached to a horizontal pivot pin 28 parallel to and spaced from the pivot pin 11. At this rear end (i.e. the end opposite to the hooked end) the jaw 27 is located in a hole passing through the mounting member 6 and is compressed between the roof frame 24 and the jaw 27. Due to the elastic force of the coil spring 31, the pivot pin 1
Bites 1. There is an exposed notch 29 at the bottom of the edge of the bolt 27, into which the tip of a screwdriver is inserted to remove the bolt 27 from the pivot pin 11 and remove the main body from the mounting member.

Using this release mechanism, the main body part and arm member can be assembled to the panel, and the mounting member can be attached to the roof separately.
Assemble it to the frame, then attach the pivot pin 11,
The actuator can be assembled by pushing the pivot 11 into the slot 15 with the jaw 27 removed.

There is a flexible seal 30 around the roof opening;
When the opening is closed, the panel sealingly abuts against the seal.

In this embodiment, the shaft 17 is circular and has an integrally molded axial key that fits into an axial slot in the worm follower 2.

All of the actuators introduced in this specification have an overall compact design and have a clean appearance when closed. The actuator of the present invention is far more advantageous than conventional over-center handles (toggle handles) since it is not necessary to place the pivot pins 9, 11 one above the other in order to keep the sealing pressure as low as possible. It has a shallow structure and can secure a very large opening.

One of the greatest features of the actuator introduced in this specification is that the panel opening can be adjusted steplessly, allowing the amount of ventilation and wind noise to be adjusted as desired.

Another feature is that it is highly safe to operate.

Compared to conventional toggle handles, the actuator of the present invention does not have to worry about fingers being pinched by the weight of the panel's glass. In summary, the actuator of the present invention has an extremely shallow overall structure, has a clean appearance when closed, and can secure a very large opening, which can be adjusted steplessly.