JPH054549A - Opening/closing device for glove box - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform smooth and light opening of a glove box without bringing it into collision with the knee of a seating person by supporting the front part of the glove box through engagement between a lack part and a gear and supporting the rear part thereof by means of a support arm moving in an open ing and closing direction. CONSTITUTION:To open a glove box 2, an electric motor 7 is run through ON-operation of a switch. In which case, a ball screw shaft 10 is rotated through engagement between gears 8 and 9 and a ball nut 17 and a coupling plate 16 are moved forward. Thereby, the glove box 2 pivotally mounted on a support arm 15 is moved forward, and through engagement between a rack part 25 and a gear 22, the glove box is held in a horizontal state for opening. The glove box 2 is rotated around the pivotal support part of the support arm 15 to fully open an upper surface opening part. Further, a stopper pin 27 is raised and engaged with lock stepped parts 19 of protrusion parts 18 on both sides of a frame body 4, an opening state is held. When a limit switch 20 is operated by a stopper pin 27, an electric motor 7 is brought into a stop.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glove box opening / closing device provided on an instrument panel of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A structure for opening and closing a glove box of an automobile of this type is known, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-178251. In this conventional glove box, a frame is fixed to a space for accommodating a glove box of an automobile instrument panel, and upper ends of two links are rotatably attached to the left and right sides of the frame, respectively. The lower ends of the two right and left links are respectively attached to the lower ends of both side surfaces of the glove box, and the left and right movement restricting plates are respectively attached to the pins protruding from the rear links and the pins protruding from the glove box. By engaging the formed slits in the front-rear direction and pulling out the glove box forward, the glove box moves horizontally in the initial stage of pulling out, and the rear side of the glove box is supported by two links each on the left and right and moves with the pin. It is tilted to the front side while being regulated by the engagement with the slit of the regulation plate,
The structure is designed so that the glove box does not hit the knees of the person sitting in the seat.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional glove box, the two links pivotally attached to the left and right sides of the frame are pivotally attached to the lower ends of both sides of the glove box. It is necessary, it is easy to move in the left and right direction, and even if this link is reinforced, the link is pivotally attached to the lower end of the glove box,
There was a problem with the stability of the glove box.

Further, in this conventional structure, when the glove box is opened, the lower end of the link hangs up the rear part of the glove box as the glove box opens, and a strong force is required when opening the glove box. In addition, there is a problem that a strong holding means is required to hold the glove box in the open state.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. The glove box can be opened with a light force, the glove box can be held in an open state with a simple structure, and the seat can be opened when the glove box is opened. It is intended to provide a glove box opening / closing device in which the glove box does not hit the knees of a person sitting in.

[0006]

An opening / closing device for a glove box according to the present invention comprises a glove box and a frame body arranged in a storage space for storing the glove box,
A rack portion is formed along one of the glove box and the frame along the opening / closing direction of the glove box, and the other is rotatably supported by an eccentric position of a gear meshing with the rack portion. The front part of the glove box is supported by meshing with gears, and the frame body is provided with a support arm that is moved in the opening / closing direction of the glove box, and the rear side part of the glove box is rotatably attached to the support arm. I supported it.

[0007]

In the glove box opening / closing device of the present invention, when pulling out the glove box, the support arm is moved toward the front side in the opening direction of the glove box by the driving means, or the handle portion of the glove box is grasped and manually operated. When it is pulled out, the front part of the glove box is supported by the meshing of the rack part and the gear in the initial stage of drawing, and the rear part is supported by the support arm that moves in the opening direction. The gap between the center of rotation of the gear that is eccentrically supported by the dynamics and the rack is narrowed, and the glove box pivots downward on the drawer side of the glove box around the pivotal joint with the arm. To be done.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of an embodiment of a glove box opening / closing device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an instrument panel arranged so as to face a front seat in a vehicle compartment of an automobile, and the instrument panel 1 accommodates a glove box 2 opening to the vehicle compartment. A storage space 3 is formed.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a substantially rectangular frame body 4 disposed in the upper part of the storage space 3 includes a bracket 5 provided at a front portion and brackets 6 provided at both side portions. Is fixed to the instrument panel 1 by the frame 4
A drive means, for example, an electric motor 7 is attached to the rear central portion, and a gear 9 that meshes with a gear 8 provided on the drive shaft of the electric motor 7 is axially supported in the front-rear direction in the middle portion of the frame body 4. The ball screw shaft 10 is provided on the ball screw shaft 10, and the ball screw shaft 10 is rotated by the drive of the electric motor 7 through the meshing of the gears 8 and 9.

Guide shafts 14 are axially supported on the left and right sides of the frame body 4 in the front-rear direction.
The upper ends of the support arms 15 are slidably fitted in the front-back direction, which is the opening / closing direction of the glove box 2,
A ball nut 17 screwed onto the ball screw shaft 10 is attached to a connecting plate 16 connecting the left and right support arms 15.

A projecting portion 18 projecting downward is formed at the rear portion on both sides of the frame body 4, and a locking step portion 19 is formed at the lower end of the projecting portion 18. The engagement of one of the projecting portions 18 is formed. The limit switch 20 with the actuator facing the stop 19 is fixed,
The operation of this switch 20 stops the electric motor 7.

Further, mounting arms 21 project downward from the front portions of both side surfaces of the frame 4, and the eccentric positions of gears 22 are rotatably supported by the mounting arms 21, respectively.

Further, rack portions 25 that mesh with the left and right gears 22 are formed downward on both upper sides of the glove box 2. Also, this glove box 2
The rear portions on both sides are rotatably supported by the support arm 15 by a support shaft 26. The gear 22 meshing with the rack portion 25 is the gear when the glove box 2 is fully closed.
The distance between the center of rotation of 22 and the rack 25 is set to be the widest, and the half rotation of the gear 22 and the stroke from the fully closed position to the fully open position of the glove box 2 are set to be equal.

Further, stopper pins 27 that are engaged with and disengage from locking step portions 19 formed on the protrusions 18 of the frame 4 are provided on the lower portions of both sides of the glove box 2 so as to project therefrom.

Further, the frame 4 has a limit switch which is operated by retreating the support arm 15 to stop the electric motor 7.
28 are provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the glove box 2 is opened, a switch (not shown) is closed to drive the electric motor 7, and the ball screw shaft 10 is rotationally driven through the engagement of the gears 8 and 9, and the rotation of the ball screw shaft 10 causes the ball screw shaft 10 to rotate. Nut 17 is moved forward,
When the connecting plate 16 moves to the front side, the glove box 2 pivotally attached to the support arm 15 moves to the front, and the front part of the glove box 2 is supported by the engagement of the rack portion 25 and the gear 22,
It is held in a substantially horizontal state and moved in the opening direction.

Then, as the glove box 2 moves forward, the gear 22 is rotated by meshing with the rack portion 25, and the dimension between the rotation center portion of the gear 22 and the rack portion 25 is gradually reduced, as shown in FIG. As shown, the front side of the glove box 2 is moved downward while being rotated about the pivotal support portion with the support arm 15, and the upper opening of the glove box 2 is fully opened with the gear 22 being half rotated. ..

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the glove box 2 moves from the fully closed a position to the fully open e position while inclining to the front side, the stopper pin 27 is sequentially moved upward toward the front side. When the stopper pin 27 moves while being rotated, the stopper pin 27 is engaged with the locking step portions 19 formed on both side protruding portions 18 of the frame body 4, the glove box 2 is held in the open state, and the stopper pin 27 Limit switch
20 is activated and the electric motor 7 is stopped.

As described above, the glove box 2 is moved substantially horizontally in the initial stage of the opening operation to the front side, and is pivoted so that the rear side is lifted up and tilted to the front side while moving in a substantially horizontal shape. Therefore, the front part of the glove box 2 does not hit the knees of the person sitting in the seat.

When the glove box 2 is closed, if a switch (not shown) is closed, the electric motor 7 is driven in the opposite direction, and the ball nut shaft 17 is rotated to move the ball nut 17 rearward so that the connecting plate 16 is moved. By the movement, the glove box 2 pivotally attached to the support arm 15 is moved backward,
The glove box 2 is supported by meshing between the rack portion 25 and the gear 22, is held in a substantially horizontal state from the inclined state, and is moved in the closing direction.

Then, as the glove box 2 moves backward, the gear 22 is rotated by meshing with the rack portion 25, and the dimension between the rotation center portion of the gear 22 and the rack portion 25 is gradually expanded, as shown in FIG. As shown, the front side of the glove box 2 is moved upward while being rotated around a pivotal support portion with the support arm 15, and the glove box 2 is housed in the housing space 3 and closed while the gear 22 is half rotated. It becomes a state.
In this state, the support arm 25 actuates the switch 28, and the electric motor 7 is stopped.

The opening angle when the glove box 2 is opened can be adjusted by adjusting the eccentric position of the gear 22 that meshes with the rack portion 25. The rack portion 25 may be formed integrally with the glove box 2 or may be separately formed and attached.

Next, the structure of another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6, in which the same components as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, the electric motor 30 is attached to the mounting arm 21 so that the gear 22 meshing with the rack portion 25 is directly rotated by the electric motor 30. In this structure, the ball screw shaft 10 can be omitted.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the structure in which the glove box 2 is opened and closed by driving the electric motors 7 and 30 has been described, but it can be operated by an appropriate driving means such as an air cylinder. Further, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the handle portion provided on the front surface of the glove box 2 is gripped and opened / closed without providing drive means.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rack portion 25 is formed in the glove box 2 and the gear 22 meshing with the rack portion 25 is pivotally supported on the mounting arm 21 of the frame body 4, but the configuration is not limited to this. Alternatively, the rack 22 can be formed on the frame 4 by pivotally supporting the gear 22 on the side surface of the glove box 2. In this structure, the rack portion 25 faces upward so that the rack portion 25 meshes with the lower portion of the gear 22, and the front portion of the glove box 2 is supported via the gear 22.

[0028]

According to the present invention, when the glove box is pulled out when the glove box is pulled out, the front portion of the glove box is supported by the meshing of the rack portion and the gears in the initial stage of pulling out, and the rear portion moves in the opening direction. The glove box is supported by the arm, and while the glove box is pulled out in a substantially horizontal direction, the rotation of the gear reduces the gap between the center of rotation of the gear that is eccentrically supported and the rack portion. Since the drawer side of this glove box rotates downward around the attachment part and is opened, the glove box can be opened and closed with a light force by the rotation of the gears, the structure is simple and inexpensive, and when opened There is no inconvenience that the glove box hits the knee. Furthermore, by adjusting the eccentric position of the shaft support of the gear that meshes with the rack portion, the angle of inclination to the front side when the glove box is opened can be easily adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an opening / closing device for a glove box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state when the same glove box is opened.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an instrument panel of the automobile.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state when the glove box is opened.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the same as above.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a glove box opening / closing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Glove box 3 Storage space 4 Frame 15 Support arm 22 Gear 25 Rack

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A glove box, and a frame body arranged in a storage space for storing the glove box, wherein one of the glove box and the frame body is the glove box. An eccentric position of a gear that meshes with the rack portion is rotatably supported on the other while forming a rack portion along the opening and closing direction, and the front portion of the glove box is supported by the engagement between the rack portion and the gear, The frame is provided with a support arm that is moved in the opening / closing direction of the glove box,
An opening / closing device for a clove box, wherein a rear side portion of the glove box is rotatably supported by the support arm.