JPH0729020Y2 - Auto step device for automobile - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an auto step device for an automobile, and more particularly to simplification of the structure of an opener that rotates a step plate in accordance with a closing operation of a door.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART An automobile autostep device is a device for facilitating getting in and out of vehicles, and has, for example, the following structure. That is, the step plate is pivotally supported on the bottom wall of the door opening so as to be rotatable between a use position in which it projects outward from the vehicle body side surface and a non-use position in which it retracts inward. A lock mechanism is provided for urging the step plate to rotate to the in-use position and for locking the step plate in the in-use position.
As a result, when the door is opened, the door automatically rotates to the in-use position and is locked in the position.

Further, the opener is fixed to the slide door, and with the closing operation of the slide door, the opener first comes into contact with the lock release lever of the lock mechanism to rotate the lock release lever to release the lock, and then the step plate. It is configured to come into contact with and to be rotated to the non-use position.

Here, as the opener, there is, for example, a structure shown in FIG. In the figure, 31 is an opener, and a bracket 32 of this is composed of a support shaft 32a made of a round bar and a strip plate 32b,
It is bolted to the slide door. A spacer 33 is attached to the lower end of the support shaft 32a, and an E ring 3
The large diameter roller 3 is attached to the spacer 33.
5 is rotatably attached. A small diameter roller 36 is rotatably mounted on the upper side of the spacer 33, and the small diameter roller 36 is positioned by a spacer 37 welded to the support shaft 32a.

In this conventional opener 31, with the closing operation of the slide door, the large-diameter roller 35 first rolls against the lock release lever 38 to rotate it, and then the small-diameter roller 36 rolls to the periphery of the step plate 39. The plate 39 is rotated by contact.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The conventional opener 31 described above includes a large diameter roller 35 and a small diameter roller 37.
It has a two-stage structure with a large number of parts, a complicated structure, and high cost. Further, due to the large number of parts, the dimensional error of each part is accumulated and the rattling between the roller and the shaft is apt to be large. Moreover, since the surface pressure between the small diameter roller and the shaft is particularly large and the roller is easily worn, the rattling becomes large.
There is also a problem that a loud noise is generated when the step plate comes into contact with the step plate.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an auto-step device for an automobile, which has a simple structure and can reduce the cost, and also reduces rattling to suppress the generation of abnormal noise. It is intended to be provided.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention rotatably supports a step plate on a bottom wall of a door opening and closing which can be opened and closed by a door between a use position in which it projects outward from a side surface of a vehicle body and a non-use position in which it retracts inward. ,
A lock member is rotatably provided on the step plate,
A lockable portion that locks the lock member when the step plate is rotated to the in-use position is provided on the vehicle body side, an opener is attached to the door, and the opener is a support shaft fixed to the door. And a roller rotatably supported by the support shaft, the roller being brought into rolling contact with the lock member in the direction of releasing the lock by the closing operation of the door. The large-diameter portion to be rotated and the small-diameter portion to be brought into rolling contact with the edge portion of the step plate to rotate the step plate to the non-use position, and the small-diameter portion and the large-diameter portion are integrally formed. It is characterized by

[Action]

According to the auto step device of the present invention, the roller of the opener has a single structure in which a large diameter portion for moving the lock member in the unlocking direction and a small diameter portion for rolling contact with the step plate are integrally formed. The number of parts is small, the structure is simple, and the cost can be reduced accordingly. Further, since the number of parts is small, the amount of dimensional error accumulated is small, which can reduce the occurrence of rattling and suppress abnormal noise. Also, since the large diameter part and the small diameter part are integrated, the surface pressure generated between the roller and the shaft is reduced, and wear is suppressed accordingly,
From this point, it is possible to suppress rattling and suppress abnormal noise.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 7 are views for explaining an auto step device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a one-box type vehicle to which the present embodiment is applied, which has a door opening 2a at the center of a side wall of a vehicle body 2, and the door opening 2a moves a slide door 3 in the vehicle longitudinal direction. It is opened and closed by. A step plate 4 is rotatably supported on the bottom wall 2b of the door opening 2a,
An opener 5 is fixed to the slide door 3,
An auto-step device 6 is constructed by both of them.

The step plate 4 includes bolts 9b on the bottom wall 2b of the vehicle body 2.
It is pivotally supported via a support rod 11 by a support bracket 10 fixed by. An upper portion of the support rod 11 is rotatably inserted into a bearing 10a fixed to the support bracket 10 by welding, and a lower portion thereof is fixed to the step plate 4 by welding. 12 is an urging spring wound around the support rod 11, one end of the spring 12 is on the support bracket 10 side,
The other end is locked to the step plate 4 side, whereby the step plate 4 is urged to rotate in the in-use position direction projecting laterally from the opening 2a.

Further, at the rear edge of the support bracket 10, there is formed an in-use locking recess (locked part) 10b for locking the step plate 4 in the in-use position so as to open rearward,
A guide surface 10c for guiding a locking pin described later to the recess 10b is formed adjacent to the recess 10b. Further, a locking plate 10d is welded and fixed to the front side of the support bracket 10, and a stop recess 10 at the time of storage for locking the step plate 4 at the storage position is provided at the tip of the lock plate 10d.
An e is formed, and a guide surface 10f for guiding the locking pin to the recess 10e and a receiving surface 10g with which a stopper described later abuts are sequentially formed adjacent to the recess 10e.

The step plate 4 is made of sheet metal, and in order to improve its strength, it has a structure in which a concave groove 4a is formed, the peripheral edge is bent downward, and a reinforcing plate 4b is welded and fixed to the lower surface. A lock release lever (lock member) 16 made of a strip-shaped metal plate is arranged on the lower surface of the step plate 4, and a support pin is attached to the step plate 4.
It is rotatably supported by a shaft 17. One end 16a of the lock release lever 16 passes through an opening 4c formed in the step plate 4 and is located on the upper surface thereof. The one end
The locking pin 16b implanted in the 16a is the locking recess 10b,
Alternatively, it can be locked in the locking recess 10e during storage and is biased by a biasing spring 18 in the locking direction. The other end 16c of the lock release lever 16 has a guide plate 16d
When the slide door 3 is moved in the closing direction, the roller 8 of the opener 5 comes into contact with the guide plate 16d to rotate the lock release lever 16.

Further, the support rod 11 on the upper surface of the step plate 4
A stopper 13 is fixed in the vicinity. This stopper
Reference numeral 13 has a structure in which a substantially central portion of a rubber damper 15 is rotatably supported by a box-shaped bracket 14 made of sheet metal. A reinforcing piano wire 15d is embedded in a lever portion 15c integrally formed in the rear portion of the damper 15, and a contact portion 15a and a notch formed by cutting out a part of the corresponding contact portion in the front portion. The portion 15b is integrally formed. By rotating the damper 15, either the contact portion 15a or the cutout portion 15b faces the receiving surface 10g of the locking plate 10d.

The bracket 7 of the opener 5 includes a support shaft 7a made of a round bar and a strip plate 7b, and is fixed to the slide door 3 with a bolt 9a. A roller 8 is rotatably attached to the lower end of the support shaft 7a. The roller 8 is made of resin and has a large diameter portion that moves the lock release lever 16 in the lock release direction.
8a and a small diameter portion rollingly contacting the periphery of the step plate 4
It is formed integrally with 8b. An engaging portion 8c is formed at the lower edge of the roller 8, and is engaged with a step portion 7c formed at the lower end of the support shaft 7a, the lower end surface of which is an E ring.
It is secured by 8d.

Next, the function and effect of this embodiment will be described.

During normal operation of the auto step mechanism, the stopper
The damper 15 of 13 is rotated to a position (see FIG. 5 (a)) where the contact portion 15a faces the receiving surface 10g.

When the slide door 3 is opened, the step plate 4 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by the urging force of the urging spring 12 to the in-use position shown by the solid line in FIG. At this time, the lock pin 16b of the lock release lever 16 is engaged with the guide surface 1
The step plate 4 is guided by 0c and is locked in the locking recess 10b during use, whereby the step plate 4 is locked in the position during use as shown by the solid line in FIG.

When the sliding door 3 is closed, first the roller 8 of the opener 7
The large diameter part 8a of the guide plate 16d of the lock release lever 16
Is pressed to rotate the lever 16 clockwise, whereby the locking pin 16b is disengaged from the locking recess 10b during use, and the lock is released. Then, the small diameter portion 8b of the roller 8
Slides around the periphery of the step plate 4 and slides on the slide door 3
The step plate 4 is rotated along with the movement in the closing direction of
When the closing operation of the door is completed, the step plate 4 is located at the non-use position shown by the three-dot chain line in FIG.
At this time, when the step plate 4 is further rotated to the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line due to inertia or the like, the contact portion 15 of the bumper 15 is
The a comes into contact with the receiving surface 10g, whereby the turning position of the step plate 4 when retracted is regulated.

As described above, in the auto step device according to the present embodiment, the roller 8 of the opener 7 has a single structure in which the large diameter portion 8a and the small diameter portion 8b are integrally formed, so that the number of parts can be significantly reduced, The cost can be reduced accordingly.

Further, since the number of parts is small, the amount of dimensional error accumulated in each part is small, so that the rattling between the roller and the shaft can be reduced, and abnormal noise when the roller 8 and the step plate 4 are in contact can be suppressed. Further, since the large diameter portion 8a and the small diameter portion 8b are integrally formed, the surface pressure between the roller 8 and the supporting shaft 7a is reduced by the increase in the sliding area of the roller 8 with the supporting shaft 7a. Therefore, the wear of the roller 8 can be suppressed, and the rattling can be reduced from this point as well, and abnormal noise can be suppressed.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the automobile auto-step device of the present invention, the roller of the opener has a single structure in which the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion are integrally formed. There is an effect that it can be reduced, and because the amount of accumulated dimensional error is small and the wear is reduced by reducing the surface pressure, there is less rattling between the roller and the shaft, and there is an effect that abnormal noise can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 7 are views for explaining an autostep device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a roller portion of the opener, and FIG. 2 is a view of the embodiment device. Plan view, FIG. 3 is a side view, FIG. 4 is IV-IV of FIG.
FIG. 5 (a) and FIG. 5 (b) are perspective views of the stopper, FIG. 5 (c) is a plan view of the damper, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a side view of an automobile in which the apparatus of this embodiment is adopted, and FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of a roller portion of a conventional opener. In the figure, 1 is an automobile, 2 is a vehicle body, 2a is a door opening, and 2b is
Is a bottom wall, 3 is a sliding door, 4 is a step plate, 5
Is an opener, 6 is an automatic stepping device, 7a is a support shaft, 8
Is a roller, 8a is a large diameter portion, 8b is a small diameter portion, 10b is a locking recess (locked portion) when in use, and 16 is a lock release lever (lock member).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A pivot support rotatably supported between a use position in which a step plate projects outward from a side surface of a vehicle body and a non-use position in which it is retracted inwardly on a bottom wall of a door opening and closing by a door. Then, a lock member is rotatably provided on the step plate, and a locked portion which is locked by the lock member when the step plate is rotated to the in-use position is provided on the vehicle body side, and an opener is provided on the door. The opener comprises a support shaft fixed to the door and a roller rotatably supported by the support shaft, and the roller is attached to the lock member along with the closing operation of the door. It is composed of a large diameter portion that rolls to rotate the locking member in the unlocking direction and a small diameter portion that rolls to the edge of the step plate to rotate the step plate to the non-use position. However, the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion are integrated. Automotive automatic steps apparatus characterized by being made.