JPH09169285A - Opening/closing device for opening/closing body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a force required to open a back door by moving a hinge to a vehicle body such that a distance from the hinging center P of an opening/ closing body which can freely be open or closed around a hinge to the line of action of reactive force which the stay damper 3 gives the opening/closing body is in a specified state. SOLUTION: An opening/closing device of a back door 1 of a car as an opening/closing body has a hinge 2 for rotatably supporting a back door 1 and a stay damper 3 for giving the back door 1 an opening moment and the center P of the hinge 2 is the center of the hinging center of the back door 1 to a vehicle body 10. The hinge 2 is moved to the vehicle body 10 such that the distance from the hinging center P to the line of action of reactive force which the stay damper 3 gives the back door 1 when the back door 1 is opened from the closed position against the closing moment by the self-weight of the back door 1 is larger than the distance when the back door 1 is closed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hinge for pivotally supporting an opening / closing body with respect to a main body, one end side being pivotally attached to the opening / closing body and the other end side being pivotally attached to the main body. The present invention relates to an opening / closing device for an opening / closing body having a stay damper that applies a moment in the opening direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general mechanical device, a vehicle, or the like is provided with various kinds of opening / closing bodies, and a hood panel pivotally supported on a vehicle body of an automobile so as to be opened / closed, a luggage door, a back door, or the like. This is a typical example. Since a moment in the closing direction due to its own weight acts on such an opening / closing body, a large operating force is required when opening / closing the opening / closing body. Therefore, a stay damper made of, for example, a gas spring is provided between the opening / closing body and the main body, thereby applying a moment in the opening direction to the opening / closing body, so that the opening / closing body can be rotated and released with a small operating force. An opening / closing device of the type described at the beginning is conventionally used, which enables the opening / closing member to be held in its open position when the opening / closing member is fully opened.

At this time, in order to reduce the operating force required for opening the opening / closing body, the gas pressure of the stay damper may be increased and the reaction force of the stay damper may be increased. However, according to this method, although the operating force when the opening / closing body is opened is small, the operating force when the opening / closing body is closed is large.

As another method for reducing the operating force at the time of opening and closing the opening / closing body, the distance from the center of rotation of the opening / closing body to the main body to the line of action of the reaction force applied to the opening / closing body by the stay damper, that is, the moment. A method of increasing the arm length can be considered. However, even if this method is adopted, in consideration of mutual interference between the stay damper and the main body part to which the stay damper is attached, and other parts attached to the main body, the installation position of the stay damper is greatly limited,
It is often the case that a stay damper cannot be placed so that the moment arm length can be set to a large value.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a stay armor with a moment arm length of a moment given to the opening / closing body by the stay damper when the opening / closing body is opened without interfering with a main body portion or other parts. The opening / closing device for the opening / closing body is configured so that the opening force can be set to a large value to further reduce the operating force at the time of opening and opening, and the operating force is prevented from increasing when closing the opening / closing body. is there.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a hinge for pivotally supporting an opening / closing body with respect to a main body, one end side of the opening / closing body, and the other end side of the main body. In an opening / closing device for an opening / closing body, which is pivotally attached and has a stay damper for giving an opening direction moment to the opening / closing body, the stay damper gives the opening / closing body from a hinge center which is a rotation center of the opening / closing body with respect to a main body. The distance to the line of action of the reaction force is greater when the opening / closing body is released from the closed position against the moment in the closing direction due to the weight of the opening / closing body than when the opening / closing body is closed from the open position. There is proposed an opening / closing device for an opening / closing body, which is provided with driving means for moving the hinge with respect to the main body so as to be large.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention configured as an opening / closing device for a back door of an automobile will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, and the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. To clarify.

In FIG. 1, a back door 1 which is an example of a structure of an opening / closing body is pivotally supported by a vehicle body 10 which is an example of a main body supporting the door 1 so as to be rotatable and openable / closable through an opening / closing device. There is. The opening and closing device includes a hinge 2 that pivotally supports the back door 1 with respect to the vehicle body 10 so that the back door 1 can be opened and closed.
Stay damper 3 that applies a moment in the opening direction to the
And the hinge center P of the hinge 2 is the hinge center of the back door 1 with respect to the vehicle body 10. The back door 1 is pivoted about a pivot point P between a closed position shown by a chain line or a broken line in FIG. 2 and an open position shown by a solid line in FIGS. 2 and 3 or a broken line in FIG. As a result of this opening and closing, the rear opening of the vehicle body 10 is opened and closed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the stay damper 3 composed of a gas spring has a cylinder 3a and a rod 3b urged in a direction away from the cylinder 3a by the pressure of gas therein, for example, air. The cylinder 3a and the rod 3b fitted to the cylinder 3a are located on substantially the same central axis X. This stay damper 3
One end side, in the illustrated example, the base end portion of the cylinder 3a is pivotally attached to the back door 1 at the pivot attachment portion 5,
The other end of the stay damper 3, that is, the tip of the rod 4b in the illustrated example is pivotally attached to the vehicle body 10 at the pivot attachment portion 4. The stay damper 3 is provided between the vehicle body 10 and the back door 1.

One stay damper 3 is provided on each side of the vehicle body 10 in the width direction, but the structure and operation of these stay dampers are the same. The stay damper 3 and its pivotal attachment portions 4, 5,
As will be described below, the hinge 2 and the hinge 2 are arranged on the inner side of the back door 1 and the vehicle body 10, that is, at a position where they are not visible from the outside of the vehicle. However, in FIGS. For convenience, 4 and 5 are shown from outside the vehicle, that is, shown by solid lines (the same applies to FIG. 10).

As shown in FIG. 9, a quarter panel 114 that constitutes the vehicle body 10 is formed with a groove 114a extending in the up-down direction in the vehicle interior portion thereof, and the stay damper 3 is arranged therein. Therefore, when the back door 1 is in the closed position, the stay damper 3 is hidden inside the vehicle body 10. The stay dampers on the other side are arranged in exactly the same manner. Further, as will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the hinge 2 is also hidden inside the back door 1 when the back door 1 is closed.

In the closed position of the back door 1 shown by the chain line in FIG. 1 or 2, that is, in the fully closed position, the locking device 8 attached to the back door 1 engages with the striker 9 fixed to the vehicle body 10. As a result, the vehicle body 10 is locked.

The back door 1 is a vehicle body 1 as shown in FIG.
When in the closed position, locked relative to 0, the stay damper 3 is caused by the gas pressure inside its cylinder 3a
An external force indicated by F in FIG. 1 is applied to the back door 1 in the closed position. The cylinder 3a and the rod 3b of the stay damper 3 receive a force in a direction in which they are separated from each other due to the pressure of the compressed gas in the cylinder 3a, whereby the stay damper 3 exerts a force F on the back door 1.

Here, the distance from the hinge center P, which is the center of rotation of the back door 1 with respect to the vehicle body 10, to the line of action of the reaction force F applied to the back door 1 by the stay damper 3, that is, the central axis X of the stay damper 3. Is a, a moment acts on the back door 1 in the opening direction of (a × F). At the same time, a moment in the closing direction acts on the back door 1 due to its own weight, and in this state, the back door 1 is attached to the vehicle body 10 by the locking device 8 shown in FIG. 2 and the striker 9 engaged with the locking device 8. Locked in the closed position.

By operating an opener lever (not shown) inside the vehicle or operating a key cylinder outside the vehicle, FIG.
When the lock device 8 and the striker 9 on the vehicle body side are disengaged from each other, the locked state of the back door 1 is released. At this time as well, the moment in the opening direction by the stay damper 3 and the moment in the closing direction due to the weight of the back door 1 act on the back door 1.

In such a state, the operator lifts the back door 1 and rotates it open, but until the back door 1 is opened and rotated to a certain angle from the closed position, the moment in the closing direction due to its own weight. Is larger than the moment of the stay damper 3 in the opening direction, and beyond a certain angle, the moment of the stay damper 3 in the opening direction is larger. Therefore, after the operator manually lifts the back door 1 to a certain angle from the closed position, even if the operator releases the back door 1, the door 1 automatically opens in the open position shown by the solid line in FIG. Rotate to. Thus, by providing the stay damper 3, the back door 1 can be opened and rotated with a small operation force.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the hinge 2 is
A hinge rotation plate 7 fixed to the upper portion of the back door 1, that is, to the base end side thereof by a bolt 12 and a nut 13, and a hinge bracket 6 located on the vehicle body 10 side,
The hinge pin 2A pivotally attaches these to each other, and the central axis of the hinge pin 2A extends in the width direction of the vehicle body 10. The central axis serves as the hinge center P, that is, the center of rotation of the back door 1. The hinge constructed in this way is used for the vehicle body 1
It is also provided on the other side in the width direction of 0.

In this example, when the hinge 2 is movable and the back door 1 is to be opened, the hinge 2 is moved from the solid line position to the virtual line position in FIG. It can be moved to a position where the arm length of the opening direction moment given to the door 1 increases. The specific structure of the driving means that enables such movement will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hinge bracket 6 is fixed to a hinge bracket mounting plate 17 by bolts 14 and nuts 15, and an upper end of a screw shaft 18 is fixed to the hinge bracket mounting plate 17. . As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a bracket 19 for mounting a motor housing unit is fixed to the frame member 11 that constitutes the vehicle body 10, and a bracket 22 for mounting the motor housing unit 21 is attached to the bracket 19.
Has been fixed by.

Inside the motor housing unit 21, a screw shaft 18 fixed to the hinge bracket mounting plate 17 penetrates in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction of the motor housing unit 21. The motor housing unit 21 has a motor 21A, and the motor 21A
When A rotates, a rotation transmission element such as a screw (not shown) disposed inside the motor housing unit 21 rotates, and the screw shaft 18 meshing with this rotates substantially vertically. Along with this, the hinge bracket mounting plate 1
7, the hinge bracket 6 and the hinge bracket 6 operate almost vertically.

As shown in FIG. 6, the upper end of the pin 23 is fixed to the hinge bracket mounting plate 17, and the pin 23 is fixed to the upper end of the motor housing unit 21. The hinge bracket mounting plate 17 is prevented from rotating around the axis of the screw shaft 18 by being fitted into the shaft 24a.

The hinge provided on the other side in the width direction of the vehicle body 10 is also supported by the vehicle body 10 through the drive means having the same structure as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 and described above, and the operation of this drive means. Is exactly the same as the driving means shown in the figure, and both driving means operate in conjunction with each other.

As described above, when the open state of the back door 1 is released by operating the opener lever inside the vehicle or operating the key cylinder outside the vehicle, as shown in FIG. A switch (not shown) provided in the illustrated lock device 8 is actuated to rotate the motor 21A shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 for a predetermined time, whereby the screw shaft 18 moves in the axial direction. That is, the hinge 2 moves, for example, by about 30 mm from the initial position shown by the phantom line in FIG. 2 to the operating position (the position shown by the phantom line in FIG. 1) separated from the vehicle body 10 shown by the solid line.

When the hinge 2 is moved from the vehicle body 10 to the operating position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the back door 1 at the closed position shown by the phantom line in FIG. 2 is displaced to the closed position shown by the broken line. In this state, the operator can manually lift the back door 1 to a certain angle as described above, and then the force of the stay damper 3 can open the back door 1 to the open position shown by the solid line in FIG.

When the back door 1 starts to open, the back door 1 is moved from the closed position shown by the chain line in FIG. 2 to the closed position shown by the broken line as described above, and the hinge 2 is moved to the closed position shown in FIG. When displaced to the operating position indicated by the solid line, the line of action of the reaction force F applied to the back door 1 by the stay damper 3 (center axis of the stay damper) X from the hinge center P, which is the center of rotation of the back door 1 at this time. Distance to
That is, the moment arm length is b, and its size is larger than the moment arm length a when the back door 1 is in the closed position shown by the chain line in FIG.

Therefore, when the back door 1 is displaced to the closed position shown by the broken line in FIG. 2, the gas reaction force of the stay damper 1 is set to F, and when the back door 1 is opened in this state,
On the back door 1, the stay damper 3 (F × b)
A moment is given. At this time, since b> a, the moment becomes larger than that when the hinge 2 does not move. That is, the operating force when the back door 1 is opened and rotated can be reduced.

Here, in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 10, the hinge center P of the hinge 2 of the back door 1 is fixed. That is, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the hinge bracket 6 fixed to the vehicle body 10 side and the bolt 1
2 and a hinge rotation plate 7 fixed to the back door 1 by a nut 13, the back door 1 is rotatable around a hinge pin 2A provided between the back door 1 and the hinge rotation plate 7, and
The hinge bracket 6 is attached to the vehicle body 10 so that the hinge pin 2A is not movable but a fixed fulcrum.
09 and the nut 111 screwed into this fixedly. According to this structure, when the back door 1 starts to open and rotate, the arm length of the moment in the opening direction given to the back door 1 by the stay damper is maintained at about the length indicated by a in FIG. Since the back door 1 is opened and rotated in this state, the operator has to lift the back door 1 with a large force.

As described above, as a method of reducing the operating force, there is a method of increasing the gas pressure of the stay damper 3 and increasing the reaction force F of the stay damper. According to this method, the back door 1 Although the operating force when opening is small, the operating force when closing it is also large.

Also, as described above, as another method for reducing the operating force, the distance from the rotation center of the back door 1 shown in FIG. 10 to the action line X of the reaction force F of the stay damper 3 is shown. That is, a method of making the moment arm length a larger than the initial value can be considered. As shown in FIG. 9, if the distance a from the position of the hinge center P to the reaction force acting line of the stay damper 3 is set longer than the initial value, the reaction force F of the stay damper 3 does not increase, and The opening operation force can be reduced. That is, when the stay damper 3 is arranged as shown in FIG. 9, the groove 114a of the quarter panel 114 in which the stay damper 3 is located.
It is only necessary to increase the depth d and increase the arm length a of the moment given to the back door 1 by the stay damper. However, in order to increase the depth d of the groove 114a, there is a limit to greatly reduce the depth when forming the quarter panel 114, and the moment arm length a
Cannot be set too large. Even if the moment arm length a is increased without forming the depth d of the groove 114a deep, the stay damper 3 interferes with the bottom of the groove 114a and the stay damper 3 cannot be assembled. In this way, the stay damper 3 is attached to the groove 114 of the quarter panel.
The moment arm length a cannot be set large because of interference with the bottom of a.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, since the hinge 2 is moved when the back door 1 is opened and rotated, the stay damper 3 is used for the vehicle body portion and other parts. Backdoor 1 without interfering with
The arm length of the moment given to the back door 1 by the stay damper 3 at the time of opening can be increased.

On the other hand, in the opening / closing device of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a switch 25 is provided in the vehicle body portion in the vicinity of the vehicle body side pivotal portion 4 of the stay damper 3, and the back door 1 is shown in FIG. Immediately before reaching the open position indicated by the solid line, the turning stay damper 3 comes into contact with the switch 25, and this performs a predetermined switching operation. The switch 25 is also shown by a solid line in FIG. 3, but in reality, in the state of FIG. 3, the switch 25 is hidden by the vehicle body and cannot be seen directly.

By the switching operation of the switch 25 described above, the motor 21A shown in FIG. 4 rotates in the opposite direction to the above-mentioned direction for a predetermined time, whereby the hinge bracket 6 moves and the hinge 2 moves from the vehicle body 10. The distant operating position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 is moved to the original initial position shown by the phantom line. With this movement, backdoor 1
Moves from the open position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 to the open position shown by the broken line. When the hinge 2 returns to its original position, the back door 1 returns to the same open position as in the conventional example in which the hinge 2 is a fixed fulcrum.

By returning the hinge 2 from the operating position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 to the initial position shown by the original phantom line, the back door 1 can be held at its open position by the same force as the conventional stay damper 3. In addition, if the back door 1 is closed in this state, it can be completely closed. In FIG. 3, when the back door 1 is displaced to the position shown by the broken line and is pushed down, the back door 1 rotates to the closed position shown in FIG. 1 and is locked at this position. When the back door 1 is in the open position shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, the arm length c of the moment that the stay damper 3 gives to the back door 1 is the same as the conventional one, and therefore the operating force when the back door 1 is closed is set. Is the same as the conventional one, and its operating force does not increase.

As described above, the feature of the present embodiment is from the hinge center P which is the center of rotation of the back door 1 with respect to the vehicle body 10 to the line of action of the reaction force applied to the back door 1 by the stay damper 3. When the back door 1 is opened from its closed position against the moment in the closing direction due to the weight of the back door 1 than when the back door 1 is closed from its open position. Is provided with a drive means for moving the hinge 2 with respect to the vehicle body 10 so as to become larger. The screw shaft 18 and the motor housing unit 21 shown in FIG.
An example of such a driving unit is configured by the above. It is also possible to employ other suitable driving means.

FIG. 8 shows an example of an operating force change characteristic diagram showing how the operating force changes when the back door 1 opens and closes when the opening of the back door 1 changes. In this characteristic diagram, the frictional force on the hinge 2 is not taken into consideration. The operating force "0" in this figure is
This is a state in which the moment in the opening direction given by the stay damper 3 to the back door 1 and the moment in the closing direction due to its own weight are balanced.

In FIG. 8, the broken line is the operating force change characteristic line when the back door is conventionally opened, and the solid line is the operating force change characteristic line when the back door is opened in the example of the present invention. In the example of the present invention, the operation force when opening the back door from the closed position is reduced by H as compared with the conventional case. The operating force is reduced by H = about 2.6 kgf.

In FIG. 8, a region B is a region in which the operator of the back door opening and closing exerts an operation force on the back door in the opening direction. In this region, the moment in the closing direction due to the weight of the back door 1 is the direction. However, it is larger than the moment of the stay damper in the opening direction. On the other hand, C
The area is an area where the forced opening operation of the back door 1 is unnecessary, and in this area, the moment in the opening direction by the stay damper 3 becomes larger than the moment in the closing direction due to the weight of the back door. 1 will open automatically. In any case, the hatched area in this figure corresponds to the reduction of the operating force when the back door is opened.

On the other hand, in FIG. 8, the alternate long and short dash line shows the characteristic line of change in the operating force when the back door is closed from the open position to the closed position. This is an area where an operation force needs to be applied to the back door 1 for closing. Further, in the area E, the moment in the closing direction due to the weight of the back door is larger than the moment in the opening direction due to the stay damper 3. When the back door 1 is closed, the operation force is the same as the conventional one.

In the illustrated example, the cylinder 3a of the stay damper 3 is used as the back door 1 and the rod 3b thereof is used as the vehicle body 1.
It was pivoted to 0, but this was reversed and cylinder 3a
May be pivotally attached to the vehicle body 10 and the rod 3b may be pivotally attached to the back door 1.

In the above-described embodiment, the opening / closing body is a back door of a car. However, in addition to this, a luggage door for opening and closing the upper opening of a luggage room of a car, and a body supported by a vehicle body so as to be freely openable and closable are provided. Also in the opening / closing body such as the hood panel that opens and closes the upper opening of the engine room, the series of effects described above can be obtained by adopting the above-described configuration. Further, the same effect can be obtained by adopting the same configuration not only in the hood panel and the back door of the automobile but also in various opening / closing bodies used in other mechanical devices. The present invention
It can be applied to any of these opening / closing devices.

[0041]

According to the present invention, the moment arm length of the moment in the opening direction given by the stay damper to the opening / closing body when the opening / closing body is opened, without the stay damper interfering with the main body part to which the stay damper is attached or other parts. Can be set to a large value, and the operating force when opening can be further reduced. Thus, the opening / closing body can be easily opened, and even when the opening / closing body is closed, the opening / closing body can be easily closed with a small force.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear side view of an automobile having an opening / closing device for a back door according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear side view of an automobile having an opening / closing device for a back door according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which a hinge on a base end side thereof increases a moment arm length before opening the back door. It is a figure for explaining moving to a position.

FIG. 3 is a rear side view of an automobile having an opening and closing device for a back door according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that the hinge on the base end side of the back door moves to the original position on the vehicle body side. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of driving means for moving a hinge.

5 is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle body part to which the hinge movement driving means shown in FIG. 4 is attached.

6 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge movement driving means shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a switch for moving the hinge portion of the back door by contact with the stay damper immediately before the back door is fully opened.

FIG. 8 is an operating force change characteristic diagram showing how the operating force when opening and closing the back door changes when the opening of the back door changes.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a rear side view of a vehicle used to describe the prior art.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a back door hinge used to describe a conventional technique.

12 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge peripheral portion shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Hinge 3 Stay damper P Center of hinge

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hinge for pivotally supporting an opening / closing body with respect to a main body so that the opening / closing body can be pivotally opened / closed, and one end side is pivotally attached to the opening / closing body and the other end side is attached to the main body, respectively, to give a moment in an opening direction to the opening / closing body In the opening / closing device for an opening / closing body having a stay damper, the distance from the hinge center, which is the center of rotation of the opening / closing body with respect to the main body, to the line of action of the reaction force applied to the opening / closing body by the stay damper opens the opening / closing body. Drive for moving the hinge with respect to the main body so that the opening and closing body is opened more from the closed position against the closing moment due to the weight of the opening and closing body than when the hinge is closed from the position. An opening / closing device for an opening / closing body, which is provided with means.