JPS6153247B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a guide structure for a sliding door used in a van-type automobile or the like.

Sliding doors, which are generally used in van-type automobiles, have a roller mechanism installed at three locations at the top and bottom of the door and at the center of the rear end, and corresponding guide rails installed at predetermined locations on the side walls of the vehicle body. The door can be opened and closed in a sliding manner from a closed state to an open state located on the outside of the rear side wall of the vehicle body. In this structure, the center guide rail corresponding to the center roller mechanism is located on the outside of the rear side wall of the vehicle body. Installed on the side wall.

Conventionally, the structure of the center guide rail portion of this type of sliding door is as shown in FIG. There were many structures in which the parts were fixed with bolts 105. However, according to this structure, since the drawing angle cannot be made very large in drawing forming, both the upper and lower side surfaces 102a, 1 of the recess 102 are
02b has a tapered shape that expands outward with a considerable degree of inclination, and as a result, gaps 104, 104 are created above and below the guide rail 103, resulting in poor appearance.Also, most of the guide rail 103 is directly visible from the outside. However, it also had the disadvantage of spoiling its appearance. From this point of view, a structure has been proposed in which the outer panel is divided into upper and lower parts, or a slit-like elongated hole is provided, and a frame body with a concave portion is fixed to the back surface of the outer panel. The rigidity of the door is low, and sufficient support force cannot be obtained for the load of the door applied via the roller mechanism, making it easy to deform or break. Also, workability and assembly workability of welded parts etc. are poor. There were some problems.

In view of these circumstances, the present invention has a structure that is mainly applied to the center guide rail part, and improves the appearance of the guide rail installation part by positioning the guide rail inside the outer panel and concealing it. It is an object of the present invention to provide a guide structure for a sliding door for a vehicle, which greatly increases the robustness of a portion that supports a rail and provides sufficient support for the load of the sliding door.

That is, in the guide structure of a sliding door for a vehicle according to the present invention, an elongated hole is formed in an outer panel forming a side wall of a vehicle body, through which a roller arm is inserted, which is attached near the center of the rear end of the side surface of the sliding door on the inside of the vehicle. , a set plate having a generally U-shaped cross section and having an open end through which the roller arm is inserted is provided inside the outer panel, the open end of the set plate is fixed to the outer panel, and a predetermined portion of the inner panel protrudes toward the outer panel. A molded fixing surface is fixed to the back surface of the set plate, and a guide rail is disposed within the set plate and supports the roller of the roller arm.
It is bolted together with the set plate to the fixed surface of the inner panel.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to illustrative embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows the overall shape of an automobile equipped with a sliding door. In the figure, 1 is the vehicle body and 2 is a sliding door. The door 2 is usually provided with roller mechanisms 3, 4, and 5 at three locations on the inner surface, at the front upper part, the lower part, and the rear center part, and correspondingly, the vehicle body 1 has upper and lower guide parts 6, 7 and a center guide portion 8 are provided, and these are configured to allow the door 2 to slide along the side wall of the vehicle body to close or open the entrance/exit. In this structure, the center guide part 8 in particular is provided on the rear side wall of the vehicle body that appears outside when the door is closed, and receives the load of the door 2, so the appearance and strength are problematic.

Figures 3 and 4 show the center guide section 8.
11 is an outer panel of the rear side wall of the vehicle body, and 12 is an inner panel facing the outer panel 11 at a predetermined distance. Outer panel 11
A cut-out elongated hole 13 is formed at a position corresponding to the roller mechanism 5 over a predetermined longitudinal length corresponding to the range of movement of the roller mechanism, through which the roller arm 51 is inserted. The elongated hole 13 may be formed by cutting out a predetermined range of a single outer panel 11.Alternatively, the outer panel 11 is formed in advance into two parts, upper and lower, and these two divided pieces are divided into upper and lower parts over a predetermined range. It may also be formed by joining at the rear with a gap between the two. On the other hand, the inner panel 12 has a portion corresponding to the elongated hole 13 projected in a trapezoidal cross section in the direction of the outer panel, and the outer surface of this projected portion 14 is used to attach a set plate 1 to be described later.
5 is formed as a fixing surface 14a.

A set plate 15 and a guide rail 16 are arranged inside the outer panel 11 in correspondence with the elongated hole 13. The set plate 15 has a substantially U-shaped cross section with an open end through which the roller arm 51 is inserted, and the set plate 15 is fixed to the inner surface of the outer panel 11 and the inner panel 12 with the opening corresponding to the open end corresponding to the elongated hole 13. It is fixed to the surface 14a. In this embodiment, downwardly bent vertical portions 15a and 15b are connected to the upper and lower ends of the outer side of the set plate 15, the upper vertical portion 15b is adhered to the outer panel 11 with adhesive 18, and the lower vertical portion 15b is attached to the outer panel. 11, and the back surface of the set plate 15 is welded 20 to the fixing surface 14a of the inner panel 12.

Further, the guide rail 16 disposed within the set plate 15 has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and has a bottom surface 16a for supporting and guiding the roller 52, and an upper portion for guiding the roller 52 in the width direction. The inner and outer vertical surfaces 16b and 16c are provided. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guide rail 1
An extending portion 17 that protrudes outward from the elongated hole 13 and is bent downward is continuously provided on the outer side of the bottom of the hole 6;
The extending portion 17 serves as a covering piece that covers the welded portion 19 from the outside of the outer panel 11. The guide rail 16 is fastened together with the set plate 15 to the fixing surface 14a of the inner panel 12 at several appropriate locations on its back surface using bolts 21 and nuts 22. When tightening the bolts, if a spacer 23 is interposed between the back of the guide rail 16 and the set plate 15, and if the guide rail 16 is prevented from coming into contact with the set plate 15 at other parts, rust can be prevented. can be prevented.

In the illustrated example, the outer panel 11 at the lower side of the elongated hole 13 is stepped down slightly inward so that the surface of the extending portion 17 of the guide rail 16 is flush with the surface of the outer panel 11, and Long hole 13
By suitably bending the outer panel 11 also in the vicinity of the upper side, rigidity is increased and a design effect is provided. Also, guide rail 1
In order to enable insertion of the roller 52 into the roller 6, a notch 23 for roller insertion is provided at the rear end of the long hole 13 in the outer panel 11, and the notch 23 is covered with a cover 24 made of plastic or the like. There is.

According to this guide structure, the guide rail 16 and the set plate 15 except for the extending portion 17 are hidden inside the outer panel 11;
It does not spoil the appearance. Further, the set plate 15 and the guide rail 16 are connected to the outer panel 1.
In addition to the fixed portion of the inner panel 12, the inner panel 12 is firmly fixed by the fixed surface 14a of the inner panel 12. That is, when attempting to attach the guide rail to the inside of the outer panel via the set plate, simply fixing the set plate to the inner surface of the outer panel is extremely poor in robustness. Furthermore, even if the back of the set plate is fixed to the inner panel, if the inner panel is just a flat plate, the rigidity of the fixed part of the inner panel will be poor, and it will not be able to support the load of the sliding door applied via the roller mechanism and guide rail. The force is weak, and as a result, the load placed on the portions fixed to the outer panel becomes large, and these panels are likely to be deformed. In contrast, in the present invention, as described above, the inner panel 12 is bent into a protruding shape to form a surface for fixing to the set plate 15, so the rigidity of the inner panel 12 is increased.
As a result, the rigidity of the entire guide structure is increased, and sufficient supporting force and robustness can be obtained against the load of the sliding door.

Further, the set plate 15 and the guide rail 16 are each formed into a substantially U-shaped cross section.
Processing and assembly work is relatively simple, especially
As shown in the embodiment, welding 1 is performed with the outer part of the set plate 15 and the outer panel 11 facing each other inside and out.
9, and if this welded portion 19 is covered with the extension portion 17 of the guide rail 16, the welding work is easy and the appearance is good. In other words, it is desirable to fix the set plate 15 to the outer panel 11 by welding at least the lower side part for strength reasons, but if the welded part is exposed to the outside, the appearance will be spoiled, and it is necessary to bend the outer panel horizontally inward and set it. Welding from the top and bottom to the bottom of the plate
Although processing and welding of the outer panel is complicated, the structure shown in the above embodiment solves these problems.

The structure of the fixed part of the set plate 15 to the outer panel 11 is such that the upper part of the set plate is also fixed by welding, and the upper end of the outer side of the guide rail 16 is bent upward and extended, and the welded part is connected to this extended part. You can cover it, but
Sufficient adhesion strength can be obtained with the illustrated embodiment, and the structure shown in the figure is easier to process.

Further, the structure of the roller mechanism 5 is not limited to the present invention, and in addition to the structure in which the roller 52 is simply supported by the lateral roller arm 51 shown in the above embodiment,
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a structure including a main roller 54 supported on a horizontal shaft 53 and an auxiliary roller 56 for width direction guidance supported on a vertical shaft 55 may be arbitrarily adopted.

As explained above, the present invention provides a structure of a center guide for guiding a roller arm attached near the center of the rear end of the side surface of the sliding door on the inside of the vehicle. Inside the formed outer panel, a set plate with a roughly U-shaped cross section and a guide rail with a roughly U-shaped cross section are installed inside the set plate, so that guide rails and extra gaps do not appear on the outside. It has a good appearance, and the above-mentioned set plate is fixed to the outer panel and also fixed to the inner panel on the back side.In particular, the fixed surface formed by protruding the inner panel is fixed to the set plate, and the guide rail is fixed to the above-mentioned set plate together with the set plate. Since the bolts are connected to the fixed surface, the rigidity of the inner panel and the rigidity and robustness of the entire guide structure are greatly increased, and sufficient support is obtained without deformation even under the load of the sliding door. ,
In addition, it has a relatively simple structure and is easy to process and assemble, and has many excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the main parts showing the guide structure of a conventional sliding door for a vehicle, Fig. 2 is a side view of an entire automobile equipped with a sliding door, and Fig. 3 is a guide structure of a sliding door for a vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the same, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the structure of the roller mechanism for the guide structure of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11...Outer panel, 12...Inner panel, 13...Long hole, 14...Protrusion of inner panel, 14a...Fixing surface, 15...Set plate, 16...Guide rail, 21...Bolt.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An elongated hole is formed in the outer panel forming the side wall of the vehicle body, through which a roller arm is inserted, which is attached near the center of the rear end of the inside side of the sliding door.
A set plate having a substantially U-shaped cross section and having an open end through which the roller arm is inserted is provided inside the outer panel, the open end of the set plate is fixed to the outer panel, and a predetermined portion of the inner panel is molded to protrude toward the outer panel. At the same time as fixing the fixing surface formed by
A guide structure for a sliding door for a vehicle, characterized in that a guide rail disposed within the set plate and supporting the roller of the roller arm is bolted together with the set plate to a fixed surface of an inner panel. 2. The open end of the set plate and the outer panel are fixed by welding, and the guide rail has a cover piece that covers the welded portion between the set plate and the outer panel. Guide structure for sliding doors for vehicles.