WO1998011376A1 - Tubular guide for control cables of window regulators for automotive vehicles - Google Patents

Tubular guide for control cables of window regulators for automotive vehicles Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1998011376A1
WO1998011376A1 PCT/IT1997/000224 IT9700224W WO9811376A1 WO 1998011376 A1 WO1998011376 A1 WO 1998011376A1 IT 9700224 W IT9700224 W IT 9700224W WO 9811376 A1 WO9811376 A1 WO 9811376A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
tubular guide
control cable
acetal resin
resistance
automotive vehicles
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IT1997/000224
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Giacomo Ezio Mazzer
Valerio Pessina
Original Assignee
Mazzer Materie Plastiche Di Mazzer Giacomo Ezio & C. S.N.C.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Mazzer Materie Plastiche Di Mazzer Giacomo Ezio & C. S.N.C. filed Critical Mazzer Materie Plastiche Di Mazzer Giacomo Ezio & C. S.N.C.
Publication of WO1998011376A1 publication Critical patent/WO1998011376A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
    • F16C1/00—Flexible shafts; Mechanical means for transmitting movement in a flexible sheathing
    • F16C1/26—Construction of guiding-sheathings or guiding-tubes
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
    • E05F—DEVICES FOR MOVING WINGS INTO OPEN OR CLOSED POSITION; CHECKS FOR WINGS; WING FITTINGS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, CONCERNED WITH THE FUNCTIONING OF THE WING
    • E05F11/00—Man-operated mechanisms for operating wings, including those which also operate the fastening
    • E05F11/38—Man-operated mechanisms for operating wings, including those which also operate the fastening for sliding windows, e.g. vehicle windows, to be opened or closed by vertical movement
    • E05F11/42—Man-operated mechanisms for operating wings, including those which also operate the fastening for sliding windows, e.g. vehicle windows, to be opened or closed by vertical movement operated by rack bars and toothed wheels or other push-pull mechanisms
    • E05F11/423—Man-operated mechanisms for operating wings, including those which also operate the fastening for sliding windows, e.g. vehicle windows, to be opened or closed by vertical movement operated by rack bars and toothed wheels or other push-pull mechanisms for vehicle windows
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
    • E05Y—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES E05D AND E05F, RELATING TO CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS, ELECTRIC CONTROL, POWER SUPPLY, POWER SIGNAL OR TRANSMISSION, USER INTERFACES, MOUNTING OR COUPLING, DETAILS, ACCESSORIES, AUXILIARY OPERATIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, APPLICATION THEREOF
    • E05Y2900/00—Application of doors, windows, wings or fittings thereof
    • E05Y2900/50—Application of doors, windows, wings or fittings thereof for vehicles
    • E05Y2900/53—Type of wing
    • E05Y2900/55—Windows

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to window regulators for automotive vehicles and, more particularly, a tubular guide intended to slidingly receive the control cable of the window regulator.
  • tubular guides for control cables of a window regulator in which the control cable is received in sliding relationship.
  • the control cable in this case is usually formed of a helically wound wire having among the turns threads of synthetic material covered with lubricating grease filling the space between the inner wall of the tubular guide and the cable.
  • These tubular guides are usually obtained by extruding a thermoplastic material and have a structure formed by one layer of thermoplastic material only. On these tubular guides are then overmolded the housing of thermoplastic material intended to receive the driving gears of the window and the fastening elements to the door.
  • the tubular guide for the control cable of the window regulator has to assure from the mechanical point of view a good load uniformity and a good behaviour to shocks, vibrations, thermal cycles, atmospherical and chemical agents. Furthermore, the tubular guide has to permit a silent stepwise slide of the window regulator control cable and has to have a smooth and regular inner surface for permitting a correct and sensible regulation by the user.
  • the tubular guides of single layer structures are made of a thermoplastic material such as a polyamide, a polyester or a polyolefine. By means of these thermoplastic materials articles having different characteristics of moisture absorption, temperature resistance and Young's modulus can be produced.
  • thermoplastic materials meet all the requirements required by the quality specifications except the socalled "printability" of the tubular guide inner surface. Therefore, from this point of view they are not proved suitable for use in the tubular guides of the window regulator because the turns of the control cable at rest readily form grooves in the tubular guide inner surface in contact with the control cable, thereby making difficult other than noisy its sliding movement during the operation of the window regulator.
  • thermoplastic material having a high surface hardness such as an acetal resin having a crystalline structure and permitting therefore tubular guides with inner surface of high hardness to be obtained.
  • the acetal resin used for producing the known tubular guides have the drawback of cristallizing in a very fast time and in a large amount and are often too brittle so that their high crystalline state can readily lead to breakings during the extrusion step and especially during the following overmolding step of the cover of the housing containing the window regulator. More particularly, the induced stresses are more strong at the connection points between the tubular guide and the over olded pieces.
  • tubular guides obtained according to the known methods are subjected to frequent breakings due to their brittleness. This makes more difficult the calibration of the tubular guides and also increases the production times thereof, thereby increasing also their costs.
  • a tubular guide formed of two (or more) overlaid layers of materials which are compatible to each other from the chemical stand point, but having a different cristallization degree.
  • MMS Master Multilayer System
  • the object of the present invention is to obviate the above drawbacks of the tubular guides obtained from a fully rigid classic acetal resin by employing the above technology of the applicant for producing a tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of the window regulator which combines two types of acetal resins meeting all the requirements relating to the performances and having a s oller friction coefficient, thereby facilitating the sliding movement of the control cable of the window regulator and a higher toughness and resiliency with respect to the tubular guides formed of a single layer only of a rigid acetal resin, thereby permitting a considerably reduction of the possibilities of breakings during the extrusion and overmelting steps.
  • tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of a window regulator is characterized in that it includes at least two overlaid layers, namely:
  • the tubular guide formed of said at least two layers is obtained by a coextrusion operation.
  • the tubular guide formed of said at least two layers is obtained by two successive extrusion steps.
  • the elastomers contained in the acetal resin of the outer layer of said at least two layered tubular guide are adapted to compensate for the intrinsec rigidity of the resin in the amount necessary to carry out the overmolding operation without inducing strong stresses in the material, while maintaining pratically unchanged the mechanical characteristics thereof.
  • Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of window regulators according to the present invention
  • Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section view of the tubular guide according to the present invention.
  • the tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of window regulators according to the present invention preferably includes two concentric and overlaid layers, namely one outer layer 11 and one inner layer 12.
  • the control cable 13 of the window regulator (not shown) is located in the tubular guide 10.
  • the control cable 13 is enclosed by a coiled wire 14, the turns of which are in contact with the inner surface of the tubular guide 10.
  • the outer layer 11 is formed of a thermoplastic material having high toughness and resilience.
  • a synthetic resin particularly useful for this purpose and employed according to the present invention is an acetal resin.
  • acetal resin a quantity of elastomers is added such as to limit to a suitable level the portion of the resin without elastomers which is more rigid and brittle and therefore to reduce the effective amount of crystal unity, thereby permitting the overmolding operation to be made without inducing in the material stresses having such an intensity to cause the breaking thereof while substantially maintaining the mechanical characteristics thereof.
  • the inner layer 12 is formed of a thermoplastic material having a small frictional coefficient in order to minimize the friction resistance to the sliding movement of the control cable 13 during the window regulator operation and such a high surface hardness as to prevent the turns of the wire 14 wound around the control cable 13 at rest from forming grooves in the inner surface of the tubular guide.
  • the plastic material more suitable to this purpose is represented by acetal resins which are preferably employed according to the present invention.
  • tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of window regulators for automotive vehicles provides the following advantages: - better behaviour to the overmolding,
  • the operation of the sliding control cable in the tubular guide according to the present invention is more comfortable to the user.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Window Of Vehicle (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electric Cables (AREA)
  • Flexible Shafts (AREA)

Abstract

The tubular guide (10) for slidingly receiving the control cable of a window regulator for automotive vehicles includes at least two superimposed layers (11, 12). The inner layer (12) is formed of an acetal resin having high hardness, rigidity and wear resistance and a small friction coefficient intended to prevent the groove formation in the inner surface and to offer a smallest resistance to the control cable sliding movement. The outer layer (11) is formed of an acetal resin containing elastomers for increasing the resistance of the tubular guide to the mechanical stresses.

Description

Description
Tubular guide for control cables of window regulators for automotive vehicles
Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to window regulators for automotive vehicles and, more particularly, a tubular guide intended to slidingly receive the control cable of the window regulator.
Background Art
There are already known tubular guides for control cables of a window regulator in which the control cable is received in sliding relationship. The control cable in this case is usually formed of a helically wound wire having among the turns threads of synthetic material covered with lubricating grease filling the space between the inner wall of the tubular guide and the cable. These tubular guides are usually obtained by extruding a thermoplastic material and have a structure formed by one layer of thermoplastic material only. On these tubular guides are then overmolded the housing of thermoplastic material intended to receive the driving gears of the window and the fastening elements to the door.
The tubular guide for the control cable of the window regulator has to assure from the mechanical point of view a good load uniformity and a good behaviour to shocks, vibrations, thermal cycles, atmospherical and chemical agents. Furthermore, the tubular guide has to permit a silent stepwise slide of the window regulator control cable and has to have a smooth and regular inner surface for permitting a correct and sensible regulation by the user. Generally, the tubular guides of single layer structures are made of a thermoplastic material such as a polyamide, a polyester or a polyolefine. By means of these thermoplastic materials articles having different characteristics of moisture absorption, temperature resistance and Young's modulus can be produced.
The above thermoplastic materials meet all the requirements required by the quality specifications except the socalled "printability" of the tubular guide inner surface. Therefore, from this point of view they are not proved suitable for use in the tubular guides of the window regulator because the turns of the control cable at rest readily form grooves in the tubular guide inner surface in contact with the control cable, thereby making difficult other than noisy its sliding movement during the operation of the window regulator.
To obviate this problem, a thermoplastic material having a high surface hardness has been considered, such as an acetal resin having a crystalline structure and permitting therefore tubular guides with inner surface of high hardness to be obtained. However, the acetal resin used for producing the known tubular guides have the drawback of cristallizing in a very fast time and in a large amount and are often too brittle so that their high crystalline state can readily lead to breakings during the extrusion step and especially during the following overmolding step of the cover of the housing containing the window regulator. More particularly, the induced stresses are more strong at the connection points between the tubular guide and the over olded pieces. Therefore, if particular measures for reducing the brittleness induced during the extrusion and overmolding operation and by the same nature of the material are taken, the tubular guides obtained according to the known methods are subjected to frequent breakings due to their brittleness. This makes more difficult the calibration of the tubular guides and also increases the production times thereof, thereby increasing also their costs. To obviate these drawbacks it is devised a tubular guide formed of two (or more) overlaid layers of materials which are compatible to each other from the chemical stand point, but having a different cristallization degree. According to a technology developed by the applicant and known as "Mazzer Multilayer System" (MMS).
Disclosure of Invention
The object of the present invention is to obviate the above drawbacks of the tubular guides obtained from a fully rigid classic acetal resin by employing the above technology of the applicant for producing a tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of the window regulator which combines two types of acetal resins meeting all the requirements relating to the performances and having a s oller friction coefficient, thereby facilitating the sliding movement of the control cable of the window regulator and a higher toughness and resiliency with respect to the tubular guides formed of a single layer only of a rigid acetal resin, thereby permitting a considerably reduction of the possibilities of breakings during the extrusion and overmelting steps.
More particularly, the tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of a window regulator according to the present invention is characterized in that it includes at least two overlaid layers, namely:
- an inner layer formed of an acetal resin having high hardness, rigidity and wear resistance and a small friction coefficient intended to prevent the groove formation in the inner surface and to offer a smallest resistance to the control cable sliding movement, and
- an outer layer formed of an acetal resin containing elastomers for increasing the resistance of the tubular guide to the mechanical stresses.
According to a feature of the present invention, the tubular guide formed of said at least two layers is obtained by a coextrusion operation.
According to another feature of the present invention, the tubular guide formed of said at least two layers is obtained by two successive extrusion steps.
According to a further feature of the present invention, the elastomers contained in the acetal resin of the outer layer of said at least two layered tubular guide are adapted to compensate for the intrinsec rigidity of the resin in the amount necessary to carry out the overmolding operation without inducing strong stresses in the material, while maintaining pratically unchanged the mechanical characteristics thereof. The present invention will be now described in more detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of window regulators according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section view of the tubular guide according to the present invention.
As can be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, the tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of window regulators according to the present invention, generally indicated by 10, preferably includes two concentric and overlaid layers, namely one outer layer 11 and one inner layer 12. In the tubular guide 10 the control cable 13 of the window regulator (not shown) is located. The control cable 13 is enclosed by a coiled wire 14, the turns of which are in contact with the inner surface of the tubular guide 10. The outer layer 11 is formed of a thermoplastic material having high toughness and resilience. A synthetic resin particularly useful for this purpose and employed according to the present invention is an acetal resin. To this acetal resin a quantity of elastomers is added such as to limit to a suitable level the portion of the resin without elastomers which is more rigid and brittle and therefore to reduce the effective amount of crystal unity, thereby permitting the overmolding operation to be made without inducing in the material stresses having such an intensity to cause the breaking thereof while substantially maintaining the mechanical characteristics thereof.
The inner layer 12 is formed of a thermoplastic material having a small frictional coefficient in order to minimize the friction resistance to the sliding movement of the control cable 13 during the window regulator operation and such a high surface hardness as to prevent the turns of the wire 14 wound around the control cable 13 at rest from forming grooves in the inner surface of the tubular guide. The plastic material more suitable to this purpose is represented by acetal resins which are preferably employed according to the present invention.
From the foregoing it can be readily apparent that the tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of window regulators for automotive vehicles according to the invention provides the following advantages: - better behaviour to the overmolding,
- lower brittleness,
- longer life, which make it particularly suitable for the intended purposes.
Furthermore, the operation of the sliding control cable in the tubular guide according to the present invention is more confortable to the user.

Claims

Claims
1. Tubular guide for slidingly receiving the control cable of a window regulator for automotive vehicles, characterized in that it includes at least two superimposed layers, namely:
- an inner layer formed of an acetal resin having high hardness, rigidity and wear resistance and a small friction coefficient intended to prevent the groove formation in the inner surface and to offer a smallest resistance to the control cable sliding movement, and
- an outer layer formed of an acetal resin containing elastomers for increasing the resistance of the tubular guide to the mechanical stresses.
2. Tubular guide according to claim 1, characterized in that it is obtained by a coextrusion operation.
3. Tubular guide according to claim 1, characterized in that it is obtained by two successive extrusion steps.
4. Tubular guide according to claim 1, characterized in that the elastomers contained in the acetal resin of the outer layer of said at least two layered tubular guide are adapted to compensate for the intrinsec rigidity of the resin in the amount necessary to carry out the overmolding operation without inducing strong stresses in the material, while maintaining pratically unchanged the mechanical characteristics thereof.
PCT/IT1997/000224 1996-09-13 1997-09-12 Tubular guide for control cables of window regulators for automotive vehicles WO1998011376A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITMI96U000610 1996-09-13
ITMI960610 IT240882Y1 (en) 1996-09-13 1996-09-13 SLIDING TUBE FOR THE CONTROL WIRE OF A WINDOW

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998011376A1 true WO1998011376A1 (en) 1998-03-19

Family

ID=11373800

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IT1997/000224 WO1998011376A1 (en) 1996-09-13 1997-09-12 Tubular guide for control cables of window regulators for automotive vehicles

Country Status (2)

Country Link
IT (1) IT240882Y1 (en)
WO (1) WO1998011376A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN104632858A (en) * 2015-01-21 2015-05-20 柳州市颖航汽配有限公司 Automotive control cable

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0013409A1 (en) * 1979-01-08 1980-07-23 Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft Window raiser for sliding windows
JPS61148221A (en) * 1984-12-21 1986-07-05 Mitsubishi Gas Chem Co Inc Acetal resin composition
US4898046A (en) * 1987-12-03 1990-02-06 Grand Rapids Controls, Inc. Control cable
EP0438745A1 (en) * 1990-01-05 1991-07-31 Orscheln Co. Flexible corrosion-resistant conduit and method

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0013409A1 (en) * 1979-01-08 1980-07-23 Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft Window raiser for sliding windows
JPS61148221A (en) * 1984-12-21 1986-07-05 Mitsubishi Gas Chem Co Inc Acetal resin composition
US4898046A (en) * 1987-12-03 1990-02-06 Grand Rapids Controls, Inc. Control cable
EP0438745A1 (en) * 1990-01-05 1991-07-31 Orscheln Co. Flexible corrosion-resistant conduit and method

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN104632858A (en) * 2015-01-21 2015-05-20 柳州市颖航汽配有限公司 Automotive control cable

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ITMI960610V0 (en) 1996-09-13
IT240882Y1 (en) 2001-04-11
ITMI960610U1 (en) 1998-03-13

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