Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R3/00—Arrangements of steps or ladders facilitating access to or on the vehicle, e.g. running-boards
  • B60R3/02—Retractable steps or ladders, e.g. movable under shock

Definitions

• the invention relates to a step arrangement for a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle.
• Step arrangements of this construction make it easier for older and disabled people to get in and out of vehicles without protruding over the circumference of the vehicle while driving.
• the construction of such a step arrangement appears relatively simple, because the construction of a guide for the step during its movements between the operating position and the rest position obviously does not pose any fundamental problems.
• the operating conditions to which the step arrangement is subject must be observed, not only due to the forces and moments that occur when using the step, but also due to the contamination of the tread of the step, for example in winter by sprinkling agents or dirt falling off the shoes in bad weather. Understandably, seals can be used to prevent the ingress of water and dirt while driving, but these are subject to abrasion, which may make them ineffective, during the movements of the step, at least over longer periods of operation.
• the invention has for its object to provide a generic step arrangement that works reliably with a simple structure even under the harsh conditions of driving.
• the slide or rail-roller guides can therefore be made relatively weak, since they only serve to transport the step in the unloaded state and without vibrations from driving.
• This lifting of the step in its end positions by the lifting guides which can be constructed very simply using inclined planes or wedge surfaces, has the further advantage that a sealing and / or brush strip assigned to it is not subjected to force during the main phase of the movements of the step ; rather, this bar or these bars are only brought into contact with the step in their end positions.
• the fact that the sealing and / or brush strip is only effective when the step is in its end positions also contributes to noise reduction during the movements of the step.
• Claim 6 in that a drive device in the manner of one of
• Vehicles known from cable window lifters are used with cables driven in opposite directions as a force-transmitting connection between the drive motor and the step.
• This drive connection is understandably easy to make very flat, so that the housing of the step arrangement is flat and can easily be attached to the vehicle floor from below if necessary.
• the drive motor will be self-locking so that it not only moves the step into the desired position, but also locks it there. Understandably, this has disadvantages if the drive motor fails, since then the step cannot be moved manually from its rest position into its operating position nor from this back to its rest position. This avoids with simple means the step arrangement described in claims 9 to 12, which, although it uses cable pulls as a force-transmitting connection of the drive motor to the step, can also be used to advantage if no lifting guides are provided for the step, their importance was explained in detail above.
• FIG. 1 perspective, obliquely from the front left, a motor vehicle with the step arrangement according to the invention
• FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 respectively:
• Figure 6 the sectional view according to VI-VI in Figure 4, limited to a rail
• FIG. 7 a top view of an emergency release device
• FIG. 8 the sectional view according to Vlll-Vlll in FIG. 7,
• Figure 9 the same sectional view after actuation of the emergency release device and
• FIG. 1 shows a conventional vehicle body with the door opening 2, which is associated with the step arrangement 3 to facilitate getting in and out.
• This contains as essential components the flat housing 4, which is fastened by means of brackets 5 in the area of the vehicle floor, and the step 6, which is shown in FIG. 1 in its operating position largely pulled out of the housing 4.
• the step 6 has the step surface 7 made safe by profiling and / or friction inserts and, as will be explained later, can be shifted between its illustrated operating position and a retracted position into the housing 4 by means of the drive motor 8 and the cable arrangement 9 fixedly arranged in the housing.
• the structure of the drive arrangement for the step shows the top view of Firgur 2, in which the step itself is not recognizable. It is therefore practically an insight into the housing 4.
• its lower wall 10 is provided with profiles; it carries pulleys 11 for the cable assembly 9 with the two cables 12 and 13, which are attached at 14 and 15 to the step, not shown, and which are wound in opposite directions on a cable drum located at 16 and located on the output shaft of the drive motor 8.
• Counter-rotating or counter-rotating here means that when the cable drum rotates in one direction of rotation, one of the two cables 12 and 13 is wound up and the other is unwound; a change in the direction of rotation of the drive motor 8 and thus the cable drum 16 results in the cables being interchanged with respect to winding and unwinding.
• the step 6 On its underside, the step 6 carries a total of three inclined planes or wedge surfaces 20, 21 and 22, which are opposed to inclined planes 23, 24 and 25 on the housing side.
• the positions of the inclined planes provided on the step 6 and the housing 4 are selected such that the step 6 is supported on the respective rail via the rollers 17 and 18, that is to say slightly, during the movement of the step 6 between its end positions (FIG. 3) is to be moved. In its end positions, however, step 6 is supported on the inclined planes, and the rail-roller guides are relieved of force.
• the step 6 On its upper side, the step 6 carries the further inclined plane 26, to which the further inclined plane 27 is assigned on the housing side.
• These two inclined planes 26 and 27 form a torque support against forces and moments exerted by a person on the step 6 in its operating position.
• the two further inclined planes come into contact only in the operating position of step 6 (in FIG. 5), so that the forces and moments then exerted on them are absorbed via the inclined planes 23 and 27 on the housing.
• the drive motor 8 Since the drive motor 8 does not participate in these lifting movements of the step 6, but rather is fixedly mounted in the housing 4, its feed lines 30 and 31 (see Figure 1) are also fixed.
• the supply line 31 incidentally contains the door contact or door switch 32, which automatically switches on the motor 8 when the door is opened and when it is closed, so that the step 6 is then automatically extended or drawn into its rest position.
• FIGS. 7 to 10 An emergency release will now be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10, which gives the possibility of manually pushing the step 6 (not shown in FIG. 7) from its operating position into its rest position if the drive motor 8 fails.
• An essential part of this emergency release is a specific design of the fastenings 14 and 15 of the cables 12 and 13 on the step 6, namely using approximately Z-shaped (or S-shaped) hooks 33 which have a hole 34 in the step with their central region 6 (or in a lower bowl of the same).
• the attachment point 15 of the other cable 13 (see Figure 2) is understandably constructed identically.
• the upper end region 35 of the hook 33 lies under the action of the pull exerted by the cable 12 on the slide 36, which likewise has a hole 37 for the hook 33 to pass through. As can be seen from FIG. 7, this hole 37 is obtained through a fork-shaped end region of the slide 36.
• slide 36 in its normal position (FIG. 8), slide 36 also prevents spring pin 40 on step 6 from penetrating hole 41 therein and, according to FIG. 9, which represents the unlocked state, penetrates openings 42 in slide 36 and 41 in step 6 to protrude down into the working area of the stop 43 on the lower wall of the housing 4. If the step 6 is in its operating position at the moment the emergency release is actuated, the spring pin 40 then in its relaxed position according to FIG. 9 can slide on the right-hand sloping surface of the stop 43 in FIG. 9 during manual insertion of the step 6 and thus after be pushed away above, ie the step 6 can be in their Shift rest position.
• the spring pin 40 is in alignment with the hole 44 in the lower wall of the housing 4, which serves, for example, as a water drain and in this Embodiment can be closed with the rubber stopper 45.
• the spring pin 40 can be pivoted upward out of the area of the stop 43, so that with simultaneous application of an outward manual force to the step 6, these are brought into their working position even after the drive motor 8 has failed can.

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Family

ID=7917689

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Citations (10)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1999
  • 1999-08-07 DE DE1999137487 patent/DE19937487A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2000
  • 2000-07-18 WO PCT/EP2000/006856 patent/WO2001010680A1/de not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-07-18 EP EP00956201A patent/EP1206372A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (10)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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