WO2015097321A1

WO2015097321A1 - Mechanical system for opening the rear hatch of a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2015097321A1
Application number: PCT/ES2014/000179
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rafael Bienvenido Barcena; Paulo ROMERO BERNAL
Original assignee: Universidad De Cádiz (Otri)
Priority date: 2013-12-24
Filing date: 2014-10-24
Publication date: 2015-07-02
Also published as: ES2543814A1; ES2543814B2; ES2543814B8

Abstract

Mechanical system for opening the rear hatch of a motor vehicle where space to the rear and height are limited. The invention allows the hatch to be opened in places where the space behind the motor vehicle is limited and there is a reduced height clearance. Owing thereto, the invention facilitates hatch closure for those with physical disabilities or for short people, as the hatch handles are at an accessible height. The hatch performs a first, translational movement, then a rotation, and after that a translation on four rails. Owing to a first, translational movement, adjustment between hatch and bodywork is improved, thereby enhancing acoustic and thermal insulation. With the use of the limiter system thereof, it is possible to make the loading of the vehicle roof rack compatible with access to the boot thereof. The invention increases the boot loading capacity. It is possible to fully automate the system by means of a simple system of electric motors.

Description

MECHANICAL SYSTEM FOR OPENING THE REAR CAR DOOR.

SECTOR OF THE TECHNIQUE

The present invention consists of a mechanical opening system for the gate of vehicles with 3/5 door bodywork.

STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE

At present, the increasing use of the automobile, together with the tendency to increase its dimensions and the pedestrianization of urban spaces, is causing the saturation of the spaces destined to the parking of vehicles.

On the other hand there is a large number of vehicles with 3/5 door bodywork, in which the rear windshield opens along with the tailgate.

These vehicles, among which are the so-called minivans, are characterized by making better use of the interior space, communicating and increasing the passenger compartment and the trunk. But they have the disadvantage of needing an extra space occupied by the same vehicle to open the gate. This is because the opening of the gate is done by rotation around an axis that is located at its point of connection with the frame of the car. This extra space required for the opening of the gate varies according to the vehicle model, but in most cases it is equivalent to the height of the gate seen from the profile.

There are several inventions related to alternative mechanisms for opening the tailgate of the car. Among them, we can highlight as similar to this invention those described in patents FR 2 703 005-Al, FR 2 925 099- A3 and WO 98/55721. A brief description of these mechanisms and how they differ from that shown in this invention are added below.

Document FR 2 703 005-Al describes a mechanism that causes the gate to describe the movement of the central bar of a "Crank" type mechanism - Crank ". With this mechanism, a greater opening of the boot is achieved, although it does not substantially reduce the space required for the opening maneuver, especially when applied to a minivan, due to the arc that the type gate must describe in its opening plane of this type of vehicles On the other hand, it should be noted that with a mechanism like the one described in the aforementioned document it is not possible to open the trunk with the roof of the loaded vehicle.

In the FR 2 925 099- A3 patent, a boot opening system is detailed that first performs a rectilinear translation in the opposite direction to the vehicle, and then a "4 bar" movement. This system only opens the gate without the windshield accompanying it at the same time. Therefore it is an application system for opening 2/4 door vehicles, not being applicable to 3/5 door vehicles. On the other hand, although it reduces only a small part of the opening space, the necessary mechanism occupies a large space in the trunk of the vehicle.

WO 98/55721 describes a mechanism that, although it solves the need for extra space during the first part of the gate opening, in the maximum opening position, most of the gate invades the rear space of the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention consists of a mechanism for opening the tailgate of a car with a 3/5 door body, which substantially reduces, and even completely eliminates the need for additional space to the vehicle to open the tailgate, allowing access to the trunk in confined spaces, where with conventional opening systems it would be impossible.

It consists of four two-to-two symmetrical rails, two horizontal on the roof of the vehicle and two other parallel to the gate in a closed position, which are housed in the limited gap between it and the vehicle body itself. Each of the roof rails has a rotating mechanism attached to the gate near the gate that houses a piece we call a hinge, which first rotates and then slides on the rail; This hinge is in turn connected to the gate by a rotating pair, which allows us to define the trajectory of the upper anchor of the gate.

The two vertical rails are located in each of the gaps formed by the gate, the body and the seal that seals the trunk with the gate. It also has, perpendicular to it and in the part corresponding to the trunk of the vehicle a plate with a slot that serves as a guide for the piece that we will detail later called "mast".

Two cars each formed by a main body and 4 bearings run through these last rails. Both cars carry with them, through a prismatic pair, the mast that we mentioned before. Said mast has at one of its ends a projection that functions as a follower through the groove of the rail, and at its other end it is connected to the gate by a spherical pair. With this, the shape of the groove is achieved through the combination of the rail, at all times controlling the trajectory of the lower gate anchor.

With this mechanism, the vehicle's gate describes the same movement as the central bar of a "4 bar" type mechanism first, a "crank-rod" afterwards, and a double slide at the end.

The first part of the movement is, as we have said, a "4 bar" mechanism, since the two gate anchor points describe a rotation around two fixed axes. On the one hand we have the hinge that is in rotation, and on the other, the mechanism formed by the car and the rail; This rail, in this part of the movement is straight, which ensures that the car keeps the mast perpendicular to the rail thanks to the prismatic pair. The mast, being in turn connected to the groove of the rail, which describes an arch of the same dimensions as that described by the upper anchor of the gate, ensures that the end attached to the gate describes an equal arch. With this we get the gate to describe a flat translation movement, thus avoiding any rotation. This translation movement allows to design a good fit between the gate and the vehicle, achieving an improvement of the adjustment and the acoustic and thermal insulation.

In the second part of the movement, the system behaves like a crank-crank mechanism. The difference with the previous movement is that the lower anchor of the gate no longer describes an arc of the same dimensions as the one described by the hinge.

It is actually a continuity of the previous movement but in which the flat translation of the gate is no longer pursued.

In the third part of the movement, the rotary base of the hinge, in which the hinge is housed, is aligned with the roof rail and releases the hinge that works, from there, as a slide. This allows the mechanism to work as a double slide.

This mechanism also consists of a system of temporary limitation of translation on the vertical rail. For this, the rail has a piece attached to the far end of the gate that does not interfere with the normal use of the system; but, which can be operated by the user of the vehicle and positioned at the point of the ideal rail to limit the translation of the hinge and thus enable the load of the car roof. This reduction of movement is temporary and compatible with access to the boot, with the only drawback being the reduction of the loading angle.

It is a fully mechanical system, because it does not need any electrical device, but it is easily automated.

The mechanism is assisted at all times by a system of balancing springs that make the opening and closing is done with the least effort. Among the advantages provided by the described system are:

Reduction of the space needed to open the tailgate of the vehicle, both in length and height, which allows access to the interior of the vehicle in very limited spaces. Increase in the loading angle of the trunk when the gate is in its maximum opening position parallel to the roof of the vehicle. When the space occupied by the gate coincides with that of the roof of the vehicle, the luggage compartment is allowed even from an elevated position. It allows, through the use of the limiter element, to limit the path of the upper slide, making the mechanism compatible with the load of the car roof, for example with a bicycle carrier.

This reduction of movement is temporary and compatible with access to the boot, with the only drawback being the reduction of the load range. It allows that the lower part of the gate, in which the manual handles are located, is always within the reach of people of short stature, since the maximum height reached by them when opening the gate will be at most slightly higher than the ceiling height vehicle.

This last advantage makes the proposed system the ideal system even for vehicles adapted for the disabled, since the gate is accessible, for example, from the position of a person in a wheelchair.

The mechanism is assisted at all times by a system of balancing springs that make the opening and closing is done with the least effort.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENT OF THE FIGURES

FIGURE 1.- Perspective of a virtual model on which the invention has been installed and to which the gate has been hidden in order to facilitate the view of the pieces. In it you can see the position of the following elements:

1. Vehicle body 2. Horizontal rails.

3. Rotary mechanisms (detailed in figure 2)

4. Vertical rails

5. Lower mechanism (detailed in figure 3)

FIGURE 2.- Rotary mechanism, which allows the rotation, and then the translation of the hinge 5. The following pieces have been represented:

6. Hinge holder; they house the rotating bases that will rotate along with the hinge

7. Rotating bases of the hinges that house the hinge and will allow it to slide on the horizontal rail once aligned with it.

8. Hinge.

9. Upper gate anchor; It is the piece that serves as a union between the gate and the hinge.

FIGURE 3.- Lower mechanism, the following elements are represented.

10. Wagon that will travel the vertical rail.

11. Lower gate anchor on which the clamp will slide.

12. Mast clamp; it will form a spherical pair with the lower anchor and a rotating pair with the mast.

13. Mast

14. Wagon wheel support.

15. Bearings

FIGURE 4.- Vertical rail. FIGURE 5.- Travel limiting system. The following pieces are appreciated:

16. Upper limit travel limiter.

17. Lower limit travel limiter.

18. Endless screw.

FIGURE 6.- Sequence of opening of the trunk.

FIGURE 7- Spring system. The following pieces are represented:

19. Spring A 20. Spring B

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

On the bodywork (1) of a vehicle with 3/5 door bodywork, shown in figure 1, two horizontal rails (2) are arranged. These horizontal rails (2) will have at their end a rotating mechanism (3).

Figure 2 shows the rotary mechanism (3), with the different parts with which it is composed (6-7-8-9). The hinge holders (6) house the rotating bases (7) and will allow them to rotate an angle delimited by the geometry of said rotating bases (7), this turn has to align the Hinge (8) with the horizontal rail (2) . The hinge (8) is in turn joined at one of its ends by a rotating pair to the gate of the vehicle.

Figure 3 shows the lower mechanism, it can be seen; lower gate anchor (11), clamp (12), mast (13), wagon (10), wagon wheel support (14), bearings (15). The lower anchor of the gate (11) must be anchored to the gate of the vehicle and together with the clamp (12) form a cylindrical pair, the clamp (12) will form a rotating pair with the mast (13). The mast (13) will maintain the perpendicularity with the car (10) through a pair prismatic and will be related to the groove of the vertical rail (Fig. 4) through a pin with which it will form a rotating pair. With the design of this slot, the trajectory of the lower part of the gate will be controlled so that it meets the needs of each vehicle model. The wagon (10) forms a rotating pair with the wagon wheel supports (14), these wheel brackets will in turn be the axes of the four bearings (15) that will travel the vertical rail.

The vertical rail has been designed in such a way that it adjusts to the free space formed between the boot and the gate, so that the design of the boot or the cargo space does not vary at any time.

The mechanism incorporates a spring system indicated in figure (7). This system consists of two main parts, the spring A (19) will work under compression on the car (10) and will have the necessary travel to assist the mechanism until the hinge (8) is released and works as a slide. From that moment, the spring B (20) will work on the hinge (8).

In the horizontal rail (2), the travel limiting system shown in Figure 5 with references 16-17-18 is housed. This system consists of an upper part (16) that houses a lower part (17) of rubber. This system can be expanded or contracted by driving the screw (18). So that you can change position and fix on any point of the horizontal rail (2).

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION

The present invention consists of a mechanical opening system for the gate of vehicles with 3/5 door bodywork. It allows said opening in very small or limited spaces. It facilitates the closing of the trunk for people of short stature or disabled people with limited height.

It is applicable to motor vehicles destined to the transport of people or merchandise, cars with 3 or 5-door body and vans.

Claims

Mechanical opening system of the tailgate of cars, whose opening consists of three stages, the gate describing the same movement as the central bar of a mechanism type 4 bars first, a crank-crank mechanism after and finally a double sliding mechanism, which understands:

a- Four rails, two horizontal and two vertical, symmetrical two to two; the two horizontals located on the roof of the vehicle and the two verticals adapted to the gap between the body of the vehicle and the gate in the closed position, which incorporate a plate with a slot that serves as a guide.

b- Two identical rotating mechanisms in its upper part, which allow the rotation and translation of a piece called a hinge and define the trajectory of the upper anchors of the gate.

c- Two mechanisms in its lower part, equal and each composed of a carriage and a mast; the car travels the vertical rail along with the mast, forming a prismatic pair, while a projection of one of the ends of the mast travels through the groove of the vertical rail, the other end is attached to the lower anchor of the gate, allowing in all moment check the trajectory of the lower part of the gate.

d- Two sets of springs, formed by two compression springs and two tension springs, which allow the opening and closing to be done with the least effort.

e- A hinge translation travel limiting system.

2. Mechanical opening system of the tailgate of automobiles, according to claim 1, characterized in that the travel limiting system is composed of two sets of equal parts that are located on the translational track of each of the horizontal rails, without interfering with the normal use of the mechanism, in turn allowing the vehicle user to temporarily place them at the point of the ideal rail to make access to the trunk compatible with the load of the vehicle's roof rack.

3. Mechanical opening system of the tailgate of cars, according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists of a fully mechanical system, but capable of automation by incorporating two motors for automated opening and closing.