EP4034398A1

EP4034398A1 - Roller mechanism with limited rotation

Info

Publication number: EP4034398A1
Application number: EP20867748.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Aykut GONUL
Original assignee: Rollmech Automotive Sanayi ve Ticaret AS
Current assignee: Rollmech Automotive Sanayi ve Ticaret AS
Priority date: 2019-09-25
Filing date: 2020-09-16
Publication date: 2022-08-03
Also published as: TR201914591A2; EP4034398A4; WO2021061072A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a roller mechanism (1) which is used in the sliding door vehicles and allows for moving the sliding door relative to the vehicle body; has the following; -at least one fixing bracket (10) which is fixed to the sliding door from one side thereof, -at least one body bracket (20) which can be contained integrally with said fixing bracket (10) or is engaged to the fixing bracket (10) as a separate part and helps to carry the door, -at least one roller bracket (30) which allows the sliding door to move in the slide (40) by engaging the same to said body bracket (20) rotatably with the axis pin (21).

Description

ROLLER MECHANISM WITH LIMITED ROTATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a roller mechanism which enables the sliding doors of commercial vehicles to move with respect to the body of the vehicle.

The invention particularly relates to a structure which allows the roller mechanisms used in the sliding door vehicles to operate without leaving the slide in a secure and durable manner.

STATE OF THE ART Nowadays, there are slides on the vehicle body of the sliding door vehicles so as to provide the motion thereof. There are roller mechanisms which allows for moving the sliding door on these slides. The roller mechanisms are generally three in number such as on the lower section, middle section and upper section of the sliding door.

The sub mechanisms included in the state of the art generally consist of three sections. There is a fixing bracket attracted to the sliding door by means of the connection holes thereon. There is a body bracket which is engaged with the fixing bracket and allows for carrying the door. There is a roller bracket which is rotatably attached to the end section of the body bracket with a pin and generally contains carrier and guide rollers thereon.

The roller bracket of the state of the art can move on the body bracket such that it rotates around the axis of the pin on which it is engaged. This rotational movement allows for moving the rollers on the bended slide. In the region where the sliding door is completely opened, the roller bracket stops by hitting the bumper on the vehicle body. Particularly, since the users open the sliding door manually in the non electrical sliding door vehicles, sometimes they open the door quickly by applying excessive force. In this case, the roller forces the bracket to rotate of the pin axis to which it engaged and forces the slide that it moves to bend. As a result of this application of force, the slide is bended excessively and causes the roller located on the mechanism to be released from the slide. Finally, the sliding door falls from the vehicle body and a very dangerous condition occurs.

In the American patent document numbered US8308221 titled “Roller assembly for sliding vehicle closure” included in the state of the art, it is seen that the roller bracket performs rotational movement with respect to the body bracket and there is no limiting structure. A mechanism comprising a ball-type carrier element is disclosed in the patent document. It is explicit that this document does not bring solution to the abovementioned problems.

In the American patent document numbered US2008078124A titled “Support structure for vehicular slide door” included in the state of the art, it is seen that the roller bracket performs rotational movement with respect to the body bracket and there is no limiting structure. It is explicit that this document does not bring solution to the abovementioned problems.

As a result; developments are made in the roller mechanisms, therefore new configurations are required in order to eliminate abovementioned disadvantages and bring solution to current systems.

AIM OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to roller mechanism which fulfills the abovementioned requirements, eliminates all disadvantages and brings some additional advantages.

The main aim of the invention is to provide a roller mechanism with a structure which prevents the sliding door from bending in the maximum opening region of the sliding door.

An aim of the invention is to develop a roller mechanism which enables to move the sliding door in a secure manner. In order to realize all advantages mentioned above and will be understood from the following detailed description, the present invention is a roller mechanism which is used in the sliding door vehicles and allows for moving the sliding door relative to the vehicle body; has

-at least one fixing bracket which is fixed to the sliding door from one side thereof,

-at least one body bracket which can be contained integrally with said fixing bracket or is engaged to the fixing bracket as a separate part and helps to carry the door,

-at least one roller bracket which allows the sliding door to move in the slide by engaging the same to said body bracket rotatably with the axis pin, characterized in that, it comprises the following;

-at least one bearing surface which is located at the end section of said body bracket and limits the rotation of the roller bracket in (-) direction after it hits the bumper and thus prevents the deformation of the slide.

The structural and characteristic features of the present invention will be understood clearly by the following drawings and the detailed description made with reference to these drawings. Therefore the evaluation shall be made by taking these figures and the detailed description into consideration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to understand the advantages of the present invention with its structure and additional elements, it shall be evaluated with the following defined figures.

Figure 1 is the position of the roller mechanism in the state of the art before it hits the bumper

Figure 2 is the position of the roller mechanism in the state of the art after it hits the bumper

Figure 3 is the position of the inventive roller mechanism after it hits the bumper Figure 4 is the isometric view of the inventive roller mechanism REFERENCE NUMBERS

1. Roller mechanism 10. Fixing bracket 11. Connection hole

12. Bracket surface

20. Body bracket

21 . Axis pin

22. End section 23. Bearing surface

24. Connection element

30. Roller bracket

31 . Guide roller

32. Carrier roller 40. Slide

41 . Support bracket 50. Buffer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the inventive roller mechanism (1) is described only for clarifying the subject matter in a manner such that no limiting effect is created.

In Figure 1 , there is the position of the roller bracket (30) in the state of the art before it hits the bumper (50). In Figure 2, there is the position of the roller mechanism (1) in the state of the art after it hits the bumper (50).

The roller mechanism (1) part is fixed on the vehicle door (not shown in the figure) with the fixing bracket (10) via the connection holes (11) thereon. The body bracket (20) is fixed to the fixing bracket (10) by means of the connection elements (24). There is a roller bracket (30) at the end section (22) of the body bracket (20). The roller bracket (30) is rotatably engaged to the body bracket (20) by means of the axis pin (21). The reason to rotatably engage the roller bracket (30) is that there is a twisting on the slide in the closing area of the sliding door. This is necessary so as to allow the roller bracket (30) on the twisted slide (40). As it can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, when the roller mechanism (1) used in the current technique comes to the final opening position of the sliding door (it is not shown in the figure), it hits the bumper (40) part which is attached to the end section of the slide (40). The sliding door stops with the effect of hitting. As can be seen in Figure 2, the roller mechanism (1) used in the current technique hits the bumper (50) part and the force transmitted from the bumper (50) forces the roller bracket (30) around the axis pin (21) to which it is connected in the (-) direction. The roller bracket (30) deforms the slide (40) as a result of this force application and even it leads to tearing the same. Support bracket (41) is used so as to prevent this deformation of slide (40). Although support bracket (41) is used, the slide (40) is bended in any way since there is nothing limiting the rotation of the roller bracket (30). As a result of this, the guide roller (31) and the carrier roller (32) are released from the slide (40) and cause the sliding door to fall.

In Figure 4, there is isometric view of the inventive roller mechanism (1). As can be seen in Figure 4, there is a bearing surface (23) at the end section (22) of the body bracket (20). Said bearing surface (23) limits the rotation of the roller bracket (30) in the (-) direction. Therefore, it prevents the slide (40) from stretching and tearing.

As a result of the analyses made, the requirement of providing the bracket surface (12) and the bearing surface (23) located on the fixing bracket (10) parallel to each other, provides the optimum level. The finite elements method is confirmed since it performs this function up to maximum 10° angle (a) between the bracket surface (12) and the bearing surface (23).

In Figure 3, there is a view of the inventive roller mechanism (1) after it hits the tampon (50) part. In this analysis the bracket surface (12) and the bearing surface (23) are positioned parallel to each other. As can be seen in Figure 3, there is no twisting or tearing in the slide (40) part after the collision. As a result, a roller mechanism (1) structure which provides the sliding door to be durable, secure and long lasting.

Claims

1. A roller mechanism (1) which is used in the sliding door vehicles and allows for moving the sliding door relative to the vehicle body; has the following; - at least one fixing bracket (10) which is fixed to the sliding door from one side thereof,

- at least one body bracket (20) which can be contained integrally with said fixing bracket (10) or is engaged to the fixing bracket (10) as a separate part and helps to carry the door, - at least one roller bracket (30) which allows the sliding door to move in the slide (40) by engaging the same to said body bracket (20) rotatably with the axis pin (21), characterized in that, it comprises the following;

- at least one bearing surface (23) which is located at the end section (22) of said body bracket (20) and limits the rotation of the roller bracket (30) in (-) direction after it hits the bumper (50) part and thus prevents the deformation of the slide (40).

2. Roller mechanism according to claim 1 , characterized in that;

- Said bearing surface (23) is parallel with the bracket surface (12).

3. Roller mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that;

- The angle (a) between said bearing surface (23) and the bracket surface (12) is maximum 10°.