FR2964053A1 - Tool i.e. screw gun, for traversing door liner separating upstream space from downstream space to carry out e.g. screwing of door handle on door false lock of car, has stop supported against wall to guide tool to allow single orientation - Google Patents

Abstract

The tool has a positioning stop (30) supported against a wall (6) i.e. door liner, in an upstream space (20) so as to guide the tool to allow a single orientation through the wall. Two contiguous parts extend along two different planes, where each part is supported on a zone (18, 48) that is distinct from the wall of a door liner. A hollow guiding unit (24) comprises an upstream part (26) extending in an upstream space, and a downstream part (28) extending in a downstream space (22). An independent claim is also included for a method for fixing a part positioned in a downstream space using a tool.

Description

i TOOL FOR CROSSING A WALL SEPARATING FROM AN UPPER SPACE OF A DOWNSTAIR

The present invention relates to a tool for traversing a wall, separating an upstream space from a downstream space, for performing an operation on a fixed part positioned in the downstream space, and a method for fixing a part positioned in a downstream space using a tool according to the invention for traversing a wall separating an upstream space from a downstream space. Such a tool allows the attachment of a piece blind, while it is not possible to have direct access to said piece. Indeed, it may happen that an operator is brought to intervene through a wall, to perform an operation, such as gluing, screwing or other, on a piece located on the other side of the wall, without access directly to said room. This situation is quite common in the automotive industry, when mounting, for example, opening, which are hollow objects, and in which it is necessary to implement certain bodies, such as a door handle, or a window control handle. These interventions then require the manipulation of a tool through a wall, with an inevitable trial-and-error phase, without ever being certain of achieving, with said tool, the appropriate zone of the part. Indeed, it is generally proposed to use an orifice of the wall, and to pass the tool, which is not stabilized in a given direction. The operator then proceeds by small successive rotations, combined with small translational movements, in an attempt to bring the end of the tool to the relevant area of the workpiece. The invention relates to a tool for improving the conditions of intervention, in a closed cavity, in particular to secure, by screwing, a part placed in said cavity. For this purpose, the invention relates to a tool for traversing a wall, separating an upstream space from a downstream space, to perform an operation on a fixed part positioned in the downstream space, characterized in that said The tool comprises a positioning stop intended to bear against the wall in the upstream space, so as to guide said tool to allow only one orientation of said tool through said wall. According to particular embodiments, the tool further comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination: the stop may comprise two contiguous portions extending in two different planes, each part bearing on a separate area of the door lining wall; the tool may comprise a hollow guide member comprising an upstream part intended to extend in the upstream space and a downstream part intended to extend in the downstream space, the upstream and downstream parts being separated by the abutment; positioning; - The upstream and downstream parts may be elongated, their longitudinal axis being aligned with the area of the room where the tool is supposed to intervene; the channel extending inside the guide member may have a larger diameter in the upstream portion than in the downstream portion, the portions of the channel respectively passing through the upstream portion and the downstream portion being disposed coaxially and being separated from each other by a shoulder; - The tool may further comprise a piston slidably mounted in the channel of the guide member, one end of the piston carrying a nozzle for performing the operation on the fixed part; the other end of the piston may carry a handle intended to control the displacement of the piston; - The tool may further comprise a spring mounted in the channel and whose ends are supported on the shoulder and a ring engaged on the end of the handle mounted on the piston; 3 - the tool can be a screwdriver. The invention also relates to a method for fixing a part positioned in a downstream space using a tool according to the invention, comprising the following steps: - Insert the tool into a hole in the wall up to the positioning stop bears against the wall in the upstream space; - Operate the tool so that it passes from a rest position in which a tip for performing the operation on the workpiece is held away from the workpiece, to an active position in which the tip comes in contact with the relevant area of the part to be fixed; - Trigger the tool thus positioned through the wall, to fix the piece. According to a particular embodiment, the wall may be a door liner, and the part to be fixed may be a false door lock. The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a front view of a door of vehicle provided with a false lock to be fixed using a tool according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tool according to the invention, adapted to allow a screwing operation in order to fix the false door latch; FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the tool of FIG. 2 mounted in abutment on a door liner, said tool being in the rest position; - Figure 4 is a view identical to Figure 3, said tool being in the active position for fixing the false lock; - Figure 5 is a sectional view of one end of the tool, according to a first embodiment; and Figure 6 is a sectional view of one end of the tool according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a front door 2 of a motor vehicle comprising an outer skin 4 crimped on a door liner 6, visible in FIGS. 3 and 4. The door 2 is equipped with a control device 8 intended to allow the maneuvering of said door between an open position and a closed position. The control device conventionally comprises a lever-shaped handle 10 mounted on the outer face of the outer skin 4 and for controlling a lock via unrepresented drive means. The handle 10 Io is articulated at its front end 10a on a base, not shown, about an axis substantially parallel to the general plane of the door 2. The control device further comprises a false lock 12 located in the extension of the end 10b of the handle 10, opposite the end 10a. The fixing of the false lock 12 on the door is carried out using a tool 14 according to the invention, which will be detailed later, introduced into an orifice 16 made in the door liner 6, said orifice being cylindrical, and having a horizontal axis of revolution extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle when the door is in the closed position on the vehicle. The orifice 16 is formed in a wall of the door liner 6 extending, when the door is in the closed position on the vehicle, substantially parallel to the transverse axis of the vehicle; said wall bearing on the middle foot of the vehicle, not shown. In the factory, to facilitate the mounting of the door accessories and therefore that of the false lock 12, the door is removed from the vehicle body and mounted on a fixed frame in order to receive its accessories. The wall of the door liner 6 then makes it possible to separate an upstream space 20, in which the operator is located, from a downstream space 22 situated behind said wall, and in which the false lock 12 is located. fix on a stirrup 13 with the aid of the tool 14 according to the invention.

The tool 14, according to the invention, goes from this point to be more particularly described; the tool 14 allows the attachment of the false lock 12 by a screwing action. The tool 14 according to the invention has a guide member 24s comprising an upstream cylindrical portion 26, a downstream cylindrical portion 28, and a central stop 30, the central stop 30 separating the upstream cylindrical portion 26 from the downstream cylindrical portion. 28. The outer diameter of the upstream cylindrical portion 26 is greater than that of the downstream cylindrical portion 28. The upstream cylindrical portions 26 and downstream 28 are aligned and extend Io coaxially. The central stop 30, whose profile will be detailed later, extends substantially perpendicularly to the upstream cylindrical portions 26 and downstream 28 and is intended to bear against the outer face of the door liner 6 disposed in the upstream space . The guide member 24 furthermore has an internal cylindrical channel 32 passing through the upstream and downstream cylindrical portions 26 and the central stop 30. The diameter of the cylinder channel passing through the upstream portion 26 is greater than that through the portion downstream 28. The portions of the channel through respectively the upstream portion 26 and the downstream portion 28 are arranged coaxially and are separated from each other by a shoulder 34.

The tool 14 further comprises a piston 36 slidably mounted in the cylindrical channel 32. A first end 36a of this piston 36 carries a tip 38 intended to meet a screw 40 for securing the false lock 12 on the stirrup 13, the other end 36b carries a handle 42 whose actuation causes the displacement of the piston 36 inside the cylindrical channel 32. As shown in Figure 6, the false lock 12 is fixed to the door stirrup 13 via a horizontal screw 40, whose head emerges from a tapped hole 43. In addition, a ring 44 provided with a circular central opening is engaged on the end 42a of the handle mounted on the piston 36 and 30 positioned in the portion of the cylindrical channel 32 extending in the upstream portion 26. A spring 46 is mounted around the piston 36 and bears between the shoulder 6 and the end 44a of the ring 44 arranged opposite to said shoulder 34. In addition, the 30 in. center stop ssède a complementary profile to that of the wall on which it bears so that the screwing of the screw 40 for fixing the false lock 12 is accurate. More specifically, the central stop 30 has a first portion 30a adapted to bear on a first zone 18 of the wall of the door liner 6 and a second portion 30b extending substantially at right angles to the first portion 30a adapted to bear Io on a second zone 48 of the wall of the door liner 6, the first zone 18 being contiguous with the second zone 48. Preferably, the upstream cylindrical portions 26 and downstream 28 extend from one side to the other. other of the first part 30a of the central abutment, the latter bearing, during the screwing operation, against the wall 18 is in which the orifice 16 is formed. According to a first embodiment, in order to ensure precise guidance of the tip 38 intended to meet the screw 40 to allow the fixing of the false latch 12, a ring 50 is mounted at the end of the cylindrical channel 32, near the tip 38, as shown in the figure 5. This ring 50 20 fills the space between the piston 36 and the inner face of the downstream cylindrical portion 28. Preferably, the ring 50 is made of soft material to allow the tip 38 to cooperate easily with the screw to tighten, the latter may know dispersions from one vehicle to another. In addition, the ring 50 must allow the piston 36 to move freely in the channel 32. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, the end of the piston 36 extending outside the cylindrical channel 32 may be provided with a guide member 52. This guide member 52 takes the form of a ring whose end 52a located opposite the false latch 12 is conical.

Thus, during assembly of the false latch 12, the operator introduces the tool 14 according to the invention into the hole 16 of the wall. For this purpose, the downstream cylindrical portion 28 is inserted horizontally into the orifice 16 until the central stop 30 bears on the zones 18 and 48 of the door lining wall. Thus, the longitudinal axis of the upstream cylindrical portions 26 and downstream 28 is aligned with the region of the false lock 12 where the tool must intervene. In this rest position, shown in Figure 3, the tip 38 is spaced apart from the screw 40 to be screwed, the end 44b of the ring, opposite to that serving as a support for the spring 46, is supported on one of the walls 54 of the guide member 24 defining the length of the cylindrical channel 32; the spring is then relaxed. Then, the operator exerts on the shaft 42 a thrust in a direction Io parallel to the axis of the cylindrical channel 32, the piston 36 is then driven to an active position, shown in Figure 4, in which the tip 38 comes meet the screw 40 to fix. During this step, the movement of the handle 42 causes that of the ring 44 carried by the latter so that it is no longer in abutment on the wall 54; the spring 46 is then compressed. The operator, who is then sure to have matched the tool 14 with the screw 40, triggers his tool to fix the false lock 12. In the case where the piston 36 is provided with the guide member 52, in the rest position as shown in Figure 6, the end 52a 20 encloses the screw 40 to be screwed, then following the displacement of the piston 36 bears on the stirrup 13 and then perfectly guides the end piece 38 towards the screw 40. As soon as the operator releases the handle 42, under the action of the spring 46, the ring 44, the piston 36 and the handle 42, return to their rest position.

Thanks to the tool according to the invention, the operator is certain to have positioned well the tip 38 with a view to the screwing operation without having to control its orientation, the tool being able to be placed only only one way through the orifice 16 thus blocking in a precise and predetermined orientation the guide member 24. Moreover, this is achieved in a single step without the use of a template lengthening the assembly time of the vehicle.

In addition, the central stop 30 makes it possible to ideally position the guiding member 24 with respect to the door lining wall, without the risk of seeing it disappear in the downstream space by a too great thrust force. Likewise, this abutment makes it possible to control the depression of the guide member in the wall, and thus makes it possible to prevent it being only partially inserted into the wall. Of course, the invention can be adapted to any other type of tool for blind mounting.

Claims (11)

CLAIMS1) Tool for passing through a wall (6), separating an upstream space (20) from a downstream space (22), to perform an operation on a fixed part (12) positioned in the downstream space (22), characterized in that said tool (14) comprises a positioning stop (30) intended to bear against the wall (6) in the upstream space (20), so as to guide said tool to allow only a single orientation of said tool (14) through said wall (6). 2) Tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the stop (30) io comprises two contiguous parts (30a, 30b) extending in two different planes, each part bearing on a zone (18, 48) distinct from the wall (6) of door lining. 3) Tool according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a hollow guide member (24) having an upstream portion (26) for extending into the upstream space (20) and a downstream portion (28) for extending into the downstream space (22), said upstream (26) and downstream (28) portions being separated by the positioning stop (30). 4) Tool according to claim 3, characterized in that said upstream (26) and downstream (28) portions are elongated, their longitudinal axis being aligned with the area of the workpiece (12) where the tool (14) is intended intervene. 5) Tool according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the channel (32) extending inside the guide member (24) has a larger diameter in the upstream portion (26) than in the downstream portion (28), said portions of the channel respectively passing through the upstream portion (26) and the downstream portion (28) being arranged coaxially and separated from each other by a shoulder (34). 6) Tool according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the tool further comprises a piston (36) slidably mounted in the channel (32) of the guide member (24), one ends (36a) of said piston carrying a tip (38) for performing the operation on the fixed part (12). 30 7) Tool according to claim 6, characterized in that the other end (36b) of the piston carries a handle (42) for controlling the displacement of the piston (36). 2964053 i0 8) Tool according to claim 7 combined with claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises a spring (46) mounted in the channel (32) and whose ends are supported on the shoulder (34) and on a ring (44) engaged on the end (42a) of the handle mounted on the piston (36). 5 9) Tool according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tool is a screwdriver. 10) Method for fixing a part positioned in a downstream space (22) using a tool according to one of claims 1 to 9 for passing through a wall (6) separating an upstream space (20) d a downstream space (22), characterized in that it comprises the following steps: - Insert the tool into an orifice (16) of the wall (6) until the positioning stop (30) takes bearing against the wall in the upstream space (20); Actuating said tool to move from a rest position in which a tip (38) intended to perform the operation on the workpiece (12) is spaced from said workpiece, to an active position in which the tip comes into contact with the relevant area of the part to be fixed; - Trigger the tool (14) and positioned through the wall (6), to fix said piece. 20 11) A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the wall is a door liner (6), and the workpiece is a false door latch (12).