JP2007186845A - Sliding door opening and closing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a constitution of downsized sliding door opening/closing equipment capable of being housed in a narrow indoor-side-direction space allowed in a vehicle, and to provide the constitution which enables even the downsized equipment like this to secure sufficient strength and durability. <P>SOLUTION: In this sliding door opening/closing equipment 3, rotational surfaces of driven pulleys 71 and 72 are perpendicularly arranged in parallel with the length direction of a guide rail 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for opening and closing a vehicle sliding door by power.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a device that includes a drive device that uses an electric motor and that opens and closes a sliding door for a vehicle by power has been used. In such a device, an opening / closing device is disposed below the entrance of the vehicle (see FIG. 1). The opening / closing device has a flat step panel that extends substantially horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The step panel includes a drive device, a wire for transmitting the power of the drive device to the sliding door, a driven pulley for folding the wire at the front and rear ends of the step panel and routing the wire in a loop shape, etc. It is configured to allow parts to be attached.

  In such a switchgear, for example, in the configuration shown in Patent Document 1, the rotation surface of the driven pulley arranged at the front and rear end portions of the step panel is arranged to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, and the outer periphery of the driven pulley Projecting from the upper and lower surfaces of the step panel. And the wire currently supported by the groove | channel of the outer peripheral part of a driven pulley is routed from the top of a step panel to the lower surface side, and is routed in the loop shape so that it may return to an upper surface again. With such a configuration, the wires arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface side can be brought close to each other or crossed in a plan view of the step panel. For this reason, the switchgear can be designed to be small (see Patent Document 1).

Further, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, the guide rail that determines the trajectory of the sliding door moving back and forth is separated from the step panel and individually attached to the vehicle body. In contrast to such a configuration, for example, in the opening / closing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, the guide rail is fixed to the step panel and integrated to make it easier to assemble to the vehicle. Furthermore, in the structure of this patent document 2, since the rotating shaft of the driven pulley arrange | positioned so that a rotation surface may become horizontal at a step panel is being integrally fixed and attached near the guide rail, it is with respect to a guide rail. There is an advantage that the wire routing position can be maintained with high accuracy and durability can be improved.
JP-A-8-232539 JP 2004-257174 A

  When the slide door moves back and forth and opens and closes, when it reaches the vicinity of the entrance / exit, it is closed so as to draw the slide door toward the entrance / exit, that is, toward the inside of the vehicle. In order to obtain such a movement trajectory of the slide door, the guide rail attached to the vehicle side has a shape in which the tip end portion approaches the interior side of the vehicle. In addition, the arrangement of components such as a wire for transmitting power to the slide door and a driven pulley attached so as to route the wire is also configured to approach the inside of the vehicle at the tip portion of the step panel.

  However, in a vehicle structure designed to secure a wider floor space in the vehicle interior, the space allowed for housing the opening / closing device is limited to a narrow width in the vehicle interior direction.

  As described above, the rotation surface of the driven pulley in the configuration disclosed in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, or is horizontally arranged. For this reason, the outer peripheral part of the driven pulley attached to the front-end | tip part of a step panel and the wire currently supported by the outer periphery will protrude especially in an indoor side direction. In such a configuration, it is difficult to secure a required gap (see dimension A shown in FIG. 2) between the driven pulley and the vehicle body, and it is difficult to secure a wider vehicle interior floor. It will be a hindrance.

  An object of the present invention is to propose a configuration of a sliding door opening / closing device that is reduced in size so that it can be accommodated in a narrow indoor space that is particularly permitted by a vehicle, and to reduce the size of the device. However, it is to propose a configuration that can ensure sufficient strength and durability.

The first technical means taken in order to solve the above technical problem is to guide the guide roller support device, which is a guide roller support device that is freely supported, and is fixedly attached to the vehicle side. A step panel provided with a guide rail, a drive device attached to the step panel for driving the guide roller support device, the drive device and the guide roller support device are connected, and a drive force of the drive device is obtained. A wire member that is routed by looping the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the step panel for transmission, and is rotatably attached to the step panel, and the wire member is attached to the front and rear end portions of the step panel. In a sliding door opening and closing device comprising a pair of driven pulleys that are supported so as to be folded,
The rotational surface of the driven pulley is arranged vertically and parallel to the length direction of the guide rail.

  The second technical means taken in the present invention is that, in addition to the first means, the rotation shaft of the driven pulley is fixed to the guide rail.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the driven pulley is arranged so that the rotation surface is vertical and parallel to the length direction of the guide rail, the driven pulley on the front side is directed toward the inner side of the vehicle. Protrusion can be minimized. For this reason, it can be mounted even in a narrow space.

  Further, by arranging the rotation surface of the driven pulley so as to be parallel to the length direction of the guide rail, the wire supported by the driven pulley is extended and routed in a direction substantially along the guide rail. For this reason, the tension of the wire is mainly shared by the guide rail.

  Therefore, the opening and closing device configured in this way can be easily mounted on the vehicle and the step panel can be made of a thin steel plate because the step panel and the guide rail are integrally formed. Thus, it can be configured to be lightweight.

  In addition, according to the invention described in claim 2, since the rotation shaft of the driven pulley is directly fixed to the guide rail, a configuration with higher strength can be realized.

  An embodiment of a sliding door opening / closing device 3 (hereinafter referred to as an opening / closing device 3) according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

 First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the opening / closing device 3 is mounted at a position below the step 11 of the vehicle 1, below the entrance 10 of the vehicle 1. The slide door 2 is supported by the opening / closing device 3 on the lower side and the center guide device 12 on the center of the rear end. The sliding door 2 is moved in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1 by the operation of the opening / closing device 3, and opens / closes the entrance / exit 10.

 Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a connecting arm 21 is fixedly attached to the lower portion of the slide door 2. The opening / closing device 3 is mounted in a space 14 provided between the step 11 and the horizontal surface portion 15b of the vehicle body 15 below the step 11. The connecting arm 21 extends into the space 14, and its tip is connected to the opening / closing device 3 by a pivot 21 a.

 The width of the space 14 in which the opening / closing device 3 is mounted is defined in the vehicle interior direction by the vertical wall 15a on the floor surface 15c side of the vehicle 1. The width of the space 14 in the vehicle interior direction can be kept to the minimum necessary because of the vehicle design needs to secure the floor 15c as wide as possible. Although detailed description will be given later, in determining the configuration of the opening / closing device 3, it is a problem to secure the vertical wall 15a and the predetermined gap A in the space 14 having the limited width. .

 Next, the configuration of the opening / closing device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

 The opening / closing device 3 includes a step panel 32 that extends long in the front-rear direction and has a predetermined width. The step panel 32 is fixedly attached to the vehicle body 15 in the space 14 with appropriate attachment means (not shown) such as screws.

 A guide rail 31 is fixedly attached to the lower surface of the step panel 32. The guide rail 31 extends horizontally with substantially the same length as the front-rear direction of the step panel 32. The guide rail 31 is formed in an inverted U shape with a cross section perpendicular to its length direction opened downward, and is provided with a guide groove 31a.

 The opening / closing device 3 includes a guide roller support device 6 that rotatably supports a pair of guide rollers 61 and one load roller 63. The pair of guide rollers 61 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the front and rear directions, and are configured to roll along the guide grooves 31a.

 The load roller 63 is disposed between the pair of guide rollers 61 and has a rotation shaft extending horizontally in the vehicle width direction. The load roller 63 is configured to roll in the front-rear direction on the horizontal surface portion 15 b (FIG. 2) of the vehicle body 15 below the step panel 32. The guide roller support device 6 is supported by the load roller 63 so that the engagement between the guide roller 61 and the guide groove 31a is maintained.

 The guide roller support device 6 is coupled to the distal end portion of the connecting arm 21 by a pivot 21a. The pivot 21a allows the guide roller support device 6 and the connecting arm 21 to rotate in the horizontal direction and restricts the rotation in the vertical direction. The load roller 63 is configured to be able to share and support the load of the slide door 2 by the pivot 21a.

 The movement trajectory of the slide door 2 when the slide door 2 moves back and forth is determined by the guide roller support device 6 being guided by the guide rail 31. The rear half of the guide rail 31 has a shape that extends substantially in a straight line and parallel to the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1. And the center part of the guide rail 31 is a big circular arc shape, and it curves in the direction of a vehicle interior as it goes ahead. Further, the arc-shaped front portion has a linear shape extending toward the interior of the vehicle interior at an angle with the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1.

 When the sliding door 2 moves forward from the state in which the sliding door 2 is positioned rearward and the entrance 10 (FIG. 1) is open, the sliding door 2 is parallel to the front and rear direction of the vehicle 1 on the outside of the vehicle 1. It becomes. When the slide door 2 further moves forward and the guide roller support device 6 reaches the front portion through the curved portion of the guide rail 31, the slide door 2 is gradually drawn toward the vehicle 1 side. When the guide roller support device 6 reaches the front end of the guide rail 31, the slide door 2 is configured to completely close the entrance / exit 10.

 The drive device 5 is mounted on the upper surface of the step panel 32. The driving device 5 includes an electric motor 52 that is operated by an operation of a slide door opening / closing switch (not shown) by an occupant, and a winding pulley 51 that is rotated forward or reverse by the operation of the electric motor 52. The take-up pulley 51 having a drum-like outer peripheral surface shape includes a rotating shaft extending in the vertical direction.

 The power of the drive device 5 is transmitted to the wire member 4 when the wire member 4 is wound or rewound by the winding pulley 51. The wire member 4 includes a front side wire 41 and a rear side wire 42, and one end of each is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the take-up pulley 51. The front wire 41 extends forward on the upper surface of the step panel 32, and the rear wire 42 extends rearward on the upper surface of the step panel 32.

 A front driven pulley 71 is rotatably attached to the front end portion of the step panel 32. The rotation shaft of the driven pulley 71 extends in the horizontal direction. In other words, the rotation surface of the driven pulley 71 is perpendicular to the vertical direction. Further, the rotation surface of the driven pulley 71 is mounted so that it is parallel to the extending direction of the front portion of the linear guide rail 31 in the front-rear direction, that is, with the same inclination as the guide rail 31 in the front-rear direction. It has been. And it is set so that the clearance gap between the side surface of the guide rail 31 and the driven pulley 71 may become the minimum, and it attaches mutually close.

 The front wire 41 is supported by two upper idle pulleys 75 disposed on the upper surface of the step panel 32, extends to the front end portion of the step panel 32, and is supported by the outer peripheral portion of the driven pulley 71. The front wire 41 is guided to the lower surface of the step panel 32 by the driven pulley 71 and is further routed so as to be folded back. The other end of the folded front wire 41 is connected to a wire connecting portion 45 to which the guide roller support device 6 is attached.

 Similarly, the rear wire 42 is guided to the lower surface of the step panel 32 by a rear driven pulley 72 attached to the rear end portion of the step panel 32. The other end of the rear wire 42 is routed so as to be folded forward, and is connected to the wire connecting portion 45 via the two lower idle pulleys 74 and 74.

 As is apparent from the above, the wire member 4 is connected to the wire connecting portion 45 via the take-up pulley 51 and the driven pulleys 71 and 72 at the front end and the rear end of the step panel 32, whereby the step panel 32. The upper surface and the lower surface of the ring are annular and are routed in a so-called loop. In this configuration, as seen in the plan view of FIG. 3, the front wire 41 folded back by the driven pulley 71 follows substantially the same position on the upper surface and the lower surface of the step panel 32. Such a configuration is advantageous in designing the size of the switching device 3 in the width direction to be small.

 The driven pulley 72 on the rear side of the step panel 32 also has a rotational surface perpendicular to the vertical direction and parallel to the length direction of the guide rail 31 and to the side surface of the guide rail 31, similarly to the driven pulley 71 on the front side. So that there is a minimum clearance.

 As described above, since the driven pulleys 71 and 72 are arranged in close proximity to the side surface of the guide rail 31, most of the tension of the wire member 4 is shared by the guide rail 31. For this reason, the step panel 32 can be made light with a thin steel plate, which is advantageous in reducing the weight of the switchgear 3.

 Furthermore, in the configuration in which the driven pulleys 71 and 72 and the guide rail 31 are arranged close to each other, it is easy to ensure the accuracy of the mutual positions of the wire member 4 and the guide rail 31, and the smooth operation of the guide roller support device 6 is guaranteed. In addition, it is advantageous in improving durability.

 The wire connecting portion 45 supports the end portions of the wires 41 and 42 via elastic members (not shown) such as springs as in the known device, and the wire member 4 as a whole when the opening / closing device 3 is operated. It is the structure which can provide fixed tension to.

 The rotation shafts of the driven pulleys 71 and 72 may be directly supported by the step panel 32 or the guide rail 31 so that the tension of the wire member 4 can be more easily transmitted to the guide rail 31.

 As described above, since the rotation surface of the driven pulley 71 on the front side is made vertical and arranged parallel to the side surface of the guide rail 31, the outer peripheral portion of the driven pulley 71 and the vehicle interior direction of the front wire 41 are arranged. The protrusion to is minimized. With this configuration, it is easy to ensure a predetermined gap A (see FIGS. 2 and 3) between the outer peripheral portion of the driven pulley 71 and the vertical wall 15a.

 Since the operation of the opening / closing device 3 configured as described above is the same as that of a known device, detailed description thereof is omitted. The drive device 5 incorporates a clutch mechanism (not shown) and the like, and operates so that a predetermined load or more does not act on the components when the opening / closing device 3 is operated.

It is a side view of a vehicle provided with a sliding door opening and closing device according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing in the II-II part in FIG. It is a top view of the sliding door opening and closing apparatus concerning this invention. In FIG. 3, it is the perspective view of the part seen from IV direction. It is a side view of the sliding door opening and closing apparatus concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Slide door 3 Slide door opening / closing device 4 Wire member 5 Drive device 6 Guide roller support device 31 Guide rail 32 Step panel

Claims (2)

A guide roller support device connected to and attached to a sliding door of a vehicle and supporting the sliding door so as to be opened and closed;
A step panel fixedly mounted on the vehicle side and provided with a guide rail for guiding the guide roller support device;
A drive device attached to the step panel for driving the guide roller support device;
A wire member arranged by looping an upper surface side and a lower surface side of the step panel in order to connect the driving device and the guide roller support device and transmit a driving force of the driving device;
In a slide door opening and closing device comprising a pair of driven pulleys that are rotatably attached to the step panel and support the wire member so as to be folded back at the front and rear ends of the step panel.
A sliding door opening and closing device, characterized in that the driven pulley has a rotation surface arranged vertically and parallel to the length direction of the guide rail. The sliding door opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein a rotation shaft of a driven pulley is fixed to the guide rail.

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