JP2024067091A - Vehicle structure including slide door - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle structure including a slide door which properly prevents or inhibits a predetermined movable member, such as a belt, from getting wet with water traveling upward from the lower side and being frozen during a cold period.SOLUTION: In a vehicle structure A including a slide door, a driving force application mechanism B for a slide door 11 includes a belt or a wire-like movable member 6 which is connected to the slide door 11 and moves using a motor M as a driving source; and a movable member guide 7. A gap C is formed between a slide rail 2 and a rear side outer panel 15. A bead part 15a protruding to the outer side in a vehicle width direction and extending in a vehicle fore and aft direction is provided at a portion, located below the movable member guide 7 and facing the gap C or located above the gap C, of the rear side outer panel 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle structure, such as an automobile, that is equipped with a sliding door.

Specific examples of vehicle structures equipped with sliding doors include those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-233699 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-233699.
These vehicle structures are equipped with a sliding door for opening and closing an opening for getting on and off provided on the side of the vehicle. This sliding door is capable of so-called automatic opening and closing operations, and as a means for this, a driving force imparting mechanism for the sliding door is provided on a slide rail (center slide rail) for supporting and guiding the sliding door. This driving force imparting mechanism is a mechanism for imparting a driving force to the sliding door for moving the sliding door in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and is configured by combining a belt (moving member) that is connected to the sliding door via a connecting part and moves using a motor as a driving source, and a belt guide (moving member guide) that guides the movement of this belt.
According to this configuration, the driving force of the motor is used to move the belt, and the sliding door is moved in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle in conjunction with the movement of the belt, thereby enabling the so-called automatic opening and closing operation of the sliding door.

However, there is room for improvement in the above-mentioned conventional technology, as described below.

In other words, it is desirable to protect the various parts of the driving force imparting mechanism for the sliding door and the slide rail located below it from getting wet by rainwater, snow, car wash water, etc. as much as possible.
As a countermeasure for this, attempts have been made to attach a body side cover to the outer surface of the rear side outer panel of the vehicle to which the slide rail is attached, which covers almost the entire area of the driving force imparting mechanism and the slide rail. However, although such a body side cover covers the upper side and outer surface of the driving force imparting mechanism and the slide rail, the reality is that the lower part of the inner area of this body side cover is left open so that water can enter.
On the other hand, although the slide rail is attached to the outer surface of the rear side outer panel of the vehicle, a gap may be formed between the slide rail and the rear side outer panel. As a result, water such as splash water while the vehicle is running or water sprayed from a car wash hose may enter the gap from below and pass upward, causing the belt of the driving force applying mechanism to get wet. If this occurs in cold weather, the wet parts of the belt may freeze, making it difficult to open and close the sliding door.
To prevent this, it is conceivable to provide an additional dedicated cover to prevent water from entering from below the slide rail, etc. However, such a measure increases the number of parts, which leads to an increase in the vehicle weight and manufacturing costs.

JP 2019-100081 A JP 2019-108740 A

The present invention was conceived under the circumstances described above, and has an object to provide a vehicle structure equipped with a sliding door that can appropriately prevent or suppress, by means of a simple configuration, the moving members, such as belts that constitute a driving force imparting mechanism for the sliding door, from getting wet with water moving upward from the lower side of the slide rail and freezing in cold weather.

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

The vehicle structure with a sliding door provided by the present invention includes a slide rail attached to the outer surface of the rear side outer panel of the vehicle, extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and supporting and guiding the sliding door so that the sliding door can move in the vehicle longitudinal direction; and a driving force imparting mechanism for the sliding door that imparts a driving force to the sliding door for moving the sliding door in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The driving force imparting mechanism includes a belt or wire-shaped moving member connected to the sliding door and moving using a motor as a driving source, and a moving member guide that guides the movement of the moving member, and at least a part of each of the moving member and the moving member guide is located above the slide rail, and a gap is formed between the slide rail and the rear side outer panel. The vehicle structure with a sliding door further includes a bead portion that is provided on the rear side outer panel below the moving member guide, facing the gap or above the gap, and that protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction and extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

According to this configuration, even if water, such as splash water while the vehicle is traveling or water sprayed from a car wash hose, enters the gap between the slide rail and the rear side outer panel from the lower side upward, the water hits the bead portion. Therefore, the water is prevented or suppressed from rising any further. In addition, if the water attempts to rise further despite the weakening of the force of the water, the water's direction of travel can be changed to the outside in the vehicle width direction. This appropriately prevents or suppresses the water from reaching the moving member (e.g., the belt) of the driving force imparting mechanism. As a result, it is possible to appropriately prevent a problem in which the moving member gets wet with water and freezes in cold weather, making it difficult to open and close the slide door.
According to the present invention, there is no need to provide a separate dedicated cover to prevent water from entering the gap between the slide rail and the rear side outer panel. Meanwhile, the bead portion can be easily formed integrally with the rear side outer panel when the rear side outer panel is press-molded. Therefore, an increase in the number of parts can be suppressed, and increases in vehicle weight and manufacturing costs can also be appropriately suppressed.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic side view showing a main portion of an example of a vehicle structure equipped with a sliding door according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of the vehicle in a state where the sliding door of FIG. 1 is omitted. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIIa-IIIa in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main portion of FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2. This is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of Figure 2. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the essential parts of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 with a body side cover removed. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIIa-VIIa in FIG. 6, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIIb-VIIb in FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the main part of FIG. 6 . 9 is a schematic perspective view of the essential parts showing the configuration in a state where the slide rail and the driving force applying mechanism in FIG. 8 have been removed (rear side outer panel and reinforcing member). FIG. 7A is a side view of the main parts of the vehicle structure equipped with the sliding door shown in FIG. 2 as seen from inside the vehicle compartment (corresponding to the view of arrow X in FIG. 7A), FIG. 7B is a side view of the main parts in a state in which the motor unit is omitted in FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7C is an exploded side view of the main parts of FIG.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the vehicle structure A with a sliding door shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, appropriately abbreviated as "vehicle structure A"), a sliding door 11 is provided that can move back and forth in the vehicle longitudinal direction to open and close an opening 10 for getting on and off provided on the side of the vehicle 1. An upper roller 12a, a lower roller 12b, and first and second rollers 51, 52 as center rollers (details will be described later with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5) are attached near the upper end and lower end of the front of the sliding door 11, and at the middle part in the vertical height direction of the rear. These are supported by and can move along upper, lower, and center slide rails 14a, 14b, 2 that are provided on the vehicle body and extend in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The center slide rail 2 corresponds to a specific example of the slide rail referred to in the present invention (claim 1), and the other slide rails 14a, 14b do not correspond to it.

As can be seen clearly in Figures 2 to 8, the vehicle structure A is provided with the aforementioned center slide rail 2, as well as a driving force imparting mechanism B for the sliding door, as a means for enabling the sliding door 11 to move in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle. It also includes a body side cover 3, a reinforcing member 4, and a bead portion 15a as associated or corresponding members and parts. The details of these are explained below.

The slide rail 2 is attached to the outer surface of the rear side outer panel 15 of the vehicle 1 and extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the front area of the slide rail 2 is curved along the curved surface of the rear edge 10a of the opening 10 for getting on and off. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the slide rail 2 has a bottom wall 20, a side wall 21, and an upper Π-shaped portion 22, and has a cross-sectional shape that opens outward in the vehicle width direction. In contrast, the first and second rollers 51, 52 fitted into the slide rail 2 are attached to a curved arm 50 attached to the slide door 11. The first roller 51 can roll on the bottom wall 20 (can rotate around the horizontal axis La in FIG. 3(b)), and the weight of the slide door 11 is supported by the slide rail 2 via the first roller 51. The second roller 52 can roll within the upper π-shaped portion 22 (can rotate around the vertical axis Lb in FIG. 3(b)), and the presence of this second roller 52 prevents the sliding door 11 from falling over.

The slide rail 2 is attached to the rear side outer panel 15 using bolts and nuts 9a and 9b as shown in Fig. 4, but the rear side outer panel 15 has a bulging portion 15b formed by partially bulging the fastening points of the bolts and nuts 9a and 9b toward the slide rail 2. A gap C is formed between the rear side outer panel 15 and the slide rail 2. This gap C is closed at the points between the rear side outer panel 15 and the slide rail 2 where the bulging portion 15b is formed and the bolts and nuts 9a and 9b are fastened, but is not closed in other areas (Fig. 3,
(See also Figures 5 and 7.) As shown by arrows N1 in Figures 3 and 5, water such as splash water while the vehicle is moving or water sprayed from a car wash hose may enter into this gap C from below.

A reinforcing member 4 made of a metal plate is overlapped and joined to the inner surface (inside the vehicle compartment) of the rear side outer panel 15. This joining is performed by welding such as spot welding. The reinforcing member 4 is overlapped at the fastening points of the slide rail 2 with the bolts and nuts 9a and 9b, thereby increasing the strength of the mounting points of the slide rail 2.
9, the reinforcing member 4 has an opening 40 formed therein that corresponds to an opening 16, described below, provided in the rear side outer panel 15, and has a main region 41 disposed opposite the periphery of the opening 16, and an extension region 42 that connects to the rear side of the main region 41 and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction. Of these, the extension region 42 is disposed opposite the slide rail 2, and has bolt insertion holes 43 that correspond to the above-mentioned bolts and nuts 9a, 9b.

The body side cover 3 covers almost the entire area of the slide rail 2 and the driving force imparting mechanism B for the slide door located above it, and serves to protect them and improve the appearance of the vehicle 1. The body side cover 3 has bracket legs 31 (see Figures 3 and 5) on the inner surface side thereof, which have multiple locking projections 30 at their tips. The body side cover 3 is attached to the rear side outer panel 15 by inserting and locking the locking projections 30 into multiple holes 15e provided in the rear side outer panel 15.

2 to 8, the driving force imparting mechanism B for the sliding door is a mechanism that imparts to the sliding door 11 a driving force for moving the sliding door 11 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle along the slide rail 2. The driving force imparting mechanism B includes a belt 6, a belt guide 7, a belt cover 68, and a motor unit 8 including a motor M shown in FIG.
Among these, the belt 6 and the belt guide 7 correspond to specific examples of the "moving member" and the "guide for the moving member" in the present invention (claim 1), respectively.

The belt 6 is, for example, an endless timing belt.
The belt guide 7 is for guiding the belt 6 along a fixed path, and as shown in Fig. 7, is configured such that front and rear pulleys 71a, 71b and a plurality of intermediate pulleys 71c are provided on the upper surface of a belt guide main body 70 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction. The belt 6 is wound around the front and rear pulleys 71a, 71b and can circulate between them in both forward and reverse directions.

The belt guide 7 is disposed and fixed on the outer surface of the rear side outer panel 15, above the slide rail 2. For example, the fixing means may be a bolt fastening means for bracket portions 76a, 76b provided at both front and rear ends of the belt guide 7 to other bracket portions 26a, 26b provided at both front and rear ends of the slide rail 2. In addition, an upwardly extending bracket portion 76c is provided midway in the front-rear direction of the belt guide 7, and this bracket portion 76c is attached to the rear side outer panel 15 and the reinforcing member 4 using a bolt 9c and a screw hole portion 9d.

As described above, the belt guide 7 is basically attached to the outer surface side of the rear side outer panel 15, but the belt guide 7 is provided with an auxiliary region 72 located on the vehicle width direction inner side (inside the vehicle compartment) of the rear side outer panel 15 (see FIG. 7). The auxiliary region 72 is an area that partially protrudes from the other portion of the belt guide 7 toward the vehicle width direction inner side and passes through the opening 16 of the rear side outer panel 15 toward the vehicle compartment.
A part of the belt 6 is inserted inside the pulley 71d, and a pulley 71d for driving the belt is attached inside the pulley 71d. The pulley 71d is driven to rotate by a motor unit 8 shown in FIG. 10, so that the belt 6 moves in a circulating manner along a predetermined path.

A connecting member 67 is attached to the belt 6, which can move in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle as the belt 6 moves, and this connecting member 67 is connected to the arm 50 of the sliding door 11 via a bolt fastening means or the like. Therefore, when the belt 6 is moved by the motor unit 8, the sliding door 11 moves in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle.

The motor unit 8 comprises a motor M, a rotary drive shaft 80 that is rotated at an appropriate speed by the motor M, and a unit case 81 that holds the motor M and its accessories together. As can be seen clearly in FIG. 10(c), the unit case 81 is attached to both the reinforcing member 4 and the belt guide 7 by, for example, screwing into the weld nut 9f of the reinforcing member 4 using a bolt 9e and screwing into the threaded portion 9h of the auxiliary region 72 of the belt guide 7 using another bolt 9g. The rotary drive shaft 80 of the motor unit 8 is drivingly connected to a pulley 71d for driving the belt.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the belt guide main body 70 includes an upper wall 70a, an upright wall 70b, an auxiliary wall 70c, and a lower wall 70d. The upper wall 70a is a generally horizontal strip extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The upright wall 70b is a wall located between two parallel parts of the belt 6 and standing up in the vertical height direction, and is provided continuously or intermittently below the upper wall 70a. The auxiliary wall 70c plays a role in preventing the belt 6 from rising. The lower wall 70d is a portion provided so as to bend from the lower end of the upright wall 70b toward the inside in the vehicle width direction, and is provided in a continuous manner extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction. This lower wall 70d is a portion that plays a role in preventing the belt 6 from getting wet, as described below. This lower wall portion 70d is provided continuously over almost the entire length of the belt guide 7, but instead, it can be provided only in a location corresponding to the bead portion 15a (described later), i.e., in the area rearward of the opening 16.

The belt cover 68 (moving member cover) is a member that covers the upper side of the belt guide 7 and the belt 6 in the driving force imparting mechanism B, and is made of, for example, resin. This belt cover 68 is fixed to the belt guide 7. As a means for this, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of additional upper wall portions 70a', each having, for example, a transverse L-shaped or U-shaped cross section, are provided at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle on the upper wall portion 70a of the belt guide 7. The belt cover 68 has an upwardly protruding portion 68a that is placed on the multiple additional upper wall portions 70a', and this upwardly protruding portion 68a is fixed to the additional upper wall portion 70a' using a pin-shaped locking clip 90.

The bead portion 15a is a portion formed by pressing the rear side outer panel 15, and partially protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction relative to other portions of the rear side outer panel 15, and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction (see also Figures 8 and 9). The bead portion 15a is provided at a position rearward of the opening 16, and is not provided in the vicinity of the opening 16 or in a position forward of the opening 16. The significance of this will be described later.

As shown in Figures 3 to 5, the bead portion 15a is provided below the belt guide 7 at a portion facing the gap C between the slide rail 2 and the rear side outer panel 15 (at a portion at the same height as the gap C), or at a portion above the gap C (at a portion at the height between the belt guide 7 and the slide rail 2). Preferably, the bead portion 15a is sized to protrude outward in the vehicle width direction beyond the minimum width s1 portion of the gap C. This produces an effect of more effectively blocking water when water advances upward from below the bead portion 15a, as will be described later.

Next, we will explain the operation of the vehicle structure A described above.

First, the slide rail 2 and driving force imparting mechanism B are covered by the body side cover 3, which appropriately prevents rainwater and the like from directly contacting them and protects them. However, a small gap may occur between the upper part of the body side cover 3 and the rear side outer panel 15, which may allow rainwater and the like to enter through this gap, as shown by arrow N2 in Figure 3(a). In contrast, the upper sides of the belt 6 and belt guide 7 of the driving force imparting mechanism B are covered by the belt cover 68, so these parts will not get wet with rainwater and the like.

On the other hand, the arm 50 of the sliding door 11 needs to pass under the body side cover 3, so the inner area of the lower part of the body side cover 3 is an open area. Therefore, as shown by the arrow N1 in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5, there is a risk that water, such as splash water when the vehicle is running or water sprayed from a car wash hose, may enter the gap C upward from the open area. However, this water hits the bead portion 15a. Therefore, the water is prevented or suppressed from rising to a higher height, and the water that attempts to proceed further upward despite the weakened force of the water is changed in its direction of travel to the outside in the vehicle width direction. As a result, the water is appropriately suppressed from splashing on the belt 6. In addition, the lower wall portion 70d of the belt cover 68 covers the lower side of the belt 6, and more effectively suppresses the water that passes upward through the gap C from splashing on the belt 6.
This appropriately prevents the belt 6 from getting wet and freezing in cold weather, which can cause difficulties in opening and closing the sliding door 11.

As described above with reference to Figs. 8 and 9, the bead portion 15a is provided only on the rear side of the opening 16, which is preferable in that it does not unnecessarily increase the length of the bead portion 15a, and it is easy to form the bead portion 15a, while effectively preventing the belt 6 from getting wet. In this embodiment, the bead portion 15a is not provided near the opening 16 or further forward of the opening 16, but this does not cause any particular problem. This is because the belt 6 is housed in the auxiliary region 72 of the belt guide 7 near the opening 16 and is not exposed to the outside, so that the belt 6 is unlikely to get wet in this area. In addition, when the vehicle is running or the car is washed, the sliding door 11 is closed and is located further forward of the opening 16, so the front side of the belt 6 is hidden by the sliding door 11 and is unlikely to get wet.

According to the present invention, the bead portion 15a is provided as one of the means for preventing the belt 6 from getting wet, and it is easy to form. In addition, there is no need to provide a dedicated cover to prevent the water from rising up from below the gap C, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts. Therefore, the increase in the vehicle weight and manufacturing costs can also be appropriately suppressed.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the mounting points of the slide rail 2, belt guide 7, and motor unit 8 are efficiently reinforced using the reinforcing member 4, making it difficult for distortion of each part and resulting misalignment of the relative positions of each part to occur. This makes it possible to improve the smoothness, stability, and reliability of the opening and closing operation of the slide door 11.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The specific configuration of each part of the vehicle structure equipped with the sliding door according to the present invention can be freely designed and modified in various ways within the intended scope of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the moving member and the moving member guide in the present invention (claim 1) are a belt and a belt guide, but are not limited to this. The belt is not limited to a timing belt, and may be other types of belts, such as a chain belt. Also, the moving member may be a wire-like member (a wire itself or a wire-like member) instead of a belt. The configuration of the moving member guide can be changed as appropriate depending on the type of moving member.

In the drawings of the above embodiment, the bead portion is shown as having a semicircular cross section, but the specific shape is not limited. In addition, the specific protruding dimension is not limited, and the specific length in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is not limited. In the above embodiment, the bead portion is provided at a position on the rear side of the vehicle from a specific opening (opening 16), but in addition to this, it can also be provided on the front side of the opening.

A: Vehicle structure equipped with a sliding door B: Driving force imparting mechanism for the sliding door C: Gap M: Motor 11: Sliding door 15: Rear side outer panel 15a: Bead portion 2: Slide rail 6: Belt (moving member)
7 Belt guide (guide for moving parts)

Claims (1)

a slide rail attached to an outer surface of a rear side outer panel of the vehicle, extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, and supporting and guiding the sliding door so that the sliding door can move in the front-rear direction of the vehicle;
a driving force imparting mechanism for the sliding door that imparts a driving force to the sliding door for moving the sliding door in the vehicle front-rear direction;
Equipped with
the driving force imparting mechanism includes a belt- or wire-shaped moving member that is connected to the sliding door and moves using a motor as a driving source, and a moving member guide that guides the movement of the moving member, and at least a part of each of the moving member and the moving member guide is located above the slide rail,
A vehicle structure having a sliding door, wherein a gap is formed between the slide rail and the rear side outer panel,
the rear side outer panel further includes a bead portion that is provided below the moving member guide and faces the gap or above the gap, and that protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction,
A vehicle structure equipped with a sliding door.

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