Applicant hereby claims foreign priority benefits under U.S.C. §119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-22266 filed on Jan. 31, 2007 and No. 2008-009416 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to an automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle, which automatically opens and closes an open/close member provided on a vehicle body.
Conventionally, a vehicle such as a wagon and a minivan is provided with, at a side part of its body, a sliding door that is opened and closed in vehicle-front and vehicle-back directions, thereby allowing passengers or merchandise to be easily loaded or unloaded from a side direction of the vehicle. This sliding door can normally be opened and closed by a manual operation. However, in recent years, there is also often found such a vehicle that the automatic opening/closing apparatus is mounted on the vehicle to automatically open and close the sliding door.
This automatic opening/closing apparatus is known as a cable type in which a cable (cable member) connected to the sliding door from the vehicle-front and vehicle-back directions is guided to a driving unit disposed in the vehicle body via reverse pulleys disposed at both ends of a guide rail; the cable is wound around a driving drum provided to the driving unit; and this drum is driven for rotation by a driving source such as an electric motor so that the sliding door is automatically opened and closed while being drawn by the cable. In this case, a reduction-mechanism equipped motor in which a motor main body and a reduction mechanism are formed as one unit is used as the electric motor, wherein a case is fixed to this electric motor and a tensioner mechanism for applying a predetermined tension to the drum and the cable is accommodated in the case.
Meanwhile, in order to control an operation of the electric motor, the automatic opening/closing apparatus is provided with a control device. For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-269040) discloses an automatic opening/closing apparatus in which a control device is fixed to a bracket for fixing a driving unit to a vehicle body so as to be shifted in a predetermined direction with respect to the driving unit; and this control device and the driving unit are connected via an external harness.
In the automatic opening/closing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1however, the control device is provided separately from the driving unit and is disposed so as to be shifted in the predetermined direction with respect to the driving unit. Therefore, a projection area of the entire apparatus is increased, and the automatic opening/closing apparatus is made large. Moreover, since the control device is provided separately from the driving unit, it is required to provide the control device with a substrate case for accommodating a control substrate separately from a main body case of the driving unit and also to provide an external harness or the like for connecting the control device and the driving unit. Therefore, the number of its components is increased, and the cost of the automatic opening/closing apparatus rises.
An object of the present invention is to downsize an automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to reduce costs of the automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle by reducing the number of its components.
An automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle according to the present invention is an apparatus for automatically opening and closing an open/close member provided to a vehicle body, and comprising: a main body case disposed in the vehicle body; a driving rotor member accommodated in the main body case, and driven for rotation by a driving source; a cable member whose one end is wound around the driving rotor member and whose the other end is connected to the open/close member; a tensioner mechanism accommodated in the main body case so as to be adjacent to the driving rotor member in a diameter direction, the tensioner mechanism applying a predetermined tension to the cable member; and a control device disposed so as to be overlapped on an axial-directional side of the driving rotor member with respect to a portion of the main body case for accommodating the tensioner mechanism, the control device controlling an operation of the driving source.
The automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle according to the present invention is such that the main body case is provided with a reduction-mechanism housing accommodating a reduction mechanism for decelerating rotation of the driving source, and the control device is provided in a side direction of the reduction-mechanism housing.
The automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle according to the present invention is such that the control device includes a substrate case fixed to the main body case, and a control substrate accommodated in the substrate case.
According to the present invention, the control device is disposed so as to be overlapped on the axial-directional side of the driving drum with respect to a portion of the main body case for accommodating the tensioner mechanism. Therefore, the projection area viewed from the axial direction of the driving drum can be reduced, whereby the automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle can be downsized.
According to the present invention, since the control device is disposed in the side direction of the reduction-mechanism housing of the main body case, the projection area of the driving unit viewed from the axial direction of the driving rotor member is reduced, whereby a space occupied by the driving unit can be reduced.
According to the present invention, since the control device is configured so that the control substrate is accommodated inside the substrate case fixed to the main body case, the main body case and the control device are integrally configured, whereby the automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle can be downsized. Also, since the control substrate is accommodated in the substrate case fixed to the main body case, the control substrate and the driving source can be directly connected. For this reason, an external harness or the like is not required, whereby the cost of the automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle can be reduced.
An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
A side part of a vehicle body 12 in a vehicle 11 depicted in
As depicted in
This vehicle 11 is provided with an automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle 21 (hereinafter “opening/closing apparatus 21”) for automatically opening and closing the sliding door 13. This opening/closing apparatus 21 includes: a driving unit 22 disposed inside the vehicle body 12 so as to be adjacent to an approximately center portion of the guide rail 14 in vehicle-front and vehicle-back directions; an open-side cable 24a as a cable member connected from an open side (vehicle-back side) to the roller assembly 15 (sliding door 13) via a reverse pulley 23a provided at an end of the guide rail 14 on the vehicle-back side; and a close-side cable 24b as a cable member connected from a close side (vehicle-front side) to the roller assembly 15 (sliding door 13) via a reverse pulley 23b provided at an end of the guide rail 14 on the vehicle-front side. When the open-side cable 24a is drawn by the driving unit 22, the sliding door 13 is caused to perform automatically an open operation. When the close-side cable 24b is drawn by the driving unit 22, the sliding door 13 is caused to perform automatically a close operation.
As depicted in
An electric motor 27 serving as a driving source of this driving unit 22 is attached to the main body case 25. As the electric motor 27, a bush-equipped direct-current motor is used, wherein its rotating shaft 27a is rotatable in positive and negative directions. Incidentally, although the brush-equipped electric motor 27 is used as a driving source in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and may use another electric motor such as a brushless motor.
As depicted in
A reduction mechanism 37 is accommodated in the reduction-mechanism housing 28, and the rotation of the rotating shaft 27a is decelerated by the reduction mechanism 37 up to a predetermined revolution and is transmitted to the driving shaft 35. That is, the driving shaft 35 is driven and rotated by the electric motor 27. The reduction mechanism 37 forms a worm-gear mechanism including a worm 37a and a worm wheel 37b. The worm 37a is formed integrally with the rotating shaft 27a on an outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft 27a. The worm wheel 37b is relatively rotatably supported by the driving shaft 35 and is rotatable inside the main body case 25.
An electromagnetic clutch 41 is accommodated in the reduction-mechanism housing 28, and motive-power transmission between the worm wheel 37b and the driving shaft 35 is intended to be intermitted by this electromagnetic clutch 41. The electromagnetic clutch 41 is a so-called friction type including a rotor 42 and an armature 43 which are disposed so as that their friction surfaces oppose to each other. The rotor 42 is relatively rotatably supported by the driving shaft 35, and is also coupled to the worm wheel 37b via a ring member 44, thereby being rotated together with the worm wheel 37b. On the other hand, the armature 43 is coupled to the driving shaft 35 via a leaf spring, thereby rotating together with the driving shaft 35 and being movable within a predetermined range in the axial direction. A clutch yoke 45 is disposed on a rear surface of the rotor 42, and a clutch coil 46 is accommodated in the clutch yoke 45. When a current is carried in the clutch coil 46, the armature 43 is attracted to the clutch yoke 45. Therefore, when the current is carried in the clutch coil 46, the friction surfaces of the rotor 42 and the armature 43 are pressed and connected to each other and the electromagnetic clutch 41 becomes in a connecting state, whereby motive power is transmitted between the worm wheel 37b that is, the electric motor 27 and the driving shaft 35. Conversely, when the current to the clutch coil 46 is stopped, a friction force between the rotor 42 and the armature 43 is reduced and the electromagnetic clutch 41 becomes in an intermitted state, whereby a motive-power transmission path between the worm wheel 37b and the driving shaft 35 is intermitted.
In the drum housing 33, a driving drum 51 as a driving rotator is rotatably accommodated. The driving drum 51 is made of a resin material and formed into such a cylindrical shape as to have a guide groove 51a on its outer circumferential surface, and has a cylindrical boss portion 51b at its axial center. In this boss portion 51b, the driving drum 51 is mounted on a tip of the driving shaft 35. That is, the driving drum 51 is mounted on the driving shaft 35 so that the driving shaft 35 passes through the boss portion 51b. A metal-made reinforcing member 52 is embedded in the driving drum 51 so as to be shifted in an axial direction with respect to the boss portion 51b. This reinforcing member 52 is engaged with serrations 35a provided to the driving shaft 35. Also, the reinforcing member 52 abuts on a step portion 35b of the driving shaft 35 to position the driving drum 51 in the axial direction, thereby positioning the driving drum 51 in the axial direction. In this state, the driving drum 51 is fixed to the tip of the driving shaft 35 by a nut 53. For this reason, when the electric motor 27 is actuated, the driving drum 51 rotates together with the driving shaft 35. That is, the driving drum 51 is driven and rotated by the electric motor 27.
The open-side cable 24a guided by the driving unit 22 is drawn in the main body case 25 from a cable drawing portion 25a provided to the main body case 25. A cable end 54a provided to a terminal end of the open-side cable 24a is fixed to a securing portion 55a formed in an axial-directional end face of the driving drum 51 that is located on an opposite side to the partition wall 32, and simultaneously the open-side cable 24a is wound around the driving drum 51 from a side of the axial-directional end face along the guide groove 51a. Similarly, the close-side cable 24b guided by the driving unit 22 is drawn in the main body case 25 from a cable drawing portion 25b provided to the main body case 25. A cable end 54b provided to a terminal end of the close-side cable 24b is fixed to a securing portion 55b formed in the axial-directional end face of the driving drum 51 that is located on an open side of the case, and simultaneously the close-side cable 24b is wound around the driving drum 51 from the side of the axial-directional end face along the guide groove 51a in the same direction as that of the open-side cable 24a.
The drum housing 33 is formed so as to be partitioned by the partition wall 32 and a pair of semi-cylindrical outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b protruding from and formed at the partition wall 32 in the axial direction. A portion between these outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b forms a cable drawing portion. The outer circumferential surface of the driving drum 51 is covered with these outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b except for the cable drawing portion, whereby the cables 24a and 24b are protected from contacting with foreign matters, for example. Also, an interval between the outer circumferential surface of the driving drum 51 and inner surfaces of the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b is equal to or smaller than a diameter of each of the cables 24a and 24b. For this reason, the cables 24a and 24b wound around the driving drum 51 are held inside the guide groove 51a by the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b, thereby preventing the cables 24a and 24b from being released from the driving drum 51.
Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b are formed so as to cover the outer circumferential surface of the driving drum 51 within a range of excluding the cable drawing portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b may be arbitrarily set in size and shape so long as they cover at least a part of the outer circumferential surface of the driving drum 51.
In this opening/closing apparatus 21, a temporary holding unit 61 is provided to facilitate a winding operation of each of the cables 24a and 24b around the driving drum 51. The temporary holding unit 61 is provided to the driving shaft 35, and is formed into such a columnar shape as to be aligned axially with respect to serrations 35, thereby being engaged with a boss portion 51b when the driving drum 51 is mounted on the driving shaft 35. Here, as depicted in
Next, a procedure for winding the cables 24a and 24b around the driving drum 51 in the opening/closing apparatus 21 provided with this temporary holding unit 61 will be described.
First, the cable end 54a of the open-side cable 24a is fixed to the securing portion 55a of the driving drum 51, and the open-side cable 24a is wound around the driving drum 51 by the predetermined number of turns from the side of the axial-directional end face located on a side of the driving drum 51 opposite to the partition wall 32 along the guide groove 51a. Next, the driving drum 51 around which the open-side cable 24a is wound is inserted into the drum housing 33 from the axial direction, and is mounted on the driving shaft 35 in the boss portion 51b. At this time, the open-side cable 24a wound around the driving drum 51 is drawn outside the drum housing 33 from the cable drawing portion located between the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b. When the driving drum 51 is mounted on the driving shaft 35, the boss portion 51b is engaged with the temporary holding unit 61 provided to the driving shaft 35. As depicted in
When the driving drum 51 is temporarily held by the temporary holding unit 61, one winding of the cable in the guide groove 51a protrudes from the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b in the axial direction and is exposed to the outside. In this state, the cable end 54b of the close-side cable 24b is fixed to the securing portion 55b of the drum 51, and simultaneously the cable 24b is wound around the guide groove 51a protruding from the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b of the driving drum 51. In this manner, the driving drum 51 is temporarily held by the temporary holding unit 61, and a part of the guide groove 51a protrudes from the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b in the axial direction, so that when performing work of winding the close-side cable 24b around the driving drum 51, an operator does not have to hold, with his/her hands, a state where the driving drum 51 is withdrawn from the drum housing 33, thereby facilitating the work of winding the cables 24a and 24b around the driving drum 51.
When the close-side cable 24b is wound around the driving drum 51, the nut 53 is then screwed in the tip of the driving shaft 35. By fastening this nut 53, the boss portion 51b is pressed into the temporary holding unit 61 with a predetermined load or more. Then, when the driving drum 51 is moved up to the normal fixing position, the reinforcing member 52 abuts on the step portion 35b and is sandwiched between the nut 53 and the step portion 35b, whereby the driving drum 51 is fixed to the driving shaft 35. Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the boss portion 51b is pressed into the temporary holding unit 61 by fastening the nut 53 thereto. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the operator may push the driving drum 51 with the hands to press the boss portion 51b into the temporary holding unit 61 and then fasten the nut 53 thereto.
In this manner, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the driving shaft 35 is provided with the temporary holding unit 61, and the driving drum 51 mounted on the driving shaft 35 is temporarily held by the temporary holding unit 61 in a state where a part of the driving drum 51 protrudes from the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b in the axial direction. Therefore, holding the driving drum 51 with the hands becomes unnecessary, whereby the work of winding the cables 24a and 24b around the driving drum 51 can be facilitated.
In the present embodiment, the diameter D1 of the temporary holding unit 61 is formed so as to be slightly larger than the inner diameter D2 of the boss portion 51b of the driving drum 51. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, as depicted in
Also, in the present embodiment, when the driving drum 51 is temporarily held by the temporary holding unit 61, its outer circumferential surface protrudes, only one winding of the cable, axially from the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and so long as at least a part of the driving drum 51 around which the cables 24a and 24b are wound protrudes from the outer circumferential walls 56a and 56b in the axial direction, its protrusion amount can be arbitrarily set.
As depicted in
Details of the tensioner mechanisms 63a and 63b will be described below. Since the open-side tensioner mechanism 63a and the close-side tensioner mechanism 63b have basically the same structure, however, the open-side tensioner mechanism 63a will be mainly described below.
As depicted in
Both ends of the guide shaft 65 are provided with stoppers 67a and 67b, and a range of moving the slide portion 66a is restricted between insides of these stoppers 67a and 67b. Also, between one stopper 67a and the slide portion 66a, a spring 68 as a spring member is mounted. The slide portion 66a is biased toward the other stopper 68 by this spring 68.
The pulley holder 66 includes a holder main body portion 66b formed integrally with the slide portion 66a. This holder main body portion 66b is disposed so as to be shifted to a side of the driving drum 51 with respect to the slide portion 66a and so that its axial center is shifted toward a side of the spring 68 along the axial direction of the guide shaft 65 with respect to an axial-directional center position of the slide portion 66a.
In the holder main body portion 66b, a movable pulley 72 is rotatably supported by a supporting shaft 71. The cable 24a drawn in the main body case 25 from the cable drawing portion 25a is bridged about the movable pulley 72, and is then guided to the driving drum 51. The movably pulley 72 is formed smaller in diameter than the driving drum 51, and its outer circumference is provided with a groove 72a having a V-shaped section so as to be engaged with the cable 24a. Also, in order to prevent the cable 24a from being released from the movable pulley 72, the holder main body portion 66b is provided with a guide wall 73 integrally with the holder main body portion 66b. This guide wall 73 is formed into such an arc shape as to oppose to an outer circumferential surface of the movable pulley 72 and to have a predetermined interval, thereby being formed within a range of approximately 90 degrees along the outer circumferential surface of the movable pulley 72 including portions overlapping the slide portion 66a. For this reason, as depicted in
The tensioner mechanism 63a is formed as one unit as depicted in
As depicted in
When the tensioner mechanism 63a is mounted on the main body case 25, the pulley holder 66, i.e., the movable pulley 72 is biased by the spring 68 along the guide shaft 65 in a direction of being separate from the driving drum 51 and fixed pulleys 75a and 75b. For this reason, a predetermined tension is applied to the open-side cable 24a by the open-side tensioner mechanism 63a. For example, when the roller assembly 15 is guided along the curve portion 14a of the guide rail 14 and drawing paths of the cables 24a and 24 become long, as depicted in
Here, as depicted in
In the state of
Fk=2T·SIN(α/2)*(COS β−μ1·SIN β) Equation 1,
where “Fk” is the spring force of the spring 68, “α” is a winding angle of the cable 24a around the movable pulley 72, “β” is an angle formed between the resultant force Fc and the axial direction of the guide shaft 54, “μ1” is a coefficient of static friction, and “T1=T2=T”.
Next, a condition for making the movable pulley 72 start moving from the state depicted in
Fk<2T·SIN(α/2)*(COS β−μ1·SIN β) Equation 2,
and a condition for making the movable pulley 72 continue moving axially along the guide shaft 65 is, from Equation 2,
Fk<2T·SIN(α/2)*(COS β−μ2·SIN β) Equation 3,
if it is assumed that “μ2” is a coefficient of kinetic friction.
From Equations 2 and 3, it can be found that as the angle α comes near 180 degrees and the angle β comes near 0 (zero) degree, the movable pulley 72 can be easily moved in a direction extended along the guide shaft 65 and that as the angles α and β come near 90 degrees, the movable pulley 72 is difficult to move in the direction extending along the guide shaft 65. For this reason, in order to smoothly operate the movable pulley 72 in the lower direction of the drawing along the guide shaft 65, it is understood that the tension T of the cable 24a has to be sufficiently large with respect to the spring force Fk of the spring 68.
Next, a condition for making the movable pulley 72 start moving from the state depicted in
Fk>2T·SIN(α/2)*(COS β+μ1·SIN β) Equation 4,
and a condition for making the movable pulley 72 continue moving axially along the guide shaft 65 is, from Equation 4,
Fk>2T·SIN(α/2)*(COS β+μ2·SIN β) Equation 5,
if it is assumed that “μ2” is a coefficient of kinetic friction.
From Equations 4 and 5, it can be found that as the angle α comes near 180 degrees and the angle β comes near 0 (zero) degree, the movable pulley 72 can be easily moved in the direction extending along the guide shaft 65 and that as the angles α and β come near 90 degrees, the movable pulley 72 is difficult to move in the direction extending along the guide shaft 65. For this reason, in order to smoothly operate the movable pulley 72 in the upper direction of the drawing along the guide shaft 65, it is understood that the tension T of the cable 24a has to be sufficiently small with respect to the spring force Fk of the spring 68.
As described above, in order to smoothly operate the movable pulley 72 along the guide shaft 65 and cause appropriate friction resistance to be generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a, the angle β formed between the resultant force Fc and the axial direction of the guide shaft 65 is desirably set at approximately 45 degrees. The present embodiment is configured so that when the sliding door 13 is moved near the full-close position and the roller assembly 15 is guided to the curve portion 14a of the guide rail 14, an angle formed between the resultant force Fc and the axial direction of the guide shaft 65 is approximately 45 degrees. For this reason, when the sliding door 13 is near the full-close position, the movable pulley 72 can be smoothly operated and also appropriate friction resistance is generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a, whereby vibration of the movable pulley 72 can be effectively suppressed.
Incidentally, in order to smoothly operate the movable pulley 72 along the guide shaft 65 and to cause the appropriate friction resistance to be generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a, even if the guide shaft 65 is not tilted with respect to the direction of the load applied to the movable pulley 72 from the cable 24a, the friction resistance can be generated by shifting the holder main body portion 66b to a side of the driving drum 51 with respect to the slide portion 66a.
In this opening/closing apparatus 21, the guide shaft 65 is tilted with respect to a direction of the load applied to the movable pulley 72 from the cable 24a, whereby the sliding resistance is caused to be generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a. Therefore, as compared with a comparison example, the vibration of the movable pulley 72 can be reduced. Also, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the holder main body portion 66b is provided so as to be shifted to a side of the driving drum 51 with respect to the slide portion 66, whereby the sliding resistance is generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a. Therefore, the vibration of the movable pulley 72 can be reduced. For this reason, as depicted in
Thus, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the guide shaft 65 is tilted with respect to the direction of the load applied to the movable pulley 72 from the cables 24a and 24b, thereby causing the sliding resistance to be generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a. By this sliding resistance, the vibration of the movable pulley 72 in the direction extending along the guide shaft 65 due to a change of the tensions of the cables 24a and 24 can be suppressed. Therefore, the sliding door 13 can be smoothly operated.
Also, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, since the axial direction of the guide shaft 65 is tilted by approximately 45 degrees with respect to the direction of the load applied to the movable pulley 72 from the cables 24a and 24b, the slide portion 66a can be smoothly operated along the guide shaft 65 while the appropriate sliding resistance is generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a.
Furthermore, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the holder main body portion 66b is provided so as to be shifted to the side of the driving drum 51 with respect to the slide portion 66a. Therefore, the slide portion 66a can be smoothly operated along the guide shaft 65 while the appropriate sliding resistance is generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a.
Still further, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the axial center of the holder main body portion 66b is provided so as to be shifted toward the spring 68 along the axial direction of the guide shaft 65 with respect to an axial-directional center position of the slide portion 66a, so that the slide portion 66a is biased in a direction of being tilted with respect to the guide shaft 65 due to the load applied to the movable pulley 72 from the cables 24a and 24b, whereby the sliding resistance can be increased between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a. For this reason, a damping force of the slide portion 66a to the guide shaft 65 is increased, and the vibration of the movable pulley 72 in the direction extending along the guide shaft 65 can be further efficiently suppressed.
Still further, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the holder main body portion 66b is provided so as to be shifted toward the driving drum 51 with respect to the slide portion 66a, thereby causing the sliding resistance to be generated between the guide shaft 65 and the slide portion 66a. Therefore, by this sliding resistance, the vibration of the movable pulley 72 in the direction extending along the guide shaft 65 due to the change of the tensions of the cables 24a and 24b can be suppressed. Thus, the sliding door 13 can be smoothly operated.
Still further, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the tensioner mechanisms 63a and 63b are assembled to the tensioner housing 62 while being unitized in advance. Therefore, the operation of assembling these tensioner mechanisms 63a and 63b to the main body case 25 can be easily performed.
Each of
In the opening/closing apparatus 21, when the driving drum 51 rotates, the drawing positions of the cables 24a and 24b from the driving drum 51 are varied in the axial direction. For this reason, in the tensioner mechanisms 63a and 63b provided in the opening/closing apparatus 21, as described above, the slide portion 66a of the pulley holder 66 is mounted on the guide shaft 65 so as to be rotatable about the guide shaft 65, whereby even if the drawing positions of the cables 24a and 24b from the driving drum 51 are varied, the movable pulley 72 is caused to follow the cables 24a and 24b. That is, as depicted in
Therefore, even when the drawing position of the cable 24a from the driving drum 51 is varied, a tilt of the movable pulley 72 to the cable 24a, that is, a tilt of the cable 24a in a tangential direction of the movable pulley 72 is reduced, whereby any sliding sound can be prevented from occurring between the movable pulley 72 and the cable 24a. Also, since the cable 24a is not excessively tilted with respect to the movable pulley 72, a dimension of the movable pulley 72 in the axial direction can be reduced and the opening/closing apparatus 21 can be downsized.
In this manner, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the pulley holder 66 rotatably holding the movable pulley 72 is rotatably mounted on the guide shaft 65 so as to be centered about the axial center of the guide shaft 65. Therefore, even when the drawing positions of the cables 24a and 24b from the driving drum 51 are changed axially according to the rotation of the driving drum 51, the movable pulley 72 can move in a tilted manner according to the movement of the cables 24a and 24b. Thus, the tilt of the movable pulley 72 to the cables 24a and 24b can be maintained small, whereby the sliding sound between the movable pulley 72 and the cables 24a and 24b can be reduced. Also, since the tilt of the movable pulley 72 to the cables 24a and 24b can be maintained small, even when the dimension of the movable pulley 72 is made small in the axial direction, it is possible to prevent the cables 24a and 24b from being released from the movable pulley 72. For this reason, the axial-directional dimension of the movable pulley 72 is made small, and the main body case 25 is made thinner in the axial direction of the driving shaft 35, whereby the opening/closing apparatus 21 can be downsized. Still further, when the axial-directional dimension of the movable pulley 72 is reduced, the positions of the cables 24a and 24b inside the groove 72a of the movable pulley 72 are stabilized. Therefore, the rubbing sound between the movable pulley 72 and the cables 24a and 24b can be further reduced, operation resistance of the cables 24a and 24b is reduced, and further the operations of the cables 24a and 24b can be stabilized.
The driving unit 22 is provided with a control device 81 in order to control operations of the electric motor 27 and the electromagnetic clutch 41. As evident from
As depicted in
When an open/close switch (not shown) is operated, its operation signal is inputted to the control substrate 83. The control substrate 83 supplies, to the electric motor 27 via the power-feeding connector 85 and the motor-side connector 86, power supplied from the battery according to the operation signal, thereby controlling the operation of the electric motor 27. Also, the control substrate 83 supplies, to the electromagnetic clutch 41 via the clutch connector 87 and the clutch-side connector, power supplied from the battery at desired timing, thereby controlling the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 41.
Here, as depicted in
In this manner, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the control device 81 is disposed so as to overlap the axial-directional side of the driving drum 51 with respect to the portion accommodating the tensioner mechanisms 63a and 63b of the main body case 25. Therefore, the projection area of the driving drum 51 viewed from the axial direction is reduced, whereby the opening/closing apparatus 21 can be downsized. Also, since the control device 81 is disposed in the dead space of the driving unit 22, the space occupied by the driving unit 22 can be reduced.
Also, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the control device 81 is configured in such a manner that the control substrate 83 is accommodated inside the substrate case 82 fixed to the main body case 25. Therefore, the main body case 25 and the control device 81 can be integrally configured, whereby the opening/closing apparatus 21 can be downsized.
Furthermore, in the opening/closing apparatus 21, the control substrate 83 is accommodated in the substrate case 82 fixed to the main body case 25. Therefore, the power-feeding connector 85 of the control substrate 83 and the motor-side connector 86 of the electric motor 27 can be directly connected. For this reason, an external harness or the like for connecting the power-feeding connector 85 and the motor-side connector 86 is not required, whereby the cost of the opening/closing apparatus 21 can be reduced.
Next, an operation of the above-configured opening/closing apparatus 21 will be described.
When the open/close switch (not shown) is operated on open side and an instruction signal for operating the sliding door 13 to an open direction is inputted to the control substrate 83, the electromagnetic clutch 41 is switched to a connection state. Next, the electric motor 27 is driven in a normal rotating direction to cause the driving drum 51 to rotate in a clockwise direction in
On the other hand, for example, when the sliding door 13 is opened or closed automatically or manually and the roller assembly 15 passes through the curve portion 14a of the guide rail 14 to change the length of the drawing paths of the cables 24a and 24b, the movable pulley 72 moves along the guide shaft 65 in the axial direction and the tensions of the cables 24a and 24b are adjusted within a predetermined range.
In the driving unit 22 depicted in
On the other hand, in a modification example depicted in
Also, in this modification example, the main body case 25 is integrally provided with the reduction-mechanism housing 28, the drum housing 33, and the substrate case 82 for incorporating the control substrate 83. Inside the substrate case 82, the power-feeding connector (not shown) provided on the substrate 83a of the control substrate 83 is connected to a motor-side terminal (not shown) led from the electric motor 27. Furthermore, an opening portion of the substrate case 82 in the main body case 25 is enclosed by the substrate cover 88. This substrate cover 88 is provided with the external connector 84 connected to the control substrate 83. The control substrate 83 is connected via the external connector 84 to power supply such as a battery (not shown) mounted in the vehicle 11 and/or to an open/close switch disposed inside the vehicle compartment.
Incidentally, the reference numeral “91” denotes a stopper that holds the pulley holder 66 at a position where the spring 68 becomes in a contracted state in order to generate sag margins of the cables 24a and 24b when the cables 24a and 24b are coupled to the roller assembly 15 of the sliding door 12.
Also in this modification example, as depicted in
Incidentally, in
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and, needless to say, can be variously modified within a scope of not departing from the gist thereof. For example, in the present embodiment, the open/close member is the sliding door 13 that is opened and closed in a sliding manner. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may adopt another open/close member such as a hinge-type door that is opened and closed horizontally for loading and unloading and a back door provided at a rear end portion of the vehicle.
Also, in the present embodiment, two cables, that is, the open-side cable 24a and the close-side cable 24b are used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may a structure in which an intermediate portion of one cable is wound around the driving drum 51, and both ends thereof are connected to the sliding door 13.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2007-022266 | Jan 2007 | JP | national |
2008-009416 | Jan 2008 | JP | national |
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