Door check mechanism providing an infinite number of stable positions

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6370732
  • Patent Number
    6,370,732
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, September 6, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 16, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
A vehicle door checkstrap assembly is provided including an arm having the first end engaged to the frame and a second end interconnected to a brake member within the vehicle door. The brake member cooperates with a carriage assembly which slidably engages a guide track incorporated in the vehicle door. A load is exerted from the brake member toward a support face within the door which creates a braking force when the door is in a static state. When the door is moved, the opening force is capable of overcoming the friction between the brake member roller and the supporting face allowing free motion of the door along the guide path. The roller carriage assembly operates such that the door can be located securely in an infinite number of positions between fully open and closed.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to articulating doors for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a checkstrap assembly operative to positively locate a passenger door in an infinite number of positions between a fully open position and a closed position.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




In a conventional manner, passenger doors of motor vehicles are pivotally mounted to the vehicle body for movement between a fully open position and a closed position. Many such vehicle doors are designed to cooperate with a checkstrap which is operative for positively locating the door relative to the vehicle body. Additionally, on sloped surfaces, the checkstrap provides a mechanism to hold the door in its open position. Typically, a vehicle door will have an intermediate point between fully open and fully closed where the door will rest in a stable fashion. In situations where a space laterally adjacent to a passenger door prohibits the door from fully opening, opening of the door to the intermediate position may reduce incidents of unintentional damage.




In one common form, prior checkstraps for vehicle doors include a roller mounted to the vehicle body and an arm contoured to cooperate with the roller which is carried by the vehicle door. In this regard, the arm is formed to include one or more camming surfaces. The roller functions as the cam follower. As the door is moved between its fully opened position and its closed position, the arm remains in constant engagement with the roller. When the door is gently opened or closed, the cam surfaces of the arm and the roller cooperatively function to positively define an intermediate position at which the door may be located relative to the vehicle body.




While known arrangements are known to be commercially acceptable, they are also limited with specific disadvantages and thereby subject to improvement. In this regard, the common roller camming arm configuration provides one set intermediate position which the door can securely rest. Usually the camming surface encourages the door to rest in one of the defined locations. This situation often requires operator to hold the door when the defined locations are not acceptable. Often the intermediate position may not be in an optimal location for a given situation. It may be desired to open the door securely in a position greater or less than the set intermediate point and leave it thereby unassisted.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the present invention to provide a checkstrap assembly for a passenger door of a motor vehicle having an infinite number of secure door locations between the fully closed and fully open position.




It is still another object of this invention to provide a checkstrap assembly for a passenger door of a motor vehicle having a minimal amount of resistance.




In order to obtain these and other objects, the present invention provides a checkstrap assembly for a door of a vehicle which is movable in relation to a door frame between a closed position and an open position. The checkstrap assembly includes an arm passing through an aperture in the door. The arm has a first end interconnected to a hinge fastened to the frame such that the door may be selectively moved relative to the arm. A second end is adapted to cooperate with a roller assembly within the door. The roller assembly includes a brake disk, carriage slot and guide. The roller assembly is configured such that the brake disk is always under load, which can be exerted through a spring, weight, magnet or equivalent. The load is exerted from the brake disk onto the supporting face within the housing which creates a braking force when the door is in a static state. When the door is moved, the checking force is capable of overcoming the friction between the brake disk and the supporting face allowing free motion of the door. Carriage motion is predetermined by the guide which is affixed within the door. In a dynamic state, the arm pushes (pulls) the roller assembly across the guide causing the brake disk to move along the carriage slot and away from engagement with the inner wall. When the door stops, the brake disk tends to return to the central position which corresponds to the state of minimum potential energy and the state at which the brake disk is engaged with the supporting surface of the housing.




Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is an environmental view of a checkstrap assembly constructed in accordance with the teachings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention and shown operatively installed within a vehicle so as to interconnect a passenger door with the body of the vehicle;





FIG. 2



a


is an enlarged perspective view of a first embodiment of the checkstrap assembly of

FIG. 1

removed from the vehicle for purposes of illustration;





FIG. 2



b


is an enlarged perspective view of a second embodiment of the checkstrap assembly of

FIG. 1

removed from the vehicle for purposes of illustration;





FIG. 2



c


is an enlarged perspective view of a third embodiment of the checkstrap assembly of

FIG. 1

removed from the vehicle for purposes of illustration;





FIG. 2



d


is an enlarged perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the checkstrap assembly of

FIG. 1

removed from the vehicle for purposes of illustration;





FIG. 3

is an enlarged perspective view of a fifth embodiment of the checkstrap assembly of

FIG. 1

removed from the vehicle for purposes of illustration;





FIG. 4

is an enlarged view of the roller assembly of the checkstrap assembly of

FIG. 1

, illustrating the brake position while moving the door between a fully closed and open position.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




The present invention provides an improved checkstrap assembly specifically intended for use with a passenger door of a motor vehicle. With reference to the drawings, a checkstrap assembly constructed in accordance to the teachings of the present invention is illustrated and identified with reference numeral


10


as shown in FIG.


1


. The checkstrap assembly


10


is installed on an otherwise conventional vehicle


12


and functions to operatively interconnect a passenger door


14


of the vehicle


12


with the body


16


of the vehicle


12


. The intended purpose of the checkstrap assembly


10


to positively locate the door


14


in an infinite number of secure positions between a fully open and fully closed position will become apparent below.




With reference now to

FIGS. 2



a


-


4


, the checkstrap assembly


10


of the present invention is shown to generally include a locating brake mechanism


18


, a cooperating arm


20


and a mounting bracket


22


. A brake disk


19


is rigidly mounted to the cooperating arm


20


. The brake disk


19


is slidably mounted to a carriage slot


24


with a locating pin


27


. The carriage slot


24


is slidably mounted on opposite ends with roller units


26


that engage a guide


28


affixed to the support face


31


of the housing


30


. The housing


30


is suitably fastened to a forward panel


36


of the passenger door


14


. The mounting bracket


22


provides a ball joint connection to the arm


20


.




With reference now specifically to

FIG. 2



a


, the preferred embodiment includes a biasing device including a spring


32


and ball


34


suitably recessed in the housing


30


such that tension is continuously applied to the ball


34


travelling accordingly in a channel groove (not specifically shown) on the top of the arm


20


which in turn biases the brake disk toward the support face


31


of housing


30


. In an alternative configuration, turning now to

FIG. 3

, a torsion spring


40


is supported by the mounting bracket


22


connected to arm


20


. The torsion spring


40


biases the arm


20


and, consequentially, the brake disk


19


toward the support face


31


of the housing


30


.




Referencing now

FIG. 2



b


, the biasing force is generated by a magnetic strip


60


disposed around the brake disk


19


. In this embodiment, the support face


31


is comprised of a metal material suitable for magnetic attraction. It is known by those skilled in the art that a magnetic material may alternatively be included on the support face


31


and the brake disk


19


may be comprised of a material suitable for magnetic attraction.





FIG. 2



c


illustrates a third embodiment wherein the brake disk


19


includes a deformable material


64


disposed thereon.

FIG. 2



d


illustrates a fourth embodiment wherein the support face


31


includes a deformable material


64


′ disposed thereon. The deformable material


64


and


64


′ of

FIGS. 2



b


and


2




c


may be secured by adhesive or other suitable means to the brake disk


19


or support face


31


accordingly. The deformable material


64


and


64


′ encourages contact between the brake disk


19


and support face


31


to provide an additional brake force to supplement the biasing force supplied by the spring


32


and ball


34


. Accordingly, the embodiments of

FIG. 2



c


or


2




d


may be employed to the biasing configurations of either

FIG. 2



a


or FIG.


3


.




With continued reference to

FIGS. 2-3

, the arm


20


of the checkstrap assembly


10


is shown to include a first end


50


attached to the body


16


of the vehicle


12


. More specifically, the first end


50


, of the arm


20


is pivotally interconnected to the body


16


of the vehicle


12


through a ball joint connection with the mounting bracket


22


.




With particular reference to

FIG. 4

, the operation of the checkstrap assembly


10


heretofore detailed will now be described. Although not specifically illustrated individually, the dynamic translation of the brake disk


19


along the carriage


24


exists for all embodiments of the present invention. The first position represents the brake disk


19


and arm


20


locations as the vehicle door


14


of vehicle


12


is being opened. The phantom line represents the brake disk


19


and arm


20


as the vehicle door


14


of vehicle


12


is being closed. As the vehicle door


14


is moved between a fully open position and fully closed position, the arm


20


and brake disk


19


slide along the carriage


24


accordingly. The roller units


26


remain at the ends of the carriage


24


and traverse along the guide


28


as the vehicle door


14


is moved. A dynamic state results in the brake disk


19


rising up the carriage


24


thus avoiding contact with the support face


31


of the housing


30


and allowing for free movement of the vehicle door


14


.




Alternatively, as shown in

FIG. 2



a


, a static state allows the brake disk


19


to be centralized in the carriage


24


and biased against the support face


31


of housing


30


from spring


32


. In

FIG. 3

, a static state allows the brake disk


19


to be centralized in the carriage


24


and biased against the support face


31


of housing


30


from torsion spring


40


. In the static state, as shown in

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the brake disk


19


acts to hold the door


14


in an infinite number of fixed positions relative to the door frame. Specifically, the movement of the carriage


24


along the guide


28


allows the brake disk


19


to be located in an infinite number of positions relative to the support surface


31


to provide a door checkstrap system with an infinite number of fixed positions.




The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A vehicle door check assembly for use with a door of a vehicle for holding the door in an infinite number of positions relative to a door frame, comprising;an arm having a first end adapted to be connected with the door frame; a brake member disposed on a second end of said arm; a guide adapted to be affixed in said door; a carriage member slidably mounted on said guide, said carriage member defining a carriage slot; and a support face running parallel to said guide; wherein said brake member is engaged with said carriage slot and is biased toward said support face, such that in a static state said brake member engages said support face to provide a braking force therebetween and in a dynamic state said brake member travels along said carriage slot and is separated from said support face.
  • 2. The check assembly according to claim 1, wherein said carriage member is slidably mounted on said guide.
  • 3. The check assembly according to claim 2, wherein said carriage member has two ends which are mounted to said guide in said door.
  • 4. The check assembly according to claim 1, wherein a torsion spring biases said arm toward said support face.
  • 5. The check assembly according to claim 1, wherein said guide and said support face are supported within a housing, said housing further supporting a biasing device disposed against said arm and biasing said arm toward said support face.
  • 6. The check assembly according to claim 1, wherein said brake member is magnetically biased to said support face.
  • 7. The check assembly according to claim 1, wherein said brake member includes a deformable material disposed thereon.
  • 8. The check assembly according to claim 1, wherein said support face includes a deformable material disposed thereon.
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