Patent Application
20160201374
The present invention relates to a door opening and closing apparatus, and more particularly, to a door opening and closing apparatus that moves a door to open and close.
As a door opening and closing apparatus that moves a door to open and close with respect to a vehicle body, one that has a rail module is conventionally known. The rail module includes a guide rail, a drive device, and a supporting member.
The guide rail extends along the front-and-rear direction and its front end portion is curved. The drive device is mounted on one side portion of the guide rail via a bracket. The drive device includes a motor that is a driving source and a rotating drum that is rotatable forward and backward by the drive of the motor. On the rotating drum, an opening cable and a closing cable are wound around after the respective one end portions thereof are connected. The rotating drum, when rotating in one direction, takes up the closing cable while letting out the opening cable. Meanwhile, when rotating in the other direction, the rotating drum takes up the opening cable while letting out the closing cable.
The opening cable is hung on a first pulley arranged at a lower portion of the front end portion of the guide rail, and the closing cable is hung on a second pulley arranged at a lower portion of the rear end portion of the guide rail.
The supporting member is coupled to the other end portions of the opening cable and the closing cable. That is, the supporting member is coupled to the other end portion of the opening cable hung on the first pulley, and is coupled to the other end portion of the closing cable hung on the second pulley. The supporting member is movable along the extending direction of the guide rail by a driving force given by the drive device.
In such a door opening and closing apparatus, by making the supporting member support a door after mounting the rail module on a vehicle body and by making the supporting member move, the door can be moved to open and close with respect to the vehicle body (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-127290
In the door opening and closing apparatus disclosed in the above-described Patent Literature 1, because the first pulley is arranged at the lower portion of the front end portion of the guide rail and the second pulley is arranged at the lower portion of the rear end portion of the guide rail, the opening cable and the closing cable are routed in the lower portion of the guide rail. Hence, even when a cover member, what is called a finisher cover, is arranged on the vehicle body after mounting the rail module on the vehicle body, the cables routed in the lower portion of the guide rail are exposed. Consequently, there has been a risk of the exposed cables being cut by mischief and the like. If the cables are cut by mischief and the like in this way, then the door cannot be moved to open and close automatically, and the function as the door opening and closing apparatus cannot be exercised.
In view of the above-described situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a door opening and closing apparatus that can make the installation work to a vehicle body easy and prevent cables from being exposed.
To achieve the above-described object, a door opening and closing apparatus according to the present invention includes a rail module including: a rail member extending along a front-and-rear direction; a drive device mounted on the rail member; and a supporting member coupled to: one end portion of a closing cable, the other end portion of which is connected to the drive device, the closing cable being hung on a closing inversion member provided on one end portion of the rail member; and one end portion of an opening cable, the other end portion of which is connected to the drive device, the opening cable being hung on an opening inversion member provided on the other end portion of the rail member so that the supporting member is movable along an extending direction of the rail member by a driving force given by the drive device. The door opening and closing apparatus moves a door to open and close with movement of the supporting member by making the supporting member support the door. The rail module is provided with the drive device fastened to an outside of a vehicle body such that a part of the drive device goes inside the vehicle body through an opening provided on the vehicle body. At least the opening inversion member is provided at an upper portion of the other end portion of the rail member.
In the door opening and closing apparatus according to the present invention, the supporting member includes: a first support base portion configured to be movable along the extending direction of the rail member, and a second support base portion attached to the first support base portion to be fastened via a fastener and configured to support the door.
The door opening and closing apparatus according to the present invention, the first support base portion includes a fastening piece provided standing along a direction substantially orthogonal to the extending direction of the rail member. The second support base portion is attached to the first support base portion so as to be fastened with the fastener in a form that a fastening portion where a rear side is exposed overlaps the fastening piece in a state where the first support base portion is located at a rear end portion of the rail member.
In accordance with the present invention, because the rail module is provided with the drive device fastened to the outside of a vehicle body such that a part of the drive device goes inside the vehicle body through an opening provided on the vehicle body, the installation work to the vehicle body can be made easy. Furthermore, because at least the opening inversion member is arranged at the upper portion of the other end portion of the rail member, the opening cable has no risk of being exposed to the outside when the door is moved to close. Consequently, the invention has an effect in that the installation work to the vehicle body can be made easy and the cables can be prevented from being exposed.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, the following describes in detail an exemplary preferred embodiment of a door opening and closing apparatus according to the present invention.
In the following description, the rail modules that constitute the door opening and closing apparatus will be described. However, the rail module mounted on the right side of the vehicle body 1 on the rear side of the entrance 2 (hereinafter, also referred to as a right-side rail module) differs only in left-right orientation from a rail module 10 mounted on the left side of the vehicle body 1 on the rear side of the entrance 2 (hereinafter, also referred to as a left-side rail module). Thus, the following describes only the left-side rail module 10, and the description on the right-side rail module is omitted.
The guide rail 20 is formed of a steel plate, for example, and is in a channel shape in longitudinal cross-section. The guide rail 20 is an elongate member for which the front-and-rear direction is the longitudinal direction, and its front side is curved halfway toward the right side. On such a guide rail 20, a first pulley (closing inversion member) 21, a second pulley (opening inversion member) 22, an upper guide plate 23, and a lower guide plate 24 are arranged.
The first pulley 21 is in a form of being rotatable around the shaft center of a shaft 21a extending along the up-and-down direction, and is arranged at a lower portion of the front end portion of the guide rail 20 via a first pulley bracket 21b. The first pulley bracket 21b is attached to the guide rail 20 by welding, for example.
The second pulley 22 is in a form of being rotatable around the shaft center of a shaft 22a extending along the up-and-down direction, and is arranged at an upper portion of the rear end portion of the guide rail 20 via a second pulley bracket 22b. The second pulley bracket 22b is attached to the guide rail 20 by welding, for example. On the second pulley bracket 22b, as illustrated in
The upper guide plate 23 is in a curved shape in transverse cross-section. The upper guide plate 23 is arranged on the guide rail 20 in a form of being projecting upward at a curved portion of the guide rail 20, that is, a portion curved to the right side halfway toward the front from the rear.
The lower guide plate 24 is in a curved shape in transverse cross-section. The lower guide plate 24 is arranged on the guide rail 20 in a form of being projecting downward at the curved portion of the guide rail 20.
The drive device 30 includes a driven unit 30a and a driving unit (drive unit) 30b. The driven unit 30a houses a rotating drum 31 (see
The casing 32 constituting the driven unit 30a includes a casing body portion 32a and a casing outlet portion 32b. The casing body portion 32a is a portion that houses the above-described rotating drum 31 to be rotatable forward and backward.
The casing outlet portion 32b and the casing body portion 32a are communicating with each other inside, and the casing outlet portion 32b is constructed by fitting a cover drum 322 into a case drum 321. On the case drum 321, a tongue-shaped first closing plate portion 321a projecting downward is formed at the central portion, and on the first closing plate portion 321a, a projecting portion 321b projecting toward the right is formed.
On the cover drum 322 that fits in the case drum 321, a tongue-shaped second closing plate portion 322a extending toward the upper left side after extending upward is formed at the central portion. The second closing plate portion 322a, together with the first closing plate portion 321a, constitutes a closing portion to close a later-described opening P1 of the vehicle body 1.
The casing outlet portion 32b composed of the case drum 321 and the cover drum 322 being fitted includes a first arm portion 33a extending toward the front and a second arm portion 33b extending toward the rear.
A first outlet not depicted is formed on the front end surface of the first arm portion 33a, and on the front end surface, a closing outer tube 61 that couples the first outlet to the lower portion of the front end portion of the guide rail 20 is provided. The closing outer tube 61 extends toward the right side of the guide rail 20. A second outlet not depicted is formed on the rear end surface of the second arm portion 33b, and on the rear end surface, an opening outer tube 62 that couples the second outlet to the upper portion of the rear end portion of the guide rail 20 is provided.
The driving unit 30b includes a motor 34 and a deceleration mechanism 35, and the deceleration mechanism 35 is arranged at the upper portion of the casing body portion 32a in a state that it can be linked to the rotating drum 31. The motor 34 is a driving source and is rotatable forward and backward. The motor 34 is provided such that its rotating shaft is on the same axis as the rotating shaft of the rotating drum 31.
As illustrated in
Such a drive device 30, as illustrated in
Furthermore, the drive device 30 is arranged being inclined along a straight line L connecting the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 on the guide rail 20, and more specifically, is arranged on the guide rail 20 such that a rotation axis line M of the rotating drum extends substantially orthogonal to the straight line L and is slightly inclined toward the right. In the above-described drive device 30, the outer diameter of the rotating drum 31 is made smaller than a maximum diameter of the deceleration mechanism 35.
The supporting member 40, as illustrated in
The closing coupling portion 42 is in a cylindrical shape provided at the lower portion of the supporting member 40. The closing coupling portion 42 is coupled to the other end portion of the closing cable 51 that is let out from the first outlet of the first arm portion 33a, inserted into the closing outer tube 61, and hung on the first pulley 21. In the closing coupling portion 42, as illustrated in
The opening coupling portion 43 is in a cylindrical shape provided at the upper portion of the supporting member 40. The opening coupling portion 43 is coupled to the other end portion of the opening cable 52 that is let out from the second outlet of the second arm portion 33b, inserted into the opening outer tube 62, and hung on the second pulley 22. In the opening coupling portion 43, a tensioner 431 composed of a coil spring that gives a tensile force to the opening cable 52 to absorb the looseness of the opening cable 52 is built in.
Furthermore, the opening coupling portion 43 is arranged on the supporting member 40 in a form of being able to swing about the shaft center of a shaft 432 extending along the up-and-down direction.
The mounting member 44 is arranged on the supporting member 40 to be rotatable about the shaft center of a shaft 441 extending along the up-and-down direction, and is the one that a later described slide door SD is mounted thereon.
The left-side rail module 10 thus configured is arranged on the vehicle body 1 in the following manner.
That is, as schematically illustrated in
In this case, as illustrated in
By the projecting portion 321b of the case drum 321 constituting the casing outlet portion 32b being pressed onto the guide rail 20, the closing portion including the second closing plate portion 322a is pressed onto the mounting panel P (the vehicle body 1) in a state of the sealing member 70 being interposed. Then, as illustrated in
After the left-side rail module 10 is arranged on the vehicle body 1 in this manner, as illustrated in
In the door opening and closing apparatus including such a left-side rail module 10, when the motor 34 of the drive device 30 rotates forward, its torque is transmitted to the rotating drum 31 through the deceleration mechanism 35 and the rotating drum 31 rotates in one direction. When the rotating drum 31 rotates in the one direction, the rotating drum 31 takes up the closing cable 51 and lets out the opening cable 52. Consequently, as illustrated in
In this case, the closing cable 51 moves along the lower surface of the guide rail 20, and at the curved portion of the guide rail 20, is guided by the lower guide plate 24. The opening cable 52 moves along the upper surface of the guide rail 20, and at the curved portion of the guide rail 20, is guided by the upper guide plate 23.
Then, when the supporting member 40 moving toward the front reaches the front end portion of the guide rail 20, the slide door SD closes the entrance 2. When the slide door SD closes the entrance 2 in this manner, a part of the guide rail 20 is in a state of being exposed. However, because the closing cable 51 that moves along the lower surface of the guide rail 20 has been taken up by the rotating drum 31 of the drive device 30, the closing cable 51 has no risk of being exposed. Meanwhile, although the opening cable 52 is extending along the upper surface of the guide rail 20, because the upper area of the guide rail 20 is covered with the cover member 3, the opening cable 52 is not exposed.
Meanwhile, when the motor 34 rotates backward, its torque is transmitted to the rotating drum 31 through the deceleration mechanism 35 and the rotating drum 31 rotates in the other direction. When the rotating drum 31 rotates in the other direction, the rotating drum 31 takes up the opening cable 52 and lets out the closing cable 51. Consequently, as illustrated in
In this case, the closing cable 51 moves along the lower surface of the guide rail 20, and at the curved portion of the guide rail 20, is guided by the lower guide plate 24. The opening cable 52 moves along the upper surface of the guide rail 20, and at the curved portion of the guide rail 20, is guided by the upper guide plate 23.
Then, when the supporting member 40 moving toward the rear reaches the rear end portion of the guide rail 20, the slide door SD is at a fully open position. When the slide door SD is located at the fully open position in this manner, because the guide rail 20 is covered with the slide door SD, the closing cable 51 extending along the lower surface of the guide rail 20 is not exposed.
As explained in the foregoing, in the door opening and closing apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention, because the rail module (10) is provided with the drive device 30 fastened to the outside of the vehicle body 1 such that a part of the drive device 30 goes inside the vehicle body 1 through the opening P1 provided on the vehicle body 1, the installation work to the vehicle body 1 can be made easy.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, because the second pulley 22 is provided on the upper portion of the rear end portion of the guide rail 20, the opening cable 52 is not exposed to the outside when the slide door SD closes the entrance 2. Consequently, mischief and the like to the opening cable 52 can be prevented, and also the appearance can be improved.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, because the drive device 30 is arranged on the guide rail 20 such that the rotation axis line M of the rotating drum 31 extends substantially orthogonal to the straight line L connecting the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22, the drive device does not need to be swung as in a conventional case, and thus the first arm portion 33a is in a position being progressively inclined downward toward the front and the second arm portion 33b is in a position being progressively inclined upward toward the rear. Consequently, the closing cable 51 can be hung on the first pulley 21 in a state of a small degree of bend and the opening cable 52 can be hung on the second pulley 22 in a state of a small degree of bend.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, the opening cable 52 is hung on the second pulley 22 and coupled to the opening coupling portion 43 at the upper portion of the supporting member 40. This configuration also ensures that the opening cable 52 is not exposed to the outside when the slide door SD closes the entrance 2. Thus, mischief and the like to the opening cable 52 can be prevented, and also the appearance can be improved.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, because the second pulley bracket 22b closes the upper portion of the rear end portion of the guide rail 20, the water-tightness with respect to the guide rail 20 can be improved when the rail module (10) is arranged on the vehicle body 1.
In particular, the projection 22c of the second pulley bracket 22b closing the hole P2 formed on the vehicle body 1 can yield better water-tightness.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, in the drive device 30, because the outer diameter of the rotating drum 31 is made smaller than the maximum diameter of the deceleration mechanism 35, if the lengths of the opening cable 52 and the closing cable 51 are the same as those of the conventional case, the number of wounds of the opening cable 52 and the closing cable 51 increases and the length of the rotating drum 31 in the axis direction becomes larger as compared with the conventional case. However, by making the outer diameter of the rotating drum 31 smaller than the maximum diameter of the deceleration mechanism 35, the opening P1 of the vehicle body 1 that the drive device 30 passes through when the rail module (10) is arranged on the vehicle body 1 can be made small, and thus the opening P1 can be prevented from being increased in size.
In particular, by making the outer diameter of the rotating drum 31 smaller than the maximum diameter of the deceleration mechanism 35, the output of the cables (the closing cable 51 and the opening cable 52) that is calculated by “motor output torque/outer diameter of rotating drum” can be increased. Consequently, the output torque of the motor 34 can be made small when the same cable output as that of the conventional case is required, and as a result, by the reduction in power consumption, energy saving can .be achieved.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, the closing portion that is a portion of the housing of the drive device 30 and is located outside the vehicle body 1 closes the opening P1 by being pressed onto the vehicle body 1 by the guide rail 20 via the projecting portion 321b and being fastened in a state of being pressed onto the vehicle body 1 via the fastening bolt 71 while the sealing member 70 is interposed therein. Consequently, the opening P1 can be closed while the number of fastening members such as the fastening bolt 71 is reduced, and the better water-tightness can be yielded.
In particular, because the supporting bracket 73 that supports the driving unit 30b of the drive device 30 is fastened together onto the vehicle body 1 with the fastening bolt 71, the reduction in fastening process to fasten the driving unit 30b can be achieved, and also the reduction in the number of fastening members can be achieved.
In the above-described door opening and closing apparatus, because the opening coupling portion 43 is arranged on the supporting member 40 in a form of being able to swing about the shaft center of the shaft 432, the opening coupling portion 43 can swing as appropriate when the supporting member 40 moves on the guide rail 20 in which the curved portion is formed halfway. Consequently, the opening cable 52 can be prevented from being damaged by a twist and the like.
The first support base portion 40b includes the roller 41a that is rotatable around the vertical axis and the roller 41b that is rotatable around the horizontal axis, and is movable along the extending direction of the guide rail 20 by the rollers 41a and 41b rolling along the inside of the guide rail 20. On such a first support base portion 40b, the closing coupling portion 42 and the opening coupling portion 43 are provided, other than the above-described rollers 41a and 41b.
On the first support base portion 40b, a fastening piece 40b1 is further provided. The fastening piece 40b1 is a portion in a flat plate shape formed in a form of extending upward from the front end portion of the first support base portion 40b. The fastening piece 40b1 is provided standing along a direction substantially orthogonal to the extending direction of the guide rail 20.
The second support base portion 40c is provided with the mounting member 44. The mounting member 44 is arranged on the second support base portion 40c to be rotatable about the shaft center of the shaft 441 extending along the up-and-down direction, and is the one that the slide door SD (see
The second support base portion 40c includes a fastening portion 40c1. The fastening portion 40c1 is a portion in a flat plate shape extending along the up-and-down direction and a rear side of the fastening portion 40c1 is exposed. Such a second support base portion 40c is attached to the first support base portion 40b to be fastened with fasteners in a form that the fastening portion 40c1 overlaps the fastening piece 40b1 of the first support base portion 40b. Explaining more specifically, the second support base portion 40c is attached to the first support base portion 40b by screwing fastening bolts 80, which are inserted into fastening holes 40b2 and others formed on the fastening portion 40c1 and the fastening piece 40b1, to fastening nuts 81, in a state that the fastening portion 40c1 is overlapping the fastening piece 40b1.
Because the supporting member 40′ is thus provided with the first support base portion 40b and the second support base portion 40c, the slide door SD can be supported in the following manner.
As illustrated in
Then, as illustrated in
In the door opening and closing apparatus thus configured, the fastening piece 40b1 of the first support base portion 40b is provided standing along the direction substantially orthogonal to the extending direction of the guide rail 20 and the rear side of the fastening portion 40c1 of the second support base portion 40c is exposed. Thus, in a state that the first support base portion 40b is located at the rear end portion of the guide rail 20, the slide door SD can be supported easily by inserting the fastening bolts 80 from the rear side and attaching the second support base portion 40c to the first support base portion 40b. Consequently, the mounting of the slide door SD can be made easy, and as a result, the installation work to the vehicle body 1 can be made easy.
As in the foregoing, the preferred embodiment and the modification of the present invention have been explained in detail. The invention, however, is not limited to this and various modifications can be made.
In the above-described embodiment, the second pulley 22 that is an opening inversion member is arranged on the upper end portion of the guide rail 20 and the first pulley 21 that is a closing inversion member is arranged on the lower end portion of the guide rail 20. However, in the invention, the closing inversion member may also be arranged on the upper end portion of the rail member.
In the above-described embodiment, the rail module (10) is mounted to the vehicle body 1 in a state that the drive device 30 has been assembled. In the invention, however, the driving unit 30b of the drive device 30 may be fastened to the vehicle body 1 after being separated from the driven unit 30a, and afterward, the driving unit 30b may be attached to a part of the driven unit 30a that passes through the opening 91 of the vehicle body 1 and goes inside the vehicle body 1. With this configuration, the opening 91 of the vehicle body 1 can be further downsized.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-160322 | Aug 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/075279 | 9/24/2014 | WO | 00 |
