The present disclosure relates to a drive arrangement for the motorized adjustment of an adjusting element.
Within the context of increasing the comfort in motor vehicles, the motorized adjustment of adjusting elements is given special significance. An adjusting element can be a closing element, for example a side door. Other types of closing elements are, for example, trunk lids, front hoods, tailgates or the like. An adjusting element can also, however, be an adjustable seat part such as a backrest or the like.
The present disclosure may address one or more problems by configuring and developing a drive arrangement in such a way that the necessary installation space is reduced.
In one or more embodiments, the drive arrangement includes an encoder element of a movement detection device with a coupling element of the coupling of the drive to form one component. And therefore of producing a single component from two components of different functions which have up to now been separate and spaced apart from one another, which single component combines two functions, namely firstly the detection of a rotational movement and secondly the coupling function. In this way, the axial dimensions of the drive arrangement and accordingly the necessary installation space in the motor vehicle can be reduced.
As an example, the drive arrangement has a movement detection device with at least one sensor and an encoder element which interacts with it, that the at least one sensor is fixed to the housing, and that the encoder element is arranged fixedly on one of the coupling elements for conjoint rotation.
As has already been explained in the introductory part of the description, a movement detection device of this type permits, by way of the interaction between the encoder element and a respective sensor, the detection of angular changes of the driveshaft which rotates about its geometric rotational axis. Via this, the rotational speed (rpm), angular position (degrees) and/or rotational direction (clockwise direction/counterclockwise direction) of the driveshaft can be determined, and the degree of the adjustment of the advancing mechanism during its adjusting movement can therefore be extrapolated. A movement detection device of this type therefore forms a rotary encoder, such as an incremental encoder, the encoder element having markings which can be detected by sensor, on the basis of which rotationally induced angular changes can be detected. The markings may be configured, for example, in such a way that they can be detected by a magnetic field sensor, a capacitive sensor and/or an inductive sensor. In this context, a marking which can be detected by magnetic field sensor is, for example, a magnetic pole of a permanent magnet or ring magnet. In this context, a marking which can be detected by a capacitive or inductive sensor is, for example, ferromagnetic metal piece. Markings of this type may be arranged distributed over the circumference of the encoder element, in particular at uniform spacings.
One or more embodiments relate to movement detection devices, specifically of the at least one sensor and the respective encoder element.
As an example, a number of markings which can be detected by sensor on the encoder element may be provided. This in turn determines the measuring resolution of the movement detection device.
One or more embodiments relate to positions of the encoder element relative to the coupling element, on which it is arranged. Furthermore, connecting types between the encoder element and the coupling element are defined.
One or more embodiments relate to positions of the at least one sensor relative to the encoder element.
Other embodiments relate to the coupling and the coupling elements. The coupling may be a curved tooth coupling, other coupling types also being conceivable, however, such as a cross slide coupling, a claw coupling, an elastomeric coupling or the like.
The driveshaft is a shaft of the motor unit and, in accordance with another embodiment, the output shaft is a shaft of the motor unit or the advancing mechanism.
In another embodiment, the advancing mechanism is a spindle/spindle nut mechanism.
In one or more embodiments, a drive housing of the drive is provided. The drive housing serves to receive the motor unit and/or the advancing mechanism and/or the coupling element with the encoder element.
In another embodiment, an adjusting element arrangement with an adjusting element, such as a closing element of a motor vehicle and with a drive arrangement as described above is provided. To this extent, reference may be made to all the comments in respect of the drive arrangement according to the proposal.
In the following text, the invention will be explained in greater detail on the basis of the drawing which illustrates merely exemplary embodiments, and in which:
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
A known drive arrangement is provided in DE 10 2017 115 464 A1), the drive arrangement provides motorized adjustment of a closing element in the form of a tailgate of a motor vehicle. The drive arrangement has a drive unit with a drive which has a rotational motor unit and an advancing mechanism which is connected downstream in drive terms of the motor unit for generating linear drive movements for opening and closing of the closing element. Here, the advancing mechanism as a spindle/spindle nut mechanism with a spindle and a spindle nut which meshes with it. Furthermore, the drive of this drive arrangement has a claw coupling with two coupling elements, of which one coupling element is connected to a driveshaft and the other coupling element is connected to an output shaft of the drive. Here, the driveshaft is a gear mechanism output shaft of an intermediate gear mechanism of the motor unit, which intermediate gear mechanism couples the gear mechanism output shaft in drive terms to the motor shaft. Here, the output shaft is the spindle of the spindle/spindle nut mechanism.
For the detection of rotational movements and angular changes of the driveshaft, it is known for a ring magnets to be connected fixedly to the driveshaft, spaced apart axially from the coupling, for conjoint rotation, which ring magnets interacts with a Hall sensor in such a way that, in the case of a rotating driveshaft, by way of which the ring magnet and its magnetic field is corotated, magnetic field changes are detected. Via this, the rotational speed and angular position of the driveshaft can be determined and the degree of the adjustment of the advancing mechanism, that is to say the position of the spindle relative to the spindle nut, during the entire adjusting movement can be extrapolated. The use of a movement detection device of this type increases the necessary installation space read drive arrangement of this type, however.
The drive arrangement 1 according to the proposal serves for the motorized adjustment of an adjusting element 2 (here, a closing element) of a motor vehicle. The adjusting element 2 can be adjusted by means of the drive arrangement 1 in a first adjusting direction (here, an opening direction) and in a second adjusting direction (here, a closing direction).
Here, purely by way of example, the adjusting element 2 in the form of the closing element is a trunk lid of the motor vehicle. The drive arrangement 1 according to the proposal can also fundamentally be applied with the same advantages, however, to different types of adjusting elements, in particular closing elements, of a motor vehicle. These include, inter alia, tailgates, rear doors, front hoods and side doors of the motor vehicle. Reference is to be made to the list in the introductory part of the description with regard to further advantageous adjusting elements.
Viewing
The drive arrangement 1 has a drive unit 4 with a drive 5. The drive 5 per se is shown on an enlarged scale in the perspective illustration according to
Furthermore,
The motor unit 6, the optional worm gear stage 11 and the advancing mechanism 8 are arranged on a drive train of the drive arrangement 1, which drive train serves for the transmission of torque from the motor unit 6 to the spindle 9 which can be moved in a linear manner as a result and in this way moves two drive connectors 14a, 14b of the drive arrangement 1 relative to one another. The one drive connector 14a connects the spindle 9 pivotably to the adjusting element 2 or, as in the present exemplary embodiment, to the motion link 3 which is assigned to the adjusting element 2, whereas the other drive connector 14b otherwise connects the drive unit 4 pivotably to the motor vehicle, in particular via a drive housing 15 of the drive 5. In the present case, the term “drive housing” is to be understood broadly and also quite generally comprises a carrier which supports the motor unit 6 and/or the advancing mechanism 8. A drive housing 15 of this type does not necessarily have to be completely closed here.
Furthermore, as shown in
Here and preferably, the driveshaft 7a is the motor shaft and, as an example, the driveshaft 7b may be the abovementioned output shaft which introduces the rotational movements into the advancing mechanism 8.
In the state in which they are coupled to one another in drive terms, the at least two coupling elements 16a, 16b, 16c transmit rotational movements from the driveshaft 7a to the output shaft 7b which brings about the drive movements of the advancing mechanism 8.
The drive arrangement 1 may include a movement detection device 17 with at least one sensor 18 and an encoder element 19 which interacts with it for the detection of a rotational movement of the driveshaft 7a, that the at least one sensor 18 is fixed to the housing, and that the encoder element 19 is arranged fixedly on one of the coupling elements 16a, 16b, 16c for conjoint rotation. The interaction between the encoder element 19 and the at least one sensor 18 is such that angular changes of the rotating driveshaft 7a can be detected and the rotational speed, angular position and/or rotational direction of the driveshaft 7a can be determined via this, which in turn allows an extrapolation of the degree of the adjustment of the advancing mechanism 8, that is to say of the position of the spindle 9 relative to the spindle nut 10 and the position of the drive connectors 14a, 14b relative to one another.
In one or more embodiments, the at least one sensor 18 is a magnetic field sensor, in particular a Hall sensor or MR sensor (magneto resistive sensor). Here, the encoder element 19 can be configured in different ways and, in particular, can have one or more individual permanent magnets 20 or a multi-polar ring magnet 21. “Multi-polar” means that the polls N, S (north poles N and south poles S) of the magnet alternate in the circumferential direction, that is to say this magnet has a plurality of poles N, S distributed over the circumference. Here, the “circumference” is always in relation to the circumference of the respective coupling element (here, the coupling element 16c) about its rotational axis.
In the case of the exemplary embodiment in
In accordance with one alternative exemplary embodiment which is shown in
The encoder element 19 can have a number of permanent magnets 20 or metal pieces 22 or magnetic poles N or south poles S in the range from 2 to 100 in the circumferential direction. For a relatively precise positional determination, the number lies in the range from 10 to 50, or in the range from 20 to 40.
The encoder element 19 can be placed radially on the outer side onto the respective coupling element (here, the coupling element 16c, or can be embedded into the coupling element at least partially (
The at least one sensor 18 can likewise be arranged in different ways. The at least one sensor 18 may be arranged axially or radially with respect to the encoder element 19. A radial arrangement of the only sensor 18 here with respect to the encoder element 19 is shown by way of example in
In the following text, the coupling 16 is now to be explained in greater detail. In one or more embodiments, the coupling element 16c, on which the encoder element 19 is arranged, is a sleeve-shaped element 23, but can also be an axial shaft portion 24, for example, of the driveshaft 7a or the output shaft 7b. In principle, the coupling element can also be a gearwheel 25a, 25b which may be arranged on a shaft portion 24, such as of the driveshaft 7a or output shaft 7b.
In one or more embodiments, the coupling 16 is a non-switchable coupling 16, but can also be a switchable coupling in accordance with one alternative embodiment which is not shown here. In addition or as an alternative, the coupling 16 can be a torsionally rigid or torsionally flexible coupling 16.
In one or more embodiments, the coupling 16 is a curved tooth coupling 25, other coupling types also being conceivable, however.
A curved tooth coupling 25 has the advantage that it can compensate for an axial offset and/or an angular offset between the driveshaft 7a and the output shaft 7b or their rotational axes. This permits simplified assembly and the compensation of tolerances due to manufacture and assembly.
A curved tooth coupling 25 has two externally toothed coupling elements 16a, 16b, of which one is provided fixedly on the driveshaft 7a for conjoint rotation and the other is provided fixedly on the output shaft 7b for conjoint rotation. The externally toothed coupling element 16a, 16b can be configured as a gearwheel 25a, 25b or as a shaft portion 24 which is provided with an external toothing system. Furthermore, the curved tooth coupling 25 has a coupling element 16c in the form of an internally toothed internal gear 25c which is coupled or can be coupled in drive terms to the two externally toothed coupling elements 16a, 16b. The externally toothed coupling elements 16a, 16b are mounted in the internally toothed internal gear 25c such that they can be tilted, to be precise in each case about a tilt axis which is orthogonal with respect to the rotational axis of the respective shaft 7a or 7b. For this purpose, the coupling elements 16a, 16b may be of crowned configuration, that is to say are rounded on the respective radial outer side around the tilt axis.
In one or more embodiments, the coupling element 16c, in particular the sleeve-shaped element 23, on which the encoder element 19 is arranged, is the internally toothed internal gear 25c of the curved tooth coupling 25. It is also conceivable, however, that one of the externally toothed coupling elements 16a, 16b of the curved tooth coupling 25 forms the coupling element 16a and 16b, respectively, on which the encoder element 19 is arranged. Combinations are fundamentally also conceivable, in the case of which different ones of the coupling elements 16a, 16b, 16c have in each case one encoder element 19.
As
The output shaft 7b, to which the second coupling element 16b is connected fixedly for conjoint rotation, may be likewise a shaft of the motor unit 6, but can also be a shaft of the advancing mechanism 8. As an example, the output shaft 7b is the shaft which supports the worm 12 of the worm gear stage 11, the worm gear stage 11 being connected here in drive terms between the motor unit 6 and the advancing mechanism 8, as has already been explained above. It is also fundamentally conceivable, however, that the output shaft 7b is the spindle 9 of the advancing mechanism 8.
In accordance with a further teaching which is given independent significance, an adjusting element arrangement 26 with an adjusting element 2, in particular a closing element, of a motor vehicle and with a drive arrangement 1 according to the proposal is claimed. Reference may be made to all the comments with respect to the drive arrangement 1 according to the proposal.
The following is a list of reference numbers shown in the Figures. However, it should be understood that the use of these terms is for illustrative purposes only with respect to one embodiment. And, use of reference numbers correlating a certain term that is both illustrated in the Figures and present in the claims is not intended to limit the claims to only cover the illustrated embodiment.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2020 104 212.4 | Feb 2020 | DE | national |
This application is the U.S. National Phase of PCT Application No. PCT/EP2021/053696 filed on Feb. 16, 2021, which claims priority to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2020 104 212.4, filed on Feb. 18, 2020, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2021/053696 | 2/16/2021 | WO |