Patent Application
20200023720
The present disclosure relates to cable assemblies for automotive vehicles, and more specifically, dampeners for cable assemblies used to improve acoustic performance of doors and seat assemblies.
Vehicle doors, windows, hatches, panels, and the like are often secured or moved by one or more mechanical or electro-mechanical mechanisms. These mechanical or electro-mechanical mechanisms may be actuated or powered by one or more cables stretching from the mechanism to an actuator within the vehicle. These cables may be disposed within a cavity or aperture formed by one or more vehicle body panels or other structural members.
The cables often include a protective cover, normally comprised of a relatively hard plastic material. As the cable vibrates or moves side to side, the protective cover may contact an adjacent vehicle body panel or structural member causing a noise or vibrations. Plastic or polymeric sleeves may cover portions of the cable to inhibit or lessen the noise or vibration between the cover of the cable and the vehicle.
According to one embodiment of this disclosure, a vehicle actuator cable assembly is provided. The cable assembly may include a rail, a pulley, a cable, and a dampener sleeve. The rail may be attachable to a vehicle panel and the pulley may be rotatably coupled to the rail. The cable may include a wire that is movable by the pulley and a cover that partially surrounds a portion of the wire. The dampener sleeve may define an outer wall and an inner wall that surrounds a portion of the cover. The inner wall may define protrusions that inwardly extend from the inner wall so that the protrusions engage a portion of the cover.
According to another embodiment of this disclosure, a vehicle door panel assembly is provided. The door panel assembly may include an inner door panel that is attachable to an outer door panel, a cable, and a dampener sleeve. The cable may extend across at a least a portion of the inner door panel and be operatively connected to an actuator and a mechanism. The dampener sleeve may be disposed on the cable and include protrusions that inwardly extend from an inner wall of the sleeve.
According to yet another embodiment of this disclosure, a dampener sleeve for use with a vehicle actuator assembly that includes a cable assembly that may be operatively coupled to an actuator and a mechanism. The dampener sleeve may be comprised of an elongated body that defines an inner wall and an outer wall. The inner wall may include protrusions that receive and engage portions of the cable assembly when the cable assembly is inserted into the dampener sleeve.
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.
Actuation of mechanisms such as latches, windows carriers or regulators, door drives, etc. are generally connected by a wire or a cable to a source of power, mechanical actuator, electrical-mechanical actuator, or some combination thereof. These cables and wires are often hidden between two or more vehicle panels so that they out of vehicle occupant's eyesight. The cables and wires, stretching across portions of the panels, may move or vibrate and contact the panels, which has the potential to create an audible sound or noise within the vehicle cabin. The loudness or harshness of the noise may be caused by the relatively hard protective cover of the cable or wire contacting a relatively hard vehicle panel.
Covers or sleeves comprised of a softer material such as foam or rubber have been used to prevent this noise. However, for many different reasons, the inner diameter of the sleeve may increase or fluctuate over time. If the inner diameter of the sleeve increases too much, a gap may form between the cable or wire and the inner wall of the sleeve. This gap allows for relative movement between the cable or wire and the sleeve and may create another audible sound or noise within the vehicle cabin. This disclosure provides solutions to these problems.
The window regulator assembly 14 may include one or more rails 16 that are attachable to one of the panels, such as the inner panel 18 shown. The window regulator assembly 14 may include one or more pulleys 20 that are rotatably coupled to the rails. The window regulator assembly 14 may also include a cable 22 comprised of a wire 24, that is movable by the pulleys 20, and a cover 26 that partially surrounds a portion of the wire 24.
The window regulator assembly 14 includes a sleeve, such as a dampener sleeve 28 that may be carried by the cable 22. The dampener sleeve 28 may prevent portions of the cover 26 from contacting the outer panel 15, or inner panel 18, or the pane of glass 19. If the cable 22 moves and the cover 26 contacts the panels, a noise may occur. The noise may be relatively distinct because of the hardness of the cover and the hardness of the inner panels, outer panels, and glass. This noise may be a disturbance or annoyance to users of the vehicle. The dampener sleeve 28 includes an outer wall 30 and an inner wall 32 that surrounds a portion of the cover 26. The inner wall 32 defines one or more protrusions 34 that extend radially from the inner wall 32 to engage a portion of the cover 26 of the cable 22. Because the one or more protrusions engage the cable 22 relative movement between the inner wall 32 and the cable is mitigated or prevented altogether.
The dampener sleeve 28 may have an elongated shape, in other words, the length L1 of the sleeve is greater than the width W1 of the sleeve. The number of protrusions 34 defined by the inner wall 32 may vary. But at least three protrusions 34, arranged in a triangular configuration, are required so that relative-radial movement between the cable 22 and the inner wall is mitigated or prevented. The dampener sleeve 28 may be comprised of a semi-rigid material, such as a thermoplastic elastomer closed-cell foam such as polyurethane or polyolefin. Semi-rigid means a material that is structurally sufficient to support itself and not collapse under zero or minimal load.
Referring specifically to
The larger clearance G2 is due to shrinking of the sleeve material, thus decreasing the thickness of the wall from thickness T1 to T2 and increasing the inner diameter D3 of the sleeve 40′. The shrinking wall thickness may be due to one of several environmental conditions, such as moisture caused by precipitation or condensation on the sleeve or a change in temperature over a relatively short period of time, in combination with the shrink rate of the foam material. Shrink rate is a rate of change of a material's dimensions over time. As one example, the polyurethane closed-cell foam may have a shrink rate ranging between 5% and 15%. The term shrink rate may also be known as shrinkage. Shrinkage may refer to a dimensional (e.g., thickness, length, width) decrease over time. Moreover, shrinkage may be measured by one or more standardized tests, such as ASTM D212609.
One way to resolve this loose condition is to increase the wall thickness T1 to account for or compensate for the shrink rate of the material. Increasing the wall thickness T1 results in decreasing the inner diameter D3. While decreasing the inner diameter D3 may prevent the condition shown in
In one embodiment, the protrusions may extend along the entire length of the sleeve. Because the protrusions 34 extend along the length of the sleeve 38, the protrusions may maintain constant contact where the cable 22, even as the inner diameter of the sleeve 28 constricts or expands. Moreover, the insertion force required for assembling the cable is constant because of the uniform inner diameter defined by the protrusions 34.
In another embodiment, the dampener sleeve 28 may be assembled to a door module assembly 50, as illustrated in
This dampener sleeve 70 may be comprised of a rubber type of material such as ethyl propylene diene monomer rubber, as opposed to the foam material of the dampener sleeve 28. The dampener sleeve 70 may be adhered to certain portions of the cable, allowing for a shorter dampener sleeve. Adhering the dampener sleeve to the cable maybe accomplished by a glue or adhesive (not illustrated). The dampener sleeve 70 may be fixed to a vehicle panel in a predetermined position by a fastener, such as a clip or a pin (not illustrated). The predetermined position may be selected so that the portions of cable or wire not covered by the dampener sleeve do not contact one of the vehicle panels.
The outer wall 74 may include outer protrusions or external protrusions 78. The external protrusions taper from the outer wall 74 to the distal end. This taper decreases the cross-sectional area of the outer portions of the sleeve with the goal of mitigating or preventing noise created by the glass pane 19 or car door panels 15, 18 moving across the dampener sleeve 70. The dampener sleeve 28 of the first embodiment and the dampener sleeve 70 of the second embodiment may be implemented in various assemblies, such as the window regulator illustrated in
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.
Parts List
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.
