Patent Grant
10030430
The present invention relates to a window regulator which moves a window glass of a vehicle up and down.
Window regulators which support a slider base, to which a window glass is fixed, in a manner to allow the slider base in the longitudinal direction of a guide rail and which make the window glass move up and down by pulling wires are widely used in vehicles. The slider base has guide portions which are slidably engaged with the guide rail. A pair of wires are routed along the guide rail to pull the slider base in the forward and reverse directions, and ends of the wires are respectively engaged with wire engaging portions provided on the slider base. Pulling the wires causes a force in the raising/lowering direction to act on a force application portion on the slider base to move the slider base.
[Patent Literature 1]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-82027
The slider base of the window regulator disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is configured by combining a body member made of synthetic resin, which includes guide portions, wire engaging portions and force application portions, and a reinforcing plate made of metal. The body member and the reinforcing plate are fastened and fixed to a window glass in an overlaid state. In this configuration, when a force tending to rotate the slider base is exerted on the slider base from the window glass, there is a possibility of stress being concentrated on the synthetic resin-made body member, which may cause the body member to be warped or deformed.
The present invention has been made in view of the above described issues, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a window regulator which is not easily warped or deformed when an external force is exerted on the slider base.
In a window regulator including: a guide rail which is fixed to a vehicle; a slider base which supports a window glass and is supported on the guide rail to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail; and a pair of wires which are routed along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail and connected to the slider base, the present invention has the following features. The slider base is configured by fixing a metal-made support member to a resin-made body member. The body member includes a guide portion that is slidably guided by the guide rail and wire engaging portions with which ends of the wires are engaged. The support member supports the window glass and also holds the body member in the widthwise direction of the guide rail via a holding portion of the support member.
It is desirable that the holding portion of the support member holds the guide portion, which is among portions of the body member.
It is desirable that the body member include force application portions which receive a force to move the body member in the pulling direction following contact of the wires with the force application portions when the wires are pulled in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail, that the holding portion of the support member include a pair of holding lugs which are spaced from each other in the widthwise direction of the guide rail and that the pair of holding lugs be arranged on either side of the force application portion at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail.
It is desirable that the holding portion of the support member further include another pair of holding lugs which are spaced from each other in the widthwise direction of the guide rail and that a straight line which connects the pair of holding lugs and a straight line which connects the another pair of holding lugs intersect each other.
It is desirable that the body member include a retaining portion which prevents the support member from being spaced apart from the body member in a state of overlapping the support member.
In an embodiment, it is possible that the support member be provided with a plate-shaped cover portion which covers the body member and glass mounting portions which are positioned on both sides of the cover portion in the widthwise direction of the guide rail and to which the window glass is fixed, that the holding portion be positioned at an edge of the cover portion and shaped to project toward the body member side with respect to the cover portion, and that the support member be provided with flanges which are continuous with the holding portion and extend to edges of the glass mounting portions. This configuration makes it possible to improve the rigidity of the slider base.
According to a window regulator of the present invention described above, a slider base is configured of a resin-made body member which is slidably supported by a guide rail and to which wires are connected and a metal-made support member which supports a window glass, and the support member holds the body member in the widthwise direction of the guide rail via a holding portion of the support member; accordingly, when a force in a rotational direction is exerted on the slider base from the window glass, stress is not easily concentrated on the body member, which makes it possible to prevent the body member from being warped or deformed.
A window regulator 10 that is shown in
A slider base 14 which supports a window glass is supported by the guide rail 11 to be movable in the longitudinal direction thereof. One end of each of a pair of wires 15 and 16 (
The wires 15 and 16 that extend from the guide pulley 17 and the guide piece 18 are inserted into guide tubes 21 and 22, respectively, and wound around a winding drum that is provided inside a drum housing 20 to which the guide tubes 21 and 22 are connected. The drum housing 20 is fixed to the door panel (inner panel). The winding drum is driven to rotate by a motor 25. Forward and reverse rotations of the winding drum cause one of the wires 15 and 16 to increase the winding amount thereof around the winding drum and cause the other of the wires 15 and 16 to advance from the winding drum, thereby causing the slider base 14 to move along the guide rail 11 due to the pulling-loosening relationship between the pair of wires 15 and 16. In accordance with this movement of the slider base 14, the window glass moves up and down.
As shown in
The body member 30 is provided, at different positions in the upward and downward directions (the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 11) with a pair of guide portions 31 and 32, and is supported by the guide rail 11 to be slidable relative to the guide rail 11. More specifically, the guide rail 11 is provided on either side of a plate portion 11a thereof with a pair of side walls 11b, from each of which a flange 11c is projected laterally, thus having a hat-shaped cross section (see
Each of the guide portions 31 and 32 is formed into a projecting portion; the guide portion 31 is provided on either side thereof with a pair of side surfaces 31b substantially parallel to each other which are spaced from each other in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 11, and the guide portion 32 is provided on either side thereof with a pair of side surfaces 32b substantially parallel to each other which are spaced from each other in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 11. The side surfaces 31b and 32b are each formed into a surface extending in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 11. A retaining projection 41 (retaining portion) is projected from the side surface 31b formed on one side of the guide portion 31 and a retaining projection 42 (retaining portion) is projected from the side surface 32b formed on one side of the guide portion 32.
The body member 30 is provided between the guide portion 31 and the guide portion 32 in the upward and downward directions with wire guide grooves 33 and 34 (
The wire-end housing portions 35 and 36 are recessed portions which are greater in width than the wire guide grooves 33 and 34, respectively. The wire-end housing portion 35 lies on an extension of the wire guide groove 33 and projects obliquely downward from a side of the body member 30, while the wire-end housing portion 36 lies on an extension of the wire guide groove 34 and projects obliquely upward from a side of the body member 30. The wire-end housing portion 35 is provided, at the end thereof to which the wire guide groove 33 is connected, with a contact surface 35a. The end of the wire-end housing portion 35 on the opposite from the contact surface 35a is open, and the wire-end housing portion 35 is provided at this open end with a retaining projection 35b. Likewise, the wire-end housing portion 36 is provided, at the end thereof to which the wire guide groove 34 is connected, with a contact surface 36a. The end of the wire-end housing portion 36 on the opposite from the contact surface 36a is open, and the wire-end housing portion 36 is provided at this open end with a retaining projection 36b.
The wire guide grooves 33 and 34 and the wire end housing portions 35 and 36 are each open to a surface of the body member 30 on the vehicle exterior side (the side seen in
The body member 30 is further provided below the intersecting portion 45 with a fitting hole 46 and provided above the intersecting portion 45 with a fitting hole 47. The fitting holes 46 and 47 are substantially circular bottomed holes which are recessed on surfaces of the body member 30 on the vehicle exterior side.
The support member 50 is provided with a cover portion 51 in the shape of a flat plate and provided at either side of the cover portion 51 with glass mounting portions 52 and 53. The glass mounting portions 52 and 53 are fixed to a window glass using fastening means not shown in the drawings. The cover portion 51 is provided with a pair of first holding lugs 54 and 55 and a pair of second holding lugs 56 and 57. The first holding lugs 54 and 55 are separately arranged at upper and lower end sides of the cover portion 51 and arranged at different positions in the widthwise direction of the cover portion 51. Likewise, the second holding lugs 56 and 57 are separately arranged at upper and lower end sides of the cover portion 51 and arranged at different positions in the widthwise direction of the cover portion 51. More specifically, the first holding lug 54 and the second holding lug 56 are formed at the upper end side of the cover portion 51 to be positioned to face each other in the widthwise direction of the cover portion 51. The first holding lug 55 and the second holding lug 57 are formed at the lower end side of the cover portion 51 to be positioned to face each other in the widthwise direction of the cover portion 51. In addition, the first holding lug 54 and the second holding lug 57 are provided at positions close to the glass mounting portion 52 in the widthwise direction of the cover portion 51, while the first holding lug 55 and the second holding lug 56 are provided at positions close to the glass mounting portion 53 in the widthwise direction of the cover portion 51. Accordingly, in a state where the support member 50 is viewed in a plan view as shown in
The support member 50 is provided at different positions in the upward and downward directions with a pair of wire-end retaining lugs 58 and 59. As shown in
Before the body member 30 and the support member 50 are combined, the wire 15 and the wire 16 are installed to the body member 30. As shown in
At the time of the installation of the wire 15 and the wire 16, the wire end 70 and the wire end 72 are not pressed against the contact surfaces 35a and 36a sides in the corresponding wire-end housing portions 35 and 36, respectively, in a state where no tension is applied to either of the wires 15 and 16. The retaining projection 35b and 36b prevent the wire ends 70 and 72 from coming off the wire end housing portions 35 and 36 in that state.
The support member 50 is mounted to the body member 30 by placing the cover portion 51 on the body member 30 from the vehicle exterior side with the side of the support member 50 from which the first holding lugs 54 and 55, the second holding lugs 56 and 57, the wire-end retaining lugs 58 and 59 and the fitting projections 62 and 63 project facing toward the vehicle interior side. As shown in
Additionally, mounting the support member 50 to the body member 30 causes the wire-end retaining lug 58 to be inserted into the plug-in groove 37 and causes the wire-end retaining lug 59 to be inserted into the plug-in groove 38. The wire-end retaining lug 58 is inserted to lie on an extension of the wire 15 but does not interfere with the wire 15 by inserting the wire 15 into the wire insertion groove 58a. Likewise, the wire-end retaining lug 59 is inserted to lie on an extension of the wire 16 but does not interfere with the wire 16 by inserting the wire 16 into the wire insertion groove 59a. Additionally, mounting the support member 50 to the body member 30 causes the projecting portions 39 and 40 to be inserted into the engaging holes 60 and 61, respectively as shown in
The wire 15, the wire end 70 of which is connected at one end thereof to the slider base 14 that is made as described above, is extended upward along the guide rail 11, guided by the guide pulley 17 to be inserted into the guide tube 21 and wound around the winding drum provided in the drum housing 20. The wire 16, the wire end 72 of which is connected at one end thereof to the slider base 14, is extended downward along the guide rail 11, guided by the guide piece 18 to be inserted into the guide tube 22 and wound around the winding drum provided in the drum housing 20. The tension of each wire 15 and 16 increases as the winding amount of each wire 15 and 16 around the winding drum increases. As the tension of each wire 15 and 16 increases, the wire end 70 of the wire 15 (the end surface of the wire end 70 to which the wire 15 is connected) is pressed against the contact surface 35a of the wire-end housing portion 35 to thereby cause the compression spring 71, which is fitted on the wire end 70, to be compressed and deformed, and the wire end 72 of the wire 16 (the end surface of the wire end 72 to which the wire 16 is connected) is pressed against the contact surface 36a of the wire-end housing portion 36 to thereby cause the compression spring (not shown) which is fitted on the wire end 72 to be compressed and deformed.
In the window regulator 10 that is made as described above, when the slider base 14 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 11 by pulling each wire 15 and 16, turning moment about one of the force application portions F1 and F2 which receives the pulling force acts on the slider base 14. The guide portions 31 and 32 are positioned between the force application portions F1 and F2 and the wire-end housing portions 35 and 36 in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 11. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the distance between the force application portions F1 and F2 and the guide portions 31 and 32 in the widthwise direction with no influence of the arrangement space for the wire-end housing portions 35 and 36 and the wire ends 70 and 72, thus making it possible to reduce the moment. Reducing the moment acting on the slider base 14 causes friction of the guide portions 31 and 32 against the guide rail 11 to decrease, thus making it possible to improve the operating efficiency in raising and lowering the window glass.
Additionally, in the slider base 14, the force application portions F1 and F2 and the wire-end housing portions 35 and 36 (specifically the contact surfaces 35a and 36a) are positioned between the guide portion 31 and the guide portion 32 in the upward and downward directions. According to this arrangement, the rotation of the slider base 14 relative to the slider base 14 can be suppressed by the guide portion and the guide portion 32 that are great in distance therebetween in the upward and downward direction, and the slider base 14 can be made compact in size in the upward and downward directions by concentrating the support and connect structure for the wires 15 and 16 to the slider base 14 (the force application portions F1 and F2, which receive force in the raising and lowering directions from the wires 15 and 16, and the contact surfaces 35a and 36a of the wire-end housing portions 35 and 36, with which the wire ends 70 and 72 are engaged) in the vertical range between the guide portion 31 and the guide portion 32.
Additionally, in the slider base 14 of the window regulator 10, the support member 50 that is made of metal is fixed to the window glass, and the body member 30 that is made of synthetic resin is indirectly connected to the window glass via the support member 50, without being directly fixed to the window glass. Accordingly, the force acting on the window glass is received by the support member 50 that is high in rigidity, which makes it possible to prevent the concentration of stress on the body member 30. Since the body member 30 is a portion which takes charge of sliding on the guide rail 11 and connection of the wires 15 and 16, the performance of the window regulator 10 can be maintained by preventing the body member 30 from being warped or deformed by the concentration of stress on the body member 30. Specifically, by holding the guide portions 31 and 32 of the body member 30 in the widthwise direction with the pair of first holding lugs 54 and 55 and the pair of second holding lugs 56 and 57 that are provided on the support member 50, the rotational rigidity of the slider base 14 relative to the inclination of the window glass in the leftward and rightward directions with respect to
For instance, when a force tending to rotate the support member 50 in the clockwise direction with respect to
The guide portions 31 and 32 of the body member 30 are slidably engaged with the guide rail 11 and held by the first holding lugs 54 and 55 and the second holding lugs 56 and 57. In addition, the retaining projections 41 and 42, which are provided on the guide portions 31 and 32 of the body member 30, function as retaining portions which prevent the body member 30 and the support member 50 from moving away from each other in the thickness direction of the slider base 14 by engagement with the first holding lug 54 and the second holding lug 57 of the support member 50. Since multiple functions are given to the guide portions 31 and 32 and each holding lug 54, 55, 56 and 57 as just described, simplification of the structure of the slider base 14 has been achieved.
As shown in
The present embodiment of the window regulator 10 is provided with the two pairs of holding lugs: the first holding lugs 54 and 55 and the second holding lugs 56 and 57. This structure is desirable because the rotational rigidity can be enhanced also with respect to the inclination of the window glass in any direction; however, it is possible that the window regulator 10 be provided with only one pair of holding lugs. For instance, in the case where it is required mainly to improve the rotational rigidity of the slider base 14 against rotation of the window glass in the clockwise direction with respect to
Pulling each wire 15 and 16 by rotating the winding drum in the raising and lowering operation of the window glass in the window regulator 10 causes tensile force to act on the corresponding contact surface 35a or 36a from the wire end 70 or 72 of the wire 15 or 16 which is pulled. For instance, the tensile force which acts on the contact surface 35a from the wire end 70 acts on the body member 30, on which the contact surface 35a is formed, as a load in a direction toward the other end of the wire 15 along the wire guide groove 33. More specifically, the load imposed on the contact surface 35a of the body member 30 is received by the wire-end retaining lug 58 of the support member 50, which causes the wire-end retaining lug 58 to press the presses surface 43, thus causing the load to act on the body member 30. As shown in
The body member 30 and the support member 50 are further provided, at upper and lower positions on the vertically opposite sides of the intersecting portion 45, with a fitting portion consisting of the fitting hole 46 and the fitting projection 62 and a fitting portion consisting of the fitting hole 47 and the fitting projection 63. Engaging the body member 30 and the support member 50 with each other at upper and lower positions on the vertically opposite sides of the intersecting portion 45 in this manner makes it possible to disperse stress applied to the body member 30 when the wires 15 and 16, which are routed through the wire lead-in opening 33a of the wire guide groove 33 and the wire lead-in opening 34a of the wire guide groove 34, are pulled in the upward and downward directions (when the wire 15 is pulled in the upward direction and the wire 16 is pulled in the downward direction). This configuration further improves the load bearing of the slider base 14.
The projecting portions 39 and 40 are projections which are projected from a surface of the body member 30 which faces toward the vehicle exterior side and can be easily formed in molding the body member 30. In the body member 30, in particular, the wire guide grooves 33 and 34, the wire-end housing portions 35 and 36, the projecting portions 39 and 40 and the fitting holes 46 and 47 are all provided on a surface of the body member 30 which faces the vehicle exterior side as can be seen from
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which pits corresponding to the engaging holes 60 and 61 and projections corresponding to the projecting portions 39 and 40 are formed on the body member 30 side and the support member side, respectively; namely, the pit-and-projection relationship can be reversed compared with that in the above described embodiment. Likewise, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which projections corresponding to the fitting projections 62 and 63 are formed on the body member 30 side and pits corresponding to the fitting holes 46 and 47 are formed on the support member 50 side.
As described above, the body member 30 and the support member 50 are provided with the plug-in grooves 37 and 38 and the wire-end retaining lugs 58 and 59 in addition to engaging portions consisting of the projecting portions 39 and 40 and the engaging holes 60 and 61. The plug-in groove 37 and the wire-end retaining lug 58 are positioned closer to the wire-end housing portion 35 than the projecting portion 39 and the engaging hole 60, while the plug-in groove 38 and the wire-end retaining lug 59 are positioned closer to the wire-end housing portion 36 than the projecting portion 40 and the engaging hole 61. The tensile force applied to the contact surface 35a from the wire end 70 is received by the wire-end retaining lug 58 that is positioned in the plug-in groove 37, the tensile force applied to the contact surface 36a from the wire end 72 is received by the wire-end retaining lug 59 that is positioned in the plug-in groove 38, and the stress on the body member 30 from the wire ends 70 and 72 can be dispersed to the support member 50 via the wire-end retaining lugs 58 and 59 together with the engaging portions consisting of the projecting portions 39 and 40 and the engaging holes 60 and 61. Each of the wire-end retaining lugs 58 and 59 when the slider base 14 is viewed in a plan view as shown in
As can be understood from
However, unlike the present embodiment, even in the case of an arrangement in which part of the contact area between the projecting portion 39 and the engaging hole 60 is positioned outside the range of the width of the extensions of the wire-end housing portion 35 and the wire-end retaining lug 58 or an arrangement in which part of the contact area between the projecting portion 40 and the engaging hole 61 is positioned outside the range of the width of the extensions of the wire-end housing portion 36 and the wire-end retaining lug 59, a certain effect for improvement of the load bearing of the slider base 14 can be obtained.
The body member 230 that constitutes an element of the slider base 214 is provided at different positions in the upward and downward directions (the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 211) with a pair of guide portions 231 and 232, and the guide portions 231 and 232 are provided with groove portions 231a and 232a which are fitted on the side wall 211b and the flange 211c on one side of the guide rail 211, respectively. The body member 230 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 211 while making the inner surfaces of the groove portions 231a and 232a slide against the side wall 211b and the flange 211c on one side of the guide rail 211, and is prevented from moving in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 211. The guide portions 231 and 232 are provided with a pair of side surfaces 231b and a pair of side surfaces 232b, respectively. Each pair of side surfaces 231b and 232b are spaced from each other in the widthwise direction.
As shown in
The support member 250 that constitutes an element of the slider base 214 is provided with a plate-shaped cover portion 251 which covers the vehicle exterior side surface of the body member 230 and plate-shaped glass mounting portions 252 and 253 which are positioned on either side of the cover portion 251 in the widthwise direction thereof. The glass mounting portions 252 and 253 are fixed to a window glass using fastening means not shown in the drawings.
The support member 250 is provided on the upper end side of the cover portion 251 with a first holding lug 254 and a second holding lug 256 which are spaced from each other and face each other in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 211, and the support member 250 is provided on the lower end side of the cover portion 251 with a first holding lug 255 and a second holding lug 257 which are spaced from each other and face each other in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 211. The first holding lug 254 and the second holding lug 256 are erected walls which project toward the vehicle interior side (the body member 230 side) from edges of a bottom wall 251a extended upward from a flat plate portion of the cover portion 251. The first holding lug 255 and the second holding lug 257 are erected walls which project toward the vehicle interior side (the body member 230 side) from edges of a bottom wall 251b extended downward from the flat plate portion of the cover portion 251. In other words, a portion having a U-shaped cross section which consists of the first holding lug 254, the second holding lug 256 and the bottom wall 251a is provided on the upper end (upper edge) side of the cover portion 251 and a portion having a U-shaped cross section which consists of the first holding lug 255, the second holding lug 257 and the bottom wall 251b is provided on the lower end (lower edge) side of the cover portion 251. These portions having a U-shaped cross section are open toward the vehicle interior side.
As shown in
Putting and installing the cover portion 251 of the support member 250 onto the body member 230 from the vehicle exterior side causes the guide portion 231 to be engaged in the portion having a U-shaped cross section which consists of the first holding lug 254, the second holding lug 256 and the bottom wall 251a and causes the guide portion 232 to be engaged in the portion having a U-shaped cross section which consists of the first holding lug 255, the second holding lug 257 and the bottom wall 251b. In this state, both the side surfaces 231b of the guide portion 231 are held by the first holding lug 254 and the second holding lug 256 and both the side surfaces 232b of the guide portion 232 are held by the first holding lug 255 and the second holding lug 257 to thereby restrict relative movement between the body member 230 and the support member 250 in the widthwise direction of the guide rail 211.
The body member 230 and the support member 250 are fastened to each other using three swage pins 273 (
Similar to the slider base 14 in the previous embodiment, in the slider base 214, the support member 250, which is made of metal and high in rigidity, receives a force acting on the window glass to thereby prevent stress from being concentrated on the synthetic resin-made body member 230. In addition, the rotational rigidity of the slider base 214 relative to the inclination of the window glass in the leftward and rightward directions with respect to
Additionally, in the slider base 214, the formation of the flanges 265, 266, 267 and 268 on the support member 250 along the upper and lower edges thereof makes the cover portion 251 and the glass mounting portions 252 and 253 not easily warped or deformed. Specifically, a remarkable effect for improving the rigidity against the turning moment which acts on the slider base 214 when each wire 215 and 216 is pulled is obtained.
As shown in
Additionally, as shown in
Although the present invention has been described based on the above illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto; improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the invention.
For instance, although the guide portions 31 and 32 (231 and 232) of the body member 30 (230) are held by the first holding lugs 54 and 55 (254 and 255) and the second holding lugs 56 and 57 (256 and 257) of the support member 50 (250) in the above illustrated embodiment, a configuration in which the holding portion of the support member 50 (250) holds portions of the body member 30 (230) other than the guide portions 31 and 32 (231 and 232) is also possible.
Additionally, although the slider base 14 (214) includes the two guide portions 31 and 32 (231 and 232) at different positions in the upward and downward directions in the illustrated embodiment, the number of the guide portions is not limited to this particular number: it is also possible to provide the slider base with a single guide portion or more than two guide portions.
Additionally, a configuration in which either the first holding lugs 54 and 55 (254 and 255) or the second holding lugs 56 and 57 (256 and 257) are omitted is also possible as described above.
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in a window regulator which moves a slider base, slidable along a guide rail, via a pair of wires, a slider base is configured of a synthetic resin-made body member which is slidably supported by the guide rail and to which each wire is connected and a metal-made support member which supports a window glass, and the support member is provided with a holding portion which holds the body member in the widthwise direction of the guide rail. With this configuration, the slider base is not easily warped or deformed when an external force is exerted thereon, which makes it possible to contribute to improvements in strength and durability of the window regulator.
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| WO2016/171268 | 10/27/2016 | WO | A |
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