Patent Application
20060260770
The present invention relates generally to window shades, and more particularly, to roller blind window assemblies for motor vehicles.
In four-door sedans, the rear side window of the rear side door is usually divided into an approximately rectangular section and into an approximately triangular section. Due to necessity, this division allows the largest part of the window panel located there to be moved up and down for the purposes of opening and closing. It is desirable that both areas be shaded with a window roller blind. For the approximately rectangular part, a window roller blind is used that moves vertically up and down, with the wind-up shaft of the roller blind being housed underneath the window sill.
The shading of the triangular part is effected with a roller blind whose outline is adapted to this area, wherein the wind-up shaft runs vertically and is arranged parallel to the guide rail that divides the window. The roller blind is activated, as is known in the art, for movement in a guide rail provided underneath the window sill. A pull element movably supported in the guide rail is attached to the tip of the roller blind.
Due to manufacturing tolerances in particular, the gap formed by the drawn-out roller blind of the triangular part with the window molding does not always have parallel edges. Due to the tolerances, the gap widens or narrows in the direction towards the wind-up shaft, which is generally considered unattractive.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a motor vehicle roller blind that is adaptable for use on motor vehicle windows notwithstanding variations or tolerances in dimensions.
Another object is to provide a roller blind as characterized above which permits easy adjustment in the position of the roller blind relative to the window with which it is used for more effective utilization.
In carrying out the invention, the window roller blind has an attachment edge fixed to a wind-up shaft, which may be rotated for winding the roller blind onto the wind-up shaft. A bearing device is provided for selectively setting the axial position of the wind-up shaft. By adjusting the axial position, it is possible to adjust the remaining lower gap relative to the window sill for triangular side window roller blinds so that a parallel gap is produced.
The axial adjustment of the wind-up shaft also can be used to eliminate misalignment in the roller blind for roller blinds with rectangular outlines. For such roller blinds, as appear, for example, in the rear window area, the front edge of the roller blind, i.e., the edge that moves back and forth in front of the window, is rigidly connected to a tension rod. The effective length of the tension rod changes, starting from the retracted position, in which the rear window has its greatest width, in the direction towards the drawn-out position. At this position, the distance between the guide rails of the tension rod is smallest due to the window geometry. If the structural position of the tension rod relative to the wind-up shaft does not agree with the actual position due to car body tolerances, an unattractive diagonal misalignment in the roller blind is created. This diagonal misalignment can be eliminated if the wind-up shaft is adjusted in the axial direction. The attachment edge for the roller blind is preferably a straight edge, which creates easily reproducible relationships for the assembly or the attachment of the roller blind to the wind-up shaft.
Guide means are provided to guide the roller blind in the area between the retracted position and the drawn-out position. In the case of a triangular window roller blind, the guide means comprise a tension element that is attached to the tip of the roller blind blank. In the case of a rectangular roller blind, the tension element comprises a tension rod.
According to the configuration of the roller blind, the guide means include one or two guide rails, which are positioned opposite each other and between which the tension rod is guided. In each case, the guide rails include a guide groove with a groove chamber and a groove slit, wherein the open width of the groove slit is smaller than the open width of the groove chamber. The groove chamber is further used for buckle-proof guidance of a linear push element, which is preferably positively driven by means of a geared motor.
The bearing device includes a cylindrical peg on which the wind-up shaft can rotate. The mounting of the wind-up shaft on the peg also can be designed so that the wind-up shaft can execute a translational movement on the peg.
If the peg has a shoulder used as an axial bearing, the axial position of the wind-up shaft can be adjusted by shifting the peg or the shoulder. To guarantee the adjustment in a simple way or to ensure contact on the pressure bearing surface, the spring motor is preferably provided with a spring designed so that the wind-up shaft is held with its end contacting the pressure bearing surface.
The bearing device also can include a bearing bushing with a bearing bore hole. The bushing can be used to support the wind-up shaft at one end so that it can rotate. A holder, with whose help the bushing is adjustable in the axial direction, is assigned to the bushing in order to set the axial position of the wind-up shaft. To set the bushing, it can be provided with external threads that screw into internal threads of the holder. By turning the bushing, the axial position of the bushing can be adjusted.
An activation element preferably is associated with the bushing. The activation element can be formed, for example, by a star wheel. So that the bushing is not adjusted when the wind-up shaft is activated, a locking device is associated with the bushing, for example, in the shape of a catch device, of which one part can be formed, for example, by the star-shaped wheel.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:
While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, a certain illustrative embodiment thereof has been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring now more particularly to
The illustrated car body section 1 has a roof 2 from which a B-column 3 extends downwardly at the side to a floor pan. A corresponding B-column is provided on the opposite side of the vehicle. The roof 2 transitions at its rear edge into a rear window 4. At the side, the rear window 4 ends at a C-column 5 located at a distance from the B-column 3. The C-column 5 carries an interior lining.
Between the B-column and the C-column, a rear right side door 7 is hinged in a known way to the B-column. At the height of the right rear side door 7 there is a rear seat bench 8 which includes a sitting surface 9 and also a rear seat back 11. The rear seat back 9 is supported on a base surface 12 in front of which are footwells 13. At the height of the top edge of the rear seat back 11, a rear seat shelf 14 extends to the bottom edge of the rear window 4.
The right rear side door 7 is provided with a side window 15 typical for sedans. The side window 15 is divided into a first window section 16 and also into a rear, second window section 17. The first window section 16 has an essentially rectangular shape and is bounded at the rear by a guide column 18 that at the same time represents an edge of the second window section 17. The second window section 17 is bounded opposite the guide column 18 by a window frame 19, which, together with the guide column 18, establishes the shape of the second window section 17. It is, as shown, approximately triangular, with a border that has a strong curvature at 20 that lies opposite to the guide column 18. The guide rail 18 has a guide groove 22 of a known type for guiding movement of the side window 23. Another corresponding groove is located on the opposite side of the window section 15.
A roller blind is provided for both window sections 16, 17 as depicted in
The guide rail 25 extends approximately at a right angle to the housing 26 and contains a guide groove 27 whose cross section is composed from a groove chamber 28 and a groove slot 29 whose open width is smaller than that corresponding to the diameter of the groove chamber 28. The groove slot 29 opens in the direction towards the interior of the vehicle. A guide piece 31, to which a fin-like contoured part 32 is attached via a reduced thickness throat, runs in the groove chamber. As shown, the contoured part 32 is attached rigidly to the tip end of the roller blind outline 21, for example, through adhesion.
For drawing out the roller blind 21, a flexible, linear push element 33 is provided that has the shape of a flexible toothed rack with inclined teeth extending in a helical pattern around a core 34. The outer diameter of the linear push element corresponds to the width of the groove chamber 28.
The push element 33 is driven by a gear motor 35, which drives an output gear 36 fixed on a drive output shaft 37, via a reduction gear. The gear motor 35 preferably is a permanently-excited DC motor 38.
The teeth of the output gear 36 are shaped so that they can mesh with a positive fit with the teeth of the push element 33. For this purpose, the gear housing of the geared motor 35 is formed with a continuous guide bore hole 39 that passes tangentially by the output gear 36. A guide tube 41, which connects the gear motor to the end of the guide rail 25 adjacent to the housing 26, is aligned with the guide bore hole 39 in order to guide the push element 33 in this region in a buckle-resistant fashion.
The roller blind housing 26, as depicted in
The bottom end of the wind-up shaft 46, as also shown in
The bearing peg 46 has a length dimensioned so that the peg 47 remains engaged with the wind-up shaft 46 over the entire axial displacement stroke of the wind-up shaft 46. The top end of the wind-up shaft 46 is supported for rotation in a bearing bushing 53. The bearing bushing 53 in this case has a coaxial through hole in which the cylindrical wind-up shaft 46 is received for relative rotation. At the upper end, the wind-up shaft 46 has a stop plate 54 that is held in tight contact against the end of the wind-up shaft 46 by means of a screw 55 secured in the end of the wind-up shaft 46. As can be seen in
The bearing bushing 53 has a peripheral section formed with threads 56, which receive nut threads 57 formed in a cylindrical insert 58 which is fixed in the side wall arrangement 52 close to the housing opening 45. The insert 58 may be secured, for example, to the housing 26.
Several columns 59, to which a star-shaped plate 61 is fixed, project upwardly from the top end of the bearing bushing 53. The star-shaped plate 51 in this instance is formed as a ring in order to be able to insert the stop plate 54 through the ring. As can be seen, the star-shaped plate 51 is arranged concentric to the longitudinal axis of the bearing bushing 53, and this, in turn, is concentric or coaxial to the wind-up shaft 46. The star wheel 61 acts, together with a catch element 62, as a catch device in order to prevent undesired rotation of the star wheel 61. The catch element 62 sits on a leaf spring 63 anchored on the outer side of the housing 26.
The function of the side window roller blind 24 is as follows:
By means of the helical spring 51 acting as a spring motor, the wind-up shaft 46 is biased in a direction for winding up the roller blind 25 onto the wind-up shaft 46. If no forces act on the roller blind or the contoured part 32, the roller blind 21 is wound onto the wind-up shaft 46 and stowed in the roller blind housing 26. To draw out the roller blind 21 in front of the window section 17, the geared motor 35 is set in motion in the appropriate rotational direction. The output gear 36, which meshes with a positive fit with the teeth of the push element 33, moves the push element 33 in the direction towards the guide rail 25. Here, the free end of the push element 33 engages with the guide piece 31 and pushes the guide piece 31 in front of it. Because the guide piece 31 is coupled to the tip end of the roller blind 21 via the contoured part 32, which acts as a tensioning element, the roller blind 21 is drawn away from the wind-up shaft 46 against the tensile force of the helical spring 51 and spread out in front of the window section 17. The movement stops when the contoured part 32 comes to the tip end 20 of the window section 17.
The wind-up shaft 46 is supported, on the one hand, on the peg 47 so that it can rotate during the movement of the blind, and on the other hand, in the bore hole of the bearing bushing 53. The vertical position is defined by the top end of the bearing bushing 53 against which the stop plate 54 bears. The stop plate 54 is urged in that position by the biasing force of the helical spring 51, which is designed to pull the wind-up shaft 56 downwards.
For a drawn-out roller blind, if the bottom edge of the roller blind 21 does not run parallel to the adjacent window edge, the height of the wind-up shaft 46 can be adjusted until the desired parallel arrangement is achieved. For this purpose, the bearing bushing 53 is turned in the appropriate direction by means of the star wheel 61. Due to the threaded connection of the bearing bushing 53 with the insert 58, when the bearing bushing 53 rotates, the bushing moves according to the rotational direction in the axial direction upwards or downwards, in the direction away from the peg 47 or towards this peg. This axial displacement is transferred via the stop plate 54 to the wind-up shaft 46, which is shifted accordingly in the axial direction. In each axial setting, the tension of the helical spring 51 ensures that the stop plate 54 remains in contact with the top end of the bearing bushing 53. The collar 48 is designed to be far enough away to not limit the displacement stroke.
A catch 62 is provided so that the desired depth setting of the bearing bushing 53 in the insert 58 will not shift. The catch 62 engages in the teeth of the star wheel 61 and prevents the star wheel 61 from rotating accordingly. Due to the rotationally locked connection to the bearing bushing 53, the latter is also prevented from rotating. It can be seen that in the illustrated arrangement that during axial positioning of the wind-up shaft 46, the wind-up shaft is pulled downwardly under the force of the helical tension spring 51.
With reference to
In the arrangement from
A bottom bearing peg 47, similar to the bearing peg 47 shown in
A through hole 67 contained in the base 63 is adapted in contour to the cross section of the threaded peg 66. In this way, the threaded peg 66 is to moveable in the opening 67 only in the axial direction, but cannot rotate. On the bottom side of the base 63 is a pocket 68 that is open towards the viewer and receives a flat threaded nut 69. The pocket 68 fixes the threaded nut 69 in the axial direction. On the other hand, the nut 69 can rotate freely in the pocket 68.
The axial adjustment of the wind-up shaft 46 in this case is as follows:
By rotating the nut 69, the rotationally locked threaded projection 66 fixed in the housing floor 63 can be shifted in the axial direction. The axial displacement is transferred to the wind-up shaft 46 via the stop collar 48. The wind-up shaft 46, as before, is held in contact against the stop collar 48 by the helical spring 61 acting as a spring motor. The upper end of the wind-up shaft 46 can thereby be moved axially on the bearing peg 65 for the height adjustment.
Because the threaded projection 66 is rotatably locked in the opening 67, the threaded projection 66 simultaneously acts as a stationary anchor point for the helical spring 51 so it is in condition to exert a force on the wind-up shaft in the wind-up direction. To maintain the setting of the wind-up shaft, a similar catch locking device can be used with the nut 69 as explained in connection with the embodiment of
The axially adjustable wind-up shaft described above has been shown in connection with the window roller blind 24 for the triangular window section 17. The axial adjustment can also be used in connection with an essentially rectangular section 16, wherein the layout for the support of the wind-up shaft is the same as explained in connection with
The wind-up shaft 46 is supported at its ends in the embodiment of
The roller blind 21 corresponds to the shape of the window to be shaded. The roller blind is fixed by one edge, as described, to the wind-up shaft 46, for example, by means of weatherstripping or adhesive. The edge away from the wind-up shaft 46 is positioned in a hanger or loop 66 of the wind-up blind 21. A tension rod 67 may be guided through the hanger, which is provided at both ends with telescoping displaceable guide elements 68, 69.
In the embodiment from
In order to equalize alignment errors or lateral offset between the tension rod 67 in the upper end position and the axial position of the wind-up shaft 46, the shaft can be shifted slightly in the axial direction, as explained in detail with reference to
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the motor vehicle window roller blind assembly according to the invention has a bearing device for the wind-up shaft that enables the axial position of the wind-up shaft to be adjusted when mounted, thereby enabling selective positioning of the blind with respect to the window with which it is used.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102005023967.6 | May 2005 | DE | national |
