JP4900064B2 - Vehicle touch sensor device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle touch sensor device that detects a foreign object being caught by a vehicle door.

Conventionally, as a touch sensor device for vehicles, what was indicated, for example in patent documents 1 is known. The vehicle touch sensor device includes a long protector held at a joint portion (so-called hem) of a door outer panel and a door inner panel of a vehicle door, and is disposed along the edge of the vehicle door accommodated in the protector. Sensor. When the vehicle door pinches foreign matter, the protector collapses together with the sensor, and the sensor outputs a signal in response to the load input to detect pinching.
JP-A-2005-75085

  By the way, the vehicle door has a bent portion set at, for example, a lower end portion of an edge, and there is a portion where a joint portion between the door outer panel and the door inner panel cannot be provided. Even if the sensor is arranged at such a site, the sensor moves without being crushed during the pinching, and the pinching cannot be detected. In other words, the range in which pinching by the sensor can be detected is limited to the joint portion between the door outer panel and the door inner panel.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular touch sensor device capable of further expanding the range in which pinching by a sensor can be detected and improving its detection capability.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a sensor arranged along an edge of a vehicle door and outputting a signal in response to a load input, accommodating the sensor, In the vehicular touch sensor device having a long protector held at a joint portion of the door outer panel and the door inner panel of the vehicle door to be disposed along the edge, the protector is arranged along the longitudinal direction. A housing part that is disposed and houses the sensor; a fitting part that is opposed to a part in the longitudinal direction of the housing part and that is fitted and fixed to the joint part; and the fitting part in the longitudinal direction of the housing part; The gist of the invention is that it has a support portion in which a plate material is embedded so as to face a portion that does not face and to face the housing portion.

  According to this configuration, the support portion that faces the portion that does not face the fitting portion in the longitudinal direction of the housing portion (that is, the joint portion of the door outer panel and the door inner panel) faces the housing portion. Plate material is buried. Therefore, when the vehicle door sandwiches a foreign object and the protector is crushed, the movement of the sensor is restricted by the plate material, so that the sensor is crushed together with the protector. At this time, pinching is detected by the sensor outputting a signal in response to the load input. Thus, in addition to the joining part (fitting part) of the door outer panel and the door inner panel, the plate material (supporting part) can detect pinching, and the detection ability can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle touch sensor device according to the first aspect, the plate member is fixed to fix an end of the protector to the door outer panel or the door inner panel of the vehicle door. The gist is to have a part.

  According to this configuration, the end portion of the protector can be fixed to the door outer panel or the door inner panel at a position without the joining portion by the fixing portion of the plate material.

  In the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicular touch sensor device that can further increase the detection capability by further expanding the range in which pinching by the sensor can be detected.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a vehicle door 10, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views taken along lines AA and BB in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle door 10 has a flange-shaped hem 11 over substantially the whole area except for a part of a substantially rectangular periphery that forms the outline. For example, the hem 11 a disposed on the front edge 12 as the edge of the vehicle door 10 is formed in a substantially entire range 12 a excluding a part of the front edge 12. The front end edge 12 has a range 12b where the hem 11 is not disposed at the lower end thereof. This is because the lower side of the front end edge 12 is bent, and the hem 11 cannot be provided following this.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the hem 11a (hem 11) is configured as a joint portion of a door outer panel 21 that forms a door outer plate and a door inner panel 22 that forms a door inner plate. The hem 11a has a substantially U-shaped cross section in which the front portion of the door outer panel 21 is bent to the front side continuously from the front end of the wall portion 21a extending to the vehicle inner side, and the front end is folded back to the rear side. The sandwiching wall portion 21b and the engagement wall portion 22b which is bent to the front side and is sandwiched by the sandwiching wall portion 21b continuously from the front end of the wall portion 22a extending to the vehicle outer side at the front portion of the door inner panel 22. . When the door outer panel 21 and the door inner panel 22 are joined, the hem 11a is formed by crimping the holding wall portion 21b into which the engaging wall portion 22b is inserted by caulking.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, in the range 12b where the hem 11 is not disposed, the clamping wall portion 21b and the engaging wall portion 22b related to the joining of the door outer panel 21 and the door inner panel 22 are the wall portions 21a and 22a. Has been omitted from.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a touch sensor 30 is fixed to the front edge 12 of the vehicle door 10. The touch sensor 30 includes a long protector 31 extending along the front edge 12, a rope-shaped sensor 32 accommodated in the protector 31, and an insert 33 as a plate material.

  The protector 31 is made of, for example, a resin (elastomer or the like) having rubber elasticity, and is fixed to the hem 11a over the entire length of the hem 11a. It has the 2nd shaping | molding part 35 which follows a lower end.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the first molding portion 34 is formed by, for example, extrusion molding, and has a substantially U-shaped fitting portion 34a that is liquid-tightly fitted and fixed to the hem 11a. And a circular hollow portion 34b disposed at the front end portion that projects to the front side of the hem 11a. A front end portion of the fitting portion 34a on the outer side of the vehicle extends to the outer side of the vehicle along the wall portion 21a, and the front end of the fitting portion 34a is folded back in a bow shape to form a parting seal 34c.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the upper end portion 36 that is continuous with the first molding portion 34 of the second molding portion 35 surrounds both the end portions of the wall portions 21a and 22a from the outside. It has a substantially U-shaped support portion 36a that abuts against the walls 21a and 22a, and a hollow portion 36b having a substantially D-shaped cross section disposed at the front end so as to communicate with the hollow portion 34b. The front end portion of the support portion 36a on the outside of the vehicle extends to the outside of the vehicle along the wall portion 21a. The front end of the support portion 36a is folded back to the front side to form a parting seal 36c.

  Although the upper ends 36 of the first molded portion 34 and the second molded portion 35 have different cross-sectional shapes, the hollow portions 34b and 36b and the parting seals 34c and 36c are basically continuously connected at the boundary position in the longitudinal direction. It is shaped as follows. The hollow portions 34b and 36b arranged along the longitudinal direction of the protector 31 form an accommodating portion 31a. It goes without saying that the fitting portion 34a faces a part (hollow portion 34b) in the longitudinal direction of the accommodating portion 31a. The support portion 36a faces a portion (hollow portion 36b) that does not face the fitting portion 34a in the longitudinal direction of the housing portion 31a.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor 32 is accommodated in the hollow portions 34b and 36b (accommodating portions 31a) so as to extend over the entire length of the upper end portions 36 of the first molded portion 34 and the second molded portion 35. Has been. And the sensor 32 is arrange | positioned along the front-end edge 12 of the vehicle door 10 by the protector 31 being hold | maintained at the hem 11a. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the sensor 32 has an upper end portion of the second molding portion 35 within the range of the front end edge 12 (the range 12a where the hem 11a is disposed) to which the first molding portion 34 is fitted and fixed. It arrange | positions over the range 12c which added the range of the front-end edge 12 which 36 contact | abuts. The sensor 32 is a well-known sensor in which at least two conductors are opposed to each other with a gap between them. When the sensor 32 is crushed as a load is input, these conductors come into contact with each other and become conductive. To output a signal.

  The second molding part 35 incorporates the insert 33. The insert 33 is inserted into the cavity together with the tip of the first molding portion 34 when the second molding portion 35 is molded, so that the first and second molding portions 34 and 35 are joined together. 2 Built in the molding part 35. The insert 33 is made of, for example, a metal plate such as stainless steel. As shown in FIG. 2B, the upper end portion 36 of the second molding portion 35 includes a restriction wall portion 33a facing the sensor 32, and the restriction wall portion. It has a wall portion 33b that is bent rearward from the front end on the inner side of the vehicle 33a and has a substantially L-shaped cross section. That is, the insert 33 is opposed to the accommodating portion 31a (hollow portion 36b) in the regulation wall portion 33a.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the insert 33 is bent at a lower end portion 37 as an end portion of the second molding portion 35 in parallel with the restriction wall portion 33 a from the tip of the lower end portion of the wall portion 33 b. It has the fixed wall part 33c as a fixed site | part formed. A semicircular locking groove 33d is formed in the fixed wall portion 33c. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower end portion 37 of the second molding portion 35 has a clip 40 whose base end portion is locked in the locking groove 33 d, and is opposed to the distal end portion of the second inner portion 22. The door is fixed to the door inner panel 22 by being inserted through the formed locking hole 22c and prevented from coming off.

  In such a configuration, for example, when a foreign object is caught in the first molding portion 34 of the protector 31 (touch sensor 30), the sensor 32 is sandwiched between the foreign object and the hem 11a and together with the protector 31. In response, the signal is output. On the other hand, when the foreign object is caught in the upper end portion 36 of the protector 31, the movement of the sensor 32 is restricted by the insert 33 so that the sensor 32 is sandwiched between the foreign object and the insert 33 and is crushed together with the protector 31. In response to this, a signal is output. As described above, the sensor 32 is not limited to the range of the front end edge 12 (the range 12a where the hem 11a is disposed) to which the first molded portion 34 is fitted and fixed, but also the upper end portion 36 of the second molded portion 35. Even in the range of the front edge 12 in contact, it is possible to detect the inclusion of a foreign object.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the present embodiment, the support portion 36a facing the portion (hollow portion 36b) that does not face the fitting portion 34a (hem 11a) in the longitudinal direction of the housing portion 31a is opposed to the housing portion 31a. As shown, the insert 33 is embedded. Therefore, when the vehicle door 10 pinches foreign matter and the protector 31 is crushed, the movement of the sensor 32 is restricted by the insert 33, so that the sensor 32 is crushed together with the protector 31. At this time, pinching is detected by the sensor 32 outputting a signal in response to the load input. Thus, in addition to the hem 11a (fitting portion 34a), the insert 33 (supporting portion 36a) can also detect pinching, and the detection capability can be improved.

  (2) In the present embodiment, the lower end portion 37 of the protector 31 can be fixed to the door inner panel 22 at a position without the hem 11 a by the fixing wall portion 33 c of the insert 33. In addition, the lower end portion 37 of the protector 31 (second molding portion 35) is fixed to the door inner panel 22 by a fixed wall portion 33c of the insert 33 which has higher rigidity than the protector 31, The lower end portion 37 of the protector 31 can be more firmly fixed.

(3) In this embodiment, the part seals 34c and 36c are integrally formed with the protector 31, so that the number of parts can be reduced.
In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.

In the embodiment, the lower end portion 37 of the protector 31 (second molding portion 35) may be fixed to the door outer panel 21.
-In the said embodiment, you may fix the lower end part 37 of the protector 31 (2nd shaping | molding part 35) with a suitable fastening member (bolt etc.).

  In the embodiment, the insert 33 may have a portion exposed from the protector 31 (second molding portion 35). In this case, in order to firmly hold the protector 31, an appropriate locking portion may be provided on the insert 33.

In the embodiment, the arrangement of the touch sensor 30 is not limited to the front end edge 12 of the vehicle door 10, and may be installed at the rear end edge instead of or in addition to this, for example.
In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle door 10 may be a sliding door or a hinge door for getting on and off, a back door, a trunk lid, or the like.

1 is a schematic view of a vehicle door to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. (A) and (b) are sectional drawings along the AA line and BB line of FIG. The disassembled perspective view which shows the same embodiment. The perspective view which shows an insert roughly.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle door 11, 11a ... Hem (joint part), 12 ... Front edge (edge), 21 ... Door outer panel, 22 ... Door inner panel, 30 ... Touch sensor, 31 ... Protector, 31a ... Housing part, 32 ... Sensor, 33 ... Insert (plate material), 33c ... Fixed wall part (fixed part), 34a ... Fitting part, 36a ... Supporting part.

Claims (2)

A sensor disposed along an edge of the vehicle door and outputting a signal in response to a load input, and a door outer panel and door inner of the vehicle door for receiving the sensor and arranging the sensor along the edge In the vehicular touch sensor device having a long protector held at the joint portion of the panel,
The protector is
An accommodating portion arranged along the longitudinal direction for accommodating the sensor;
A fitting portion that is opposed to a part of the housing portion in the longitudinal direction and is fitted and fixed to the joint portion;
A vehicular touch comprising: a support portion in which a plate material is embedded so as to face a portion that does not face the fitting portion in the longitudinal direction of the housing portion and to face the housing portion. Sensor device. The vehicle touch sensor device according to claim 1,
The vehicle touch sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the plate member has a fixing portion for fixing an end portion of the protector to the door outer panel or the door inner panel of the vehicle door.

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