JP5951328B2 - Electric actuator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric actuator provided with a drive mechanism in a housing.

For example, an actuator using an electric motor is known as a drive source for an airflow control valve provided in an air conditioning passage of a vehicle.
As such an electric actuator, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an actuator including a drive mechanism portion including a motor and a reduction gear inside a housing in which a case portion and a cover portion are assembled to each other.
The case portion and the cover portion of the electric actuator are formed with engaging protrusions and engaging pieces for assembling with each other, and a plurality of members for fixing the electric actuator to the mounting surface (attached side) of the air conditioner passage. A mounting portion (screw hole) is provided.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a structure in which a bracket is screwed to a motor actuator, and the bracket can be attached to a frame on a mounted side.

JP-A-9-219957 JP 2003-176855 A

  However, in the motor actuator as in the cited document 1, the case part and the cover part constituting the housing are provided with attachment parts (screw holes) for fixing to the attachment side. When the position of the screw hole is changed, it is necessary to change the case part and the cover part, and there is a problem that lacks versatility.

On the other hand, when the bracket is attached to the motor actuator as in Cited Document 2, even if the shape of the mounted side or the position of the screw hole is changed, it can be dealt with by simply replacing the bracket.
However, when the bracket is screwed to the motor actuator as in the cited document 2, it is necessary to screw the bracket at least at two places in order to reliably prevent the displacement of the motor actuator, and it takes time to assemble the bracket. There's a problem.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric actuator that can easily cope with the shape of the mounted side and the position of the screw hole and can easily assemble the bracket.

The present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object,
In the electric actuator provided with the drive mechanism portion inside the housing,
The housing comprises an upper case and a lower case assembled together,
The upper case has a guide groove;
A bracket for fixing to the mounting side is inserted into the guide groove and attached to the housing.
In this specification, the two cases constituting the housing are an upper case and a lower case. However, this is for convenience of explanation, and the housing is not necessarily arranged in the upper direction and the case in which the housing is arranged in the lower direction. It is not intended to be limited to being configured in a case, and may be upside down or left and right. Therefore, the upper case can be rephrased as the lower case, and the lower case as the upper case.

In the electric actuator of the present invention, as a further preferable feature,
"The guide groove is open at the bottom",
“The housing has a locking claw on the side opposite to the insertion direction of the bracket,
The bracket has an engagement hole that engages with the locking claw. ''
"The locking claw is provided in the upper case and the lower case",
“The upper end of the output shaft protrudes outward from the upper surface of the housing, and the bracket is provided with an opening or a cutout for accommodating the upper end of the output shaft”.

  According to the present invention, a guide groove is provided at a predetermined position of the upper case (or lower case), and the bracket is inserted into the guide groove and attached to the housing, thereby minimizing the number of screws for fastening the bracket. In addition, it is possible to assemble a highly versatile electric actuator that can easily cope with the shape and the like of the mounted side in a simple process.

It is explanatory drawing of the electric actuator which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention, (a) is a top view of a housing, (b) is an AA arrow view in (a), (c) is (a) It is a BB arrow line view in the inside. The electric actuator which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention is shown, (a) is a perspective view before attaching a bracket to a housing, (b) is a perspective view after attaching a bracket to a housing. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification of the electric actuator which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. The electric actuator which concerns on the 2nd Example of this invention is shown, (a) is a perspective view before attaching a bracket to a housing, (b) is a perspective view after attaching a bracket to a housing, (c) ) Is an enlarged perspective view of a locking claw. It is explanatory drawing of the electric actuator which concerns on the 3rd Example of this invention, (a) is a top view of a housing, (b) is CC arrow view in (a), (c) is (a) It is a DD arrow line view in the inside. The electric actuator which concerns on the 3rd Example of this invention is shown, (a) is a perspective view before attaching a bracket to a housing, (b) is a perspective view after attaching a bracket to a housing.

  Embodiments of an electric actuator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an example as means for realizing the present invention, and the present invention can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

(First embodiment)
The electric actuator according to the first embodiment of the present invention can be used, for example, as a drive source for an air flow control valve of a vehicle air conditioner, and is driven inside as shown in FIGS. A bracket 40 is attached to a housing 10 having a mechanism portion.

The housing 10 is formed in a box shape having an internal space by assembling an upper case 20 and a lower case 30 that are molded of a synthetic resin such as reinforced plastic.
Each of the upper case 20 and the lower case 30 has a rectangular container shape with one open surface. The upper case 20 includes a top wall and four side walls, and the lower case 30 includes a bottom wall and four side walls. It has become.

The upper case 20 is provided with an engagement piece 21, a connector part 22, a guide part 23, a guide groove 24 and a screw hole 25. The lower case 30 is provided with an engaging protrusion 31 and a connector portion 32.
The engagement piece 21 of the upper case 20 is formed in a U shape on the outer surfaces of the four side walls. By engaging with the engagement protrusions 31 of the lower case 30, the upper case 20 and the lower case 30 are mutually connected. It can be assembled and integrated.
The connector portion 22 and the connector portion 32 are provided on side walls corresponding to each other of the upper case 20 and the lower case 30, and these connector portions are integrated to form a jack for inserting a plug for electrical connection with the outside. It is supposed to be.
The guide part 23 of the upper case 20 is provided at the upper part of two opposing side walls, and a guide groove 24 into which an insertion part 44 of a bracket 40 described later is inserted is formed inside thereof. The guide portion 23 of this example is formed in an inverted L shape as shown in FIG. 1B, and the guide groove 24 is opened downward.
One screw hole 25 of the upper case 20 is provided on the upper surface far from the two guide portions 23 and is used when the bracket 40 is screwed to the housing 10.

The drive mechanism provided in the housing 10 includes a motor 1, a worm gear 2 that rotates integrally with the rotation shaft of the motor 1, three intermediate gears (reduction gears) 3, 4, 5, and an output gear 6. Have. The rotation of the worm gear 2 is transmitted to the output gear 6 via the intermediate gears 3, 4, and 5.
An output shaft 6 a is formed integrally with the output gear 6, and an end of the output shaft 6 a protrudes from the output hole formed in the lower case 30 to the outside of the housing 10. Since a crank (not shown) is attached to the end of the output shaft 6a, D cut processing is performed.
Further, in the housing 10, a conductive unit 7 having power supply terminals, connector pins, and the like is disposed.

The bracket 40 is a member for fixing the electric actuator to a mounted side such as a duct wall of an air conditioner, and is formed of a plate-shaped steel material whose surface is subjected to rust prevention coating or plating.
The bracket 40 includes a flat plate portion 41, a mounting portion 42 extending in three directions from the flat plate portion 41, a mounting hole 43 provided in the mounting portion 42, and a parallel parallel downward from two opposing sides of the flat plate portion 41. There are two bent insertion portions 44 and screw holes 45 provided on the upper surface of the flat plate portion 41 on the side far from the two insertion portions 44.
When the electric actuator is fixed to the mounted side, it can be screwed to the mounted side through the three mounting holes 43.

  The bracket 40 is configured such that each of the two insertion portions 44 is slidably inserted into the guide groove 24 in a state where the flat plate portion 41 is placed on the upper surface wall of the upper case 20, and then the screw hole 25 of the upper case 20. It is fixed to the housing 10 by screwing using the screw holes 45 of the bracket 40.

As described above, in the electric actuator of this example, the two insertion portions 44 of the bracket 40 for fixing to the mounted side are inserted into the guide groove 24 of the upper case 20 and attached to the housing 10.
For this reason, the number of screws for fastening the bracket 40 can be minimized (one), and a highly versatile electric actuator that can easily cope with the shape of the mounted side can be assembled in a simple process.

Moreover, in the electric actuator of this example, since the guide groove 24 of the upper case 20 is open at the bottom, the upper case 20 can be easily formed.
That is, the upper case 20 is formed of a rectangular container shape having an upper surface wall and four side walls, and the lower portion is opened. However, the guide groove 24 is similarly opened at the lower portion, so that there is no guide portion 23. The same molding as a general upper case can be performed.

  In addition, in the electric actuator of this example, the guide part 23 for forming the guide groove 24 is provided in the upper part of two opposing side walls of the upper case 20, but the bracket can be assembled to the housing with a small number of screws. If so, the number, position, and shape of the guide portions 23 are not particularly limited, and for example, a configuration as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the upper diagram corresponds to FIG. 1B, and the lower diagram corresponds to FIG. 1B.

The housing 10A in FIG. 3A is an example in which guide portions 23 are provided on two adjacent sides of the upper surface wall of the upper case 20A, and screw holes 25 are provided in the vicinity of the intersection of the other two sides.
The housing 10B in FIG. 3B is an example in which guide portions 23 are provided on three adjacent sides of the upper surface wall of the upper case 20B, and a screw hole 25 is provided near the center of the other side.
The housing 10C in FIG. 3C is an example in which guide portions 23 are provided at corners of the upper surface wall of the upper case 20C, and screw holes 25 are provided on the diagonal lines.
In any of the above examples, one screw hole 25 is provided on the upper surface of the upper case far away from the guide portion 23, and the number of screws for stopping the bracket can be minimized (one).
In particular, in the example of FIG. 3C, since the guide portion 23 is concentrated at one place, it can widely correspond to the shape of the mounting portion extending from the flat plate portion of the bracket.

  As described above, the guide groove 24 that can restrain the bracket in two directions is provided in the housing, so that the bracket can be securely fixed with one screw, and the mounting side 43 is electrically driven through the mounting hole 43 of the bracket. By fixing the actuator, it is possible to reliably prevent displacement of the electric actuator.

(Second Embodiment)
4A and 4B show an electric actuator according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a perspective view before the bracket 40A is attached to the housing 10D, and FIG. 4B is an attachment of the bracket 40A to the housing 10D. It is a rear perspective view.
In FIG. 4, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  In this example, the difference from the first embodiment is that the engaging claws 26 and 36 are provided on the side surface of the housing 10D opposite to the insertion direction of the bracket 40A and engaged with the engaging claws 26 and 36. The point is that a joint hole 47 is provided in the bracket 40A.

Specifically, a locking claw 26 is provided on the side surface of the upper case 20D far from the location where the guide portion 23 is provided, and a locking claw 36 is provided on the side surface of the lower case 30D corresponding to the locking claw 26. In the state where the upper case 20D and the lower case 30D are assembled to each other, the locking claw 26 and the locking claw 36 are integrated to constitute one locking claw.
On the other hand, a bent portion 46 that is bent downward from the flat plate portion 41 is provided at a portion opposite to the insertion direction of the bracket 40 </ b> A, and an engagement hole 47 is provided in the bent portion 46. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the bracket 40 </ b> A is finally engaged while the flat plate portion 41 is placed on the upper surface of the upper case 20 and each of the two insertion portions 44 is slidably inserted into the guide groove 24. The locking claws 26 and 36 are inserted into the holes 47 to be fixed to the housing 10D.

As described above, in the electric actuator of this example, the bracket 40A is slidably inserted into the guide groove 24 of the upper case 20D, and the locking claw 26 is provided on the side surface of the housing 10D opposite to the insertion direction of the bracket 40A. 36, and the engagement hole 47 that engages with the locking claws 26, 36 is provided in the bracket 40A. Therefore, the bracket 40A can be attached to the housing 10D with one touch without using a screw.
As a result, it is possible to assemble a highly versatile electric actuator with a bracket that can easily cope with the shape of the mounted side and the like in a very simple process.

In the electric actuator of this example, in a state where the upper case 20D and the lower case 30D are assembled with each other, the locking claw 26 and the locking claw 36 are integrated to form one locking claw. The engaging hole 47 of the bracket 40A is engaged with the locking claw.
For this reason, the engaging part of the locking claw and the engaging hole also has a function of integrating the upper case 20D and the lower case 30D, and the structure of the upper case 20D and the lower case 30D is not complicated. .

  In the electric actuator of this example, the locking claw is provided in both the upper case 20D and the lower case 30D, but the locking claw may be provided only in one case. Further, the shape and the number of the locking claws are not particularly limited as long as the bracket can be attached to the housing without using a screw. However, if it is the form of the latching claw of this example, it can shape | mold similarly to a general upper case.

(Third embodiment)
An electric actuator according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
5 and 6, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  In this example, the difference from the first embodiment is that the upper end of the output shaft 6a protrudes to the outside from the upper surface of the housing 10E, and a notch 48 that accommodates the upper end of the output shaft is provided in the bracket 40B.

  Specifically, the output hole is formed not in the lower case 30E but in the upper case 20E, and the upper end of the output shaft 6a protrudes from the output hole to the outside of the housing 10E. The bracket 40B is provided with a notch 48 at a portion corresponding to the output shaft 6a. The notch 48 has a shape in which the insertion direction side of the bracket 40B is opened.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the bracket 40 </ b> B is formed by cutting out the output shaft 6 a while inserting each of the two insertion portions 44 into the guide groove 24 in a state where the flat plate portion 41 is placed on the upper surface of the upper case 20. After entering the portion 48, it is fixed to the housing 10E by being screwed through the screw hole 25 of the upper case 20E and the screw hole 45 of the bracket 40B.

  As described above, the electric actuator of this example also has the same effect as that of the first embodiment, and the protruding direction of the output shaft is provided by providing the bracket with a notch (or opening) for accommodating the upper end of the output shaft. Regardless, the bracket can be attached to any surface.

1 Motor 2 Worm gear 3, 4, 5 Intermediate gear (reduction gear)
6 Output gear 6a Output shaft 7 Conductive unit 10, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E Housing 20, 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E Upper case 21 Engagement piece 22 Connector part 23 Guide part 24 Guide groove 25 Screw hole 26 Locking claws 30, 30D, 30E Lower case 31 Engaging projection 32 Connector portion 36 Locking claws 40, 40A, 40B Bracket 41 Flat plate portion 42 Mounting portion 43 Mounting hole 44 Insertion portion 45 Screw hole 46 Bending portion 47 Engagement Hole 48 Notch

Claims (5)

In the electric actuator provided with the drive mechanism portion inside the housing,
The housing comprises an upper case and a lower case assembled together,
The upper case has a guide groove that opens downward ,
An electric actuator, wherein a bracket for fixing to a mounted side is inserted into the guide groove and attached to the housing. The housing has a locking claw on the side surface opposite to the insertion direction of the bracket,
The electric actuator according to claim 1, wherein the bracket has an engagement hole that engages with the locking claw . In the electric actuator provided with the drive mechanism portion inside the housing,
The housing comprises an upper case and a lower case assembled together,
The upper case has a guide groove;
A bracket for fixing to the mounting side is inserted into the guide groove and attached to the housing,
The housing has a locking claw on the side surface opposite to the insertion direction of the bracket,
The bracket shall be the characteristic electric dynamic actuator having engagement holes for engagement with the locking pawl. The electric actuator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the locking claw is provided in the upper case and the lower case. The upper end of the output shaft protrudes from the upper surface of the housing,
The electric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bracket is provided with an opening or a notch for accommodating the upper end of the output shaft.

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