JP7618532B2 - Carrier plate and object moving device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a carrier plate and an object moving device.

Patent document 1 discloses a slider (carrier plate) that slides on a guide rail to move the window glass in the extension direction of the guide rail. The carrier plate moves up and down in the extension direction of the guide rail while sliding on the guide rail.

JP 2012-077527 A

Here, the guide rail may have irregularities, such as holes to reduce weight or embossing to form mounting seats for stud bolts that secure the guide rail to the vehicle body. If the surface of the guide rail is irregular in this way, the corners of the carrier plate may get caught on the irregularities of the guide rail when the carrier plate slides on the guide rail, causing the movement of the carrier plate to become unstable. If a large amount of grease is applied to the guide rail to prevent this, problems may occur, such as the grease scattering when the carrier plate moves, contaminating the parts around the guide rail, or measures such as regular replenishment of grease being required. Thus, conventional carrier plates have room for improvement in terms of stabilizing movement on a guide rail with irregularities.

The object of the present invention is to provide a carrier plate and an object moving device that can stabilize movement on a guide rail.

The carrier plate of the present invention comprises a sliding part that slides on a guide rail on which unevenness is formed in the extension direction of the guide rail, and one or more protrusions that protrude toward the guide rail from an opposing surface of the sliding part that faces the surface of the guide rail on which the unevenness is formed and contact the guide rail, wherein the region on which the unevenness is formed has, in a width direction perpendicular to the extension direction, a first region and a second region in which the difference in the unevenness in the extension direction is smaller than that of the first region, the protrusion is provided at a position corresponding to the second region , and the length of the protrusion in the extension direction is longer than the length of the recess in the unevenness in the extension direction .
Another carrier plate of the present invention comprises a sliding part that slides on a guide rail on which unevenness is formed in the extension direction of the guide rail, and one or more protrusions that protrude toward the guide rail from an opposing surface of the sliding part that faces the surface of the guide rail on which the unevenness is formed and contact the guide rail, wherein the region in which the unevenness is formed has, in a width direction perpendicular to the extension direction, a first region and a second region in which the difference in the unevenness in the extension direction is smaller than that of the first region, the protrusions are provided at a position corresponding to the second region, the unevenness is formed by recesses that do not penetrate the guide rail, and the recesses are formed across the first region and the second region.

The object moving device of the present invention is equipped with the above-mentioned carrier plate that moves the object to be moved.

The present invention provides a carrier plate and an object moving device that can stabilize movement on a guide rail.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carrier plate 1 FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier plate 1 taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier plate 1 taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier plate 1 taken along line CC in FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a carrier plate 1A according to a comparative example is in contact with a guide rail; FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a carrier plate 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is in contact with a guide rail;

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1 and subsequent figures, an orthogonal coordinate system consisting of an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis is shown. The directions indicated by the arrows on the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis are respectively the positive X-axis direction, the positive Y-axis direction, and the positive Z-axis direction, and the opposite directions are respectively the negative X-axis direction, the negative Y-axis direction, and the negative Z-axis direction. Here, the X-axis direction represents the left-right direction of the object moving device 100, and the positive X-axis direction is the direction from the left side to the right side of the object moving device 100. The Y-axis direction represents the up-down direction of the object moving device 100, and the positive Y-axis direction is the direction from the bottom to the top of the object moving device 100. The Z-axis direction represents the front-rear direction of the object moving device 100, and the positive Z-axis direction is the direction from the back side to the front side of the object moving device 100.

Figure 1 is a front view of an object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The object moving device 100 is attached to, for example, the inner panel of a vehicle door, and is used in a window regulator that moves a window glass attached to the carrier plate 1 by moving the carrier plate 1.

In this embodiment, the object to be moved is a window glass attached to the carrier plate 1. When the application example is a window regulator, the direction of movement of the carrier plate 1 is the up-down direction of the window glass, which is the object to be moved.

The object moving device 100 includes a carrier plate 1, a guide rail 2, a pulley unit 3, a cable 4, a drive unit 5, and a cable guide 6.

(Carrier plate 1)
The carrier plate 1 is a member that holds the window glass and moves the window glass up and down on the guide rails 2. The configuration of the carrier plate 1 will be described in detail later.

(Guide rail 2)
The guide rail 2 is a member that extends in the moving direction of the window glass and guides the rising and lowering of the carrier plate 1. The guide rail 2 is made of a material such as plated steel sheet, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, synthetic resin, etc. A pulley unit 3 is attached to the upper end of the guide rail 2, and a cable guide 6 is attached to the lower end of the guide rail 2.

(Unevenness of guide rail 2)
The guide rail 2 is provided with projections and recesses by embossing for mounting stud bolts 21 for fixing the guide rail 2 to the vehicle body, and by drilling holes for weight reduction.

The unevenness may be formed by a hole (e.g., opening 2b formed by drilling as shown in FIG. 1) that is located in the center of the width of guide rail 2 and penetrates guide rail 2, or by a recess (e.g., recess 2a formed by embossing as shown in FIG. 1) that does not penetrate guide rail 2. The recess may extend across both the first and second regions described below.

The area on the guide rail 2 where the unevenness is formed has a first area in the width direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the guide rail 2, and a second area in which the difference in unevenness is smaller in the extension direction of the guide rail 2 than in the first area.

For example, the first region is a region having a large depression (e.g., recess 2a of guide rail 2) into which corner 11a (see FIG. 2A) of sliding portion 11 of carrier plate 1 in the extension direction of guide rail 2 can be caught, or a region having a hole (e.g., opening 2b) (see FIG. 1).

The second region is, for example, a flat region on both sides of the first region without any large depressions or holes. Or, like the recess 2a, the second region is formed across almost the entire width of the guide rail 2, and is a non-flat region on both sides of the first region when the central region is the first region, or a surface connecting the first region to the plane of the main body of the guide rail 2.

In this case, the recess 2a spans both the first and second regions, and the recess in the central portion is the largest, so that in the range in which the carrier plate 1 slides on the guide rail 2, the difference in the recesses in the extension direction of the guide rail 2 in the second region is smaller than in the first region.

(Pulley part 3)
The pulley portion 3 is an example of a direction changing portion that changes the moving direction of the cable 4. The pulley portion 3 is made of a material such as a synthetic resin.

(Cable 4)
The cable 4 is a pulling member that transmits a driving force generated by the driving unit 5 to the carrier plate 1, thereby pulling the carrier plate 1. The cable 4 is a flexible cable made of twisted metal wires, resin fiber wires, etc. The cable 4 is composed of two cables 4a and 4b.

One end of the cable 4a is connected to the carrier plate 1. The cable 4a extends from the carrier plate 1 toward the pulley unit 3, and then passes through the pulley unit 3 to the drive unit 5. The other end of the cable 4a is connected to a cable drum provided inside the drive unit 5.

One end of cable 4b is also connected to carrier plate 1. Cable 4b extends from carrier plate 1 toward cable guide 6, and the other end of cable 4b is connected to a cable drum. In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between cable 4a and cable 4b, they will be referred to as "cable 4."

The cable guide 6 is an example of a direction-changing member that changes the direction of movement of the cable 4. The cable guide 6 has, for example, a semicircular member that suspends the cable 4 to change its direction of movement, and is disposed at the lower end of the guide rail 2 at a fixed distance from the drive unit 5.

(Drive unit 5)
The drive unit 5 is a drive device that moves the carrier plate 1 by winding and unwinding the cable 4. The drive unit 5 includes a housing, a cable drum stored inside the housing, a motor provided in the housing, and a transmission unit composed of gears and the like that transmits the rotation of the motor to the cable drum.

When the motor rotates in the forward direction, the rotational motion of the motor is transmitted to the cable drum via the transmission unit, causing the cable drum to rotate in the forward direction. In this case, cable 4a is wound onto the cable drum, and cable 4b is unwound from the cable drum. This causes carrier plate 1 to rise.

On the other hand, when the motor rotates in the reverse direction, the cable drum rotates in the reverse direction, so that cable 4b is wound onto the cable drum and cable 4a is unwound from the cable drum. This causes carrier plate 1 to descend.

Here, if a recess 2a, an opening 2b, etc. are formed in the guide rail 2, when the sliding part 11 of the carrier plate 1 slides on the guide rail 2, the corner 11a (see FIG. 2A) at the end of the sliding part 11 in the Y-axis direction may get caught on the wall surface forming the recess 2a, opening 2b, etc. of the guide rail 2, or may get into the recess of the recess 2a or opening 2b, causing the operation of the carrier plate 1 to become unstable.

To address this issue, the carrier plate 1 according to this embodiment is provided with one or more protrusions 14 having the shape shown below. A specific example of the configuration of the carrier plate 1 will be described with reference to Figures 2A to 2D.

Figure 2A is a perspective view of carrier plate 1, Figure 2B is a cross-sectional view of carrier plate 1 taken along line A-A in Figure 1, Figure 2C is a cross-sectional view of carrier plate 1 taken along line B-B in Figure 1, and Figure 2D is a cross-sectional view of carrier plate 1 taken along line C-C in Figure 1.

(Configuration of Carrier Plate 1)
The carrier plate 1 includes a first surface 10a facing the guide rail 2, a second surface 10b opposite to the first surface 10a, and a side surface 10c provided between the first surface 10a and the second surface 10b. The carrier plate 1 also includes a sliding portion 11 that slides in the extension direction of the guide rail 2, an attachment portion 12 for attaching the window glass, a storage portion 13 for storing the cable 4, a protrusion 14, and a guide holding portion 15 for holding the guide rail 2.

(Sliding portion 11)
The sliding portion 11 is movably attached to the guide rail 2 by the guide holding portion 15 being engaged with a guide portion 22 formed on the guide rail 2. The sliding portion 11 is formed integrally with the attachment portion 12 and the storage portion 13.

(Storage section 13)
The storage section 13 is an area for storing a metal cable end 41 (see FIGS. 1 and 2B) provided at the end of the cable 4, and a spring 42 (see FIG. 1). The spring 42 is a member that pulls the cable 4 to compensate for the stretch of the cable 4 when the cable 4 stretches due to aging.

(Protrusion 14)
Two protrusions 14 are formed on the sliding part 11. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2A and Fig. 2C, the two protrusions 14 are arranged in parallel and spaced apart in the X-axis direction so as to straddle the opening 2b in the first region of the guide rail 2 described above. These protrusions 14 are arranged so as to protrude toward the guide rail 2 from the first surface 10a, which is the surface of the sliding part 11 facing the guide rail 2, and to face the second region of the guide rail 2 described above. By arranging the two protrusions 14 so as to straddle the opening 2b, the protrusions 14 slide on the guide rail 2 while avoiding the opening 2b.

The protrusion 14 extends in the Y-axis direction by a certain width, and the width is set to be longer than the length of the recess 2a shown in FIG. 1, for example. This configuration makes it possible to prevent the protrusion from falling into the recess 2a and getting caught in the recess 2a.

Next, the effect of the protrusion 14 formed on the carrier plate 1 will be described with reference to Figures 3A and 3B. Figure 3A is a diagram showing a state in which the carrier plate 1A according to the comparative example is in contact with the guide rail 2, and Figure 3B is a diagram showing a state in which the carrier plate 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is in contact with the guide rail 2.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the carrier plate 1A according to the comparative example does not have the protrusion 14 shown in FIG. 2A formed thereon. Therefore, when the carrier plate 1A slides on the guide rail 2, the corner 11a formed at the end of the sliding portion 11 in the Y-axis direction may get caught on the wall 2b1 of the opening 2b in the direction of movement of the carrier plate 1A, which may cause the operation of the carrier plate 1A to become unstable.

If a large amount of grease is applied to the guide rail 2 as a countermeasure against this, problems may occur, such as the grease scattering when the carrier plate 1A moves and contaminating the parts around the guide rail 2.

In contrast, the carrier plate 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has a protrusion 14 formed thereon as shown in FIG. 3B, so that a gap GP is formed between the sliding portion 11 and the surface of the guide rail 2.

This prevents the corner 11a of the carrier plate 1 from getting caught on the wall 2b1 that forms the opening 2b, stabilizing the movement of the carrier plate 1 on the guide rail 2 and reducing the amount of grease that needs to be applied.

The number of protrusions 14 formed on the carrier plate 1 is not limited to two, and may be one, or three or more. For example, it is understood that the following aspects also fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

(1) The carrier plate of the present disclosure comprises a sliding part that slides on a guide rail on which irregularities are formed in the extension direction of the guide rail, and one or more protrusions that protrude from the opposing surface of the sliding part of the guide rail on which the irregularities are formed toward the guide rail and contact the guide rail, and the region on which the irregularities are formed has, in the width direction perpendicular to the extension direction, a first region and a second region in which the difference in the irregularities in the extension direction is smaller than that of the first region, and the protrusion is provided at a position corresponding to the second region.

(2) The length of the protrusion in the extension direction is longer than the length of the recess in the unevenness in the extension direction.

(3) The two protrusions are arranged so as to straddle the unevenness formed in the center of the guide rail in the width direction.

(4) The unevenness is formed by a hole that penetrates the guide rail and is located at the center in the width direction, the first region is the region where the hole is located, and the second region is the region on both sides of the first region that does not have the hole.

(5) The unevenness is formed by a recess that does not penetrate the guide rail, and the recess is formed across the first region and the second region.

(6) The object moving device disclosed herein includes the above-described carrier plate.

The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the above description, and it is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims, such as equivalents.

The above describes an embodiment of the present invention. Note that the above description is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, the description of the configuration of the device and the shape of each part is one example, and it is clear that various modifications and additions to these examples are possible within the scope of the present invention.

The carrier plate and object moving device of the present invention are useful as structures that can stabilize movement on a guide rail.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Carrier plate 1A Carrier plate 2 Guide rail 2a Recess 2b Opening 2b Opening 2b1 Wall 3 Pulley 4 Cable 4a Cable 4b Cable 5 Drive section 6 Cable guide 10a First surface 10b Second surface 10c Side 11 Sliding section 11a Corner 12 Mounting section 13 Storage section 14 Protrusion 15 Guide holding section 21 Stud bolt 22 Guide section 41 Cable end 42 Spring 100 Object moving device GP Gap

Claims (5)

a sliding portion that slides on a guide rail having projections and recesses in an extension direction of the guide rail;
one or more protrusions protruding from an opposing surface of the sliding portion opposing a surface of the guide rail on which the unevenness is formed , toward the guide rail and in contact with the guide rail;
Equipped with
The region in which the unevenness is formed has, in a width direction perpendicular to the stretching direction, a first region and a second region in which a difference in the unevenness in the stretching direction is smaller than that in the first region,
The protrusion is provided at a position corresponding to the second region, and a length of the protrusion in the extension direction is longer than a length of a recess in the unevenness in the extension direction.
Carrier plate. The two protrusions are arranged on both sides of the unevenness formed in the center in the width direction of the guide rail.
The carrier plate of claim 1 . The unevenness is formed by a hole penetrating the guide rail at the center in the width direction,
the first region is a region in which the hole is located,
The second region is a region on both sides of the first region that is free of the hole.
3. The carrier plate according to claim 1 or 2 . a sliding portion that slides on a guide rail having projections and recesses in an extension direction of the guide rail;
one or more protrusions protruding from an opposing surface of the sliding portion opposing a surface of the guide rail on which the unevenness is formed, toward the guide rail and in contact with the guide rail;
Equipped with
The region in which the unevenness is formed has, in a width direction perpendicular to the stretching direction, a first region and a second region in which a difference in the unevenness in the stretching direction is smaller than that in the first region,
The protrusion is provided at a position corresponding to the second region,
The unevenness is formed by a recess that does not penetrate the guide rail,
The recess is formed across the first region and the second region .
Carrier plate. An object moving device for moving an object to be moved, comprising the carrier plate according to claim 1 .

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