JP7649232B2 - Cable drum and object moving device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cable drum and an object moving device.

Patent document 1 discloses a drum housing that is mounted on a curved guide rail and a drum that is housed in the drum housing.

This guide rail has a curved portion and a bent portion. The bent portion is provided below the curved portion and is bent from the lower end of the curved portion toward the outside of the vehicle. With this configuration, even if the guide rail is curved in a bow shape, the angle at which the wire enters the drum can be reduced, thereby suppressing abnormal noise caused by the wire interfering with the top of the groove wall formed on the drum.

JP 2016-17312 A

However, the conventional technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires bending the guide rail, so there is room for improvement in suppressing abnormal noise caused by the wire interfering with the drum.

The object of the present invention is to provide a cable drum and object moving device that can suppress the generation of abnormal noise caused by interference with the wire.

The cable drum of the present invention is a cable drum that includes a spirally formed groove in which a cable is housed, and a spirally formed flange that separates adjacent grooves, and the flange has a first arc that is tangent and discontinuously connected to a line corresponding to the tip of the flange in a cross section including the central axis of the cable drum, and the first arc has a shape that is convex outward.

The object moving device of the present invention comprises a carrier plate that moves the object to be moved and the above-mentioned cable drum.

The present invention provides a cable drum and object moving device that can suppress the generation of abnormal noise caused by interference with the wire.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a side view of an object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Exploded view of the drive unit 5 A perspective view of a cable drum 53 Side of cable drum 53 FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a lead angle θ. Enlarged view of cable drum 53 Cross-sectional view of cable drum 53 Cross-sectional view of cable drum 53 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cable drum 53 according to a first comparative example; 11 is a cross-sectional view of a cable drum 53 according to a second comparative example.

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a front view of an object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side view of an object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The object moving device 100 is attached, for example, to the inner panel of a vehicle door, and is used in window regulators that move the 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 defined based on the rising and lowering 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 cable guide section 3, a cable 4, and a drive section 5.

(Carrier plate 1)
The carrier plate 1 is a member that holds the window glass and moves it up and down on the guide rails 2. The carrier plate 1 includes an attachment section for attaching the window glass, a storage section for storing the cable 4, a guide section for guiding the window glass up and down on the guide rails 2, and the like.

(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 cable guide unit 3 is attached to the upper end of the guide rail 2, and a drive unit 5 is attached to the lower end of the guide rail 2.

(Cable guide part 3)
The cable guide portion 3 is an example of a direction changing portion that changes the moving direction of the cable 4. The material of the cable guide portion 3 is, for example, 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 cable guide section 3, and then extends through the cable guide section 3 to the drive section 5. The other end of the cable 4a is connected to a cable drum provided inside the drive section 5. The configuration of the cable drum will be described in detail later.

One end of cable 4b is also connected to carrier plate 1. Cable 4b extends from carrier plate 1 toward drive unit 5, 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."

(Drive unit 5)
The driving unit 5 is a driving device that moves the carrier plate 1 by winding and unwinding the cable 4. An example of the configuration of the driving unit 5 will be described with reference to Figures 2A to 2D.

Figure 2A is an exploded view of the drive unit 5, Figure 2B is a perspective view of the cable drum 53, Figure 2C is a side view of the cable drum 53, and Figure 2D is a diagram for explaining the lead angle θ.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the drive unit 5 includes two housings 51 and 52, a cable drum 53 housed inside the two housings 51 and 52, a motor 54 provided in the housing 52, and a transmission unit 55, which is composed of gears and the like and transmits the rotation of the motor 54 to the cable drum 53.

As shown in Figures 2B and 2C, the cable drum 53 is a cylindrical member having a predetermined thickness in the extension direction of the central axis CL (axial direction D), and winds or unwinds the cable 4 shown in Figure 1. The cable drum 53 is manufactured by insert molding, die casting, or the like, using a mold that has been subjected to a predetermined processing.

The outer circumferential surface 10 of the cable drum 53 is formed with a spiral groove 11 in which the cable 4 is housed, and a spiral flange 12 that separates adjacent grooves 11.

A recess 13 is formed on the first end face 14a in the axial direction D of the cable drum 53, which is a depression in which a metal fixing member provided at the end of the cable 4 is engaged. A similar recess 13 is also formed on the second end face 14b side of the cable drum 53 opposite to the first end face 14a in the axial direction D.

When the cable drum 53 rotates in the forward direction with the fixing member of the cable 4 engaged in the recess 13, the cable 4a is wound into the groove 11 and the cable 4b is unwound from the groove 11. When the cable drum 53 rotates in the reverse direction, the cable 4b is wound into the groove 11 and the cable 4a is unwound from the groove 11.

Specifically, when the motor 54 rotates in the forward direction, the rotational motion of the motor 54 is transmitted to the cable drum 53 via the transmission unit 55, causing the cable drum 53 to rotate in the forward direction. In this case, the cable 4a is wound onto the cable drum 53, and the cable 4b is unwound from the cable drum 53. This causes the carrier plate 1 to rise.

On the other hand, when the motor 54 rotates in the reverse direction, the cable drum 53 rotates in the reverse direction, so that the cable 4b is wound onto the cable drum 53 and the cable 4a is unwound from the cable drum 53. This causes the carrier plate 1 to descend.

Here, when the guide rail 2 is curved in an arch shape corresponding to the trajectory of the lifting and lowering of the window glass as shown in FIG. 1B, when the position of the carrier plate 1 in the vertical direction of the guide rail 2 changes due to the movement of the carrier plate 1, the position of the carrier plate 1 in the curved direction perpendicular to the vertical direction of the guide rail 2 also changes. Therefore, when the position of the carrier plate 1 changes, a predetermined lead angle θ (see FIG. 2D) is generated between the extension direction D1 of the cable 4 extending from the carrier plate 1 toward the cable drum 53 and the extension direction D2 of the cable 4 in the state where it is wound in the groove portion 11.

When this lead angle θ exceeds a predetermined value, the cable 4 approaches the tip of the flange 12. At this time, if there is a connection point between arcs with different curvatures on the surface of the tip of the flange 12, the surface of the cable 4 may get caught on this connection point, causing abnormal noise.

The cable drum 53 according to this embodiment has a flange 12 and a groove 11 having the shapes shown below in order to suppress the generation of abnormal noise caused by interference of the cable 4 with the flange 12. An example of the configuration of the cable drum 53 will be described with reference to Figures 3A to 3C.

Figure 3A is an enlarged view of the cable drum 53, and Figures 3B and 3C are cross-sectional views of the cable drum 53.

(Flange portion 12)
In a cross section S (see the dotted line in Figure 3A) including the central axis CL of the cable drum 53, the flange portion 12 has a shape in which the third arc 20c corresponding to the tip portion 12a of the flange portion 12 and the first arc 20a are connected at discontinuous tangents, and the first arc 20a is convex outward.

Here, the third arc 20c is an arc whose curvature is greater than that of the first arc 20a.

In the flange 12 configured in this manner, as shown in FIG. 3C, a part of the imaginary circle V including the first arc 20a passes inside the imaginary circle V including the third arc 20c. This is because the first arc 20a is connected tangentially discontinuously to the third arc 20c corresponding to the tip portion 12a of the flange 12.

Therefore, the connection point (second connection point 21b) between the first arc 20a and the third arc 20c can be located at a position away from the connection point (first connection point 21a) between the first arc 20a and the second arc 20b in the axial direction D (see Figure 3B).

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the distance from the cable 4 located on the first arc 20a to the second connection point 21b becomes greater, so that even if the cable 4 moves toward the tip portion 12a of the flange portion 12, the cable 4 is less likely to get caught on the second connection point 21b, thereby suppressing the generation of abnormal noise.

(Groove portion 11)
As shown in Fig. 3B, the second arc 20b is tangentially connected to the first arc 20a on the side opposite to the third arc 20c. The second arc 20b has a smaller curvature than the first arc 20a. The groove 11 has a concave shape formed by the second arc 20b in a cross section S including the central axis CL of the cable drum 53.

Figure 4A is a cross-sectional view of a cable drum 53 according to a first comparative example, and Figure 4B is a cross-sectional view of a cable drum 53 according to a second comparative example.

In the cable drum 53 shown in FIG. 4A, the first arc 20a is tangentially connected to the second arc 20b, and the first arc 20a is tangentially connected to the third arc 20c.

For this reason, the distance from the connection point (second connection point 21b) between the first arc 20a and the third arc 20c shown in FIG. 4A to the connection point (first connection point 21a) between the first arc 20a and the second arc 20b is shorter than the distance from the second connection point 21b to the first connection point 21a shown in FIG. 3B.

As a result, in the first comparative example, the distance from the cable 4 located on the first arc 20a to the second connection point 21b is shorter, so when the cable 4 moves toward the tip portion 12a of the flange portion 12, the cable 4 is more likely to get caught on the second connection point 21b, which may cause abnormal noise.

When a flat surface 20a1 is formed instead of the first arc 20a, as in the second comparative example shown in FIG. 4B, to make it difficult for the cable 4 to get caught on the second connection point 21b, the thickness of the tip portion 12a of the flange 12 in the axial direction D is reduced. For this reason, in the second comparative example, in the mold for manufacturing the cable drum 53, the resin does not flow into the area corresponding to the flange 12, which can reduce the yield.

If the thickness of the flange portion 12 in the axial direction D is increased to address this issue, the pitch between adjacent groove portions 11 in the axial direction D will increase, and the thickness of the cable drum 53 as a whole in the axial direction D will increase. As a result, the drive unit 5 equipped with the cable drum 53 will become larger, which may result in disadvantages such as reduced layout flexibility of the object movement device on the vehicle.

As described above, the cable drum 53 according to this embodiment includes a spiral groove in which the cable is housed, and a spiral flange that separates adjacent grooves. In a cross section including the central axis of the cable drum, the flange has a first arc that is tangent and discontinuous to a line that corresponds to the tip of the flange, and the first arc has a shape that is convex outward.

With this configuration, the connection point where the first arc and the third arc are connected is shifted toward the tip of the flange from the connection point where the first arc and the second arc are tangentially connected, so the cable 4 is less likely to get caught on the tip of the flange without significantly narrowing the thickness of the tip of the flange, and the possibility of abnormal noise can be suppressed. In addition, because the third arc and the first arc corresponding to the tip of the flange are discontinuously connected tangentially, it is possible to suppress the thickness of the tip of the flange in the axial direction from becoming smaller while also suppressing an increase in the pitch in the axial direction between adjacent grooves. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the yield while suppressing a decrease in the layout of the object movement device for the vehicle.

The third arc is not limited to an arc, and may be a line other than an arc, such as a straight line. Even in this case, the same remarkable effect as the above-mentioned configuration can be obtained.

For example, it is understood that the following aspects also fall within the technical scope of this disclosure:

(1) The cable drum of the present disclosure comprises a spirally formed groove in which a cable is housed, and a spirally formed flange that separates adjacent grooves, and the flange has a shape in which a first arc is tangent discontinuously connected to a line corresponding to the tip of the flange in a cross section including the central axis of the cable drum, and the first arc is convex outward.

(2) In the cross section, the groove portion has a concave shape formed by tangent continuity between the first arc and a second arc having a curvature smaller than that of the first arc.

(3) The line corresponding to the tip of the flange is a third arc whose curvature is greater than that of the first arc.

(4) A connection point where the first circular arc and the third circular arc are connected is located closer to the tip portion than a connection point where the first circular arc and the second circular arc are tangent and continuously connected.

(5) The first arc passes inside a virtual circle that includes the third arc.

(6) The object moving device disclosed herein includes a carrier plate that moves the object to be moved and the above-mentioned cable drum.

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 is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims, including equivalents thereto.

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 cable drum and object moving device of the present invention are useful as structures that can suppress the generation of abnormal noise caused by interference with the wire.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 carrier plate 2 guide rail 3 cable guide section 4 cable 4a cable 4b cable 5 drive section 10 outer circumferential surface 11 groove section 12 flange section 12a tip section 13 recess 14a first end face 14b second end face 20a first arc 20a1 flat surface 20b second arc 20c third arc 21a first connection point 21b second connection point 51 housing 52 housing 53 cable drum 54 motor 55 transmission section 100 object moving device CL central axis D axial direction D1 extension direction D2 extension direction V imaginary circle θ lead angle S cross section

Claims (6)

A cable drum comprising:
a spirally formed groove portion in which the cable is housed;
A flange portion formed in a spiral shape to partition adjacent groove portions;
Equipped with
In a cross section including a central axis of the cable drum, the flange portion has a first arc that is tangent discontinuously connected to a line corresponding to a tip end portion of the flange portion, and the first arc has a shape that is convex outward.
Cable drum. The cable drum according to claim 1, wherein the groove has a concave shape in the cross section formed by tangent continuity between the first arc and a second arc having a curvature smaller than that of the first arc. The cable drum according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the line corresponding to the tip portion of the flange is a third arc having a curvature greater than the curvature of the first arc. a line corresponding to a tip portion of the flange portion is a third arc having a curvature larger than the curvature of the first arc;
3. The cable drum according to claim 2, wherein a connection point where the first circular arc and the third circular arc are connected is located closer to the tip portion than a connection point where the first circular arc and the second circular arc are connected tangent to each other . The cable drum according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the first arc passes inside an imaginary circle that includes the third arc. An object moving device comprising a carrier plate for moving an object to be moved and a cable drum according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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