JP7653933B2 - Guide rail and object moving device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a guide rail and an object moving device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a window regulator that is fixed inside the door panel of an automobile. This window regulator is equipped with a guide rail that guides the raising and lowering of a carrier plate that supports the window glass, and a guide body that guides a cable that pulls the carrier plate. The guide body is attached to the guide rail by inserting a guide portion formed on the guide body into a slit formed on the end of the guide rail.

JP 2004-150060 A

Here, if the thickness of the guide rail is reduced to reduce weight, the rigidity of the guide rail decreases, and the end of the guide rail to which the guide body is attached becomes more likely to bend when tension acts on the cable. Therefore, if a large tension acts on the cable, the cable body may come off the guide rail. The conventional technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not describe measures to suppress bending of the end of the guide rail, so there is room for improvement in suppressing bending of the end of the guide rail.

The object of the present invention is to provide a guide rail and an object moving device that can suppress bending of the end portion.

The guide rail of the present disclosure is a guide rail to which a cable guide that guides a cable is attached, and includes: a mated portion formed at at least one end in an extension direction of the guide rail, which extends a fixed distance from a tip of the first end toward a second end which is the other end opposite the first end in the extension direction, and into which a mating portion of the cable guide is inserted from the tip of the first end toward the second end; and a rib portion that extends in the extension direction so as to pass through a virtual line extending in the width direction perpendicular to the extension direction and that passes through an end of the mated portion located on the opposite side in the extension direction to the tip of the first end, and is pressed into an insertion groove formed in the cable guide.

The object moving device disclosed herein includes a carrier plate that moves the object to be moved and the above-mentioned guide rail.

The present invention provides a guide rail and object movement device that can suppress bending of the end portion.

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. External view of cable guide 6 Enlarged view of the end of the guide rail 2 A front view of the cable guide 6 attached to the end of the guide rail 2. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

The following describes in detail an embodiment 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, Fig. 1B is a side view of the object moving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1C is an external view of the cable guide 6. Fig. 1C shows the cable guide 6 as viewed from the first end 21a side of the guide rail 2.

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 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 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 .

(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 material of the guide rail 2 is plated steel sheet, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, synthetic resin, etc. A holding portion 22 that holds the carrier plate 1 is formed at the end of the guide rail 2 in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction D1. In this embodiment, a first end 21a is formed at the lower end side in the extension direction D1 of the guide rail 2, a cable guide 6 is attached to the first end 21a, and a pulley 3 is attached to a second end 21b on the upper end side in the extension direction D1 opposite to the first end 21a of the guide rail 2.

(Pulley 3)
The pulley 3 is an example of a direction changing portion that changes the moving direction of the cable 4. The pulley 3 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin. The pulley 3 is rotatably attached to an axial hole of the guide rail 2.

(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 3, and then passes through the pulley 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."

(Cable guide 6)
The cable guide 6 is an example of a direction changing member that changes the moving direction of the cable 4. In this embodiment, the cable guide 6 has a semicircular member that changes the moving direction by suspending the cable 4, and is attached to a first end 21a that is formed at an end of the guide rail 2 in the extension direction D1 at a certain distance from the drive unit 5. A guide groove 61 that guides the cable 4 is formed in the cable guide 6 (see FIG. 1C ).

The cable guide 6 is also formed with an insertion groove 63 into which at least a portion of the first end 21a of the guide rail is inserted. The cable guide 6 is attached to the first end 21a of the guide rail 2 by inserting at least a portion of the first end 21a of the guide rail into the insertion groove 63. The configuration of the insertion groove 63 and the structure for attaching the cable guide 6 to the guide rail 2 will be described in detail later.

(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 one direction, the rotational motion of the motor is transmitted to the cable drum via the transmission unit, causing the cable drum to rotate in one 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 other direction, the cable drum rotates in the other 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.

When the thickness of the guide rail 2 is reduced to reduce the weight of the vehicle, the rigidity of the guide rail 2 decreases, and the tensile force on the cable 4 guided by the cable guide 6 provided at the end of the guide rail 2 applies a bending moment to the area around the end of the slit (described below) into which the cable guide 6 is inserted. If the tensile force becomes large, the end of the guide rail 2 bends, and there is a possibility that the cable 4 will come out of the guide groove of the cable guide 6.

To address this issue, the guide rail 2 in this embodiment is provided with a rib portion 23 having the shape shown below. A specific example of the configuration of the guide rail 2 will be described with reference to Figures 2A to 2D.

(Configuration of guide rail 2)
Fig. 2A is an enlarged view of the end of the guide rail 2. Fig. 2A shows the guide rail 2 as viewed from the second surface 2b side opposite to the first surface 2a on which the pulley 3 (see Fig. 1A) of the guide rail 2 is attached. Fig. 2B is a front view of the cable guide 6 attached to the end of the guide rail 2, Fig. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 1A, and Fig. 2D is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Fig. 2C.

The guide rail 2 has a first end 21a formed at one end of the guide rail 2 in the extension direction D1, and a second end 21b formed at the other end of the guide rail 2 in the extension direction D1.

(First end 21a)
The first end 21a is formed at one end (the lower end in this embodiment) of the guide rail 2. A rib portion 23 and a fitted portion 24, which will be described later, are formed at the first end 21a. The cable guide 6 is attached to the guide rail 2 by inserting at least a portion of the first end 21a into an insertion groove 63 formed in the cable guide 6.

(Fitted portion 24)
The fitted portion 24 is formed so as to extend a certain distance from the tip of the first end 21a toward the second end 21b of the guide rail 2, and a slit 24a is formed in the fitted portion 24.
The slit 24a extends a certain distance D3 from the tip of the first end 21a toward the second end 21b of the guide rail 2. A fitting portion 64 formed in the cable guide 6 is inserted into the slit 24a (see FIG. 2D). The configuration of the fitting portion 64 will be described in detail later.

(Fitting portion 64)
The fitting portion 64 formed in the cable guide 6 is a linear member extending in the insertion direction in which the cable guide 6 is inserted into the guide rail 2, and is a wall surface on one side in the width direction D2 (the holding portion 22 side) of the wall surfaces constituting the inner wall of the insertion groove 63. The width of the fitting portion 64 (the dimension in the width direction D2 perpendicular to the extension direction D1 of the guide rail 2) is set to be approximately the same dimension as the width of the slit 24a.

(Insertion groove 63)
An insertion groove 63 is formed next to the fitting portion 64 (see FIGS. 2C and 2D). The insertion groove 63 has a gap GP set to a predetermined value so that at least a part of the first end 21a of the guide rail 2 can be inserted into the cable guide 6. The gap GP is set to a value so that at least a part of the first end 21a of the guide rail 2 and the rib portion 23 provided on the first end 21a can be press-fitted into the cable guide 6, for example, a value slightly narrower than the width from the top 23b of the rib portion 23 to the first surface 2a of the guide rail 2.

The width of the fitting portion 64 is set to approximately the same dimension as the width of the slit 24a, so the cable guide 6 is also positioned in the width direction D2.

The gap GP of the insertion groove 63 is set to a value that allows the first end 21a of the guide rail 2 to be inserted into the cable guide 6 as described above, so that a part of the second surface 2b of the guide rail 2 (i.e., the top 23b of the rib portion 23) and the first surface 2a of the guide rail 2 around the rib portion 23 come into contact with the wall surface that forms the insertion groove 63. This also determines the position of the cable guide 6 in the thickness direction of the guide rail 2.

(Rib portion 23)
2A , the rib portion 23 is provided at a position in the first end portion 21a where at least a portion thereof is inserted into the insertion groove 63. The rib portion 23 is a rib, bead, or the like that reinforces the area around the slit 24a formed in the first end portion 21a of the guide rail 2 and fixes the cable guide 6 by being fitted into the rib portion 23.

The rib portion 23 is disposed on the axis of the slit 24a in the width direction D2, and has a convex shape (groove shape) that extends in the extension direction D1 so as to straddle at least the imaginary line VL. The imaginary line VL is an imaginary line that passes through the end 24b of the fitted portion 24 and extends in the width direction D2 of the guide rail 2. As shown in FIG. 2A, the end 24b is a portion that is located at the bottom of the U of the fitted portion 24 (slit 24a), which has an inverted U-shape when the guide rail 2 is viewed from the first surface 2a or the second surface 2b.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the guide rail 2 is curved with a predetermined curvature. In this case, the rib portion 23 has a shape that protrudes toward the center of the circle of curvature of the guide rail 2 (the left side of FIG. 1B). With this configuration, when the first end 21a of the guide rail 2 bends toward the center of the circle of curvature, the guide end 62 of the cable guide 6 is supported by the rib portion 23, so that bending of the guide rail 2 can be suppressed compared to when the rib portion 23 protrudes in the opposite direction from the center of the circle of curvature and a tensile force acts on the rib portion 23.

In addition, one end 231 of the rib portion 23 in the extension direction D1 is provided at a position spaced a certain distance D4 from the tip 21a1 of the portion inserted into the insertion groove 63 of the first end 21a of the guide rail 2. This allows the length of the rib portion 23 to be shorter than when one end 231 of the rib portion 23 is formed to extend to the tip 21a1, thereby improving the rigidity of the guide rail 2 near the end 24b of the mating portion while suppressing an increase in the amount of press processing of the guide rail 2.

Providing the rib portion 23 in this manner improves the rigidity of the guide rail 2 near the end 24b of the mated portion 24, so that even if a bending moment is applied to the area around the end 24b of the mated portion due to the tensile force of the cable 4 guided by the cable guide 6, deflection near the end 24b of the mated portion is suppressed. This suppresses deflection of the end of the guide rail 2.

In addition, since the rigidity of the guide rail 2 is improved, it is possible to make the guide rail 2 thinner and lighter.

The rib portion 23 is configured such that at least a portion of the extension portion 23a extending from the imaginary line VL toward the second end 21b fits into the cable guide 6 (see Figures 2A and 2C). This configuration provides the following effects: The area above the end 24b of the fitted portion is rigid and difficult to bend because no slits 24a are formed in the area. When the cable guide 6 fits into the rib portion 23 provided in this area, bending of the end of the guide rail 2 in the area that fits into the cable guide 6 is further suppressed.

Furthermore, the rib portion 23 is configured to fit with the cable guide 6 with at least a portion of the rib portion 23 inserted into an insertion groove 63 formed in the cable guide 6 (see FIG. 2C). For example, as shown in FIG. 2C, a fitting area AR of the rib portion 23, which has a constant width from the guide end 62 of the cable guide 6 toward the first end 21a of the guide rail 2, fits with the cable guide 6. With this configuration, there is no gap between the rib portion 23 and the cable guide 6, and the cable guide 6 is firmly fixed to the guide rail 2, so that the amount of inclination of the cable guide 6 with respect to the guide rail 2 can be reduced.

For example, the following aspects are understood to fall within the technical scope of this disclosure:

(1) The guide rail of the present disclosure is a guide rail to which a cable guide that guides a cable is attached, and includes a first end portion that is at least one end portion in the extension direction of the guide rail, a mated portion that extends a certain distance from the tip of the first end portion toward a second end portion that is formed at the other end portion opposite the first end portion in the extension direction, and into which the mated portion of the cable guide is inserted from the tip of the first end portion toward the second end portion, and a rib portion that extends in the extension direction so as to straddle a virtual line that extends in the width direction perpendicular to the extension direction and passes through the end portion of the mated portion located on the opposite side in the extension direction to the tip of the first end portion, and into which the cable guide is mated.

(2) At least a portion of the rib portion that extends from the virtual line toward the second end engages with the cable guide.

(3) The rib portion is engaged with the cable guide with at least a portion of the rib portion inserted into an insertion groove formed in the cable guide.

(4) The guide rail is curved, and the rib portion has a shape that protrudes toward the center of the circle of curvature of the guide rail.

(5) The object moving device disclosed herein includes a carrier plate that moves the object to be moved and the above-described guide rail.

The embodiment disclosed herein should be considered as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. In this embodiment, a guide rail having a mating portion and a rib portion only at one end is shown, but a guide rail having a mating portion and a rib portion at both ends may also be used. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the above description, and it is intended that all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims, such as equivalents, are included.

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 guide rail and object moving device of the present invention are useful as a structure that can suppress bending of the end parts.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 carrier plate 2 guide rail 2a first surface 2b second surface 3 pulley 4 cable 4a cable 4b cable 5 drive section 6 cable guide 21a first end 21a1 tip 21b second end 22 holding section 23 rib section 23a extension section 23b top section 24 fitted section 24a slit 24b end section of fitted section 61 guide groove 62 guide end section 63 insertion groove 64 fitting section 100 object moving device 231 one end section AR fitting area of rib section D1 extension direction D2 width direction D3 fixed distance D4 fixed distance GP gap VL imaginary line

Claims (5)

A guide rail to which a cable guide for guiding a cable is attached,
a fitted portion formed at at least one end of the guide rail in the extension direction, the fitted portion extending a certain distance from a tip of the first end toward a second end that is the other end opposite to the first end in the extension direction, into which a fitting portion of the cable guide is inserted from the tip of the first end toward the second end;
a rib portion that extends in the extension direction so as to pass through an imaginary line that passes through an end of the fitted portion located on the opposite side in the extension direction to a tip of the first end portion and that extends in a width direction perpendicular to the extension direction, and that is press-fitted into an insertion groove formed in the cable guide;
A guide rail comprising: The guide rail according to claim 1 , wherein at least a part of the rib portion extending from the imaginary line toward the second end is press-fitted into the insertion groove of the cable guide. The guide rail according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a slit into which the fitting portion is inserted is formed in the fitted portion, and an end of the fitted portion is a bottom of the slit . The guide rail is curved,
The guide rail according to claim 1 , wherein the rib portion has a shape that protrudes toward a center of a circle of curvature of the guide rail. An object moving device comprising a carrier plate for moving an object to be moved and a guide rail according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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