Window Regulating Device for a Window Glass of a Vehicle Door or the Like

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to window regulators and more specifically to an improved cable type window regulator.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

In a known arrangement shown in FIG. 1, a window glass 1 has been raised and lowered using a crank arm 2 driven by a suitable manually operated mechanism 3. This arrangement, while being sturdy has suffered from the drawback of being heavy and increasing the thickness of the door 4 (especially that portion indicated in FIG. 2 by "L") in which it is disposed due to the inherent bulk of the winder and arm mechanism. In order to solve both of the weight and the thickness problems it has been subsequently proposed to use a cable type regulator 5 such as shown in FIG. 3. However, this arrangement has suffered from a notable lack of stability and a resulting very jerky operation. Accordingly, various stabilizing measures such as proposed in Japanese Patent Application "Tokkosho 50-17733" have been employed. These stablizing arrangements are shown in FIGS. 6 to 9. In each of these arrangements, a stationary guide rail 6 is fixedly secured to a slotted tube 7 in which a cable 8 having a helical ridge is slidably disposed. A movable bracket 9 is fixedly connected to the cable 8 by an extension thereof which passes through the slot in the tube 7. Blocks 10 are mounted on the bracket 9 and located so that slits 11 formed therein slidably receive the edges of the guide rail. The bracket 9 is also fixedly connected to the window glass so that upon the cable being moved within the tube via rotation of a handle 12, which drives a gear wheel 13 arranged to mesh with the helical ridge of on the cable 8 (see FIG. 4), the window glass is accordingly raised or lowered along a predetermined path 14 (shown in phantom in FIG. 5).

However, these arrangements have still been unable to provide the desired degree of rigidity and resulting smooth jerk-free sliding stability while simultaneously inducing a further problem that the mass production of the regulator having these kind of stabilizers is difficult. That is to say, in these previously proposed arrangements, as the guide rails 6 have been formed from relatively thin and accordingly flexible sheet steel or the like (to minimize weight), the blocks 10 which slide on the rails are required to be formed with correspondingly narrow slits 11. These narrow slits apart from being difficult to cut within the required close tolerances so as to fit rattle free on the guide rail or rails, also require that during assembly, the blocks in which they are formed be very accurately located so as to ensure proper alignment of the slits with the portions of the guide rails which are received therein. All of this complicates production increasing the overall cost of the final product while still not providing satisfactory operational characteristics.

The present invention features a cable type regulator in which a stationary guide rail member is formed with a pair of mirror image "V" shaped arms which extend to partly surround the tube in which the cable is slidably disposed. A slide member is received on the guide rail and formed with a pair of mirror image arms having a configuration adapted to slidingly embrace the outer surfaces of the guide rail sides. With this arrangement, the arms of the slide member can be thick and accordingly very rigid while the guide rail due to its configuration has a cross section having a high "second moment of inertia of area" which, in combination with the thick arms of the slider, provides an excellent degree of smoothness when raising or lowering the window glass.

Thus, with the invention, the cable type regulator mechanism is improved to the point where, due to its inherent compactness and lightness, it is preferably used in doors or the like wherein a thickness dimension reduction is sought. This is especially the case in sliding doors which have a guide rail or track arrangement associated therewith which curves inwardly into the vehicle and accordingly consumes a notable amount of cabin space. Thus, with the invention, this kind of door may be rendered thinner and lighter while simultaneously reducing the dimensions of the guide rail arrangement and thus the amount of cabin space taken up by same. The thickness of this kind of door may be particularly reduced by disposing the guide rail and slider outboard of the path along which the window moves and if so desired, arranging the shaft of the regulator mechanism handle to cross this path at a location where it also acts as a limit to limit the degree by which the window may be lowered.

The features and advantages of the arrangement of the present invention will become more clearly appreciated from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art "lever" type window regulator;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a prior art "cable" type window regulator;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a part of the arrangement shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the arrangement shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 6 to 9 show various prior art stabilizing arrangements used in connection with the arrangement shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a front elevation of a window regulating arrangement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective partially exploded view of a part of the preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein, in this figure, some of the elements have been omitted for clarity;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along section line A--A of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along section line B--B of FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along section line C--C of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a sectional plan view of a sliding vehicle door; and

FIG. 16 is a side elevation showing the present invention applied to a sliding door of the nature shown in FIG. 15.

Turning now to the drawings and more specifically to FIGS. 10 to 14, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. In these figures, a stabilizing arrangement which characterizes the invention is generally denoted by the numeral 20. This arrangement comprises a stationary guide rail 22 which has a pair of "V" shaped sides 24 which tend to enclose a slotted tube 7 disposed immediately adjacent thereto. At the uppermost end of the guide rail, a bracket 26 is provided for attaching the rail to the door proper.

Slidably disposed on the guide rail is a slider or follower generally denoted by 28. This slider includes a bracket 30 formed with an extension 32 which extends through the slot 34 of the tube 7. The extension has a loop 35 at the end which securely grips the cable 8 to provide a secure connection between the bracket and the cable. Fixed to the back of the bracket 30 is a main body 36 of the slider 28. This body is, in this case, made of a suitable plastic and formed with a pair of arms 38 which pass through apertures 40 formed in the bracket 30 and which extend to grip the "V" shaped sides 24 of the guide rail 22. The inboard sides of the arms 38 have acutely angled surfaces 42 which, as shown, are adapted to seat on the outer surfaces of the guide rail sides 24 and thus "embrace" the guide rail as a whole. To further increase the rigidity of the arms 38, ribs 39 are provided to reinforce same.

A bracket 44 is fixed to the window glass via a suitable technique and formed with a pair of depending connection fingers 46. Bolts 48 are disposed through coaxial holes 50 formed in the bracket 30 and main body 36 and threadedly engaged in the threaded bores 52 formed in boss-like extensions on the connection fingers 46. With this arrangement, the slider 28 is fixedly interconnected between the window glass 1 and the cable 8.

A stop bracket 54 serves to connect the lower end of the guide rail 22 to the door and act as a limit for defining the maximum downward travel of the window away from its closed position. This bracket, as shown in FIG. 13, has a generally "U" shaped configuration which extends on either side of the guide rail 22. With this arrangement, the lower edge of the bracket 30 and the main body 36 will seat on the upper edge of the bracket 54 when the window glass is lowered sufficiently. Alternately, a sliding stop or limit 55 (shown in phantom) which can be secured in any desired position via a grub screw or the like may be provided on the guide rail.

FIG. 10 shows the tube 7 and cable 8 disposed within the door in a generally "U" shaped configuration so that the two ends thereof are oriented upwardly. With this arrangement, as the seal between window glass and the aperture in the door through which it passes, cannot be perfectly sealed against the entry of foreign matter, it is preferable to provide a cap 56 on one or both ends of the tube 74 in order to minimize the amount of water or the like that might tend to enter the tube. It will be understood that the slot 34 formed in the tube 7 need only extend from the stop bracket 54 upwardly and, as such, a cap on the end of the tube located above the handle 12 will tend to almost perfectly close same. However, due to the existence of the slot 34, some water or the like may find its way into the interior of the tube 7 so that a drain hole 58 may be advantageously formed at the lowermost level of the tube 7 for allowing any water accumulated within the tube 7 to escape and subsequently be discharged through a suitable drain hole in the bottom of the door. The cap (or caps 56) is preferably made of a resilient elastomer or the like so that in the event of the free end or ends of the tube flexing under severe vehicle vibration, the cap will serve to soften any impacts on the structural members of the door and thus suppress any tendency for rattling noise to be produced.

FIG. 15 shows a sliding door 60 which runs a track or guide rail 62. The track 62 is at the end portion thereof, curved inwardly into the vehicle interior by a distance "X" as shown. To allow for the complete closure or the door, shown in phantom, the track must extend inwardly a little further than the innermost level of the door to allow for the bogie-like arrangement which runs on the track to assume the desired position. Accordingly, the thicker the door the further the track must curve into the vehicle interior or cabin. Further, the thicker the door the further the door will project outboard of the vehicle (viz., by a distance "Y" in the open position thereof (shown in solid line). Thus, by reducing the thickness of the door, both the weight of the door and the amount of space consumed by the track arrangement will be reduced.

FIG. 16 shows the invention as applied to such a sliding door for reducing the thickness thereof. In this arrangement, the guide rail 22 is disposed on the outboard side of the window path 14 to utilize the otherwise wasted space on this side of said path.

With this cable arrangement of the invention, it is of course possible to locate the handle 12 of the manual winder mechanism 3 in any one of a number of locations without interfering with the movement of the window glass; however, as it is often desired to limit the degree by which a window in a sliding door can be opened, i.e. to prevent children from putting their head or appendages out of the window in a hazardous manner, it is preferred in this arrangement to locate the handle 12 and associated shaft which extends between same and the gear wheel 13, to cross the path 14 of the window at a position to block the movement of the window beyond a predetermined point. This is of course highly advantageous as it allows the use of the same components as used in a normal hinging door (or one wherein a limit is not required), without the need of modifying any of the "standard" components. Hence mass production of both the various types of doors as well as the window regulator of the invention is facilitated.