Apparatus for Reciprocally Moving Window Panel

The present invention relates to an apparatus for reciprocally moving a window panel of a vehicle such as an automobile and the like and, particularly, to a door window panel opening and closing apparatus.

Various types of vehicle door window panel opening and closing apparatus have been suggested and utilized. FIG. 13 shows one example of prior art vehicle door window panel reciprocally moving apparatus of a cable type disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Pulbic Disclosure 57-140580. The apparatus includes a guide rail a extending vertically in the interior or a door of a vehicle, and a bracket b vertically movably supported on the guide rail a and supporting the lower end of a window panel c. The bracket b is connected to one ends of first and second wires d.sub.1 and d.sub.2. The first wire d.sub.1 extends vertically downward from the bracket b, turns around a pulley e at the lower end of the guide rail a, extends vertically upwards to an arcuate guide groove g.sub.1 in a cable guide f and through a first flexible pipe h.sub.1 which is connected to one end of the guide groove g.sub.1. The second wire d.sub.2 extends upward from the bracket b, changes the direction in an arcute guide groove g.sub.2 in the cable guide f, and extends into a second flexible pipe h.sub.2. The flexible pipes h.sub.1 and h.sub.2 are connected to a housing j of an actuator i, and a reel l rotated by a handle k is disposed in the housing j with the wires d.sub.1 and d.sub.2 being turned around and connected to the reel l.

In operation, when the handle k is rotated in counterclockwise direction or arrow A direction as viewed in FIG. 13, the wire d.sub.1 is rolled on the reel l and the wire d.sub.2 is unrolled from the reel l, whereby the bracket b moves downward and the window opens. When the handle k is rotated in clockwise direction or in the direction opposite to arrow A, the wire d.sub.2 is rolled up on reel l and the wire d.sub.1 is drawn out of the reel l, whereby the bracket b moves upward and the window closes. The amount of maximum vertical displacement of the bracket b or the effective stroke L of the window panel c is the distance between the upper end of the periphery of the pulley e and the lower end surface of the cable guide f minus the height of the bracket b.

In aforementioned prior art device, the effective stroke L is restricted by the presence of pulley 3 and cable guide f such that in increasing the effective stroke the pulley 3 or the cable guide f must be moved downward or upward from the positions shown in FIG. 13, however, the construction of doors in usual automobiles is limited by other factors such as design, usage or the like, and the space allotted for the window panel moving apparatus does not usually permit the change in position of the pulley or the cable guide. Further, the effective stroke can be increased by reducing the curvature of the guide grooves g.sub.1 and g.sub.2 of the cable guide or the pulley e, however, such countermeasure is hazardous in smooth operaton of the handle k and in durablility of wires d.sub.1 and d.sub.2. Accordingly, it is not possible to increase the effective stroke of the window panel and to increase the height of the window as compared with that of the door, thus, a substantial amount of window glass is remained in the interior of the door in the uppermost position of the window glass which increases the cost of the glass.

Further, there are problems that the size is bulky, a large opening is required in the door for mounting the apparatus which decreases the strength, and that the sliding resistance of wires is relatively large which decreases the force transmitting efficiency.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art devices and, according to the invention, there is provided an apparatus for moving reciprocally a window panel in vertical directions, and comprising: stationary guide means extending along a predetermined path including a linear portion which extends generally in vertical directions, a displaceable member for supporting the window panel which is supported on a linear portion of guide means and is displaceable in vertical directions, and means for driving the displaceable member with at least a part thereof being releasably engaging with a part of the displaceable member.

In the apparatus according to the present invention, the engagement between the displaceable member and driving means is partially released at the upper end portion and/or the lower end portion of the stroke of the displaceable member, thus, the stroke is increased.

According to a preferred embodiment, the displaceable member comprises a rigid member such as a bracket which is slidably supported and guided on the linear portion of guide means and a flexible member connected to the rigid member which engages with at least a part of the driving means. The flexible member is guided by guide means and can follow both of the linear portion and a curved portion of guide means.

The invention will now be explained in detail with reference to attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an apparatus for receiprocally moving a window panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the apparatus of FIG. 1 as installed in a door of a vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line III--III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line IV--IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view showing a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a section taken along line VII--VII in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a partial front view showing a modified slide rack;

FIG. 9 is a partial front view of the slide rack of FIG. 8, but showing a bent condition;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the apparatus of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a section taken along line XII--XII in FIG. 11, and

FIG. 13 is a front view of a prior art device.

A first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1-4 is installed in a vehicle door main body 2 and comprises a guide rail 3 having a linear portion which extends generally in the vertical direction within the door main body 2, a drive mecahnism 5 including a motor 6, a series of gears 16 arranged generally vertically along the guide rail 3, a transmitting mechanism including a timing belt 20, and a bracket 10 slidably supported on the linear portion of the guide rail and supporting a window panel or a window glass 12.

The guide rail 3 is preferably formed of a sheet metal and has generally U-shaped cross-section as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. There is provided a projection on the inner surface of one of the side walls 3a to constitute a slide portion 4 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 3 for guiding a slide rack 13 which will be explained in detail hereinafter. In the embodiment, the slide portion 4 is formed by deforming the metal sheet, but, the slide portion may be formed as a separate member and secured to the guide rail by any desired process such as welding or the like. The lower end portion of the guide rail 3 is bent gently to form a bent portion 3b.

The drive mechanism 5 comprises the motor 6 which is preferably a DC motor, a speed reduction mechanism 7, a rotating direction switching mechanism 8, the timing pulley 9 secured to an output shaft 7a of the reduction mechanism 7, and gears 16.

The bracket 10 is preferably formed of synthetic resin material, and has a generally rectangular plate like main body portion and the slide rack 13 integrally connected to the main body portion to extend downwards therefrom. There is provided suitable retaining means (not shown) between the guide rail 3 and the bracket 10 to permit sliding movements of the bracket 10 along the linear portion of the guide rail 3. Shown at 11 and 11 are mounting holes for mounting the window panel 12 to the bracket 10 by such as screws and the like.

The slide rack 13 is rigidly connected or integrally formed with the bracket 10 to extend downwards therefrom by a substantial length, and has an engaging groove 15 in one side surface for slidably engaging with the slide portion 4 of the guide rail 3 and a series of rack teeth 14, 14 . . . on the side surface opposite to the engaging groove 15. The rack teeth engage with gears of the drive mechanism 5. The slide rack 13 is formed of a flexible material or has the construction flexible at least in one direction such that the slide rack 13 can slidingly follow the bent portion 3b of the guide rail 3 when the slide rack moves to the lower end of the stroke, but the slide rack is sufficiently tough in the direction of the length to support the window panel 12.

A plurality of intermeshing zigzag gears 17, 17 . . . are mounted on the guide rail 3 along the vertical direction with gears 17a, 17a . . . on the side of slide rack 13 being adapted to engage with the rack teeth of the slide rack 13, and gears 17b, 17b . . . on the side remote from slide rack 13 rotate in the direction opposite to gears 17a . . . A driven timing gear 19 is secured to a shaft 18 of a suitable gear 17'b of gears 17b, and is driven through a timing belt 20 by the timing pulley 9 of the drive mechanism 5.

In operation, when the DC motor 6 of drive mechanism 5 rotates in the normal direction, the timing belt 20 is rotated in arrow A direction in FIG. 1 and the gear 17'b rotates in arrow B direction in FIG. 1. The gear 17'b acts to rotate gears 17a in the direction opposite to arrow B direction and gears 17b in arrow B direction. The rotation of one or more gears 17a meshing with rack teeth 14 of the slide rack 13 acts to displace the slide rack 13 upwards whereby the window panel 12 secured to the bracket 10 moves upward. At the end of the stroke, a window 2a of the door 2 (FIG. 2) is fully closed and the DC motor stops. At this condition, at least one gear 17a engages with rack teeth 14 of the slide rack 13 thereby retaining the window 2a in the closed condition.

When the DC motor 6 rotates in the reverse direction, the timing pulley 9 rotates in the direction opposite to arrow A direction, the gear 17'b is rotated through the timing belt 20 in the direction opposite to arrow B, and gears 17a are rotated in the direction opposite to gears 17b. Thus, the slide rack 13 together with the bracket 10 moves downward to open the window 2a. In the course of downward movement, the slide rack 13 engages with one or the uppermost gear 17a initially, then, upper two gears 17a, then upper three gears, thereafter disengages from the gears arranged in the upper portion in response to engaging with the gears in the lower portion. At the end of the stroke as shown in chain lines in FIG. 1, the slide rack 13 engages only with the lowermost gear 17a, and a substantial length of the slide rack 13 which extends vertically downward from the bracket 10 normally is bent along the bent portion 3b of the guide rail 3 to follow the curvature. Thus, the effective stroke of the bracket 10 is increased relative to the dimension of the door. Namely, the effective stroke L.sub.1 of the bracket 10 is a length L of the gear train 16 as defined by the distance between the uppermost and the lowermost gears 17a plus upper and lower extended displacement l.sub.1 and l.sub.2 corresponding to the length of the slide rack as shown in FIG. 1, or L.sub.1 =L+l.sub.1 +l.sub.2.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the height h of the window 2a relative to the height H of the door 2 can be increased by the distance l.sub.1 +l.sub.2 as compared with prior art device with the window glass 12 being of the same height, or when the height h of the window 2a is equal then the overall height of the window glass 12 can be decreased by the distance l.sub.1 +l.sub.2 whereby the cost of the window glass can be decreased. Further, the plurality of gears 16 constitute the drive mechanism, thus, it is possible to prevent the failure and to improve the durability. Further, the motor 5 can be located at any desired location.

FIG. 5 shows the second embodiment of the invention, wherein the power transmitting mechanism between the DC motor 6 and the gear 17b is modified.

A plurality of intermeshing gears 21 are provided, as shown in FIG. 5, between the timing gear 9 and one 17'b of gears 17b of the gear train 16. The gears 21 are received in or mounted on a housing or mounting bracket 22 which is angularly displaceable around the axis 18 of the gear 17'b. The arrangement is advantageous since the freedom in design and the service life is improved.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the third embodiment of the present invention, wherein the gears 21 in FIG. 5 is substituted by a bevel gear 23 secured to the shaft 18 of the gear 17'b, a bevel gear 24 secured to the output shaft 7a of the reduction mechanism 7, and a rotatable shaft 25 having on opposite ends a bevel gear 26 meshing with the gear 24 and a bevel gear 27 meshing with the gear 23. The third embodiment has the effect similar to that of the second embodiment, and the construction is simple.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a modified slide rack 13A, which includes a plurality of holes 29 which are spaced in the lengthwise direction by a predetermined pitch, and are disposed adjacent to the side 28 remote from rack teeth 14, and slits 30 formed between respective holes 29 and the side 28. The slide rack can smoothly bend as shown in FIG. 9, and can transmit sufficiently the vertical force (compressive force) in the condition of FIG. 8.

FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 show the fourth embodiment of the invention, which is generally similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1, but the details of components substantially differ. The guide rail 3' consists of a main portion 41 and a cover 42. The main portion 41 is formed by bending a sheet metal to have a side wall 43 on one of the side edges. An engaging edge 44 is formed on the tip end of the side wall 43 to project outwards. A sliding groove 45 is formed along another side edge of the main portion 41, and a crooked engaging portion 46 extends from the sliding groove 45.

The cover 42 is also formed on a metal sheet, and one of side edges thereof is adapted to overlap the engaging edge 44 of the main portion 41. A sliding groove 47 is formed along another side edge to oppose the engaging groove 45 in the main portion 41. A longitudinal opening 49 is formed between the engaging portion 46 of the main portion 41 and the another side edge of the cover 42.

As shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of vertically spaced supporting shafts are mounted on the guide rail 3' and extend respectively between the main portion 41 and the cover 42. The sliding grooves 47 and 45 in the cover and the main portion of the guide rail are formed to have smoothly bent configuration at the lower end portion as clearly shown in FIG. 11, and a conduit 38 is mounted on the guide rail to extend transversely therefrom and to support a slide member 13' in the lower end portion of the downward stroke of the bracket which will be explained in detail hereinafter.

A casing 7'A of a speed reduction mechanism 7' of the drive mechanism 5 is secured to rear surface of the main portion 41 of the guide rail 3' at the lengthwise center portion. An output shaft 7A of the speed reduction means 7' extends into the interior of the guide rail 3' and is secured to a drive gear 17C which, in turn, drives driving gears 17A and 17A through idle gears 17B and 17B thereby constituting a series of intermeshing gears such as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood that the gear train of FIG. 10 includes idle gears of small diameter, and the gear train of FIG. 1 includes idle gears of the same diameter, but the function thereof is similar. Thus the drive gears rotate in the same direction and idle gears rotate in the opposite direction.

There is provided a slide member 13' between the bracket 10 and the guide rail to extend generally in the vertical direction. The slide member is formed of a flexible material and has generally band like shape with rack teeth 14 and 14' being provided on opposite side surfaces thereof, and is slidably guided by the guide grooves 45 and 47 of the guide rail 3'. The rack teeth 14 are adapted to engage with the driving gears 17A, and the rack teeth 14' act to connect the slide member 13' with the bracket 10. It will be noted that the rack teeth 14' are provided only the upper end portion of the slide member 13'.

The bracket 10 comprises a plate like main body 52, a first retaining member 53 projecting on the rear surface of the main body at one side, and a second retaining member 54 projecting on the rear surface of the main body at the other side. The retaining member 53 slidably engages with the engaging edge 44 of the guide rail 3', and the retaining member 54 slidably engages with the engaging portion 46 of the guide rail 3' whereby the relative movement between the bracket and the guide rail is restricted to vertical sliding movement. Shown at 55 is a sliding recess formed in the projecting end portion of the retaining member 54 and having the configuration corresponding to the engaging portion 46. The retaining member 54 further has rack teeth 56 which project into the interior of the guide rail through the opening 49 to engage with rack teeth 14' of the slide member 13'.

The operation and function of the fourth embodiment of the invention are similar to the first embodiment, thus, detailed description therefore is omitted. But, it will be noted that, as shown in chain lines in FIG. 10, the engagement between the rack teeth 56 of the bracket 10 and the rack teeth 14' of the slide member 3' is partially released at the end of the downward movement of the bracket, which permits the bent portion of guide rail closely adjacent to the lowermost positon of the bracket thereby decreasing the overall height of the apparatus. Further, in applying the invention to the vehicle window panel reciprocally moving apparatus, it is possible to increase the height of the window as compared with that of the door, to improve the operational characteristics of the apparatus and to improve the durability.

As described heretofore, according to the invention, the effective stroke can substantially be increased over the height of the driving gear train which is arranged along the length of the guide rail.

Although the embodiments of the invention have been chosen for purposes of illustration, it will be noted that the invention is not restricted by the embodiments, and those skilled in the art can easily make various changes and revisions within the scope of the following claims.