EP1567736B1 - Closing aid for closing the door of a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A cam wheel (8) on a side opposite to an activating cam (AC) (10) acts as a pivot bearing for a driven gear (6). The AC engages in a recess (15) on a support plate (16), on which a closing element (17) fastens to form a closing clip. A blocking unit coupling (7) fits between the driven gear and the cam wheel.

Description

The invention relates to a closing aid for closing a door provided with a door lock vehicle door, hood, trunk lid, tailgate.

Such a closing aid is for example from the DE 199 21 517 C2 known. In this case, the closing aid comprises a bolt-shaped or bow-shaped closing element, which is movable on the one hand by means of a drive motor from a Ent- in a locking position and which on the other hand in the unlocked position by a door lock associated pivotable fork bolt is gripped around, so that the closing element in its movement in the locking position via the fork bolt pulls the vehicle door (against the force of the deforming door seal) in its closed position. The transmission of the drive device has a driven gear and a downstream of this cam with an eccentric to the axis of rotation arranged actuating cam, which acts via a lever linkage on a pivoting support plate carrying the closing element.

It has proved to be disadvantageous in this known closing aid, among other things, that a relatively elongated space in the respective vehicle body is required by the arranged between the cam and the support member of the closing element lever linkage, which is often not available.

To create a very compact closing aid, the Applicant has already proposed in a parallel patent application that the actuating cam of the cam wheel engages directly in the support plate of the closing element and causes its displacement. In order to enable a safe manual closing (eg failure of the power supply) in such a closing aid, it is provided that the cam and the cam wheel upstream driven wheel of the drive means are connected to each other via a switchable locking body coupling comprising a plurality of spring-loaded detent balls, which laterally positively in corresponding, evenly distributed over the circumference arranged recesses of the driven gear are mounted and pressed by a compression spring assembly against recessed wall portions of the cam wheel.

In a manual operation of the respective vehicle door, the detent balls are pushed out of the recessed wall portions of the cam wheel, and the cam wheel is rotatable relative to the driven wheel until the vehicle door is closed.

In addition, the Sperrkörperkupplung causes a terminal protection. Because the Zuziehablauf this closing aid is hindered because in the gap between the vehicle door and the vehicle body is an object, the clutch causes the cam and thus the support plate remain with striker and the driven wheel continues to rotate with respect to the cam to its starting position. There, a touch switch generates a corresponding signal, which is evaluated by an electronic control unit, which in turn switches off the drive motor.

Since the contact pressure of the detent balls in the recessed wall portions of the cam wheel pressing spring must be chosen such that the closing aid closes the respective vehicle door against the pressure of the door seals safely, without causing a disengagement of the cam wheel is to be feared, the contact pressure in the order of magnitude from 800 to 1000 N. Therefore, at the beginning of closing, if it is inadvertently received e.g. a hand of the vehicle door closing person in the gap between the vehicle door and the vehicle body, so act first significant forces on the hand before the clutch disengages and shuts off the closing aid. This can lead to serious injuries of the hand.

The present invention is therefore based on the object at a closing aid with locking body coupling between the output gear and the cam wheel to improve the terminal protection, without thereby affecting the closing function of the closing aid.

This object is achieved by the features of claim 1. Further, particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention disclose the dependent claims.

The invention is based essentially on the idea to apply the detent balls by means of a compression spring arrangement whose stiffness increases when closing the vehicle door by means of the closing aid, ie to use a compression spring arrangement having a progressive spring characteristic. This ensures that within a first Schließwegabschnittes, in which there is a serious risk that a foreign body could get into the gap between the vehicle door and body, the stiffness of the compression spring assembly and thus the contact pressure of the detent balls in the recesses of the cam wheel pressing spring is low (eg 100 to 300 N) , There is a disengagement of the clutch so even when low clamping forces.

If, however, the vehicle door is close to its closed position, in which significant contact forces must be applied to overcome the vehicle door seal, but due to the small gap width between the vehicle door and body barely there is a risk that an object between the vehicle door and body can go, takes the rigidity of the compression spring assembly strongly, so that contact forces acting on the detent balls of the clutch in the order of 800 to 1000 N and disengages the clutch only on the occurrence of clamping forces in this order of magnitude.

The Schließwegabhängige change in the stiffness of the compression spring assembly can be realized in that the compression spring assembly with progressive spring characteristic on its side facing away from the locking balls on a rotatably mounted in the closing aid, but axially displaceable thrust washer is supported, wherein the thrust washer of a non-rotatably connected to the driven wheel cam when turning the output gear from the Ent- is moved to the locked position.

To be particularly advantageous, it has been found that the compression spring arrangement consists of at least a two-stage stratified disk spring assembly, so that the progressive spring characteristic of the compression spring assembly is approximated by at least two rectilinear spring characteristic ranges. In this case, the first of the detent balls facing stage of the plate spring assembly of a single plate spring high rigidity and the second of the pressure plate facing stage of the plate spring assembly, for example, consist of two roof-shaped abutting disc springs lower rigidity. Upon rotation of the output gear from the Ent- to the locking position then only the second-stage disc springs are initially compressed substantially until they form a spring block. Until the spring block is reached, the coupling can be uncoupled with little force. Upon further rotation of the drive pulley is essentially only the plate spring high rigidity of the first stage is effective, so that the contact pressure of the detent balls is determined by this disc spring and the clutch only with a much higher Power is disengageable.

The axial displacement of the pressure plate to increase the bias of the compression spring arrangement can advantageously be effected in that the control disk comprises on its pressure plate facing the end face at least two evenly distributed over the circumference arranged control cam with wedge-shaped control surface, which are supported on corresponding wedge-shaped projections of the thrust washer.

• Fig.1 eine Draufsicht auf eine Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen in einem Gehäuse angeordneten und in ihrer Entriegelungsstellung befindlichen Schließhilfe mit Abtriebs- und Nockenrad, aber ohne Deckelteil und ohne dem daran angeordneten Schließelement;
• Fig.2 einen vergrößert dargestellten Längsschnitt entlang der in Fig.1 mit II-II bezeichneten Schnittlinie mit einer Kupplung mit Rastkugeln und einer Druckfederanordnung, wobei auch das Deckelteil mit Schließelement wiedergegeben ist;
• Fig.3 und 4 zwei Querschnitte entlang der in Fig.2 mit III-III und IV-IV bezeichneten Schnittlinien;
• Fig.5 einen Fig.2 entsprechenden Längsschnitt, wobei das Abtriebsrad sich um ca. 32° gedreht hat;
• Fig.6 einen Querschnitt entlang der in Fig.5 mit VI-VI bezeichneten Schnittlinie und
• Fig.7 die Federkennlinie der für den Anpreßdruck der Sperrkörper der Kupplung verwendeten Druckfederanordnung.

Further details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following with reference to figures explained embodiment. Show it:

• Figure 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a present invention arranged in a housing and located in its unlocking position closing aid with output and cam, but without cover part and without the closing element arranged thereon;
• 2 shows an enlarged longitudinal section along the section line II-II in Figure 1 with a coupling with locking balls and a compression spring arrangement, wherein also the cover part is shown with closing element;
• Figures 3 and 4 are two cross-sections along the section lines indicated in Figure 2 with III-III and IV-IV;
• 5 shows a longitudinal section corresponding to FIG. 2, wherein the driven wheel has rotated through approximately 32 °;
• 6 shows a cross section along the section line indicated in Figure 5 with VI-VI and
• 7 shows the spring characteristic of the pressure spring arrangement used for the contact pressure of the locking body of the clutch.

1 shows an embodiment of a closing aid according to the invention for closing the tailgate of a motor vehicle, not shown, and 2 denotes a dashed line indicated electronic control unit. The closing aid 1 is doing at the rear Body of the vehicle mounted in the region of the tailgate opening, which is opposite to the door lock of the tailgate.

The closing aid 1 comprises a drive device 3 with a drive motor 4 and a gear 5 downstream of the engine with a driven gear 6 rotatable about a rotation axis 6. The output gear 6 is connected via a blocking body clutch 7 (Figure 2) with a cam 8, which also at the rotation axis 9 is rotatably arranged and carries an eccentrically arranged to the rotation axis 9 actuating cam 10. In this case, the blocking body clutch 7 comprises a plurality of spring-loaded detent balls 11, e.g. made of steel, which are laterally positively mounted in corresponding, uniformly distributed over the circumference arranged recesses 12 of the driven wheel 6 and on its side facing away from the cam 8 side acted upon by a compression spring assembly 13 so that they are pressed into recessed wall portions 14 of the cam wheel 8.

2, the cam wheel 8 is formed on its side facing away from the actuating cam 10 as a pivot bearing for the output gear 6, whereby a particularly compact construction of the closing aid 1 is achieved.

The actuating cam 10 of the cam wheel 8 engages in a recess 15 of a support plate 16, to which a lock element 17 designed as a closing element is attached.

The closing aid 1 contains two contact switches 18, 19 (FIG. 1) serving as sensors, which are connected to the electronic control unit 2 via electrical lines and in each case generate a signal when the actuating cam 10 of the cam wheel 8 has reached the locking or unlocking position , For this purpose, a corresponding, over a portion of the circumference extending longitudinal cam 20 is provided on the output gear 6 of the drive device 3, which is contacted by the respective touch switch 18, 19.

The closing aid 1 further comprises a pivotally mounted, acted upon by a torsion spring 21 locking lever 22, on which the support plate 16 is supported in the locked position of the closing aid 1 to relieve the drive means 3. In this case, the position of the locking lever 22 by means of a connected to the electronic control unit 2 touch switch 23 monitored.

The compression spring assembly 13 consists of a two-stage disc spring assembly, each stage has a linear spring characteristic region 100, 101 has (Figure 7). In this case, the first stage 24 facing the detent balls 11 consists of a single plate spring 26 of high rigidity (corresponding to the spring characteristic area 101 in FIG. 7). The second stage 25 consists of two roof-shaped contiguous disc springs 26, 27 substantially lower rigidity (corresponds to the spring characteristic area 100 in Figure 7). This second stage 25 is supported on its side facing away from the first stage 24 from a rotatably mounted in the housing of the closing aid pressure plate 28 from which is rotatably disposed in the direction of the axis of rotation 9 by a rotatably connected to the output gear 6 control disk 29.

The control disk 29 has on its the thrust washer 28 facing end face, evenly distributed over the circumference three provided with wedge-shaped control surfaces 30 control cam 31 (Figure 3), in which after rotation of the driven gear 6 by a predetermined angle corresponding wedge-shaped projections 32 of the thrust washer 28 (Fig.4) support.

Hereinafter, the operation of the closing aid 1 will be described. It is assumed that the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 4, in which the striker 17 is in the unlocked position. In addition, the tailgate of the vehicle, not shown, is based on the rear-side body, and the door lock is in its pre-locking position, in which the fork bolt of the door lock comprises the striker 17 and is secured by a pawl. Simultaneously with the securing of the forked catch by the pawl is achieved via a e.g. located in the door lock microswitch the drive motor 4 of the closing aid 1 via the electronic control unit 2 is activated and the cam 8 rotates from the position shown in Figure 1 in a clockwise direction.

By the actuating cam 10 of the cam 8, the striker 17 is attracted against the pressure of the tailgate seal to the vehicle and thus begins to draw the tailgate. After about 8 mm closing distance, which corresponds to a rotation of the output gear 6 of about 32 ° in the present embodiment, the control cam 31 of the control disk 29 reach the projections 32 of the pressure plate 28. By the oblique control surfaces 30 of the control cam 31 and the inclined surfaces of the projections 32, the pressure plate 28 is pressed against the plate springs 26, 27. Upon further actuation of the driven wheel 6, the spring travel of these disc springs 26, 27 is compressed to "block" by the pressure plate 28 (Figures 5 and 6). Now the plate spring 24 is supported via the spring block directly against the pressure plate 28, so that the contact pressure of the plate spring 24 on the detent balls 11 in the order between 600-800 N is effective (the compression spring assembly 13 is located in Fig.7 in the Spring characteristic range 101).

Upon further rotation of the output gear 6 to the end position is the high contact pressure of the plate spring 24 to the clutch 7, which is needed for the rest of Zuziehablauf the striker.

As soon as the output gear 6 with its longitudinal cam 20 has reached the first touch switch 18, the drive motor 4 is switched off.

If the Zuziehablauf the closing aid 1 is hindered because in the pre-locking position in the gap between the trunk and tailgate, an object is the cam 8 and thus the support plate 16 with striker 17 and the locking lever 22 remains in its initial position. As a result, the detent balls 11 press against the plate spring, which in turn transmits the force to the plate springs 26, 27. Since this plate spring pair has a substantially lower rigidity than the plate spring 24, essentially only the plate springs 26, 27 press together until the detent balls 11 have left the detent position of the cam wheel 8. The output gear 6 rotates relative to the cam 8 further to its starting position. There, the second touch switch 19 generates a corresponding signal, which is evaluated by the electronic control unit 2, which in turn switches off the drive motor 4.

If the tailgate to be opened, the drive motor 4 is again activated by the electronic control unit 2, for example, by operating a tailgate handle and rotates the cam 8 counterclockwise back to its original position. In this case, the locking lever 22 is pushed back and pushed the support plate 16 of the striker 17 by the actuating cam 10 of the cam 8 again in its open position. If the unlocked position of the closing aid 1 is reached, is the drive motor 4 is turned off and the door lock can then be opened, for example by pressing a handle or a lock cylinder.

The tailgate can also be closed manually, for example in the event of a power failure, so that the striker 17 is manually pressed from the unlocked position into the locking position. For this purpose, the tailgate is pushed with a minimum force to the vehicle. The detent balls 11 of the clutch 7 are pressed against the compression spring assembly 13, so that the cam 8 is rotated with the striker 17 relative to the driven gear 6, without the drive means 3 is damaged. In this case, advantageously, the closing force only needs to be as large as the contact pressure of the two disc springs 26, 27 of the compression spring assembly thirteenth

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

closing aid

2

electronic control unit

3

driving means

4

drive motor

5

transmission

6

output gear

7

Clutch, locking body coupling

8th

cam

9

axis of rotation

10

actuating cam

11

detent ball

12

recess

13

Compression spring arrangement, plate spring arrangement

14

recessed wall area

15

recess

16

support plate

17

Closing element, striker

18

(first) sensor, (first) touch switch

19

(second) sensor, (second) touch switch

20

along cams

21

Torsion spring, spring

22

locking lever

23

touch switch

24

first stage, disc spring

25

second stage, plate spring

26.27

Disc springs

28

thrust washer

29

control disc

30

control surface

31

control cam

32

head Start

100,101

Spring characteristic areas

Claims (7)

1. A closing aid for closing a vehicle door provided with a door lock, engine bonnet, boot, tailgate, whereby:

   the closing aid (1) comprises a bolt-shaped or clamp-shaped closing element (17);

   the closing element (17) is on the one hand movable, with the aid of a drive motor (4) with downstream gears (5) contained in the drive system (3) of the closing aid, from an unlocked into locked position and vice versa, and on the other hand can be engaged by a pivoting fork-shaped spring bolt assigned to the door lock, so that the closing element (17) pulls the vehicle door into the closed position via the fork latch, during movement into the locked position;

   the gears (5) of the drive system (3) consist of an output wheel (6) rotating upon an axis (9), which is connected by means of lock coupling (7) of the closing aid with a cam (8) of the closing aid, which rotates upon the same axis (9) as the output wheel, whereby the cam (8) supports actuating cams (10) arranged eccentrically to the axis (9), whereby the actuating cams (10) move a support plate (16), which carries the closing element (17);

   the lock coupling (7) contains several spring-loaded detent balls (11), positioned laterally and interlocking, evenly distributed over the extent of the arranged recesses (12) of the output wheel (6), and which are pressed by a compression spring device (13) of the closing aid against recessed wall areas (14) of the cam (8);

   the compression spring device (13) exhibits a progressive characteristic curve of the spring and is supported on its first side by the detent balls (11) and on its second side by a torque-proof pressure disc (28) - located in the closing aid (1) - movable in the direction of the axis (9) by means of a torque-proof control disc (29) connected with the output wheel, so that with the rotation of the output wheel (6) from an unlocked into locked position, the rigidity of the compression spring device (13) thereby increases.
2. The closing aid according to Claim 1, characterized in that the compression spring device (13) consists of at least one double-levelled disc spring device, whereby the rigidity of the disc springs (24, 25, 26) are selected in such a way that the progressive characteristic curve of the spring (13) is approached by at least two characteristic spring curves extending in a straight line.
3. The closing aid according to Claim 2, characterized in that the first level (24) of the disc spring device (13) facing the detent balls (11) consists of a single disc spring (24) of high rigidity and the second level (25) of the disc spring device (13) facing the pressure disc (28) consists of two roof-shaped disc springs (26, 27) of lesser rigidity positioned on top of one another, so that during the rotation of the output wheel (6) from the unlocked into the locked position up to a specified spring deflection, only the disc springs (26, 27) of the second level (25) are substantially pressed together as a block, and the coupling (7) is able to be uncoupled with little force and that subsequently only the disc spring (24) with high rigidity of the first level (24) is effective, so that the coupling (7) can then only be uncoupled with substantially greater force.
4. The closing aid according to Claim 3 characterized in that the disc springs (24, 26, 27) of the disc spring device (13) are selected in such a way, that for the uncoupling of the coupling (7) up to the block formation of the disc springs (26, 27) of the second level (25) an application of force between 200 and 400 N is required, and that subsequent to the block formation of these disc springs (26, 27) an application of force between 600 and 1000 N is required for the uncoupling of the coupling (7).
5. The closing aid according to Claims 1 through 4 characterized in that the control disc (29), on its front side facing the pressure disc (28), comprises at least two control cams (31), arranged with equal distribution throughout, with a wedge-shaped control surface (30), which is supported by the corresponding wedge-shaped projections (32) of the pressure disc (28).
6. The closing aid according to Claim 5 characterized in that the control disc (29) comprises three control cams (31) arranged with equal distribution throughout.
7. The closing aid according to Claims 1 through 6 characterized in that the cam wheel (8), on its side facing the actuating cams (10), is designed as a pivot for the output wheel (6).

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