JP7563354B2 - Slide rail - Google Patents

Description

The technology disclosed in this specification relates to slide rails.

In recent years, in order to improve the convenience inside the vehicle interior, a proposal has been made to provide a sliding rail that extends in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle on the ceiling of the vehicle interior, and to slidably attach functional parts such as a console box or a monitor to this sliding rail. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which a base frame is provided on the ceiling of the vehicle interior, and a console unit is slidably supported on a sliding guide portion provided on this base frame.

JP 2003-237477 A

However, as mentioned above, if a slide rail is installed on the ceiling of the vehicle interior, the slide rail is exposed inside the vehicle interior, which does not look good. In recent years, there has been a growing need to improve the design of vehicle interiors, and slide rails with excellent design are also required. In addition, thin and long slide rails are prone to bending, so there has been a demand to increase their strength.

The technology disclosed in this specification aims to provide a slide rail that has excellent design and is stronger than conventional slide rails.

The technology disclosed in this specification is a slide rail that holds an object so that it can slide, and includes a longitudinal rail body having an opening on a surface facing the object and a guide section that holds the slider of the object so that it can slide inside through the opening, a light guide plate made of a plate-like member extending along the rail body and that guides light, and a light source that is attached to at least one end of the light guide plate in the longitudinal direction and that inputs light to an end face of the light guide plate, and the rail body is formed from a single continuous member and has a hollow interior, and the cavity includes the guide section, a light guide plate housing section that houses the light guide plate, and a communication section that connects the guide section and the light guide plate housing section.

According to the above configuration, the slide rail can emit light from the light guide plate housed in the light guide plate housing section through the communication section and the opening toward the interior of the vehicle cabin, so that the slide rail can be illuminated as a decorative part with low-intensity light or colored light, or used as indirect lighting, or the light intensity can be increased to replace conventional interior lights. In other words, the design of the slide rail itself can be improved, and conventional individual interior lights become unnecessary, improving the design of the entire interior of the vehicle.

In addition, a plate-shaped light guide plate is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the rail body, and a light source is attached to its end, making it a so-called edge-light type lighting device, which increases the rigidity of the entire slide rail compared to conventional models.

More specifically, when irradiating light using an edge-light type light guide plate as in the above configuration, all that is required is to slide the light guide plate into the longitudinal end of the rail body and attach a light source to the end of the light guide plate. On the other hand, when arranging a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) on which an LED is mounted and illuminating directly from the LED, for example, part of the rail body is divided and removed, the FPC is installed inside the rail body, and then the rail body is closed again, creating a gap in the rail body. This creates the problem that the strength of the rail body is reduced by the gap.

In other words, with the above configuration for assembling an edge-light type lighting device, the rail body can be formed from a single continuous member without creating a gap in the rail body, so the strength of the rail body is not reduced by the gap.

In addition, because a plate-shaped light guide plate is arranged along the rail body, the light guide plate itself acts as a reinforcing material, which increases the strength of the slide rail compared to a configuration in which a light guide plate is not provided.

The light guide plate accommodating section is provided at a position facing the opening in the guide section, and the inner width of the portion accommodating the light guide plate is smaller than the inner width of the portion of the guide section that holds the slider, and may protrude outward from the guide section with an outer width smaller than the outer width of the guide section.

According to the above configuration, the light guide plate housing portion protrudes outward from the guide portion with an outer width smaller than the outer width of the guide portion, and the protruding portion functions as a reinforcing portion of the rail body, improving rigidity compared to a configuration in which the rail body does not have a protruding portion. In addition, the width of the light guide plate can be set to an optimal width that allows the interior of the vehicle to be illuminated from the opening without unnecessarily increasing it, and the width of the rail body is also set to be partially smaller, making it possible to reduce the size and weight of the slide rail.

The rail body may be made of a plate-like member extending along the rail body, and may be provided with a diffusion plate arranged opposite the light guide plate to diffuse the light emitted from the light guide plate, and the communication portion may communicate between the guide portion and the light guide plate storage portion with a width smaller than that of the light guide plate storage portion, and may have two diffusion plate holding grooves capable of holding the side edges of the diffusion plate.

With the above configuration, the light emitted from the light guide plate is made more uniform by the diffusion plate and can illuminate the interior of the guide section over a wide area while being emitted from the opening to illuminate the interior of the vehicle. In other words, the design of the slide rail can be further improved. In addition, because the diffusion plate is disposed between the two walls that form the communication section, the rigidity of the slide rail can be further increased.

The slide rail may be arranged in the interior material that constitutes the ceiling of the vehicle.

The technology disclosed in this specification makes it possible to provide a slide rail that is both aesthetically pleasing and stronger than conventional slide rails.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slide rail according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from inside a vehicle cabin (with the console box in the storage position); A perspective view of the slide rail from inside the vehicle (with the console box moved from the storage position) Front view of the slide rail without the light source Exploded perspective view of the slide rail without the light source Partially exploded perspective view of the slide rail A perspective view of the slide rail in an assembled state.

One embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6. The slide rail 10 of this embodiment is provided on the ceiling of a vehicle and slidably supports a console box (one example of an object) 70. Note that the left side in Figs. 1 and 2 is the front side of the vehicle, and the right side is the rear side of the vehicle. In the following description, the up-down direction means the up-down direction of the vehicle, and the width direction means the width direction of the vehicle.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the vehicle of this embodiment is a station wagon, and three rows of seats 62 are arranged in a row from the front inside the vehicle interior. Above these seats 62, a vehicle interior ceiling 60 made of vehicle interior materials spreads out. A slide rail 10 is arranged extending in the front-rear direction in the center of the width of the vehicle interior ceiling 60, and a console box 70 is slidably attached to this slide rail 10. The console box 70 is supported by the slide rail 10 via a slider 71 provided at its upper end (see Figure 3). The rear end of the console box 70 in the vehicle interior ceiling 60 is in a storage position, and it can be slid to a position close to the first row of seats 62 as necessary (see Figure 2).

Figure 3 is a front view of the slide rail 10 excluding the LED housing case 41 described below, and Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the slide rail 10 excluding the LED housing case 41. The slide rail 10 is configured with a long rail body 11 with a hollow interior, a plate-shaped light guide plate 30 arranged inside the rail body 11 and guiding light, LEDs 40 (see Figure 5) arranged on both end faces of the light guide plate 30 and directing light into the light guide plate 30, and a plate-shaped diffusion plate 50 that diffuses the light emitted from the light guide plate 30.

The rail body 11 is formed by extrusion molding of aluminum and has a generally hollow cylindrical shape as a whole. The rail body 11 includes a guide section 12 that serves as the main body of the rail body 11 and houses the slider 71 of the console box 70 therein and guides its movement, a light guide plate housing section 24 that is disposed above the guide section 12 (on the outside of the vehicle interior) and houses the light guide plate 30, and a communication section 25 that connects the guide section 12 and the light guide plate housing section 24.

The guide section 12 has a space surrounded by a bottom wall 13 arranged below (inside the vehicle compartment) facing the console box 70, two side walls 14 that rise upward from both sides of the bottom wall 13 and face each other, and an upper wall 15 that extends from the upper ends of the two side walls 14 in a direction approaching each other. An opening 16 that extends in the extension direction (front-rear direction) of the rail main body 11 and opens downward is provided in the center of the width of the bottom wall 13. In addition, a partition section 17 that rises from the inner surface of each side wall 14 toward the inside of the guide section 12 in a hollow shape is provided in the center of the height of the two side walls 14, and a guide groove 18 is formed above and below it. Specifically, a first guide groove 18A composed of the upper wall 15, side walls 14, and partition section 17, and a second guide groove 18B composed of the bottom wall 13, side walls 14, and partition section 17 are formed. The distance between the protruding ends (tips) of the two partitions 17 is equal to the width of the opening 16. The slider 71 of the console box 70 has an H-shaped cross section, is placed inside the guide section 12 through the opening 16, and is supported by the guide grooves 18A and 18B so that it can slide in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 3).

A protrusion 20 is provided above the guide section 12 (on the outside of the vehicle compartment). The protrusion 20 protrudes in a stepped manner from the upper wall 15 of the guide section 12 with a width dimension smaller than that of the guide section 12 as a whole, and extends in the front-to-rear direction. The protrusion 20 is formed of a single member that is seamlessly continuous with the guide section 12. The rail body 11 itself is also formed of a single member that is seamlessly continuous with the opening edge of the opening 16.

In more detail, the protruding portion 20 has two standing walls 21 rising from the upper wall 15 of the guide portion 12 and a ceiling wall 22 connecting the upper ends of the two standing walls 21, and its inside is a cavity connected to the internal space of the guide portion 12. The outside of the boundary between the upper wall 15 of the guide portion 12 and the standing wall 21 is curved in a cross-sectional arc shape so as to fill the corner formed between them. The inside of the protruding portion 20 is set to a width dimension that allows the light guide plate 30 described later to be fitted snugly. The light guide plate 30 is arranged so as to abut or be close to the ceiling wall 22 in the internal space of the protruding portion 20, and the standing wall 21 has a protruding portion 23 that protrudes inward and supports the side edge of the light guide plate 30 from below (the guide portion 12 side, the inside of the vehicle cabin) when the light guide plate 30 is arranged in the protruding portion 20. In other words, the space surrounded by the ceiling wall 22, the standing wall 21, and the protruding portion 23 is the light guide plate housing portion 24. The inner width of the light guide plate housing portion 24 is smaller than the inner width of the guide portion 12.

The above-mentioned overhanging portion 23 extends to a position where it is connected to the upper wall 15 of the guide portion 12, and forms a communication portion 25 that connects the light guide plate storage portion 24 and the guide portion 12 with a width dimension smaller than that of the light guide plate storage portion 24. In other words, the wall thickness of the communication portion 25 is made larger than the wall thickness of the light guide plate storage portion 24 due to the overhanging portion 23 and the curved portion.

At a position of the extension 23 near the lower end (inside the vehicle cabin), in other words, at a position close to the guide portion 12 in the communication portion 25, a groove-shaped diffusion plate holding groove 26 capable of holding the side edge portion of the diffusion plate 50 described below is formed and extends in the front-rear direction. With this configuration, the diffusion plate 50 is disposed at a position a predetermined distance away from the light exit surface 31 of the light guide plate 30, and closes the entrance of the communication portion 25.

The light guide plate 30 described above is plate-shaped, and while propagating (guiding) the light emitted from the LED 40 described below, it emits the light from the plate surface (light exit surface 31) on the guide section 12 side (inside the vehicle cabin) to emit light in a planar form. The light guide plate 30 is made of a material that has a refractive index sufficiently higher than that of air and is optically transparent. For example, resins such as acrylic and polycarbonate, and glass can be used as the material for the light guide plate 30. The light guide plate 30 has a width dimension that is slightly smaller than the width dimension of the light guide plate housing section 24, and a length dimension that is slightly larger than the length dimension of the rail main body 11.

At both ends of the light guide plate 30 in the longitudinal direction, LEDs 40, which are light sources, are arranged (see Figs. 5 and 6). The LEDs 40 are mounted on the LED board 44 and housed in the LED housing case 41. The LEDs 40 are connected to a power source such as a battery mounted on the vehicle via a control device (not shown). As shown in Fig. 5, the LED housing case 41 has an LED housing section 42 that is generally rectangular and can house the LEDs 40 and the LED board 44, and a light guide plate insertion section 43 that opens into the LED housing section 42 and extends from the LED housing section 42 to insert the end of the light guide plate 30 inside. When the end of the light guide plate 30 extending from the rail body 11 is inserted into the light guide plate insertion section 43 of the LED housing case 41, the LEDs 40 and the end of the light guide plate 30 are made to face each other. In other words, the LED housing case 41 functions as a holding member that holds the LED 40 and the light guide plate 30 in a state where the LED 40 faces the light entrance portion 32, which is the end of the light guide plate 30.

The above-mentioned diffusion plate 50 is made of milky white resin, and has a large number of diffusion particles dispersed in a plate-shaped base material having a predetermined thickness. The diffusion plate 50 has the function of diffusing the light that is emitted from the light exit surface 31 of the light guide plate 30 and transmitted through it.

The light guide plate 30 and the diffusion plate 50 are assembled integrally to the rail body 11 by inserting them from the end of the rail body 11 along the rail body 11 into the light guide plate accommodating section 24 and the diffusion plate holding groove 26. Then, LED accommodating cases 41 accommodating LEDs 40 are assembled to both ends of the light guide plate 30. Alternatively, the light guide plate 30 with the LED accommodating case 41 already assembled to one end may be assembled to the rail body 11, and then the other LED accommodating case 41 may be assembled to the other end. In this manner, the slide rail 10 is completed.

The slide rail 10 is fixed to the roof panel of the vehicle by a fixing member such as a clip (not shown). The slide rail 10 is also attached to the passenger compartment ceiling 60 so that the opening 16 coincides with the ceiling opening 61 (see FIG. 3). As a result, the inside of the slide rail 10 opens toward the inside of the passenger compartment through the ceiling opening 61 and the opening 16.

When the power supply of the LED 40 is turned on, the light emitted from the light exit surface 31 of the light guide plate 30 passes through the diffusion plate 50 and illuminates the interior of the vehicle through the opening 16 of the slide rail 10 and the ceiling opening 61. At this time, by setting the illumination intensity low, the interior of the opening 16 of the slide rail 10 is dimly illuminated, enhancing the design as a decorative part. It can also be used as indirect lighting. On the other hand, when the illumination intensity is set high, it can be used as an interior light that brightly illuminates the interior. In other words, a separate interior light as in the conventional case is no longer necessary. In this way, the slide rail 10 of this embodiment looks good and can provide the occupants with a high-quality space.

Next, the effects will be described. The slide rail 10 of this embodiment holds the console box 70 so that it can slide, and includes a longitudinal rail body 11 having an opening 16 that opens on the surface facing the console box 70 and a guide section 12 that holds the slider 71 of the console box 70 inside so that it can slide through the opening 16, a light guide plate 30 that is made of a plate-like member extending along the rail body 11 and guides light, and LEDs 40 that are attached to both ends of the light guide plate 30 in the longitudinal direction and input light to the end faces (light entrance sections 32) of the light guide plate 30. The rail body 11 is formed of a single continuous member and has a hollow interior, and the hollow includes the guide section 12, the light guide plate housing section 24 that houses the light guide plate 30, and the communication section 25 that communicates between the guide section 12 and the light guide plate housing section 24.

With the above configuration, the slide rail 10 can emit light from the light guide plate 30 housed in the light guide plate housing 24 through the communication section 25 and the opening 16 toward the interior of the vehicle, so that the slide rail 10 can be illuminated as a decorative part with low-intensity light or colored light, or used as indirect lighting, or the light intensity can be increased to replace conventional interior lights. In other words, the design of the slide rail 10 itself can be improved, and conventional individual interior lights become unnecessary, improving the design of the entire interior of the vehicle.

In addition, a plate-shaped light guide plate 30 is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the rail body 11, and LEDs 40 are attached to its end, making it a so-called edge-light type lighting device, which increases the rigidity of the entire slide rail 10 compared to conventional models.

More specifically, when irradiating light using an edge-light type light guide plate 30 as in the above configuration, it is sufficient to slide the light guide plate 30 into the end of the rail body 11 in the longitudinal direction and attach the LEDs 40 to the end of the light guide plate 30. On the other hand, when arranging a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) on which an LED is mounted and illuminating directly from the LED, for example, a part of the rail body is divided and removed, the FPC is installed inside the rail body, and then the rail body is closed again, which creates a gap in the rail body. This creates the problem that the strength of the rail body is reduced by the gap.

In other words, with the above configuration for assembling an edge-light type lighting device, the rail body 11 can be formed from a single continuous member without creating any gaps in the rail body 11, so the strength of the rail body 11 is not reduced by the gaps.

In addition, since the plate-shaped light guide plate 30 is arranged along the rail body 11, the light guide plate 30 itself acts as a reinforcing material, and the strength of the slide rail 10 can be increased compared to a configuration in which the light guide plate 30 is not provided.

The light guide plate accommodating section 24 is provided at a position opposite the opening 16 in the guide section 12, and the inner width of the section accommodating the light guide plate 30 is smaller than the inner width of the section of the guide section 12 that holds the slider 71, forming a protruding section 20 that protrudes outward from the guide section 12 with an outer width smaller than the outer width of the guide section 12.

According to the above configuration, the light guide plate accommodating section 24 forms a protrusion 20 that protrudes outward from the guide section 12 with an outer width smaller than the outer width of the guide section 12, so that the protrusion 20 functions as a reinforcing section of the rail body 11, and the rigidity can be improved compared to a configuration in which the rail body 11 does not have a protrusion 20. In addition, the width of the light guide plate 30 can be set to an optimal width that allows the interior of the vehicle to be illuminated from the opening 16 without unnecessarily increasing it, and the width of the rail body 11 can also be set to a smaller width in some parts, making it possible to reduce the size and weight of the slide rail 10.

It is made of a plate-like member extending along the rail body 11, and is provided with a diffusion plate 50 that is disposed opposite the light guide plate 30 and diffuses the light emitted from the light guide plate 30. The communication section 25 communicates the guide section 12 and the light guide plate storage section 24 with a width smaller than that of the light guide plate storage section 24, and has two diffusion plate holding grooves 26 that can hold the side edges of the diffusion plate 50.

According to the above configuration, the light emitted from the light guide plate 30 is made more uniform by the diffusion plate 50 and can illuminate the interior of the guide section 12 over a wide range while being emitted from the opening 16 to illuminate the interior of the vehicle. In other words, the design of the slide rail 10 can be further improved. In addition, because the diffusion plate 50 is bridged between the two standing walls 21 that form the communication section 25, the rigidity of the slide rail 10 can be further increased.

The slide rail 10 is arranged on the interior ceiling 60, which is an interior material that constitutes the ceiling of the vehicle.

<Other embodiments>
The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included within the technical scope.

(1) In the above embodiment, the slide rail 10 is installed on the ceiling 60 inside the vehicle cabin, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the slide rail 10 may be installed on the door trim or the vehicle floor.

(2) In the above embodiment, the console box 70 is given as an example of a slidable object, but the present invention can also be applied to objects other than the console box 70, such as a monitor or other equipment.

(3) In the above embodiment, the LEDs 40 are attached to both ends of the light guide plate 30, but the light source may be provided only at one end of the light guide plate.

(4) In the above embodiment, the light guide plate 30 is provided in a position facing the opening 16 on the rail body 11, but the light guide plate can also be provided on a wall adjacent to the opening and illuminate the inside of the opening from the side.

(5) In the above embodiment, the light guide plate accommodating section 24 is configured to form a protruding section 20 that protrudes outward from the guide section 12 with an outer width smaller than the outer width of the guide section 12. However, the technical scope also includes a configuration in which the outer width of the light guide plate accommodating section is equal to the outer width of the guide section.

(6) The diffuser plate 50 can be omitted.

10: Slide rail, 11: Rail body, 12: Guide section, 16: Opening, 20: Protruding section, 23: Projecting section, 24: Light guide plate housing section, 25: Connecting section, 26: Diffuser plate holding groove, 30: Light guide plate, 31: Light exit surface, 32: Light entrance section, 40: LED (light source), 50: Diffuser plate, 60: Car interior ceiling, 70: Console box (object), 71: Slider

Claims (4)

A slide rail that holds an object so that the object can slide,
a longitudinal rail body having an opening on a surface facing the object and a guide portion for slidably holding a slider of the object through the opening;
a light guide plate that is a plate-shaped member extending along the rail body and guides light;
a light source attached to at least one end of the light guide plate in a longitudinal direction thereof to input light to an end surface of the light guide plate;
The rail body is formed from a single continuous member and has a hollow interior, the hollow comprising the guide portion, a light guide plate accommodating portion that accommodates the light guide plate, and a communication portion that connects the guide portion and the light guide plate accommodating portion. The slide rail according to claim 1, wherein the light guide plate accommodating section is provided at a position facing the opening in the guide section, the inner width of the section accommodating the light guide plate is smaller than the inner width of the section of the guide section that holds the slider, and the light guide plate protrudes outward from the guide section with an outer width smaller than the outer width of the guide section. a diffusion plate that is made of a plate-like member extending along the rail body and is disposed opposite the light guide plate to diffuse the light emitted from the light guide plate;
The slide rail according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the communication portion communicates between the guide portion and the light guide plate accommodating portion with a width smaller than that of the light guide plate accommodating portion, and has two diffusion plate holding grooves capable of holding side edges of the diffusion plate. A slide rail according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is disposed in an interior material constituting the ceiling of a vehicle.

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