WO2004042178A1

WO2004042178A1 - Closing aid for closing the door of a vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2004042178A1
Application number: PCT/EP2003/050769
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dittmar Schwab
Original assignee: Valeo Sicherheitssysteme Gmbh
Priority date: 2002-11-05
Filing date: 2003-10-31
Publication date: 2004-05-21
Also published as: ATE367495T1; DE10251354A1; DE50307730D1; EP1567736A1; EP1567736B1; DE10251354B4

Abstract

The invention relates to a closing aid (1) for closing the door of a vehicle provided with a door lock, an engine hood, a luggage compartment lid, a hatchback or the like, with a bolt-shaped or bar-shaped closing element (17) which is arranged on a support plate (16) and which can be moved from an unlocked to a locked position by means of a drive device (3) with an output wheel (6) and a cam wheel (8) which is located downstream therefrom with actuating cams (10). When said element is in an unlocked position, a fork-shaped spring bolt which is associated with the door lock can engage therewith such that when the closing element (17) moves into a locked position by virtue of the fork-shaped spring bolt, the vehicle door is drawn in a closed position. In order to provide said closing aid (1) with a simple protection against clamping without impairing the closing function of the closing aid, a lock body coupling (7) is arranged between the output wheel (6) and the cam wheel (8), wherein locking balls (11) are impinged upon by means of a compression spring device (13) exhibiting a progressive characteristic spring curve and engage in corresponding recessed wall areas (14) of the cam wheel (8).

Description

Locking aid for locking a vehicle door

The invention relates to a locking aid for closing emer with a door lock provided vehicle door, hood, trunk lid, tailgate or the like.

Such a locking aid is known for example from DE 199 21 517 C2. The locking aid comprises a bolt-shaped or bow-shaped locking element which, on the one hand, can be moved from an unlocking position into a locking position with the aid of a drive motor and which, on the other hand, can be gripped in the unlocking position by a pivotable fork latch assigned to the door lock, so that the locking element can be closed when it is closed Movement into the locking position via the fork latch pulls the vehicle door (against the force of the deforming door seal) into its closed position. The transmission of the drive device has an output gear and a cam gear connected downstream of it with an actuating cam arranged eccentrically to the axis of rotation, which acts via a lever linkage on a pivotable carrier plate carrying the closing element.

It has been found to be disadvantageous in this known locking aid, inter alia, that the lever linkage arranged between the cam wheel and the carrier part of the closing element requires a relatively elongated installation space in the respective vehicle body, which is often not available.

To create a very compact locking aid, the applicant has already proposed in a parallel patent application that the actuating cam of the cam wheel engages directly in the carrier plate of the closing element and causes its displacement. In order to enable a safe manual closing (such as in the event of a power failure) with such a locking aid, it is provided that the cam wheel and the output wheel of the drive device connected upstream of the cam wheel are connected to one another via a switchable locking body coupling which comprises a plurality of spring-loaded latching balls which are laterally positive in appropriate, evenly over the circumference divides arranged recesses of the driven wheel are stored and pressed by a compression spring assembly against recessed wall areas of the cam wheel.

When the respective vehicle door is operated manually, the locking balls are pressed out of the recessed wall areas of the cam wheel, and the cam wheel can be rotated relative to the driven wheel until the vehicle door is closed.

In addition, the locking body coupling causes a pinch protection. Because the closing of this locking aid is hindered because there is an object in the gap between the vehicle door and the vehicle body, the coupling causes the cam wheel and thus also the carrier plate with the locking bracket to stop and the driven wheel continues to rotate relative to the cam wheel until it reaches its starting position. There, a touch switch generates a corresponding signal, which is evaluated by an electronic control unit, which in turn then switches off the drive motor.

Since the contact pressure of the spring pressing the locking balls into the recessed wall areas of the cam wheel must be selected such that the closing aid closes the respective vehicle door against the pressure of the door seals without fear of disengaging the cam wheel, the contact pressure must be of the order of magnitude from 800 to 1000 N. Therefore, at the beginning of the closing, it unintentionally reaches e.g. a hand of the person closing the vehicle door in the gap between the vehicle door and the vehicle body, so considerable forces act on the hand before the clutch disengages and the locking aid switches off. This can cause serious hand injuries.

The present invention is therefore based on the object of improving the clamping protection in a locking aid with a locking body coupling between the driven gear and the cam gear, without the locking function of the locking aid being impaired thereby.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claim 1. Further, particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the subclaims.

The invention is essentially based on the idea that the locking balls by means of a

To apply compression spring assembly, the rigidity of which increases when the vehicle door is closed by means of the locking aid, ie to use a compression spring assembly which has a progressive spring characteristic. This ensures that within a first Closing path section, in which there is a serious risk that a foreign body could get into the gap between the vehicle door and the body, the rigidity of the compression spring arrangement and thus also the contact force of the spring pressing the locking balls into the recesses of the cam wheel is low (for example 100 to 300 N) , The clutch is disengaged even when low clamping forces occur.

On the other hand, the vehicle door is just before its closed position, in which considerable contact forces have to be applied to overcome the vehicle door seal, but in which there is hardly any danger that an object will get between the vehicle door and the body due to the small gap width between the vehicle door and the body can, the rigidity of the compression spring assembly increases sharply, so that contact forces act on the locking balls of the clutch in the order of 800 to 1000 N and the clutch only disengages in this order of magnitude when clamping forces occur.

According to the closing path-dependent change in the stiffness of the compression spring arrangement can be realized in that the compression spring arrangement with a progressive spring characteristic is supported on its side facing away from the locking balls on a non-rotatably mounted but axially displaceable thrust washer, the thrust washer being connected by a rotationally fixed to the driven gear Control disc is moved from the unlocked to the locked position when the driven gear is turned.

It has proven to be particularly advantageous if the compression spring arrangement consists of at least one two-layer layered disc spring arrangement, so that the progressive spring characteristic of the compression spring arrangement is approximated by at least two rectilinear spring characteristic ranges. The first step of the plate spring arrangement facing the locking balls can consist of a single plate spring of high rigidity and the second step of the plate spring arrangement facing the thrust washer can consist, for example, of two plate springs of lower rigidity which abut one another in the shape of a roof. When the driven gear is rotated from the unlocked to the locked position, essentially only the diaphragm springs of the second stage are pressed together until they form a spring block. The clutch can be disengaged with little force until the spring block is reached. When the drive disk is turned further, essentially only the plate spring of high rigidity of the first stage is effective, so that the contact pressure of the locking balls is determined by this plate spring and the coupling only has a significantly higher Ren force can be disengaged.

The axial displacement of the thrust washer to increase the pretension of the compression spring arrangement can advantageously take place in that the control disk on its end face facing the thrust washer comprises at least two control cams with a wedge-shaped control surface which are distributed uniformly over the circumference and which are supported on corresponding wedge-shaped projections of the pressure washer.

Further details and advantages of the invention result from the following exemplary embodiment explained with reference to figures. Show it:

1 shows a plan view of a locking aid according to the invention, arranged in a housing and in its unlocking position, with an output and cam wheel, but without a cover part and without the closing element arranged thereon;

2 shows an enlarged longitudinal section along the section line designated II-II in FIG. 1 with a coupling with locking balls and a compression spring arrangement, the cover part with the closing element also being shown;

3 and 4 show two cross sections along the section lines designated III-III and IV-IV in FIG. 2;

5 shows a longitudinal section corresponding to FIG. 2, the driven wheel having rotated by approximately 32 °;

6 shows a cross section along the section line designated VI-VI in FIG

7 shows the spring characteristic of the compression spring arrangement used for the contact pressure of the locking body of the clutch.

In Fig.l, 1 a closing aid according to the invention for closing the tailgate of a motor vehicle, not shown, and 2, an electronic control unit indicated only by dashed lines. The locking aid 1 is on the rear Body of the vehicle fastened in the area of the tailgate opening, which is opposite the door lock of the tailgate.

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

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the cam wheel 8 is designed on its side facing away from the actuating cam 10 as a rotary bearing for the driven wheel 6, as a result of which 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 in a carrier plate 16, to which a closing element 17 designed as a striker is fastened.

The locking aid 1 contains two touch switches 18, 19 (FIG. 1) serving as sensors, which are connected to the electronic control unit 2 via electrical lines and each 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 longitudinal cam 20, which extends over part of the circumference and is contactable by the respective touch switch 18, 19, is provided on the driven wheel 6 of the drive device 3.

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

The compression spring arrangement 13 consists of a two-stage disc spring arrangement, each stage having a rectilinear spring characteristic range 100, 101 (FIG. 7). The first step 24 facing the locking balls 11 consists of a single plate spring 26 of high rigidity (corresponds to the spring characteristic range 101 in FIG. 7). The second stage 25 consists of two disc springs 26, 27 which are adjacent to one another in a roof shape and have a substantially lower rigidity (corresponds to the spring characteristic range 100 in FIG. 7). This second stage 25 is supported on its side facing away from the first stage 24 on a thrust washer 28 which is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner in the housing of the locking aid and which is arranged so as to be displaceable in the direction of the axis of rotation 9 by a control disc 29 which is non-rotatably connected to the driven wheel 6.

The control disk 29 has on its end facing the pressure disk 28, evenly distributed over the circumference, three control cams 31 provided with wedge-shaped control surfaces 30 (FIG. 3), on which, after rotation of the driven wheel 6 by a predetermined angle, correspondingly wedge-shaped projections 32 of the pressure disk Support 28 (Fig.4).

The mode of operation of the locking aid 1 according to the invention is described below. The arrangement shown in FIGS. 1-4 is assumed, in which the striker 17 is in the unlocked position. In addition, the tailgate of the vehicle, not shown, is leaned against its rear body, and the door lock is in its pre-latching division, in which the fork latch of the door lock includes the striker 17 and is secured by a pawl. Simultaneously with the securing of the fork latch by the pawl, e.g. microswitch located in the door lock activates the drive motor 4 of the locking aid 1 via the electronic control unit 2 and the cam wheel 8 rotates clockwise from the position shown in FIG.

The actuating cam 10 of the cam wheel 8 pulls the striker 17 against the pressure of the tailgate seal toward the vehicle and thus begins to pull the tailgate shut. After approx. 8 mm closing travel, which corresponds to a rotation of the driven wheel 6 of approx. 32 ° in the present exemplary embodiment, the control cams 31 of the control disk 29 reach the projections 32 of the pressure disk 28. Surface 30 of the control cam 31 and the inclined surfaces of the projections 32, the thrust washer 28 is pressed against the plate springs 26, 27. Upon further actuation of the driven wheel 6, the spring travel of these disk springs 26, 27 is compressed to "block" by the pressure disk 28 (FIGS. 5 and 6). The disk spring 24 is now supported directly against the pressure disk 28 via the spring block, so that the contact pressure of the plate spring 24 on the locking balls 11 is of the order of magnitude between 600-800 N (the compression spring arrangement 13 is located in FIG. 7 in the spring characteristic area 101).

When the driven wheel 6 is turned further into the end position, the high contact pressure of the plate spring 24 is applied to the clutch 7, which is required for the remaining closing movement of the striker.

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

If the closing of the closing aid 1 is hindered because there is an object in the pre-locking position in the gap between the trunk and the tailgate, the cam wheel 8 and thus also the carrier plate 16 with the locking bracket 17 remain and the locking lever 22 remains in its starting position. As a result, the locking 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 much lower stiffness than the plate spring 24, essentially only the plate springs 26, 27 compress until the locking balls 11 have left the locking position of the cam wheel 8. The driven wheel 6 continues to rotate relative to the cam wheel 8 into its starting position. There, the second touch switch 19 generates a corresponding signal, which is evaluated by the electronic control unit 2, which then in turn switches off the drive motor 4.

If the tailgate is to be opened, the drive motor 4 is in turn activated by the electronic control unit 2, for example by actuating a tailgate handle, and rotates the cam wheel 8 counterclockwise back to its starting position. The locking lever 22 is pushed back and the carrier plate 16 of the striker 17 is pushed back into its open position by the actuating cam 10 of the cam wheel 8. If the unlocking position of the locking aid 1 is reached, the drive motor 4 is switched off and the door lock can then be opened, for example, by actuating a handle or a locking cylinder.

The tailgate can also be closed manually, for example in the event of a power failure, so that the striker 17 is pressed manually from the unlocked to the locked position. For this purpose, the tailgate is pressed towards the motor vehicle with a minimum force. The locking balls 11 of the clutch 7 are pressed against the compression spring arrangement 13, so that the cam wheel 8 rotates with the striker 17 relative to the driven wheel 6 without the drive device 3 being damaged. In this case, the closing force advantageously only needs to be as great as the contact pressure of the two plate springs 26, 27 of the compression spring arrangement 13.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS locking aid electronic control unit drive device drive motor gearbox output gear coupling, locking body coupling cam wheel rotation axis actuating cam locking ball recess compression spring arrangement, plate spring arrangement recessed wall area recess carrier plate closing element, locking bracket (first) sensor, (first) touch switch (second) sensor, (second) touch switch longitudinal cam torsion spring, spring locking lever touch switch first stage, disc spring second stage, disc spring, 27 disc springs thrust washer control disc control surface control cam projection 0.101 spring characteristic ranges

Claims

claims

1. Locking aid for locking a vehicle door, bonnet, trunk lid, tailgate or the like provided with a door lock. with the characteristics:

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

b) the closing element (17) can be moved on the one hand with the aid of a drive device (3) containing a drive motor (4) with a downstream gear (5) from an unlocking position into a locking position and from the locking position into the unlocking position and on the other hand in the unlocking position can be gripped by a pivotable fork latch assigned to the door lock, so that the closing element (17) pulls the vehicle door into its closed end position when it moves into the locking position via the fork latch;

c) the transmission (5) of the drive device (3) comprises a driven wheel (6) which can be rotated about an axis of rotation (9) and which has a cam body via a locking body coupling (7) with a rotatable axis of rotation (9) as the driven wheel (6) (8) is connected, which carries an actuating cam (10) which is arranged eccentrically to the axis of rotation (9) and which causes the displacement of a carrier plate (16) carrying the closing element (17);

d) the locking body coupling (7) contains a plurality of spring-loaded locking balls (11), which are laterally positively mounted in corresponding recesses (12) of the driven wheel (6) which are evenly distributed over the circumference and are supported by a compression spring arrangement (13) against recessed wall areas (14) of the cam wheel (8) are pressed;

e) the compression spring arrangement (13) has a progressive spring characteristic and is supported on its first side on the locking balls (11) and on its second

Side on a non-rotatably mounted in the locking aid (1) thrust washer (28) which can be displaced in the direction of the axis of rotation (9) by a control disc (29) connected to the driven gear (6) so that rotation of the driven wheel (6 ) the stiffness of the compression spring assembly (13) increases from the unlocked to the locked position.

2. Locking aid according to claim 1, characterized in that the Druckfederan- order (13) consists of at least a two-stage layered plate spring arrangement, the stiffness of the plate springs (24, 25, 26) being selected such that the progressive spring characteristics of the compression spring arrangement (13) are approximated by at least two straight spring characteristics.

3. Locking aid according to claim 2, characterized in that the first the locking balls (11) facing step (24) of the plate spring assembly (13) from a single plate spring (24) of high rigidity and the second of the pressure plate (28) facing step (25) the plate spring arrangement (13) consists of two roof-shaped adjoining plate springs (26, 27) of lower rigidity, so that when the driven wheel (6) rotates from the unlocked position into the locking position up to a predetermined spring travel, essentially only the plate springs (26, 27) the second stage (25) are pressed together to form a block and the clutch (7) can be disengaged with little force and that only the disc spring (24) of high rigidity of the first stage (24) is then effective, so that the clutch (7) can only be disengaged with a much higher force.

4. Locking aid according to claim 3, characterized in that the plate springs (24, 26, 27) of the plate spring arrangement (13) are selected such that for disengaging the clutch (7) up to the block formation of the plate spring (26, 27) of the second stage

(25) Forces between 200 and 400 N and that after the block formation of these disc springs (26, 27) forces between 600 and 1000 N are required to disengage the clutch (7).

5. Locking aid according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the

Control disc (29) on its end facing the pressure disc (28) comprises at least two control cams (31) with a wedge-shaped control surface (30) which are evenly distributed over the circumference and which are supported on corresponding wedge-shaped projections (32) of the pressure disc (28).

6. Locking aid according to claim 5, characterized in that the control disc (29) comprises three control cams (31) arranged uniformly distributed over the circumference.

7. Locking aid according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the

Cam wheel (8) on its side facing away from the actuating cam (10) is designed as a rotary bearing for the driven wheel (6).