Drive unit for a vehicle-side protective device, especially in a vehicle interior

Abstract

A drive unit of this type, comprising an electric motor and control electronics for the electric motor arranged on a circuit board, is known. According to the invention, the electric motor and the circuit board with the control electronics are integrated in a common plastic housing. The plastic housing is constructed from several housing parts, which are connected to each other, particularly without tools. The control electronics arranged on the circuit board are located adjacent to the electric motor within the plastic housing. Applications include vehicle-side protective devices for motor vehicles.

Description

The invention relates to a drive unit for a vehicle-side protection device, in particular in a vehicle interior, having an electric motor, and having control electronics for the electric motor, which control electronics are arranged on a printed circuit board.Drive units of this type are generally known for winding shafts of shading devices of vehicle openings in a vehicle interior of a motor vehicle. The control electronics are arranged separately from the electric motor. The electric motor can be arranged coaxially or radially offset with respect to the winding shaft in a manner fixed to the vehicle.DE 10 2011 007 298 A1 discloses a motor transmission combination of a roller blind system for a vehicle interior, which comprises an electric motor. The electric motor is flanged on the outside to a transmission housing which is constructed in multiple parts.The object of the invention is to provide a drive unit of the type mentioned at the beginning which enables a compact construction and simple handling.This object is achieved in that the electric motor and the circuit board are integrated with the control electronics in a common plastic housing, in that the housing is constructed from a plurality of housing parts which are connected to one another in particular without tools, and in that the control electronics arranged on the circuit board are arranged in the housing adjacent to the electric motor. The solution according to the invention is suitable both for drive units which are provided for driving at least one winding shaft of a protective device in a vehicle interior and for drive units which are provided for driving drive transmission lines such as threaded pitch cables or cable pull systems. As protective devices, shading devices for side or rear windows or for transparent roof regions of vehicle interior spaces of motor vehicles or other vehicles are provided. Alternatively, as protective devices, load space covering devices or load space separating devices in motor vehicles are provided, which have covering or separating structures which can be mounted approximately horizontally or approximately vertically in the region of the load space. Belt conveyors in a vehicle interior also serve as protective devices within the meaning of the invention. Finally, it is also possible to provide the solution according to the invention for vehicle exterior applications such as, in particular, covers for electrical plug-in connections for charging a vehicle-side battery for a traction drive. According to the invention, both the electric motor and the circuit board with the control electronics are completely housed in the plastic housing. The plastic housing is constructed in multiple parts from at least two housing parts connected to one another. The connection of the housing parts is provided in such a way that, on the one hand, the housing parts, in the operationally ready mounted state, form a housing unit made of plastic that can be handled in a uniform manner, and that, on the other hand, the housing parts end flush with one another. The plastic housing formed in this way has cavities in which the electric motor and the circuit board are integrated with the control electronics.In one embodiment of the invention, the circuit board is positioned on the rear side of the electric motor and oriented in a radial plane relative to a drive rotational axis of the electric motor in the plastic housing. This results in a relatively short overall length for the drive unit along the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor. The alignment of the circuit board orthogonally and on the rear side of the electric motor, i.e. on the side opposite the output side of the electric motor, enables a direct and compact attachment of the electric motor to an adjacent functional component such as in particular a gear.In a further embodiment of the invention, the housing has an essentially cylindrical motor housing part, a circuit board housing part adjoining the motor housing part and a cover part closing the circuit board housing part on the rear side. The housing is consequently designed in three parts.In a further embodiment of the invention, the housing has an L-shape, wherein in the operationally ready assembled state of the drive unit, one L-leg is oriented approximately horizontally and the other L-leg is oriented approximately vertically. The L-shape of the housing is related to a side view of the drive unit.In a further embodiment of the invention, the electric motor is arranged in the horizontally oriented L-leg and the circuit board with the control electronics is arranged in the vertically oriented L-leg, and the horizontally oriented L-leg encloses the output side of the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor on the end face, and the vertically oriented L-leg encloses the circuit board with the control electronics arranged on the rear side of the electric motor. This results in a drive unit which is simple to handle and has a compact construction.In a further embodiment of the invention, a recess for flush reception of a plug-in connection part is provided in the vertical L-leg on one side, in particular on the front side, which is arranged on the circuit board and is electrically connected to the control electronics. The plug-in connection part in the cutout permits simple access from the outside in order to achieve a plug-in connection. The recess can be open downwardly, rearwardly, sideways or forwardly, depending on which side access is advantageous in view of the installation criteria. The front-side cutout of the vertical L-leg enables a plug connection from the front side of the vertical L-leg. This ensures particularly good accessibility for mounting or dismantling a corresponding plug connection.In a further embodiment of the invention, latching profiles are formed on the housing parts, which are designed to be complementary to one another in such a way that adjacent housing parts are connected to one another by means of the complementary latching profiles. The latching profiles can be designed to be releasable or non-releasable. In both cases, they ensure a tool-free connection of the housing parts to one another by simple joining and latching of the adjacent housing parts.In a further embodiment of the invention, the latching connections created by the latching profiles are designed to be releasable. This enables disassembly again if necessary after mounting has taken place, in particular in order to replace the electric motor or the control electronics.In a further embodiment of the invention, the electric motor has an output shaft which defines the drive axis of rotation and protrudes from the electric motor on the front and rear sides, and the printed circuit board has a passage coaxial to the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor, the clear cross section of which preferably corresponds to at least one diameter of the output shaft. As a result, in the operationally ready assembled state of the electric motor in the plastic housing, an axial rear-side support of the output shaft is ensured when a functional component is axially placed on the front side of the output shaft, such that axial pressure from the front reliably prevents an axial displacement of the output shaft toward the rear on account of the assembly of the functional component. As functional components, in particular a toothed pinion, a worm gear or another gear component is provided, to which the driving force of the electric motor is to be transmitted.In a further embodiment of the invention, the housing parts are provided with circumferential seals at their connection regions to the respective other housing parts in order to achieve a tightness of the housing in the assembled state. Depending on the design of the seals, a tightness according to the IP protection class IP61 to IP69 is possible.In a further embodiment of the invention, the seals are integrally formed on the housing parts. The housing parts are preferably produced in a multi-component injection molding process, wherein a corresponding soft, elastic component forms the seals and a dimensionally stable plastic component ensures the dimensionally stable configuration of the housing parts.In a further embodiment of the invention, the electric motor is suspended in the housing in an acoustically damped manner. This enables low-noise operation of the drive unit.In a further embodiment of the invention, elastically flexible damping rings are provided in the housing on the front and rear sides of the electric motor coaxial to the drive axis of rotation. The damping rings can be produced as separate functional parts and inserted into the housing. Alternatively or additionally, at least one damping ring can be formed integrally in a section of a housing part adjacent to an end face of the electric motor. This damping ring is also produced, analogously to the seals described above, from an elastically flexible plastic material which is configured in one piece with the corresponding housing part by the multicomponent injection molding process.In a further embodiment of the invention, the housing part is produced as a two-component injection molded part from two plastic materials, of which one component constitutes an elastomer material and forms the damping ring. The term elastomer material is understood to mean pure elastomers, synthetic or natural, and also thermoplastic elastomers. Preferably, in the case of integrally formed seals of the housing part, the material for the damping ring can be identical to the material for the seals. A dimensionally stable, thermoplastic plastic material is provided for the housing parts themselves.In a further embodiment of the invention, at least one housing part is provided on the inside with support profiles which interact with complementary front-side mating profiles of the electric motor in order to achieve torque support of the electric motor relative to the housing. This enables a particularly secure mounting of the electric motor within the plastic housing without the electric motor having to be fixed in the plastic housing by means of additional fastening elements. The counter-profiles of the electric motor are preferably provided on an end face of a motor housing of the electric motor.In a further embodiment of the invention, at least one housing part has, on the outside on an output side of the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor, an integrally formed adapter disk which is designed for torque support of the housing on a functional component adjacent to the output side. As a result, the housing itself is supported in a simple manner in such a way that torques generated by the electric motor and transmitted to the housing are supported on the stationary functional component by means of the adapter disk. For this purpose, the adapter disk is preferably designed rotationally non-symmetrical relative to the drive axis of rotation. In the mounted state, the adapter disk is secured positively to the correspondingly adjacent functional component.Further advantages and features of the invention are evident from the claims and from the following description of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated on the basis of the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of an embodiment of a drive unit according to the invention, FIG. 2 shows the drive unit according to FIG. 1 from another perspective, FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the drive unit according to FIGS. 1 and 2 along a vertical central longitudinal plane, in which a drive rotational axis of an electric motor of the drive unit lies, FIG. 4 shows a further longitudinal section along a horizontal central longitudinal plane, which contains the drive axis of rotation, through the drive unit according to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the drive unit of FIGS. 1 to 4, FIG. 6 shows a further exploded view of the drive unit according to FIGS. 1 to 5 from another perspective, FIG. 7 shows a housing part of the drive unit according to FIGS. 1 to 6 in a first perspective, FIG. 8 shows the housing part according to FIG. 7, but from another perspective, FIG. 9 shows the housing part according to FIGS. 7 and 8 in a front view, and FIG. 10 shows a sectional illustration through the housing part according to FIG. 9 along the section line X-X in FIG. 9.A drive unit 1 according to FIGS. 1 to 10 is provided for electrically driving a shading device for a side window of a passenger vehicle. The drive unit 1 serves to drive a flexible shading structure which is held on a winding shaft such that it can be wound and unwound in the form of a web. By means of the drive unit 1, the roller blind web is displaced on the vehicle interior side between a rest position and a shading position covering the side window. The drive unit 1 can either be directly assigned to the winding shaft of the roller blind web via a suitable gear mechanism in order to drive the latter, or the drive unit 1 serves for electrically driving a drive transmission system which has threaded pitch cables or a cable system. Both the threaded pitch cables and the cable pull system are laid in corresponding vehicle-mounted side guides and displace a pull-out profile which is connected to the shading track. This inevitably results in the desired displacement of the shading path between the rest position and the shading position.The drive unit 1 has an electric motor M which is provided with an output shaft 2 which extends through a motor housing of the motor M and defines a drive rotational axis within the meaning of the invention. In the motor housing, corresponding electric drive components are integrated in a manner known in principle, which drive the output shaft 2 when current is applied. The output shaft 2 projects out of the motor housing at the end, both toward a front side (shown on the right in FIGS. 1 and 2 ) and toward a rear side, as can be easily seen from FIGS. 3 to 5. The electric motor M is controlled by control electronics which are accommodated on a printed circuit board P. Both the electric motor M and the circuit board P with the control electronics are integrated in a plastic housing, which is illustrated in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. The plastic housing consists of three housing parts, namely a motor housing part 3, a circuit board housing part 4 and a cover part 5, which are manufactured independently of one another from plastic and are joined together to form the plastic housing as a unit.The motor housing part 3 is substantially hollow-cylindrical and serves to completely accommodate the electric motor M in the motor housing part 3. As a result, the electric motor M is suspended at the end face in the motor housing part 3 by means of a first, elastically flexible damping ring 10 made of an elastomer material. The motor housing part 3 also has on its front side an adapter disk 9 which is integrally formed on the motor housing part 3. The adapter disk 9 coaxially surrounds the output shaft 2. The adapter disk 9 is designed rotationally non-symmetrical and serves for fixing it in a rotationally fixed manner to an adjacent stationary functional component, in particular a transmission housing. The adapter disk 9 thus forms a torque support for the motor housing part 3.On the rear side, the motor housing part 3 is closed by the circuit board housing part 4, which effects rear-side support and securing of the electric motor M on a rear-side end side of the electric motor M. A rear end side of the motor housing of the electric motor M has, radially offset with respect to the drive axis of rotation, two recesses 13 serving as counter-profiles, into which complementary support profiles 15 of the circuit board housing part 4 project axially and in a rotationally locked manner with respect to the motor housing of the electric motor M. The support profiles 15 and the recesses 13 serve for torque support of the motor housing of the electric motor M relative to the plastic housing, i.e. relative to the motor housing part 3 and to the circuit board housing part 4.The circuit board housing part 4 has a further damping ring 11 which is made of elastic material and acoustically dampingly supports the motor housing of the electric motor M on the rear side on its end face. This damping ring 11 is formed integrally on the circuit board housing part 4, wherein the circuit board housing part 4 is designed as a two-component injection molded part. The damping ring 11 and the support profiles 15 are formed from the elastically resilient, acoustically damping plastic material, whereas a dimensionally stable housing shell of the circuit board housing part 4 is produced from a thermoplastic plastic material. As a result of the production by the two-component injection molding method, the damping ring 11, the support profiles 15 and the dimensionally stable housing shell of the circuit board housing 4 form a one-piece component, wherein the elastic plastic material and the dimensionally stable, thermoplastic plastic material are connected to one another in a materially integral manner. The circuit board housing part 4 serves on the one hand as a rear end-face termination for the motor housing part 3. On the other hand, the circuit board housing part 4 serves on its rear side for receiving and supporting the circuit board P provided with the control electronics.The motor housing part 3 and the circuit board housing part 4 have mutually complementary latching profiles 6, which form a positive, here releasable, latching connection between the two housing parts when the two housing parts are joined together. The latching profiles 6 are integrally formed on the circuit board housing part 4 on the one hand and on the motor housing part 3 on the other hand.It can be seen from FIG. 6 that the end-face termination region of the circuit board housing part 4 relative to the hollow cylindrical motor housing part 3 is provided on the one hand with circular arc-shaped centering webs and on the other hand with a circumferential elastic seal D, which is likewise formed in one piece in the circuit board housing part 4 by the two-component injection molding method. The printed circuit board housing 4 can be plugged flush with this connection region and tightly onto the open end face of the motor housing part 3, whereby at the same time the rear-side fixing and acoustically damping suspension of the electric motor M is also achieved.It can be seen from FIGS. 1 to 3 that the drive unit 1 is substantially L-shaped in the operationally ready mounted state. In this case, an L-leg, in the illustration according to FIGS. 1 to 3, the horizontal L-leg, is formed by the hollow cylindrical motor housing part 3 and the vertical L-leg is formed by the circuit board housing part 4, which can be closed on the rear side by a cover part 5.The circuit board housing part 4 has, with respect to the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor M, radially below its connection region a box-shaped receiving portion which is provided with a substantially square cutout 14 toward the front. The recess 14 serves to receive a plug-in connection part 8, which is arranged on the front side of the circuit board P and is electrically connected to the electronic control components of the circuit board P. The plug-in connection part 8 has a quadrangular cross section which corresponds approximately to the cross section of the cutout 14. The plug connection part 8 can thus be inserted into the recess 14 from behind, so that a plug receptacle of the plug connection part 8 protrudes into the recess 14 from the front side of the box-shaped housing region of the circuit board housing part 4 (FIG. 1 ). A circumferential edge of the recess 14 is provided with an elastic seal D, which is likewise formed integrally in the circuit board housing part 4. The seals D, the damping ring 11 and the support profiles 15 of the circuit board housing part 4 can be produced from the same elastic material, preferably an elastomer or a thermoplastic elastomer, and can be integrated in one piece in the circuit board housing part 4 by a two-component injection molding process.As can be seen from FIG. 8, the circuit board housing part 4, which is designed to be open on the rear side, has integrally formed supporting webs 16 in its open interior, which serve for the axial positioning of the circuit board P in the circuit board housing part 4. The rear side of the circuit board housing part 4 can be closed by the cover part 5, which can be placed flush on the rear side of the circuit board housing part 4 and can be connected in a form-fitting manner to the circuit board housing part 4 with the aid of latching profiles 7 in the flush-placed state. The cover part 5 and the circuit board housing part 4 each have on opposite side regions two mutually complementary latching profiles 7 which are spaced apart from one another in the vertical direction and are formed by latching noses on the circuit board housing part 4 on the one hand and by latching hooks on the cover part 5 on the other hand. The cover part 5 has on its end side facing the circuit board housing part 4 on the one hand a circumferential centering web and on the other hand a circumferential seal D which is produced from an elastic material and is integrally formed on the cover part 5 in the exemplary embodiment shown. The cover part D also has, in a similar manner to the supporting webs 16, supporting webs 17 which press the circuit board P from the rear axially against the supporting webs 16 and thus against the circuit board housing part 6, resulting in a secure positioning of the position of the circuit board P between the cover part 5 and the circuit board housing part 4.It can be clearly seen from FIGS. 3 to 6 that the printed circuit board P has, at the level of the output shaft 2 and coaxially with it, a passage 12 through which the rear end region of the output shaft 2 projects axially in the mounted state of the drive unit 1. As a result, it is possible to axially plug a functional component such as a pinion, a worm or a similar component onto the output shaft 2 on the front side and simultaneously apply an axial supporting torque to the output shaft 2 from the rear side even if the drive unit 1 is already mounted ready for operation. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that a corresponding axial counter support element G can be mounted on the inside of the cover part 5, so that when the cover part 5 is placed on and locked, axial support of the rear end side of the output shaft 2 is necessarily achieved, so that in the operationally ready mounted state of the drive unit 1, a functional component can be axially plugged on at the front without the output shaft 2 being able to escape axially to the rear.The peripheral seal D on the inner side of the cover part 5 ensures a tight seal with the rear edge region of the circuit board housing part 4, so that the circuit board P with its electronic control components is accommodated in a watertight manner in the plastic housing. Depending on the design of the seals D, leaks in the area of the IP classes IP 61 to IP 69 can be achieved.In the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 10, the plastic housing enclosing the electric motor M and the circuit board P is designed to be releasable with its three housing parts, namely the motor housing part 3, the circuit board housing part 4 and the cover part 5. For this purpose, the corresponding latching hooks of the latching profiles 6 and 7, which engage over the integrally formed latching noses of the latching profiles 6 and 7 in a form-fitting manner, are designed to be slightly elastically expandable, so that, if necessary, the cover part 5 can be removed again from the rear side of the circuit board housing part 4 and the motor housing part 3 can be removed from the front side of the circuit board housing part 4. This allows simple exchangeability of the electric motor M and / or the circuit board P.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 10 2011 007 298 A1

[0003]

Claims

Drive unit (1) for a vehicle-side protection device, in particular in a vehicle interior, having an electric motor (M) and having control electronics for the electric motor (M) which are arranged on a printed circuit board (P), characterized in that the electric motor (M) and the printed circuit board (P) are integrated with the control electronics in a common plastic housing, in that the plastic housing is constructed from a plurality of housing parts which are connected to one another in particular without tools, and in that the control electronics arranged on the printed circuit board (P) are arranged in the plastic housing adjacent to the electric motor (M).Drive unit (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the printed circuit board (P) is positioned on the rear side of the electric motor (M) and is aligned in a radial plane relative to a drive rotational axis of the electric motor (M) in the plastics material housing.Drive unit (1) according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the plastic housing has an essentially hollow-cylindrical motor housing part (3), a printed circuit board housing part (4) adjoining the motor housing part (3) and a cover part (5) closing the printed circuit board housing part (4) on the rear side.Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plastic housing has an L shape, wherein in the operationally ready-mounted state of the drive unit (1) one L-leg is oriented approximately horizontally and the other L-leg is oriented approximately vertically.Drive unit (1) according to Claim 4, characterized in that the electric motor (M) is arranged in the horizontally oriented L-limb and the printed circuit board (P) with the control electronics is arranged in the vertically oriented L-limb, and in that the horizontally oriented L-limb encloses the output side of the drive rotational axis of the electric motor (M) on the end face, and in that the vertically oriented L-limb encloses the printed circuit board (P) with the control electronics, said printed circuit board being arranged on the rear side of the electric motor (M).Drive unit (1) according to Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the vertical L-limb has, on one side, in particular on the front side, a cutout (14) for flush reception of a plug-in connection part (8), which is arranged on the printed circuit board (P) and is electrically connected to the control electronics.Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that integrally formed on the housing parts are latching profiles (6, 7) which are designed to be complementary to one another in such a way that adjacent housing parts are connected to one another by means of the complementary latching profiles (6, 7).Drive unit (1) according to claim 7, characterised in that the latching connections created by the latching profiles (6, 7) are designed to be releasable.Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electric motor (M) has an output shaft (2) which defines the drive axis of rotation and protrudes from the electric motor (M) on the front and rear side, and in that the printed circuit board (P) has, coaxially with the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor (M), a passage (12), the clear cross section of which preferably corresponds to at least one diameter of the output shaft (2).Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing parts are provided with peripheral seals (D) at their connection regions to the respective other housing parts in order to achieve a tightness of the plastic housing in the assembled state.Drive unit (1) according to Claim 10, characterized in that the seals (D) are formed integrally with the housing parts.Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electric motor (M) is suspended in the plastic housing in an acoustically damped manner.Drive unit (1) according to Claim 12, characterized in that flexible damping rings (10, 11) are provided in the plastic housing on the front and rear sides of the electric motor (M) coaxially with the drive axis of rotation.Drive unit (1) according to Claim 13, characterized in that at least one damping ring (11) is formed in one piece in a section of a housing part flanking an end face of the electric motor (M).Drive unit (1) according to one of Claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the housing part is produced as a two-component injection-moulded part from two plastics materials, of which one component constitutes an elastomer material and forms the damping ring (11).Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one housing part is provided on the inside with support profiles (15) which cooperate with complementary front-side counter profiles (13) of the electric motor (M) in order to achieve torque support of the electric motor (M) relative to the plastic housing.Drive unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one housing part has, on the outside on an output side of the drive axis of rotation of the electric motor (M), an integrally formed adapter disc (9) which is designed for torque support of the plastic housing on a functional component adjacent to the output side.

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