Loading flap system for a motor vehicle

Abstract

Such a loading flap system is known, comprising a loading trough which is fixed to the vehicle in the ready-to-use state and in which at least one charging connection is arranged, and comprising a loading flap which is arranged displaceably relative to the loading trough by means of a lever joint arrangement having at least two guide levers between a closed position closing the loading trough and an open position releasing the loading trough, and comprising a drive device which is coupled to the lever joint arrangement in order to displace the loading flap between the closed position and the open position. According to the invention, the at least two guide levers are connected to one another in a rotationally fixed manner by means of a synchronizing shaft, and the drive device acts at least largely centrally between the guide levers on the synchronizing shaft in order to pivot the guide levers. Use for passenger cars

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a loading flap system for a motor vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Such a charging flap system for a motor vehicle is known from CN 1 12 590 945 A. The motor vehicle has an electric drive. To supply energy to the electric drive, the motor vehicle is equipped with a rechargeable battery pack system. To charge the battery pack system, a charging port is provided on the outside of a vehicle body. The charging port can be closed or opened by the charging flap system. The charging flap system has a charging recess that is fixedly mounted on the vehicle in the area of ​​an outer body skin and surrounds the charging port. A charging cable that is coupled to an electric charging station can be connected to the charging port. The charging flap system has a charging flap that is movably mounted between an open position and a closed position. The charging flap is supported by a lever joint arrangement in the form of a four-bar mechanism that is arranged on the charging recess.To move the tailgate between the closed and open positions, a drive system with an electric drive motor is provided. The drive motor engages two parallel, spaced-apart guide levers of the four-bar linkage mechanism via a drive shaft. The drive motor is positioned laterally next to the four-bar linkage mechanism, and the drive shaft is connected to both guide levers in a rotationally fixed manner.

[0003] The object of the invention is to create a tailgate system of the type mentioned above which ensures a safe opening and closing function for the tailgate.

[0004] This object is achieved by the features of claim 1. The solution according to the invention is particularly advantageously suitable for motor vehicles in the form of passenger cars. However, it can also be used for trucks or commercial vehicles or even for motor vehicles on water or in the air. The loading flap system is particularly advantageously provided for electrical charging connections. In the same way, the loading flap system can be provided for charging connections that are suitable for filling with other energy sources, in particular fuels. The solution according to the invention has recognized that, in the prior art, a lateral attack of the drive system on the guide levers spaced parallel to one another could lead to different torque distributions on the two guide levers, so that reliable closing or opening of the loading flap was not guaranteed in all cases.The provision of a synchronization shaft and the central engagement of the drive device on the synchronization shaft ensures that there is always an even distribution of force and torque on both guide levers as soon as the drive device is activated. Different torsions of the synchronization shaft in the area of ​​the two guide levers are thus avoided. The drive device can have a drive motor with an associated gearbox that engages the synchronization shaft directly in the center via a pinion held on the synchronization shaft. Alternatively, the drive motor and its gearbox can also be arranged laterally to the lever joint arrangement on the loading trough and coupled via a drive shaft to the pinion held centrally on the synchronization shaft. The drive shaft can also be coupled in another way, approximately centrally, to the synchronization shaft.The drive device is advantageously equipped with an electric drive motor and a suitable gearbox to convert the high speeds of the electric drive motor into the low speeds required for moving the lever joint arrangement. The electric drive motor is preferably a servomotor.

[0005] According to the invention, the synchronization shaft is designed as a hollow shaft, and the drive device has a drive shaft that engages coaxially with the hollow shaft and is non-rotatably coupled to the hollow shaft halfway along the hollow shaft between the guide levers. This is a space-saving yet functionally reliable design, as the drive shaft engages the inside of the synchronization shaft rather than the outside. Furthermore, the design is low-contamination and protected against damage. Laying the drive shaft inside the hollow shaft enables the hollow shaft to be encapsulated, so that the arrangement can be implemented without contamination. Because the hollow shaft coaxially encloses the drive shaft, the hollow shaft acts as a protective casing for the drive shaft.

[0006] In one embodiment of the invention, a drive unit of the drive device, which drives the drive shaft, is positioned laterally next to one of the guide levers and is firmly connected to the loading trough. The drive unit is formed, in particular, by an electric drive motor and an associated gear coupled to the drive shaft. If the lever joint arrangement is designed as a four-bar mechanism, two non-driven control levers are assigned to the two guide levers, which form the drive levers for the loading flap, and these additionally support the loading flap during a corresponding displacement movement.

[0007] In a further embodiment of the invention, the synchronization shaft is arranged coaxially with the loading-well-side pivot axes of the two guide levers, with the two pivot axes of the guide levers also being coaxially aligned with each other. The pivot axes on the loading-well side are the pivot points of the two guide levers, which are mounted on the loading trough. The two opposite pivot points of the guide levers are provided on the tailgate.

[0008] Further advantages and features of the invention emerge from the claims. A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below and illustrated with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows schematically a passenger car provided with an embodiment of a loading flap system according to the invention, Fig. 2 schematically shows the loading flap system for the passenger car according to Fig. 1, Fig. 3 schematically shows in a rear view in the direction of arrow III the loading flap system according to Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 the tailgate system according to Fig. 3 schematically in a sectional view.

[0009] A passenger car 1 according to Fig. 1 is equipped with an electric drive. The electric drive can either be the sole drive of the passenger car 1 or the electric drive can be provided in addition to a drive provided by an internal combustion engine.

[0010] In the area of ​​an outer skin of a vehicle body of the passenger car 1, in this case in the area of ​​a right front fender - seen in the normal direction of travel - the passenger car 1 has a loading flap system 2, which is Fig. 2 to 4. The charging flap system 2 has a charging recess 4 which, in the ready-to-use assembled state, is connected in a vehicle-fixed manner to parts of a body support structure of the passenger car 1. The charging recess 4 encloses a charging connection 5 which is provided for plugging in an electric power charging cable. In the ready-to-use assembled state, the charging recess 4 forms an indentation in the area of ​​the right fender of the passenger car 1. In order to close the charging recess 4 flush with the outer body skin, a charging flap 3 is provided which, in its closed position (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) covers the loading trough 4 and is aligned with its outer side flush and aligned with the outer body skin in the area of ​​the right front fender.

[0011] The loading flap 3 is movable relative to the loading trough 4 between the closed position and an open position (see Fig. 2) are movably mounted. The lever joint arrangement has two guide levers 6 serving as drive levers and two control levers 7 serving to support the loading flap 3, so that the four levers define a four-bar linkage mechanism. The two guide levers 6 are rotatably mounted on the loading trough 4, spaced parallel from one another. Their pivot points on the loading trough side have aligned, coaxial joint axes. With their pivot points facing the loading flap 3 at end regions of the guide levers 6 opposite the pivot points on the loading trough side, the guide levers 6 are pivotally connected to an inner side of the loading flap 3.

[0012] As shown by the Fig. As can be clearly seen in Figures 2 to 4, the loading flap 3, in its open position in the vertical direction of the vehicle, is displaced approximately vertically downwards compared to its closed position, in which the loading flap 3 covers the loading recess 4. The guide levers 6 thus form the two lower lever joints of the lever joint arrangement.

[0013] The two control levers 7 are positioned at a distance above the guide levers 6 and are also hinged to both the loading flap 3 and the loading trough by means of corresponding hinge points. Both the lower hinge points of the control levers 7 on the loading trough side and the upper hinge points of the control levers 7 on the loading flap side are each provided with coaxially aligned hinge axes, so that the control levers 7 and the guide levers 6 result in a parallelogram-shaped displacement of the loading flap 3 between the closed position and the downwardly displaced open position.

[0014] A drive device A is provided to move the loading flap 3 between the closed position and the open position ( Fig. 3), which has an electric drive motor 9 and a transmission 10 connected downstream of the electric drive motor 9. Both the electric drive motor 9 and the transmission 10 are attached to the loading trough 4. The drive device A is positioned to the side of the lever joint arrangement on the loading trough 4.

[0015] The two guide levers 6 are connected to each other in a rotationally fixed manner in the area of ​​their pivot points on the loading trough by means of a synchronizing shaft 12, which is rotatably mounted on the loading trough 4 coaxially to the pivot axes of the pivot points of the guide levers 6 on the loading trough. The synchronizing shaft 12 is, as Fig. 3, is designed as a hollow shaft. Due to the non-rotatable arrangement of both guide levers 6, a rotation of the hollow shaft causes a simultaneous, co-directional, synchronous rotation of both guide levers 6.

[0016] A drive shaft 11 projects coaxially into the hollow shaft and is in permanent operative connection with the gear 10 of the drive device A. The drive shaft 11 extends to the center of the hollow shaft and is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the hollow shaft approximately halfway along the synchronization shaft 12, which is designed as a hollow shaft. For this purpose, the illustrated embodiment features a cotter pin-like bolt 13 which extends through both the hollow shaft and an end region of the drive shaft 11 radially to the axis of rotation of the hollow shaft and is thus positively connected to both the hollow shaft and the end region of the drive shaft 11. The drive force is therefore transmitted from the drive shaft 11 to the synchronization shaft 12 via the positive, rotationally fixed connection, here in the form of the bolt 13, onto the synchronization shaft 12, with the force being introduced approximately centrally onto the synchronization shaft 12.This approximately central force introduction takes place at half the distance between the guide levers 6, which are spaced parallel to one another, so that torque is transmitted from the drive shaft 11 to the synchronizing shaft 12, which is designed as a hollow shaft, evenly to both guide levers 6.

[0017] Instead of a bolt that is Fig. 3 establishes the rotationally locked connection between the drive shaft 11 and the synchronizing shaft 12 designed as a hollow shaft, in embodiments of the invention not shown, the synchronizing shaft can also be designed as a hollow shaft with a non-rotationally symmetrical inner cross-section, and the end region of the drive shaft has a complementary rotationally asymmetrical outer cross-section, so that when the drive shaft is rotated, the desired rotationally locked drive of the synchronizing shaft is achieved.

[0018] As shown by the Fig.4, the drive device A is provided to drive the guide levers 6 and thus the synchronizing shaft 12 in both directions of rotation, so that the drive device A takes over both the displacement of the loading flap from the closed position to the open position and the opposite displacement of the loading flap 3 from the open position to the closed position.

Claims

[1] A loading flap system (2) for a motor vehicle, comprising a loading trough (4) which is fixed to the vehicle in a ready-to-use state and in which at least one charging connection (5) is arranged, and comprising a loading flap (3) which is arranged displaceably relative to the loading trough (4) by means of a lever joint arrangement comprising at least two guide levers (6) spaced parallel to one another between a closed position closing the loading trough (4) and an open position releasing the loading trough (4), and comprising a drive device (A) which is coupled to the at least two guide levers (6) of the lever joint arrangement, which are spaced parallel to one another, in order to displace the loading flap (3) between the closed position and the open position, wherein the at least two guide levers (6) are connected to one another in a rotationally fixed manner by means of a synchronization shaft (12), and wherein the drive device (A) acts centrally between the guide levers (6) on the synchronization shaft (12),to pivot the guide levers (6), characterized by that the synchronizing shaft (12) is designed as a hollow shaft, and that the drive device (A) has a drive shaft (11) which engages coaxially with the hollow shaft and is coupled to the hollow shaft in a rotationally fixed manner halfway along the length of the hollow shaft between the guide levers (6). [2] Loading flap system (2) according to claim 1, characterized by that a drive unit of the drive device (A), which drives the drive shaft (11), is positioned laterally next to one of the guide levers (6) and is firmly connected to the loading trough (4). [3] Loading flap system (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the synchronizing shaft (12) is arranged coaxially to the loading trough-side joint axes of the two guide levers (6), wherein the two joint axes of the guide levers (6) are also aligned coaxially to one another.

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