Window regulator

Abstract

To provide a window regulator capable of suppressing flapping of a wire harness and preventing abnormal noise.SOLUTION: A window regulator includes a guide rail, a carrier plate in sliding engagement with the guide rail, a cable whose end is connected to the carrier plate to move the carrier plate, and a wire harness whose one end is arranged to overlap the guide rail and the other end to supply power to the vehicle window glass.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a window regulator. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, window regulators have been widely used in which a carrier plate that holds a vehicle window glass is pulled by a cable and slid on a guide rail to raise and lower the window glass. Patent Document 1 discloses a window regulator that uses a wire harness to supply power to glass that includes a conductive element inside.

[0003] In this window regulator, one end of a wire harness is connected to a first bracket fixed near the center of the guide rail, and the other end is connected to a second bracket provided at a position away from the guide rail of the carrier plate, with the wire harness hanging from the first bracket and the second bracket to form a U-shape. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 1,131,8818 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the window regulator of Patent Document 1, when the carrier plate rises on the guide rail, most of the wire harness comes to hang down from the second bracket at a position away from the guide rail.

[0006] As a result, the wire harness swings when the door is opened or closed, hitting the inner panel and generating noise. Also, when installing the window regulator inside the door, the part of the wire harness hanging from the second bracket takes up space, which makes the layout difficult.

[0007] The present invention is devised to solve such problems, and aims to provide a window regulator that suppresses flapping of the wire harness, prevents abnormal noise, and improves layout flexibility when installed inside the door. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the window regulator of the present invention comprises a guide rail, a carrier plate movably engaged with the guide rail, a cable having an end connected to the carrier plate for moving the carrier plate, and a wire harness arranged so that one end overlaps the guide rail and the other end for supplying power to the window glass of the vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress flapping of the wire harness, prevent abnormal noise, and improve layout flexibility when mounting the wire harness inside the door. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a front view of a window regulator in one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a rear view of the window regulator in one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a wire harness in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a connector in one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the wire harness is positioned above the guide rail in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the wire harness is positioned below the guide rail in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a rear view of a carrier plate in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a front view of a carrier plate in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a window regulator in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that each of the embodiments described below shows a specific example of the present disclosure. Therefore, the components, the arrangement positions and connection forms of the components shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, among the components in the following embodiments, components that are not described in the independent claims will be described as optional components.

[0012] In addition, each drawing is a schematic diagram and is not necessarily a precise illustration. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are used for substantially the same configurations, and duplicated explanations are omitted or simplified.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a front view of a window regulator 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the window regulator in one embodiment of the present invention. The window regulator 1 is a device for moving a window glass of a vehicle.

[0014] 1 is fixed between an inner panel and an outer panel of a vehicle door, and raises and lowers a window glass supported by a glass holder 13. The moving direction of the carrier plate 10 is the up-down direction defined based on the raising and lowering direction of the window glass.

[0015] 1 and 2, the window regulator 1 includes a carrier plate 10, a cable 20, a drive unit 30, a guide rail 40, and a direction changing unit 50. The cable 20 is a member that pulls the carrier plate 10 to move it in the up and down directions indicated by the arrows in FIG.

[0016] A known cable can be used as the cable 20, for example a cable made by twisting together a plurality of at least one of metal wires and resin fiber wires. The cable 20 has flexibility such that its direction can be changed by the direction changing section 50.

[0017] The cable 20 includes an ascending cable 21 and a descending cable 22 , one end of each of which is connected to the carrier plate 10 and the other end is connected to the drive unit 30 .

[0018] Specifically, one end of the lifting cable 21 is connected to the carrier plate 10, and is looped around a pulley 51 of a direction changing section 50 provided on the upper part of the guide rail 40, and the other end is connected to a drum 32 of the drive section 30. The lifting cable 21 is wound around the drum 32, so that the carrier plate 10 is pulled upward.

[0019] The lowering cable 22 has one end connected to the carrier plate 10 and the other end connected to a drum 32 of the drive unit 30. The lowering cable 22 is wound around the drum 32, whereby the carrier plate 10 is pulled downward.

[0020] The carrier plate 10 holds a glass holder 13 to which a vehicle window glass is attached, and is pulled by a cable 20 to move up and down on a guide rail 40. The carrier plate 10 moves between a lower end 42 and an upper end 43 of the guide rail 40.

[0021] The drive unit 30 is connected to the other end of the cable 20, specifically, the other ends of the ascending cable 21 and the descending cable 22, and winds up and unwinds the ascending cable 21 and the descending cable 22.

[0022] The driving unit 30 has a motor 31, a drum 32, a power transmission unit (not shown) such as a worm gear that transmits the rotational motion of the motor 31 to the drum 32, and a drum housing 33 that accommodates the drum 32. The driving unit 30 drives the motor 31 to rotate in a forward direction and a reverse direction, and this rotational drive rotates the drum 32 in the forward direction and the reverse direction.

[0023] The ascent cable 21 and the descent cable 22 are wound in the opposite directions around the drum 32. That is, when the drum 32 winds up the ascent cable 21, it pays out the descent cable 22, and when the drum 32 winds up the descent cable 22, it pays out the ascent cable 21.

[0024] Depending on the direction of rotation, the drum 32 either winds up the ascending cable 21 and pulls the ascending cable 21, or winds up the descending cable 22 and pulls the descending cable 22.

[0025] The guide rail 40 guides the movement of the carrier plate 10. The carrier plate 10 is movably engaged with the guide rail.

[0026] The direction changing unit 50 changes the moving direction of the cable 20 on the guide rail 40. Specifically, the ascending cable 21, one end of which is connected to the carrier plate 10 and the other end of which is connected to the drum 32, is wound around the direction changing unit 50, changing the moving direction of the ascending cable 21. The direction changing unit 50 changes the force pulling the ascending cable 21 downward into a force pulling it upward.

[0027] The wire harness 11 supplies power to a window glass of a vehicle. For example, the wire harness 11 supplies power to a window glass provided with a heating wire to prevent the window glass from fogging up.

[0028] The wire harness 11 is arranged so that one end of the wire harness 11 overlaps the guide rail 40 when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the guide rail 40 (a direction D3 perpendicular to the length direction D1 and width direction D2 of the guide rail 40) (see FIG. 5). One end of the wire harness 11 is connected to a glass holder 13 that supports a window glass fixed to the carrier plate 10. The other end of the wire harness 11 is fixed to a connector 12 that engages with a hole 41 formed in the guide rail 40.

[0029] Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a wire harness 11 in one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a connector 12 in one embodiment of the present invention. A groove 14 through which the wire harness 11 passes is formed on the surface of the carrier plate 10 facing the guide rail 40 on the rear side. The groove 14 is formed in the carrier plate 10 along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 40.

[0030] The guide rail 40 has a hole 41 formed near the center in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 40, through which the wire harness 11 or a connector provided at the other end of the wire harness 11 is inserted. Note that the position of the hole 41 is not limited to near the center in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 40, and the hole 41 may be formed at another position on the guide rail 40.

[0031] In addition, the configuration is not limited to one in which hole 41 is formed near the center of guide rail 40. Instead of hole 41, for example, a recess or notch may be provided in upper end 43 or lower end 42 of guide rail 40, and the connector may be fixed to the recess or notch.

[0032] The hole 41 is formed with a first region 41a having a first width and a second region 41b having a second width wider than the first width. The first region 41a and the second region 41b are each rectangular.

[0033] The connector 12 provided at the other end of the wire harness 11 is fixed to the first region 41a. The connector 12 includes a protrusion 12a having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and a main body 12b also having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and larger than the protrusion 12a. The other end of the wire harness 11 is connected to the main body 12b.

[0034] The protrusion 12a is inserted into the rectangular first region 41a and is sandwiched between the side surfaces of the guide rail 40 on both sides of the first region 41a. In addition, the portion of the surface of the main body 12b around the protrusion 12a is in contact with the rear surface of the guide rail 40. With this configuration, the connector 12 is fixed to the guide rail 40.

[0035] An electric wire is connected to the main body 12b, and the connected electric wire is electrically connected to the wire harness 11 to supply power to the window glass of the vehicle. The protrusion 12a and the main body 12b are substantially rectangular parallelepiped, but are not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped and may be other shapes such as a cylinder.

[0036] The wire harness 11 is inserted into the second region 41b adjacent to the first region 41a. Note that the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the protrusion 12a of the connector 12 is inserted into the first region 41a and the wire harness 11 is inserted into the second region 41b, and may be a configuration in which the connector 12 is attached to the vehicle side (door panel, etc.) or a configuration in which the wire harness does not pass through the hole 41.

[0037] Next, a state of the wire harness 11 when the carrier plate 10 is moved above and below the guide rail 40 will be described. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the wire harness 11 in one embodiment of the present invention is located above the guide rail 40. Note that the carrier plate 10 is omitted from Fig. 5.

[0038] One end of the wire harness 11 is connected to a connection portion 13b provided on a bottom surface 13a of the glass holder 13. The wire harness 11 connected to the connection portion 13b is electrically connected to, for example, a heating wire of a window glass of a vehicle, so that electricity is supplied to the heating wire. Note that one end of the wire harness 11 is not limited to being fixed to the glass holder 13, and may be fixed to the carrier plate 10. The wire harness 11 has a belt-like shape. The material of the covering portion that covers the electric wires of the wire harness 11 is resin or the like.

[0039] When the carrier plate 10 is located at the top of the guide rail 40, the wire harness 11 extends from a hole 41 formed in the guide rail 40 toward the glass holder 13. The wire harness 11 is also arranged so that one end of the wire harness 11 runs along the length of the guide rail 40 and overlaps the guide rail 40 when the guide rail 40 is viewed from a direction perpendicular to the guide rail 40.

[0040] 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the wire harness 11 in one embodiment of the present invention is located below the guide rail 40. The surface of the wire harness 11 on the guide rail 40 side is inverted as the carrier plate 10 moves from above to below the guide rail 40, and gradually transitions from one surface 11a of the wire harness 11 to the other surface 11b. When the carrier plate 10 is located at the bottom of the guide rail 40, the surface of the wire harness 11 on the guide rail 40 side becomes surface 11b.

[0041] 5 and 6, when the guide rail 40 is viewed from a direction perpendicular to the guide rail 40, the wire harness 11 is arranged so as to overlap along the guide rail 40. Therefore, even when the vehicle window glass is opened or closed, the guide rail 40 suppresses the vibration of the wire harness 11, so that it is possible to prevent the wire harness 11 from colliding with the inner panel of the vehicle door or the like and generating abnormal noise.

[0042] Fig. 7 is a rear view of the carrier plate 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a front view of the carrier plate 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the rear surface of the carrier plate 10 is formed with the groove 14 through which the wire harness 11 passes.

[0043] The groove 14 is formed near the center of the carrier plate 10 along the moving direction in which the carrier plate 10 moves on the guide rail 40. The groove 14 is formed from the upper end to the lower end of the carrier plate 10. The width of the groove 14 is larger than the width of the wire harness 11, and the depth of the groove 14 is larger than the thickness of the wire harness 11. When the carrier plate 10 moves, the wire harness 11 passes through the groove 14, thereby suppressing fluttering of the wire harness 11 and preventing abnormal noise.

[0044] Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a window regulator 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 shows a cross section of the window regulator 1 cut along a plane perpendicular to the surface of the wire harness 11 and extending in the longitudinal direction of the wire harness 11. In Fig. 9, the carrier plate 10 is located at the top of the guide rail 40.

[0045] The wire harness 11 extends from the connector 12 along the guide rail 40, passes through a groove 14 formed in the carrier plate 10, and is connected to the glass holder 13. In addition, a gap exists between a surface 11a of the wire harness 11 and a bottom surface 14a of the groove 14.

[0046] As described above, in the window regulator 1, the wire harness 11 that supplies power to the vehicle window glass is arranged so that its entire length overlaps the guide rail 40, thereby suppressing flapping of the wire harness, preventing abnormal noise, and improving layout flexibility when installed inside the door.

[0047] It should be noted that, for example, the following aspects are also understood to fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0048] (1) A window regulator includes a guide rail, a carrier plate movably supported on the guide rail, a cable having an end connected to the carrier plate for moving the carrier plate, and a wire harness arranged so that one end of the wire harness overlaps the guide rail and supplies power to the vehicle window glass.

[0049] (2) In this window regulator, the one end of the wire harness is connected to the carrier plate or to a glass holder that is fixed to the carrier plate and supports the window glass.

[0050] (3) In addition, in this window regulator, a hole through which the wire harness or the connector provided at the other end of the wire harness is inserted is formed near the center of the guide rail in the longitudinal direction.

[0051] (4) Also, in this window regulator, a first region having a first width and a second region having a second width wider than the first width are formed in the hole, and the connector is fixed to the first region.

[0052] (5) In addition, in this window regulator, the wire harness is belt-shaped.

[0053] (6) In addition, in this window regulator, a groove through which the wire harness passes is formed on the surface of the carrier plate facing the guide rail.

[0054] (7) In addition, in this window regulator, the surface of the wire harness on the guide rail side gradually transitions from one surface of the wire harness to the other surface as the carrier plate moves. [Industrial Applicability]

[0055] The present invention can be widely used in window regulators that can suppress flapping of a wire harness. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1 Window regulator 10 Carrier Plate 11 Wire Harness 11a side 11b side 12 Connectors 12a Convex part 12b Main body 13 Glass holder 13a Bottom 13b Connection 14 groove 14a Bottom 20 Cable 30 Drive unit 40 Guide rail 50 Turning Point

Claims

1. A guide rail and a carrier plate movably engaged with the guide rail; a cable having an end connected to the carrier plate and adapted to move the carrier plate; a wire harness arranged so that one end of the wire harness overlaps the guide rail and supplies power to the window glass of the vehicle; A window regulator equipped with:

2. 2. The window regulator according to claim 1, wherein the one end of the wire harness is connected to the carrier plate or to a glass holder fixed to the carrier plate and supporting the window glass.

3. 2. The window regulator according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail has a hole formed near a center in a longitudinal direction of the guide rail, through which the wire harness or a connector provided at the other end of the wire harness is inserted.

4. 4. The window regulator of claim 3, wherein the hole has a first region having a first width and a second region having a second width wider than the first width, and the connector is fixed to the first region.

5. 2. The window regulator according to claim 1, wherein the wire harness is in the form of a belt.

6. 2. The window regulator according to claim 1, wherein a groove through which the wire harness passes is formed on a surface of the carrier plate facing the guide rail.

7. 2. The window regulator according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the wire harness facing the guide rail gradually transitions from one surface of the wire harness to the other surface of the wire harness as the carrier plate moves.

Images