Vehicle door opening and closing device

Abstract

To allow a door opening and closing apparatus for a vehicle to easily couple a cable to a guide roller unit with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: A one end portion 122a of a cable end 122 is fixed so as to be perpendicular to an end portion of a cable 12. A cable holder 25 includes a bearing portion 25b that is fitted into a vertical shaft 19 supporting a vertical shaft roller 21, a holding portion 25d that is located on a side separated from a vertical wall portion 7c of the guide rail 7 with respect to the vertical shaft 19 and holds another end portion 122b of the cable end 122, a circular-shaped guide groove 25c that is on a side approaching the vertical wall portion 7c with respect to the vertical shaft 19 and guides the end portion of the cable 12, and a stopped portion 25e that is in contact with a stopper portion 27a provided on a sub-bracket 27 such that the case holder 25 is stopped at a predetermined position that is defined in advance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle door opening and closing device for automatically opening and closing a vehicle door. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle door opening and closing device comprising a guide rail fixed to the vehicle body and having a curved portion at the front that is curved toward the inside of the vehicle, a guide roller unit connected to a sliding door and having a roller that is fitted into the guide rail so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction, and a closing cable and an opening cable that can move along the guide rail by being driven by a drive device, with the respective cable ends of the closing cable and the opening cable connected to a bracket of the guide roller unit via a connecting holder.

[0003] With the above-described configuration, when the closing cable or the opening cable is pulled in the closing or opening direction by the drive device, the guide roller unit moves along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail, automatically opening and closing the sliding door in the closing or opening direction.

[0004] Normally, when the sliding door is fully closed, the guide roller unit passes through the curved portion of the guide rail and is pulled into the inside of the vehicle body so as to be flush with the side of the vehicle body. In this configuration, when the guide roller unit moves through the curved portion of the guide rail, more tension than necessary acts on the closing cable, especially due to the necessarily long routing path length of the closing cable. If more tension than necessary acts on the closing cable in this way, it may have an adverse effect on the smooth closing operation of the sliding door.

[0005] Therefore, in order to enable smooth opening and closing of the sliding door, it is necessary to minimize the change in the length of the routing path of the closing cable, regardless of whether the guide roller unit moves along the curved or straight portion of the guide rail. For this purpose, it is desirable to bring the routing path of the cable as close as possible to the vertical wall portion of the guide rail.

[0006] As a configuration capable of solving the above-mentioned problems, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a vehicle door opening and closing device equipped with a guide roller unit having a bracket for supporting the sliding door, which is arranged to straddle the guide rail and the sliding door, a sub-bracket attached to the bracket, a cable holder to which each end of an opening cable and a closing cable is connected and which is supported on the sub-bracket so as to be displaceable from a first position in which each cable is in an untensioned or weakly tensioned state to a second position displaced in the pulling direction of each cable, and a locking mechanism capable of locking the cable holder in the second position.

[0007] Each cable connected to the cable holder disclosed in Patent Document 2 is guided in the wiring direction by a guide groove formed in the cable holder so as to come as close as possible to the vertical wall portion of the guide rail. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3907105 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6815941 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] In the vehicle door opening and closing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the cables are routed as close as possible to the vertical wall of the guide rail, so that even when the guide roller unit passes through the curved portion of the guide rail, the change in the length of the route of each cable is minimized, and smooth operation can be achieved. However, in order to achieve this effect, in addition to the configuration in which the cable holder is rotatably supported by a sub-bracket formed separately from the bracket, a locking mechanism is provided that can lock the cable holder in a second position, which causes problems in that the configuration is complicated and the operation of connecting each cable to the guide roller unit is cumbersome.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVETION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door opening and closing device which has a simple configuration and enables a cable to be easily connected to a guide roller unit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] According to the present invention, the above problems are solved as follows. A vehicle door opening and closing device including a guide rail fixed to a vehicle body panel, having a generally U-shaped vertical section and a curved portion on either side of the longitudinal direction, a guide roller unit connected to a sliding door and assembled to the guide rail so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction, and a cable movable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail by the drive of a drive unit and connected to the guide roller unit, the guide roller unit having a bracket connected to the sliding door and a vertical shaft roller rotatably supported by the bracket by a vertical shaft and movable in the longitudinal direction within the guide rail, the cable being fixed to an end of the cable itself. the cable end is connected to the bracket via a cable holder by an end, one end of the cable end is fixed so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the end of the cable, and the cable holder has a bearing portion that is fitted to the vertical axis so as to be rotatable a predetermined angle, a holding portion that is located on a side away from the vertical wall portion of the guide rail than the vertical axis and holds the other end of the cable end, an arc-shaped guide groove that is located on a side closer to the vertical wall portion than the vertical axis and guides the end of the cable, and a stoppered portion that abuts against a stopper portion provided on the bracket so that the cable holder stops at a predetermined position.

[0012] Preferably, the cable end has a recess in approximately the center in the longitudinal direction thereof, the recess abutting against an outer circumferential surface of the bearing portion of the cable holder.

[0013] A vehicle door opening and closing device including a guide rail fixed to a vehicle body panel, having a generally U-shaped vertical section and a curved portion on either side of the longitudinal direction, a guide roller unit connected to a sliding door and assembled to the guide rail so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction, and a cable movable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail by the drive of a drive unit and connected to the guide roller unit. The guide roller unit includes a bracket connected to the sliding door, and a vertical shaft roller rotatably supported by the bracket by a vertical shaft and movable in the longitudinal direction within the guide rail. the cable is connected to the bracket via a cable holder by a cable end fixed to an end of the cable itself, and the cable holder is rotatably fitted onto the vertical axis and has a connecting portion to which the cable end is connected, located on a side farther away from the vertical wall portion of the guide rail than the vertical axis, an arc-shaped guide groove for guiding the end of the cable, located on a side closer to the vertical wall portion than the vertical axis, and a stopped portion that abuts against a stopper portion provided on the bracket so that the cable holder stops at a predetermined position.

[0014] Preferably, when a first quadrant to a fourth quadrant are defined by a two-dimensional coordinate system in which a center O of the vertical axis is defined as an origin, a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail passing through the origin O is defined as an x-axis, and a straight line passing through the origin O and perpendicular to the x-axis is defined as a y-axis, the connecting portion of the cable holder is located in the third or fourth quadrant, is continuous with a first end portion of the cable that extends directly from the cable end, and is in a forward direction. Record A second end of the guide rail, which is close to the vertical wall portion and extends forward, is located in the first quadrant and / or the second quadrant.

[0015] Preferably, the stopper portion abuts against the stopped portion so as to sandwich the stopped portion from above and below.

[0016] Preferably, the guide roller unit further includes a horizontal axis roller rotatably supported by the bracket via a horizontal axis, and a sub-bracket fixed to the bracket together with the horizontal axis, and the stopper portion is provided on the sub-bracket. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, the cable end is connected to a cable holder that is fitted to the vertical axis on which the vertical axis roller is supported so that it can be rotated a predetermined angle. This simplifies the configuration, allowing the cable end to be easily and reliably connected to the guide roller unit, and minimizing changes in the length of the cable routing path. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of a vehicle to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] 1 is a plan view of a vehicle door opening and closing device according to the present invention; [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a front view of the main part as seen in the direction of the arrow IV in FIG. 3. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a side view seen from the direction of arrow V in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the bracket with a part cut away. [Figure 7] 11A to 11C are perspective views of the main parts showing a procedure for connecting the cable and the cable holder. [Figure 8] 8 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 4. [Figure 9] 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 5. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a plan view of the closing cable holder. [Figure 11] 11 is a front view of the closing cable holder as seen in the direction of arrow XI in FIG. 10. [Figure 12]12 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. [Figure 13] 9 is a cross-sectional view of the same portion as in FIG. 8 in another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below, and includes appropriate modifications of the embodiment described below within the scope obvious to those skilled in the art.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle door opening and closing device 1 according to this embodiment is disposed inside a left-side body panel 4 of a small wagon-type vehicle 2, and automatically opens and closes a left-side sliding door 3 supported on the body panel 4 so as to be freely opened and closed in the fore-and-aft direction by driving a drive unit 11 described below. It should be noted that the directions described below refer to the directions when the vehicle door opening and closing device 1 is attached to the vehicle 2, unless otherwise specified.

[0021] The sliding door 3 is supported so as to be movable in the fore-and-aft direction by upper guide rails 5 and lower guide rails 6 facing in the fore-and-aft direction and arranged above and below the boarding / alighting opening provided on the side of the body panel 4, and by a center guide rail 7 facing in the fore-and-aft direction and fixed to the body panel 4 at the rear of the boarding / alighting opening, and moves from a fully closed position shown in Figure 1, in which the boarding / alighting opening is closed, to a fully open position (not shown) in which it moves slightly outward from the outer surface of the body panel 4 and rearward along the body panel 4, and vice versa.

[0022] A guide roller unit 8 supported on the center guide rail 7 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction (opening / closing direction) is attached to a portion of the sliding door 3 facing the center guide rail 7. Although not shown in detail, an upper guide roller unit 9 and a lower guide roller unit 10 supported on the upper guide rail 5 and the lower guide rail 6 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction are attached to portions of the sliding door 3 facing the upper guide rail 5 and the lower guide rail 6, respectively.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle door opening and closing device 1 includes the aforementioned center guide rail 7 fixed to the vehicle body panel 4, a drive unit 11 including a motor (not shown), a closing cable 12 extending forward from a housing 111 of the drive unit 11 and an opening cable 13 extending rearward, and the aforementioned guide roller unit 8 supported on the center guide rail 7 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and connected to the sliding door 3, and automatically opens and closes the sliding door 3 by the power output from the drive unit 11.

[0024] The drive unit 11 is configured by accommodating a motor (not shown), a speed reduction mechanism (not shown) that reduces the rotation speed of the motor and outputs it, and a rotating drum (not shown) that is connected to the speed reduction mechanism and can rotate forward and backward, inside a housing 111. Furthermore, a tensioner (not shown) that keeps the closing cable 12 and the opening cable 13 in a tensioned state is provided inside the housing 111.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2, the center guide rail 7 has a curved portion 71 at the front that curves toward the inside of the vehicle, and a straight portion 72 that extends rearward in a substantially straight line from the rear end of the curved portion 71. As shown in the vertical cross-sectional views of FIGS. 4 and 9, the center guide rail 7 has an approximately U-shaped vertical cross-section having a lower portion 7a, an upper portion 7b, and a vertical wall portion 7c that connects the lower portion 7a and the upper portion 7b to each other and is located on the outside of the vehicle.

[0026] The closing cable 12 is looped around a spiral groove provided on the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum so as to be capable of being fed out and wound in, and is led out from the front end by passing through a front flexible conduit 121 connected to the housing 111, and is also looped around a pulley 14 provided at the front end of the center guide rail 7, turns rearward, and is routed along the longitudinal direction of the center guide rail 7. A closing cable end 122 having a shape as shown in Fig. 7 is fixed to an end of the closing cable 12 extending rearward. The closing cable end 122 is connected to a movable bracket 18 (described later) of the guide roller unit 8 via a closing cable holder 25 (described later) of the guide roller unit 8.

[0027] As can be seen particularly from Figure 8, the closing cable end 122 has a shape that extends in a direction (inside / outside of the vehicle) whose longitudinal direction is approximately perpendicular to the axial direction (front-to-rear direction) of the closing cable 12, and one end 122a facing the inside of the vehicle is fixed to the terminal of the closing cable 12, the other end 122b facing the outside of the vehicle is held by a holding portion 25d of the closing cable holder 25, which will be described later, and an arc-shaped recess 122c provided in the longitudinal center is fitted into the outer peripheral surface of a bearing portion 25b of the closing cable holder 25, which will be described later, thereby connecting the closing cable end 122 to the cable holder 25.

[0028] The opening cable 13 is looped around the groove of the rotating drum so as to be capable of being fed out and wound in, and is led out from the rear end by being inserted through a rear flexible conduit 131 connected to the drive unit 11, and is also looped around a pulley 15 provided at the rear end of the center guide rail 7, where it is turned forward and arranged along the longitudinal direction of the center guide rail 7. A cylindrical opening cable end 132 is fixed to the end of the opening cable 13 extending forward. The opening cable end 132 is connected to the movable bracket 18 of the guide roller unit 8 via an opening cable holder 26 in the guide roller unit 8, which will be described later.

[0029] In this embodiment, the opening cable holder 26 is held at the rear of a sub-bracket 27 which is fixed to the movable bracket 18 by a horizontal shaft 24 which will be described later. The opening cable holder 26 is the same as the holder disclosed in Patent Document 1, and therefore a detailed description will be omitted. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the opening cable 13 may be connected to the movable bracket 18 using a similar configuration to that of the closing cable 12. In this case, the opening cable holder 26 to which the cable end of the opening cable 13 is connected may be 26 is fitted to the lower part of the rear vertical shaft 20.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3 in particular, the guide roller unit 8 includes a fixed bracket 16 connected to the sliding door 3 by a bolt (not shown), a movable bracket 18 rotatably connected to the fixed bracket 16 by a connecting shaft 17 facing in the vertical direction, and a movable bracket 18 the movable bracket 18 is provided with: two front and rear vertical shaft rollers 21, 22 that are rotatably supported by front and rear vertical shafts 19, 20, respectively, on the folded horizontal portion 18a of the movable bracket 18 and are fitted within the center guide rail 7 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction; a horizontal shaft roller 24 that is located between the front and rear vertical shaft rollers 21, 22 and is rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft 23 on the folded vertical portion 18b of the movable bracket 18 and can roll in the longitudinal direction on the lower portion 7a of the center guide rail 7; a closing cable holder 25 to which the closing cable end 122 is connected; an opening cable holder 26 to which the opening cable end 132 is connected; and a sub-bracket 27 that is fixed to the side of the folded vertical portion 18b by the horizontal shaft 23.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 2, when the sliding door 3 is closed from the fully open position, both brackets 16, 18 of the guide roller unit 8 move from a fully open position A shown by an imaginary line located at the rear end of the straight portion 72 of the center guide rail 7, via a curved position B shown by a solid line located at the curved portion 71, to a fully closed position C shown by an imaginary line. Conversely, when the sliding door 3 is opened from the fully closed position, they move in the opposite direction, from the fully closed position C to the fully open position A via the curved position B.

[0032] As shown particularly in Figures 10 to 12, the closing cable holder 25 has a flange portion 25a that is approximately circular in plan view, a cylindrical bearing portion 25b located in the center of the flange portion 25a and fitted onto the lower part of the front vertical shaft 19 so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle, an arc-shaped guide groove 25c that guides the end portion 12a of the closing cable 12 (the portion extending forward from one end portion 122a of the closing cable end 122) forward, a holding portion 25d that holds the other end portion 122b of the closing cable end 122, and a stoppered portion 25e that abuts against the movable bracket 18 in the counterclockwise direction in Figure 8, thereby restricting the rotation of the closing cable holder 25 and stopping it at the correct position, and is connected to the movable bracket 18 by fitting the lower part of the vertical shaft 19 into the bearing portion 25b.

[0033] The guide groove 25c is located on the vehicle interior side of the vertical axis 19, i.e., on the side closer to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7, and is provided around the outer peripheral surface of the bearing portion 25b, and is provided on the outer peripheral surface of an arc-shaped guide portion 25f having a predetermined length in the circumferential direction (approximately 1 / 3 of the circumferential length of the flange portion 25a).

[0034] The holding portion 25d is located on the outside of the vehicle relative to the vertical axis 19, i.e., at a position away from the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7, and has an approximately C-shaped vertical cross section with an arc-shaped opening at the front so that the closing cable end 122 can be fitted into it from the counterclockwise direction centered on the bearing portion 25b, and holds the closing cable end 122 by clamping the other end 122b of the closing cable end 122 from above and below.

[0035] The stoppered portion 25e is provided on the back surface (rear surface) of the holding portion 25d. The stoppered portion 27a is at the front end of the sub-bracket 27, and is formed in a concave shape so that the front side facing the stoppered portion 25e is open, as shown in FIG.

[0036] When the closing cable end 122 is connected to the movable bracket 18 via the closing cable holder 25, one end 122a of the closing cable end 122 is positioned closer to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7 than the vertical axis 19, and the other end 122b is positioned away from the vertical wall portion 7c than the vertical axis 19, and the recess 122c fits into the outer peripheral surface facing rearward of the bearing portion 25b.

[0037] As described above, by connecting the closing cable end 122 to the vertical shaft 19 of the guide roller unit 8 via the closing cable holder 25, for example, as shown in Fig. 8, when the guide roller unit 8 is in curved position B, one end 122a of the closing cable end 122 is located closer to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7 than the vertical shaft 19, so that the closing cable 12 approaches or comes into contact with the vertical wall portion 7c of the curved portion 71 of the center guide rail 7, thereby minimizing changes in the routing path length of the closing cable 12. This enables the sliding door 3 to be opened and closed automatically smoothly.

[0038] In addition, the closing cable holder 25 is a bearing part 25b is rotatably fitted to the vertical shaft 19, and a stoppered portion 25e provided on the back surface of the holding portion 25d abuts against a stopper portion 27a provided on the sub-bracket 27 in the counterclockwise direction about the vertical shaft 19, so that the stoppered portion 25e abuts against the stopper portion 27a and receives the load in the pulling direction from the closing cable 12. In a state in which the stoppered portion 25e abuts against the stopper portion 27a, the holding portion 25d of the closing cable holder 25 is sandwiched from above and below by the stopper portions 27a, so that unnecessary vertical movement of the closing cable holder 25 and the closing cable end 122 is reliably suppressed.

[0039] Next, a connection procedure for connecting the closing cable end 122 to the movable bracket 18 will be described. 7, the closing cable end 122 is pushed from above into the closing cable holder 25 not yet attached to the movable bracket 18. Next, as shown in state B, the closing cable holder 25 is rotated in the direction of the arrow (clockwise) while fitting the recess 122c of the closing cable end 122 into the outer periphery of the bearing portion 25b of the closing cable holder 25, and the other end portion 122b of the closing cable end 122 is fitted into the holding portion 25d of the closing cable holder 25, as shown in state C. As a result, the closing cable holder 25 is connected to the closing cable end 122.

[0040] Next, with the lower part of the front vertical shaft 19 slightly fitted into the bearing portion 25b of the closing cable holder 25, the closing cable holder 25 is rotated in the direction of the arrow (clockwise) against the biasing force of the tensioner provided in the drive unit 11 until it is completely fitted into the vertical shaft 19. As a result, the closing cable holder 25 fitted into the vertical shaft 19 rotates in the opposite direction (counterclockwise) to the arrow shown in state C due to the tension of the tensioner acting on the closing cable 12, and as shown in Fig. 8, the stopped portion 25e comes into contact with the stopper portion 27a, so that the closing cable holder 25 is stopped and held in the correct position.

[0041] Preferably, after fitting the closing cable holder 25 to the vertical shaft 19, a retaining member 191 such as an E washer is fitted to the lower end of the vertical shaft 19, as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 9. In this way, the closing cable holder 25 can be reliably connected to the vertical shaft 19.

[0042] The connection of the closing cable 12 to the movable bracket 18 is preferably performed after the opening cable 13 is connected to the movable bracket 18. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the connection of the closing cable 12 to the movable bracket 18 may be performed before the opening cable 13 is connected to the movable bracket 18.

[0043] Next, the operation of the vehicle door opening and closing device 1 will be described. When the motor of the drive unit 11 is driven and the rotating drum rotates in the open direction via the reduction mechanism, the opening cable 13 is wound around the rotating drum and the closing cable 12 is sent out from the rotating drum. As a result, the guide roller unit 8 moves backward as the opening cable 13 is pulled. Accordingly, the sliding door 3 moves from the fully closed position C in the open direction, passes through the curved position B, and finally moves to the fully open position A where it stops.

[0044] When the rotating drum is rotated in the closing direction via the reduction mechanism by the drive of the motor of the drive unit 11, the closing cable 12 is wound around the rotating drum, and the opening cable 13 is sent out from the rotating drum. As a result, the guide roller unit 8 moves forward by pulling the closing cable 12. Accordingly, the sliding door 3 moves in the closing direction from the fully open position A, passes through the curved position B, and finally moves to the fully closed position C where it stops.

[0045] 8, when the guide roller unit 8 passes through the curved position B, the closing cable 12 is led out obliquely forward from a position closer to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7 than the vertical shaft 19 supporting the vertical shaft roller 21, so as to follow the curved shape of the curved portion 71. Therefore, by minimizing the change in the routing path length of the closing cable 12 between when the guide roller unit 8 is in the straight portion 72 and when it is in the curved portion 71, a smooth closing operation of the sliding door 3 can be obtained.

[0046] Furthermore, the recess 122c of the closing cable end 122 is supported by the bearing portion of the closing cable holder 25 against the tensile force of the closing cable 12 acting on the closing cable end 122. 25bThe first end 122a abuts against the vertical shaft 19 via the stopper portion 25e of the closing cable holder 25, and the other end 122b abuts against the stopper portion 27a of the sub-bracket 27 via the stopped portion 25e of the closing cable holder 25, thereby ensuring that the tensile force of the closing cable 12 is transmitted to the guide roller unit 8.

[0047] Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The closing cable holder 28 and the closing cable end 123 in this embodiment have configurations different from those of the closing cable holder 25 and the closing cable end 122 in the above embodiment.

[0048] The closing cable holder 28 is connected to the vertical shaft 19 by relatively rotatably fitting the lower part of the vertical shaft 19 into the central hole 28a, and a stopped portion 28b provided at a portion located on the side farther from the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7 than the vertical shaft 19 abuts against the stopper portion 18c provided on the movable bracket 18 from the counterclockwise side, thereby restricting counterclockwise rotation and holding it in the correct position. Note that, as in the above embodiment, the stopper portion 18c provided on the movable bracket 18 has a shape that sandwiches the stopped portion 28b from above and below when the stopped portion 28b abuts against it.

[0049] Furthermore, the closing cable holder 28 has an arc-shaped guide groove 28c on its outer surface that guides the closing cable 12 forward on the inside of the vehicle relative to the vertical axis 19, i.e., the side closer to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7, and a connecting portion 28d that is provided on the outside of the vehicle relative to the vertical axis 19, i.e., the side away from the vertical wall portion 7c.

[0050] The closing cable end 123 has a cylindrical shape facing the up-down direction and is fixed to an end of the closing cable 12 and is connected to the connecting portion 28d of the closing cable holder 28. When the closing cable end 123 is connected to the vertical shaft 19 via the closing cable holder 28, the closing cable end 123 is located on the outer side of the vehicle than the vertical shaft 19, and the end portion 12a of the closing cable 12 is wrapped around the guide groove 28c approximately half a turn and is led out forward from a position closer to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7 than the vertical shaft 19.

[0051] That is, if the first to fourth quadrants are defined by a two-dimensional coordinate system with the origin O as the origin, the x-axis being a straight line in the front-rear direction passing through the origin O, the y-axis being a straight line in the interior-exterior direction passing through the origin O and perpendicular to the x-axis, the rear direction being the positive direction on the x-axis, and the direction toward the interior of the vehicle being the positive direction on the y-axis, the closing cable end 123, i.e., the connection point to the closing cable holder 28, is located in the fourth quadrant, and the first end 12b of the closing cable 12 that extends directly from the cable end 123 is located in the fourth quadrant. 12b The second end 12c, which is continuous with the first end 12a and extends forward close to the vertical wall portion 7c of the center guide rail 7, is located in the first quadrant. Note that in this embodiment, the second end 12c is located in the first quadrant, but instead, the second end 12c may be located in the first quadrant and / or the second quadrant.

[0052] As a result, with the connection point being located in the fourth quadrant, the first end 12b of the closing cable 12 is wound diagonally backward in the vehicle interior as shown by the arrow a in Fig. 13, and then the second end 12c changes direction as shown by the arrow b and is led out diagonally forward in the vehicle interior, so that the closing cable 12 is wound widely around the guide groove 28c of the closing cable holder 28, increasing the contact surface between the closing cable 12 and the closing cable holder 28. This makes it possible to reliably connect the closing cable 12 to the closing cable holder 28, and also to stably connect the closing cable holder 28 to the vertical shaft 19, thereby improving durability.

[0053] The operation of connecting the closing cable 12 to the guide roller unit 8 is carried out in a procedure substantially similar to that of the above embodiment. That is, first, the closing cable end 123 is fitted and connected to the connecting portion 28d of the closing cable holder 28 that is not yet attached to the movable bracket 18. Next, in a state where the end portion 122a of the closing cable end 122 is wound around the guide groove 28c of the closing cable holder 28, 28 With the lower part of the front vertical shaft 19 slightly fitted into the central hole 28a, the closing cable holder 28 is rotated in the pulling direction (clockwise) against the tension of the tensioner provided in the drive unit 11 until it is completely fitted into the vertical shaft 19. As a result, the closing cable holder 28 fitted into the vertical shaft 19 is pulled by the biasing force of the tensioner acting on the closing cable 12 and rotates counterclockwise, and finally the stopped portion 28b comes into contact with the stopper portion 18c, so that the closing cable holder 28 is held in the correct position.

[0054] 13, the connecting point is set to the fourth quadrant of the two-dimensional coordinate system, but it may be set to the third quadrant instead. In this case, the same effect as when the connecting point is set to the fourth quadrant is obtained. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1 Vehicle door opening and closing device 2 Vehicle 3 Sliding door 4 Body panel 5 Upper guide rail 6 Lower guide rail 7 Center guide rail 7a Lower part 7b Upper part 7c Vertical wall part 71 Curved section 72 Straight section 8 Guide roller unit 9 Upper guide roller unit 10 Lower guide roller unit 11 Drive unit 111 Housing 12 Closing cable 12a End 12b First end 12c Second end 121 Conduit 122 Closing cable end 122a One end 122b other end 122c recess 123 Closed cable end 13 Open cable 131 Conduit 132 Open cable end 14, 15 Pulley 16 Fixing bracket 17 Connecting shaft 18 Movable bracket 18a Horizontal bent part 18b Vertical bent part 18c Stopper part 19, 20 vertical axis 21, 22 Vertical shaft rollers 23 Horizontal shaft 24 Horizontal axis roller 25 Closing cable holder 25a Flange 25b Bearing 25c Guide groove 25d Holding part 25e Stoppered portion 25f Guide portion 26 Open cable holder 27 Sub bracket 27a Stopper part 28 Closing cable holder 28a Center hole 28b Stopped part 28c Guide groove 28d Connection part

Claims

1. A guide rail that is fixed to a vehicle body panel, has a generally U-shaped vertical cross section, and has a curved portion on either side of the longitudinal direction; A guide roller unit that is connected to the sliding door and is assembled to the guide rail so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction; a cable that is movable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail by being driven by a drive unit and is connected to the guide roller unit, The guide roller unit includes a bracket connected to the sliding door, and a vertical shaft roller rotatably supported by the bracket via a vertical shaft and movable in the longitudinal direction within the guide rail. The cable is connected to the bracket via a cable holder with a cable end fixed to an end of the cable, The cable end has one end fixed so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the end of the cable, the cable holder comprises a bearing portion that is fitted onto the vertical shaft so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle; a holding portion that is located on a side farther from the vertical shaft than the vertical shaft and that holds the other end of the cable end; an arc-shaped guide groove that is located on a side closer to the vertical wall portion than the vertical shaft and that guides the end of the cable; and a stoppered portion that abuts against a stopper portion provided on the bracket so that the cable holder stops at a predetermined position.

2. 2. The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein the cable end has a recess in a substantially central portion in a longitudinal direction thereof, the recess abutting against an outer peripheral surface of the bearing portion of the cable holder.

3. A guide rail that is fixed to a vehicle body panel, has a generally U-shaped vertical cross section, and has a curved portion on either side of the longitudinal direction; A guide roller unit that is connected to the sliding door and is assembled to the guide rail so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction; a cable that is movable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail by being driven by a drive unit and is connected to the guide roller unit, The guide roller unit includes a bracket connected to the sliding door, and a vertical shaft roller rotatably supported by the bracket via a vertical shaft and movable in the longitudinal direction within the guide rail. The cable is connected to the bracket via a cable holder with a cable end fixed to an end of the cable, the cable holder is rotatably fitted onto the vertical shaft, and has a connecting portion to which the cable end is connected, located on a side farther from the vertical wall portion of the guide rail than the vertical shaft, an arc-shaped guide groove for guiding the end of the cable, located on a side closer to the vertical wall portion than the vertical shaft, and a stopped portion that abuts against a stopper portion provided on the bracket so that the cable holder stops at a predetermined position.

4. 4. The vehicle door opening and closing device of claim 3, wherein when the first to fourth quadrants are defined by a two-dimensional coordinate system having a center O of the vertical axis as the origin, a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail passing through the origin O as the x-axis, and a straight line passing through the origin O and perpendicular to the x-axis as the y-axis, the connecting portion of the cable holder is located in the third or fourth quadrant, and a second end of the cable that is continuous with a first end that extends directly from the cable end and extends forward close to the vertical wall portion of the guide rail is located in the first and / or second quadrant.

5. 5. The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper portion abuts against the stopped portion so as to sandwich the stopped portion from above and below.

6. According to any one of claims 1 to 5, the guide roller unit further includes a horizontal shaft roller rotatably supported by the bracket via a horizontal shaft, and a sub-bracket fixed to the bracket together with the horizontal shaft, A vehicle door opening and closing device, wherein the stopper portion is provided on the sub-bracket.

Images