Door support device

Abstract

To provide a door support device capable of supporting a door accurately at different height positions.SOLUTION: A door support device that tentatively supports a door at a time of attaching or detaching the door to or from a vehicle body includes: a support part 1 that supports the door in a predetermined posture; a lift mechanism 2 that raises or lowers the support part; a stopper 6 that is fixed to a predetermined position in a height direction and whose upper surface or lower surface serves as an abutting surface; and plural rise / fall restricting parts 10 that are attached to the support part, are raised or lowered together with the support part, and abut on the abutting surface of the stopper 6 at a predetermined rise / fall position so as to restrict a rise / fall motion of the support part, and whose restriction height positions are mutually different; and a restriction releasing mechanism 9 that can release abutting of the plural rise / fall restricting parts 10 against the stopper 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a door support device, and more particularly to a door support device that temporarily supports a door when attaching or detaching the door to or from a vehicle body. [Background technology]

[0002] In the mass production process of vehicle bodies (vehicles), doors (unpainted) are first attached to the vehicle body, then removed after painting, and the interior and the door itself are outfitted, and the door is then reattached. During this door installation and removal process, the door is generally temporarily supported by a door support device along the vehicle body movement line.

[0003] An example of such a door support device is described in Patent Document 1 below. This door support device supports the lower end of a door from below with a hanger, and the supported door can be raised and lowered together with the hanger by a lifting mechanism. This lifting mechanism is configured with a link mechanism and an electric cylinder, and raises and lowers the door and hanger by raising and lowering a lifting frame from which the hanger is suspended. In this lifting structure, the hanger and door are raised by operating the electric cylinder to raise the lifting frame, and when a stop fitting attached to the hanger abuts against the vehicle body, the electric cylinder stops and the door is held at that height. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 60-135383 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, even for doors of the same type, the mounting height may vary depending on the vehicle (model). Furthermore, when a single door support device is used for different types of doors, it may be necessary to change the support height for each door. Existing door support devices, including the above-described door support device, are configured to change the height of the supported door. Currently, for example, a target mark corresponding to the target door height is provided near the door support device, and the door is stopped at a height where a mark on a lifting member, such as a hanger that is raised and lowered together with the door, matches the target mark. Therefore, when the target door heights are different, multiple target marks corresponding to the respective heights are provided, and the door is stopped at a height where a mark on the lifting member matches the corresponding target mark.

[0006] In recent years, due to improvements in vehicle quality, extremely high precision is required for installing doors at a predetermined height. Furthermore, vehicle doors are generally attached to the vehicle body via hinges. Even a slight misalignment between the screw member used to attach the hinge to the vehicle body and the screw hole in the vehicle body can cause so-called thread galling, resulting in a deterioration in quality. For this reason, mass-produced vehicle body manufacturing processes require the ability to support doors at target heights with high precision, even when the target heights vary. However, matching marks by visual inspection alone is not enough to support doors at such precise heights. In other words, there is a need for a door support device that can accurately support doors at each height, even when the heights vary.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a door support device that can accurately temporarily support a door at different height positions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To achieve the above object, a door support device is provided. A door support device that temporarily supports a door when attaching or detaching it from a vehicle body, The door is characterized by comprising a support part that supports the door in a predetermined position, a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the support part, a stopper that is fixed at a predetermined position in the height direction and whose upper or lower surface forms an abutment surface, a plurality of lifting and lowering regulating parts that are attached to the support part and raised and lowered together with the support part, and that abut against the abutment surface of the stopper at predetermined lifting and lowering positions to regulate the lifting and lowering movement of the support part, each of which has a different regulating height position, and a regulating release mechanism that can release each of the plurality of lifting and lowering regulating parts from abutting against the stopper.

[0009] According to this configuration, when the lift-and-lowering restricting part abuts against the stopper fixed at a predetermined height when the support part supporting the door is raised or lowered, the lift-and-lowering movement of the support part is restricted at that height. In this case, the height positions restricted by the multiple lift-and-lowering restricting parts are individually set according to the multiple predetermined height positions of the door, and the restriction release mechanism releases the abutment of the lift-and-lowering restricting part other than the lift-and-lowering restricting part that restricts the predetermined height position required for the door from the stopper, thereby restricting the door at the predetermined height position. Therefore, even if the door is at a different height position, it can be raised and lowered to that position accurately and supported.

[0010] The lifting / lowering regulating section further comprises a rod-shaped member extending in the vertical direction, connected to the support section, and inserted into a through hole section penetrating the upper and lower surfaces of the stopper; and a regulating body attached to the rod-shaped member so as to abut against the abutment surface of the stopper at the regulating height position, and having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the through hole section, and the regulating release mechanism is characterized by comprising a connection position displacement mechanism that displaces the connection position of the rod-shaped member with the support section upward or downward to a position where the abutment between the regulating body and the stopper is released.

[0011] With this configuration, when the rod-shaped member is raised or lowered together with the support part, the restricting body attached to the rod-shaped member abuts against the stopper, restricting the raising or lowering movement of the support part. Furthermore, by displacing the connection position between the rod-shaped member and the support part upward or downward, the abutment between the restricting body and the stopper is released. Therefore, it is possible to easily configure the raising or lowering restricting part and the restriction release mechanism.

[0012] The lifting mechanism is also characterized in that it has a cylinder device whose piston rod extends in the vertical direction, the support part is attached to the piston rod so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction, and the stopper is provided so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction along the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder device.

[0013] With this configuration, the door that is attached to and detached from the vehicle body only needs to maintain a constant posture in a vertical plane, but its orientation in a plan view needs to be changed in various ways. However, by attaching the support part that supports the door to the piston rod that extends up and down of the cylinder device so that it can rotate horizontally, the door can be rotated horizontally together with the support part to change the orientation of the door. Furthermore, by making the stopper rotatable horizontally along the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder device, the lift-down regulating part, which includes the stopper, rod-shaped member, and regulating body, rotates together with the horizontal rotation of the support part that accompanies a change in the orientation of the door, so that the height position of the door can be regulated with high precision regardless of the orientation of the door. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] As described above, according to the present invention, by using a plurality of lift-up restricting units that each contact a stopper at different heights to restrict the movement of the door while the door is being raised or lowered, and a restricting release mechanism that can individually release the contact of each lift-up restricting unit with the stopper, the door can be restricted only at the height restricted by the selected lift-up restricting unit during lift-up or lowering, thereby accurately supporting the door at different heights. This eliminates the need for complicated and time-consuming work such as visually adjusting the door height. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a door support device of the present invention; [Figure 2] 2 is an overall view illustrating the operation of the door support device of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a perspective view of a stopper and a restricting structure in the door support device of FIG. 1. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] An embodiment of a door support device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the door support device of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the door support device of FIG. 1. Note that the diagram is a schematic view, and for example, the actual shape of the door D shown in the figure is more complex. The door support device of this embodiment is used in a mass-produced vehicle body manufacturing process. In the door support device of this embodiment, a hanger 1 formed by connecting metal rods is used as a support part for supporting the door D. A claw portion 1a provided on this hanger 1 is inserted into a hole H opened in the door D, and the claw portion 1a engages with the upper edge of the hole H to support the door D so as to hang it. The door support form of the hanger 1 can be set in various ways depending on the form of the door D to be supported. For example, a form in which the door D is hung or a form in which the door D is supported from below can be used. In this embodiment, the door D supported by the hanger 1 is maintained in a fixed position in a vertical plane. Furthermore, an existing hanger 1 can be used as this hanger 1.

[0017] An air cylinder (cylinder device) 2 is disposed above the hanger 1 as a lifting mechanism. The air cylinder 2 is suspended from an upper rail member (not shown) installed on the ceiling or other surface so that its piston rod 3 extends vertically and moves along the direction of the upper rail member. The hanger 1 is attached to the lower end of the piston rod 3 of the air cylinder 2 so as to be freely rotatable horizontally. In this attachment structure, a cylindrical member 4 having a vertical axis is integrally attached to the upper end of the hanger 1. The cylindrical member 4 is housed in a cylindrical housing portion within a cylindrical housing member 5 with upper and lower bottoms attached to the lower end of the piston rod 3. A bearing (not shown) is interposed between the lower surface of the cylindrical member 4 and the bottom of the housing portion 5a, allowing the hanger 1 to be rotatable horizontally relative to the piston rod 3, i.e., the air cylinder 2. By extending and retracting the piston rod 3, the door D can be raised and lowered together with the hanger 1. The housing member 5 is also attached to the piston rod 3 of the air cylinder 2 so as to be freely rotatable horizontally.

[0018] In this embodiment, the cylinder body 2a of the air cylinder 2 is cylindrical, and a disk-shaped stopper 6 is attached to the outside of the cylinder body 2a so as to be freely rotatable in the horizontal direction. The stopper 6 is made, for example, of a lightweight, sturdy metal plate member, and its upper surface serves as an abutment surface against which an internally threaded member (regulator) 11 of the lift-down regulation unit (described later) abuts. As shown in FIG. 3 , the stopper 6 has a circular through-hole 6a formed in its center, through which the cylinder body 2a of the air cylinder 2 is inserted. A bearing (not shown) is interposed between the stopper 6 and the cylinder body 2a, allowing for horizontal rotation. The stopper 6 has multiple through-holes 7 (two in the figure) penetrating the top and bottom surfaces. Fully threaded members 10 of the lift-down regulation unit (described later) are inserted through these through-holes 7. Although the through-holes 7 are elongated in the figure, they may also be circular. The number of through-holes 7 may be determined depending on the number of lift-down regulation units. The outer shape of the stopper 6 does not have to be circular.

[0019] Connecting members 8 are provided on both diametrically opposite sides of the cylindrical housing member 5, respectively, to protrude horizontally. The lower ends of fully threaded members (rod-shaped members) 10, which extend vertically, are connected to the connecting members 8 via toggle clamps 9, which serve as a connection position displacement mechanism. Specifically, the fully threaded members 10 protrude upward from the hanger 1, which serves as a support, via the connecting members 8. Each fully threaded member 10 has a male thread formed along its entire length, and its upper portion is inserted into each of the through holes 7 of the stopper 6. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 , a female threaded member (nut) 11, which serves as a restricting body, is attached and fixed to the upper portion of the fully threaded member 10 at a position above the portion that passes through the through hole 7 of the stopper 6. The female threaded member 11 abuts against the upper surface (abutment surface) of the stopper 6 when the door D and the hanger 1 are lowered, restricting their movement (up-and-down movement). Therefore, its outer diameter must be larger than the inner diameter of the through hole 7. Therefore, the fully threaded member 10 constituting the rod-shaped member and the female threaded member 11 constituting the regulating body constitute the elevation regulating section. In the figure, one female threaded member 11 is attached and fixed to one fully threaded member 10, but, for example, when fixing the female threaded member 11, it is also possible to form a so-called double nut by abutting and screwing two female threaded members 11 together. If two female threaded members 11 are screwed together in this way to form a double nut, each female threaded member 11 can be moved in the axial direction of the fully threaded member 10 by loosening one of them, which makes it possible to change or adjust the attachment position of the female threaded member 11.

[0020] The toggle clamp 9 used as the coupling position displacement mechanism is also called a clamping device. For example, when the lever 9b is rotated to rotate the arm 9a to the clamping position, a toggle mechanism fixes the arm 9a so that it does not return to its original position. This arm 9a can also be configured to clamp a workpiece. In this embodiment, the lever 9b is rotated within the vertical plane of the figure, causing the arm 9a to rotate up and down within the vertical plane of the figure. Specifically, a toggle clamp 9 is used in which, for example, when the lever 9b is facing upward, the arm 9a faces horizontally (clamped state) as shown on the left side of Figure 1, and when the lever 9b is facing diagonally upward, the arm 9a faces upward (amplump state) as shown on the right side of Figure 1. The lower end of the fully threaded member (rod-shaped member) 10 is rotatably connected to the arm portion 9a of this toggle clamp 9, and as a result, by operating the lever portion 9b of the toggle clamp 9, the connection position of the fully threaded member 10 with the accommodating member 5, in other words, the connection position of the fully threaded member 10 with the hanger 1, can be displaced in the vertical direction.

[0021] As a result, when the lever portion 9b is shifted from a clamped state in which the lever portion 9b faces upward, as in the toggle clamp 9 on the left side of FIG. 1, to an unclamped state in which the lever portion 9b faces diagonally upward, as shown on the left side of FIG. 2, the female screw member 11 moves upward together with the fully threaded member 10. In this embodiment, as described above, when the door D supported by the hanger 1 is lowered together with the hanger 1, the restricting body abuts against the upper surface of the stopper 6, restricting further descent, and the door D is stopped at that height position. At that time, when the coupling position displacement mechanism formed by the toggle clamp 9 is set in the unclamped state and the female screw member (restricting body) 11 is moved upward, the female screw member 11 no longer abuts against the upper surface of the stopper 6. This releases the restriction on the descent of the door D. Therefore, the coupling position displacement mechanism formed by the toggle clamp 9 constitutes a restriction release mechanism. Note that the coupling position displacement mechanism vertically displaces the coupling position of the fully threaded member 10 with the hanger 1, and various coupling position displacement mechanisms can be used instead of the toggle clamp 9.

[0022] In this embodiment, the two fully threaded members 10 are set to have the same length, and the left female threaded member 11 in FIG. 1 is attached and fixed at a lower height than the right female threaded member 11 at the upper ends of these fully threaded members 10 of equal length. Therefore, if the heights of the lower ends of the two fully threaded members 10, i.e., the heights of the connection positions with the hanger 1, are the same, when the hanger 1 and door D are lowered, only the left female threaded member 11 in FIG. 1 abuts against the upper surface of the stopper 6, restricting further descent, and the door D is held at a height position where the left female threaded member 11 in FIG. 1 abuts against the upper surface of the stopper 6. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the left toggle clamp 9 is in a clamped state and the right toggle clamp 9 is in an unclamped state, and the right fully threaded member 10 is moved higher than the left fully threaded member 10. As a result, only the female threaded member 11 attached and fixed to the left fully threaded member 10 abuts against the upper surface of the stopper 6, and the door D is held at that height position.

[0023] On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows a state in which the right toggle clamp 9 is in a clamped state and the left toggle clamp 9 is in an unclamped state, with the left fully threaded member 10 moved above the right fully threaded member 10. When the connection position between the fully threaded member 10 and the hanger 1 is displaced by the connection position displacement mechanism in this manner, when the door D descends, only the right female threaded member 11 in FIG. 2 abuts against the top surface of the stopper 6, restricting further descent. Therefore, the door D is stopped at a height position where the right female threaded member 11 abuts against the top surface of the stopper 6. In each of the cases shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the height position at which the door D is stopped is uniquely determined depending on the height position of the female threaded member 11 from the hanger 1, because the stopper 6 (top surface position) is set at a fixed height. Therefore, the door D can be accurately supported at different height positions in each case.

[0024] In this way, in the door support device of this embodiment, when the hanger 1 supporting the door D is raised or lowered relative to the stopper 6 fixed at a predetermined height, the female screw member 11, which is the lift-and-lowering restricting portion, abuts against the upper surface (abutment surface) of the stopper 6, and the lift-and-lowering movement of the hanger 1 is restricted at that height. At this time, the height positions restricted by the plurality of female screw members 11 are individually set according to the predetermined height positions of the plurality of doors D, and the toggle clamp (restriction release mechanism) 9 is used to release the abutment of the female screw members 11 other than the female screw member 11 that restricts the predetermined height position required for the door D with the stopper 6, thereby stopping the door D at the predetermined height position. Therefore, even if the door D is at a different height position, it can be raised or lowered to that position and accurately supported.

[0025] In addition, the female screw member 11 attached and fixed to the fully threaded member 10 abuts against the stopper 6, restricting the raising and lowering of the door D, but the abutment between the female screw member 11 and the stopper 6 can be released simply by displacing the connection position between the fully threaded member 10 and the hanger 1 upward using the toggle clamp 9.

[0026] Furthermore, the door D that is attached to and detached from the vehicle body only needs to maintain a constant posture in a vertical plane, but its orientation in a plan view needs to be changed in various ways. However, by attaching the hanger 1 that supports the door D to the piston rod 3 that extends vertically of the air cylinder 2 so that it can rotate horizontally, the door D can be rotated horizontally together with the hanger 1 to change the orientation of the door D. By making the stopper 6 rotatable horizontally along the outer circumferential surface of the air cylinder 2, the lift-down regulating unit 6, which is composed of the stopper 6, the fully threaded member 10, and the female threaded member 11, rotates together with the horizontal rotation of the hanger 1 that accompanies a change in the orientation of the door D, so that the height position of the door D can be regulated with high precision regardless of the orientation of the door D.

[0027] Although the door support device according to the embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the door D to be supported is set to two different height positions, but these different height positions may be three or more. In that case, it is sufficient to provide as many lifting and lowering restriction units as the number of different height positions of the door D to be supported, and to provide each of them with a restriction release mechanism (for example, a connection position displacement mechanism).

[0028] Moreover, various rod-shaped members can be used in place of the fully threaded member 10, and various restricting bodies can be used in place of the female threaded member 11.

[0029] Furthermore, the restriction release mechanism that releases the contact with the stopper 6 of the restriction structure is configured as a connection position displacement mechanism made up of a toggle clamp 9, but the connection position displacement mechanism may be configured as something other than the toggle clamp 9. Furthermore, a configuration other than a connection position displacement mechanism that displaces the connection position of the rod-shaped member with the hanger (support portion) 1 in the vertical direction may be used for the restriction release mechanism.

[0030] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when the door D and the hanger (support part) 1 descend, the female screw member 11 (regulating body) abuts against the upper surface of the stopper 6, thereby restricting further descent. However, conversely, when the door D and the support part rise, the regulating body can also abut against the lower surface of the stopper 6, thereby restricting further rise. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1 Hanger (support part) 2 Air cylinder (cylinder device) 3 Piston rod 6 Stopper 7 through holes 9 Toggle clamp (connection position displacement mechanism, restriction release mechanism) 10 Fully threaded member (rod-shaped member, lifting control part) 11 Female screw member (regulating body, lift regulating part) D-door

Claims

1. A door support device that temporarily supports a door when attaching or detaching it from a vehicle body, a support portion that supports the door in a predetermined position; a lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the support portion; a stopper fixed to a predetermined position in the height direction so as not to be movable up and down, the upper surface or the lower surface of which constitutes an abutment surface; a plurality of lifting / lowering regulating parts attached to the support part, raised and lowered together with the support part, and abutting against the abutment surface of the stopper at predetermined lifting / lowering positions to regulate the lifting / lowering movement of the support part, the lifting / lowering regulating parts having different regulating height positions; a restriction release mechanism that can release each of the plurality of lift restriction parts from contact with the stopper.

2. A door support device that temporarily supports a door when attaching or detaching it from a vehicle body, a support portion that supports the door in a predetermined position; a lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the support portion; a stopper fixed at a predetermined position in the height direction and having an upper surface or a lower surface that constitutes an abutment surface; a plurality of lifting / lowering regulating parts attached to the support part, raised and lowered together with the support part, and abutting against the abutment surface of the stopper at predetermined lifting / lowering positions to regulate the lifting / lowering movement of the support part, the lifting / lowering regulating parts having different regulating height positions; a restriction release mechanism capable of releasing each of the plurality of lift restriction parts from contact with the stopper, The lifting regulation unit is a rod-shaped member extending in the vertical direction, connected to the support portion, and inserted into a through-hole portion that penetrates the upper and lower surfaces of the stopper; a restricting body attached to the rod-shaped member so as to abut against an abutting surface of the stopper at the restricting height position, the restricting body having an outer diameter larger than an inner diameter of the through-hole portion, The door support device is characterized in that the restriction release mechanism is equipped with a connection position displacement mechanism that displaces the connection position between the rod-shaped member and the support portion upward or downward to a position where the contact between the restriction body and the stopper is released.

3. the lifting mechanism has a cylinder device with a piston rod that extends in the vertical direction; the support portion is attached to the piston rod so as to be rotatable in a horizontal direction; 3. The door support device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper is provided so as to be rotatable in a horizontal direction along an outer peripheral surface of the cylinder device.

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