Window Regulator Pulley Groove Structure for Reliable Wire Winding
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing pulley designs for window regulators often face issues with wire winding due to constant groove depth, leading to wire separation and difficulty in wrapping around the supporting groove.
Innovation Solution
A pulley design featuring a main winding portion and an auxiliary winding portion with a curved groove that joins the main winding groove, allowing for easier wire guidance and prevention of separation, utilizing a third flange with an auxiliary guide portion to maintain wire alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the pulley uses a constant groove depth from the assembly groove to the transition area, then the structure is simple, but the wire gets over the flange portion and separates from the assembly groove
Solution Approach 1:
The groove depth is made non-uniform by providing a guide portion that extends in the radial direction at the transition area. This local structural variation guides the wire smoothly from the assembly groove through the transition area to the supporting groove, preventing the wire from getting over the flange portion and separating, thus resolving the contradiction between simple structure and reliable wire winding.
2Ease of operation
If the outer flange projects axially toward the transition area to guide the wire, then wire guidance is improved, but the wire separates when it tries to get over the flange portion
Solution Approach 1:
The transition area is designed with a curved groove that smoothly connects the assembly groove and supporting groove. This curved path allows the wire to transition naturally without having to get over the flange portion, maintaining both ease of wire guidance and reliable wire retention throughout the winding process.
3Productivity
If the auxiliary winding groove has a shorter total peripheral length than the main winding groove, then the winding process is simplified, but the wire alignment precision may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary guide portion is provided with a specific groove depth that is different from other areas, creating a localized feature that precisely controls wire alignment at the critical transition area. This local precision feature ensures accurate wire alignment even though the overall auxiliary winding groove has a shorter peripheral length, thus resolving the contradiction between winding efficiency and alignment precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A pulley includes a main winding portion including an annular main winding groove, where a wire is windable, formed between a first flange and a second flange; and an auxiliary winding portion including an auxiliary winding groove, where the wire is windable, formed between the second flange and a third flange. The auxiliary winding groove includes a closest portion closest to the main winding groove in the radial direction thereof, and a curved portion curved toward the main winding groove in a portion adjacent to the closest portion so that the curved portion joins the main winding groove at the closest portion. The third flange includes an auxiliary guide portion extending in the radial direction of the auxiliary winding groove so that the groove depth of the curved portion becomes larger than that of the closest portion. This structure can provide a pulley allowing easy winding of a wire.