WO2007036961A1

WO2007036961A1 - Sliding door assembly for a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2007036961A1
Application number: PCT/IT2005/000560
Authority: WO
Inventors: Francesco Acquaviva
Original assignee: Stola SpA
Current assignee: Stola SpA
Priority date: 2005-09-27
Filing date: 2005-09-27
Publication date: 2007-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2008-03-27
Also published as: BRPI0520589A2

Abstract

A sliding door assembly for a motor vehicle, including a frame (4) defining a door aperture (3), a door (2), a first actuating device (10) for moving the door (2) between a closed position in which it cooperates with the frame (4) and a shift position from the frame (4), and a second actuating device (11) to move the door (2) between the shift position and the open position. The first actuating device (10) includes a fixed support (24) contained inside a pillar (7) of the frame (4), a runner (20) sliding along a longitudinal guide (19) accommodated in the door (2) and rigidly fastened thereto, and an articulated parallelogram kinematic motion (25) connecting the runner (20) to the support (24).

Description

SLIDING DOOR ASSEMBLY FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sliding door assembly for a motor vehicle and particularly, but not exclusively, to an electrically operated sliding door assembly.

BACKGROUND ART

There are known motor vehicles equipped with sliding doors.

The sliding doors are used in motor vehicles, instead of the more common hinged doors, to obtain wider access openings while maintaining a small dimension of the door in open position. For example, their use has extended during the last years practically to all multipurpose vehicles with three rows of seats, in which the size of the rear door aperture needed to access both the middle row and the rear row seats would require the use of excessively large hinged doors . A problem related to the use of sliding doors is constituted by the need to provide for suitable door sliding guides. In most applications, it is provided a guide along the side of the- vehicle, in which slides a runner fastened to the door. The use of visible guides is unpleasant from the point of view of appearance and negatively influences the style of the vehicle.

In some cases, the guide is at least partially concealed along the lower edge of the rear windows; these solutions are not aesthetically optimal and constructively complex.

Also from a functional point of view, the presence of external guides exposed to the atmospheric elements and to possible collisions is not optimal.

There are also known sliding doors free from external guides, i.e. in which the movement away from/ towards the frame and the lateral sliding of the door are guided by kinematic motions contained inside the door.

A further problem related to the door assemblies lacking external guides consists in the fact that the known guiding kinematic motions of the door induce undesired bulk inside the passenger compartment, particularly in the case in which the door is operated electrically and therefore the kinematic motions have, in addition to the function of supporting and guiding the door, also the function of moving the door itself. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to carry out a sliding door assembly of a motor vehicle, which is free from the drawbacks related to the known and above pointed out door assemblies. The aforementioned object is achieved by a sliding door assembly for a motor vehicle according to claim 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, it will now be described a preferred embodiment by way of non-limitative example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 is a perspective view of a sliding door assembly according to the present invention with parts omitted for clarity; figure 2 is a perspective view of an actuating device of the sliding door assembly according to the invention; figure 3 and figure 4 are plan and sectional views of the sliding door assembly in figure 1.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference to figures 1, 3 and 4, it is indicated as a whole with 1 a sliding door assembly for a motor vehicle.

An assembly 1 includes a sliding door 2 adapted to close a door aperture 3 of a motor vehicle delimited by a frame 4 belonging to the body 5 of the vehicle and including a pair of pillars 6 and 7 front and rear respectively.

The door is mobile between a closed position

(figure 3) in which it hermetically cooperates with the frame 4, with the interposition of seals known and not shown, and is arranged essentially flush with the frame itself, a shift position from the frame 4 (figure 4, solid line) in which the door 2 is moved away from the frame but is maintained essentially facing the door aperture 3, and an open position (figure 4, broken line) in which the door is shifted laterally, parallelly to itself, so to allow the access to the door aperture 3.

For this purpose, the door assembly 1 includes a first actuating device 10 (figure 2) to move the door 2 between the closed position and the shift position, a second actuating device 11 for moving the door 2 between the shift position and the fully open position, and door guiding means 2 , indicated as a whole by 12.

Such guiding means 12 include a bar 13 having a first end 14 hinged onto the inner side of the door 2 about a vertical axis A, in the proximity of a lower side of the door itself, and a second end 16 which carries a runner 17 also hinged about a vertical axis B and slidingly engaging a first guide 18 fastened to the frame 4 along a lower side of the door aperture 3 and arranged horizontally in longitudinal direction with respect to the vehicle.

The guiding means 12 also include a second guide 19 parallel to the first guide 18, fastened to the door 2 and accommodated inside the same, and a runner 20 sliding along the second guide 19 and movably secured to the rear pillar 7 of the frame 4 by means of the first actuating device 10.

In particular, the first actuating device 10 comprises a fixed support 24 accommodated in the rear pillar 6 of the frame 3, an articulated parallelogram kinematic motion 25 securing the runner 20 to the support 24 and a first linear electrical actuator 26 carried by the support 24 and adapted to control the kinematic motion 25 to move, and in particular to shift, the runner 20 with respect to the support 24.

The kinematic motion 25 includes a pair of levers 27, 28 having a respective intermediate portion 27a, 28a and respective first arms 27b, 28b and second arms 27c, 28c with ends bent back by 90° with respect to the intermediate portion 27 towards the outside of the passenger compartment. The intermediate portions 27a, 27b are curved with concavity facing towards the inside of the passenger compartment, so that the levers 27, 28 are as a whole essentially M-shaped.

The levers 27, 28 and the bar 13 are dimensioned so to present a high flexural rigidity under the weight of the door 2. The first arms 27b, 28b are hinged, at their ends, to the support 24 about respective fixed vertical axes C, D, reciprocally spaced in the longitudinal direction with respect to the vehicle.

In particular, the arm 28b is interposed between the support 24 and one end of a rod 31, and is hinged thereto about the axis D. The rod 31 has an opposite end hinged to the support 24 about axis C. The second arms 27c, 28c are hinged, at their ends, to the runner 20 about respective vertical axes E, F, reciprocally spaced in the longitudinal direction with respect to the vehicle. Finally, the levers 27, 28 are further reciprocally secured by means of a rod 30 connected to the first arms 27b and 28b, in the proximity of the union zone between each arm 27b, 28b and the respective intermediate portion 27a, 28a, by respective hinges having vertical axes G, H reciprocally presenting a distance equal to the distance between the axes C and D.

The first actuator 26, conveniently a screw/nut screw ratiomotor, has as output member a screw 33 of longitudinal horizontal axis I with respect to the vehicle, and is jointedly connected to the lever 27 by means of a rod 34 having one end hinged to the screw 33 and the other end hinged to the lever 27 about the axis G.

To the runner 20 is rigidly fastened a second actuator 35 (figure 2) , also of the screw/nut screw type, having as output member a screw 36 crossing through the actuator itself, which extends parallelly to the second guide 19 and is fastened to the door 2 at its ends. The door assembly 1 is finally equipped with an electrically operated lock, not shown, which is adapted to block the door 2 with respect to the frame 4 in the closed position.

A control unit, also not shown, controls the actuators 26 and 35 and the lock in response to the input signals received from sensors associated to manually operated control devices, such as for example the internal or external door handles or a key control , or from remote actuating devices .

The operation of the door assembly 1 is as follows.

In figures 1 and 3 it is shown the closed position of the door 2. In such position, the levers 27, 28 are arranged with their intermediate portions 27a, 28a in longitudinal direction and the respective arms 27b, 28b and 27c, 28c in transversal direction with respect to the vehicle. As it is possible to observe in figure 3, the levers 27, 28 are entirely contained inside the pillar 7 and of the door 2.

The rods 30 and 34 are reciprocally aligned along the axis I of the screw 33, whose thrust efficiency during the breakaway step of the actuator 26 is therefore optimised.

Following an opening control signal, the control unit energises the first actuator 26. The screw 33 pushes the levers 27, 28 by means of the rods 34 and 30, defining a rotation (anticlockwise) about the respective axes C, D.

The levers 27, 28 therefore produce an outwards shift of the runner 20 and, therefore, of the door 2, which is supported and guided, in addition to the levers

27, 28, by the bar 13 which rotates clockwise and pivotally opens with respect to the first guide 18. In figure 4 it is shown, with a solid line, the maximum shift position in which the door 2 is moved away from the frame by effect of the rotation of the levers 27,

28. It should be noted that the levers 27, 28 during the opening movement do not determine any additional bulk inside the passenger compartment, because the arms 27b, 28b remain inside the pillar 7 and the arms 27c, 28c remain inside the door itself. The curved shape of the intermediate portions 27a, 28a reduces to the minimum both the bulk of the same in the door aperture 3 , and the dimension of the openings which are made on the inner side of the door 2 and on the side of the pillar 7 to allow the protrusion and motion of the levers 27, 28 themselves .

Having reached the maximum shift position, the first actuator 26 stops and the second actuator 35 is energised which produces a longitudinal shift of the screw 36 and therefore of the door 2 to which the screw 36 is rigidly fastened. During the opening of the door 2, there is a shift of the runner 17 of the bar 13 along the first guide 18 and of the second guide 19 with respect to the runner 20.

During this step the whole actuating device 10 remains stationary, and with it so does the runner 20, which provides a support for the door 2. The bar 13, carried by the door 2, provides a second support for the door 2 and shifts parallelly to itself.

In figure 4 it is partially shown, by a broken line, the maximum open position of the door 2.

The actuations to return the door 2 to the maximum shift and closed positions are the same and contrary to those described of the corresponding opening manoeuvres and are therefore not described in detail . From an examination of the features of the door assembly 1 carried out according to the present invention, there are apparent the advantages that it allows to obtain.

Firstly, since the door 2 is supported by the guides 18, 19 situated respectively along a lower side of the frame 4 of the door 2 and inside the door 2 itself, it is not necessary the use of external guides along the side of the vehicle. There are therefore eliminated the related appearance drawbacks. Secondly, the first actuating device does not imply additional bulk inside the passenger compartment.

It is finally apparent that changes and variations can be implemented to the sliding door assembly 1 without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sliding door assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising a frame (4) defining a door aperture (3) and having two side pillars (6, I)₁ a door (2) adapted to cooperate with said frame (4) in a closed position to close said door aperture (3) , and supporting and guiding means (13, 18; 19, 20, 25) securing said door (2) to said frame (4) , characterised in that said supporting and guiding means (13, 18; 19, 20, 25) include a longitudinal guide

(19) accommodated inside said door (2) and rigidly fastened to it, a fixed support (24) contained inside one of said pillars (7) , a runner sliding along said guide (19) and an articulated parallelogram kinematic motion (25) connecting said runner (20) to said support (24) .

2. A sliding door assembly according to claim 1, characterised in that said articulated parallelogram kinematic motion (25) includes a first and a second levers (27, 28) each having a first and a second end portions (27b, 27c; 28b, 28c) respectively hinged to said support (24) and to said runner (20) .

3. A door assembly according to claim 2 , characterised in that the hinge axes (C, D; E, F) of the first and the second levers (27, 28) to said support (24) and, respectively, to said runner (20) are reciprocally spaced in the longitudinal direction with respect to the motor vehicle.

4. An assembly according to claim 2 or 3 , characterised in that said first and second end portions (27b, 27c; 28b, 28c) of said levers (27, 28) are composed by respective first and second arms laterally extending from said levers (27, 28) .

5. An assembly according to claim 4, characterised in that said levers (27, 28) comprise respective intermediate portions (27a, 28a) and in that said first and second arms (27b, 27c; 28b, 28c) extended from said intermediate portions (27a, 28a) outwards from the motor vehicle.

6. An assembly according to claim 5, characterised in that said intermediate portions (27a, 28a) have curved shape with the concavity facing towards the inside of said motor vehicle.

7. An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said supporting and guiding means (13, 18; 19, 20, 25) include a further longitudinal guide (18) fastened to said frame (4) underneath said door aperture (3) , and a bar (13) having an end (14) hinged to said door (2) and an opposite end (16) hinged to a runner (17) sliding in said further guide (18) .

8. An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that it includes a first actuating device (10) for moving said door (2) from said closed position and a shift position^from the frame (4) , and a second actuating device (11) to move said door (2) from said shift position to a fully open position.

9. An assembly according to claim 8, characterised in that said first actuating device (10) includes a first electrical actuator (26) acting on said articulated parallelogram kinematic motion (25) .

10. An assembly according to claim 9, characterised in that said first electrical actuator (26) is of the linear type and includes an output member (33) axially mobile in the longitudinal direction with respect to said motor vehicle, said output member (33) being secured to one of said levers (27) by means of a first rod (34) .

11. An assembly according to claim 10, characterised in that said first rod (34) is secured to said first arm (27b) of said first lever (27) and in that a second rod (30) reciprocally connects the first arms (27b, 28b) of said levers (27, 28) .

12. An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said second actuating device (11) includes a screw/nut screw actuator (35) fastened to said runner (20) and cooperating with a screw (36) fastened to said door (2) parallelly to said guide (19) .