Abstract:
Bowden cable is provided with an interchangeable curved guide part which is detachably connected to a fastening element. Due to the detachable fastening of the curved guide part to the fastening element, a modular design of the Bowden cable is achieved, necessitating only replacement and/or selection of a corresponding guide part or fastening element.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the priority of German application no. 102 27 873.3, filed Jun. 22, 2002, and PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/EP03/06198, filed Jun. 12, 2003, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.  
       BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a Bowden cable with a curved guide part which is detachably connected to a fastening element.  
         [0003]     Such a Bowden cable according to German patent document 94 00 555.9 has a curved guide part connected in a form-fitting and therefore undetachable manner to the fastening element, which is designed as a connecting sleeve. The curved guide part is connected to the fastening element by a complex injection molding operation when the fastening element is manufactured from plastic. If cables or wires with a different cable diameter and/or radius of curvature of the guide part are necessary for other applications of the Bowden cable, then the guide part and the fastening element are to be replaced by other corresponding parts. Multiple fastening parts and guide parts must thus be manufactured and kept on hand accordingly for different applications of the Bowden cable.  
         [0004]     The object of this invention is to provide a Bowden cable with a curve guide part which is detachable from a fastening element, such that it can be used for different applications with only minor modifications.  
         [0005]     Due to the detachable fastening of the curved guide part to the fastening element, a modular design of the Bowden cable is achieved, necessitating only replacement and/or selection of a corresponding guide part or fastening element, which are preferably kept in stock. For example, a common fastening element may be provided for many or all applications to which only one curved guide part, which is adapted to the particular application case, is to be connected. The Bowden cable can be used in a variety of ways, e.g., between a door handle and a lock part of a motor vehicle door. If the design space is limited due to other components, the wire and a sheath surrounding the wire may be curved more or less greatly away from the other component over the curved guide part. If the other component is to be replaced by a larger or smaller component, then the Bowden cable may be used if, for example, the curved guide part is replaced by another guide part which is adapted to the particular component to be used. The detachable connection of the guide part to the fastening element may be designed in various ways, e.g., by a simple catch or lock mechanism.  
         [0006]     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  shows a simplified view from one end of an installed Bowden cable in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  shows an enlarged side view of the fastening element of the Bowden cable shown in  FIG. 1 , and  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  shows an enlarged side view of the guide part of the Bowden cable shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0010]     The Bowden cable illustrated in simplified terms in  FIG. 1  transmits the swiveling movement of an inside handle on a vehicle door to an operating lever of a door lock, but the figure shows only the end area of the Bowden cable assigned to the inside handle. The Bowden cable has a wire  1 , which is surrounded by a flexible wire sheathing  2 . In at least some areas, the wire sheathing  2  is surrounded by noise insulation  3 , which is intended to prevent hard and possibly noisy shearing of the wire sheathing  2  on the wall of the door when the inside handle is operated. The Bowden cable has a fastening element  4 , which is shown on an enlarged scale in  FIG. 2 ; it is manufactured in one piece as a plastic part that can be inserted into a receptacle opening in a handle shell which pivotably supports the inside handle and is detachably connected to the vehicle door. The fastening element  4  has two side walls  11  which are situated opposite one another laterally with a distance between them, with an arc-shaped guide  5  being designed in each, with a guide pin  6  being adjustably guided longitudinally in these guides. The guide pin  6  is connected to the wire end  7  of the wire  1  which is designed with reinforcement. After insertion of the fastening element  4  into the receptacle opening of the handle shell (not shown) into a use position, a projection  8  on the fastening element  4  engages behind a supporting socket on the handle shell, and a catch nose  9  on the fastening element  4  engages in a catch recess on the handle shell, with which the fastening element  4  is attached to the vehicle door. In the use position of the fastening element  4 , a driving element on a lever arm of the door handle (not shown here) engages behind a middle area  10  of the guide pin  6 , which is designed with a circular cross section and has a larger diameter than the lateral guide pin  6 .  
         [0011]     The fastening element  4  has a protruding pipe socket  12 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , with the wire  1  passing through it axially. In its axially central area, the pipe socket  12  has a radially protruding catch projection  13  running around the circumference of the pipe socket  12 , forming a closed ring.  
         [0012]     The guide part  4 , which is shown in  FIG. 3 , enlarged in a side view where it is partially cut away, is to be detachably connected to the fastening element  4 . To this end, the end area  15  of the guide part  14  facing the fastening element  4  has an axial cylindrical end opening  16  which has a slightly larger diameter than the outside diameter of the pipe socket  12  next to the catch projection  13 . In the axially central area of the end opening  16 , a ring-shaped radial recess  17  is formed with the catch projection  13  engaging radially in it when the guide part  14  with the end opening  16  is attached axially to the pipe socket  12  of the fastening element  4  until reaching a supporting position. In order to be able to place the guide part  14  on the pipe socket  12  of the fastening element  4 , the end opening  16  and/or the catch projection  13  is designed to be radially elastic, so that the catch projection  13 , which has a greater radial extent than the end opening  16  and thus also the pipe socket  12 , can be inserted axially into the end opening  16  of the guide part  14  as far as the supporting position.  
         [0013]     The guide part  4  and the fastening element  14  are detachably connected by the catch connection in the catch position. The parts can then be detached from one another through an appropriate axial force, in which case the end opening  16  and/or the catch projection  13  can be deformed elastically accordingly to allow the catch projection  13  on the pipe socket  12  to be released from the recess  17  in the end opening  16 . In the catch position corresponding to [that in]  FIG. 1 , the guide part  14  may execute a rotational movement about the center axis  18  of the end opening  16 , in which case a supporting part that is optionally present in advance for supporting the wire sheathing  2  may have to be removed. The possibility of such a rotational movement may be utilized, for example, to allow the Bowden cable to be wasted [sic; used] on both right and left-side vehicle doors. In this case, the same fastening elements  4  and the same guide parts  14  may be used, but only the guide parts  14  are to be used in installed positions that differ by approximately 180 degrees. The central axis  18  of the end opening  16  in the guide part  14  runs coaxially with the wire  1 , which then runs along the curved central axis of the guide part  14  in a cable guide  24  in the guide part  14 . For manufacturing reasons, the cable guide  24  is designed to be open radially to the outside in the curvature area  19  of the guide part  14 , which is on the outside radially. A receptacle opening  21  into which the facing end of the wire sheathing  2  is inserted axially is formed on the end area  20  of the guide part  14  facing away from the fastening element  4 , whereby the wire sheathing  2  is supported axially on the bottom surface  22  of the receptacle opening  21 . The cylindrical inside circumference  23  of the receptacle opening  21  supports a cylindrical circumferential area of the wire sheathing  2 .  
         [0014]     The guide part may be designed to be dimensionally stable or somewhat elastically yielding and to be detachably connected to the fastening element via any catch or locking device. A required radius of curvature of the cable and/or the strand of the Bowden cable can be induced by the guide part. The other end of the Bowden cable may be supported in a manner comparable to that in the exemplary embodiment or in some other way. The fastening element and the guide part may be made of different materials or the same materials, e.g., they may be made of plastic. The curved guide part is also understood to include a guide part which has a curved and/or angled area with respect to a connecting axis of the fastening element.  
         [0015]     The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.