Wire winding apparatus

A wire winding apparatus winds one side of wire and simultaneously releases other side of wire by driving a winding actuator. A drive gear is disposed to rotate in an arbitrary direction when the winding actuator is driven. A pair of wire drums is disposed on both sides of the drive gear, respectively, and separately winds the one side of wire and the other side of wire in opposite directions. A rotation of the drive gear is transmitted to each of the wire drums.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wire winding apparatus that winds one side of wire and simultaneously releasing the other side of wire by driving a winding actuator.

2. Description of the Related Art

A vehicle like a four-wheel drive car includes a wire winding apparatus to open and close a slide door and a window glass. In general, the wire winding apparatus includes a worm wheel driven by an electric motor and a wire drum disposed on a side of the worm wheel. A pair of wires is wound around the peripheral surface of the wire drum in opposite directions.

In such a wire winding apparatus, when the electric motor is driven to rotate the wire drum via the worm wheel, one wire is wound by the wire drum and, on the other hand, the other wire is released from the wire drum. Therefore, for example, if the one wire is coupled to a slide door to extend forward from the slide door and the other wire is coupled to the slide door to extend backward from the slide door, it is possible to move the slide door to open and close with respect to a vehicle body (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-350406).

The pair of wires is wound around the common wire drum in the wiring winding device described above. However, it is difficult to wind the respective wires in a common winding area. The wire drum is required to separately have an area for winding one wire and an area for winding the other wire on the peripheral surface. Therefore, a space for disposing the wire drum having a large axial direction length is required on one side, of the worm wheel. In other words, the wire drum having the large axial direction length inevitably projects from the one side of the worm wheel. Thus, it is likely that this poses a significant problem in realizing a reduction in size of the wire winding apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wire winding apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention winds one side of wire and simultaneously releases other side of wire by driving a winding actuator. A drive gear is disposed to rotate in an arbitrary direction when the winding actuator is driven. A pair of wire drums is disposed on both sides of the drive gear, respectively, and separately winds the one side of wire and the other side of wire in opposite directions. A rotation of the drive gear is transmitted to each of the wire drums.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1is a side view of a four-wheel drive car to which a wire winding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The four-wheel drive car shown in the figure has a vehicle body B that is called one-box type. An entrance opening E that allows passengers to get on and off the car is provided in a position substantially in the center in the longitudinal direction on the side of the vehicle body B. The four-wheel drive car also has a slide door D for opening and closing the entrance opening E.

The slide door D is slidably provided on the side of the vehicle body B via an upper guide section UG provided between the slide door D and the upper end of the vehicle body B, a lower guide section LG provided between the slide door D and the lower end of the vehicle body B, and a central guide section MG provided between the slide door D and the center of the vehicle body B. When the slide door D is slid forward to be closest to the front of the vehicle body B, it is possible to place the slide door D in a position for closing the entrance opening E (hereinafter, “fully-closed position”). On the other hand, when the slide door D is slid backward to be closest to the rear of the vehicle body B, it is possible to place the slide door D in a position for opening the entrance opening E (hereinafter, “fully-opened position”). As the guide sections UG, LG, and MG, as represented by the lower guide section LG shown inFIG. 2, for example, a support frame SF including traveling rollers R is provided in the slide door D and, on the other hand, a guide rail GR for guiding the traveling rollers R is provided in the vehicle body B.

As shown inFIG. 1, full-close stopper units SS and a full-open stopper unit OS are provided between the slide door D and the vehicle body B. The full-close stopper units SS are sections for keeping the slide door D in the fully-closed position when the slide door D is slid to the position. The full-close stopper units SS are provided in two places in the front and the rear of the slide door D, namely, a place between the front edge portion of the slide door D and the vehicle body B and a place between the rear edge of the slide door D and the vehicle body B. The full-open stopper unit OS is a section for keeping the slide door D in the fully-opened position when the slide door D is slid to the position. Although not clearly shown in the figure, for example, the full-open stopper unit OS is provided between the support frame SF of the lower guide section LG and the vehicle body B. As the full-close stopper units SS and the full-open stopper unit OS, for example, a striker is provided in the vehicle body B and, on the other hand, a latch is provided in the slide door D (the support frame SF). The full-close stopper units SS and the full-open stopper unit OS only have to regulate the movement of the slide door D with respect to the vehicle body B when the striker and the latch are engaged. A state of regulation of the movement of the slide door D by the full-close stopper units SS and the full-open stopper unit OS is released by the driving of a not-shown release actuator when a door handle DH provided in the slide door D is operated or when a door switch of a remote controller is operated.

On the other hand, in the four-wheel drive car, as shown inFIG. 2, a power slide unit1is provided in the vehicle body B. The power slide unit1is a driving device for sliding the slide door D with respect to the vehicle body B. The power slide unit1includes an electric motor10as a winding actuator. In the electric motor10, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, a worm gear12is fastened to an output shaft11. The worm gear12is attached to a device body13to face a housing chamber14of the device body13.

As it is evident from the figures, a worm wheel20, a pair of drum bases30, and a pair of wire drums40are disposed in the housing chamber14of the device body13.

The worm wheel20is integrally formed in the middle portion of a support shaft21formed relatively long. The worm wheel20is disposed in the device body13to engage with the worm gear12of the electric motor10and to be capable of rotating around the axis of the support shaft21.

The drum bases30are formed in a cylindrical shape and have fitting holes31in the centers thereof, respectively. The drum bases30are disposed on both the sides of the worm wheel20to rotate together with the support shaft21, respectively, by inserting the support shaft21in the fitting holes31. Engaging protrusions32are provided in a part of the outer peripheral surfaces of the drum bases30, respectively. The engaging protrusions32project in a fan shape to gradually expand in outer peripheral directions of the drum bases30. The respective outer peripheral surfaces are formed in an arc shape with the axis of the drum bases30as the center.

The wire drums40are cylindrical members that have spiral winding grooves41on the outer peripheral surfaces thereof and have inserting holes42in the centers thereof, respectively. The wire drums40are disposed in the outer peripheries of the respective drum bases30in the housing chamber14of the device body13by rotatably inserting the drum bases30in the respective inserting holes42. Although not clearly shown in the figure, the spiral winding grooves41formed in the wire drums40are grooves for winding and storing wires W on the outer peripheral surfaces of the wire drums40. The spiral winding grooves41are formed such that spiral directions thereof around the support shaft21are opposite to each other.

In the respective wire drums40, loose fitting recesses43are provided in the inner peripheral surfaces of the inserting holes42. The loose fitting recesses43are formed in a fan shape to gradually expand in the outer peripheral directions of the wire drums40. The engaging protrusions -32of the drum bases30are housed in the insides of the loose fitting recesses43, respectively. As it is evident from the figure, the loose fitting recesses43formed in the wire drums40are formed sufficiently larger than the engaging protrusions32of the drum bases30in the peripheral directions of the loose fitting recesses43. It is possible to move the engaging protrusions32along the peripheral direction in the insides of the loose fitting recesses43.

Tension springs60are disposed between the wire drums40and the drum bases30. The tension springs60are interposed between end faces of the loose fitting recesses43formed in the wire drums40and end faces of the engaging projections32formed in the drum bases30. The tension springs60urge the wire drums40to rotate in one direction with respect to the drum bases30with an elastic force thereof to give tension to the wires W released from the wire drums40.

As shown inFIG. 2, the power slide unit1further includes a pair of idler pulleys50in the vehicle body B and includes a wire coupling plate70in the support frame SF of the lower guide section LG. The idler pulleys50are used for changing extending directions of the wires W released from the wire drum40. The idler pulleys50are arranged in parallel to each other in the front and the rear of the vehicle body B such that rotation axes thereof extend in the vertical direction. The wire coupling plate70is a plate-like member projected toward the vehicle body B from the support frame SF. The wire coupling plate70is disposed such that a projecting end thereof faces a space between the rotation axes of the idler pulleys50.

The power slide unit1having the constitution described above is attached to the vehicle body B via the device body13such that the support shaft21for the worm wheel20extends in the vertical direction in a position between the pair of idler pulleys50. The wire W released from one of the wire drums40toward the front side of the vehicle body B is wound around one of the idler pulleys50to be turned. The end of the wire W extending toward the rear of the vehicle is coupled to the front surface of the wire coupling plate70. On the other hand, the wire W released from other of the wire drums40toward the rear side of the vehicle body B is wound around other of the idler pulleys50to be turned. The end of the wire W extending toward the front of the vehicle is coupled to the rear surface of the wire coupling plate70. The power slide unit1is set in this state.

In the power slide unit1, when the electric motor10is driven to rotate the worm wheel20in a direction indicated by an arrow X, for example, as shown in an exploded view inFIG. 5, one of the wire drums40drawn on the lower side inFIG. 5rotates in a direction identical with the rotating direction of the worm wheel20via the support shaft21, the drum base30, and the tension spring60. The wire W is gradually wound around the outer peripheral surface of the wire drum40as shown in the lower side inFIG. 6.

On the other hand, the other of the wire drums40drawn on the upper side inFIG. 5rotates in a direction identical with the rotating direction of the worm wheel20via the support shaft21and the drum base30. As shown on the upper side inFIG. 6, the wire W is gradually released from the outer peripheral surface of the wire drum40.

Therefore, if the full-open stopper unit OS and the full-close stopper units SS are released by operating the door handle DH provided in the slide door D and the door switch of the remote controller to drive the power slide unit1from this state, it is possible to slide the slide door D in an appropriate direction with respect to the vehicle body D through the wire coupling plate70and the support frame SF. This makes it possible to move the slide door D from the fully-closed position to the fully-opened position or from the fully-opened position to the fully-closed position.

In the power slide unit1, when the driving of the electric motor10is stopped, as shown inFIG. 7, the respective wire drums40are rotated with respect to the drum bases30by an elastic force of the tension springs60in a direction for applying tension to the wires W. Therefore, even when there is fluctuation in the length direction in the wires W used in assembling the power slide unit1or even when stretch due to use occurs in the wires W, it is not likely that slack is caused in the wires W released from the wire drums40.

Moreover, in the power slide unit1, one wire W and the other wire W are wound around the separate wire drums40, respectively. This makes it possible to interpose the tension springs60between the worm wheel20and the wire drums40. In other words, it is possible to build a tension imparting unit for imparting tension to the wires W in the power slide unit1. Therefore, it is unnecessary to separately provide a unit for imparting tension to the wires W released from the wire drums40. This is advantageous in terms of an installation space.

The wire drums40only have to have an axial direction length sufficient for winding the wires W, respectively. Moreover, the wire drums40are disposed on both the sides of the worm wheel20. Thus, it is unnecessary to adopt a constitution in which a component projects from one side of the worm wheel20by a large amount. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the worm wheels20engaging with the worm gear12provided in the output shaft11of the electric motor10are adopted as the drive gear. This makes it possible to constitute the worm wheel20and the pair of wire drums40within an overall width of the electric motor10. This is extremely advantageous in realizing a reduction in size the wire winding apparatus.

According to the present embodiment, the wire winding apparatus applied to the power slide unit1for sliding the slide door D of the four-wheel drive car is described as an example. However, the wire winding apparatus is not always limited to the one for sliding the slide door D of the four-wheel drive car. For example, in the case of a vehicle, it is also possible to apply the wire winding apparatus as a driving device for sliding window glass or sunroof glass.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wire drums having a size sufficient for winding separate wires only have to be disposed on the sides of the drive gear. This makes it possible to hold down an amount of projection of the wide drums from the sides of the drive gear and realize a reduction in size of the wire winding apparatus.

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application 2005-303505, filed Oct. 18, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.