Patent Publication Number: US-10309140-B2

Title: Guide rail fitting structure and window regulator

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a guide rail fitting structure in which a guide rail is fitted into a fitting body, and to a window regulator having the guide rail fitting structure. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     A device having a structure in which a guide rail is fitted into a fitting body with an inserted insert is a window regulator having a structure in which a guide rail is fitted into a cable guide with a bolt inserted therein. Window regulators are a widely diffused device for moving up and down automotive window glass (e.g., refer to Patent Literature 1). For example, a window regulator includes a carrier plate for holding a pane of window glass, a guide rail for guiding the ascent and descent of the carrier plate, a cable attached to a top and a bottom of the carrier plate, a cable guide disposed at an end of the guide rail to change the direction of force transmitted from the cable, and a driver to work pull operation on the cable. The window regulator having this configuration moves up and down the window glass. 
     The cable guide is fitted with a bolt for fastening the window regulator to a door panel of a motor vehicle, for example. An end of the bolt fitted into the cable guide protrudes out of the cable guide. The protruded end of the insert bolt is fastened to a door panel of a motor vehicle, for example. 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
     
         
         Patent Literature 1: JP 2004-150060 A 
       
    
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     Insert molding is a method of fitting a bolt into a cable guide. However, insert molding is a difficult technique and involves requiring molding accuracy to achieve fixation with a predetermined strength and at a precise location. Insert molding may consist of complicated production processes, such as cutting and processing an insert bolt that is insert-molded in a cable guide to prevent the insert bolt from turning free or coming off 
     If a shaft is attached to a cable guide as disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a pulley and a main body of the cable guide are attached to a guide rail. This configuration requires dimensional accuracy for these components, as well as assembly man-hours because each attachment involves fitting. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a guide rail fitting structure and a window regulator that allow simple assembly. 
     Solution to Problem 
     A guide rail fitting structure according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a guide rail; a fitting body; and an insert inserted into the fitting body, the guide rail being fitted into the fitting body, wherein the fitting body comprises: a fitting section fitted onto an end of the guide rail; and an insertion hole into which the insert is inserted from outside the fitting body, and wherein the fitting section is fitted onto the guide rail such that the insert is at least partially covered with the guide rail, the insert gets into a detachment inhibitive state, and the insert in the detachment inhibitive state is visible through an opening on an outer surface of the fitting body. 
     Advantageous Effects of Invention 
     A guide rail fitting structure according to the present invention can suppress the number of parts as well as man hours needed for assembly, and permits the fitting of an insert into a cable guide without difficulty while preventing the insert from coming off. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an elevation view of a window regulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a cable guide that is a part of the window regulator of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating the cable guide of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the cable guide of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is an elevation view illustrating a bolt and a guide rail that are fitted into the cable guide of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the cable guide in  FIG. 5 , taken from line A-A. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. 
     (Embodiment) 
       FIG. 1  is an elevation view illustrating the structure of a window regulator  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. With reference to  FIG. 1 , the structure of the window regulator  1  will now be described. In the embodiment described hereafter, it is assumed that the window regulator  1  is applied to a motor vehicle and that a direction above and below the window regulator  1  on the motor vehicle is defined as an up and down direction. 
     The window regulator  1  includes a carrier plate  11 , a guide rail  12 , a cable  13  made up of an ascending cable and a descending cable, a cable guide  14 , a mounting bolt  15  (hereafter referred to as a “bolt”) as shown in  FIG. 3 , a motor  16 , and a drum (not shown). 
     The carrier plate  11  is a component that is movable along the guide rail  12  and that is connected to a pane of window glass. The carrier plate  11  is connected to a glass holder mounted on a bottom of the window glass, for example. The window glass is secured via the glass holder. One end of the cable  13  is attached to an upper part of the carrier plate  11 , while the other end of the cable  13  is attached to a lower part of the carrier plate  11 . 
     The guide rail  12  guides the ascent and descent of the carrier plate  11 . The guide rail  12  is disposed so as to extend in the up and down direction, and has a U-shaped cross section. The guide rail  12  may have an L- or arc-shaped cross section or a cross section of any variation of these shapes, other than the U-shaped cross section. 
     The cable  13  includes the ascending cable whose one end is attached to the upper part of the carrier plate  11  and the descending cable whose one end is attached to the lower part of the carrier plate  11 . The other ends of the ascending and descending cables are attached to the drum. The cable  13  is wound on the drum that is driven to move up and down the carrier plate  11 . 
     The cable guide  14  (equivalent to a fitting body) is provided on an end of the guide rail  12 . The cable guide  14  guides the cable  13  and changes a direction in which the cable  13  moves. In other words, the cable guide  14  changes a direction of force transmitted by the cable  13 . The bolt  15  is secured to the cable guide  14 . Details about the cable guide  14  will be described later. 
     The bolt  15  (equivalent to an insert) is inserted into an insertion hole  21  of the cable guide  14 . The inserted bolt  15  is connected to a door panel of the motor vehicle, for example. This configuration allows the bolt  15  to fasten the window regulator  1  to the door panel. The bolt  15  includes a shank  31 , i.e. a section inserted into the insertion hole  21 , and a head  32  that is larger in diameter than the shank  31  and connected to an end of the shank  31 . 
     A guide rail fitting structure according to this embodiment includes the guide rail  12 , the cable guide  14 , and the bolt  15  described above, wherein the guide rail  12  is fitted into the cable guide  14 . 
     The motor  16  that is supplied with electric power rotates the drum (not shown). The motor  16  is equipped with an output shaft to output torque to the drum. The output shaft is directly or indirectly connected to a rotating shaft of the drum. The motor  16  rotates the output shaft in normal or reverse directions. 
     The cable  13  is wound on the drum. The drum rotates to wind or unwind the cable  13 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 to 5 , the above-mentioned cable guide  14  will now be described.  FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the cable guide  14  of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating the cable guide  14  of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the cable guide  14  of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 5  is an elevation view illustrating the bolt and the guide rail that are fitted into the cable guide  14  of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the cable guide in  FIG. 5 , taken from line A-A. 
     The cable guide  14  includes the insertion hole  21 , a U-shaped groove  22 , and a fitting section  23 . 
     The insertion hole  21  permits the bolt  15  to be inserted into with passing through the cable guide  14 , and is disposed such that a direction axis extending along the insertion hole  21  and a direction axis extending along the fitting section  23  cross each other. The insertion hole  21  includes a space for allowing the head  32  of the bolt  15  to move and a shaft hole for allowing the shank  31  of the bolt  15  to be inserted through. The space has a fitting seat  41  (refer to  FIG. 6 ) which the head  32  of the inserted bolt  15  comes into contact with and fits onto. 
     The U-shaped groove  22  is made in the form of a semicircular arc around an outer periphery (excluding a bottom face) of the cable guide  14 . The cable  13  is arranged along the U-shaped groove  22 . The cable  13  slides along the U-shaped groove  22 . 
     The fitting section  23  is formed at a lower part of the cable guide  14  and constitutes a hole which the end of the guide rail  12  is fitted into. The fitting section  23  is disposed so as to communicate with the space of the insertion hole  21  where the head  32  of the bolt  15  moves. After the bolt  15  is inserted into the insertion hole  21 , fitting of the guide rail  12  into the fitting section  23  takes place. 
     In  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the head  32  of the bolt  15  and the insertion hole  21  have the form of a quadrangular prism and thereby prevent the bolt  15  from turning free. The head of the bolt may have the form of a hexagonal or any polygonal prism, other than the quadrangular prism, provided that the head can fit on the fitting seat  41  and is larger in diameter than the shank. 
     The cable guide  14  that is mounted on the guide rail  12  is short in size in the lengthwise direction of the guide rail  12  to allow the carrier plate  11  to move in a wide range. The cable guide  14  is substantially semicircular in form. As a result, the insertion hole  21  and the fitting section  23  are disposed at locations such that the strength of the U-shaped groove  22  is capable of being ensured. According to the present invention, the cable  13  is arranged along the cable guide  14  and presses the cable guide  14  against the guide rail  12  so as to prevent the cable guide  14  from coming off the guide rail  12 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 5 , the fitting section  22  of the cable guide  14  is fitted on the guide rail  12 , it follows that the end of the guide rail  12  gets into the insertion hole  21  of the cable guide  14 , and the guide rail  12  and the insertion hole  21  intersect with each other. At this time, the head  32  of the bolt  15  is at least partially covered with the guide rail  12  and put between the fitting seat  41  and the guide rail  12  and the end of the guide rail  12  is brought into contact with the head  32  of the bolt  15 . This configuration restrains the movement of the bolt  15  and creates a state in which detachment of the bolt  15  from the cable guide  14  is prevented (a detachment inhibitive state). Consequently, the number of parts and man hours needed for assembly can be suppressed. The head  32  of the bolt  15  is partially visible through an opening of the insertion hole  21 . In other words, the disposition of the bolt  15  is visible, and the bolt  15  in the detachment inhibitive state is visible. This configuration enables checking of insertion of the bolt  15  into the insertion hole  21  and fitting of the guide rail  12  into the cable guide  14  at once. 
     In the guide rail fitting structure according to this embodiment described above, fitting the fitting section  22  of the cable guide  14  onto the guide rail  12  means that the head  32  of the bolt  15  inserted into the insertion hole  21  of the cable guide  14  is at least partially covered with the guide rail  12 , and thus the bolt  15  gets into the detachment inhibitive state. As a result, simple assembly involving just inserting the bolt  15  into the cable guide  14  and fitting the guide rail  14  into the cable guide  14  without insert molding enables the bolt  15  to reach the detachment inhibitive state. This configuration can suppress the number of parts as well as man hours needed for assembly, and permits the fitting of the bolt  15  into the cable guide  14  at low costs without difficulty while preventing the bolt  15  from coming off. 
     In the embodiment described above, the cable guide acts as a fitting body. The scope of the present invention is not limited to this example. A support which a rotating shaft of a pulley is fitted into may act as a fitting body. In this case, the rotating shaft of the pulley may not protrude from the support. 
     In the embodiment described above, the bolt is taken as an example insert that is inserted into the cable guide. The scope of the present invention is not limited to this example. The insert according to the present invention may be any fastening hardware or a shaft-shaped component, for example. Examples of the fastening hardware include bolts, screws, and other fasteners that are used to fix a guide rail fitting structure composed of a guide rail and a fitting body to a body of a motor vehicle or any other object subject to fixing. The shaft-shaped component may be any shaft-shaped member such as a rotating shaft of a pulley that is supported by a support if the support replaces the cable guide. 
     In the embodiment described above, the cable guide is fitted on the guide rail such that the guide rail gets into the insertion hole of the cable guide. The scope of the present invention is not limited to this example. The guide rail may directly or indirectly push another component such that the component gets into the insertion hole, provided that the component at least partially covers the head of the bolt. 
     In the embodiment described above, the window regulator has an example configuration as shown in  FIG. 1 . The scope of the present invention is not limited to this example. The window regulator may include a driver to work pull operation on cable, two pulleys, a carrier plate disposed to move between the two pulleys, and a cable that is attached to a top and a bottom of the carrier plate and that is arranged to run over the two pulleys and the driver, for example. 
     In the embodiment described above, the guide rail is applied to the example window regulator. The scope of the present invention is not limited to this example. The guide rail may be applied to curtain rails, sliding doors and any other apparatus that allows a slidable object to move along a guide rail. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The present invention can be applied to a guide rail fitting structure in which a guide rail is fitted into a fitting body, and to window regulators. 
     REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
     
         
           11  carrier plate 
           12  guide rail 
           13  cable 
           14  cable guide 
           15  bolt 
           16  motor 
           21  insertion hole 
           22  U-shaped groove 
           23  fitting section 
           31  shank 
           32  head 
           41  fitting seat