Patent Publication Number: US-9410347-B2

Title: Short drop mechanism for vehicle door

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0077953, filed Jul. 3, 2013, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates, in general, to a short drop mechanism for a vehicle door, which allows a window glass of the vehicle door to slide up and down when the door is opened and closed and, more particularly, to a short drop mechanism for a vehicle door, which improves a vertical actuation timing of the window glass so as to improve a manipulating feature by a driver when manipulating the door to be opened and closed. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Generally, a vehicle door is provided with a window glass for securing a lateral view of a vehicle, and a weather strip made of rubber for soundproofing and waterproofing features. 
     A door has a conventionally used door structure in which a weather strip is fixed to a door frame so that a window glass is lodged into the weather strip when moving up and down. That is, in the door, the window glass and the weather strip are all installed on the door frame, so that, when the door is opened, the window glass and the weather strip are not separated from each other, but the weather strip surrounds the moved-up window glass, advantageously having waterproofing and soundproofing features. 
     Recently, according to door design such as two-door design, a frameless-type door structure is available for use. Such a frameless-type door structure should be such that a weather strip is fixed to a vehicle body and a window glass is fixed to a door, so that, when the door is opened, the window glass and the weather strip are separated from each other. Thus, the weather strip has a shape in which one side thereof is opened in order to prevent interference with the opening of the door, thereby having poor soundproofing and waterproofing features. 
     To solve these problems of poor soundproofing and waterproofing features, the weather strip is adapted such that, when a door is closed, the window glass is surrounded by the weather strip. However, in this case, when the door is opened, interference of the window glass with the weather strip occurs, degrading manipulating performance of the door when opening and closing. 
     In the meantime, in order to solve the problems with the frameless-type door structure, the short drop of a window glass has been recently adapted. The short drop performs a function that, when detecting a door-opening action, quickly lowers the window glass by a certain distance under the control of a drive motor for a vertical motion of the window glass, and when detecting a door-closing action, raises the window glass by the previously lowered distance. 
     Such a short drop function makes it possible to prevent the interference of the window glass with the weather strip when the door is opened and closed, to allow the weather strip to surround the window glass, improving the soundproofing and waterproofing problems, and to open and close the window glass by a predetermined amount so as to control the internal pressure inside of a vehicle, improving the opening and closing performance of a door. 
     However, a conventional short drop system is such that a short drop switch  2  is mounted to a vehicle body  3  so that, when a door  1  is opened and closed, the system detects ON/OFF of the switch so as to implement a short drop function. Specifically, in a door-closed state, the door comes into contact with the switch mounted to the vehicle body, allowing the switch to maintain an ON state, and in a door-opened state, the door moves out of the contact state with respect to the switch, rendering the switch to enter an OFF state, allowing the window glass to move down. 
     A conventional short drop system operates in the following sequential procedure: manipulation of a handle—unlocking of a latch—partial opening of a door—switch OFF—determination of a controller—actuation of a window motor—a downward motion of a window glass. 
     However, such a conventional short drop system has problems in that, when the door is opened before the activation of the short drop function, an interference of the window glass with the weather strip occurs, so that the weather strip is subjected to abrasion, or the manipulation performance of the door is degraded due to a repulsive force by the weather strip. Further, in the conventional system, since the short drop function is activated when the door is just opened, the manipulation performance of the door is further degraded. 
     Similar problems occur with the conventional short drop system because a short drop signal is received when the door is already opened. 
     Thus, there is a need to improve a short drop function such as the performance of manipulation, e.g. manipulation feeling, quality or the like, by completely separating a door opening period and a short drop activating time. 
     The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information finals the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a short drop mechanism for a vehicle door, in which a door opening period and a short drop activating timing are completely separated so that a short drop function is first activated before the door is opened, thereby improving the manipulation feeling and manipulation quality when opening and closing the door. 
     In an aspect of the present invention, a short drop apparatus for a vehicle door may include a door handle rotatably mounted to a door panel at a front side thereof and having an inner engaging part at a rear side thereof, a door lever including a guide to be engaged with the engaging part of the door handle to operate in response to a rotation of the door handle, a switch positioned in front of the door lever to selectively transmit a signal to open or close a window glass with a turning ON or OFF state of the switch, and a switch lever engaged to the switch and coming into contact with a front side of the door lever at front and rear sides of the switch lever, respectively, the switch lever operating simultaneously with the door lever when the door handle is manipulated, to turn on the switch. 
     The door lever is mounted to the door panel in the door handle by a hinge pin and an elastic member is mounted to the hinge pin and the door handle, the door lever being selectively rotated inwards or outwards in response to a manipulation of the door handle to elastically return to an initial position thereof. 
     The switch lever is positioned on the door panel in front of the door lever, the front and rear sides of the switch lever being rotatable in inward and outward directions, wherein the switch lever may include an elastic middle part. 
     The elastic middle part of the switch lever is a torsion spring mounted to a hinge pin and the switch lever to elastically bias the rear side of the switch lever to be rotated in the inward direction, wherein the switch lever is rotatably mounted to the hinge pin. 
     The rear side of the switch lever is engaged with the front side of the door lever and restricted from rotating when the door handle is not manipulated and is in an initial state. 
     The front side of the door lever may include a support part to which the rear side of the switch lever is engaged and supported, and the support part may have a predefined curvature. 
     The rear side of the switch lever is disengaged from the front side of the door lever and is elastically rotated inwards, upon rotation of the door lever by the manipulation of the door handle, and the front side of the switch lever is rotated outwards by the elastic middle part, allowing the switch to switch to the ON state. 
     The switch may include a button part on a side of the switch lever, and the button part is integrally connected to the front side of the switch lever. 
     According to the short drop mechanism of the present invention, upon the manipulation of the door handle, the switch is first activated before the door is opened, so as to allow a vertical motion of the window glass. With the configuration in which the door is opened after the short drop function is already activated, the manipulation feeling and the manipulation quality are enhanced when opening and closing the door. 
     It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g., fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles. 
     The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a view illustrating the mounting position of a switch in a conventional short drop system. 
         FIG. 2  is a view illustrating the external side of a short drop mechanism for a vehicle door according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating the internal side of the short drop mechanism shown in  FIG. 2  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  are views illustrating the operation of the short drop mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     Reference numerals set forth in the Drawings include reference to the following elements as further discussed below. 
     It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various preferred features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. 
     In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the Field of the Invention to which the present invention pertains may carry out the exemplary embodiment. 
       FIG. 1  is a view illustrating the mounting position of a switch in a conventional short drop system. In the present invention, a window glass can be raised and lowered using a door opening device which is adapted to a conventional vehicle. Such a door opening device includes a drive motor for providing a driving force to vertically move the window glass, and a body control module (BCM) for controlling the vertical motion of the window glass. The door opening device is a device known in the art, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. 
       FIG. 2  is a view illustrating the external side of a short drop mechanism for a vehicle door according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a view illustrating the internal side of the short drop mechanism shown in  FIG. 2 .  FIGS. 4 and 5  are views illustrating the operation of the short drop mechanism of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 5 , the short drop mechanism may include a door handle  100  which is rotatably mounted to a door panel P at a front side  100   b  thereof and has an inner engaging part  120  at a rear side  100   a  thereof, a door lever  200  which has a guide  220  to be engaged with the engaging part  120  of the door handle  100  so as to operate in response to a rotation of the door handle  100 , a switch  300  which is positioned in front of the door lever  200  so as to selectively transmit a signal to open or close a window glass with the turning ON or OFF state of the switch and a switch lever  400  which is connected to the switch  300  and comes into contact with a front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  at front and rear sides  400   b  and  400   a  of the switch lever, respectively, so as to operate together with the door lever  200  when the door handle  100  is manipulated, to turn on the switch  300 . 
     In an aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the problem faced by related art that when the short drop function is activated, the window glass is moved down only after the door is opened, thereby causing interference between the weather strip and operation of the window glass, the short drop mechanism for a vehicle door is configured such that when the door handle  100  is manipulated, the door lever  200  is rotated simultaneously with the switch lever  400 , thereby turning on the switch  300 . 
     Therefore, in contrast to the related art in which the switch is mounted to a vehicle body so that the short drop function is carried out after the door is opened, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured such that the switch  300  is mounted to the door panel P so that the short drop function is activated just after the door handle  100  is manipulated, so that the window glass moves down before the door is opened. 
     The door handle  100  may be rotatably mounted to the door panel P at the front side  100   b  of the door handle  100  and have the inner engaging part  120  at the rear side  100   a  thereof, and the door lever  200  has the guide  220  to be engaged with the engaging part  120  of the door handle  100  so as to operate in response to the rotation of the door handle  100 . The door lever  200  is mounted to the door panel P inside of the door handle  100  by a hinge pin  240  and an elastic member  260  that is mounted to the door lever  200  and the hinge pin  240 . 
     The door lever  200  may be coupled to a latch device of a door lock (not shown) by a wire and the elastic member  260  is composed of a return spring, so that, even when the door lever  200  is rotated by the manipulation of the door handle  100 , the door lever elastically returns to its initial position when released by the elastic force of the return spring. When the door handle  100  is pulled out, the door lever  200  is also pulled out and rotated by the engaging part  120 , and at the same time, the wire is pulled so that the latch device of the door lock is unlocked. 
     The switch  300  may be positioned in front of the door lever  200  so as to selectively transmit a signal to open or close the window glass with the turning ON or OFF state of the switch respectively. The switch  300  may be electrically connected to a body control module (BCM) to control a drive motor, and switches between an ON state and an OFF state with the rotation of the switch lever  400  as mentioned above. 
     The switch lever  400  for turning ON/OFF the switch  300  is connected to the switch  300  and comes into contact with a front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  at front and rear sides  400   b  and  400   a  of the switch lever  400 , respectively, so that the switch lever operates together with the door lever  200  when the door handle  100  is manipulated. 
     The switch  300  may be provided in proximity to the mounting structure of the door handle  100  such that upon rotation of the door lever  100  due to the manipulation of the door handle  100 , the switch lever  400  is simultaneously rotated so that the switch  300  is instantly turned ON/OFF, allowing a rapid activation of the short drop function when the door handle  100  is manipulated. 
     In general, when a door is intended to open with the manipulation of the door handle  100 , the door can be opened only when the door handle is sufficiently pulled out. In an aspect of the present invention, the period during door opening when the door handle  100  is pulled out to a point just before it opens is called an ‘unavailable stroke period’. In the unavailable stroke period, although the door handle is manipulated so that the door lever  200  is rotated, the amount of rotation of the door lever  200  and thus the pulling of the wire coupled to the latch device of the door lock are not sufficient, so that the door cannot be opened. The present invention allows the short drop function to be activated in the unavailable stroke period, so that the switch lever  400  is rotated so as to push the switch  300  to open the window glass, within a rotation range of the door lever  200  before the door lock (not shown) is not yet unlocked. 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  are views illustrating the operation of the short drop mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the switch lever  400  may be positioned on the door panel P in front of the door lever  200  such that the front and rear sides  400   b  and  400   a  of the switch lever  400  are rotatable in inward and outward directions, and the switch lever  400  may include an elastic middle part  420 . The elastic middle part  420  of the switch lever  400  may be a torsion spring to elastically force the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  to be rotated in the inward direction. 
     The switch lever  400  may be rotatably mounted to the door panel P in front of the door lever  200  by hinge pin  440 , such that the rear side  400   a  comes into contact with the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  and the front side  400   b  is coupled to the switch  300 . The middle section of the switch lever  400  is includes the elastic middle part  420  mounted to the hinge pin  440 , which may be a torsion spring, to elastically rotate the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  in the inward direction. Thus, as the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  is elastically rotated in the inward direction by the elastic force, the front side  400   b  is rotated outwards to allow the switch  300  to switch to the ON state. 
     The switch lever  400  may function such that, when the door handle  100  is not manipulated and is in an initial state, although the switch lever  400  is subjected to an elastic force due to the elastic middle part  420 , the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  is engaged with the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200 , being restricted from rotating. 
     The front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  may include with a support part  280  by which the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  is engaged and supported; and the support part  280  may have a predefined curvature. 
     In an aspect of the present invention, the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  comes into contact with the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  such that the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  is engaged with and supported by the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200 . The front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  may include a support part  280 . The support part  280  may include a protrusion on the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  at a position corresponding to the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  so as to allow rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  to rest on a portion of the protrusion. The support part  280  may have an inclined surface having a predefined curvature so that the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  comes into and out of contact with the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  while siding along the inclined surface. 
     For example, if the support part  280  of the door lever  200  has a simple rectangular shape, when the door handle is pulled out and released to be returned to its initial position, the door handle cannot be returned to the initial position because the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  will be engaged with the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400 . Thus, the support part  280  of the door lever  200  has the inclined surface with a predefined curvature at a position where the switch lever  400  comes into contact, so that, upon rotation of the door lever  200 , the switch lever  400  can smoothly move in response to the action of the door lever. 
     The switch lever  400  may be operated such that, upon rotation of the door lever  200  by the manipulation of the door handle  100 , the rear side  400   a  of the switch lever  400  is disengaged from the front side  200   b  of the door lever  200  and is elastically rotated inwards, and the front side  400   b  of the switch lever is rotated outwards, allowing the switch  300  to switch to the ON state. This allows the switch  300  to switch to the ON state before the door is opened, so that the body control module activates the drive motor in response to the electric signal from the switch  300 , thereby allowing the window glass to move down. The switch  300  is turned on within the unavailable stroke period and then the short drop function is activated before the door is opened, thereby improving the manipulation feeling when opening or closing the door. 
     The switch  300  may include a button part  320  which may be integrally coupled to the front side  400   b  of the switch lever  400 . The integral connection between the button part  320  of the switch  300  and the front side  400   b  of the switch lever  400  allows for the simultaneous operation of the button part  320  when the switch lever  400  is rotated by the manipulation of the door handle  100 , so that the switch  300  is able to immediately perceive such an operation. 
     Upon rotation of the switch lever  400 , the front side  400   b  touches the switch  300  to turn on and off the switch  300 . However, in such a touch-type structure a mechanical error may occur, so an immediate perception of the switch  300  may not be obtained. Thus, it is preferred that the button part  320  of the switch  300  and the front side  400   b  of the switch lever  400  be integrally connected so that the switch  300  can immediately perceive the manipulation of the door handle  100 . 
     The operation of the present invention will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . When a user first manipulates the door handle  100  to be opened, the door lever  200  and the switch lever  400  are simultaneously rotated in response to the action of the door handle  100 . This rotation of the door handle  100  is within the unavailable stroke period, so the opening of the door is not carried out. The rotation of the switch lever  400  enables the switch  300  to switch from the OFF state to the ON state. The body control module perceives this operation and controls the drive motor to move the window glass down. 
     While the window glass is lowered by a predetermined distance, the manipulation of the door handle  100  is out of the unavailable stroke period, so that the door lock (not shown) is unlocked, allowing the door to be opened. 
     Thus, the short drop function is first activated before the door is opened, thereby separating respective activation periods, so that, upon the opening/closing manipulation of the door, degradation of the opening/closing manipulation feeling due to the interference between the window glass and the wear strip and repulsive force of the weather strip upon the interference can be prevented. 
     Therefore, the present invention can provide improved manipulating feeling and quality when opening or closing the door. 
     For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner” and “outer” are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. 
     The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.