Electrical connectors – With relatively guided members and intermediate pliable...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-28
2001-01-23
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With relatively guided members and intermediate pliable...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06176715
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an arrangement for an electrical connection for the tie-up of a motor vehicle sliding door to a frame-fixed cabling and in particular for the permanent electrical tie-up of the sliding door to the electrical system of the motor vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As a result of increased comfort requirements on motor vehicle sliding doors (electric central locking with theft securing function, electric child securing function, electric window winders, electric door closing aids, electric door lock opener drive and a tying in of the electric door systems into a BUS information system) a permanent electric tie-up of the motor vehicle sliding door to the electric system of the motor vehicle is necessary.
A tie-up of this kind is known in principle in the form of resilient door contacts, but the contact surfaces which are in contact with one another here can however easily become contaminated, through which system disturbances are caused, which are undesirable. Furthermore, the spring force and the number of door contacts which come into engagement on the last travelling path of the sliding door makes the closing of the sliding door more difficult. Finally, the increasing of the closure force through resilient door contacts in a motor driven sliding door makes the sensitive detection of an occurrence of a pinch by means of an electronic motor monitoring more difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an electric connection for the permanent tie-up of a motor vehicle sliding door to a frame-fixed cabling, by means of which a disturbance-free electric tie-up of a motor vehicle sliding door which can be re-equipped when necessary can take place in an economical manner.
This object is satisfied by the features of claim
1
and in particular in that at least one elastic and insulated conductor is provided which is arranged in a vehicle guide which is fixed to the vehicle body, and is deflected there preferably by about 180°. A follower of the sliding door engages into the guide, with one end of the conductor being fastened to the follower and being connectable to the door-side cabling. A spring means is provided through which the conductor is at least partially pressed against the guide.
In accordance with the invention the electric tie-up of the motor vehicle sliding door to the electric system of the motor vehicle is provided by a spring-elastic cable which produces the connection between the vehicle cable tree and the sliding door cable tree and which is held in the guide by the spring means in such a manner that it can not release itself from the guide when the sliding door is actuated or while the vehicle is in motion. Through the deflection of the conductor by 180° within the guide a portion of the conductor can be moved back and forth within the guide when the sliding door is actuated, with the conductor automatically rolling up and rolling out again or folding onto itself respectively within the guide.
The solution in accordance with the invention is substantially more economical as a result of the few parts required than the known, conventional, resilient door contacts or than other known solutions with an automatic cable roll-up. Furthermore, the system in accordance with the invention can easily be installed by way of addition in a vehicle and replaced when required. Through an absolutely disturbance-free, permanent electric tie-up of the sliding door, embodiments with electric excitation and control systems or BUS systems can be technically reliably realised. Furthermore, there is also the possibility of monitoring the pinch-in region independently of the motor with corresponding sensors along the entire travelling distance of the door.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the description, in the figures and in the subordinate claims.
In accordance with a first advantageous embodiment the spring means is formed by the conductor itself and/or is integrated into the latter. Thus it is possible for example to select a material for the electric conductor which is resiliently hard so that the spring means is formed by the conductor itself. In accordance with an alternative embodiment the conductor can consist of a conventional, elastic material (for example twisted wires), with additional resilient elements being provided within the insulation which serve as spring means. Alternatively, the insulation of the conductor can also consist of a resilient material in order to press the conductor or the insulation respectively against the guide.
In accordance with a further advantageous embodiment the spring means is provided as a separate component to the insulated conductor, with the spring means in this case preferably being arranged substantially parallel to the conductor. The spring means is preferably manufactured of an electrically conducting material and connected at its one end in a conducting manner to the vehicle body and connected at its other end in a conducting manner to the sliding door. Through this there results the great advantage that the sliding door is connected at all times in a conducting manner to the vehicle body, with the spring means serving as a permanent ground connection.
A particularly advantageous embodiment results from at least two separate conductors being provided, between which the spring means is provided, which preferably consists of an electrically conducting material. In this embodiment the spring means can be used in addition as a screening between the two separate conductors.
The guide is preferably designed in such a manner that the conductor is guided at two, preferably at three sides. Through this it is ensured that the conductor is always held in the guide, and indeed both for the case of an actuation of the sliding door and for the case that the vehicle is in motion.
A constructionally particularly simple variant of the guide is given by a track-like guide which has a substantially C-shaped cross-section. In this the follower can engage into the guide through the cut-out between the limbs of the C.
In order to be able to maintain a small constructional size in the case of a large number of signals to be transmitted between the sliding door and the motor vehicle, the conductor can be designed as a multi-pole ribbon cable. In this it is also possible to use a plurality of such ribbon cables in parallel.
The spring force of the conductor or of the ribbon cable respectively should expediently be as small as is functionally possible in order that the sliding between the conductor and the guide track is possible. In this the friction between the conductor or the cable respectively and the guide can be minimised through a correspondingly friction reducing material choice in the materials of the guide and in the outer material of the conductor. A minimisation of the friction is also possible through the application of corresponding, friction reducing surfaces onto the guide and/or the ribbon cable.
REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 36428 (1999-12-01), Moore
patent: 5877936 (1999-03-01), Nishitani
patent: 6036259 (2000-03-01), Hertel et al.
patent: 4333807A1 (1995-04-01), None
patent: 0282389 (1988-09-01), None
Delphi Technologies Inc.
Griffin Patrick H.
Luebke Renee
Nguyen Phuongchi
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