Movable or removable closures – Stored in housing – Reciprocates vertically in and out of housing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-28
2001-10-02
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Stored in housing
Reciprocates vertically in and out of housing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06295762
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a device or part for constituting an elevating or lowering (hereinafter simply referred to as “elevating”) mechanism for elevating a glass window of a vehicle or the like, more particularly, a slider for elevating a glass window (window glass) by sliding in various kinds of rails or by guiding an elevating movement.
Elevating of a glass window assembled to a door of a vehicle is carried out by an elevating mechanism, for example, as shown in FIG.
9
. More specifically, the elevating mechanism is structured such that one end of a main arm a
1
rotatably attached to a door main portion d is slidably connected to an elevating rail r
1
fixed to a lower edge portion of a glass window w through a slider s, and also, the other end of the main arm a
1
is provided with a sector gear g so that the sector gear g is engaged with a pinion gear p connected to an elevating handle or a motor. Further, one end portion of a sub arm a
2
rotatably connected to an intermediate portion in a longitudinal direction of the main arm a
1
is slidably connected to the elevating rail r
1
through a slider s, and the other end portion of the sub arm a
2
is slidably connected to a fixed rail r
2
fixed to the door main portion d through a slider s. Incidentally, in the drawing, a symbol c
1
is a fixed shaft for rotatably connecting the main arm a
1
and the door main portion d, and c
2
is a connecting shaft for rotatably connecting the sub arm a
2
to the main arm a
1
.
The main arm a
1
swings around the fixed shaft c
1
by allowing the pinion gear p to rotate through the elevating handle or the motor, so that the one end portion of the main arm a
1
slidably connected to the elevating rail r
1
slides along the elevating rail r
1
to thereby elevate or lower the glass window w together with the elevating rail r
1
. At this time, further, while both end portions of the sub arm a
2
slidably connected to the elevating rail r
1
and the fixed rail r
2
slide respectively along the rails r
1
and r
2
, the sub arm a
2
is associated with the main arm a
1
to swing around the connecting shaft c
2
, so that the sub arm a
2
supports the elevating movement of the glass window w while holding the glass window w at a predetermined angle.
In this case, as the sliders s for slidably connecting one end portion of the main arm a
1
and two end portions of the sub arm a
2
to the elevating rail r
1
and the fixed rail r
2
, a slider s as shown in
FIG. 7
has been generally used. More specifically, the conventional slider s is structured such that an approximately semi-spherical head portion h provided to a metallic shaft portion m is inserted into a hollow portion of a slider main portion k with a cylindrical shape, which is short in an axial direction and has a thick wall, made of a hard synthetic resin, such as polyoxymethylene, by an insertion molding.
Then, as shown in FIGS.
8
(A) and
8
(B), a forward end of the shaft portion m of the slider s is rotatably connected to the end portion of the main arm al or the sub arm a
2
by clamping f. Also, the slider main portion k of the slider s is slidably fitted into a guide channel e formed in the hollow portion of the elevating rail r
1
or fixed rail r
2
(
FIG. 8
shows only the elevating rail r
1
fixed to the window glass w) and having a C-character section, and fixed to the window glass w or the door main portion d. The end portion of the main arm a
1
or the sub arm a
2
is slidably connected to the elevating rail r
1
or fixed rail r
2
. Incidentally, symbols b and n in FIG.
8
(A) are a bolt and a nut for fixing the elevating rail ri to the glass window w.
Also, though not specially shown in
FIG. 9
, there has been used a structure, wherein a guide rail is fixed to a door main portion d in a vertical direction; a guide slider fixed to a glass window w is slidably fitted into the guide rail; and the guide slider slides in the guide rail according to an elevating movement of the glass window w to thereby guide the elevating movement of the glass window w. In this case, also, as the guide slider and the guide rail, the same mechanisms as those of the slider s and the elevating rails r
1
and r
2
have been used.
However, in the conventional slider s, there are disadvantages such that an offensive sound is generated, wobbling takes place, elevating movement becomes unstable, or the like. In other words, the offensive sound generated when the slider s slides in the guide channel e is a frictional sound between the inner surface of the guide channel e and the slider main portion k, and the frictional sound is generated in case a contact pressure between them is too high. On the other hand, the wobbling and unstable elevating movement take place in case contact between the inner surface of the guide channel e and the slider main portion k is not uniform over the whole sliding area, gaps between them are created in parts or over the whole sliding area, or the contact pressure between them is not uniform.
In order to solve the above problems, it is preferable that the slider main portion k of the slider s stably slides, with a sufficient and suitable contact pressure over the whole sliding area along the inner surface of the guide channel e, but it is difficult to allow the slider main portion k to slide over the whole sliding area under such a good contacting condition due to the non-uniform accuracy in dimensions of both members. Or in order to hold such a good contacting state over the whole sliding area, both members have to be worked with an extremely high accuracy, which is actually impossible because of a high cost.
In view of the above defects, the present invention has been made, and an object of the invention is to provide an elevating slider for a glass window for elevating the glass window in a satisfactory manner, wherein the glass window can be elevated without creating offensive sound, wobbling, unstable movement of the glass window, and the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of producing an elevating slider for a glass window as described above, wherein the elevating slider can be produced effectively and stably.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to attain the above described objects, the present invention provides an elevating slider for a glass window used as a mechanism for elevating a glass window of a vehicle or the like and fitted in a guide channel formed in a rail having an approximately C-character section to slide therein. The elevating slider includes a slider main portion to be fitted into the guide channel and a shaft portion projecting from one end thereof. The slider main portion has an approximately square shape in a plane with sliding portions formed of elastic members on an outer circumferential portion of a base member made of a hard material, and the sliding portions are disposed on at least four corners of the slider main portion.
The slider of the invention is structured such that the slider main portion to be slidably fitted into the guide channel of the rail is provided with the sliding portions formed of an elastic material around an outer circumference of the base member made of the hard material. Since the sliding portions are disposed on four corners of the slider main portion, the slider main portion fitted into the guide channel slides in a state where the sliding portions formed of the elastic members contact the inner surface of the guide channel.
As described above, since the slider of the invention slides in the state where the sliding portions formed of the elastic material contacts the inner surface of the guide channel, even if the dimensions are not so accurate, the variety can be absorbed by the elastic deformations of the sliding portions. Thus, a good contact state can be held with a predetermined contacting pressure over the whole sliding area to thereby prevent the offensive sound
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Nifco Inc.
Redman Jerry
LandOfFree
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