Movable or removable closures – With operator for movably mounted closure – Drive within closure housing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-22
2004-11-23
Strimbu, Gregory J. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
With operator for movably mounted closure
Drive within closure housing
C049S502000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820370
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor-vehicle window lift comprising a mounting structure, a drive means, a cable system having two cable segments running substantially parallel to each other, reversing rollers for the cable system and two window-pane actuators each affixed to one of the cable segments, at least one actuator being displaceably guided inside a guide at the mounting structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Such a window lift already is known from the German patent document C1 36 15 578 and comprises four stationary reversing rollers enclosed by a sealed cable system. The cable is displaced by a drive means and comprises pane actuators for the pane which are affixed to cable segments running in guides in the direction of pane displacement. In this known window lift, operational reliability shall be increased by the cable system consisting of two mutually separate, closed cable loops, each of which comprises a cable segment running in the direction of pane displacement and both being substantially parallel to each other.
The German patent document C2 35 21 678 discloses a window lift in a vehicle body having an inside wall, this lift comprising a guide plate rigidly joined to the inside wall and having two mutually parallel and opposite end zones. This window lift furthermore includes a displacement system firmly affixed to the window pane and guided up-and-down on the guide plate. The displacement system comprises two runners directly connected to the window pane and each guided on the end zones of the guide plate. A drive unit driving the window pane is mounted on the guide plate. The cable system of this window lift comprises only one vertically moving cable segment fitted with a displaceable support firmly affixed by screw and nut to the window pane. The displaceable support must be connected to the window pane at a point underneath the window-pane's center of gravity.
The German Gebrauchsmuster 75 14 676 discloses vehicle window-lift comprising a carriage supporting the window pane and displaceable along a guide running in the direction of displacement of said pane, a gear rack running next to the guide meshing with a pinion, which is rotatably supported on the guide, engaging the carriage. The guide is constituted by a guide rail consisting of a flat U channel with legs bent outward at their edges and entering slots in slides mounted on the carriage. The guide rail is fitted at its middle longitudinal zone with a longitudinal web aperture which is crossed by a connecting pin implementing the connection between the carriage mounted on the side of the guide rail away from the vehicle inside space and the gear rack over the other broad side of the guide rail. The gear rack is mounted to the connecting pin so as to be tiltable and rotatable about this pin's longitudinal axis.
In general single- and double-strand gear-rack window lifts are known in automotive engineering, which differ essentially in that the single-strand window-lifts are fitted with a single guide rail but the double-strand window lifts are fitted with two guide rails. As regards the double-strand systems, they incur a drawback in that they require substantial labor when installing the window lift in a motor-vehicle door. Another drawback is that the mounting structure is about the size of the door, ie of the window. On the other hand the double-strand window systems offer the advantage of significantly improving pane guidance, that is they grip the pane better than do the single-strand systems. The heretofore known double-strand systems do however entail comparatively large separations between the actuator guides. The comparatively large sizes of conventional double-strand systems limits the space available for the integration of additional devices in the region of the motor-vehicle door. As regards the single-strand systems, they entail the problem that on account of tipping or jamming, pane motion will be uneven.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The objective of the invention is to so develop apparatus having the initially stated features as to create a window lift offering good pane-guiding properties while being compact.
This task is essentially attained in the invention by a window lift having the initially stated features in that the two actuators, or slides, are interconnected preferably by a rigid coupling.
Accordingly the invention is based on the insight to mount a two-rail window lift on a somewhat enlarged mounting structure of a single-rail window lift, said two-rail window lift being substantially more compact than those of the heretofore known two-rail window lifts. Moreover the window lift of the invention offers exceedingly good guidance properties in the window-pane guide. This feature is attained in that the two actuators, or slides, are interconnected by a preferably rigid coupling. The steps of the invention furthermore reduce the complexity of installation, also the weight of the window lift, and it is feasible to mount additional units or components on the mounting structure inside the motor-vehicle door. In summary, the window lift with the features of the invention offers a combination of the advantages of a single-rail window lift as regards simple design, price, complexity of manufacture and installation, with the advantages of a two-rail window lift regarding even, clamp-free or tip-free pane guidance and high efficacy of gripping. The window lift of the invention is characterized by ergonomic installation and operational reliability. Furthermore it offers an advantageous ratio of pane excursion to separation of guides or actuators or slides, whereby installation space for other window lift components is made available in a motor-vehicle door. The window lift of the invention furthermore offers the advantage that thrust need not be shunted because the cable system always moves in a straight line between the reversal points. Consequently one may dispense with guide spirals acting as the outer sheath of the cable and thereby the efficacy of the window apparatus will be raised. It is possible therefore to use a less powerful drive motor for the window lift, whereby the costs of the window lift of the invention are reduced.
Within the scope of the present invention, the expression ‘actuator’ on one hand denotes an element which affixes the window pane to the lifting system. On the other hand the term ‘actuator’ connotes an element in the form of a slide and guided in a window-lift guide. These two functions may be carried out by a single component or also in the form of two, in which case then for instance the actuator is connected for the purpose of affixation with the further slide element. In this instance in particular the actuator and the slide may be adjustable in their relative position.
In a first advantageous embodiment of the invention, the two actuators are integrally joined by a crossbar. Where the slide elements are integrally joined by means of the crossbar, there will also be the possibility to connect the actuators in two parts to the crossbar or the slide and, optionally, in adjustable manner. On account of this design step and despite the small horizontal dimension of the mounting structure between the guide segments for the actuators, or slides, good guidance is assured for the slides and hence for the window pane, and such guidance is extensively free of tipping or jamming torques. The required window-lift rigidity, which directly affects the gripping quality, that is the quality of guidance, is substantially improved by such a design. This preferably rigid coupling moves up-and-down together with the actuators, i.e. with the cable in accordance with the direction of rotation. On account of this connection of the actuators, or slides, window-lift stability is substantially increased.
Another embodiment of the invention makes it possible to constitute the rigid connection in the form of a crossbar which is integrally joined to the slides but is detachably connected to the actuators. Because of this de
Kuster & Co. GmbH
Liniak Berenato & White
Strimbu Gregory J.
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