Movable or removable closures – With operator for movably mounted closure – Operator drives closure along guide
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-27
2001-11-27
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
With operator for movably mounted closure
Operator drives closure along guide
Reexamination Certificate
active
06321489
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a power feeding unit for motor vehicle sliding door, and more particularly, a power feeding unit provided between a vehicle body and the sliding door slidably attached to the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, abutting terminals shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 4-124555 is known as a power feeding unit for motor vehicle sliding door.
That is, as shown in
FIG. 8
, in a power feeding unit
100
, a first feeding terminal
103
to be connected to a battery side (not illustrated) is provided on a vehicle body
102
side and a second feeding terminal
104
to be connected to a door control unit (not illustrated) side is provided on a sliding door
101
capable of sliding back and forth. A connectable and disconnectable terminal
106
being surrounded with an insulating member
105
is provided on the first feeding terminal
103
. And, on shutting the sliding door
101
, the terminal
106
is pushed by the end
104
a
of the second feeding terminal
104
and is sandwiched, whereby the first and the second feeding terminals
103
,
104
are connected.
In the above prior art, however, in an opened-state of the sliding door
101
, because the power feeding to the sliding door
101
side stops, measures such as prevention of putting a person therebetween cannot be taken. And, because of having double contact points, reliability would not be high.
When the above sliding door is opened, because the sliding door is once pull forward and is slid rearward, it would not be so easy to feed electric power to the sliding door side without a break.
A power feeding unit solving the above problems is, however, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-222274.
In
FIGS. 9A
,
9
B,
10
A, and
10
B, a getting-on-and-off opening
112
is formed substantially in a middle portion of a body sidewall portion
111
of a high-roof type motor vehicle
110
, and a sliding door
113
slidable back and forth is provided on getting-on-and-off opening
112
. At upper and lower portions of the getting-on-and-off opening
112
, respective slider rails
114
,
115
are formed on the body sidewall portion
111
. And, another slider rail
116
is formed on the body sidewall portion
111
behind the opening
112
.
Front portions
114
a
,
115
a
,
116
a
of the respective slider rails
114
,
115
,
116
curve to a cabin
110
a
side by a thickness of the sliding door
113
. The hinge rollers
114
b
,
115
b
,
116
b
are inserted into the respective slider rails
114
,
115
,
116
, and engage edge portions
117
of the slider rails
114
,
115
,
116
, which the hinge rollers
114
b
,
115
b
,
116
b
are provided on end portions of respective hinge portions
114
c
,
115
c
,
116
c
rotatably.
The other ends of the respective hinge portions
114
c
,
115
c
,
116
c
are secured to a front-upper portion, a front-lower portion, and a rear-middle portion, respectively, of the sliding door
113
. And, the sliding door
113
is slidably supported by the body sidewall portion
111
through the hinge portions
114
c
,
115
c
,
116
c
, the hinge rollers
114
b
,
115
b
,
116
b
, and the slider rails
114
,
115
,
116
.
Over the slider rail
114
, a supporting rod
121
is provided. One end portion of the supporting rod
121
is engaged with the body sidewall portion
111
at the front of a getting-on-and-off opening
112
. The other end is engaged with an inner panel
111
a
inside the body sidewall portion
111
at the back of the getting-on-and-off opening
112
.
A cable
123
is wound to the supporting rod
121
, and a cave portion
124
a
for the cable
123
is formed inside the body sidewall portion
111
in order to prevent the cable
123
from coming into contact with the inner panel
111
a
, an outer panel
111
b
, and the like. An opening portion
124
b
for the cable
123
is formed on the body sidewall portion
111
on a side of the getting-on-and-off opening
112
.
The cable
123
is continuously pulled rearward by its own torsional elasticity. And, the cable
123
is connected to an electric appliance
126
.
On the other hand, a receiving portion
122
slidable laterally is provided on the hinge portion
114
c
, and a ring portion
122
a
is formed at the end of the receiving portion
122
. A supporting rod
121
is put through the ring portion
122
a
and supports the cable
123
. And, the other end
123
b
of the cable
123
goes through the receiving portion
122
and the hinge portion
114
c
and connected to an electric appliance (e.g. speaker)
125
in the sliding door
113
.
In the above prior art, however, a large accommodating space of the cable
123
, that is, the cave portion
124
a
is necessary and further a long cable is necessary, which cause big electric resistance.
And, a larger winding diameter of the cable
123
is required in case that a number of circuits are necessary, which causes a larger receiving space.
Next, another example disclosed in the above Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-222274 will be described hereinafter.
Referring to
FIGS. 11A
,
11
B,
12
A, and
12
B, a reel mechanism
130
having a coil spring (not illustrated) is provided in the body sidewall portion
111
at the back of the getting-on-and-off opening
112
. And, a receiving portion
139
is provided on the hinge portion
114
c
of the sliding door
113
. The cable
137
wound to the reel mechanism
130
goes through an opening portion
124
b
and is secured to the receiving portion
139
. And further, the cable
137
goes along the receiving portion
139
and the hinge portion
114
c
, and is connected to an electric appliance (e.g. speaker)
125
installed inside the sliding door
113
.
The other structures of the sliding door
113
are similar to the above example.
In case of the present power feeding unit, however, the reel with a large diameter is required in order to reduce the winding number of the cable, which makes the unit larger.
Further, a larger reel mechanism is required in case that a number of circuits are necessary or a larger electric wire is used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a power feeding unit for motor vehicle sliding door wherein a feeding wire having a large number of circuits on the sliding door side can be connected to another feeding wire on the vehicle body side without breaking the power feeding even during the sliding door is opened or shut.
In order to achieve the above-described object, as a first aspect of the present invention, a power feeding unit for motor vehicle sliding door in accordance with the present invention includes: a sliding door to be slidably assembled to a vehicle body by means of a supporting arm provided on the sliding door and slidably engaging a guide rail provided on the vehicle body; a slide rail provided on the vehicle body in almost parallel with the guide rail; a feeding wire arranged from the vehicle body to the sliding door for feeding electric power to an electric appliance provided on the sliding door; a winder provided on an end portion of the slide rail for winding the feeding wire; and a feeding wire fixing member fixed to the feeding wire to fix the feeding wire, the feeding wire fixing member sliding along the slide rail along with the supporting arm.
As a second aspect of the present invention, in the structure with the above first aspect, the feeding wire is of a flexible flat cable.
As a third aspect of the present invention, in the structure with either one of the above first and second aspects, the feeding wire drawn from the winder is arranged inside the slide rail.
As a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the structure with either one of the above first and second aspects, a wiring harness is connected to the electric appliance, and a connecting means to connect the wiring harness with the feeding wire being drawn from the winder is provided on the feeding wire fixing member.
As a fifth aspect of the present inventio
Murofushi Satoru
Nishijima Masataka
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Redman Jerry
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
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