Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – With hood – canopy – shield storage chamber – or outrigged... – For roll type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-15
2001-08-28
Purol, David M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
With hood, canopy, shield storage chamber, or outrigged...
For roll type
C160S317000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279639
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a separating mechanism for use in automobiles and, more particularly, to an improved separating mechanism for sealing off the luggage compartment or trunk space of an automobile from the passenger compartment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Separating mechanisms serve, in station wagons or similar vehicles, to provide a mechanical boundary between the loading or baggage space and the passenger space. In a collision or crash, such mechanisms prevent the possibility that objects are flung out of the baggage space into the passenger space and injure or kill passengers there. For this purpose, the opening—for example between the edge above the back seat and the underneath of the inside roof lining—is closed with the separating mechanism if such a danger potentially exists.
If, however, an endangering of the occupants can be precluded with certainty because the loading height in the baggage space does not exceed the back seat height and because even in the case of a accidental collision objects slipping together cannot accumulate to the extent that they can climb over the back-seat, the separating mechanism does not need to be used. On the contrary, it is then rather troublesome.
For this reason the separating mechanism is frequently constructed in the manner of a spring-actuated roll, in which case the separating mechanism has a separating net which is wound in a housing onto a winding shaft. The winding shaft is pre-tensioned in a wind-up direction with the aid of a spring motor and, even in the case of a completely wound-up separating net, a sufficient pull-back force remains.
With a completely wound-up separating net, the bale diameter is great and the winding spring largely relaxed. As the separating net is increasingly drawn out from the housing, the bale diameter on the winding shaft diminishes, while simultaneously the winding spring generates an increasing tension.
At the end of the pulling out process, i.e. when the separating net has been drawn out of the housing to such an extent that the drawbar can be suspended into body-side receiving pockets in the car, the pull-back force has increased to such a degree that suspending the drawbar is very difficult. An unfavorable body position adds to the difficulties.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, in view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide a separating mechanism in which the pull-back force is reduced at a drawn-out length of the separating net which corresponds to the length required to suspend the separating net in the car body.
The present invention provides these and other advantages and overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a separating mechanism having a housing in which a winding shaft is rotatably supported. One edge of the separating net is fastened to the winding shaft, and its other edge, which is parallel to the winding shaft, is provided with a drawbar. The ends of the drawbar project beyond the separating net and can be suspended using corresponding heads which are inserted in car body-side receiving pockets.
A drive mechanism which is switchable between two states is associated with the winding shaft. One state is active in the starting range, i.e. in the pulling out process beginning with the fully drawn-in separating net, up to a predetermined pull-out length. The second state follows upon this. In the starting range, a higher pull-out force is in effect than in the range after the predetermined pull-out length is achieved. An automatic switch over is provided between these two states that is dependent on the pull-out length.
Because the reduction of the pull-back force starts at the predetermined pull-out length, suspending the drawbar into car body-side receiving pockets is substantially eased. When handling the separating mechanism, the user now only has to compensate for the substantially lower pull-back force with his hands, in order to prevent a rewinding of the separating net into the housing.
The predetermined pull-out length at which the drive mechanism switches over to the weaker pull-back force is somewhat longer than is required for suspending the drawbar into the car body. Hereby, the separating mechanism also compensates for car body tolerances.
In order effectuate the automatic switch-over between the various pull-back forces, in the simplest case two drive springs are used. These drive springs can be constructed in such a manner that they generate different pull-back forces.
These two drive springs can be combined with one another in two different configurations. In one embodiment, at the end of the starting range, i.e. at the predetermined pull-out length, the stronger spring is held fast in place, so that only the other drive spring remains active for a limited interval, in which it generates a smaller pull-back force. The consequence is that, in the drawing out of the separating net, the drive spring with the lesser pull-back force is stretched and its stroke is limited by additional limiting mechanisms.
The fundamentally different solution provides for a counter force—i.e. after reaching the predetermined pull-out length the second drive spring is switched parallel and counter a portion of the pull-out force of the first drive spring. In sum, the desired reduced pull-back force remains. In both cases the reduced pull-back force is active only over a short interval of approximately 30 mm to approximately a maximum of 150 mm. Upon exceeding this range in the winding-up direction, only the first drive spring becomes active, and pulls back the separating net with great force into the housing.
The drive springs can be constructed as coil springs which are not easily accommodated in the winding shaft without causing a considerable increase of the space requirement.
Another possibility consists of making one of the drive springs as a spiral spring, similar to a clockwork spring.
The separating mechanism according to the invention can also be constructed so that different pull-out lengths of the separating net are possible. The shorter pull-out length is used when the housing of the separating mechanism is located in the area of the upper edge of the erected back seat. The other, longer pull-out length is used, in contrast, when the housing of the separating mechanism is anchored in the area of the floor, for example when the back seat is turned over or even when the backseat bench is set upright. In this case it is very helpful if the drive mechanism is provided with a counting mechanism which provides that the switch over to the lesser pull-back force occurs at exactly the place that corresponds to the shorter pull-out length.
For switching between the operating states, a blocking mechanism or a coupling mechanism is used, which are in each case releasable and, when the predetermined first pull-out length has been reached, they couple the two drive springs with one another or render one of the two drive springs inactive. This block and coupling mechanism also can expediently be combined with the counting mechanism.
A releasing mechanism provides that the blocking and coupling mechanisms are rendered inactive, and this releasing mechanism becomes active at the second predetermined pull-out length.
The releasing mechanism comprises a releasing element which is untwistably joined with the winding shaft.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1709305 (1929-04-01), Brunst et al.
patent: 5275223 (1994-01-01), Magro et al.
patent: 5437324 (1995-08-01), Sternquist
patent: 5711568 (1998-01-01), Diem et al.
patent: 5964426 (1999-10-01), Tabellini
Ehrenberger Marina
Krause Beate
Schlecht Werner P.
Seel Holger
BOS GmbH & Co.
Leydig Voit & Mayer Ltd
Purol David M.
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