Abstract
In the case of a catch arm for a door locker unit, in particular of a vehicle door, with at least one elongated body with at least one catch arm head, arranged at its first end, as an end stop element and at least one opening, arranged at its second end, for articulated pivoting with respect to a bearing on which the catch arm is mounted, the catch arm is formed at least partially from at least one fibre-reinforced plastics material, wherein continuous fibres are provided as fibres of the fibre-reinforced plastics material and at least one thermoplastic material is provided as a matrix material of the at least one fibre-reinforced plastics material and the fibres are arranged as an insert in at least one overmoulding material of the catch arm in the form of at least one thermoplastic prepreg, and wherein layers of fibres in the prepreg comprise two or three-dimensional textile reinforcing composite within the thermoplastic matrix material.
Claims
1. A catch arm for a door locker unit, of a vehicle door, comprising: at least one elongated body with a) at least one catch arm head, arranged at a first end of the catch arm, as an end stop element and b) at least one opening, arranged at a second end of the catch arm, for articulated pivoting with respect to a bearing on which the catch arm is mounted, wherein the catch arm is formed at least partially from at least one fibre-reinforced plastics material, wherein continuous fibres are provided as fibres of the fibre-reinforced plastics material and at least one thermoplastic material is provided as a matrix material of the at least one fibre-reinforced plastics material and the fibres are arranged as an insert in at least one overmoulding material of the catch arm as at least one thermoplastic prepreg, and wherein layers of fibres in the prepreg comprise a two or three-dimensional textile reinforcing composite within the thermoplastic matrix material.
2. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein, from the catch arm first end to the catch arm second end, fibre deposition within the insert is provided appropriate for multiple load paths.
3. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein the fibres of the fibre-reinforced plastics material are oriented in a direction of a principal loading of the catch arm.
4. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein at least one organo sheet, being a fibre-composite material or fibres arranged as a textile, is wrapped around a metal element.
5. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein fibre mats are pressed together with plastic to produce the fibre-reinforced plastics material.
6. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein two or three-dimensional textile reinforcing structures are layers of fibres in the prepreg, which layers comprise spread-out rovings or sheets.
7. The catch arm according to claim 6, wherein the two or three-dimensional textile reinforcing structures are layers of woven or knitted fabrics or nonwovens as multi-dimensional textile structures.
8. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein in a region of the at least one catch arm head, a) multiple layers of fibres are provided with fibre directions of the layers arranged differently or b) at least a different fibre orientation than in a different region of the elongated body of the catch arm is provided.
9. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein the at least one catch arm head is formed from at least one fibre-composite insert by twisting the at least one fibre-composite insert by a twisting angle.
10. The catch arm according to claim 9, wherein the twisting angle is 90°.
11. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein the at least one catch arm head is formed from the insert by a) fanning out the insert or by b) fanning out and connecting the insert to further layers of material.
12. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein the at least one catch arm head is formed by a) at least one metal element, or b) comprises the at least one metal element as at least one insert in the at least one catch arm.
13. The catch arm according to claim 12, wherein the at least one metal element is formed as a strip, T-shape or pin-shape.
14. The catch arm according to claim 12, wherein the at least one catch arm comprises a metal element and at least one band of fibres connected to the metal element.
15. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein for reinforcement, the at least one opening at the second end of the at least one catch arm is provided with a) at least one sleeve or bush of at least one stable material or b) the opening is stitched around or c) fibres are laid around the opening or d) the opening is produced by piercing using a warm mandrel to avoid interruptions of the fibres in a region of the opening.
16. The catch arm according to claim 15, wherein the sleeve is a metal sleeve, wherein the bush is wound from fibres, or wherein the fibres laid around the opening are wrapped around the opening.
17. The catch arm according to claim 1, wherein at least one reinforcing layer is arranged along a longitudinal extent of the at least one catch arm and is formed of at least one closed band.
18. A door locker unit, comprising: at least one catch arm, at least one latching element, which is supported on the catch arm, at least one housing, the latching element being movably mounted in or on the housing, and the at least one catch arm extending through at least part of the housing and being mounted in an articulated manner, wherein the at least one catch arm is the catch arm according to claim 1.
19. A vehicle door with at least one door locker unit according to claim 18.
20. A vehicle with a vehicle body and at least two vehicle side doors, wherein the vehicle side doors are connectable or connected to the vehicle body in each case by at least one door locker unit according to claim 17 with the at least one catch arm.
21. The door locker unit according to claim 18, wherein the latching element is a latching link or a pressure element.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) For a more detailed explanation of the invention, exemplary embodiments of it are described more specifically below on the basis of the drawings, in which:
(2) FIG. 1a shows a perspective view of a detail of a first embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention for a door locker unit of a vehicle door of a vehicle,
(3) FIG. 1b shows a perspective view of a detail of a second embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention for a door locker unit, in which a unidirectional arrangement of fibres combined with a multi-directional arrangement of the fibres in the region of the catch arm head is provided,
(4) FIG. 1c shows a perspective view of a detail of a third embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention for a door locker unit, a deposition of fibres appropriate for the load paths being provided in the catch arm head,
(5) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a detail of a fourth embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention for a door locker unit, comprising a metal element around which an organo sheet is wrapped, with unidirectional reinforcement in the region of the catch arm head,
(6) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a detail of a fifth embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention for a door locker unit, the catch arm head being formed without any twisting, that is to say merely as a flat, planar fibre-composite mat,
(7) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a detail of a sixth embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention with a fanning out of the layers of fibres from a band of fibres in combination with further layers of material to form a catch arm head,
(8) FIG. 5a shows a perspective view of a detail of a seventh embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention with a running-around additional unidirectional reinforcing layer, which is embedded in the plastics material of the catch arm,
(9) FIG. 5b shows a perspective view of a detail of an eighth embodiment of a catch arm according to the invention, in which a fanning out of the layers of fibres from a band, similar to FIG. 4, is provided as an insert, which is overmoulded by further plastics material, a running-around additional reinforcement with fibre material being provided and embedded in the overmoulding plastics material,
(10) FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a detail of one end of a catch arm body according to the invention of a door locker unit according to the invention with an opening at the end, fibres of the fibre-reinforced plastics material being interrupted by the opening,
(11) FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a detail of one end of a catch arm body according to the invention of a door locker unit according to the invention, a difference from the embodiment that is shown in FIG. 6 being that the opening is reinforced by a metal sleeve or wound fibre sleeve additionally inserted there,
(12) FIG. 8a shows a perspective view of a detail of a catch arm body according to the invention of a door locker unit according to the invention, an opening at the end of the catch arm body being provided by fibres being laid around the opening appropriately for the load paths up to the end of the catch arm body without interruption of the fibres,
(13) FIG. 8b shows a perspective view of a detail of a further embodiment of a catch arm body according to the invention of a door locker unit according to the invention, a difference from the embodiment that is shown in FIG. 8a being that the fibres are laid around the opening at the end of the catch arm body without interruption and returned in the direction of the catch arm head (not shown),
(14) FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a detail of a further embodiment of a catch arm body according to the invention in the region of its opening at the end, which is stitched around for reinforcement,
(15) FIG. 10a shows a perspective view of a detail of a further embodiment of a catch arm body according to the invention, a running-around reinforcement being provided for an opening provided at the end of the catch arm body by fibres running around there in the longitudinal direction of the catch arm body,
(16) FIG. 10b shows a perspective view of a detail of one end of a catch arm body according to the invention of a door locker unit according to the invention, an opening that is provided there being reinforced by multi-directional arrangement of fibres or layers of fibres for reinforcement while at the same time thickening this end of the catch arm body,
(17) FIG. 10c shows a perspective view of a detail of one end of a catch arm body according to the invention of a door locker unit according to the invention in the design as a combination of the configurational variants that are shown in FIGS. 10a and 10b, with the provision of a running-around reinforcement by fibres and multi-directional arrangement of further layers of fibres while thickening the end of the catch arm body,
(18) FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of a door locker unit with a catch arm according to the invention with an insert of fibre-reinforced plastics material,
(19) FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a catch arm according to the invention with a running-around ring of fibres as an inner reinforcing layer,
(20) FIG. 13 shows a plan view of the catch arm according to FIG. 12, and
(21) FIG. 14 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the catch arm according to FIG. 12.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(22) FIG. 11 shows by way of example a door locker unit 100, comprising a catch arm 1, which is accommodated in a housing 101 of the door locker unit 100 or extends transversely through the housing. Arranged inside the housing 101 are two latching links 102, which are supported on two mutually opposite sides, to be specific an upper side 10 and an underside 11, of the catch arm 1. The latching links 102 are supported on the upper side 10 and the underside 11 of the catch arm 1 while applying a compressive force, which is applied by a spring 103 of the latching links 102. Instead of the latching links, at least one pressure element may also be provided for exerting the compressive force. The door locker unit 100 shown in FIG. 11 merely serves the purpose of illustrating in principle the components of such a door locker unit 100 and the fastening thereof on a vehicle body on the one hand and a vehicle door on the other hand. The housing 101 of the door locker unit 100 is fastened on a vehicle door (cannot be seen in FIG. 11). The catch arm 1 has at its first end 12 a widely projecting, sturdy catch arm head 13 as an end stop element for the vehicle door and, at its opposite second end 14, an opening or through-opening that cannot be seen in FIG. 11 but can in FIGS. 6 to 10c, through which there extends a hinge pin 104 in order to make articulated pivoting possible with respect to a bearing 105, which is connected to a vehicle body (not shown in FIG. 11).
(23) Between the catch arm head 13 at the first end 12 of the catch arm 1 and the second end 14 with the opening, the catch arm extends with an elongated or longitudinal catch arm body 16. In the example shown in FIG. 11, this has three latching grooves 17 on the upper side 10 and the underside 11, into which a latching cam 106 of the respective latching link 102 can engage in a latching manner in order to arrest the vehicle door in various latching positions. The latching links 102, which are prestressed with respect to the catch arm 1 inside the housing 101 by the compression spring 103, can latch into the latching grooves 17. If the vehicle door connected to the housing 101 of the door locker unit 100 is pivoted with respect to the vehicle body connected to the bearing 105, at the same time the housing 101 connected to the vehicle door is displaced with respect to the catch arm 1 until the maximum opening angle of the vehicle door with respect to the vehicle body is reached. In this position, the catch arm head 13 lies against the housing 101 on the outside, and consequently prevents further displacement of the housing 101 with respect to the catch arm 1. For damping the end stop of the housing 101 on the catch arm head 13, the housing 101 is provided on the outside with two damping bodies 107, against which the catch arm head 13 strikes in a damped manner.
(24) The catch arm 1 is formed from or comprises fibre-reinforced plastics material. In particular, an insert 30 of fibre-reinforced plastics material may be surrounded by further plastics material 31 or be embedded in it, as indicated in FIG. 11.
(25) FIG. 1a shows a configurational variant of the catch arm 1 in the region of the catch arm head 13, which has fibres 18 that are embedded in thermoplastic material and extend unidirectionally in the direction of the longitudinal extent of the catch arm 1. The catch arm 1 is formed by an insert 30 of fibre-reinforced plastics material formed with such unidirectionally aligned fibres. Here, the catch arm head 13 has been offset with respect to the catch arm body 16 by twisting by an angle of for example approximately 90°. By local heating of the insert produced from a fibre-reinforced plastics material to form the catch arm 1, the latter can be brought into the desired shaping, that is to say in particular the portion forming the catch arm head 13 can be twisted with respect to the catch arm body 16, in an energy-saving and material-sparing manner.
(26) In a modification of the configurational variant of the catch arm shown in FIG. 1a, the catch arm shown in FIG. 1b has in the region of the catch arm head 13 not only the fibres 18 provided for reinforcement in the longitudinal direction of the catch arm 1, but also fibres 19 extending transversely in relation to them, so that the fibres 18, 19 extend multi-directionally in the region of the catch arm head 13. The angle α, at which the fibres 18 and 19 are arranged in relation to one another, may be for example approximately 90°, as shown in FIG. 1b. Similarly, any other angular arrangements of the multi-directional fibres in relation to one another are also possible. In particular, it is likewise possible to provide a number of layers of fibres with fibre directions arranged differently in relation to one another.
(27) In the case of the configurational variant shown in FIG. 1c, the fibres 18 are fanned out in the region of the catch arm head 13 in order to be arranged appropriately for the load paths. This means that, in adaptation to the forces acting on the catch arm head 13, a respective reinforcement is performed by the fibres 18 fanned out there. As shown in FIG. 4, on the one hand a number of fanned-out layers of fibres 18 and in addition to these still further covering layers 21 with fibres 20 may be applied one on top of the other in the region of the catch arm head 13. These further covering layers 21 may also be formed without further fibres 20, for example merely as layers of plastics material.
(28) As shown in FIG. 2, the catch arm head 13 may also be formed by providing at least one metal element 22, it being possible for the metal element 22 to be formed in a strip-shaped manner and/or for example in a T-shaped or else pin-shaped manner. The metal element 22 extends transversely in relation to a band of fibres 23 and is wrapped around by the latter. The angle between the portion of the metal element 22 that is projecting with respect to the band of fibres 23 and the band of fibres 23 may be for example approximately 90°. The metal element 22 is accommodated within a wrapping loop 24 of the band of fibres. The band of fibres 23 may take the form of a band of fibre-reinforced plastic, for example a so-called organo sheet. In the case of the configurational variant shown in FIG. 2, the band of fibres 23 has been twisted in the region of the wrapping loop 24 with respect to the latter and the orientation of the metal element 22 by an angle of approximately 90°. This helps to keep the metal element 22 in the wrapping loop 24 of the band of fibres 23.
(29) If such twisting of the head and body of the catch arm with respect to one another is not carried out, the housing 101 of the door locker unit 100 may be designed correspondingly in order to prevent undesired slipping of the catch arm head 13 through the housing in the region of the latching links 102. Even when dispensing with twisting of the catch arm head with respect to the catch arm body, the respective orientation and arrangement of the fibres 18, 19 in the catch arm head 13 and catch arm body 16 may also be designed in a way corresponding to the configurational variants that are shown in FIGS. 1a to 2. In the case of all the configurational variants of the catch arm 1, the fibres of the fibre-reinforced plastics material, which is provided as an insert of the catch arm or of which the catch arm consists completely, can reinforce the catch arm, especially also at interfaces with other components or locations of load introduction, in a correspondingly adapted manner by arranging the fibres or layers of fibres of the fibre-reinforced plastics material in such a way as to be oriented for the load paths. Such an adaptation may take place over the entire longitudinal extent of the catch arm, consequently not only at the catch arm head 13 but also along the entire catch arm body 16, and in particular also at the transition from the catch arm head 13 to the catch arm body 16. It is likewise possible to provide fibre reinforcements only at the locations along the extent of the catch arm 1 at which particular loads may occur on account of the coming together of different materials. Accordingly, the fibres 18, 19, 20 of the fibre-reinforced plastics material that is arranged along the catch arm 1 or forms it may be arranged not only on the surface of the catch arm 1 but also within its body and head. If the fibres are arranged on the surface of the catch arm, for example in the form of glass fibres, aramid fibres, carbon fibres, etc., it may be advisable for avoiding wear at the respective latching link 102 or the latching cams 106 thereof to form them from a sufficiently resistant material.
(30) The catch arm 1 shown in FIG. 3 does not have any twisting of the catch arm head 13 in relation to the catch arm body 16, and is therefore formed as uniformly flat. The catch arm 1 may be formed completely from organo sheet, which is correspondingly cut to size and re-formed and which has a fibre alignment of the fibres in the fibre-reinforced plastics material that is correspondingly adapted to the respective application.
(31) As shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, a running-around additional reinforcement by fibres 25 may be provided both along the catch arm body 16 and the catch arm head 13. In FIGS. 5a and 5b, a running-around reinforcing layer with such fibres 25 is indicated. The configurational variant of the catch arm 1 shown in FIG. 5b has the insert 30 of fibre-reinforced plastics material, which is formed in a way similar to the configurational variant that is shown in FIG. 4, with a surrounding of plastics material 31 on all sides, which has here by way of example a stepped shaping to form the catch arm head 13. The catch arm head 13 that is shown in FIG. 5a consists of a correspondingly formed plastics material 31, which is provided with the fibres 25 on the outside and/or inside.
(32) In FIGS. 6 to 10c are various configurational variants of the catch arm 1 in the region of its second end 14, which is provided with the opening or through-opening 15 for engagement of the hinge pin 104, and consequently the articulated or pivotable mounting of the catch arm 1 on the bearing 105. In the case of the configurational variant of the second end 14 of the catch arm 1 shown in FIG. 6, the through-opening 15 has been drilled into the second end 14 of the catch arm 1 or catch arm body 16. It may also be formed by piercing with a warm mandrel, so that no interruptions of the fibres occur in the region of the opening 15, as takes place when drilling the opening 15 in FIG. 6. It is evident there that the fibres 18 are broken through in the region of the opening 15. By contrast, the piercing with a warm mandrel leads to a design similar to the design shown in FIG. 8a without interruption of the fibres. In order to reinforce the opening 15, and consequently prevent propagation of cracks, in the case of the form of the opening that is shown in FIG. 7 a bush 26 has been inserted there. The bush 26 may consist of metal and/or fibres. By the provision of such a bush 26, propagation and creep of a crack already present there can be prevented.
(33) If such a bush 26 is not to be introduced into the opening 15, a reinforcement of the opening 15 may also be performed by depositing the fibres appropriately for the load paths by correspondingly encircling the opening 15, as is shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b. In the case of the configurational variant that is shown in FIG. 8a, the fibres 18 run around the opening 15 and end at the outer end of the second end 14 of the catch arm body 16 once again in longitudinal alignment with respect to the catch arm body 16, whereas the fibres 18 in the case of the configurational variant that is shown in FIG. 8b encircle the opening 15 and are returned in the direction of the catch arm head 13.
(34) A further possibility for reinforcing the opening 15 is shown in FIG. 9. Here, the opening is stitched around with fibres 28, whereby a running-around reinforcement of the opening 15 is obtained. Such a stitching surround 27 of the opening 15 may be given any shaping of various kinds, for example as a star-shaped arrangement of the fibres as shown in FIG. 9.
(35) FIG. 10a shows a reinforcing layer with fibres 29 in the direction of the height of the catch arm body 16 around the latter or its end 14. Such a reinforcing layer with fibres 29 may also extend up to the catch arm head 13 or around it, in a way similar to that indicated in FIGS. 5a and 5b. The arrangement of the fibres 29 may take place on the upper side 10 and/or underside 11 of the catch arm 1, and similarly be offset for example by an angle of 90° thereto at the sides of the catch arm 1.
(36) In the case of the configurational variant shown in FIG. 10b, a multi-directional fibre arrangement is provided on the upper side 10 of the catch arm 1 in the region of the second end 14 of the latter around the opening 15, fibres 18 being arranged in the longitudinal direction and fibres 19 being arranged transversely thereto. Such a multi-directional fibre arrangement for thickening the bearing location for the hinge pin 104 and the bearing 105 for the pivotable mounting of the catch arm 1 is consequently created by a multi-axially reinforced fibre-composite material. In FIG. 10c, a combination of the configurational variants that are shown in FIGS. 10a and 10b is shown, it also being possible for still further variants of layers of fibres and fibres that are described above in relation to FIGS. 6 to 9 and 1a to 8b to be provided there for reinforcement, in particular of the opening 15.
(37) Shown in FIGS. 12 to 15 is a further configurational variant of the catch arm 1, in which a reinforcement of the entire catch arm 1 in its longitudinal direction by means of a running-around, closed, extended reinforcing ring 32 is shown. The reinforcing ring 32 may for example consist of organo sheet or be formed as a thermoplastic prepreg, that is to say in particular from continuous fibres that are embedded in a plastics matrix. The running-around closed reinforcing ring 32 is reversed at both ends of the catch arm 1, a reversal being provided at the first end 12 within the catch arm head 13 around a pin-shaped element 33, for example a metal pin or a plastic pen or the like, whereas the reinforcing ring 32 is reversed at the second end 14 around the opening 15, which is surrounded by a bush 34. The bush 34 may be formed for example as a metal bush, plastic bush, bush of fibre-reinforced plastics material, etc. It is likewise possible even without the provision of such an additional bush 34 to reverse the reinforcing ring 32 around the opening 15 and correspondingly embed it there in plastics material. The plastics material 31 is applied on all sides around the reinforcing ring 32 by overmoulding, so as to obtain the shaping shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, which can be respectively formed application-specifically for the respective catch arm 1. Reinforcing fibres, for example short fibres, may be additionally introduced into the plastics material 31 in order to be able to additionally reinforce it, in particular in a specifically selective manner and also only partially. It is likewise possible to arrange the plastics material 31 around the reinforcing ring 32 by overmoulding without further fibre reinforcement.
(38) As revealed in particular by FIG. 14, the reinforcing ring 32 produced from continuous fibres or at least one band of fibres lies approximately perpendicularly in relation to the alignment of the inserts 30, as they are shown for example in FIGS. 1a, 5b and 11.
(39) A band of fibres, such as the band of fibres 23 or the reinforcing ring 32, may consequently be arranged inside and/or outside on or along the catch arm 1. In particular when providing the at least one reinforcing ring 32 inside the catch arm 1, further inserts of reinforcing material, in particular fibre-reinforced plastics material, such as organo sheet, are possibly not required and can therefore be omitted.
(40) Short fibres, but with particular preference continuous fibres or long fibres, may be used as fibres for forming the inserts or the fibre-reinforced plastics material, in particular in the region of the fibre reinforcements extending in the longitudinal direction of the catch arm. Long fibres are not continuous and are aligned with less definition than is possible with continuous fibres, it being possible for the fibre alignment to be influenced by corresponding setting of the parameters in the injection-moulding process for overmoulding the fibres with plastics material or embedding them in a plastics matrix. The fibres may, independently of their respective design and orientation, be arranged merely in one layer but also as multiple layers in the catch arm. The fibres are embedded in a suitable plastics material, which is in particular a thermoplastic material but may also be a high-performance plastic and similarly a thermoset, as the matrix material, and the plastics material is brought into the corresponding shaping. In particular, an additional overmoulding with a further plastics material in which no fibres are embedded may be provided in order to form the desired shaping of the catch arm 1. When providing glass fibre mats, they may be pressed together with plastics material in order to obtain the desired shaping. The catch arm may however likewise be formed as a thermoplastic prepreg that has been re-formed into the finished state, in particular by a correspondingly re-formed organo sheet. Furthermore, such a prepreg may be formed as an insert and be overmoulded with plastics material. In the prepreg, the layers of fibres consist for example of spread-out rovings or sheet-like formations, such as woven, nonwoven or braided fabrics. Consequently, a wide variety of configurational variants are possible for forming, and in particular locally reinforcing, the catch arm by fibre-reinforced plastics material.
(41) Apart from the configurational variants of catch arms for a door locker unit that are described above and shown in the figures, numerous others can also be formed, in particular also any desired combinations of the aforementioned features in which at least one elongated catch arm body with at least one catch arm head, arranged at its first end, as an end stop element and at least one opening, arranged at its second end, for articulated pivoting with respect to a bearing, are provided, the catch arm consisting at least partially of at least one fibre-reinforced plastics material.
LIST OF DESIGNATIONS
(42) 1 Catch arm 10 Upper side 11 Underside 12 First end 13 Catch arm head 14 Second end 15 Opening/through-opening 16 Catch arm body 17 Latching groove 18 Fibre 19 Fibre 20 Fibre 21 Covering layer 22 Metal element 23 Band of fibres 24 Wrapping loop 25 Fibre 26 Bush 27 Stitching surround 28 Fibre 29 Fibre 30 Insert 31 Plastics material 32 Reinforcing ring 33 Pin-shaped element 34 Bush 100 Door locker unit 101 Housing 102 Latching link 103 Compression spring 104 Hinge pin 105 Bearing 106 Latching cam 107 Damping body α Angle between 18 and 19
