FRICTIONAL LOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR A DRIVE OF A CLOSURE ELEMENT OF A MOTOR VECHICLE

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a frictionally locking arrangement for a drive, which drive has an advancing gear mechanism, the frictionally locking arrangement having a carrier and at least one frictionally locking unit. In some embodiments at least one frictionally locking unit has a frictionally locking lever which is mounted with a first lever end pivotably on the carrier, which frictionally locking lever, on a first lever section which is spaced apart from the first lever end, has a force introduction device which is mounted on the carrier and is configured to introduce a force into the frictionally locking lever in a manner which is spaced apart from the first lever end, and which frictionally locking lever, on a second lever section which is arranged between the first lever end and the first lever section, has a first frictional element.

Claims

1. A frictionally locking arrangement for a drive of a closure element of a motor vehicle, which drive comprises an advancing gear mechanism with a mechanism component for producing drive movements, the frictionally locking arrangement having a carrier and at least one frictionally locking unit which is configured to transmit a frictional force and/or a frictional moment to the mechanism component, wherein the at least one frictionally locking unit has a frictionally locking lever which is mounted with a first lever end pivotably on the carrier, which frictionally locking lever, on a first lever section which is spaced apart from the first lever end, has a force introduction device which is mounted on the carrier and is configured to introduce a force into the frictionally locking lever in a manner which is spaced apart from the first lever end, and which frictionally locking lever, on a second lever section which is arranged between the first lever end and the first lever section, has a first frictional element which is configured to transmit the frictional force or the frictional moment to the mechanism component.

2. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanism component is a drive spindle which rotates.

3. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frictionally locking lever, by way of its first lever end, and/or the force introduction device is mounted on the carrier, and wherein the force introduction device is supported on the carrier.

4. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the force introduction device can be adjusted, in particular in such a way that an adjustment brings about a change in the position of the frictionally locking lever relative to the carrier and/or a change in the force, with which the frictionally locking lever is pressed away from the carrier.

5. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed claim 1, wherein the force introduction device has a helical spring which loads the frictionally locking lever on the first lever section with a spring force and wherein the spring presses the frictionally locking lever away from the carrier.

6. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein the force introduction device has a fastening means for the spring, which fastening means is configured to fix the spring on the frictionally locking lever, the fastening means being supported on the carrier.

7. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the fastening means is mounted in a sliding manner on the frictionally locking lever.

8. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the force introduction device has a guide element for the fastening means, and wherein the fastening means has a first thread and the guide element has a corresponding second thread the fastening means and the guide element being in screwed engagement with one another.

9. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 8, wherein the spring is fixed and prestressed between the guide element and the frictionally locking lever.

10. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fastening means and the guide element interact with one another in such a way that a rotation of the fastening means relative to the guide element brings about a change in the spacing between the guide element and the frictionally locking lever.

11. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 8, wherein the guide element has an anti-rotation safeguard which interacts with the frictionally locking lever.

12. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the fastening means has a shank, which is slotted along the length at least once and/or a head which has a receptacle for a tool.

13. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the at least one frictionally locking unit, the spring and the fastening means, forms a preassembled unit, and wherein the guide element and/or the carrier are/is also part of the preassembled unit.

14. A drive for the motorized adjustment of a closure element of a motor vehicle, a frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 1 being provided.

15. The drive as claimed in claim 14, wherein the drive has a drive motor and an advancing gear mechanism which is connected downstream of the drive motor, wherein the frictionally locking arrangement is connected between the drive motor and the advancing gear mechanism, and wherein the advancing gear mechanism is configured as a spindle/spindle nut mechanism with a spindle and a spindle nut which is assigned to the latter.

16. A closure element arrangement of a motor vehicle having a closure element which is coupled adjustably to the body of the motor vehicle, and having at least one drive for the motorized adjustment of the closure element as claimed in claim 14.

17. A method for producing a drive as claimed in claim 14, wherein, in a first step, at least one frictionally locking unit is preassembled, by at least the frictionally locking lever, the spring and the fastening means being assembled to form one unit, and, in a second step, the at least one preassembled frictionally locking unit is connected to the drive.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein, in the first step, furthermore, the guide element and/or the carrier are/is also preassembled together with at least the frictionally locking lever, the spring and the fastening means to form in each case one unit, and, in the second step, the respective preassembled unit is connected to the drive.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein, in the first step, the fastening means is connected to the frictionally locking lever by way of latching, wherein the fastening means is connected to the guide element before the connection to the frictionally locking lever, and wherein, before the connection of the fastening means to the frictionally locking lever, the spring is arranged between the frictionally locking lever and the fastening means and/or guide element.

20. The frictionally locking arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the fastening means is secured on the frictionally locking lever counter to the direction of action of the spring force, and wherein the fastening means comes into contact with the frictionally locking lever on that side of the frictionally locking lever which faces away from the carrier.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] In the following text, various aspects of the disclosure will be described in greater detail on the basis of a drawing which illustrates merely one exemplary embodiment and in which:

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a highly diagrammatic illustration of the rear region of a motor vehicle having a closure element arrangement according to the proposal which has drives according to the proposal with in each case one integrated frictionally locking arrangement according to the proposal,

[0043] FIG. 2 shows one of the drives according to FIG. 1 in the retracted state in a partial longitudinal section,

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a frictionally locking arrangement in a partially sectioned view and in a plurality of sectional views, and

[0045] FIG. 4 shows a frictionally locking lever of the frictionally locking arrangement according to FIG. 3 in a plan view and in two sectional views which are orthogonal with respect to one another (FIG. 4a) and a section of the frictionally locking lever in a partial longitudinal section (FIG. 4b).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] FIG. 1 shows one example of a drive 1 for the motorized adjustment of a closure element 2 of a motor vehicle, which drive 1 is configured here by way of example as a spindle drive 1. Here, the drive 1 serves to guide the power flow of the drive power which is produced by a drive motor 4 of the drive 1.

[0047] The application of the closure element 2 which is configured as a tailgate is in the foreground here. The solution according to the proposal can likewise be applied to all other types of closure elements, however. Reference may be made to the exemplary list in the introductory part of the description.

[0048] The tailgate 2 which is shown in FIG. 1 is assigned a total of two drives 1 which act on the two side edges of a tailgate opening 4 and on the tailgate 2 itself. Here, the drive 1 is assigned ball sockets 5, 6 on the end side which are in engagement with corresponding spherical heads on the respective side edge of the tailgate opening 4 and on the tailgate 2. The subject in the following text is merely the drive 1 which is visible in FIG. 1. All of the comments apply correspondingly to the drive which is not visible in FIG. 1 and lies behind it in the illustration and to an arrangement with only a single drive 1.

[0049] As FIG. 2 shows, an intermediate mechanism 7 (for example, in the form of a planetary gear mechanism) is connected (here) downstream of the drive motor 3, an advancing unit 8 with an advancing gear mechanism 9 in turn being connected downstream of said intermediate mechanism 7. Here, the advancing gear mechanism 9 is configured in a manner known per se as a spindle/spindle nut mechanism 9, and has a spindle 10 and a spindle nut 11 which is assigned to it for the production of linear drive movements along a geometric spindle axis 12 in the drive 1. Furthermore, a frictionally locking arrangement 13 according to the proposal is integrated into the drive 1 in a section of the advancing unit 8, which section is shown in FIG. 3.

[0050] The frictionally locking arrangement 13 which can be a constituent part of a braking mechanism or coupling mechanism of the advancing gear mechanism 9 has (here) a dedicated housing 14 as a carrier 14, but can also be fastened to a section of a vehicle body or vehicle door as a carrier 14. The carrier 14 can also be a constituent part of the drive housing 15 which is shown in FIG. 2 and radially surrounds the drive motor 3, the intermediate mechanism 7 and the frictionally locking arrangement 13. Furthermore, the frictionally locking arrangement 13 has one or more frictionally locking units 16 (here, precisely three frictionally locking units 16 which are arranged at an angle of 120 about the spindle axis 12), the frictionally locking units 16 being configured (here) in each case to transmit a frictional moment to the mechanism component 10 which is spindle-shaped here.

[0051] As FIG. 3 shows, the respective frictionally locking unit 16 has a frictionally locking lever 17 which is mounted pivotably by way of a first lever end 17a on the housing 14, and which has a force introduction device 18 on a first lever section 17b which is spaced apart from the first lever end 17a and is formed here by the second lever end. The force introduction device 18 is mounted on the inner side 14a of the housing 14, or is supported there, and is configured to introduce a force into the frictionally locking lever 17 in a manner which is spaced apart from the first lever end 17a. Finally, the frictionally locking lever 17 also has a second lever section 17c which is arranged between the first lever end 17a and the second lever end 17b and is provided with a first frictional element 19. The frictional element 19 is configured to transmit a force which results from the force which is introduced into the frictionally locking lever 17 via the force introduction device 18 to the mechanism component 10, and to produce a corresponding frictional moment here. The first frictional element 19 interacts (here) with a second frictional element 20 which is formed by way of a thickened section of the mechanism component 10.

[0052] It can be seen in the case of the exemplary embodiment which is shown that the first frictional element 19 acts on a section of the mechanism component 10 which (here) is a constituent part of the frictionally locking arrangement 13, which section is threadless. It is also fundamentally conceivable, however, that the first frictional element 19 acts on a section of the mechanism component 10, which section is provided with a thread.

[0053] The force introduction device 18 is (here) of adjustable configuration, to be precise in such a way that an adjustment brings about a change of the position of the respective frictionally locking lever 17 relative to the housing 14 and relative to the mechanism component 10, and/or a change in the force, with which the frictionally locking lever 17 is pressed away from the housing 14. In this way, the frictional force which is transmitted from the first frictional element 19 to the second frictional element 20 of the mechanism component 10 which is configured here as a drive spindle can be set individually and, in particular, can be readjusted over time if the frictional force should decline, for example, in a wear-induced manner.

[0054] The individual constituent parts of the force introduction device 18 of the present exemplary embodiment can be seen in the section B-B in FIG. 3 and in FIGS. 4a) and b). According to this, the force introduction device 18 has a spring 21 in the form of a helical compression spring, a fastening means 22 for the spring 21, and a guide element 23 for guiding the fastening means 22 in the radial direction.

[0055] The spring 21 serves to load the frictionally locking lever 17 on the first lever section 17b with a spring force which can be set here, in particular in such a way that the spring 21 presses the frictionally locking lever 17 away from the housing 4 radially to the inside.

[0056] A screw with a screw shank 22a and a screw head 22b is (here) provided as a fastening means 22 for the spring 21. Here, the shank 22a is provided with a first thread (not shown) in the form of an external thread which interacts with a corresponding second thread (likewise not shown) in the form of an internal thread of the guide element 23, with the result that the fastening means 22 and the guide element 23 are in screwed engagement with one another and can be rotated relative to one another.

[0057] The fastening means 22 is configured to fix the spring 21 on the frictionally locking lever 17. To this end, the shank 22a tapers in the present case in a section which is guided through an opening 24 in the frictionally locking lever 17 and is mounted in the opening 24 in a sliding manner. At that end which faces the mechanism component 10, the shank 22a widens at least in sections and, as a result, forms, in particular, latching lugs 25 which come into contact with the frictionally locking lever 17 on that inner side of said frictionally locking lever 17 which faces away from the housing 14. In other words, the fastening means 22 is latched to the frictionally locking lever 17 here. As an alternative, it is also conceivable to provide a screwed or riveted connection instead of the latching, which is advantageous, in particular, in the case of relatively great spring forces. The securing which is configured in this way of the fastening means 22 on the frictionally locking lever 17 counter to the spring force can also be established and released again simply in the exemplary embodiment which is shown by virtue of the fact that the fastening means 22 is slotted, and in some embodiments is slotted four times here, at the lower end of the shank 22a and, as a result, can be compressed radially toward the inside, in order to be guided through the opening 24.

[0058] The spring 21 is arranged and fixed between the head 22b of the fastening means 22 and the frictionally locking lever 17, more precisely between the head 22b and a bottom 26a of a receiving chamber 26 for the force introduction device 18. Here, the fastening means 22 is supported with its head 22b on the inner side on the housing 14, and is pressed against the housing 14 by the spring 21 via the guide element 23.

[0059] In order to change the prestress of the spring 21, the fastening means 22 which is in screwed engagement with the guide element 23 can be rotated relative to the guide element 23. Since, as the anti-rotation safeguard 23a, the guide element 23 (here) has two fins which interact with a stop 27 in the rotational direction of the fastening means 22, the guide element 23 cannot corotate in the case of a rotational movement of the fastening means 22, which leads to the spacing between the guide element 23 and the frictionally locking lever 17 or the chamber bottom 26a changing. Said change in the spacing in turn brings about a change in the spring prestress of the spring 21 which is supported with its one end on the frictionally locking lever 17 or on the chamber bottom 26a and with its other end on a collar 23b of the guide element 23.

[0060] A rotation of the fastening means 22 relative to the guide element 23 can be brought about by virtue of the fact that the head 22b of the fastening means 22 has a receptacle 28 for a tool, which receptacle 28 is configured here as a hexagon socket.

[0061] In various embodiments, at least the individual frictionally locking units 16 in each case form a preassembled unit which (here) comprises the respective frictionally locking lever 17, the respective spring 21, the respective fastening means 22 and the respective guide element 23. A structural unit of this type can be seen in FIG. 4a) in a plan view. It is also conceivable to preassemble the preassembled frictionally locking units 16 on the housing 14 and, as a result, to form a further preassembled unit.

[0062] In accordance with various embodiments, the above drive 1 which has been described together with the frictionally locking arrangement 13 is provided. Accordingly, the drive 1 according to the proposal serves for the motorized adjustment of a closure element 2 of a motor vehicle. In various embodiments, which is shown in FIG. 2, the drive 1 is a spindle drive.

[0063] Various embodiments provide a closure element arrangement (shown in FIG. 1) of a motor vehicle. The closure element arrangement according to the proposal has a closure element 2 (in the form of a tailgate here) which is coupled adjustably to the remaining motor vehicle, and at least one drive 1 according to the proposal for the motorized adjustment of the closure element 2. In various embodiments, the drive 1 is of non-self locking configuration (that is to say, it can be driven in reverse), and that the frictionally locking arrangement 13 holds the closure element 2 in intermediate positions in the case of a switched off drive 1. In various embodiments, in the case of a switched off drive 1, the closure element 2 can be adjusted manually counter to the braking action of the frictionally locking arrangement 13. In this context, of particular significance in the fact that the arrangement overall is produced in such a way that the frictionally locking arrangement 13 holds the closure element 2 in intermediate positions in the case of a switched off drive 1, in particular with regard to the weight of the closure element 2 and possible spring arrangements which act on the closure element 2 and are, for example, gas spring arrangements or the like.

[0064] Finally, various embodiments provide a method for producing a drive 1 according to the proposal, in the case of which, in a first step, at least one frictionally locking unit 16 is preassembled, that is to say one structural unit is produced, by in each case at least the frictionally locking lever 17, the spring 21 and the fastening means 22, possibly also the guide element 23, being assembled to form one unit. In this way, a plurality of frictionally locking units 16 can also be preassembled. In a second step, the preassembled frictionally locking unit or units 16 is/are connected to the drive 1. It is particularly advantageous if, in the first step, furthermore, the carrier 14 or the abovementioned housing 14 is also combined together with the preassembled frictionally locking unit or units 16 to form one structural unit which is then connected to the drive 1 in the second step.

[0065] The connection of the fastening means 22 to the frictionally locking lever 17 takes place, in particular, by way of latching, the fastening means 22, in some embodiments, being pressed with its lower end into or through an opening 24 in the frictionally locking lever 17 and, as a result, being fixed on the frictionally locking lever 17 in a positively locking manner. Before the connection to the frictionally locking lever 17, the fastening means 22 can be connected to the guide element 23, it also being possible for the spring 21 to be arranged between the frictionally locking lever 17 and the fastening means 22 and/or guide element 23.