DRIVER ELEMENT FOR A VEHICLE WINDOW LIFTER AND VEHICLE WINDOW LIFTER

Abstract

A driver element for a vehicle window lifter has a pane holder for fastening to a window pane, and a rail slider for guiding on a guide rail. The pane holder has two clamping jaws which form a clamping gap for receiving the window pane. At least part of a screw element vertically penetrates the clamping jaws, the screw element has a threaded portion and a head portion. The threaded portion can be screwed into a threaded opening in the rail slider in order to brace the clamping jaws in relation to each other such that the window pane is clamped. The screw element is at least partially guided through a passage opening having an annular collar which is projectingly molded thereon. In a pre-assembly position, the screw element is interlockingly and/or frictionally engagingly held on the annular collar.

Claims

1. A driver element for a vehicle window lifter having a guide rail, the driver element comprising: a pane holder for fastening to a windowpane, said pane holder having two clamping jaws defining a clamping gap therebetween to receive the windowpane, at least one of said two clamping jaws having a projectingly molded annular collar having a passage opening formed therein; a rail slider for guiding on the guide rail of the vehicle window lifter, said rail slider having a threaded opening formed therein; and a screw element passing perpendicularly at least partly through said clamping jaws, said screw element having a threaded portion and a head portion, said threaded portion being screwed into said threaded opening of said rail slider to brace said clamping jaws against each other to clamp the windowpane, wherein said screw element is guided at least partly through said passage opening of said projectingly molded annular collar, and wherein said screw element is held in a pre-assembly position by a form fit or force fit on said projectingly molded annular collar.

2. The driver element according to claim 1, wherein: said threaded portion has a larger diameter than said passage opening; and in the pre-assembly position, said threaded portion is screwed in a self-cutting manner into an inner wall of said projectingly molded annular collar.

3. The driver element according to claim 1, wherein said projectingly molded annular collar is made of from plastic material.

4. The driver element according to claim 1, wherein said screw element has a cylindrical shaft portion, a diameter of said cylindrical shaft portion which is smaller than a diameter of said passage opening, is disposed between said threaded portion and said head portion.

5. The driver element according to claim 1, wherein in the pre-assembly position, said threaded portion is screwed at least partly into said threaded opening of said rail slider.

6. The driver element according to claim 1, wherein said projectingly molded annular collar is molded onto one of said clamping jaws in one piece.

7. The driver element according to claim 6, wherein said projectingly molded annular collar is molded such that it projects in a direction of another one of said clamping jaws.

8. The driver element according to claim 1, wherein said projectingly molded annular collar is molded onto one of said clamping jaws resting on said rail slider.

9. The driver element according to claim 1, further comprising a screw wheel being co-rotationally coupled to said head portion.

10. A vehicle window lifter for a motor vehicle, the vehicle window lifter comprising: said driver element according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0035] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a vehicle window lifter having a positioning motor and a positioning mechanism and also having a driver element coupling the positioning mechanism and a windowpane;

[0036] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the driver element with a clamping pane holder and with a rail slider;

[0037] FIG. 3 is a perspective sectional view of the driver element;

[0038] FIG. 4 is a perspective sectional view of a detail of the driver element with a screw element in a pre-assembly position; and

[0039] FIG. 5 is a perspective sectional view of a detail of the driver element with the screw element in an assembled position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] Mutually corresponding parts and sizes are always provided with the same designations in all the figures.

[0041] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is show an electric vehicle window lifter 2 as a positioning device for a (vehicle) windowpane 4 of a motor vehicle is shown in FIG. 1 in a simplified and schematic illustration. The (vehicle) window lifter 2 has a positioning motor 6, which acts on the windowpane 4 by means of a positioning mechanism 8 and a driver element 10. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the positioning mechanism 8 has a pull cable 12 and a guide rail 14 for the driver element 10.

[0042] The positioning motor 6 of the window lifter 2 drives a cable drum 18 of the positioning mechanism 8 via a worm gear or spur gear mechanism 16. A pull cable of the cable pull 12 is arranged on the cable drum 18 in such a way that the pull cable is wound and unwound as a result of rotations of the cable drum 18 effected by the gear mechanism 16. The pull cable 12, implemented as a Bowden cable, for example, moves the window 4 over deflection rollers 20 of the guide rail 14.

[0043] In the event of an actuation of the positioning motor 6, the windowpane 4 is moved into its (pane) position P. Here, the windowpane 4 is reversibly movable between a closed position S, which represents the highest possible position P, and an open position O, which represents the lowest possible position P. In these positions S and O, the windowpane 4 is in each case illustrated dashed in FIG. 1. On the other hand, the windowpane 4 is illustrated in a half-opened intermediate position by continuous lines.

[0044] In the following text, statements with regard to the spatial directions are also specified in a coordinate system of the motor vehicle (vehicle coordinate system) with respect to the exemplary installation position in a side door of the motor vehicle. Here, the abscissa axis (X axis) is oriented along the vehicle longitudinal direction and the ordinate axis (Y axis) along the vehicle transverse direction, and the application axis (Z axis) is oriented along the vehicle height.

[0045] The structure of the driver element 10 is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

[0046] The driver element 10 has a rail slider 22, on which a guide area, not shown in more detail, is provided as a rail clutch for the linearly movable or displaceable guidance of the driver element 10 on the guide rail 14 of the window lifter 2. In addition to the guide area, the rail slider 22 has a fastening area 24 for the coupling and fastening to the pull cord of the cable pull 12.

[0047] The fastening area 24 has two nipple chambers 26, on which cable nipples of the pull cable 12 can be hooked or suspended, so that a positioning force transmitted via the pull cable acts on the driver element 10 and moves or displaces the latter along the guide rail 14.

[0048] The rail slider 22 of the driver element 10 is coupled to a pane holder 28 for the mechanical attachment or coupling of the driver element 10 to the windowpane 4.

[0049] The pane holder 28 has an elastically flexible clamping device whichas can be seen in particular in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3has an approximately U-shaped cross-sectional shape in the YZ plane. The horizontal U leg here is formed by a connecting portion 30 oriented along the Y-direction, which couples the two vertical U legs as clamping legs or clamping jaws 32 for an in particular form-fitting and clamping connection or attachment of the driver element 10 to the windowpane 4.

[0050] Formed between the clamping jaws 32 is a clear space as a receiving or clamping gap 34, into which the windowpane 4 can be inserted as intended in the region of a pane lower edge. In the installation or mounting position, the windowpane 4 is thus partly arranged between the two clamping jaws 34. For the simplified insertion of the windowpane, the free ends of the clamping jaws 32 are bent away from the clamping gap 34 in the manner of a chamfer.

[0051] For the purpose of reliable and operationally secure clamping or attachment to the windowpane 4, the pane holder 28 has a screw element 36. Here, the screw element 36 has a screw head as a head portion 38 and a cylindrical or bolt-shaped screw shaft integrally molded thereon, the screw shaft being partly provided with an external thread at the free end. The portion of the screw shaft provided with the external thread is designated below as a threaded portion 40, the thread-less region of the screw shaft between the threaded portion 40 and the head portion 38 also being designated as a shaft portion 42 below.

[0052] The clamping jaws 32 each have a cut-out or passage opening 44, 46 for the screw shaft of the screw element 36 (FIG. 3). The passage opening 44 here is introduced into the clamping jaws 32 resting on the rail slider 22, the passage opening 46 being introduced into the clamping jaws 32 arranged opposite. The passage openings 44, 46 are each surrounded by a projecting annular collar 48, 50 as a passage, wherein the mutually aligned annular collars 48, 50 facing each other project into the clamping gap 34. The annular collars 48, 50 here act as a stop or as a limitation during the clamping fastening of the windowpane 4, wherein the common height of the annual collars 48, 50 substantially defines a minimum gap width of the clamping gap 34 in the course of the clamping fastening. Here, the annular collar 48 surrounds the passage opening 44; the annular collar 50 surrounds the passage opening 46.

[0053] Here, the screw element 36 is seated in the passage openings 44, 46, so that the screw element 36 penetrates the clamping gap 34 parallel to the connecting portion 30 and to the Y direction. In the mounted or installed state, the screw element 36 is here guided between the clamping jaws 32 for example through a hole in the windowpane 4, so that the windowpane 4 is held on the driver element 10 in a form-fitting manner, firstly on three sides by the pane holder 28 and secondly by means of the screw element 36.

[0054] For the additional clamping or force-fitting retention of the windowpane 4, the threaded portion 40 of the screw element 36 is screwed into a threaded opening 52 of the rail slider 22. Because of the flexible design of the clamping device, the clamping jaws 32 are movable relative to each other as the screw element 36 is screwed into the threaded opening 52 passing through the rail slider 22. The head portion 38 here is larger than the passage opening 46 of the clamping jaws 32 for the screw shaft, so that the head portion 38 engages behind the outer clamping jaw 32 in a form-fitting manner. As the threaded portion 40 is screwed into the threaded opening 52, in particular the outer clamping jaw 32 facing away from the rail slider 22 is thus moved toward the inner clamping jaw 32 resting on the rail slider 22, and thus reduces the gap dimension or the opening dimension of the clamping gap 34, until the annular collars 48, 50 rest on each other. As a result, mechanical pre-loading of the clamping jaws 32 is effected, which clamps the windowpane 4 reliably and nondestructively.

[0055] The screw element 36 is, for example, co-rotationally connected to a screw wheel 54 for easier actuation. The screw wheel 54 here is arranged between the head portion 38 and the outer clamping jaw 32.

[0056] The threaded opening 52 is, for example, designed as a plastic thread of the rail slider 22 or the main body thereof. The threaded opening 52 is here introduced into the preferably high-strength plastic material of the rail slider 22 or the main body of the latter in the course of injection-molding production of the rail slider 22. The threaded opening 52 is provided with an internal thread complementary to the threaded portion 40, which, for example, is molded directly into the material of the rail slider 22 during the injection molding process.

[0057] The pane holder 28 is configured as an injection-molded plastic part, wherein the annular collars 48, 50 are molded in one piece, that is to say integrally or monolithically, onto the clamping jaws 32. The diameter of the threaded portion 40 of the screw element 36 is dimensioned to be larger than the diameter of the shaft portion 42. The annular collar 50 or the passage opening 46 here has an internal diameter which is larger than the diameter of the threaded portion 40, so that the screw shaft can be guided easily through the outer clamping jaw 32.

[0058] The threaded portion 40 has a diameter which is larger than the passage opening 44 or the annular collar 48. The internal diameter of the annular collar 48 is therefore smaller than the external diameter of the threaded portion 40. The diameter of the shaft portion 42 here is designed to be smaller than the diameter of the annular collar 48.

[0059] FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show the screw element 36 in a pre-assembly position V, in which the screw element 36 is pre-assembled on the driver element 10. The threaded portion 40 here is screwed into the inner wall of the annular collar 48 in a self-tapping manner. In other words, the annular collar 48 is produced without a thread, a thread being cut into the inner wall of the annular collar 40 in the course of the pre-assembly by the threaded portion 40 being screwed in for the first time. As a result, the effect is an increased torque, which avoids or at least restricts rotation of the screw element 36 in a form-fitting and/or force-fitting manner when in the pre-assembly position V. In the pre-assembly position V, the free end of the threaded portion 48 is also screwed at least partly into the thread of the threaded opening 52.

[0060] In the pre-assembly position V, the threaded portion 40 is screwed into the annular collar 48. As it is screwed in further in the course of the assembly, the overlap between the threaded portion 40 and the annular collar 40 no longer grips because of the smaller shaft portion 42, so that the screw element 36 can be screwed substantially freely and unimpededly into the threaded opening 52, and thus the desired maximum clamping force for fixing the windowpane 4 is provided (FIG. 5). This means that the form-fitting and/or force-fitting retention of the screw element 36 in the pre-assembly position is released in the area of the shaft portion 42, so that the screw element 36 is movable into an assembled position M, shown in FIG. 5, with a reduced screwing resistance.

[0061] The invention is not restricted to the above-described exemplary embodiment. Instead, other variants of the invention can also be derived therefrom by those skilled in the art without departing from the subject matter of the invention. In particular, all the individual features described in connection with the exemplary embodiment can also be combined with one another in another way without departing from the subject matter of the invention.

[0062] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention:

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

[0063] 2 Vehicle window lifter [0064] 4 Windowpane [0065] 6 Positioning motor [0066] 8 Positioning mechanism [0067] 10 Driver element [0068] 12 Pull cable [0069] 14 Guide rail [0070] 16 Gears [0071] 18 Cable drum [0072] 20 Deflection roller [0073] 22 Rail slider [0074] 24 Fastening area [0075] 26 Nipple chamber [0076] 28 Pane holder [0077] 30 Connecting portion [0078] 32 Clamping jaw [0079] 34 Clamping gap [0080] 36 Screw element [0081] 38 Head portion [0082] 40 Threaded portion [0083] 42 Shaft portion [0084] 44, 46 Passage opening [0085] 48, 50 Annular collar [0086] 52 Threaded opening [0087] 54 Screw wheel [0088] P Pane position [0089] S Closed position [0090] O Open position [0091] X Vehicle longitudinal direction [0092] Y Vehicle transverse direction [0093] Z Vehicle vertical direction [0094] V Pre-assembly position [0095] M Assembled position