JP5012489B2 - Folding door for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle folding door, and in particular, the upper end of a lower door can be rotated via a center hinge to the lower end of an upper door that is rotatably connected to the upper end of an opening of a vehicle body via an upper hinge. And a center folding door for a vehicle in which a center hinge is bent so as to protrude outward from the vehicle body and an opening of the vehicle body is opened.

  As a passenger car, there is a vehicle of a type provided with an opening / closing door (hereinafter referred to as a back door) in an opening formed on the rear surface of the vehicle, for example, a wagon type, a van type and a hatch back type vehicle. A typical back door supports both ends of the upper end at the rear end of the roof so that it can pivot in the vertical direction. The handle has a handle provided on the back door, and the back door itself is flipped up rearward and upward. I was trying to open in the state. However, with such a configuration, when the back door is opened, a space corresponding to the height (rotating radius) of the back door is required at the back of the vehicle body. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the back door is divided into an upper door and a lower door, the upper door and the lower door are connected via a hinge, and the hinge protrudes rearward of the vehicle body when it is folded. There is disclosed a folding door that is configured to reduce the space behind the vehicle required when the back door is opened.

In the folding door described in Patent Document 1, rolling wheels are attached to both side surfaces of the lower end portion of the lower door, while rails that engage with the rolling wheels on the right and left sides of the inner side of the opening are guided up and down. Is provided. In this middle folding door, a damper is attached between the upper door and the lower door to assist the operation when the back door is folded to open the opening. Patent Document 2 discloses an opening / closing device for a vehicle rear door that includes a rear door stay that supports an upper door by connecting an upper door of a rear door divided into two vertically and a vehicle body.
JP 2006-56433 A JP 2002-283848 A

  As the damper disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the rear door stay disclosed in Patent Document 2, a gas damper stay is generally used. However, the pressure of the gas sealed in the gas damper stay increases as the ambient temperature increases, and decreases as the temperature decreases. Therefore, if the gas damper stage gas is adjusted so that the urging force that can hold the rear door can be exerted even when the ambient temperature is low, the gas pressure in the gas damper stage will increase if the ambient temperature rises. It becomes large and becomes resistance when opening and closing the rear door, making it difficult to operate.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular folding door in which the operating force is hardly affected by the ambient temperature.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the upper end of the lower door is pivotally connected to the upper end of the opening of the vehicle body via the upper hinge. The upper end portion is pivotably connected, and is in a closed state in which the opening of the vehicle body is closed, and an open state in which the center hinge is bent so as to protrude outward from the vehicle body and the opening of the vehicle body is opened. A movable middle folding door for a vehicle, which connects the vehicle body and the upper door and urges the upper door in a direction to rotate upward about the upper hinge, and a center hinge And a torsion spring that urges the lower door so as to fold the upper door and the lower door.

  In this configuration, the urging force of the gas damper stay is applied to the upper door. The lower door is applied with a biasing force from a torsion spring so that the upper door and the lower door are folded. The urging force by the torsion spring is an urging force that rotates the upper door connected to the lower door upward when the folding door is shifted from the closed state to the open state. In other words, the upper door is rotated upward by the biasing force of the gas damper stay and the biasing force of the torsion spring. Therefore, the upper door can be opened upward by the gas damper and the torsion spring having a small amount of gas. Gas dampers with a small amount of gas have little fluctuation in the gas pressure of the gas dampers due to temperature changes, so that the operating force when opening and closing the folding door is less affected by the ambient temperature. Can do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the center hinge is attached to the upper door and the lower door, and the upper door side hinge member and the lower door side hinge that are rotatably connected to each other. The gist is provided with a member and a restriction mechanism for restricting rotation of the lower door side hinge member in a direction opposite to a biasing direction of the torsion spring in the opened state.

  In this configuration, the restriction mechanism restricts the lower door from rotating in the direction opposite to the biasing direction of the torsion spring. Therefore, even if a torsion spring having a small urging force is used, the folding door can be reliably held in the open state. And by using the torsion spring with a small urging force, the resistance received from the torsion spring when closing the folding door is reduced, so that the folding door can be easily closed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the restriction mechanism includes a cam member that can rotate integrally with one of the upper door side hinge member and the lower door side hinge member, and the upper door. A lever provided on the other of the side hinge member and the lower door side hinge member, a contact provided on the lever and contacting the cam member, and urging the lever to A biasing member that presses the contact against the cam member; and the cam member engages with the contact in the open state, and the lower door hinge in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the torsion spring The gist is that a restricting portion for restricting the rotation of the member is provided.

  In this configuration, when the folding door is changed from the closed state to the open state, the contact moves along the contour of the cam member and moves relative to the cam member. By combining, the relative rotation between the contact and the cam member is restricted. Then, by restricting relative rotation between the contact and the cam member, rotation of the lower door side hinge member is restricted, and the lower door may rotate in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the torsion spring. Be regulated.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the vehicle body and the lower door are coupled, and the fulcrum on the vehicle body side and the fulcrum on the lower door side are connected. A telescopic rod configured to extend and retract a distance between the telescopic rods, and the telescopic rod includes a biasing member that imparts a biasing force to the lower door side fulcrum so as to separate the fulcrum on the lower door side from the fulcrum on the vehicle body side. The gist of the invention is that only the upper door is opened and the telescopic rod can be held in a half-open state supporting the lower door against the urging force of the torsion spring.

  In this configuration, a four-bar linkage mechanism is configured with the upper hinge, the center hinge, the fulcrum on the lower door side, and the fulcrum on the vehicle body side as nodes. The lower door is urged by the urging force of the torsion spring so that the angle between the lower door and the upper door is reduced, and the lower door moves upward. As the lower door moves upward, the upper door also rotates upward about the upper hinge, so that the folding door is in a half-open state in which only the upper door is opened. When the folding door is in the half-open state, the lower end of the lower door is present at a lower position than in the open state. Therefore, it becomes easier for a short person or a person who is difficult to raise his hand to grasp and operate the lower door.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to make the operating force of the folding door difficult to be influenced by the ambient temperature.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a back door 12 as a folding door that opens and closes an opening formed in a rear portion is provided at a rear portion of a roof 13 of the vehicle body 11. It is rotatably supported via a pair of left and right upper hinges 14. The back door 12 is divided into an upper door 15 and a lower door 16, and a lower portion of the upper door 15 and an upper portion of the lower door 16 are connected to each other via a pair of left and right center hinges 17 as hinges. . In the back door 12, the lower end part of the upper door 15 is arrange | positioned on the outer side of the upper end part of the lower door 16, and it is comprised so that it may become an overlap structure. In this embodiment, the length of the upper door 15 in the vertical direction is longer than the length of the lower door 16 in the vertical direction, and the upper door 15 and the upper door 15 in the closed state disposed at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. The lower door 16 is arranged in a single plate shape, that is, in a straight line. Here, the “length in the vertical direction of the door” means the length in the vertical direction in the closed state of the back door 12. A known locking device (not shown) is provided between the lower end of the lower door 16 and the vehicle body 11, and a handle 16a capable of releasing the locking of the known locking device is provided on the outer surface of the lower door 16. Yes.

  The inner side of the upper door 15 of the upper door 15 and the inner side of the opening of the vehicle body 11 are connected via a gas damper 18. Both ends of the gas damper stay 18 are rotatably attached to the vehicle body 11 side and the upper door 15 side, respectively. The gas damper 18 is configured such that a piston disposed in the cylinder tube is energized by the pressure of the gas sealed in the cylinder tube, and a piston rod fixed to the piston protrudes and retracts from the cylinder tube. Yes. Since the amount of gas charged in the gas damper 18 is set to be smaller than that of the existing gas damper, the gas damper 18 is smaller than the urging force of the existing gas damper.

  On the other hand, a pair of left and right extendable rods 19 are provided between the upper portion of the rear portion of the side frame 11 a of the vehicle body 11 and the lower door 16. The telescopic rod 19 has a vehicle body side end portion 19a as a fulcrum on the vehicle body side attached to the side frame 11a so as to freely rotate, and a lower door side end portion 19b as a fulcrum on the lower door side rotates to the side portion 16b of the lower door 16. It is attached freely. The telescopic rod 19 includes, for example, a cylindrical housing, a spring as a biasing member housed in the housing, and a rod that is partially inserted into the housing and biased in the protruding direction by the spring. It is configured. The telescopic rod 19 is in an extended state when no external force is applied to the rod, and is configured to contract when the external force greater than the biasing force of the spring is applied to the rod. Has been.

Next, the center hinge 17 that connects the upper door 15 and the lower door 16 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1B, an upper door side base (hereinafter referred to as an upper base) 20 as an upper door side hinge member of the center hinge 17 is fixed to an inner panel portion of the upper door 15 by bolts 21. . On the other hand, a lower door side base (hereinafter referred to as a lower base) 22 as a lower door side hinge member of the center hinge 17 is fixed to an inner panel portion of the lower door 16 by a bolt 23.

  The upper base 20 includes a pair of left and right arm pieces 24 and a connecting portion 25 that connects the pair of arm pieces 24. On the other hand, the lower base 22 includes a pair of left and right arm pieces 26 and a connecting portion 27 that connects the pair of arm pieces 26. The pair of arm pieces 24 of the upper base 20 are disposed inside the pair of arm pieces 26 of the lower base 22, and the hinge shaft 28 is inserted into the end portions 24 a and 26 a of the arm pieces 24 and 26.

  The hinge shaft 28 connects the upper base 20 and the lower base 22 to each other so as to be rotatable. In addition, the hinge shaft 28 passes through a columnar member 29 disposed between the end portions 26 a of the pair of arm pieces 26. A torsion spring 30 is externally mounted on the cylindrical member 29.

  The torsion spring 30 has a first end 30 a locked to a first locking member 31 provided on the inner side of the lower base 22 and a second end 30 b provided on the inner side of the upper base 20. Locked to the stop member 32. The torsion spring 30 is in a bent state and urges the lower door 16 so that the upper door 15 and the lower door 16 are folded in a folded state from a state in which the upper door 15 and the lower door 16 are arranged in a single plate shape. The torsion spring 30 urges the lower door 16 toward the vehicle body 11 when the back door 12 (see FIG. 1A) is closed, and attaches the lower door 16 to the upper door 15 when the back door 12 is open. It is configured to force. Note that the force for deflecting the torsion spring 30 increases as the back door 12 is closed, but even in this case, the torsion spring 30 is prevented from becoming a large resistance for the operation of closing the back door 12. The biasing force is set.

  A restricting mechanism 33 that restricts the relative rotation of the upper base 20 and the lower base 22 when the back door 12 is opened is provided on the right side of the center hinge 17 in FIG. ing. As shown in FIG. 2A, the plate-like lever 34 constituting the regulating mechanism 33 has a base end portion 34a rotatably provided on one arm piece 24, and from a closed state to an open state. It is provided at a position where it does not interfere with the hinge shaft 28 in any state. The lever 34 is provided with a roller 36 as a contact on the outer side surface and in the central portion, and as a biasing member between the upper surface of the tip end portion 34b and the bent portion 24b of the arm piece 24. A spring 37 is interposed. The spring 37 biases the distal end portion 34 b of the lever 34 to rotate the lever 34 around the base end portion 34 a, and presses the roller 36 against the cam member 38 fixed to the arm piece 26. The roller 36 is configured to roll along the contour of the cam member 38 when the upper base 20 and the lower base 22 rotate relatively, that is, when the back door 12 is opened and closed.

  The cam member 38 is formed in a contour shape such that the radius gradually increases from a portion A in contact with the roller 36 in the closed state of the back door 12 to a portion B in contact with the roller 36 immediately before the open state. Has been. As shown in FIG. 2B, the cam member 38 engages with the roller 36 when the back door 12 is opened, and the lower base 22 is moved in the direction opposite to the urging direction of the torsion spring 30. A recess-shaped restricting portion 39 for restricting the rotation is provided. That is, in the state where the back door 12 is in the open state and the roller 36 is located at the part C, the relative rotation between the cam member 38 and the roller 36 is achieved by the engagement of the restricting portion 39 and the roller 36. Is configured to regulate.

Next, the operation of the back door configured as described above will be described.
In order to open the back door 12 in the closed state, that is, the state arranged at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1A, first, the handle 16a is operated to open the door of the back door 12 by a lock device (not shown). unlock. The back door 12 is configured with a four-bar linkage mechanism that has the upper hinge 14, the center hinge 17, the vehicle body side end 19a, and the lower door side end 19b as nodes. A force is applied to reduce the angle formed by the lower door 16 and the upper door 15 by the spring 30. Then, the lower door 16 moves upward while being supported by the telescopic rod 19. Further, the upper door 15 rotates upward about the upper hinge 14 in response to a force for rotating the upper door 15 generated by the biasing force of the gas damper 18 and the biasing force of the torsion spring 30. When the upper door 15 rotates to a position where the urging force from the gas damper 18 and the weight of the upper door 15 are balanced, the back door 12 is in a half-open state. Here, when the back door 12 is in a half-open state, that is, in a state where it is arranged at a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1A, the telescopic rod 19 supports the lower door 16 against the urging force of the torsion spring 30. . The lower door 16 is held in a state where the lower door 16 and the upper door 15 are being folded in half. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the back door 12 transitions from the closed state to the half-open state, the roller 36 of the restriction mechanism 33 moves from the state in contact with the part A of the cam member 38 to the cam member 38. Roll along the contour of

  Next, when the lower door 16 is pushed up obliquely upward on the vehicle body 11 side, the lower door 16 rotates about the center hinge 17 so that the lower end 16c thereof approaches the vehicle body 11. At this time, the torsion spring 30 applies an urging force to the lower door 16 so as to assist the push-up operation with respect to the lower door 16. When the back door 12 is in an open state, that is, in a state where the back door 12 is disposed at a position indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. When the back door 12 is changed from the half-open state to the open state, the cam member 38 rotates as the lower door 16 rotates, and the roller 36 rolls along the contour of the cam member 38. 2B, the roller 36 passes through the part B of the cam member 38, and moves to the part C when the back door 12 is opened. When the roller 36 moves to the part C, the roller 36 is engaged with the restricting portion 39, so that the relative rotation of the cam member 38 with respect to the roller 36 is restricted, and the angle formed by the upper base 20 and the lower base 22 is increased. Such rotation is restricted. That is, the lower door 16 is restricted from rotating in the direction opposite to the urging direction of the torsion spring 30. As a result, the lower door 16 is restricted from rotating downward about the center hinge 17, and even if the resultant force of the urging force of the torsion spring 30 and the urging force of the telescopic rod 19 is smaller than the weight of the lower door 16, the back door 12 Held open.

  Further, when the lower door 16 is operated to be pulled down in the open state of the back door 12, the roller 36 in the restriction mechanism 33 gets over the restriction portion 39 and rolls again on the contour of the cam member 38. The lower door 16 rotates downward about the center hinge 17 against the urging force of the torsion spring 30. Then, after the back door 12 is in a half-open state indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1A, the lower door 16 is pushed down, and the upper door 15 is resisted against the biasing force of the gas damper 18 and the biasing force of the torsion spring 30. By rotating downward, the back door 12 is closed and locked by a lock device (not shown).

  Further, the urging force of the gas damper stay 18 is set in advance to be smaller than the urging force of the existing gas damper stay, and the amount of gas filled in the gas damper stay 18 is smaller than that of the existing gas damper stay. . Therefore, since the fluctuation of the gas pressure of the gas damper 18 due to the ambient temperature change is small, the magnitude of the gas pressure when the ambient temperature is high is smaller than that of the conventional gas damper. When the operation of closing the back door 12 is performed, the resistance received from the gas damper 18 is small, and the operability of the back door 12 is improved because the operation force when operating the back door 12 is light.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The back door 12 is divided into an upper door 15 and a lower door 16, and a lower portion of the upper door 15 and an upper portion of the lower door 16 are connected to each other via a center hinge 17. A torsion spring 30 is attached to the center hinge 17, and the torsion spring 30 biases the lower door 16 so as to fold the upper door 15 and the lower door 16. In the back door 12, a four-joint link mechanism is formed with the upper hinge 14, the center hinge 17, the vehicle body side end 19a, and the lower door side end 19b as nodes. Therefore, the upper door 15 is urged upward by the urging force of the gas damper 18 and the urging force of the torsion spring 30 while the back door 12 transitions from the closed state to the open state. The gas pressure of the gas damper 18 is set smaller than that of the conventional gas damper. As a result, the fluctuation of the gas pressure due to the ambient temperature change in the gas damper 18 is small, and the back door 12 can be opened and closed with the same operating force regardless of the ambient temperature.

  (2) Since the upper door 15 and the lower door 16 are supported by the gas damper stay 18 and the telescopic rod 19, the upper door 15 and the lower door 16 are mounted on the vehicle in comparison with the conventional configuration in which the back door 12 is supported by the guide rail and the rolling wheel. Easy to do.

  (3) The center hinge 17 includes an upper base 20 and a lower base 22 that are relatively rotatable, and a restriction mechanism 33. Then, the restriction mechanism 33 restricts the lower door 16 from rotating downward when the back door 12 is opened. Therefore, the restricting mechanism 33 restricts the rotation of the lower door 16 so that the back door 12 can be reliably held in the open state. And the resistance received when closing the back door 12 becomes small by using the torsion spring 30 with small urging | biasing force. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the operation force when performing the operation of closing the back door 12. Further, even when an external force larger than the resultant force of the urging force of the torsion spring 30 and the urging force of the telescopic rod 19 is applied to the lower door 16 in the open state, the lower door 16 is restricted from rotating downward by the restriction mechanism 33. The back door 12 can be held in the open state.

  (4) The restricting mechanism 33 urges the lever 34, a cam member 38 that can rotate integrally with the lower base 22, a lever 34 that is rotatably provided on the upper base 20, a roller 36 that is provided on the lever 34, and the lever 34. A spring 37 that presses the roller 36 against the cam member 38 is provided. When the back door 12 is opened, the roller 36 and the restricting portion 39 of the cam member 38 are engaged to restrict relative rotation between the roller 36 and the cam member 38, and the torsion spring. The rotation of the lower base 22 in the direction opposite to the urging direction of 30 is restricted. The restriction mechanism 33 functions to automatically maintain the open state when an operation is performed to open the back door 12 from the half-open state to the open state. Therefore, the open state can be easily maintained using the restriction mechanism 33.

  (5) The lever 34 is rotatably attached to the upper base 20, and the cam member 38 is fixed to the lower base 22. That is, the restriction mechanism 33 is provided integrally with the center hinge 17. Therefore, if the center hinge 17 is attached to the back door 12, the restriction mechanism 33 can be attached to the back door 12 at the same time. For example, as compared with the case where the center hinge and the restriction mechanism are separately assembled to the back door. The assembly man-hour is reduced, and the vehicle mounting property is also good.

  (6) The back door 12 can be held in a half-open state. When the back door 12 is in the half-open state, the lower end of the lower door 16 is located at a lower position than in the open state. It becomes easy.

  (7) When the back door 12 is in the open state, the lower end of the lower door 16 can be held in a state of being positioned higher than the upper edge of the opening. Therefore, even when folded and opened to the maximum, the opening area of the opening can be secured wider than the back door where the lower end of the lower door is located lower than the upper edge of the opening, and the loading and unloading performance is improved. can do.

In addition, you may change embodiment of this invention as follows.
The contour shape of the cam member 38 may be changed so that a rotational force in a predetermined direction is applied to the cam member 38. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the roller 36 immediately before the back door 12 is opened from the portion Q1 of the cam member 38 that is in contact with the roller 36 during the transition from the half-open state to the open state. A portion of the cam member 38 that comes into contact with the portion Q2 is referred to as a first contact portion 40. Then, the shape of the first abutting portion 40 is changed to a shape in which a rotational force is applied to the cam member 38 until the back door 12 shifts from the half-open state to the open state until the back door 12 shifts to the open state. May be. In this case, the cam member 38 is formed in such a shape that the distance between the cam center P and the outer periphery of the cam member 38 gradually decreases from the part Q1 of the cam member 38 toward the part Q2 of the cam member 38. With this configuration, when the back door 12 is in a half-open state, the roller 36 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3A from the position of the roller 36 as indicated by the solid line in FIG. A pressing force is applied from the roller 36 to the cam member 38 when moving to the part Q2 through the part Q1. The action line F1 of the pressing force in the middle of the roller 36 from the part Q1 to the part Q2 (solid line arrow in FIG. 3A) is separated from the cam center P of the cam member 38. Is applied with a rotational force in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3A (in the direction of the one-dot chain line in FIG. 3A). As a result, a biasing force in the same direction as the biasing direction of the torsion spring 30 is applied to the lower door 16. In other words, the shape of the first abutting portion 40 of the cam member 38 is formed in a shape that gives an assisting force that causes the back door 12 to be folded and opened while the back door 12 transitions from the half-open state to the fully-open state. Yes.

  A portion connecting the portion Q1 of the cam member 38 to the portion Q3 of the cam member 38 that contacts the roller 36 when the back door 12 is closed is referred to as a second contact portion 41. And the shape of the 2nd contact part 41 is formed so that the distance from the cam center P to the outer periphery of the cam member 38 may become small gradually as it goes to the site | part Q3 from the site | part Q1. With this configuration, when the back door 12 is in the half-open state, the roller 36 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3B from the position of the roller 36 as indicated by the solid line in FIG. A pressing force is applied from the roller 36 to the cam member 38 when moving to the portion Q3 through the portion Q1. At this time, the action line F2 of the pressing force (solid line arrow in FIG. 3B) is separated from the cam center P of the cam member 38, so that the cam member 38 is counterclockwise in FIG. The rotational force of (the dashed-dotted arrow in FIG. 3B) is applied. Therefore, a biasing force in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the torsion spring 30 is applied to the lower door 16. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the resistance received from the torsion spring 30 when performing the operation of shifting the back door 12 from the half-open state to the closed state. As a result, regardless of the opening degree of the back door 12, the operation force when operating the back door 12 can be reduced, and the operability is improved. In FIG. 3A, when the back door 12 changes from the half-open state to the open state, the roller 36 moves relative to the cam member 38 by rotating the cam member 38. The roller 36 is shown to move relative to the cam member 38. Further, in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the lower base 22 is omitted.

  A stopper that restricts the upward rotation of the upper door 15 may be provided. In this case, the upper door 15 is urged upward by the gas damper 18 and is rotated, and the upper door 15 is brought into a state of being opened by being restricted from rotating by contacting the stopper. Therefore, the upper door 15 can be positioned at a predetermined position without considering the magnitude of the biasing force of the gas damper 18 and the weight of the upper door 15.

  The restriction mechanism 33 may be omitted. In this case, the urging force of the torsion spring 30 is the same as that of the above embodiment, and the urging force of the spring of the telescopic rod 19 is increased, and the weight of the lower door 16 is reduced by the urging force of the torsion spring 30 and the urging force of the telescopic rod 19. The structure can be supported. With this configuration, the lower door side end portion 19b of the telescopic rod 19 passes through an imaginary line connecting the center hinge 17 and the vehicle body side end portion 19a while the back door 12 transitions from the half-open state to the open state. The telescopic rod 19 is switched to urge the lower door 16 toward the upper door 15. When the back door 12 is in the open state, the lower door 16 is pressed against the upper door 15 by the telescopic rod 19 and the torsion spring 30 to maintain the posture. Therefore, even if the restriction mechanism 33 is omitted, the posture of the lower door 16 in the open state can be maintained by the telescopic rod 19 and the torsion spring 30 without increasing the urging force of the torsion spring 30.

  The telescopic rod 19 may be omitted. For example, when the back door 12 is unlocked, the back door 12 may be folded by the urging force of the torsion spring 30 so that the back door 12 is opened. In this case, when trying to shift the back door 12 from the closed state to the open state, the torsion spring 30 biases the lower door 16 toward the vehicle body 11. Since the lower door 16 cannot contact the vehicle body 11 and cannot rotate to the vehicle body 11 side, the lower door 16 rotates so that the upper end portion of the lower door 16 is separated from the vehicle body with the contact portion between the lower door 16 and the vehicle body 11 as a fulcrum. To do. Accordingly, the upper door 15 connected to the lower door 16 also rotates upward about the upper hinge 14. Therefore, while the lower door 16 is in contact with the vehicle body 11, the upper door 15 is urged upward by the urging force of the torsion spring 30 in addition to the urging force of the gas damper 18. Then, after the lower door 16 moves upward by a predetermined distance, when the lower door 16 is separated from the vehicle body 11, the upper door 15 is biased only by the gas damper 18. Thereafter, the back door 12 is opened by the balance between the weight of the back door 12 and the biasing force of the gas damper 18 and the lower door 16 and the upper door 15 being folded into two. Therefore, the operating force can be made less susceptible to the ambient temperature as in the above embodiment.

  -You may provide multiple regulation parts. For example, a restricting portion may be added between a portion where the roller contacts when the back door 12 is in the half-open state and a portion where the roller contacts when the back door 12 is in the open state. In this case, since the back door 12 can be held in the middle of the transition from the half-open state to the open state, the open state of the back door 12 is selectively used in two stages for a short person and a tall person. be able to.

  -The shape of the restricting portion is not particularly limited. The shape of the restricting portion may be a shape that can restrict the movement of the roller 36, and may be, for example, a recess. However, when the restricting portion is a recess, when a predetermined force is applied to the roller, it is necessary to form the recess so that the roller can move over the recess.

  -The open state of the back door 12 is not limited to the state of opening the entire opening. If there is no hindrance to loading and unloading of the luggage, a state where a part of the opening is covered may be set as the open state of the back door 12.

  The position where the cam member 38 and the lever 34 are provided may be changed. For example, the cam member 38 may be provided on the upper base 20 and the lever 34 may be provided on the lower base 22. Even if comprised in this way, there exists an effect similar to the said embodiment.

Next, the technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment and other examples will be described below.
In the vehicular folding door according to claim 3, the cam member includes a first abutting portion that abuts on the contact during the transition from the open state to the open state, and the closed state. A second abutting portion that abuts against the contact during the transition to the closed state, and the first abutting portion includes a biasing direction of the torsion spring while the contact abuts. The second contact portion is formed in a shape that applies a force in the same direction to the cam member, and the second contact portion applies a force in a direction opposite to a biasing direction of the torsion spring while the contact is in contact. A vehicular folding door characterized by being formed into a shape that acts on a member.

(A) is a schematic side view of the back door in one Embodiment, (b) is a schematic front view which shows a center hinge. (A) is a schematic side view of the center hinge when the back door is closed, and (b) is a schematic side view of the center hinge when the back door is open. (A) And (b) is a schematic side view explaining the control mechanism in another embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Vehicle body, 12 ... Back door as a folding door, 14 ... Upper hinge, 15 ... Upper door, 16 ... Lower door, 17 ... Center hinge as hinge, 18 ... Gas damper paste, 19 ... Telescopic rod, 20 ... Upper door side Base: 22 ... Lower door base, 30 ... Torsion spring, 33 ... Restriction mechanism, 34 ... Lever, 36 ... Roller as contact, 37 ... Spring as urging member, 38 ... Cam member, 39 ... Restriction part.

Claims (4)

The upper end of the lower door is pivotally connected to the lower end of the upper door, the upper end of which is pivotally connected to the upper end of the opening of the vehicle body via the upper hinge. A vehicular folding door that is capable of transitioning to a closed state that closes and an open state in which the center hinge is folded so as to protrude outward from the vehicle body and the opening of the vehicle body is opened,
A gas damper stay that connects the vehicle body and the upper door and biases the upper door in a direction to rotate upward about the upper hinge;
A torsion spring that is attached to the center hinge and biases the lower door so as to fold the upper door and the lower door;
A foldable door for a vehicle characterized by comprising: The vehicular folding door according to claim 1,
The center hinge is
An upper door side hinge member and a lower door side hinge member, which are attached to the upper door and the lower door, respectively, and are rotatably connected to each other;
A vehicular folding door, comprising: a regulating mechanism that regulates rotation of the lower door side hinge member in a direction opposite to a biasing direction of the torsion spring in the opened state. The middle folding door for a vehicle according to claim 2,
The regulation mechanism is
A cam member rotatable integrally with any one of the upper door side hinge member and the lower door side hinge member;
A lever provided rotatably on either one of the upper door side hinge member and the lower door side hinge member;
A contact provided on the lever and in contact with the cam member;
A biasing member that biases the lever and presses the contact against the cam member;
The cam member is provided with a restricting portion that engages with the contact in the open state and restricts rotation of the lower door side hinge member in a direction opposite to a biasing direction of the torsion spring. A foldable door for vehicles. In the vehicular folding door according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A telescopic rod configured to connect the vehicle body and the lower door and extend and contract a distance between the fulcrum on the vehicle body side and the fulcrum on the lower door side,
The telescopic rod includes an urging member that imparts an urging force to the lower door side fulcrum such that the fulcrum on the lower door side is separated from the fulcrum on the vehicle body side,
A vehicular folding door, wherein only the upper door is opened and the telescopic rod can be held in a half-open state supporting the lower door against the urging force of the torsion spring.

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