Power window apparatus having safety unit

• US 6,032,415 A
• Filed: 03/08/1999
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Company Limited
• Inventors: Tajima, Keiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Stodola, Daniel P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cohen, Curtis A.
• Application Number:
  US09/264,031
• Time in Patent Office: 365 Days
• Field of Search: 49/26, 49/27, 49/28, 49/31, 49/348, 49/349, 49/352, 318/266, 318/286, 318/468, 318/470, 318/264, 318/265, 318/466, 318/467, 200/61.43, 200/19.01, 200/19.18, 200/47, 192/142 R
• US Class Current: 49/28
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 11/483 by cables
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/41 Detection by monitoring transmitted force or torque E05F15/48 takes precedence; Safety couplings with activation dependent upon torque or force, e.g. slip couplings
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/697 Motor units therefor, e.g. geared motors
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2400/326 of the angular type
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2400/564 sensing motor speed
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2400/57 Disabling thereof
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2800/22 of not identical elements of the same category, e.g. combinations of not identical springs
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/55 Windows

Abstract

A power window apparatus for detecting accidental pinching in a power window in accordance with the opened/closed position of the window and a state of rotation of a motor which is structured to improve the accuracy of the operation of a position sensor for detecting a safety-control suspension region for the window. A pair of contacts are disposed on the side surface of a main gear which is rotated by an output shaft of a motor for opening/closing a window. A conductive film opposite to the contacts is provided for a sub-gear engaged to the main gear through an interlocking gear and arranged to be rotated at different speed from that of the main gear. When the relative rotational operation between the main gear and the sub-gear causes the output shaft of the motor to reach a predetermined amount of rotation, so that the window has moved to a predetermined opened/closed position, the contacts and the conductive film are brought into contact with one another so that an electric signal is output. Therefore, the safety-control suspension region can be detected at an accuracy of one-to-one correspondence to the amount of movement of the window.

Claims

1. A power window apparatus having a safety unit, comprising:

a position sensor which defects an opened/closed position of a window, said window being opened/closed by a motor, with said position sensor initiating a pinch preventive safety control operation in accordance with the detected opened/closed position of said window,

wherein said position sensor includes a main gear rotated by an output shaft rotated by said motor;

a sub-gear disposed adjacent to said main gear in the axial direction and rotated by a mechanism provided for rotating said sub-gear at a rotational speed different from a rotational speed of said main gear, wherein a contact is provided for said main gear and a conductive film is provided for said sub-gear, and in an initial position where said contact and said film are not engaged, and after movement along a set of loci, said contact and said film engage thereby completing an electrical circuit which produces a position detection signal.

2. A power window apparatus having a safety unit according to claim 1, wherein said main gear and said sub-gear are composed of spur gears having different numbers of teeth and said mechanism for rotating includes an interlocking gear so that a rotational force is transmitted from said main gear to said sub-gear, said interlocking gear is composed of a first gear engaged to said main gear and a second gear engaged to said sub-gear, wherein said first and second gears are coaxially interlocked by frictional engagement.

3. A power window apparatus having a safety unit according to claim 2, where said position sensor is provided with a gear which is rotated by said main gear, a magnet provided for at least a portion of the circumference of said gear and a hall element disposed adjacent to said gear and arranged to detect a state of rotation of said magnet performed by the rotation of said gear, and at least the opened/closed position of said window is detected in response to a pulse signal output from said hall element.

4. A power window apparatus having a safety unit according to claim 2, wherein said position sensor is provided with a gear which is rotated by said main gear, a magnet provided for at least a portion of the circumference of said gear and a hall element disposed adjacent to said gear and arranged to detect a state of rotation of said magnet performed by the rotation of said gear, wherein pinching in said window is detected in response to a pulse signal output from said hall element.