Air vent for a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11433739-B2
Application number	US-201716098468-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2017
Priority date	May 4, 2016
Publication date	Sep 6, 2022
Grant date	Sep 6, 2022

Abstract

An air vent for a motor vehicle includes a housing which defines an air guiding channel and a plurality of lamellae which are provided at their ends with bearing pins, the lamellae being pivotably attached thereby to the housing. The lamellae are mounted on opposing sides with one respective radial bearing and on just one side with one respective axial bearing.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An air vent for a motor vehicle, comprising
a housing which defines an air guiding channel,
a plurality of lamellae, each lamella having opposite first and second ends with bearing pins that pivotably attach the lamella to the housing for pivot about a pivot axis, wherein each lamella is mounted at its first end with the bearing pin of its first end positioned in both a radial bearing opening, for limiting movement of the bearing pin of its first end radially relative to the pivot axis, and
an axial bearing fork, for limiting movement of the bearing pin of its first end axially along the pivot axis, wherein each lamella is mounted at its second end with the bearing pin of its second end positioned in a radial bearing opening but not positioned in any axial bearing fork, wherein the axial bearing forks are formed in an axial bearing strip; wherein
each lamella is provided with a positioning surface that is oriented to interact with a mounting device so as to ensure correct placement of the lamella in the housing, and wherein
the positioning surface of a first one of the lamellae is oriented differently than the positioning surface of a second one of the lamellae.

2. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein for each radial bearing opening and axial bearing fork at each of the first ends, the axial bearing fork is designed separately from the radial bearing opening and is spaced axially apart from the radial bearing opening.

3. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each axial bearing fork encompasses the bearing pin assigned thereto with radial clearance.

4. The air vent as claimed in claim 3 , wherein each axial bearing fork comprises an insertion chamfer.

5. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the axial bearing strip is integrally formed with the housing.

6. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each radial bearing opening is designed as a circular opening.

7. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the radial bearing openings of the first ends are attached to the housing so as to be able to be resiliently deflected in an axial direction.

8. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the radial bearing openings of the first ends are formed in a radial bearing strip.

9. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the radial bearing openings of the second end are integrally formed in a wall of the housing.

10. The air vent as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the radial bearing openings of the radial bearing strip are designed to protrude from a side of the housing.

11. The air vent as claimed in claim 9 , wherein slots are provided in the wall of the housing above and below a region of the radial bearing openings of the second ends.

12. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a clipping chamfer is assigned to each radial bearing opening.

13. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each lamella is provided with a positioning surface.

14. The air vent as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lamellae are connected together by means of a coupling rod which braces the lamellae relative to one another in an axial direction.

15. The air vent as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the coupling rod is provided with at least two omega-shaped openings, each omega-shaped opening engaging a coupling pin of a corresponding one of the lamellae.

16. The air vent as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the coupling pin comprises a portion with a smaller diameter, a portion with a larger diameter and a conical portion located therebetween.

17. An air vent for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a housing defining an air guiding channel,
a plurality of lamellae, each lamella having opposite first and second ends with bearing pins that pivotably attach the lamella to the housing, wherein each lamella is mounted with the bearing pin of its first end positioned in both a radial bearing opening located along a pivot axis of the bearing pin, for limiting movement of the bearing pin of its first end radially relative to the pivot axis, and
an axial bearing fork located along the pivot axis, for limiting movement of the bearing pin of its first end axially along the pivot axis, wherein each lamella is mounted with the bearing pin of its second end positioned in a radial bearing opening but not positioned within any axial bearing fork, wherein
the radial bearing openings of the second ends are integrally formed with the housing; wherein
each lamella is provided with a positioning surface that is oriented to interact with a mounting device so as to ensure correct placement of the lamella in the housing, and wherein
the positioning surface of a first one of the lamellae is oriented differently than the positioning surface of a second one of the lamellae.

18. The air vent as claimed in claim 17 , wherein, for each lamella, the axial bearing fork of the first end is spaced axially away from the radial bearing opening along the pivot axis, and the axial bearing fork encompasses the bearing pin of the first end with radial clearance.

19. An air vent for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a housing which defines an air guiding channel, and
a plurality of lamellae, each lamella having opposed first and second ends, each first end having a bearing pin and each second end having a bearing pin, each lamella being pivotably attached by its bearing pins to the housing for pivot about a pivot axis, wherein
each lamella is mounted with the bearing pin of its first end positioned in both a radial bearing opening that surrounds the bearing pin of its first end, for limiting movement of the bearing pin of its first end radially relative to the pivot axis, and in an axial bearing fork, for limiting movement of the bearing pin of its first end axially along the pivot axis, wherein
the axial bearing fork includes an insertion chamfer, wherein each lamella is mounted with the bearing pin of its second end positioned only in a radial bearing opening that surrounds the bearing pin of its second end, wherein each axial bearing fork encompasses the bearing pin assigned thereto with radial clearance, wherein, for each lamella, the bearing pin of its first end is provided with at least one axial bearing surface which is arranged axially alongside of the axial bearing fork assigned thereto; wherein
each lamella is provided with a positioning surface that is oriented to interact with a mounting device so as to ensure correct placement of the lamella in the housing, and wherein
the positioning surface of a first one of the lamellae is oriented differently than the positioning surface of a second one of the lamellae.

Assignees

• Illinois Tool Works

Inventors

• Krämer Günther
• Le Tohic Laurent

Classifications

• F24F13/075

  having parallel rods or lamellae directing the outflow, e.g. the rods or lamellae being individually adjustable (F24F13/072 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60H1/3421 Primary

  using only pivoting shutters · CPC title

• B60H2001/3492

  Manufacturing; Assembling · CPC title

• B60H2001/3464

  Details of hinges · CPC title

• B60H1/3428 Primary

  using a set of pivoting shutters and a pivoting frame · CPC title