Vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus and vehicle opening/closing member stopper apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9493976-B2
Application number	US-201214232231-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2012
Priority date	Jul 11, 2011
Publication date	Nov 15, 2016
Grant date	Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

A damper apparatus includes a piston having a flange-shaped piston main body and piston rods which project from both ends of the piston main body, a cylinder having a cylinder main body which accommodates the piston main body slidably and cylindrical portions which support slidably the piston rods, respectively, a fastener which is attached to the one cylindrical portion so as to secure the cylinder to an opening/closing member, and a coil spring which biases the one piston rod to project from the other cylindrical portion such that a distal end portion of the piston rod abuts a circumferential edge of an opening portion of a vehicle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus which is disposed between an opening portion provided in a vehicle and an opening/closing member attached to the opening portion for preventing a vibration of the opening/closing member upon its closure, the vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus including:
a piston comprising a flange-shaped piston main body and a pair of piston rods which project respectively from both end faces of the piston main body;
a cylinder comprising a cylinder main body which accommodates the piston main body slidably and cylindrical portions which are provided at both end portions of the cylinder main body so as to be opposite with each other and which support respectively the pair of piston rods slidably, an interior of the cylinder being filled with a viscous fluid;
a fastener which is attached to one of the cylindrical portions to secure the cylinder to one of a circumferential edge of the opening portion and the opening/closing member; and
an elastic member which biases so that one of the piston rods projects from an other of the cylindrical portions and a distal end portion of the piston rod abuts an other of the circumferential edge of the opening portion and the opening/closing member.

2. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fastener includes:
an accommodating cylindrical portion which accommodates and fixes the one of the cylindrical portions and which is inserted into an attachment hole provided in the circumferential edge of the opening portion or the opening/closing member; and
a fixing member which is provided on an outer circumference of the accommodating cylindrical portion and which engages with the attachment hole.

3. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 2 , wherein an air releasing hole is formed in a bottom portion of the one of the cylindrical portions which is accommodated in the accommodating cylindrical portion of the fastener.

4. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 2 , wherein plural elongated projections project from an inner circumference of the accommodating cylindrical portion of the fastener so as to extend in an axial direction at plural portions in a circumferential direction,
wherein plural engagement claws are provided on an outer circumference of the accommodating cylindrical portion via slits at portions situated between the plural elongated projections, so as to be engaged with a circumferential edge on a rear side of the attachment hole, and
wherein the engagement claws make up the fixing member.

5. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fastener includes:
a flange portion which is engaged with a circumferential edge on a front side of an attachment hole provided in the circumferential edge of the opening portion or the opening/closing member; and
an insertion portion which is inserted into the attachment hole and engaged with a circumferential edge on a rear side of the attachment hole, and
wherein there is provided an expandable/contractable cover member which covers a portion of the cylinder projecting from the front side of the attachment hole and which is joined to the flange portion of the fastener, so that air inside the cover member is allowed to communicate from the insertion portion to an exterior of the fastener on the rear side of the attachment hole through a gap between the cylinder and the fastener when the cover member is expanded or contracted.

6. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 5 , wherein, when the one of the cylindrical portions is fixed to the fastener, a gap is defined between the flange portion and a portion of the cylinder facing the flange portion, and an air releasing groove is provided between an inner circumference of the cover member and the cylinder, so that air inside the cover member is allowed to communicate with the exterior through the air releasing groove and the gap.

7. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 4 , wherein through holes are formed respectively in a bottom portion of the accommodating cylindrical portion and the bottom portion of the one of the cylindrical portions, and a fixing device is inserted into the through holes to thereby couple the fastener and the cylinder,
wherein a projecting portion is formed on the bottom portion of the accommodating cylindrical portion of the fastener so as to abut the bottom portion of the one of the cylindrical portions, and
wherein a gap is defined between the bottom portion of the one of the cylindrical portions and the bottom portion of the accommodating cylindrical portion of the fastener.

8. A vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus which is disposed between an opening portion provided in a vehicle and an opening/closing member attached to the opening portion for preventing a vibration of the opening/closing member upon its closure, including:
a piston comprising a flange-shaped piston main body and a pair of piston rods which project respectively from both end faces of the piston main body;
a cylinder comprising:
a first body comprising a first cylindrical portion which accommodates the piston main body slidably and a second cylindrical portion which extends continuously from one end portion of the first cylindrical portion while being reduced in diameter and which supports one of the piston rods slidably; and
a second body comprising a third cylindrical portion which is connected to an other end portion of the first cylindrical portion of the first body so as to be opposite to the second cylindrical portion, which is secured to one of the circumferential edge of the opening portion and the opening/closing member and which supports an other of the piston rods slidably, an interior of the cylinder being filled with a viscous fluid; and

an elastic member which biases so that the one of the piston rods projects from the second cylindrical portion of the first body and a distal end portion of the piston rod abuts an other of the circumferential edge of the opening portion and the opening/closing member,
wherein, when the piston moves towards the second body against the elastic member, the piston main body directly or indirectly abuts the second body so as to restrict a further movement of the piston.

9. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first body includes a first flange portion extends from a circumferential edge of the other end portion of the first cylindrical portion which is opposite to the one end portion corresponding to the second cylindrical portion,
wherein the second body includes a second flange portion which extends from a circumferential edge thereof and which is joined to the first flange portion, and
wherein, when the piston moves towards the second body against the elastic member, the piston main body directly or indirectly abuts the second flange portion.

10. The vehicle opening/closing member damper apparatus of claim 9 , wherein a diameter of one of the first flange portion and the second flange portion is larger than that of an other of the first flange portion and the second flange portion,
wherein an annular gasket is disposed between the first flange portion and the second flange portion,
wherein the first body and the second body are coupled together by crimping a circumferential edge of the one of the first flange portion and the second flange portion having the larger diameter, and
wherein the gasket extends so that an inner circumference thereof abuts an outer circumference of the piston.

11. The vehicle opening/closing member damper app

Assignees

• Hattori Ryu
• Morita Kenji
• Shinozaki Nobuya
• Sakata Akira
• YABU Tomoya
• Yamamoto Hisashi
• Kumekawa Hirokuni
• Gocho Toshifumi
• Piolax Inc
• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hattori Ryu
• Morita Kenji
• Shinozaki Nobuya
• Sakata Akira
• YABU Tomoya
• Yamamoto Hisashi
• Kumekawa Hirokuni
• Gocho Toshifumi

Classifications

• E05F5/022 Primary

  specially adapted for vehicles, e.g. for hoods or trunks · CPC title

• E05F5/10

  with piston brakes · CPC title

• E05F7/04

  Arrangements affording protection against rattling (with buffering action E05F5/00) · CPC title

• F16F9/38

  Covers for protection or appearance · CPC title

• F16F9/20

  with the piston-rod extending through both ends of the cylinder {, e.g. constant-volume dampers} · CPC title