Wire-type door or other window regulator for an automotive vehicle
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wire-type door or other, window regulator for an automotive vehicle. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A conventional wire-type door or other window regulator comprises: (a) a window pane guide section having a channel-shaped rail which guides a window pane and a bracket to which the lower edge of the window glass pane is attached such that the bracket can slidably move up and down along the guide rail and accordingly the window glass pane can move up and down; (b) a window pane driving section having a drum and mechanism for rotating the drum; and (c) a wire extending between the window glass guide and driving sections so as to transmit the driving force of the drum to the bracket. 
     In the conventional wire-type door or other window regulator described above, the wire extends along the guide rail and both ends thereof are wrapped around and fixed to the drum so that when one end of the wire is wound up and accordingly the other end thereof is unwound, the window pane connected to the bracket of the window pane guide section is moved upward or downward. 
     However, it is difficult to maintain the wire of the conventional door or other window regulator extending from the drum to the window pane guide section completely tense during its shipment i.e. before the wire type door or other regulator is mounted on a vehicle door inner panel or vehicle body panel. This can apply equally well to a case in which the wire is loosened due to repetitive operations of the drum through the drum rotating mechanism, e.g. operating handle, i.e. either before or after mounting of the regulator on such vehicle panel. 
     Therefore, some means have been developed to cope with such a problem. For example, a Bowden wire-type door or other window regulator has been developed, wherein a relatively rigid tube extends between the drum and each guide rail with a slight curve and a spring is provided within each tube so as to stretch the wire through the tube in a tense state. 
     Such a system, however, is complex in structure, heavy, and expensive, and furthermore requires many parts and greater assembly time. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     With the above-described problems in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new wire-type door or other window regulator for an automotive vehicle, wherein means is provided for continuously applying tension to the wire described above during the assembly operation and for reliably correcting any loosening of the wire during manual assembly, shipment and repetitive operations of the wire type regulator, as well as any elongation of the wire itself due to the repetitive use thereof over a long period of time. 
     This can be achieved by providing two flexible cables, one extending along the wire running from the drum to an upper pulley attached to the upper end of the guide rail, the other extending along the wire running from the drum to a lower pulley attached to the lower end of the guide rail, each curved slightly or suitably and having a wire guide member at intermediate positions therealong which slidably grasp the corresponding wire. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features and advantages of the present invention will be better appreciated from the following description and attached drawings in which like reference numerals designate corresponding elements and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are, respectively, a perspective view and a top plan view of a pin at which a supporting wire shown in FIG. 1 is fixed; and 
     FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are, respectively, a perspective view and a top plan view of a wire guide member provided at an intermediate position along the supporting cable shown in FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will be made hereinafter to the attached drawings in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention. 
     First, in FIG. 1, which shows a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, numeral 1 denotes a fixed channel-shaped guide rail, at both upper and lower ends of which pulleys 2 and 2&#39; respectively are provided. A bracket 3 attached to the lower edge of a window pane as shown in phantom lines fits into the guide rail 1 so that the window pane can be moved upward or downward between the pulleys via the bracket 3. 
     Numeral 4 denotes a drum rotatably attached to a baseplate 5 so as to rotate in accordance with the rotation of an operating handle (not shown in FIG. 1) or in accordance with the rotation (Normal or reverse direction) of an electric motor. These parts conveniently constitute an appropriate wire moving means or wire driving means. 
     Numeral 6 denotes a wire, one end of which is preferably fixed to a hole (not shown) provided in the drum 4 and several turns of which are wrapped around the drum 4. The wire 6 extends toward the lower pulley 2&#39; and the upper pulley 2, and then back to the drum 4, where several turns of the other end are again wrapped around the drum 4 and preferably fixed into a hole (not shown) provided in the drum 4. It should be noted that an intermediate position of the wire 6 between both upper and lower pulleys 2 and 2&#39; is fixed to the bracket 3. 
     When the drum 4 is rotated counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 1, the lower wire 6b is wound up in the drum 4 and simultaneously the upper wire 6a is unwound from the drum 4. Therefore, it can be seen that the bracket 3 moves downward along the guide rail 1 so that the window glass pane moves downward accordingly. On the other hand, when the drum 4 is rotated clockwise, the upper wire 6a is wound up in the drum 4 and simultaneously the lower wire 6b is unwound from the drum 4. Therefore, it can be seen that the bracket 3 moved upward along the guide rail 1 so that the window glass pane moves upward accordingly. Thus, the bracket 3 and, in turn, the window glass pane are supported and arranged for reciprocal movement longitudinally along the longitudinal guide rail 1 intermediate the correspondingly opposed longitudinally spaced apart points at which the pulleys 2, 2&#39; are connected to the rail. 
     It should be noted that the usual wire type door or other window regulator, comprising guide rail 1, pulleys 2, 2&#39;, bracket 3, wire 6, drum 4, and baseplate 5, inherently forms a more or less self-contained unit upon being assembled, and that after shipment such regulator or unit is mounted by attaching both guide rail 1 and baseplate 5 securely to a door inner panel or body panel of the vehicle whereby the rail and base plate are arranged in fixed relation to each other, e.g. as schematically shown in FIG. 1. 
     Furthermore, numerals 7 and 7&#39; denote upper and lower supporting cable elements, respectively, made of metal wire, synthetic resin, carbon graphite, glass fiber, or some other flexible material which is essentially rigid in compression. The upper supporting cable element 7 extends along the upper wire 6a with one end fixed to the upper end of the guide rail 1, preferably via an upper pin 9 provided near the upper pulley 2, and the other end fixed to the upper edge of the baseplate 5, preferably via another upper pin 9 provided near the drum 4. On the other hand, the lower supporting cable element 7&#39; extends along the lower wire 6b with one end fixed to the lower end of the guide rail 1, preferably via a lower pin 9&#39; provided near the lower pulley 2&#39;, and the other end fixed to the lower edge of the baseplate 5, preferably via another lower pin 9&#39; provided near the drum 4. 
     It should be noted that the upper and lower supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39; are designed to be suitably curved. An upper wire guide member 8 made of synthetic resin, etc., is attached to the upper supporting cable element 7 near the center thereof (i.e., the position at which the deflection of the upper supporting cable element 7 from the upper wire 6a is maximized). On the other hand, a lower wire guide member 8&#39; made of the same material is similarly attached to the lower supporting cable element 7&#39; near the center thereof. These wire guide members 8 and 8&#39; have wire guide passages 8a, 8a&#39;, respectively, which are in slidable engagement with the respective wires 6a, 6b extending from the drum 4 to the upper and lower pulleys 2, 2&#39;. The relationship of these wire guide members 8 and 8&#39; with the upper or lower wire 6a, 6b can be appreciated from FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). 
     The supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39; are attached to the upper or lower pins 9, 9&#39; projecting from the baseplate 5 or guide rail 1, as the case may be, as seen in FIG. 1, with the ends thereof being wrapped around these pins 9, 9&#39; as seen in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b). The engagement portions 8b, 8b&#39; of the upper and lower wire guide members 8 and 8&#39; are fixed to the upper and lower supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39; via steps or C-shaped bends 7a, 7a&#39; formed by bending the center parts thereof as appreciated from FIG. 3(a), or alternatively via loops 7b, 7b&#39; formed at the center parts thereof as appreciated from FIG. 3(b). Therefore, the wire guide members 8, 8&#39; can be held near the centers of the upper and lower supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39;, respectively. 
     The upper and lower supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39; are curved in the relaxed state as shown by the phantom lines 71 and 71&#39; in FIG. 1 since no load is applied thereon when they are assembled. When the upper and lower wires 6a, 6b are inserted through the wire guide members 8, 8&#39;, the tension of the wires causes the upper and lower supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39; to be distorted or slightly compressed into the shape shown by the solid lines in FIG. 1. 
     As the tension of the wires 6a, 6b decreases, the upper or lower supporting cable elements 7, 7&#39; gradually pull the upper and lower wires 6a, 6b&#39; toward the phantom lines 71, 71&#39;, respectively. Consequently, the wire 6 always is suitably tense i.e. under stretching tension continuously applied thereto via the guide members 8,8&#39; attached to the curved or arcuately inherently precocked flexible linear cable elements 7, 7&#39; which are essentially rigid in compression and thus which are resiliently displaceable crosswise of their longitudinal axis without being essentially displaceable in the compression direction along such axis, e.g. inherently in the manner of a leaf spring. 
     As described hereinbefore, an improved wire-type door window regulator may therefore be provided according to the present invention of the kind wherein only two supporting cables curvedly bridge the gap between the drum and upper and lower pulleys located at both ends of the guide rail, whereby the wire-type door window regulator can maintain the configuration of the wire in the drum and two pulleys during shipment in a tense state and accordingly the assembly into the panel of the vehicle is facilitated, and whereby a predetermined tension of the wire extending from the drum can be maintained by the deformation-restoring force (biasing force) of the supporting cables and accordingly the loosening of the wire during assembly of the wire into the drum and two pulleys and after the repetitive manipulations of the drum by means of, e.g., the operating handle as well as elongation of the wire itself due to the repetitive manipulation over a long period of time can be eliminated. 
     By reason of the arrangement of the two opposed supporting and biasing elements, such as the cables 7, 7&#39;, which correspondingly operatively interconnect the base plate 5 and a corresponding portion of the rail 1, adjacent a corresponding said pulley, a biasing force is correspondingly applied in the direction of separating the base plate and the corresponding portion of the rail, which advantageously maintains the wire circuit under biasing tension, e.g. before the rail and base plate are arranged in the vehicle panel in fixed relation to each other. On the other hand, when the rail and base plate are so arranged in fixed relation to each other, the contemplated wire slidably retainingly engaging means, such as the guide member 8 or 8&#39;, arranged on each of the supporting and biasing elements for operatively slidably retainingly engaging the wire at the correspondingly adjacent length thereof extending between the drum and the correspondingly adjacent pulley, serves for correspondingly maintaining the wire portion thereat and in turn the wire circuit under biasing tension corresponding to such biasing force. 
     It will be fully understood by those skilled in the art that midifications may be made in the preferred embodiment described hereinbefore without departing the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is to be defined by the appended claims.