Cable drive assembly
First Claim
1. A cable drive assembly comprising:
- a housing, a first drum having a helical cable groove, the front drum being supported in the housing for rotation about an axis;
a second drum having a helical cable groove, the second drum being supported in the housing for rotation about the axis;
a spring having one end connected to the first drum and a second end connected to the second drum biasing the front drum in a first direction of rotation with respect to the second drum when the spring is stressed;
the first drum having a catch that engages a stop of the second drum to prevent rotation of the first drum with respect to the second drum in the first direction of rotation; and
the housing having a catch release that cooperates with the catch to release the catch whereby the first drum is rotated with respect to the second drum in the first direction of rotation by the spring when the spring is stressed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cable drive assembly for opening and closing a sliding vehicle door has first and second drums that are drivingly connected to each other via a tension spring that biases the drums in opposite directions. The drums include a catch that holds the first and second drums in a cocked condition where the spring is tensioned to provide slack in a closed loop cable to facilitate inserting a traveler attached to the cable into a track. The cocked drums are manually rotated in a drum housing in one direction on to move the traveler and insert it into the track. After the traveler is inserted, the cocked drums are manually rotated in the opposite direction. This releases the catch so that the tensioned spring takes up the slack in the closed loop cable.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A cable drive assembly comprising:
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a housing, a first drum having a helical cable groove, the front drum being supported in the housing for rotation about an axis;
a second drum having a helical cable groove, the second drum being supported in the housing for rotation about the axis;
a spring having one end connected to the first drum and a second end connected to the second drum biasing the front drum in a first direction of rotation with respect to the second drum when the spring is stressed;
the first drum having a catch that engages a stop of the second drum to prevent rotation of the first drum with respect to the second drum in the first direction of rotation; and
the housing having a catch release that cooperates with the catch to release the catch whereby the first drum is rotated with respect to the second drum in the first direction of rotation by the spring when the spring is stressed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A cable drive assembly comprising:
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a housing, a first drum having a helical first cable groove, the front drum being supported in the housing for rotation about an axis;
a second drum having a helical second cable groove, the second drum being supported in the housing for rotation about the axis;
a tension spring having one end connected to the first drum and a second end connected to the second drum biasing the front drum in a first direction of rotation with respect to the second drum when the spring is in tension;
the first drum having a fixed stop, and a moveable stop, the moveable stop being part of a catch that engages a stop lug of the second drum to prevent rotation of the front drum with respect to the second drum in the first direction of rotation;
the catch having a flexible arm that attaches the moveable stop to the first drum so that the moveable stop moves in an axial direction, and the housing having a cam that cooperates with a cam follower attached to the flexible arm of the catch to move the moveable stop to release the catch whereby the first drum is rotated with respect to the second drum in the first direction of rotation by the tension spring when the spring is in tension. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification