Power drive for a movable closure with ball nut drive screw
First Claim
1. In a power drive system for a sliding door mounted on at least one side of a vehicle for sliding movement forwardly and rearwardly of the vehicle between an open position and a closed position, said system including reversible power drive means operable when actuated to selectively drive said door in opening or closing movement, the improvement comprising:
- an elongated drive member connected to said sliding door; and
ball nut drive means for selectively moving said drive member longitudinally to position said sliding door between said open and closed positions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A power drive moves a movable closure between an open position and a closed position with respect to a portal defining a passage through a barrier. The power drive can include an elongated drive member connected to the movable closure and a ball nut drive assembly for selectively moving the drive member longitudinally to position the movable closure between the open position and the closed position with respect to the passage through the barrier. The barrier can define at least a portion of a stationary structure or a vehicle, where the passage allows access within the structure or the vehicle. The movable closure can include a sliding door, hatch, window, roof panel or the like. The elongated drive member can be a compound drive member having at least one gear or tooth-like member extending helically around in uniformly spaced turns about a core of the drive member to form a rigid or resilient screw-like portion capable of being driven by operable engagement with the recirculating ball nut drive assembly. A flexible portion, such as a push/pull cable can be attached to one end of the screw-like member to allow the power drive to move a movable closure along a curved or other non-linear path.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. In a power drive system for a sliding door mounted on at least one side of a vehicle for sliding movement forwardly and rearwardly of the vehicle between an open position and a closed position, said system including reversible power drive means operable when actuated to selectively drive said door in opening or closing movement, the improvement comprising:
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an elongated drive member connected to said sliding door; and ball nut drive means for selectively moving said drive member longitudinally to position said sliding door between said open and closed positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A sliding door system accommodating manual operation and powered operation of a sliding door in forward and rearward movement along a fixed path between an open position and a closed position, said system comprising:
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an elongated drive member coupled to said door for longitudinal forward and rearward movement with said door; and ball nut drive means positively mechanically engaged with said drive member for rotation coordinated with longitudinal forward and rearward movement of said drive member. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A power drive for moving a moveable closure between an open position and a closed position with respect to a portal defining a passage through a barrier comprising:
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an elongated drive member coupled to said moveable closure for longitudinal forward and rearward movement with said moveable closure, said drive member including a flexible push/pull cable portion and a rigid screw-like member portion having at least one gear tooth extending helically in uniformly spaced turns about an elongated core member over a portion of a longitudinal length of said drive member; recirculating ball nut drive means positively mechanically engaged with said drive member for rotation coordinated with longitudinal forward and rearward movement of said drive member, wherein said recirculating ball nut drive means includes a recirculating ball nut having a plurality of gear teeth formed on an external periphery thereof for rotation therewith, said rigid screw-like member portion extending longitudinally sufficiently to cooperatively engage with said ball nut drive means for driving said moveable closure between said open and closed positions; a variable speed, reversible, electric motor means having a rotary output shaft for powering movement of said moveable closure; gear means connected to said rotary output shaft and intermeshing with said gear teeth of said recirculating ball nut for driving said recirculating ball nut in rotation about a longitudinal axis of said drive member; clutch means for positively mechanically coupling said output shaft to said ball nut drive means in response to rotation of said output shaft and for accommodating free rotation of said ball nut drive means relative to said output shaft for manual operation of said moveable closure; control means for selectively operating said motor means and including an electronic control unit responsive to a signal representative of the location of said moveable closure along said fixed path to perform selected control functions when said moveable closure is at selected locations along said fixed path; and sensing means responsive to rotary movement of said recirculating ball nut drive means for transmitting to said electronic control unit a signal representative of the location of said moveable closure along said fixed path.
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21. In a power drive for moving a moveable closure between an open position and a closed position with respect to a portal defining a passage through a barrier, the improvement comprising:
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an elongated drive member connected to said moveable closure; and ball nut drive means for selectively moving said drive member longitudinally to position said moveable closure between said open and closed positions. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification