The present disclosure relates generally to power drive units, and more particularly to such devices for vehicle doors.
Swinging and sliding doors for motor vehicles are known that have a door panel and at least one pivoting arm secured to the wall of the vehicle, with a carriage articulated to the end of the arm, the arm sliding back and forth on a carrier connected to the door panel. Doors of this type are opened and closed manually and incorporate guide mechanisms that ensure that the panel will start to open by pivoting out of the doorway, after which it can be slid to a fully open position.
Combining such doors with a drive mechanism secured to the vehicle body is also known. Such drive mechanisms generally employ a wheel to drive a flexible linear-transmission element, for example a steel cable, guided by rollers and attached to the door panel to generate the sliding motion. The swinging motion, however, is then induced by appropriate guide structures or generated by a second wheel connected to the arm. The two different motions are therefore obtained with different motors in the known doors. The use of two motors may make manufacturing such a device complicated and expensive. This traditional arrangement also requires a great deal of space on the vehicle body therefore limiting potential usage of this design on various vehicles.
A dual action power drive unit system according to embodiment(s) disclosed herein includes a vehicle door, a slide member, a motor, first and second cable guide members, first and second cables, and an external spool. The system further includes a door inner panel and one guide track affixed to the door inner panel. The slide member is disposed on the guide track. The internal cable spool unit is affixed to the slide member wherein the internal spool unit includes an internal cable spool. A motor is disposed proximate to the internal spool such that the motor is in operative communication with the internal spool. The first cable guide member is operatively associated with a first cable and an external spool. The first cable includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the first cable is attached to the internal cable spool. The second end of the first cable is attached to the external spool. The second cable guide member is operatively associated with a second cable and the external spool. The second cable includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the second cable is attached to the internal cable spool and the second end of the second cable is attached to the external spool. The external spool is in communication with an output gear affixed to a drive shaft. The drive shaft is operatively configured to pivotally connect a door hinge arm to the slide member. The motor selectively actuates the internal cable spool in a manner sufficient to pull the second cable toward the internal cable spool, thereby causing rotation of the external spool and the drive shaft. The rotation of the drive shaft results in rotation of the vehicle door relative to the vehicle body; after which door rotation, the door slides open along the guide track relative to the vehicle body.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
Motors for doors are traditionally implemented on the vehicle body due to space availability. However, the specific body architecture of a vehicle may significantly affect location, size and layout of the design for a motorized door when the motor is disposed on the vehicle body. The variations in different vehicle bodies may make it challenging to manufacture the same motorized door system across different vehicle programs.
In order to optimize cost and manufacturing processes among various vehicle programs, the present inventors have found that it would be desirable to implement a common (e.g., modular) motorized door system that may be implemented within a discrete door structure, and that also may be usable with various vehicle architectures.
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a compact power drive unit 10 for use inside a vehicle door 12 which can advantageously provide improved vehicle space management and manufacturing efficiencies.
Referring now to
Referring now to
With reference to
Connected to the internal spool 22 and opposite the first cable 32 as shown in
Moreover, a non-limiting example of another cable design includes the first cable 32 and second cable 42 implemented as one continuous loop. Yet another example of the cable design includes separate cables attached to one another. A third non-limiting example includes the first cable 32 attached directly to the internal cable spool 22 and to the external spool 34; and the second cable 42 also attached directly to the internal cable spool 22 and to the external spool 34, thereby creating the operation of a full loop.
Referring back to
Referring now to
However, it is to be understood that a variety of configurations may be used in conjunction with the drive shaft 52 and the hinge arm 58 to cause the hinge arm 58 to rotate as the drive shaft 52 rotates. It is also to be understood that
Referring back to
It is to be further understood that there is lost motion between the first and second cables 32, 42 and the external spool 34 as the door slides along the guide track 18 to the fully opened position. With reference to
As shown in
A hinge 60 of the present disclosure may be a four bar link or similar link which allows for door pivot movement. Regardless of the specific hinge design, the hinge 60 (as shown) includes a body side end 76 and a door side end 78. The body side end 76 of the hinge 60 is pivotally attached to the vehicle body 14, and the door side end 78 of the hinge 60 is pivotally attached to the slide member 66.
As shown in
Where the slide member 66 is a stamped member as shown in
It is also to be understood that the motor 24 may be disengaged via the clutch (not shown) from the looped cable system 32, 42 so that the door could be manually opened and closed without the use of the motor 24. By disengaging the motor 24 from the looped cable system 32 and 42, the external spool 34 and the internal spool 22 may rotate with and/or slide relative to the first and second cables 32, 42 as the first and second cables are pulled through the external spool 34 and internal spool 22 during the manual opening and closing of the door.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In order to close the door 12, the motor 24, via the clutch (not shown), then actuates the internal spool 22 so that it pulls the first cable 32 toward the motor 24. As the first cable 32 is pulled toward the motor 24, the door 12 moves relative to the sliding member along the guide track 18 so that the door 12 is translated in a substantially linear direction to the fully pivoted state and then to the fully closed position.
It is to be understood that the terms “associate/associated with” “communicates/in communication with” and/or the like are broadly defined herein to encompass a variety of divergent arrangements and assembly techniques. These arrangements and techniques include, but are not limited to (1) the direct communication between one component and another component with no intervening components therebetween; and (2) the communication of one component and another component with one or more components therebetween, provided that the one component being “associated/communicating with” the other component is somehow in operative communication with the other component (notwithstanding the presence of one or more additional components therebetween).
It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application No. 12/338,421, filed Dec. 18, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,856,759, and entitled “DUAL ACTION POWER DRIVE UNIT FOR A VEHICLE DOOR,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Child | 12948958 | US |