Digital door
AssigneeBraun GmbH
InventorsEric Sajed Dosenbach, Michael R. Pugh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatic door opening apparatus for a vehicle. Two and three hinge joint embodiments with motors at each hinge joint to control motion of the door opening apparatus relative to the vehicle at that hinge joint. The motors are individually programmable to customize the door opening apparatus and movement to different vehicles. The motors can be in alignment or out-of-alignment with the hinge joints, but in either case the motor controls motion of the hinged components at the associated hinge joint. When a motor is out-of-alignment with the hinge joint it controls, then pulley wheels and belts can be used to connect the motor to the hinge joint. The door opening apparatus can also include a floor track, and a door arm that connects the door to the floor track.
Claims15
A vehicle having a vehicle body, a door with a front end and a rear end, and an automatic door opening apparatus, the automatic door opening apparatus comprising:
- a cross member coupled to the door at a first hinge joint and coupled to the vehicle body at a second hinge joint;
- at least a first motor and a second motor, wherein the first motor is configured to rotate the door relative to the cross member at the first hinge joint and the second motor is configured to rotate the cross member relative to the vehicle body at the second hinge joint;
- and,
- at least one controller programmed to independently operate the first motor and the second motor to control a location of the front end along a first path and a location of the rear end along a second path during a door opening sequence;
- wherein, in a first stage of the door opening sequence, the front end of the door moves primarily in a longitudinal direction and the rear end of the door moves primarily in a lateral direction.
A method for modifying a door of a vehicle from a manual swing door into a motorized equivalent of a sliding door, the method comprising:
- coupling an automatic door opening apparatus between a vehicle body and the door, the automatic door opening apparatus comprising:
- a cross member coupled to the door at a first hinge joint and coupled to the vehicle body at a second hinge joint;
- at least a first motor and a second motor, wherein the first motor is configured to rotate the door relative to the cross member at the first hinge joint and wherein the second motor is configured to rotate the cross member relative to the vehicle body at the second hinge joint;
- and,
- at least one controller programmed to independently operate the first motor and the second motor to control a location of the front end along a first path and a location of the rear end along a second path during a door opening sequence;
- wherein, in a first stage of the door opening sequence, the front end of the door moves primarily in a longitudinal direction and the rear end of the door moves primarily in a lateral direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.