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US 12,703,304 B2Granted
Five and six bar linkage mechanisms for vehicle steps
AssigneeMagna Exteriors Inc.
InventorsV-Bond Lee, Chi Zhang, Desmond P Jamieson, Jerry Godfrey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
All designs have features that prevent the running boards from over deploying and stowing. This ensures the mechanism does not exceed the design range of motion and prevents any excess forces on the system or vehicle. All designs use kinematic locks to prevent back driving in stowed and deployed positions, which allows more efficient gearboxes to be used.
Claims12
A locking vehicle step bracket comprising:
- a link mechanism connected between a vehicle and a step, the link mechanism is moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position, wherein the link mechanism includes:
- an upper mount connected to the vehicle and having an upper pivot joint and at least one slot formed in the upper mount;
- a driving link having at least one pin rotatably and slidably connected to the at least one slot of the upper mount, wherein the driving link rotates about the at least one pin;
- a lower mount connected to the step and having a first lower pivot joint and a second lower pivot joint;
- a front arm pivotally connected to the lower mount at the first lower pivot joint, the upper mount at the upper pivot joint and to the driving link at a first driving link joint;
- and
- a rear arm pivotally connected to the lower mount at the second lower pivot joint and to the driving link at a second driving link joint;
- an actuator connected to an input shaft that is connected to the driving link so that when the actuator rotates the input shaft in a first direction the link mechanism is moved to the deployed position and when the actuator rotates the input shaft in a second direction the link mechanism is moved to the stowed position, wherein the link mechanism defines a first lock formed when the link mechanism is in the stowed position, the first lock is formed by rotation of the driving link about the at least one pin so that the first driving link joint is past a center of the at least one pin so that a stowed load path line from the center of the first driving link joint to a side of the at least one slot is past the center of the at least one pin.
5 more elements
A locking vehicle step bracket comprising:
- a link mechanism connected between a vehicle and a step, the link mechanism is moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position, wherein the link mechanism includes:
- an upper mount connected to the vehicle and having a first upper pivot joint and a second upper pivot joint;
- a lower mount connected to the step and having a first lower pivot joint and a second lower pivot joint;
- a front arm pivotally connected to the lower mount at the first lower pivot joint and the upper mount at the second upper pivot joint, the front arm also includes a slot;
- a driving link having a pin rotatably and slidably connected to the slot of the front arm, wherein the driving link is rotatably connected to the upper mount at the first upper mount pivot joint;
- a rear arm pivotally connected to the lower mount at the second lower pivot joint and to the driving link at a drive link pivot joint;
- an actuator connected to an input shaft that is connected to the driving link so that when the actuator rotates the input shaft in a first direction the link mechanism moves to the deployed position and when the actuator rotates the input shaft in a second direction the link mechanism moves to the stowed position;
- a first lock formed when the link mechanism is in the stowed position, the first lock is formed by the rotation of the driving link about the first upper mount pivot joint until a stowed load path line, which is a line extending across the diameter of the pin, is off center to the first upper mount pivot joint.
5 more elements
A locking vehicle step bracket comprising:
- a link mechanism connected between a vehicle and a step, the link mechanism is moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position, wherein the link mechanism includes:
- an upper mount connected to the vehicle and having a first upper pivot joint and a second upper pivot joint;
- a connecting link having a driving link joint, a first connecting joint and a second connecting joint;
- a lower mount connected to the step and having a first lower pivot joint and a second lower pivot joint;
- a front arm pivotally connected to the lower mount at the first lower pivot joint, the upper mount at a second upper pivot joint and to the connecting link at the first upper connecting joint;
- a driving link connected to the upper mount at the first upper pivot joint and to the connecting link at the driving link joint;
- a rear arm pivotally connected to the lower mount at the second lower pivot joint and to the connecting link at the second upper connecting joint;
- an actuator connected to an input shaft that is connected to the driving link so that when the actuator rotates the input shaft in a first direction the link mechanism moves to the deployed position and when the actuator rotates the input shaft in a second direction the link mechanism moves to the stowed position;
- a first lock formed when the link mechanism is in the stowed position, the first lock is formed by the rotation of the driving link about the first upper pivot joint until a stowed load path line, which is a line extending between the center of the first upper pivot joint and the first upper connecting joint, is over center of the driving link joint.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.