Linear actuator
AssigneeToyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMasaki Okada, Takayuki Ogasawara, Hiroaki Hyodo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A linear actuator may include a rail including a gear rack extending along a longitudinal direction of the rail and a pinion unit configured to slidably engage the gear rack. The gear rack may include at least one no-teeth section among a row of teeth and the at least one no-teeth section may extend over a length. The pinion unit may include two pinion gears both configured to engage the gear rack, the two pinion gears being spaced apart from each other by a center-to-center distance along the longitudinal direction; and an electric motor configured to drive the two pinion gears. The length may be equal to or longer than two pitches of the teeth of the gear rack and shorter than the center-to-center distance.
Claims7
A linear actuator comprising:
- a rail including a gear rack extending along a longitudinal direction of the rail;
- and
- a pinion unit configured to slidably engage the gear rack;
- wherein
- the gear rack includes at least one no-teeth section among a row of teeth, the at least one no-teeth section extending over a length;
- the pinion unit comprises:
- two pinion gears both configured to engage the gear rack, the two pinion gears being spaced apart from each other by a center-to-center distance along the longitudinal direction, and
- an electric motor configured to drive the two pinion gears;
- the length is equal to or longer than two pitches of the teeth of the gear rack and is shorter than the center-to-center distance;
- and
- in the at least one no-teeth section, the gear rack has no teeth from one end to the other end of the rail in a short direction of the rail.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.