US 2003/0141834 A1Published application

Automatic opening and closing apparatus for vehicle

AssigneeMitsuba Corporation

InventorsHiroshi Sakai, Yasushi Yoshida, Takashi Hoshino, Seiji Shioiri, Takao Ochiai

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Abstract

The invention provides to make an automatic opening and closing apparatus for a vehicle to be thin. An outer rack is attached to an outer side of a stay fixed to a vehicle in such a manner as to freely move in an axial direction along the stay. A thickness of the stay is set to be smaller than a width, and a cross sectional shape thereof is formed so as to be in a substantially thin convex shape. A width in a base end wall portion of the outer rack is formed so as to be larger than a width of a side surface wall portion corresponding to a thickness of the outer rack, and the outer rack is formed in a substantially thin C cross sectional shape. It is possible to make a thickness of a slide mechanism about a gear with of rack gears lined up in an axial direction in the side surface wall portion by making the width of the side surface wall portion slightly larger than the gear width of the rack gear.

Claims5

Dependent claims

An automatic opening and closing apparatus for a vehicle, which automatically opens and closes an opening and closing member attached to a vehicle in a freely opening and closing manner, comprising:

a guide rail fixed to said vehicle;
a slide member provided with rack gears lining up in an axial direction on an outer peripheral surface and attached to an outer side of said guide rail so as to freely move in the axial direction along said guide rail;
a link mechanism provided between said slide member and said opening and closing member, and transmitting a displacement of said slide member to said opening and closing member;
and
a driving means having an electric motor for rotating and driving an output pinion gear engaged with said rack gear and said output pinion gear, and oscillating said slide member between a first position at which said opening and closing member is in a fully closed state and a second position at which said opening and closing member is in a fully open state.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.