Door Stop With Indeterminate Retaining Positions

1/ Door check mechanism providing an infinite number of stable retaining positions between fully opened and closed, this said mechanism comprising on the one hand a guiding arm (1) linked to a steady part, as for example a vehicle body, or linked to a moving part, as for example a passenger door, and on the other hand a mechanism (9), linked to the opposite part, respectively the passenger door or the vehicle body, in such a way that the guiding arm (1) penetrates through the mechanism (9) with a relative displacement between those two parts, the wedge function being provided by a relative blocking of guiding arm (1) through mechanism (9), the system being characterized by:

• on the one hand, the guiding arm (1) provides a rolling and relative blocking path (11) between the said guiding arm and mechanism (9), whereas the surface of rolling path (11) will provide appropriate roughness to ensure the adherence of roller (21), the said roller being intended to ensure a wedging function, the surface of rolling path may therefore enclose any type of notches that will match the shape of rolling surface (211) of roller (21), the said roller being made of a more or less soft material, in order to provide a good adherence with guiding arm (1);
• on the other hand, mechanism (9) includes a carriage device (2), which comprises a braking roller (21), mounted on an axle (22) which can slide along lateral guiding slots (25) and (26), which are provided on the sides of carriage device (2), whereas a braking element (23) made of a brake shoe linked to carriage device (2), will block roller (21) by a contact between one of its faces and the rolling surface of roller (21) and whereas a spring device (24), acting directly or indirectly on axle (22), is intended to hold and bring back roller (21) to the locked position, while the load exerted on the guiding arm (1) by roller (21) is counterbalanced by a roller (3), mounted to the opposite of roller (21), which leads to hold the guiding arm (1) during its relative displacement through mechanism (9), the said mechanism ensuring the three functions hereafter:
• a) blocking of the rotation of roller (21) against guiding arm (1), in any un-predefined position,
• b) release of the rotation of roller (21) whenever an opening or closing force greater than a predefined release threshold is exerted on the door, this release taking place within a limited clearance between mechanism (9) and guiding arm (1),
• c) automatic re-locking, in any un-predefined position of the door, when the opening or closing force disappears;
• the lateral guiding slots (25) and (26), comprising bosses and notches, intended to resist to the displacement of axle (22), and intended to provide stable positions, during respectively locked phase and opening or closing maneuvers, the said bosses and notches being designed in such a way that when a load appears between guiding arm (1) and carriage device (2), during door opening or closing maneuvers, axle (22) tends to slide along lateral guiding slots (25) and (26), in a direction opposite to the direction of the load, and after a limited clearance, the axle passes the bosses and reaches the notches, which releases roller (21) from the braking element (23), allowing its free rotation and therefore a relative displacement between carriage device (2) and guiding arm (1);
• whereas spring device (24), exerts a compression load on axle (22), tending to bring it back spontaneously to the central locked position, as soon as the opening or closing maneuver is interrupted, the clearance of the door during this re-locking phase being limited by the size of lateral guiding slots (25) and (26).