Clutch Mechanism Between Leadscrew and Electric Motor

A clutch mechanism between a rotatable output shaft of an electric motor fixed to a base and a leadscrew rotatably journaled to the base comprising:

• a leadscrew gear (71) having a plurality of wide gear teeth spaced on the circumference, said leadscrew gear mounted to rotate with said leadscrew;
• a drive gear (73) having a plurality of gear teeth spaced on the circumference, said drive gear mounted to rotate with the output shaft of an electric motor;
• an axially slidable dog-clutch gear (78) directly or indirectly driving the leadscrew (60), said slidable dog-clutch gear having a plurality of dog teeth axially extending away from the leadscrew and circumferentially spaced on a face of the slidable dog-clutch gear, said face being perpendicular to a rotating axis of the gear, said slidable dog-clutch gear having gear teeth on the circumference for engaging the gear teeth on the leads crew gear (71);
• an axially fixed dog-clutch gear (75) for engaging or disengaging the axially slidable dog- clutch gear (78), said second fixed dog-clutch gear having a plurality of dog teeth axially extending toward the leadscrew and circumferentially spaced on a face of the second dog-clutch gear, said face being perpendicular to the rotating axis of the gear, said fixed dog-clutch having gear teeth on the circumference for engaging the gear teeth on the drive gear (73);
• a bell crank (50) being rotatably mounted to the base, said bell crank having extensions in at least two radial directions;
• a linear actuator (52) having a shaft extending from a first end thereof, said linear actuator being pivotally mounted to the base at the other end, said linear actuator having a biasing means for extending the shaft when not powered, the shaft of the linear actuator being pivotally connected to an extension of the bell crank;
• and
• a linkage shaft (54) pivotally connected at one end to an extension of the bell crank and connected via a universal joint connection at the other end to the axially slidable dog-clutch,
• whereby when the linear actuator is unpowered, the linkage shaft due to the biasing means in the linear actuator forces the disengagement of dog teeth on the dog-clutch gears enabling the emergency manual opening of the sliding door.