Pneumatic door operator having pneumatic actuator and lock

In a power door operator utilizing a rodless cylinder having an internal fluid sealed piston and a magnetically coupled external piston, internal piston motion in said cylinder provided by admission of a pressurized fluid to said cylinder on either side of said piston in order to open and close bi-parting passenger doors over an opening in a vehicle side wall, the improvement comprising:

• first and second coplanar doors mounted on said car for opposing motion in covering and uncovering an opening in said side wall;
• an endless belt and piston attachment operatively attaching said belt attached to said external piston, said belt on a mounting on said vehicle, said belt mounting arranging said belt with first and second oppositely moving belt surfaces positioned and moving essentially parallel to movement of said doors, said belt moved in conjunction with said external piston;
• a first drive arm attached to said first belt surface, said first arm connected to said first door and having a first inner edge intermediate said door and second belt surface;
• a second drive arm extending from and attached to said second belt surface and connected to said second door, said second drive arm also having an inner edge, one of said edges oppositely disposed relative to the other said edge when said doors are in said closed position;
• stop pins projecting from said drive arms;
• a door movement space defined between said drive arm inner edges when said doors are in a door closed position;
• and,
• a panel lock assembly for restricting door panel movement when said doors are in said closed position comprising:
• a mounting bracket on and extending from said vehicle side wall, said bracket aligned with said door movement space in the door closed position;
• a pivot pin on and extending from said bracket;
• first and second panel lock arms mounted on said pin for pivotal scissor-like motion around said pin;
• first and second inner and outer jaws on opposite ends of said lock arms, said inner and outer arms intermediate said belt and said passenger doors;
• means intermediate said outer jaws for biasing said lock arm outer jaws outwardly and inner jaws inwardly;
• first and second lock arm positions corresponding to said door closed position and a door open position, said drive arm pins moving said outer lock arms inwardly from said second position to said first position on door motion from said open position to said closed position and from said first position to said second position on door opening;
• a lock aperture, defined by said lock arm inner jaws when said lock arms are in said first position, said aperture closed by said lock arms in said second position;
• means on said mounting bracket operable by said cylinder for projecting a force biased lock pin into said lock aperture and said door movement space;
• wherein when said doors are in said closed position said lock pin occupies said door movement space and said lock aperture thereby limiting door movement from a fully closed position.