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US 5,644,869 AGranted
Power drive for a movable closure with ball nut drive screw
AssigneeITT Automotive Electrical Systems, Inc.
InventorHarry C. Buchanan, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeITT Automotive Electrical Systems, Inc.
InventorHarry C. Buchanan, Jr.
Estimating the term…
A power drive moves a movable closure between an open position and a closed position with respect to a portal defining a passage through a barrier. The power drive can include an elongated drive member connected to the movable closure and a ball nut drive assembly for selectively moving the drive member longitudinally to position the movable closure between the open position and the closed position with respect to the passage through the barrier. The barrier can define at least a portion of a stationary structure or a vehicle, where the passage allows access within the structure or the vehicle. The movable closure can include a sliding door, hatch, window, roof panel or the like. The elongated drive member can be a compound drive member having at least one gear or tooth-like member extending helically around in uniformly spaced turns about a core of the drive member to form a rigid or resilient screw-like portion capable of being driven by operable engagement with the recirculating ball nut drive assembly. A flexible portion, such as a push/pull cable can be attached to one end of the screw-like member to allow the power drive to move a movable closure along a curved or other non-linear path.
In a power drive system for a sliding door mounted on at least one side of a vehicle for sliding movement forwardly and rearwardly of the vehicle between an open position and a closed position, said system including reversible power drive means operable when actuated to selectively drive said door in opening or closing movement, the improvement comprising:
A sliding door system accommodating manual operation and powered operation of a sliding door in forward and rearward movement along a fixed path between an open position and a closed position, said system comprising:
A power drive for moving a moveable closure between an open position and a closed position with respect to a portal defining a passage through a barrier comprising:
In a power drive for moving a moveable closure between an open position and a closed position with respect to a portal defining a passage through a barrier, the improvement comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.