Selectively engageable motor drive assembly
AssigneeRicon Corporation
InventorRoy R. Rizkovsky
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A selectively engageable motor-drive assembly operable for moving a vehicle door or ramp to enable manual operation or motorized operation is provided, having a motor, a pulley drawing a cable attached to the door or ramp, a torque-multiplying arrangement positionable between a fully-engaged position and a partially-disengaged position, and an actuator mechanism for positioning the torque-multiplying arrangement in accordance with a selection of manual or motorized operation. The actuator mechanism may be actuated by a solenoid that is activated by an operator through a control unit. Also, a cam may be provided to define the movement of the actuator mechanism.
Claims21
A selectively engageable motor-drive assembly for use in operating a vehicle door or ramp, comprising:
- a motor ;
- a pulley drawing a cable attached to the door or ramp;
- a torque-multiplying arrangement positionable between a first position wherein said pulley is decoupled from said torque-multiplying arrangement for manual operation and a second position wherein said torque-multiplying arrangement is coupled to said pulley for motorized operation;
- an actuator mechanism comprising a lever structure for moving said torque-multiplying arrangement between said first and second positions and a cam for guiding movement of said actuator mechanism;
- and
- a solenoid for actuating said lever structure between said first and second positions and for positioning the torque multiplying arrangement in accordance with a selection of said manual or motorized operation.
A selectively engageable motor-drive assembly for use in operating a vehicle door or ramp in a manual mode or a motorized mode, comprising:
- a bi-directional motor for said motorized mode;
- a pulley drawing a cable attached to the door or ramp;
- a plurality of torque-multiplying gears positionable between an engaged position wherein said pulley is releasably coupled to said motor for said motorized mode, and a disengaged position wherein said pulley is decoupled from said motor for said manual mode;
- and
- a lever actuator for positioning said torque-multiplying gears for said manual or motorized operation, said lever actuator comprising a cam for guiding movement of said lever actuator and for locking said lever actuator in place for said motorized operation.
A selectively engageable motor-drive assembly for use in operating a vehicle door or ramp in a manual mode or a motorized mode, comprising:
- a pulley with a pulley gear for drawing and releasing a cable attached to the door or the ramp;
- a bi-directional motor for operating said assembly wherein said pulley is releasably coupled to said motor;
- said motor having a motor shaft extending therefrom;
- a torque-multiplying arrangement which is releasably coupled to said motor and is positionable between an engaged position wherein said torque-multiplying arrangement is intermeshed with said pulley gear for motorized operation and a disengaged position wherein said torque-multiplying arrangement is disengaged from said pulley gear for manual operation;
- and,
- said pulley being mounted about said motor shaft and being freely rotatable about said motor shaft during manual operation and said pulley gear being coupled to said torque-multiplying arrangement during motorized operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.