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US 8,882,159 B2Granted
Sliding door arrester
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorThomas Kreuz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sliding door for a motor vehicle includes a sliding door arrester to prevent the sliding door from inadvertently closing during a deceleration event. The sliding door arrestor includes a base fixed relative to a guide rail and a locking element pivotally attached to the base. The locking element includes a mass and a lock. The locking element rotates relative to the base during a deceleration event to engage the lock with a biasing member to prevent movement of a sliding element that is displaceable along the guide rail.
Claims6
A sliding door for a vehicle comprising:
- a guide rail attached to a body of the vehicle;
- a roller received within the guide rail and displaceable along the guide rail;
- a leaf spring including a latching cam biased to engage the roller to normally prevent displacement along the guide rail, and wherein the leaf spring deflects upon application of a force greater than a predetermined force to allow displacement of the roller along the guide rail;
- a bracket stationary with respect to the body;
- and
- a locking element attached to the bracket and rotatable relative to the bracket, the locking element including an inertial mass and a lock engaged with the latching cam when in a locked position to prevent deflection of the leaf spring and disengaged when in a released position, wherein during a negative acceleration of the vehicle, inertia of the inertial mass rotates the locking element to engage the lock with the latching cam to prevent deflection of the latching cam and prevent displacement of the roller along the guide rail.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.