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 of the vehicle to engage the lock with a biasing member to prevent movement of a sliding element that is displaceable along the guide rail.
Claims19
A sliding-door assembly for a vehicle comprising:
- a sliding-door roller disposed in a rail;
- a leaf spring biased to extend into an interior of the rail and deflectable upon contact with the roller;
- and
- a locking mechanism including a vertical shaft, a lock, and a weight element that, in response to deceleration of the vehicle, rotates the lock into engagement with the leaf spring preventing deflection of the leaf spring and displacement of the roller.
A sliding door mechanism for a vehicle sliding door comprising:
- a sliding element displaceable along a guide rail;
- a biasing member connected to the guide rail and biased to engage the sliding element to normally prevent displacement along the guide rail, wherein the biasing member deflects upon application of a force greater than a predetermined force to allow displacement of the sliding element along the guide rail;
- and
- a locking assembly including a base fixed relative to the guide rail and a vertical shaft pivotally attached to the base, the shaft including a weight element horizontally offset from the shaft and a lock horizontally offset from the shaft, wherein the weight element is offset from the shaft such that, in response to deceleration of the vehicle, the shaft rotates relative to the base to engage the lock with the biasing member to prevent displacement of the sliding element in a door closing direction.
A vehicle sliding door assembly comprising:
- a sliding door including a roller movable along a guide rail in a door opening direction and a door closing direction;
- a latching cam disposed within the guide rail and engageable with the roller;
- a bracket fixed relative to the guide rail;
- and
- a vertical shaft pivotally attached to the bracket and including a lock, and a weight element that, in response to deceleration of the vehicle, rotates the lock into engagement with the latching cam preventing movement of the roller along the guide rail in the door closing direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.