AUTOMATIC SLIDING DOOR OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM

SYSTEME D'OUVERTURE/DE FERMETURE AUTOMATIQUE DE PORTE COULISSANTE

English Abstract

An integrated system of components transport an automotive sliding door through its range of motion while providing adequate user safety. An automatic sliding door opening/closing system comprises a continuous, powered belted drive system located on a vehicle body, and a clamp arrangement capable of fixably attaching a vehicle door to the belt drive system so as to be automatically driven along a predetermined path and capable of releasing under predetermined conditions. The powered belt drive system is located so as to be combined with one of a van door's standard hinge system's three body tracks. The clamp arrangement may be a rotary device biased into a pinching action on the belt via a cam and spring arrangement.

French Abstract

Un système intégré de composants transporte une porte coulissante pour automobiles grâce à son amplitude de mouvements tout en assurant une sécurité adéquate pour son utilisateur. Un système d'ouverture/de fermeture automatique de porte coulissante comprend un système d'entraînement continu à courroie situé sur la carrosserie d'un véhicule et un dispositif de serrage capable de fixer une porte du véhicule au système d'entraînement à courroie afin de faire glisser la porte de manière automatique dans une glissière prédéterminée et également capable de se desserrer dans des conditions prédéfinies. Le système d'entraînement à courroie est établi de manière à pouvoir être associé à l'une des charnières standard de portière à glissière d'une fourgonnette. Le dispositif de serrage peut se présenter sous la forme d'un dispositif rotatif opérant un resserrement de la courroie par le biais d'une came et d'un ressort.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN
EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED
AS FOLLOWS:
1. An automatic sliding door opening/closing system comprising a
continuous, powered belt drive system having a motor driven belt and
being located on a vehicle body, and comprising a clamp arrangement
capable of fixably attaching a vehicle door to the belt so as to be
automatically driven along a predetermined path and capable of releasing
under predetermined conditions.
2. An automatic sliding door opening/closing system according to Claim 1,
wherein the powered belt drive system is located so as to be combined
with one of a standard hinge system's three body tracks.
3. An automatic sliding door opening/closing system according to Claim 2,
wherein the clamp arrangement is attached directly to a door hinge/roller
assembly on the door.
4. An automatic sliding door opening/closing system according to any one of
Claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the clamp arrangement is a rotary device biased
into a pinching action on the belt via a cam and spring arrangement, and
the rotary device is arranged so as to release from the belt at a
predetermined force threshold.
5. An automatic sliding door opening/closing system according to Claim 4,
wherein the powered belt drive system incorporates two belt tensioning
devices, located on opposite sides of the clamp arrangement, capable of
providing belt slack required to facilitate movement of the rotary clamping
device into a pinching engagement with the belt.

Description

CA 02268642 1999-04-09
AUTOMATIC SLIDING DOOR OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of automative door opening and closing
systems,
and particularly to an integrated system of components that transport an
automotive
sliding door through its range of motion while providing adequate user safety.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Sliding doors are widely used on the class of vehicles generally referred to
as vans.
Vans typically have normal swinging front doors and one or more sliding side
doors. These types of sliding doors translate out of the side opening in the
vehicle to facilitate ingress/egress rather than rotating, as is the more
common
motion of automotive closures. The most common and widely used sliding door
system consists of three body-mounted tracks (3) and three corresponding door-
mounted hinge/roller assemblies (15), as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. The
body
mounted tracks are normally located at the roof, floor and mid-positions on
the
side of the vehicle with the roof position and floor-position components being
arranged in-line with the door opening and the mid-position (centre) track
located
rearward of the side opening. It is normal practice to utilize the lower and
centre
tracks to carry the vertical weight of the door. The travel path of the door
is
therefore defined by the track shape and articulation of the hinge/roller
assemblies.
Power closing and opening of automotive sliding door systems has become a
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CA 02268642 1999-04-09
popular feature. The present state of the art involves use of electrically
driven
systems that power the door through the range of motion defined by the
conventional hinge/roller/track system. The majority of such systems act on
the
centre hinge/roller/track assembly although some are integrated with the lower
S hinge/roller/track assembly. Both belt and cable drives are utilized. In
addition
to powering the door though its range of motion, these systems must provide
protection against injury when obstructed during powered movement and normal
manual operation capability when required.
Current state of the art sliding door powered opening/closing systems use
sophisticated electronic hardware and software algorithms to achieve
acceptable
levels of obstruction detection. The most common method of protecxion utilizes
drive motor electrical current sensing to indicate when a person or other
object
is in the path of the closing door. The associated software algorithms are
~o~g ~~~~y sophisticated to coordinate hold-open latches, power pull-
in latches, and other additional features. A major drawback of all existing
art is
that it does not provide manual operation performance equal to passive systems
since some additional power related components are always engaged even when
the sliding door is manually operated. Clutch disengagement upstream of the
cable or belt drive is the most common manual operation mode, which adds
significant operating load due to the associated friction with such mechanisms
and
operations.
SUMMARY OF THE I1WENTION
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to create a sliding door opening/closing
system which does not suffer from the drag and friction associated with
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CA 02268642 1999-04-09
engagement of power related components even when the door is in manual
operation.
The present invention is targeted at reducing the complexity of automatic
sliding
door opening/closing systems. It specifically eliminates electronic
obstruction
detection by utilizing a mechanical arrangement and additionally provides
uncompromised manual performance by completely decoupling the power system.
In a major aspect of the invention, an automatic sliding door opening/closing
system comprises a continuous, powered belt drive system located on a vehicle
body; and a clamp arrangement capable of fixably attaching a vehicle door to
the
belt drive system so as to be automatically driven along a predetermined path
and
capable of releasing under predetermined conditions.
In a further aspect, the powered belt drive system is located so as to be
combined
with one of a standard hinge system's three body tracks. In a further aspect,
the
clamp arrangement is attached directly to one of the standard door
hinge/roller
assemblies on the door. In a further aspect, the clamp arrangement is a rotary
device biased into a pinching action on the belt via a cam and spring
arrangement, and the rotary device is arranged so as to release from the belt
at a
predetermined force threshold. In a further aspect, the powered belt drive
system
incorporates two belt tensioning devices, located on opposite sides of the
clamp
arrangement, capable of providing the required belt slack to facilitate
movement
of the rotary clamping device into a pinching engagement with the belt.
Further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following
description.
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CA 02268642 1999-04-09
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a plan cross-sectional view of the complete automatic sliding door
opening/closing system of the invention.
Figure 2 is a plan view in partial cross-section of the hinge/roller assembly
and
clamp of the invention.
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of the clamp arrangement of the
invention
in an unclamped position.
Figure 4 is a perspective view in partial cross-section illustrating a typical
automotive sliding door system in the closed configuration.
Figure 5 is a perspective view in partial cross-section illustrating a typical
automotive sliding door system in the open configuration.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, referring to Figure 1, a
continuous
belt drive system (1) is located so as to be combined with one of the three
body
mounted tracks (3) (see also Figures 2, 4 and 5) utilized in conventional
automotive sliding door systems. This drive system comprises a continuous-loop
belt (5), electrical motor (~ and drive pulley (9), two belt-tensioning
devices (11)
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CA 02268642 1999-04-09
and a number of idlers (13) used for belt routing. Idlers are typically
unpowered,
rotatable pulleys. The belt drive system is configured so that the belt (5)
rides
over a roller (21) and is exposed on the outer side of the track (3) so that
it is
adjacent to the corresponding door mounted hinge/roller assembly (15). The
belt
drive system is configured to be driven by the electrical motor (7) in both
directions.
A clamp (17), mounted on the hinge/roller assembly (15), interacts with the
track (3) containing the belt drive system (1). This clamp is configured so
that
it can be biased to pinch the belt into a clamping condition against the
roller (21)
so that when the belt is driven by the motor (7) the door (19) is drawn along
the
path defined by the hinge/roller/track configuration. The clamp (17) is biased
so that it is held in the pinch condition until a predetermined belt load is
exceeded, at which point it moves out of the pinch condition and releases the
1 S door (19) from the belt drive system (1). When the clamp (17) is in the
non-pinch condition, the door (19) can be moved along the path defined by the
hinge/roller/track configuration with no interaction with the belt drive
system
(1). A power actuator (not shown) is configured to move the clamp (17) back
into the pinch condition with the belt (5). The belt drive system has the
2p capability to pull the door into the first position of the main door latch
(i.e. the
secondary latched position) and a power pull-in latch (not shown) is used to
achieve fuU primary latching. An electronic control system and associated
sensing
transducers (not shown) are used to co-ordinate and actuate the belt drive
motor
(7), clamp actuator and main latch.
In a preferred embodiment, referring to Figure 3, the clamp (17) comprises a
rotary device which is biased into the belt pinch position via a cam (22)
interacting with a ball (25) and compression spring (27). The compression
spring
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CA 02268642 1999-04-09
(27) pushes the ball (25) into a cam pocket (23), integral with the rotary
clamp
which maintains the device in the pinch position. The surface of the clamp
(17)
that engages the belt (5) in the pinch position incorporates serrations (29)
which
enhance the pinching action and minimize the possibility of slippage between
the
belt (5) and clamp (17). The rotary clamp (17) disengages from the belt (5)
when
an obstruction in the path of the door (19) causes the belt load to exceed a
predetermined threshold. The threshold load is defined by the cam profile,
spring
force and spring pre-compression. A power actuator is attached to the
hinge/roller assembly which rotates the clamp (17) back into the pinch
condition
with the belt (5) upon receiving an electromagnetically-communicated command,
such as from a push button located within the van, or from a key fob button.
The belt drive system must be capable of providing the necessary belt slack to
allow the rotary clamp (17) to fully rotate to the pinch position. This belt
slack
is provided by two belt tensioning devices (11), located on opposite sides of
the
clamp arrangement, which are capable of providing belt slack when the system
is not driving the door but can lock when required to transmit belt load. An
additional function of these tensioners is to compensate for belt stretch as
the
system is subjected to prolonged usage. The rotary clamp system may also be
utilized in conjunction with a power pull-in latch, electronic control system
and
associated sensing transducers.
The clamp system is designed to disengage when the door reaches its fully open
or fully closed positions by reacting to the overload condition in the same
way
as in the case of an obstruction. The system remains in a manual mode until it
receives a signal to operate automatically. This signal initially causes the
main
latch to disengage (when in the closed position) followed by the actuator
engaging
the belt clamp into the pinch position and finally by running the belt drive
motor until either an obstruction or full motion causes the clamp to release.
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Representative Drawing