Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Kiekert Ag

Kiekert Gmbh & Co. Kg

Hans-Joachim Buscher

Lloyd Walker Rogers, Jr

Peter Bartel

Armin Handke

Brian Norman Orr

Dennis D Schwaiger

Klaus-Dieter Feist

Alexandra Pelz

An electrically operated actuator (10) for a slidable door of a motor vehicle comprising a planetary gear set (12) including a sun gear (22), a number of pinion gears (24) rotatably mounted on a planet carrier (26) and interengaging with the sun gear, and a ring gear (28) interengaging with the pinion gears, the sun gear, planet carrier and ring gear being rotatable about an axis (A); an electric motor (14) connected to the planet carrier to rotate the planet carrier about the axis; an electrically actuated brake (16) connected to the sun gear to brake rotation of the sun gear about the axis; a cable drum (18) rotatably driven by the ring gear; and a cable (20) wound around the cable drum and connectable to the slidable door. Allows a reduction in overall dimensions of the actuator.

Electrically operated slidable door actuator

A drive apparatus, in particular for the automatic actuation of a sliding door of a motor vehicle, comprising a fast running motor, the motor shaft of which is connected to a transmission with a large step-down ratio, the transmission having a first gear wheel which can be secured against rotation, via a releasable blocking device, and a second rotatable gear wheel which is rotationally fixedly connected to an output drive shaft and which is rotatable relative to the first gear wheel by the rotation of the motor when the first gear wheel is blocked, with the number of teeth of the first gear wheel only differing by a few teeth from the number of teeth of the second gear wheel and with the large step-down ratio being determined by this difference of the tooth numbers. By releasing the blocking device, the step-down ratio of the transmission changes. In particular a step-down ratio of 1:1 results. The transmission is thereby capable of being driven in reverse, so that a manual actuation of the sliding door of a motor vehicle is possible, without the requirement for a releasable clutch device between the sliding door and the drive apparatus.

Drive apparatus, in particular for a sliding door of a motor vehicle

A motor-vehicle door latch has a housing, a lock fork on the housing engageable with a door bolt, and a release pawl engageable with the fork. An actuating mechanism is connected to the release pawl via a coupling part displaceable on the housing so that in a decoupling position of the part actuation of the actuating mechanism does not affect the release pawl. A central locking element is displaceable on the housing generally parallel to a predetermined direction, is formed with a cutout opening transversely of the direction and having locking and unlocking flanks directed oppositely at least generally in the direction, and is formed to each side of the cutout with an abutment surface directed generally perpendicular to the direction. A locking mechanism jointly movable with the locking element is connected between the central locking element and the coupling part for displacing the coupling part into the decoupling position on displacement of the central locking element into its locked position and for displacing the coupling part into the coupling position on displacement of the central locking element into the unlocked position. A drive body rotatable about a drive axis has an eccentric pin formation defining on rotation of the drive body an orbit lying partially inside and partially outside the cutout. A reversible electric motor rotates the drive body and thereby orbits the pin formation about the drive axis.

Power-locking motor-vehicle door latch

A power actuator is used with a door latch having a threaded spindle, a nut axially displaceable by the spindle, and a coupling element connected to the nut and displaceable thereby to lock and unlock the latch. The actuator has a reversible electric motor having an output shaft defining a main axis and rotatable in either direction thereabout, an input wheel fixed on the shaft and provided with an eccentric coupling pin, and an intermediate wheel rotatable about the main axis and provided with an eccentric pivot. An output wheel rotatable about the main axis has a gear meshing with a gear of the threaded spindle and is provided with a pair of angularly offset abutments defining an orbit on rotation of the output wheel. A coupling element mounted on the intermediate-wheel pivot is provided with respective angularly offset coupling formations engageable with the output-wheel abutments and has a formation angularly engaging the input-wheel coupling pin. A spring urges the coupling element into a position with the coupling formations inside the orbit and the input wheel decoupled from the output wheel. The coupling element is movable angularly against the force of the spring about the eccentric pivot on rotation of the input wheel to end coupling positions in each of which a respective one of the coupling formations engages the respective abutment and couples the input wheel to the output wheel for joint rotation about the axis.

Motor actuator for centrally operated vehicular door latch

A motor-vehicle door latch has a latching element movable between a latched position and an unlatched position, and a locking pawl engageable with the element and displaceable between a locked position retaining it in the latched position and an unlocked position allowing it to move into the unlatched position. Power actuation is effected by a planetary-gear drive and including a reversible electric motor, a sun gear rotatable by the motor about the planetary axis, at least one planet gear meshing with the sun gear, a planet carrier carrying the planet gear, and a ring gear meshing with the planet gear. A locking lever is displaceable by a door handle and by the planet carrier between a locked position and an unlocked position and a coupling element is displaceable in the housing between a coupling position engaged between the locking pawl and locking lever for coupling the locking pawl and lever together for joint movement from the unlocked to the locked position and a decoupling position permitting the locking lever to move between its position without moving the locking pawl. An antitheft element is displaceable by the sun gear between an antitheft-on position engageable with the coupling element and retaining same in the decoupling position and an antitheft-off position permitting the coupling element to move between its positions. Structure coupled to the antitheft element arrests the planet carrier in the antitheft-on position of the antitheft element.

Power-actuated motor-vehicle door latch with antitheft mode

A motor-vehicle door latch has a drive having a housing formed with an inner surface formed relative to a main axis traversing the housing with two angularly offset and radially inwardly open notches, a shaft rotatable in the housing about the main axis and having a radially outwardly projecting bump, and a wheel rotatable in the housing about the main axis, surrounding the shaft in the housing, and connected to the input member of the latch to rotate jointly with the input member between locked and unlocked positions of the latch. A lobe on the wheel projects radially outward into one of the notches. A radially outwardly deflectable abutment on the wheel is angularly engageable with the bump of the shaft and is urged by a spring radially inward on the wheel so that the bump can angularly engage the abutment and angularly displace the wheel. A rocker pivotal on the wheel about a rocker axis generally parallel to the main axis and angularly offset from the abutment has an end offset angularly from the rocker axis and formed with an outwardly directed tooth engageable in the other notch only in the locked position of the wheel. The bump and an inner surface of the rocker are dimensioned such that, when the wheel is in the locked position, engagement of the bump with the end of the rocker forces the tooth radially outward into the other notch and thereby angularly blocks the wheel in the housing.

Growing community of inventors

Dusseldorf, Germany

Hans-Joachim Buscher