Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Strattec Power Access LLC

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

John R Rice

Lloyd Walker Rogers, Jr

Joseph M Johnson

Michael Antonio Ciavaglia

Ronald James Wilde

David A Sedlak

Howard Kuhlman

Brian Norman Orr

Eric Ransford Hansen

James Lloyd Webber

Frank Joseph Arabia, Jr

Lloyd W Rogers

David Gerard Hlavaty

William L Priest

Ian Martin

David Joseph Chapman

Kevin W Wright

Jeffrey S Hamminga

Mark Duane Nicholas

Kenneth John Siegfried

Reginald Leo McDonald

Lloyd Walker Rogers Jr

Ronald J Wilde

Howard W Kuhlman

A drive unit comprising a guide channel that has a first pulley at one end that rotates about a fixed pulley axis. The drive unit also includes a flexible drive member having a plurality of spaced windows, an attachment assembly moveably attached to the guide channel, and an adjustable pulley assembly coupled to the guide channel that has a second pulley that rotates around a moveable pulley axis that can be adjusted to change the distance between the fixed pulley axis and the moveable pulley axis to take up slack in the flexible drive member.

Attachment assembly and drive unit having same

A drive unit includes a gear set driving a drive pulley that in turn drives a flexible drive member which is attached to a driven member by an attachment assembly that travels in a channel. The attachment assembly is attached to the flexible drive member by a coupler that has teeth that extend through respective windows of the flexible drive member. The coupler is disposed between side walls of a yoke and attached to a bridge wall of the yoke. An outer shoe engages each side wall of the yoke. The attachment assembly includes an optional spring to tension the flexible drive member and the shoes have optional flexible tapered fingers to stabilize the drive pulley. The flexible drive member and the spring are trapped between the coupler and the bridge wall of the yoke. In an alternate arrangement, the flexible drive member is trapped between the coupler and fingers of the shoes that extend behind the flexible drive member and through spaces between adjacent teeth of the coupler and into sockets of the other shoe. The flexible drive member may be a drive chain or a drive belt having spaced windows.

An automotive vehicle has a power operated lift-gate that is opened and closed by two drive units. The typical drive unit has a guide channel, an attachment assembly that is disposed in the guide channel, a flexible drive member that is attached to the attachment assembly and formed in a loop for moving the attachment assembly in the guide channel. The flexible drive member is trained solely around two pulleys at the respective opposite ends of the guide channel to form the flexible drive member in a narrow loop. One of the pulleys is an idler pulley that is part of an adjustable pulley assembly and the other pulley is driven by a power unit that is attached to the guide channel. The adjustable pulley assembly adjusts the distance between the pulleys to take up slack in the flexible drive member.

Adjustable pulley assembly and drive unit having an adjustable pulley assembly for an endless flexible drive member of the drive unit

A power striker assembly effects final positioning of a vehicle closure member and includes a fixed frame and a striker member carried on a striker plate for selective engagement of a latch carried on the closure member, to displace the closure member from a presented position to a cinched position. Guide means interconnects the frame and striker plate to effect simultaneous translational and rotational displacement of the striker plate between end limits of travel to produce linear displacement of the striker member. An actuator selectively displaces the striker plate between its end limits of travel in response to a control signal. Finally, an interlock fixes the striker plate in the cinched position in the absence of the control signal.

Power linear displacement striker

A flexible drive member attachment is connected to a flexible drive member by a yoke having side walls connected by a bridge wall that has a stud connecting the attachment to a driven member. A coupler is disposed between the side walls and attached to the bridge wall. The coupler has teeth that extend through respective windows of the flexible drive member. An outer shoe engages each side wall of the yoke. Each outer shoe has a forward flange engaging the bridge wall and a rearward flange that extends through a rearward slot of the associated side wall. Each rearward flange has fingers that extend behind the flexible drive member and through spaces between adjacent teeth of the coupler and into sockets of the other shoe. The flexible drive member may be a drive chain or a drive belt having spaced windows.

Flexible drive member attachment

A drive assembly for a closed loop cable system in which a flexible driver member drives a door or the like back and forth has the flexible drive member wrapped around and driven by a drive pulley. The drive assembly includes a motor unit having a motor shaft that rotates about a drive axis for rotating the drive pulley about a pulley axis, and a tensioning mechanism for adjusting the position of the pulley axis with respect to the drive axis responsive to tension in the flexible drive member.

Drive assembly with dynamic tensioning device

A cable drive unit for opening and closing a sliding door on a vehicle (not shown) has a cup-shaped front drum having a helical front cable groove and a rear cup-shaped drum having a helical rear cable groove. The front drum is rotated about a longitudinal axis in a first direction to open the sliding door. The rear drum is partially nested in the front drum and rotated about the longitudinal axis in an opposite direction to close the sliding door. The front drum and the rear drum are drivingly connected to each other via a tension spring that biases the front drum and the rear drum in opposite directions when in tension. The front and rear drums are rotated by a concentric clutch that is nested in the rear drum. The clutch includes a drive member that is drivingly connected to the front drum via a first lost motion connection and drivingly connected to the rear drum via a second lost motion connection. The first drum has an arcuate slot forming part of the first lost motion connection, the rear drum has an arcuate slot forming part of the second lost motion connection, and the drive member has a tab that projects through both arcuate slots to form part of the first lost motion connection and part of the second lost motion connection.

Cable drive assembly

A vehicle door latch has a power operated release mechanism for moving a detent from a latched position to a release position comprising a slide that engages the detent at one end and a rotary cam that engages an opposite end of the slide sot that the slide reciprocates when the rotary cam is rotated by an electric motor. The electric motor drives the cam via a concentric gear wheel that has a pin engaging the rotary cam. A forkbolt rotates a rotary block out lever from a by-pass position to a block out position where the block-out lever engages a shoulder of the gear wheel to stop rotation of the gear wheel when the forkbolt is moved to an unlatched position. The vehicle door latch also includes a mechanical override mechanism to rotate the rotary cam to unlatch the vehicle door latch.

Vehicle door latch with power operated release mechanism

Apparatus for opening and closing a deck lid of a vehicle body. An elongated rack is mounted in a housing for longitudinal movement. A rotatable pinion meshes with the rack to move the rack longitudinally in one direction or the other depending on the direction of rotation of the pinion. A reversible motor rotates the pinion in opposite directions. The deck lid is attached to a pair of arms pivoted to the vehicle body. A link has one end pivoted to the rack and the opposite end pivoted to one of the arms. The deck lid is moved to open position in response to longitudinal movement of the rack in one direction or to closed position in response to longitudinal movement of the rack in the other direction.

Power open/power close deck lid

A seat restraint buckle assembly for a seat restraint system in a vehicle includes a rigid frame having an open forward end defining a passage to receive a latch plate. The seat restraint buckle assembly also includes a locking member operatively connected to the frame and pivotal between a latched position in which the locking member retains the latch plate within the passage and an unlatched position in which the locking member is held clear of the passage. The seat restraint buckle assembly includes a release button slidably mounted on the frame above the passage for longitudinal movement relative to the frame. The seat restraint buckle assembly further includes a blocking lever operatively connected to the frame and pivotal to contact the locking member and urging the locking member towards the latched position. The seat restraint buckle assembly also includes a spring disposed between the blocking lever and the release button to rotate the blocking lever to lock-up the locking member in the latched position.

Seat restraint buckle assembly

A latch handle assembly for permitting power or manual unlatching of a door latch. The assembly includes a latch handle for manual unlatching of the vehicle door. A mechanical linkage is attached to the latch handle and is adapted to interconnect with the door latch. The latch handle assembly also includes a switch disposed on the latch handle. The switch interconnects with a power-assisted unlatching mechanism that allows the switch to unlatch the door. Finally, there is a handle lock disposed adjacent the latch handle for disabling the latch handle in the normal condition when power is on and the power-assisted unlatching function is operable. The handle lock is operative to move from a locked position preventing the latch handle from moving, and an unlocked position allowing movement of the latch handle.

Latch handle assembly

A power operating system for opening and closing a vehicle liftgate has a pair of drive units supported on the vehicle pillars at the sides of the liftgate opening. Each drive unit includes a vertically oriented channel and a rack bar that moves in the channel. A link is universally attached to the rack bar at one end and universally attached to the liftgate at the opposite end. The rack bar is raised and lowered by a power unit that has a motor driven pinion gear that meshes with the rack bar. Raising and lowering the rack bar opens and closes the liftgate via the link.

Vehicle liftgate power operating system

According to the present invention a latch assembly for use in an adjustable vehicle roof panel assembly including a roof panel which is driven by a motor drive unit and a cable is provided. The latch assembly utilizes a simple mechanical release mechanism which is designed to hold the roof panel in a sealed position and disengages mechanically utilizing the power roof motor instead of having a separate solenoid or motor drive unit. The release mechanism includes a latch arm and a latch catch member which are rotatably mounted so that actuation of the power roof motor causes a release member to mechanically trigger the latch arm causing rotation thereof which leads to disengagement between the latch arm and the latch catch member. Once the latch arm and the latch catch member disengage, a rear end of the roof panel is free to travel with a channel in the base. A front end of the roof panel is raised and guided within the channel by a guide member which is also mechanically linked to the release member so that movement of the release member causes the raising and movement of the front end. Once unlatched, the roof panel is free to move forwardly and rearwardly within the channel so as to open the roof.

Roof latch mechanism

A mechanism for lifting and lowering a wide rear liftgate comprising a single power actuator located near only a first side of the liftgate and a torque tube having first and second arms and a central resilient stem. The torque tube is attached to the liftgate with the stem journaled to the liftgate, the first arm adjacent the first side of the liftgate and the second arm attached to a second side of the liftgate. The first arm is attached to the power actuator through a ball stud which extends through a slot in the liftgate. When lifting or lowering the liftgate, the power actuator applies a lifting or lowering force to the first arm twisting the stem and applying the lifting or lowering force to the second side of the liftgate through the second arm. The ball stud then engages the slot applying the lifting or lowering force to the first side of the liftgate.

Torque tube liftgate

A handle mechanism for operating a vehicle door latch has a handle lever for operating the latching mechanism of a vehicle door latch and a button handle for operating the locking mechanism of the vehicle door latch. The handle mechanism includes a child security lock that disables the handle mechanism so that it cannot unlatch the vehicle door latch. The child security lock is engaged by the handle lever and disengaged by manipulating the handle lever and the button handle in a predetermined sequence.

Growing community of inventors

Marshall, IL, United States of America

John R Rice