Magna Closures Inc.

Atoma International Corporation

Intier Automotive Closures Inc.

Other

Peter J Smith

Noel Chingcuanco

G Clarke Oberheide

Denis Cloutier

Dan Gidden

A window regulator that resists backdrive forces directly at the lift plate and rail, rather than by the drive assembly. A locking shoe mounted within the lift plate and selectively frictionally engages the rail while the drive assembly is at rest. Thus, any backdrive forces are transmitted from the window glass to the lift plate, and then directly to the rail, avoiding the drive assembly. A release fork that is coupled to the drive cable automatically disengages the locking shoe when the drive assembly is activated, and engages the locking shoe when the drive assembly disengages.

Locking lift plate

A window regulator including a drive rod having a linear axis; a runner connected to the drive rod for movement therealong; a window carrier pivotally secured to the runner for supporting a window; and a guide engaged by the window carrier having a radius of curvature such that the window carrier moves the window along a path coincident with the radius of curvature as the runner moves linearly along the drive rod.

Vehicle window regulator having a floating window carrier

A window regulator, e.g., for a vehicle window, includes block and pulley arrangements each including a lift pulley mounted to a lift plate that slides along a rail. Operative movement of a crank assembly in a first sense tensions a cable to move the lift plate towards a first end of the rail and operative movement of the crank assembly in a second sense, opposite the first sense, tensions a cable to move the lift plate towards a second end of the rail. The regulator enables the reduction of the operating torque requirements without affecting the packaging of the crank assembly.

Window regulator

A window regulator assembly including a shaft having a pinion gear and a counter balance spring mounted on the shaft which winds or unwinds as the shaft rotates. A spring housing is mounted on the shaft. A cable-guiding drum having an inner gear is driven directly by the pinion gear. The drum has a rotational axis that is offset from a rotational axis defined by the shaft, thus providing a mechanical advantage. A casing houses spring housing and the drum in an abutting relationship. A guide such as a rail is disposed on at least one of the spring housing and the drum for maintaining rotational alignment of the drum relative to the shaft.

Window regulator assembly

A window-regulating assembly selectively moves a window of a vehicle door between an open position and a closed position. The window-regulating assembly includes a rail that is fixedly secured to the vehicle door. The rail extends through a radius of curvature. A lift plate is slidably engaged with the rail. The lift plate is also secured to the window. The lift plate moves the window between the open and closed positions. A lead screw is secured to the rail. The lift plate travels along the lead screw to move the window between the open and closed positions. A drive motor is secured to lift plate. The drive motor receives electrical energy and converts the electrical energy into a selectively bidirectional rotational force to drive the lift plate over the lead screw. A pivot mount extends between the drive motor and the lift plate allowing the drive motor to move through the radius of curvature as the lift plate slides along the rail.

Lead screw window regulator

A window regulator, e.g., for a vehicle window, which includes opposing block and pulley arrangements that interact via a lift pulley ( ) mounted to a lift plate ( ) that slides along a rail ( ). Operative movement of a crank assembly ( ) in a first sense tensions a cable ( ) to move the lift plate ( ) toward a first end ( ) of the rail ( ), and operative movement of the crank assembly ( ) in a second sense, opposite the first sense, tensions a cable ( ) to move the lift plate ( ) towards a second end ( ) of the rail ( ). The regulator enables the reduction of the operating torque requirements without effecting the packaging of the crank assembly.

A window regulator mechanism comprises an elongated guide rail member mounted within a vehicle door. A window moving structure engages the window panel and is slidably mounted on the guide rail member to allow the window panel to be moved generally vertically with respect to the vehicle door. An actuating mechanism slidably moves the window moving structure along the guide rail member. An elongated, flexible counterbalancing member applies a counterbalancing force to the window panel that opposes a force of gravity acting on the window panel. The counterbalancing member has a first end attached within the door, a second end attached to the window moving structure, and an intermediate portion extending over a guiding portion disposed above an uppermost position of the window moving structure. The counterbalancing member is formed from an elastomeric material and is elastically deformed to an initial deformed state when the window moving structure is in its uppermost position, and elastically deforms beyond its initial deformed state as the window panel moves downwardly with respect to the vehicle door to thereby oppose the force of gravity acting on the window panel and provide a controlled, downward movement of the window panel. The counterbalancing member resiliently applies the counterbalancing force to oppose the force of gravity acting on the window panel as the window panel moves upwardly to thereby facilitate upward movement of the window panel.

Window regulator mechanism having counterbalancing member

A window regulator assembly comprising a window panel, a track, a slider member, a slider moving assembly including a drive assembly and a coupling assembly. The track is constructed and arranged to guide the window panel during movement of the window panel between opened and closed positions. The slider member is constructed and arranged to be movable along the track between a first position wherein the window panel assumes the closed position and a second position wherein the window panel assumes the open position. The slider moving assembly is constructed and arranged to move the slider member between the first and second position. The coupling assembly of the slider moving assembly is constructed and arranged to couple an output movement of the drive assembly to the slider member. The drive assembly includes a drivable input structure and a driven output structure, which structures are rotatable about a common axis. The coupling assembly is connected with the output structure to receive the output of the output structure, thereby enabling the coupling assembly to couple the output movement of the drive assembly to the slider member. The drive assembly includes roller and spring members disposed within a housing and constructed and arranged to prevent movement of the output structure upon predetermined external force being applied thereto via the coupling assembly. The output structure has ramp surfaces each converging toward the housing. Each of the ramp surfaces frictionally engages an associated one of the rollers, the rollers being biased by the spring members in a converging surface direction towards the converging surfaces between the ramp surfaces and the housing. The rollers are thus biased into wedging relation between the ramp surfaces and the housing. Friction between the ramp surfaces and the associated rollers during application of the predetermined external force to the output structure urges rolling movement of the rollers in the converging surface direction and into further wedging relation between the ramp surfaces and the housing.

Window regulator having improved crank assembly

The present invention is a window regulator mechanism for vertically moving a window panel mounted within a motor vehicle door. The mechanism comprises an elongated guide rail member mounted within the vehicle door and having a base portion with a pair of side flange portions. A first of the pair of side flange portions has a nose portion extending laterally outwardly therefrom. A second of the pair of side flange portions has a convex exterior surface. A window moving structure engages the window panel and has a base member and a pair of side leg portions extending from opposing sides thereof. One of the side leg portions has a nose-receiving groove formed in an inwardly facing surface thereof. The window moving structure is slidably mounted on the guide rail member. A manually operable actuating mechanism is constructed to slidably move the window moving structure vertically along the guide rail member. The nose portion of the guide rail member is received within the nose-receiving groove of the window moving structure and the convex exterior surface of the guide rail member is slidably engaged with an inwardly facing surface of another of the side leg portions of the window moving structure opposite the nose-receiving groove such that (1) relative pivotal movement between the guide rail member and the window moving structure about a fixed pivot axis extending longitudinally through the nose portion is permitted and (2) relative movement between the guide rail member and the window moving structure in a radial direction with respect to the fixed pivot axis is substantially restricted to thereby reduce vibrations which occur as a result of forcibly moving the vehicle door into closing engagement with a motor vehicle body.

Growing community of inventors

Newmarket, Canada

Peter J Smith