Articulating mechanism for a vehicle door

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10443282-B2
Application number	US-201715718244-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2017
Priority date	Sep 29, 2016
Publication date	Oct 15, 2019
Grant date	Oct 15, 2019

Abstract

An articulating mechanism for opening and closing a vehicle door utilizes a first mechanism having a first motion profile and a second mechanism having a second motion profile. To open the door, the first mechanism begins the first motion profile before the second mechanism begins the second motion profile. To close the door, the second mechanism completes the second motion profile before the first mechanism completes the first motion profile.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An articulating mechanism for a vehicle door, comprising:
a supporting member having a first end and a second end, the first end being pivotably connected directly to a vehicle frame and the second end being pivotably connected to a door bracket, wherein the supporting member supports substantially all of a vehicle door weight;
an aligning member having a third end and a fourth end, the third end being pivotably connected directly to the vehicle frame and the fourth end being pivotably connected to the door bracket, wherein the aligning member supports substantially none of the vehicle door weight, and wherein the supporting member is larger than the aligning member; and
a rail secured to a vehicle door,
wherein the door bracket is slideably connected to the rail, the supporting member and the aligning member rotate to move the vehicle door toward or away from the vehicle frame without rotating the vehicle door, and the door bracket slides relative to the rail to move the door forward or backward along the vehicle frame.

2. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , wherein the supporting member is a telescoping member.

3. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , wherein the first end is pivotably connected to the vehicle frame using a pivot pin.

4. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , further comprising an actuator for automatically causing the supporting member and the aligning member to rotate.

5. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is an electromechanical strut.

6. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , further comprising an actuator for automatically causing the door bracket to slide relative to the rail.

7. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , wherein the actuator comprises a pulley motor driving a pulley.

8. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of rails.

9. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 1 , wherein the door bracket is slideably connected to the rail via a trolley.

10. The articulating mechanism for a vehicle door of claim 9 , wherein the trolley comprises at least one of a plurality of wheels and a plurality of bearings.

11. An articulating mechanism for opening and closing a vehicle door, comprising:
a first mechanism having a first motion profile for moving a vehicle door toward and away from a vehicle frame, the first mechanism comprising a supporting member and an aligning member, wherein the supporting member is configured to support substantially all of a vehicle door weight and the aligning member supports substantially none of the vehicle door weight, and wherein the aligning member comprises a telescoping feature; and
a second mechanism having a second motion profile different than the first motion profile for moving the vehicle door along the vehicle frame;
wherein opening the vehicle door requires starting the first motion profile before the second motion profile, and closing the vehicle door requires completing the second motion profile before completing the first motion profile, and further wherein an orientation of the vehicle door relative to the vehicle frame does not change, regardless of the position of the vehicle door relative to the vehicle frame.

12. The articulating mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the first mechanism comprises at least one member pivotably connected at one end directly to the vehicle frame and at another end to a door bracket.

13. The articulating mechanism of claim 12 , wherein the at least one member comprises the supporting member and the aligning member, the supporting member, aligning member, vehicle frame, and door bracket arranged as a 4-bar linkage.

14. The articulating mechanism of claim 12 , wherein the first mechanism further comprises a cam.

15. The articulating mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the second mechanism comprises at least one rail.

16. The articulating mechanism of claim 15 , wherein the second mechanism further comprises a trolley slideably engaged with the at least one rail.

17. The articulating mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle door is a front door.

18. The articulating mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the first motion profile comprises rotation and the second motion profile comprises translation.

19. An articulating mechanism for moving a vehicle door, comprising:
a four-bar linkage comprising:
a vehicle frame,
a rotating supporting member supporting substantially all of a vehicle door weight,
a rotating aligning member supporting substantially none of the vehicle door weight, the rotating supporting member being larger than the rotating aligning member and comprising a telescoping feature, and
a door bracket connected to a vehicle door;

a sliding mechanism comprising:
a plurality of rails fixedly secured to the vehicle door, and
a trolley, the trolley being fixedly secured to the door bracket and slideably engaged with the plurality of rails; and

at least one actuator for causing the rotating supporting member and the rotating aligning member to rotate relative to the fixed frame bracket, and for causing the trolley to slide relative to the plurality of rails,
wherein an orientation of the vehicle doors remains substantially constant while a position of the vehicle door changes.

20. The articulating mechanism of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of rails is fixedly secured to the vehicle door with a plurality of rail brackets.

Assignees

• Nio Usa Inc

Inventors

• Bauer Ivonne
• Young Geoffrey Daniel
• Peleg Tom
• Ren Ren
• Kumar Padmanabhan
• Murray Paul R
• Kenyon Shane L

Classifications

• B60J5/06

  slidable; foldable · CPC title

• E05F15/643

  operated by flexible elongated pulling elements, e.g. belts, chains or cables (by flexible elongated push-pull mechanisms E05F15/635) · CPC title

• E05D15/101

  specially adapted for vehicles (E05D15/1007 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05Y2900/531

  Doors · CPC title

• E05D15/1047 Primary

  specially adapted for vehicles (E05D15/1044 takes precedence) · CPC title