Rail assembly for a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11104248-B2
Application number	US-201916595829-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2019
Priority date	Oct 8, 2019
Publication date	Aug 31, 2021
Grant date	Aug 31, 2021

Abstract

A rail assembly includes a track assembly defining an interior channel, a shuttle assembly received within the interior channel, and a carriage assembly coupled to the track assembly. The shuttle assembly includes a lock assembly. The carriage assembly includes a trigger assembly. The trigger assembly includes a trigger cam and an actuator cam coupled to the trigger cam. The actuator cam actuates the carriage assembly between locked and unlocked configurations relative to the track assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rail assembly, comprising:
a track assembly defining an interior channel, the track assembly comprising a guide protrusion and a retention lip;
a shuttle assembly received within the interior channel, the shuttle assembly comprising a lock assembly; and
a carriage assembly coupled to the track assembly, the carriage assembly comprising:
a support bracket extending to engage with the guide protrusion of the track assembly, wherein the support bracket comprises a support plate, a guide plate, a first support arm, and a second support arm, wherein the first support arm and the second support arm each extend between the support plate and the guide plate, and wherein the first support arm and the second support arm define an aperture therebetween;
a lock plate extending to engage with the retention lip of the track assembly, wherein the lock plate comprises a lock arm positioned within the aperture defined by the first support arm and the second support arm, and wherein the lock arm engages with the retention lip to retain the carriage assembly in a given position along the track assembly; and
a trigger assembly, the trigger assembly comprising:
a trigger cam; and
an actuator cam coupled to the trigger cam, wherein the actuator cam is configured to actuate the carriage assembly between a locked configuration relative to the track assembly and an unlocked configurations relative to the track assembly.

2. The rail assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shuttle assembly comprises:
a motor;
a driveshaft extending from the motor, the driveshaft having a first end and a second end, wherein the motor is positioned at the first end, and wherein the second end is opposite the first end;
a pinion gear positioned at the second end of the driveshaft;
a drive gear that meshes with the pinion gear on a first side of the drive gear; and
a spur gear positioned on a second side of the drive gear.

3. The rail assembly of claim 2 , wherein the track assembly comprises:
a drive rack that is engaged by the spur gear of the shuttle assembly.

4. The rail assembly of claim 1 , wherein rotational motion of the trigger cam is configured to be translated into rotational motion of the actuator cam.

5. The rail assembly of claim 4 , wherein the trigger cam and the actuator cam are coupled to one another by a cam rod.

6. The rail assembly of claim 4 , wherein the actuator cam comprises a major axis and a minor axis such that the actuator cam is oblong in shape.

7. The rail assembly of claim 6 , wherein orienting the minor axis of the actuator cam in a substantially perpendicular relationship with a longitudinal axis of the track assembly corresponds to the locked configuration, and wherein orienting the major axis of the actuator cam in a substantially non-parallel relationship with the longitudinal axis of the track assembly corresponds to the unlocked configuration.

8. The rail assembly of claim 7 , wherein the lock assembly comprises a body and a plunger, and wherein the plunger is movable between an extended position relative to the body and a retracted positions relative to the body.

9. The rail assembly of claim 8 , wherein the plunger is biased to the extended position.

10. The rail assembly of claim 9 , wherein contact between the plunger and the trigger cam is configured to initiates rotational motion of the trigger cam in one of a clockwise direction about a rotation axis defined by the cam rod and a counter-clockwise direction about the rotation axis defined by the cam rod.

11. The rail assembly of claim 10 , wherein actuation of the shuttle assembly along the track assembly after contact has been made between the plunger and the trigger cam results in physical containment of the trigger cam between the plunger and a guide tab of the carriage assembly.

12. The rail assembly of claim 11 , wherein the physical containment of the trigger cam between the plunger and the guide tab is configured to maintains the carriage assembly in the unlocked configuration, and wherein the physical interaction between the plunger and the carriage assembly is configured to enables movement of the shuttle assembly along the track assembly to be translated into corresponding movement of the carriage assembly along the track assembly.

13. The rail assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lock arms comprises an arcuate ends that engages with an underside of the retention lip, wherein the retention lip comprises a first retention rib and a second retention ribs, wherein the first retention rib and the second retention rib define a recess therebetween, and wherein the recess receives the arcuate end of the lock arm.

14. A rail assembly, comprising:
a track assembly defining an interior channel, the track assembly comprising a guide protrusion and a retention lip;
a shuttle assembly received within the interior channel, the shuttle assembly comprising a lock assembly, the lock assembly comprising:
a body; and
a plunger, the plunger being movable between an extended position relative to the body and a retracted positions relative to the body; and

a carriage assembly coupled to the track assembly, the carriage assembly comprising:
a support bracket extending to engage with the guide protrusion of the track assembly, the support bracket comprising a support plate, a guide plate, a first support arm, and a second support arm, wherein the first support arm and the second support arm each extend between the support plate and the guide plate, wherein the first support arm and the second support arm define an aperture therebetween;
a lock plate extending to engage with the retention lip of the track assembly, the lock plate comprising a lock arm positioned within the aperture defined by the first support arm and the second support arm, wherein the lock arm engages with the retention lip to retain the carriage assembly in a given position along the track assembly, wherein the lock arm comprises an arcuate end that engages with an underside of the retention lip, wherein the retention lip comprises a first retention rib and a second retention rib, wherein the first retention rib and the second retention rib define a recess therebetween, and wherein the recess receives the arcuate end of the lock arm; and
a trigger assembly, the trigger assembly comprising:
a trigger cam; and
an actuator cam coupled to the trigger cam by a cam rod, wherein rotational motion of the trigger cam is configured to be translated into rotational motion of the actuator cam, the actuator cam comprising a major axis and a minor axis such that the actuator cam is oblong in shape, wherein the actuator cam is configured to actuate the carriage assembly between a locked configuration relative to the track assembly and an unlocked configurations relative to the track assembly, and wherein orienting the minor axis of the actuator cam in a substantially perpendicular relationship with a longitudinal axis of the track assembly corresponds to the locked configuration, and wherein orienting the major axis of the actuator cam in a substantially non-parallel relationship with the longitudinal axis of the track assembly corresponds to the unlocked configuration.

15. The rail assembly of claim 14 , wherein the shuttle assembly comprises:
a motor;
a driveshaft extending from the motor, the driveshaft having a first end and a second end, wherein the motor is positioned at the first end, and wherein the second end is opposite the first end;
a pinion gear positioned at the second end of the driveshaft;
a drive gear that meshes with the pinion gear on a first side of the drive ge

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Scott Glenn
• Dry Alan George
• Morse Eric
• Kish Joseph Michael
• Aktas Macit
• Gauthier Joshua
• Chieu Cung K
• Caldwell Robert Clayton
• Schwope Matthew
• Xie Changwei
• Line Johnathan Andrew
• Kurlonko Ray
• Sabeti Arya

Classifications

• B60N2/0825

  outside the rail · CPC title

• F16H19/04

  comprising a rack · CPC title

• F16H25/04

  for conveying rotary motion · CPC title

• B60N2/0875

  in a vertical direction · CPC title

• B60N2/08

  characterised by the locking device · CPC title