Doors with adaptive positioning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11446989-B1
Application number	US-201916543416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 16, 2019
Priority date	Jan 12, 2016
Publication date	Sep 20, 2022
Grant date	Sep 20, 2022

Abstract

Doors on a vehicle may be controlled by a door positioning system that moves the doors freely and fluidly relative to the body of the vehicle. The doors may include front and rear doors on each side of the vehicle. The door positioning system may control the movement and positioning of each door using a door mechanism coupled between the door and the body of the vehicle. The door positioning system may determine a position or path of motion for each door based on sensor data and user input. The door positioning system may issue corresponding control signals to actuators in the door mechanism to position the door accordingly. For example, the front door may slide open at an angle to accommodate an angled tire. Front and rear doors may open in opposite directions to create a large, unobstructed space for passengers to enter and exit the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an opening;
a door that moves into and out of the opening;
first and second independently controlled actuators, wherein the first independently controlled actuator rotates the door about a first axis and the second independently controlled actuator rotates the door about a second axis that is parallel to the first axis;
a sensor that gathers sensor data, wherein the sensor data comprises steering angle information associated with a tire position; and
a door controller that adjusts a direction with which the door moves away from the opening based on the sensor data.

2. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the door controller adjusts the direction with which the door moves away from the opening to accommodate the tire position.

3. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the sensor data comprises vehicle orientation information.

4. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the door controller sends control signals to the first and second independently controlled actuators to adjust the direction with which the door moves away from the opening.

5. The vehicle defined in claim 1 further comprising a third independently controlled actuator.

6. The vehicle defined in claim 5 wherein the third independently controlled actuator slides the door along a third axis.

7. The vehicle defined in claim 6 further comprising first, second, and third sensors that are each associated with a respective one of the first, second, and third independently controlled actuators.

8. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an opening;
first and second doors that slide toward and away from the opening;
first, second, and third independently controlled actuators, wherein the first independently controlled actuator moves the first door about a first rotational axis, the second independently controlled actuator moves the first door about a second rotational axis, and the third independently controlled actuator moves the first door along a linear axis;
a sensor that gathers sensor data; and
a door controller that automatically opens the first door based on the sensor data and that determines a path along which to open the first door based on the sensor data.

9. The vehicle defined in claim 8 wherein the sensor detects a key approaching the first door and the door controller automatically opens the first door in response to the sensor detecting the key approaching the first door.

10. The vehicle defined in claim 8 wherein the door controller determines the path along which to open the first door by determining a direction with which the first door moves away from the opening.

11. The vehicle defined in claim 10 wherein the sensor data detects an obstruction and wherein the door controller determines the path along which to open the first door to avoid a collision between the first door and the obstruction.

12. The vehicle defined in claim 8 wherein the door controller controls the first door by sending control signals to the first, second, and third independently controlled actuators.

13. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an opening;
a door that moves toward and away from the opening;
a sensor that gathers sensor data;
a door mechanism having at least first and second independently controlled actuators, wherein the first and second independently controlled actuators are configured to rotate the door about respective first and second vertical rotational axes; and
a door controller that sends control signals to the door mechanism based on the sensor data, wherein the control signals include first control signals for the first independently controlled actuator and second control signals for the second independently controlled actuator.

14. The vehicle defined in claim 13 wherein the sensor data comprises obstruction information.

15. The vehicle defined in claim 13 wherein the first and second vertical rotational axes are parallel.

16. The vehicle defined in claim 15 wherein the door mechanism comprises a third independently controlled actuator.

17. The vehicle defined in claim 16 wherein the third independently controlled actuator slides the door along a linear axis.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Brown Matthew L
• Hobson Phillip Michael
• Raff John
• Kim Sung H
• Mead Jr Russell C
• Smith Ronald J

Classifications

• E06B3/509

  where one of the sliding and rotating movements necessarily precedes the other · CPC title

• E05F15/649

  operated by swinging arms · CPC title

• E05F15/655

  specially adapted for vehicle wings · CPC title

• B60J5/06

  slidable; foldable · CPC title

• E05Y2900/531

  Doors · CPC title