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Power door for a passenger vehicle

Power door for a passenger vehicle description/claims

1. Field of the Invention

The invention generally relates to a power door for a passenger vehicle.

2. Background Art

Passenger vehicles generally have at least one side-entry door located on either lateral side of a vehicle body of the passenger vehicle. Two or more doors are typically provided on one lateral side of the vehicle. These doors allow passenger ingress and egress to and from the vehicle. The doors for the passenger vehicles can be power doors so that manual translation of the doors is not required.

Power side entry doors can have hinged connections between the door and the body. These power hinged doors can open toward the front end of the vehicles, which is often seen in various types of passenger vehicles. The power hinged doors can open toward a back end of the vehicles, which is commonly seen in many vehicles such as sedans, trucks, and vans.

There are various existing power doors with hinged connections. Some common power doors utilize various types of rack and pinion opening and closing systems. Other common power doors are operated by linkages. Still other typical power doors are driven by a cable.

Power side entry doors can have sliding connections between the door and the body. Power sliding doors are common in vehicles such as vans.

In one embodiment, an automotive vehicle is disclosed having a vehicle body with a first pillar, a second pillar, a roof member and a floor member defining a door opening therebetween. A lateral side entry door is pivotally connected to the vehicle body for enclosing the door opening. The side entry door moves along an operating path having a closed position and an open position. The vehicle has a motor and a lead screw mounted in the side entry door and connected to the motor to be driven by the motor. The vehicle has a link connected to the lead screw and connected to the vehicle body adjacent to the door opening. The motor drives the lead screw to translate the link to open and close the side entry door.

In another embodiment, an automotive vehicle is disclosed having a vehicle body with a first pillar, a second pillar, a roof member and a floor member defining a door opening therebetween. The vehicle has a side entry door pivotally connected to the vehicle body for enclosing the door opening. The side entry door moves along an operating path and having a closed position and an open position. The vehicle has a motor oriented in the side entry door. The vehicle has a transmission mounted in the side entry door and connected to the motor to be driven by the motor. The vehicle has a check strap mounted on the vehicle body and pivotally connected to the transmission. The check strap has at least one detent provided therein to cooperate with at least one roller for manual translation of the side entry door so that the check strap maintains the side entry door in an intermediate position between the open position and the closed position. The motor drives the lead screw to translate the check strap to open and close the side entry door.

In yet another embodiment, a power door assembly for a vehicle is disclosed. The power door assembly has a side entry door with a first hinge portion to be pivotally connected to a vehicle body for enclosing a door opening for movement along an operating path for opening the side entry door from the door opening and closing the side entry door to the door opening. The power door assembly has a motor oriented in the side entry door and a lead screw mounted on the side entry door and connected to the motor to be driven by the motor. The power door assembly has a link connected to the lead screw and adapted to be connected to the vehicle body adjacent to the door opening. The motor drives the lead screw to translate the link to open and close the side entry door.

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a vehicle having a power side entry door in a closed position;

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 with the power side entry door in an open position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of another embodiment of a portion of the vehicle of FIG. 6;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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