Movable or removable closures – Starter-type operator; e.g. – seal breaker
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-10
2001-09-25
Strimbu, Gregory J. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Starter-type operator; e.g., seal breaker
C049S386000, C049S339000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293050
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to arrangements for automatically opening a door, hood trunk lid or the like for a motor vehicle. Such components to be opened automatically are usually motor vehicle trunk lids or rear liftgates that swing upwardly and are referred hereinafter as “doors”.
In addition to arrangements which permit opening of a vehicle door by the manual application of opening forces, arrangements are also known which relieve human beings of the need to apply door opening forces and use motors for this purpose. One example of this type is disclosed in German Offenlegungschrift No. 40 40 372, in which a trunk lid can be opened and closed by a vehicle occupant from inside the vehicle by turning on a motor. Disadvantages of this arrangement include a relatively large energy expenditure, since the motor clearly must accomplish the entire opening motion of the door, and also the fact that it is not possible to open the trunk lid from outside the vehicle in this manner.
The latter disadvantage is avoided by an arrangement described in German Gebrauchsmuster No. 296 23 461, which includes a portable remote control unit for initiating unlocking and opening of a door. That arrangement is said to be useful in general for controlling the unlocking and/or opening of any device for opening a component of a motor vehicle, but it is not clear from the document what form the device for generating the opening forces should take.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,911 describes a motor vehicle door which can be unlocked by a wireless transmitter for actuating an ejector which is constantly kept under spring pressure. Once the vehicle door is unlocked by receipt of a transmitted signal, the ejector is driven by the spring to push the door into an open position.
This arrangement is disadvantageous because the ejector also exerts a relatively large torque on the door in the opening direction when the door is in its latched position. That torque must be absorbed by the latch, with the result that the unlocking force must overcome relatively large frictional forces in the latch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide an automatic door opening arrangement for motor vehicles which overcomes disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to provide a door opening arrangement which permits complete freedom with respect to the type and design of the signal transmitter, which can be a portable radio command transmitter for sending wireless signals or a pressure pulse transmitter on the vehicle, and which also assures full opening of the door without requiring application of force by a human operator and with no need to overcome high surface pressures and thus frictional forces applied to the latch when the door is in the closed position.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing a pneumatic spring and ejector arrangement having a swivel mounting on the door to be opened and on the vehicle body in which the pneumatic spring exerts a closing torque on the door when the door is closed and only partially open and exerts an opening torque on the door when the door is opened to a predetermined position in which the ejector is actuated by a transmitted signal to open the door to the predetermined position.
Thus, the ejector of the pneumatic spring and ejector combination is arranged so that the ejector only opens the door from its closed position, after the door has been unlocked, to a predetermined position somewhat past a partially open position at which the pneumatic spring, as a result of an appropriate arrangement of the pivoted connection points of the pneumatic spring with the body and the door begins to exert an opening torque on the door and exerts a closing force at positions at which the door is open less than at the predetermined position. For this purpose, the pneumatic spring has a dead center position at the predetermined partially open position of the door and the ejector need only be arranged so that it pushes the door past the dead center position of the pneumatic spring. Further opening of the door takes place without requiring the addition of energy, that is, solely under the influence of the energy stored in the pneumatic spring.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which is a fragmentary view showing the rear portion of a vehicle containing a representative automatic door opening arrangement in accordance with the invention for opening a rear liftgate door which swings upwardly.
REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 36267 (1999-08-01), Moore et al.
patent: 2361040 (1944-10-01), Larsen
patent: 3713472 (1973-01-01), Dozois
patent: 4183177 (1980-01-01), Kurdziel
patent: 4623132 (1986-11-01), Smith
patent: 4679841 (1987-07-01), Taunay
patent: 5147106 (1992-09-01), Bartelt et al.
patent: 5222328 (1993-06-01), Okumura
patent: 5369911 (1994-12-01), Fortunato
patent: 5448856 (1995-09-01), Moore et al.
patent: 5588258 (1996-12-01), Wright et al.
patent: 5929769 (1999-07-01), Garnault
patent: 6055775 (2000-05-01), Dering et al.
patent: 6055776 (2000-05-01), Dettling et al.
patent: 29623461 (1998-09-01), None
patent: 19758130 (1998-09-01), None
Baker & Botts LLP
Strimbu Gregory J.
Volkswagen AG
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