Drive system for extendable rooms on recreational vehicles

Details Drive system for extendable rooms on recreational vehicles Drive system for extendable rooms on recreational vehicles

1999-07-20

2001-05-22

Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)

Land vehicles: bodies and tops

Bodies

Camper

C296S165000, C296S026130, C296S175000, C296S026090

Reexamination Certificate

active

06234566

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to a synchronized rack and pinion system for extendable rooms for recreational vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the luxury motor home and recreational vehicle (RV) industry, there has been an increasing demand for motor homes or RV's having increased floor space and functions. In particular, luxury motor homes have seen the development of extendable or extendable rooms which enable the vehicle to comply with highway size restrictions when driving but which can be extended from the vehicle when parked in order to provide an increased amount of floor space to the occupants.
In the past, a variety of different mechanisms have been implemented in order to permit the extension and retraction of a extendable room including manual, hydraulic, mechanical screw systems and rack and gear systems.
With particular reference to rack and gear systems, various problems may exist, particularly in the extension and retraction of larger extendable rooms and the automation of that process. That is, in order to facilitate the extension and retraction of the extendable rooms, there has been a need for an efficient and effective drive mechanism which allows the room to be extended, supported, and retracted under automatic control.
In the past, examples of drive mechanisms for extendable rooms include those which are disclosed in various US patents including U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,351 which describes a extendable room which utilizes a camming linkage that allows an extendable room to be raised and lowered at its point of maximum extension to provide a floor which is flush with the main floor of the RV; U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,373 which describes a slide out room with a skid pad; U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,733 which describes a synchronization device for an extendable room utilizing a crossed rack and pinion system; U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,782 which describes an extendable room utilizing a worm gear mechanism and U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,420 which utilizes a single rack and gear drive mechanism.
None of these patents propose a system which addresses the problem of synchronized extension and retraction of both sides of a extendable room with a drive mechanism which ensures that the entire room can be extended and retracted uniformly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a drive system for use in extending and retracting an extendable room on a vehicle frame, the drive system comprising at least one pair of parallel rack and pinion systems operatively connected between the vehicle frame and the extendable room, each pair of parallel rack and pinion systems synchronized through respective drive shafts and operable between a closed position where the extendable room is retracted with respect to the vehicle frame and an open position where the extendable room is extended with respect to the vehicle frame.
In a more specific embodiment, the drive system includes 2 parallel pairs of rack and pinion systems where each pair of rack and pinion systems are operatively connected to one another through a second drive shaft.
In further embodiments, the rack and pinion pairs are attached adjacent the top or bottom corners of the extendable room and each drive shaft are secured to the extendable room by a drive shaft support. Respective drive shafts are preferably attached to one another through gear boxes and includes a motor for actuation. The rack and pinion system may also be load bearing.


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