Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-23
2001-12-04
DePumpo, Daniel G. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S163000, C280S169000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325397
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to power retractable running boards used to assist passengers entering and exiting high ground clearance vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In recent years, the popularity of sport utility vehicles has risen tremendously. Because of the high ground clearance of these vehicles, the vehicle floor level is higher than that of a typical passenger automobile. Some individuals have experienced difficulty entering and exiting sport utility and similar high ground clearance vehicles.
Running boards have been used to assist passengers in entering and exiting high ground clearance vehicles. The conventional running boards have typically included a variety of stationary step or bar structures rigidly mounted to the vehicle. Stationary running boards have many disadvantages, however. For example, if a stationary running board is positioned at an optimum height to help most passengers, the stationary running board reduces ground clearance of the vehicle. If the stationary running board is positioned so that desirable ground clearance is maintained, the stationary running board is too high to help most passengers enter or leave the vehicle. Stationary running boards also detract from the vehicle styling, undesirably increase the vehicle width, and may even increase the vehicle width beyond the legal limit. Most stationary running boards are also very narrow in the transverse or cross-vehicle direction and present only a small stepping surface for a passenger's foot.
The patent literature has proposed various retractable vehicle running boards in order to resolve some of the problems associated with stationary running boards. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,742 proposes to provide a step that is pivoted about an axis that is angled in an outboard direction as it extends upwardly. While such angling of the pivotal axis enables the running board to be positioned closer to the ground when deployed in comparison to its position when stored, the optimum running board positioning in the two positions is not achieved. In addition, many of the proposed retractable running boards, such as that disclosed in the aforementioned ′742 patent, do not provide the moving mechanical parts of the retractable running board with effective protection from the environment or from damage caused by dirt and other objects thrown by the vehicle wheels when the vehicle is moving.
More particularly, on four door sport utility vehicles the lower edge of the door is contoured to as a result of the position of the rear wheel well. A running board as shown in the prior art would be positioned too far forward and would thus be of little assistance on entering the rear door.
Furthermore, several of the proposed mechanisms for powered retractable running boards, including the aforementioned ′742 patent, do not provide a means for retracting the step from the deployed position in the event of a power failure, or for preventing damage to the step in the event that the deployed step forcibly encounters an object.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the proposed prior art devices as discussed above. Accordingly, the present invention provides a power retractable running board assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a substantially sealed housing assembly, a running board having a parallel linkage for pivotally mounting the running board to a vehicle, a gear assembly, and a motor assembly. The running board presents an upper load carrying surface. The gear assembly is disposed in the sealed housing assembly and coupled to the running board. The motor assembly is drivingly coupled with the gear assembly and is constructed and arranged to pivot the running board about the axis and thereby drive the running board between deployed and stored positions.
The present invention provides a power retractable running board assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a running board, a parallel linkage, a gear assembly, a motor assembly, and a spring-biased clutch assembly. The running board presents an upper load carrying surface. The gear assembly is coupled to the running board, and the motor assembly is drivingly coupled with the gear assembly. The motor assembly is constructed and arranged to pivot the parallel linkage and thereby drive the running board between deployed and stored positions. The running board moves in an outboard and rearward vehicle direction to the deployed position. The gear assembly includes a worm gear operatively connected to the motor assembly and a meshing gear operatively connected to the parallel linkage. The worm gear and the meshing gear are disposed in cooperative meshing engagement relation that prevents the running board from backdriving the motor assembly so that the running board is retained in the deployed position and is inhibited from returning to the stored position after it has reached the deployed position. The spring biased clutch assembly couples the gear assembly with the running board and includes clutch surfaces normally forced into coupling engagement by a spring structure so that movement of the gear assembly generates corresponding movement of the running board. The clutch surfaces are capable of relative movement to one another when the running board is in the deployed position and a greater than threshold force is applied to the running board to overcome the force provided by the tension spring and thereby enable the running board to be moved relative to the gear assembly and thus moved towards the stored position.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 5842709 (1998-12-01), Maccabee
patent: 5957237 (1999-09-01), Tigner
patent: 6149172 (2000-11-01), Pascoe et al.
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patent: 8711088 (1987-11-01), None
patent: 4341134 (1995-06-01), None
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PCT Search Report re: PCT/CA00/00179 dated Jul. 17, 2000.
Page 1) Kodiak Brochure, Kodiak SideWinder (Automatic Vehicle Step), 1999.
Page 2) Kodiak Brochure, Kodiak SideWinder Applications-(year, vehicle, description), 1999.
Page 3) Kodiak Brochure, Greatly Eases Getting In or Out of Pickups and Sport Utility Vehicles, 1999.
Kodiak SideWinder Applications Brochure-(year vehical/description/ vehicle fitment/part number), 1999.
Pascoe David M.
Watson Brad E.
Decoma Exterior Trim Inc.
DePumpo Daniel G.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Shriver J. Allen
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