Patent ID: 6905154
Filing Date: 2005-06-14
Classification: B60P

Abstract:
1. A system for horizontally moving an expandable room structure between a retracted position within a vehicle and an extended position protruding outwardly from a wall of the vehicle while providing for limited controlled vertical movement of the room relative to the vehicle, the system comprising: a vehicle wall including vertically extending structural members that define an opening in the vehicle wall; an expandable room structure including top, bottom and side structural members which define an interior end wall and an exterior end wall disposed generally parallel to the vehicle wall and which further define side walls extending generally perpendicular to the interior end wall and exterior end wall, the expandable room being positioned for movement through the opening in the vehicle wall from a retracted position to an extended position; a power device mounted in one of the vertically extending structural members of the vehicle wall adjacent the opening in the wall; a drive chain combined with the said one of the vertical structural members of the vehicle wall and having a plurality of pivotally connected links extending between end links, the links being capable of pivoting in one direction only thereby providing for the chain to be pulled by tensile forces applied to the chain or pushed by compressive forces applied to the chain; one of the end links of the drive chain being operatively connected to the power device and the other end link being operatively connected to the interior end wall of the expandable room with the chain extending mostly vertically when the expandable room is in the extended position and mostly horizontally when the expandable room is in the retracted position; and a guide member combined with the vertically extending structural member containing the power device to guide the drive chain between vertical and horizontal positions, whereby actuation of the power device causes the chain to move the expandable room between retracted and extended positions.