Patent GB-652710-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in vehicle door operating mechanisms
IPC: B60J5/06
Filed: 1948-04-26
Abstract: 652,710. Door operating mechanisms. NATIONAL PNEUMATIC CO. April 26,1948, No. 11400. [Class 65(i)] [Also in Group XXXII] A door operating mechanism for moving a sliding door between a closed position in which the door is seated in a door opening of a wall, and an open position in which the door is longitudinally displaced in a plane disposed adjacent said wall, said mechanism including meanssupporting said door for lateral movement between the closing position and a position in said plane coinciding with the door opening, and guide means slidably supporting said door for longitudinal sliding movement in said plane between said coinciding position and the open position wherein the guide means are carried by the supporting means, and said guide means are constructed to support and guide the door in its sliding movement between the said coinciding position and the open position. In the arrangement shown applied to a vehicle body, the door 2 is arranged normally to lie flush within the door opening provided in the body 1 of which the members 15 and 3 form the upper and lower edges of the opening. A bracket 23 attached to the member 15 at each side of the door opening carries shaft 24 to support a laterally slidable fitting 25 rigidly attached to a channel section rail 26, to the interior of which is secured an angle section member 26<1> and a further channel section member 27 provided on the inner face of each Range with a rod 28. The upper channel section of the member 26, the gap formed between the members 26 and 26<1> and the rods 28 form tracks for guide, rollers 30<1>, 33 and 29 attached to a member 31, 32 having a channel member 34, provided with rods 35, secured to the outboard side thereof. The upper channel portion of the member 31 and the rods 35 constitute tracks for guide rollers 37, 36 secured to a member 38, 39 rigidly attached to the door 2. The lower end of the door is provided with a skirt 6 formed into an inverted channel section 7 which is free to slide within a channel member 8. Vertical shafts 12, 19, Fig. 11, are supported in bearings 13, 14 adjacent the front and rear edges of the door opening and are connected by levers and links (Fig. 18, not shown) to the fittings 25 and by levers 11 and fittings 9 to the channel member 8. The shafts 12, 19 are provided with sprockets connected by a chain 17 and the shaft 19 is geared to a lever 49 connected by a link 50 to the movable part of a fluid pressure operated engine 51 so that the initial longitudinal movement of the engine effects partial rotation of the shafts 12, 19 to cause the door 2 to be swung outboard a distance slightly greater than its thickness to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The engine, which has a total travel equal to half the width of the door is connected by a roller 79, Fig. 6, to a slotted plate 42 rigid with the member 31 which carries at its lower extremity a freely revolving pinion 43 engaging a rack 41 attached to the member 26 and therefore longitudinally fixed, and a further rack 40 secured to the door member 39 so that while the members 31, 32 move over half of the width of the door opening the door 2 is moved the full width by the action of the racks 40, 41 and the pinion 43. The engine 51 is connected to the link 50 for effecting outward movement of the door by a pivoted trigger mechanism (Figs. 24- 26, not shown), which is automatically disengaged when the door reaches its outermost position at which position the engine is connected to the roller 79 by a further automatically actuated trigger mechanism (Fig. 32-34, not shown). The engine is provided with springs, normally compressed when the door is closed, to facilitate manual opening in the event of a failure of fluid pressure.