Patent ID: 7774985

Claim:
A driving apparatus for a sliding member comprising: a housing; a cable arranged to be connected to the sliding member which is arranged to be opened and closed on a vehicle body; a drum arranged to move the cable to open and close the sliding member; a motor arranged to drive the drum; a tensioner supported by the housing, wherein the tensioner is: moveable from a first state in which an urging force of a spring is stored and not provided to the cable to a second state in which the urging force of the spring is released and provided to the cable, moveable, when the tensioner is in the first state, between a first position and a second position in which the tensioner provides an initial tensioning force to the cable which is not provided by the urging force of the spring, and arranged to be fixed in the second position and the second state, thereby to provide a tensioning force to the cable by the urging force of the spring, wherein the tensioner comprises: a holder supported in the housing and arranged to be moved between the first position and the second position when the tensioner is in the first state, a stopper arranged to be moved between the first position and the second position with the holder by engagement with the holder, and the spring, wherein the spring is retained between the holder and the stopper and arranged to store the urging force, wherein the stopper is supported to be moved between a restriction position in which the stopper retains the tensioner in the first state, and a release position in which the stopper releases the urging force of the spring; wherein the stopper includes a picking portion protruding from the housing and arranged to move the stopper to the release position; wherein the holder includes a shaft portion extending parallel with a movement direction of the holder; and the stopper is mounted on the shaft portion to be rotated about an axis of the shaft portion between the restriction position and the release position.