Patent ID: 7367574

Claim:
A drive system for use with a retractable vehicle step having (i) a first arm with an upper portion rotatably mountable with respect to an underside of a vehicle so as to be rotatable about a first axis of rotation and (ii) a step member rotatably connected to said first arm so as to be movable in an inboard-outboard direction of movement between a retracted position and an extended position, said first axis being transverse to said inboard-outboard direction of movement, said drive system comprising: an electric motor having an armature configured to rotate about an armature axis generally parallel to said first axis; a pinion gear drivingly connected with respect to said motor, said pinion gear having a first outside diameter; and an output gear in meshing engagement with said pinion gear, said output gear having a second outside diameter; wherein said pinion gear and said output gear achieve a gear reduction of at least 3:1, and the larger of said first outside diameter and said second outside diameter is no more than 3.0 times the smaller of said first outside diameter and said second outside diameter.