US 12,139,946 B1
Sliding door
Ali Tavakoli Targhi, San Jose, CA (US); Nathan J. Raff, Tempe, AZ (US); Thuan D. Doan, Palo Alto, CA (US); and Donald R. Monroe, Los Gatos, CA (US)
Assigned to APPLE INC., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Ali Tavakoli Targhi, San Jose, CA (US); Nathan J. Raff, Tempe, AZ (US); Thuan D. Doan, Palo Alto, CA (US); and Donald R. Monroe, Los Gatos, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 14, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/864,993.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/242,911, filed on Sep. 10, 2021.
Int. Cl. E05D 15/10 (2006.01); B60J 5/06 (2006.01)
CPC E05D 15/1081 (2013.01) [B60J 5/06 (2013.01); E05D 2015/1089 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A door system for a passenger vehicle comprising:
a door having an outboard door panel, an inboard door panel, and an inner door structure disposed in a cavity defined between the outboard door panel and the inboard door panel;
a first movement stage that moves the door outboard and inboard to open and close an opening of a vehicle body of the passenger vehicle; and
a second movement stage that moves the door forward and backward relative to the opening of the vehicle body; and
a movement transfer system that mechanically links the first movement stage and the second movement stage to cause simultaneous movement of the first movement stage and the second movement stage,
wherein the first movement stage is coupled to and extends between the vehicle body and the second movement stage, and the second movement stage is coupled to and extends between the first movement stage and the inner door structure of the door,
wherein the first movement stage includes a parallelogram linkage that pivots the second movement stage and the door relative to the opening of the vehicle body,
wherein the second movement stage includes a carriage coupled to and forming a link of the parallelogram linkage and includes a track coupled to the inner door structure of the door, the carriage being configured to translate along the track to move the door forward and backward relative to the opening of the vehicle body,
wherein the pivoting of the parallelogram linkage relative to the vehicle body is mechanically linked to translation of the carriage on the track,
wherein the parallelogram linkage and the track are mechanically linked to cause the pivoting of the parallelogram linkage and the translation of the carriage to occur simultaneously, and
wherein the parallelogram linkage and the track are mechanically linked by a first gear pivotably coupled to the carriage and operatively coupled to the parallelogram linkage and a second gear pivotably coupled to the carriage and operatively coupled to the track, wherein the first gear and the second gear are configured to transfer force between the parallelogram linkage and the track to cause the pivoting of the parallelogram linkage and the translation of the carriage to occur simultaneously.