A foot operable door opener operates, without using one's hands, and without an electrical assist. The entrance cycle is initiated by stepping on a pedal. This force drives the pedal a ¼ turn, engaging a soft wheel to open the door. The pedal is hard linked to a crank arm which goes into a unidirectional crank shaft hub to turn the wheel. The downward pressure from the pedal pivots a ratcheted hinge connected to a bracketed spring-loaded wheel assembly to keep constant pressure to the ground. A gear box or multiple pumps of the pedal turns the wheel two or more 360 degrees rotations, opening the door to allow the entrant to pass until the foot pedal is dis-engaged. This action releases the ratcheting hinge mechanism, allowing the spring assisted wheel assemble to rotate to its original up position, releasing the wheel from the ground, allowing the door to close.

A system for exerting torque on a shaft includes: a spring assembly having; a spring; a companion member to the spring, wherein at least one of the spring and the companion member is in compression and the other of the spring and companion member is in tension; connecting structure for transmitting a force associated with the spring outside of the gear assembly; and a gear train for connecting the connecting structure to the shaft to apply torque to the shaft. A method of exerting torque on a shaft includes: arranging a plurality of spring assemblies arranged in an array around the shaft, each spring assembly having; a spring; connecting structure for transmitting a force associated with the spring; attaching a gear train to the connecting structure; and configuring the gear train to apply the force associated with the spring to the shaft in the form of torque on the shaft.

A structure for preventing opposite sliding doors from swaying is provided. The structure includes a lower rail mounted in a longitudinal direction at a lower side of a vehicle body, a lower rail roller unit rollably connected to the lower rail, a lower rail swing arm rotatably connected to the lower rail roller unit and a door, a guide roller unit fixedly connected to the lower rail, the guide roller unit including a guide roller rotatably connected to the lower rail, and a guide stopper fixedly connected to the door. The guide stopper includes a guide route formed inside the guide stopper and configured to serve as a rolling movement route for the guide roller, an exit/entrance portion formed at a first end of the guide route, and a stop portion formed at a second end of the guide route.

An example retention assembly has a motor assembly and a self-locking worm drive coupled thereto. A cam is fixed to a worm gear of the worm drive. The retention assembly has an actuation shaft including a follower. The actuation shaft is displaceable over a displacement range via rotation of the cam. The retention assembly has a securement member with a securement member follower, the securement member coupled to a portion of the actuator shaft. The retention assembly has a housing cam included as part of the retention assembly housing and against which the securement member follower is biased. The securement member are in an open state when the actuation shaft is in a first position. The securement member swings outward to a retaining position as the actuation shaft is moved to a second position.

A spindle drive assembly for opening and/or closing a vehicle flap is described, having a spindle and a spindle drive motor coupled thereto by means of a two-stage epicyclic gearing. A ratio of a number of teeth of each planet gear of a first epicyclic gearing stage to a number of teeth of each planet gear of a second epicyclic gearing stage is selected such that, in operation, a first sound frequency that is emitted by the first epicyclic gearing stage differs by an integer multiple of a semitone from a second sound frequency that is emitted by the second epicyclic gearing stage. In addition, a vehicle flap with such a spindle drive assembly is presented.

An embodiment vehicle hinge driving apparatus for driving a vehicle hinge mounted between a door component and a vehicle body includes an actuator, a housing connected to the actuator, an output shaft having an axis aligned with an axis of the housing, and a transmission mechanism configured to vary a torque generated by the actuator and to transmit the torque to the output shaft.

A fire door operator for a rolling door includes a housing defining an axis. An outer main gear in the form of an annular ring is mounted within the housing for rotation about the axis and formed with exterior gear teeth and radially inwardly spaced interior teeth. Planet gears are meshed with the interior teeth and a sun gear is meshed with the planet gears for rotation about the axis. A carrier is secured to the planetary gears and coupled to the shaft. A lock normally locks the main gear in relation to the housing. A drive selectively rotates the sun gear and the carrier to transmit rotational power to a rolling door shaft when secured to the carrier. A releasing device selectively releases the lock to allow free rotation of the main gear and the carrier to allow a rolling door to be lowered under its own weight.

A retention assembly may comprise a motor assembly and a self-locking worm drive coupled thereto. A cam may be fixed to a worm gear of the worm drive. The retention assembly may further comprise an actuation shaft including a follower. The actuation shaft may be displaceable over a displacement range via rotation of the cam. The retention assembly may further comprise a securement member with a securement member follower, the securement member coupled to a portion of the actuator shaft. The retention assembly may further comprise a housing cam included as part of the retention assembly housing and against which the securement member follower may be biased. The securement member may be in an open state when the actuation shaft is in a first position. The securement member may swing outward to a retaining position as the actuation shaft is moved to a second position.

A door hinge device for a vehicle is capable of facilitating two doors to be simultaneously or independently opened or closed in a state in which rotation trajectories of the doors are ensured as a hinge bar connected to a carrier of a speed reduction unit through a hinge shaft and a rack and a pinion connected to a rotation shaft of a sun gear set a rotation amount of the doors during a process in which a hinge unit of the door moves along a rail in a diagonal direction toward the outside of a vehicle body in a vehicle including no B pillar.

An opening/closing direction restriction mechanism for a manual shutter device and an opening/closing direction restriction mechanism for a suspended sliding door device. This opening/closing direction restriction mechanism is provided with: a flange fixedly mounted on a fixed shaft; a bracket which is loosely fitted to the fixed shaft and can be integrally rotated with a winding member; and a two-way clutch which can be switched between a reverse rotation inhibited state in which the revolution of a planetary external gear along a winding direction of the winding member is allowed and the revolution of the planetary external gear along an unwinding direction is inhibited, and a forward rotation inhibited state in which the revolution of the planetary external gear along the winding direction of the winding member is inhibited and the revolution of the planetary external gear along the unwinding direction is allowed.