Rack And Pinion Door Drive System

A flexible rack able to travel on a curved locus is preferred.

Rack and pinion door drive system.

The modular design permits rack segment lengths from 0 5 to 2 meters to be linked together end to end achieving any desired travel length from standard components. A drive for a tracked door which utilises a drive pinion which engages a tracked rack that in turn moves the door as it is moved track wise under the action of the pinion. The rack and pinion system is the primary building block of a linear axis drive. Rack and pinion combinations are often used as part of a simple linear actuator where the rotation of a shaft powered by hand or by a motor is converted to linear motion.

A flexible rack 16 able to travel on a curved locus is preferred. In fact manufacturers of linear actuators commonly offer rack and pinion drive versions and several profiled rail guide manufacturers offer integrated rack and pinion systems with the rack ground into the guide rail profile or the guide rail mounted directly on the rack. A drive for a tracked door which utilises a drive pinion 10 which engages a tracked rack 16 that in turn moves the door as it is moved track wise under the action of the pinion. United states patent 6257303.

This force thus torque may still be substantial and so it is common. The rack carries the full load of the actuator directly and so the driving pinion is usually small so that the gear ratio reduces the torque required. A flexible rack able to travel on a curved locus is preferred.