underrail hydraulic pump drive shaft manufacturer

The California facility (ACI-CA) began operations in 1979 with an 8,000 ft. repair shop. Today it is located in the Benicia Industrial Park (near San Francisco), and operates a 25,000 ft2 repair shop. The California operation is capable of pump repair, turbine repair, gearbox repair, and reciprocating equipment repair.

Manufacturing precision and complex components, including process rolls, shafts, bearing housings, bushings, liners, propulsion hubs, turbine runner parts with equal or improved performance compared to the original parts.

Used for precision machining, cutting, and shaping various materials, while rotating the workpiece about an axis. Our engine lathes can handle large critical components such as turbine runner shafts, wind turbine shafts, ship shafts, suction rolls, process rolls, large industrial drums, augers, screws, and cylinders.

2 – Chevalier 12”x24” Model FSG-3A1224H Hydraulic Surface Grinders, s/n P3836008 & s/n P3797001, with Electro Magnetic Chuck, Coolant (Parts Machines)

Conco-Tellus 50/10 Ton X 63.5’ Span Series K Floor Operated Bridge Crane, s/n F10213, 50 Ton Hoist – 6.5/1.6 FPM with 27/7 HP 2-Speed Squirrel Cage Motor with Disc Brake, Main Trolley 60/15 FPM, 10 Ton Hoist – 16/5 FPM with 14/4 HP 2-Speed Squirrel Cage Motor, Aux. Trolley 60/15 FPM, Bridge Drive 145/30 FPM, 2X 5/1.2 HP Dual Drive 2-Speed Motor with Adjustable DC Disc Brake and Soft Start, with 12 Button Pendant Control, 460 Electrics, Rated Class ‘C’ Indoor

The present invention relates to solenoid operated pump-line-nozzle fuel injections systems for internal combustion engines. In particular, to such fuel injection systems in which an inline injection pump utilizes a solenoid-operated control for regulating injection timing and the quantity of fuel injected.

Inline injection pumps and pump-line-nozzle fuel injections systems using such pumps are old and well known. A discussion of several examples of such pumps and systems, and the efforts taken to improve their construction so that the increasing demands for low exhaust emissions can be met, can be found, for example, in SAE publication no. SP-703, Recent Developments in Electronic Engine Control & Fuel Injection Management, paper nos. 870433, 870434 and 870436, pages 37-42, 43-51 & 65-77 published February, 1987. Inline pumps have a separate pumping cylinder for supplying fuel to each injection nozzle of the injection system, to which it is connected by a fuel line (hence, the name pump-line-nozzle injection system), a respective injection nozzle being provided for each engine cylinder. While inline pumps, such as those described in the papers cited above, are able to independently control injection timing and injection quantity, none of the known inline pumps produces individual cylinder control of both timing and fuel quantity on an infinitely adjustable basis; that is, typically such pumps having a control rack which adjusts all pumping cylinders in the same manner at the same time, and frequently using a step-wise adjusting driver.

Another type of pump used in pump-line-nozzle systems is a distributor pump. Examples of such pumps can be found in U.K. Patent Nos. 442,839 and 1,306,422 as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,035,523 and 4,502,445, and a system and component description of both inline and distributor pumps can be found at page 24 of the above-cited SAE publication SP-703 in paper no. 870432 as well. In distributor pumps, only a single pumping cylinder is provided and a rotary distributor determines which injection nozzle will receive a specific dose of fuel. Inherently, such pumps cannot provide individual cylinder control since they lack individual pumping cylinders to control; however, as indicated, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,947,257 and 2,950,709, such distributor pumps can be constructed as multicylinder pumps as well (but in such a case they essentially become inline pumps, with a rack, cam or other single regulating mechanism being used to control "the whole of the injectors" and to insure that fuel delivery "is the same for all the cylinders"), so that individual cylinder control is still not obtained.

Another type of fuel injection system, which is fundamentally different from pump-line-nozzle systems, is the unit injector fuel injection system. In such a system, a positive displacement pump is used to supply fuel at low pressure, typically at constant pressure of e.g., 30 psi, to a respective unit fuel injector associated with each engine cylinder. The unit injectors, themselves, regulate the timing and metering of the fuel into the respective engine cylinder and also develop the high pressure, e.g., at least 15,000 psi at which the fuel needs to be injected into the engine cycle if the requirements for increased fuel economy and decreased emissions are to be achieved.

Solenoid operated fuel injectors of the unit injector type having characteristics of the type sought to be obtained with the inline pump of the pump-line-nozzle injector system of the present invention have been in use for some time, and an example of such an injector can be found in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,672 to Smith. In this type of injection, a timing chamber is defined between a pair of plungers that are reciprocatingly displaceable within the bore of the body of the injector and a metering chamber is formed in the bore below the lower of the two plungers. A supply rail in the engine delivers a low pressure supply of fuel to the injector body. To control this supply of fuel, a solenoid valve is disposed in the flow path between the fuel supply rail and the injector bore and the plungers block and unblock respective ports leading from injector body fuel supply circuit into the timing and metering chambers.

However, while unit fuel injector fuel injection systems are available by which the amount of fuel injected and timing of its injection can be independently and infinitely adjusted on a individual cylinder and cycle-to-cycle basis, using a relatively simple, single solenoid control for each injector, unit injectors, due to increased tasks associated therewith in comparison to the injection nozzle of a pump-line-nozzle injection system, is relatively large in comparison to the injection nozzle of pump-line-nozzle injection systems. As a result, the use of unit fuel injector systems has been confined to large, heavy duty engines since insufficient space exists in the engine valve area of smaller engines to accommodate unit fuel injectors. Thus, there still is a need for further improvements to pump-line-nozzle fuel injector systems of the type to which this invention is directed, in order to provide the degrees of precision control needed to meet the competing demands for both increased fuel economy and decreased engine exhaust emissions.

In another unit fuel injector system development of the assignee of the present application, which is disclosed by several of the present inventors with another inventor in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/208,365, a metering system for controlling the amount of fuel supplied to the combustion chambers of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine comprises a fuel pump for supplying fuel at low pressure to a first and a second group of unit fuel injectors via first and second fuel supply paths, respectively. A first solenoid-operated fuel control valve, positioned in the first fuel supply path between the fuel pump and the first set of unit fuel injectors, controls the flow of fuel to the first set of unit fuel injectors while a second solenoid-operated fuel control valve, positioned in the second fuel supply path between the fuel pump and the second set of unit fuel injectors, controls the flow of fuel to the second set of unit fuel injectors. Only one injector from the first group and one injector from the second group of unit fuel injectors can be placed in a mode for receiving fuel from the fuel pump at any given time during the operation of the engine, thereby allowing the metering of each injector to be independently controlled over a greater time period. The system may also include a first solenoid-operated timing fluid control valve positioned in a first timing fluid supply path associated with the first group of unit fuel injectors and a second solenoid-operated timing fluid control valve positioned in a second timing fluid supply path associated with the second group of unit fuel injectors, wherein at any given time only one injector from the first group and one injector from the second group of injectors can be placed in a timing fluid receiving mode. The injectors are capable of being in the fuel receiving mode, establishing a metering period, and the timing receiving mode, establishing a timing period, at the same time to increase the amount of time available for metering both timing fluid and fuel. By grouping the various injectors based on the order of injection, so that the injectors from each group are placed in the injection mode in spaced periods throughout each cycle of the engine, e.g. injectors from other groups injecting in the period of time between each injection mode, the system can be designed to permit longer metering and timing periods.

The unit injectors may include an injector body having an injection orifice at one end and a cavity communicating with the orifice and containing inner and outer plunger sections arranged to form a variable volume metering chamber between the inner plunger and the orifice for receiving fuel during the metering period and a variable volume timing chamber between the inner and outer plungers for receiving timing fluid during the timing period. The solenoid-operated valves are moved between open and closed positions during the metering and timing periods to allow fuel and timing fluid, respectively, to flow to the metering and timing chambers thereby defining metering and timing events, respectively. The metering and timing events for each injector occur only between periodic, relatively quick injection strokes of the plungers thereby minimizing the operating response time requirements of the control valves. The fuel supply passage to the metering chamber of each injector contains a spring-loaded check valve for preventing the flow of fuel out of the metering chamber while also preventing combustion gases from entering the supply passage and disturbing the effective control of metering. The injectors may be either open or closed nozzle injectors. A pressure regulator maintains the pressure in the timing fluid and fuel supply paths at a substantially constant pressure. Also, flow control valves may be provided downstream of the fuel pump to provide a fixed flow rate independent of fuel pressures upstream and downstream of the flow control valves.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an pump-line-nozzle fuel injector system in which an inline injection pump utilizes a solenoid-operated control for regulating injection timing and the quantity of fuel injected so as to enable the amount of fuel injected and timing of its injection to be independently and infinitely adjusted on a individual cylinder and cycle-to-cycle basis in a manner minimizing the number of solenoid valves required as well as the operating pressure and response time requirements for the solenoid valves.

In connection with the preceding object, it is a more specific object to adapt known unit fuel injector technology to the environment of pump-line-nozzle systems where the compressibility of the fuel has a significant effect due to the length of the line between the pump and the nozzle.

A still further object is to provide an inline pump in which a pair of solenoid valves control metering and timing for a group of pumping cylinders in accordance with time-pressure (TP) principles (the quantity metered being determined by the amount of time that the respective valve is open), the pumping cylinders being grouped based on the order of injection, so that only one pumping cylinder from each group is placed into an injection mode and a timing mode at any given time.

Yet another object of the present invention is to achieve the foregoing objects through the use of the cam profile of the operating cam used to drive timing and metering plungers of each pumping cylinder as the mechanism by which initiation of injection is controlled.

These and other objects are achieved in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention in which a low pressure supply pump is coupled to a high pressure pump having a plurality of pumping cylinders, each of which has a cam-driven timing plunger and a floating metering plunger. During the retraction stroke, flow to a timing chamber formed between the pistons is controlled by a first solenoid valve while the fuel flow into a metering chamber is controlled by a second solenoid valve. During metering, the discharge side of the pump is closed relative to a high pressure delivery line by a delivery valve. During the compression stroke, return flow is precluded by check valves in the supply lines to the timing and metering cylinders. Most importantly, since only one pumping cylinder of each pumping group undergoes its metering and injection phases at a given time, the timing and metering plungers of the other pumping cylinders being held in their maximally inwardly displaced, end-of-injection positions at that time, a single set of timing and metering solenoid valves can be used to individually meter fuel into the metering chamber and timing fluid into the timing chamber, independently and with the quantities metered being infinitely adjustable on a individual cylinder and cycle-to-cycle basis. Once the fuel is sufficiently pressurized, the delivery valve opens and the fuel is delivered to the respective injector via the high pressure delivery line from the particular one of the pumping cylinders.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a pump-line-nozzle fuel injection system of FIG. 6 showing the grouping of plural pumping cylinders with respect to respective fueling and timing solenoid valves; and

FIGS. 8a-8c are cross-sectional schematic views of a portion of the pump-line-nozzle fuel injection system of FIG. 6, showing the plunger positions and cam angles of the pumping cylinders of a first set of pumping cylinders at an engine crank angle of 0°, 120° and 240°, respectively.

With reference to FIG. 4, the pump-line-nozzle fuel injection system 10 in accordance with the parent application can be seen to be comprised of an inline high pressure pump 12 having a plurality of identical pumping cylinder units C (only one of which is shown), each of which is connected by a high pressure line 14 to a respective one of a plurality of engine fuel injectors 16 (only one of which is shown), and corresponding in number to the number of cylinders of the internal combustion engine with which it is to be used (not shown). A low pressure supply pump 18 draws fuel from a fuel supply (such as a vehicle fuel tank) and supplies the fuel to each of the pumping cylinder units C of inline pump 12, via a fuel supply circuit 20, at a pressure of, e.g., about 30 psi, which is held substantially constant by a pressure regulator 22.

Since the construction and operation of all of the pumping cylinder units C of inline pump 12 are identical, for simplicity, only the single pumping cylinder unit C shown will be described in detail, it being understood that such descriptions are not limited to only that one cylinder unit. On the other hand, it should be realized that each of the several pumping cylinder units of pump 12 is independently, individually controllable with respect to the timing and quantity of fuel caused to be injected thereby under the control of the Electronic Control Module (ECM) 24, as will be explained further below.

As illustrated, each pumping cylinder unit C comprises a timing plunger 26 and a metering plunger 28 that are reciprocatingly received in a bore of the pump 12. The timing plunger 26 is spring-loaded against a tappet 31 which rides on the periphery of a respective lobe of a pump cam shaft 33, pump cam shaft 33 being linked to the engine drive shaft to rotate in synchronism therewith. In view of the high pressures generated by the pumping unit C, e.g., approximately 15,000-18,500 psi, to at least partially compensate for the length of high pressure line 14 and the compressibility of the fuel therein, timing plunger 26 is, preferably, larger in diameter, about one-third larger, than the metering plunger 28 so as to achieve a fast pumping rate. For example, it has been found to be suitable to use a timing plunger of 12 mm diameter with a metering plunger of 9 mm.

A variable volume timing chamber 40 is defined in the bore of the pumping cylinder between the timing plunger 26 and a facing end of the metering plunger 28, and a metering chamber 42 is defined between the opposite end of the metering plunger and a delivery valve 44. The flow of timing fluid (which may be engine lubrication oil, or fuel as illustrated) into and out of the timing chamber is controlled by a solenoid valve 46, and return flow out of the metering chamber 42 is prevented by a metering check valve 48.

As the tappet 31 continues to track the curvature of the lobe of cam 33, at the end of the retraction stroke, the timing plunger is caused to move in its compression stroke toward the metering piston and the discharge end of the pumping cylinder. However, until the ECM 24 determines that the appropriate time for commencement of injection has arrived, solenoid valve 46 remains open and the fuel is forced back out of the timing chamber 40, through the solenoid valve 46 to the supply circuit 20. To prevent this outflow of fuel from affecting the supply of fuel to travel to other pumping cylinder units via their supply branches 20a, a relief valve can be provided to vent high pressure spikes from the supply side of the system 10 to the drain side thereof, such a relief valve being schematically depicted by block 52 at the manifold junction from which the branches 20a, 20b extend; however, it will be appreciated that the relief valve 52 can be placed at any of a number of other locations instead.

Once the ECM 24 determines that the appropriate time for initiation of injection has arrived, it triggers closing of solenoid valve 46, thereby trapping the remainder of the fuel serving as the timing fluid in the timing chamber 40. This trapped fuel acts as a hydraulic link between the timing plunger 26 and the metering plunger 28, and thus, causing the upward force on the timing plunger 26 to be transferred to the metering plunger 28, pressurizing the fuel in the metering chamber 42. When the pressure of the fuel in the metering chamber 42 reaches the required level, e.g., 15,000-18,500 psi, the delivery valve 44 pops open, allowing the fuel to flow from the metering chamber 42 into the high pressure line 14 and into the injector 16. Because of the nozzle spray holes are closed by a needle valve of injector 16, continued upward movement of the plungers 26, 28, causes the pressure of the fuel to increase, and when the needle valve opening pressure is reached, the fuel causes the needle valve in the nozzle of injector 16 to open, so that the fuel exits spray holes of the nozzle into the combustion chamber of the engine. However, since the nozzle holes for a flow restriction, the fuel pressure will steadily increase as injection progresses and the plungers 26, 28 are driven further into the cylinder bore by the action of the tappet 31 and cam 33.

The ECM can be of conventional design receiving various engine operating parameter inputs P1, P2 . . . Pn, such as engine speed, load, etc. and determining the appropriate times for opening and closing the solenoid valves 24 on the basis thereof and can also adjust for the compressibility of the fuel and the length of high pressure lines 14. Due to similarities between the embodiments of the parent case and the above-noted CELECT unit injector, they can share such components as the ECM, sensors and solenoid valve, and will enable service tools used with that unit injector for calibration and problem diagnosis to be used with the pump-line-nozzle system of parent case, thereby increasing its cost effectiveness, and it can be implemented on existing engines without redesign of the engine head or block. Likewise, no significant changes from the system and operation described above are needed to implement the mentioned ability to use lubrication oil as the timing fluid instead of fuel; that is, timing fluid line 50b and timing fluid drain line 58 need only be connected to the lubrication oil circuit instead of the fuel supply circuit as represent in FIG. 5 with the engine oil pump serving to supply lubrication oil to the timing chamber when the solenoid valve 46 opens.

In this context, the nature and significance of the further developments incorporated into the preferred embodiment of a pump-line-nozzle fuel injection system 10" of the present application shown in FIGS. 6-8. In the following description, emphasis is placed on the points of distinction between system 10" and system 10 in accordance with the parent application, those attributes not being described being the same, a repeated description thereof having been omitted for the sake of brevity. Accordingly, those components which remain unchanged bear the same reference numerals while those which have been modified are distinguished by prime (") designations and new reference characters being applied to components having no counterpart.

As can be seen from FIGS. 6-8, pump-line-nozzle fuel injection system 10" is comprised of an inline high pressure pump 12" having a plurality of identical pumping cylinder units C", in the example shown in FIG. 7, pump 12" (for use with a six cylinder engine, not shown) has six cylinder units C"1 to C"6, which receive fuel from a low pressure pump 18 via a supply circuit 20 containing a pressure regulator 22, and which deliver fuel at high pressure via a high pressure line 14 to a respective fuel injector 16. As also represented, the cylinder units C"1 to C"3 and C"4 to C"6 are arranged to be grouped together so that flow to them from a common fueling branch 20"a and a common timing branch 20"b is controlled by a respective fueling solenoid 46"a and timing solenoid 46"b together with a check valve 48"a, 48"b for each cylinder. This is in contrast to the case, explained above, for the embodiments of the FIGS. 4 and 5, where each cylinder unit C has a solenoid 46 in flow path 20b to each timing chamber and a check valve 48 in the flow path 20a to each metering chamber. The arrangement of FIGS. 6-8, therefore, is advantageous in that only four solenoid valves are required instead of six (offering reductions in system size, weight and cost), and these solenoids need only act on low pressure fluid (less than 300 psi) and their response time requirements can be reduced (e.g., to 2 to 12 msec).

Furthermore, unlike the case of the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, where the solenoid valve 46 controls both the quantity of fuel injected and the timing at which injection is initiated, thereby requiring high sensor accuracy and high solenoid valve responsiveness, the embodiment of FIGS. 6-8, utilizes the profile of camshaft 33" to determine when injection is initiated with the quantities of timing fluid and fuel metered being controlled by the separate solenoid valves 46a, 46b under the control of the electronic control module ECM. In particular, for each group of cylinder units C"1 to C"3 and C"4 to C"6, only cylinder unit C" is active for receiving fuel and time fluid at any given time.

That is, as can be seen from FIGS. 8a-8c viewed together, as one pumping unit C", of a group of three pumping units, has completed its injection stroke (FIG. 8a), another one of the pumping units has commenced its metering phase (FIG. 8c). At the same time, the third pumping unit (FIG. 8b) remains in its fully extended, end-of-injection position, on the outer base circle of the cam surface of its cam 33". Put another way, at any given time only one pumping cylinder C" of each pumping group is in a metering and injection phase, the others being held against downward movement. In this way, the single fueling solenoid valve 46"a and the single timing solenoid valve 46"b can control flow to metering and timing chambers of all pumping cylinders C" of the group with the cams 33" controlling the initiation of injection. During injection, the check valves 48"b, 48"a serve to prevent return flows from the timing and metering chambers 40, 42 back through the solenoid valves 46"b, 46"a. Opening and closing of the solenoid valves 46a, 46, is set by the ECM on the basis of various engine operating parameter inputs, such as engine speed, load, etc. as with the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, with the amount of fuel/timing fluid metered being a function of the pressure in the supply circuit 20 and the amount of time that the respective solenoid valve 46a, 46b is open while the tappet 31 and plunger 26 are descending along the metering (inwardly descending) portion of the cam surface of cam 33".

This construction and operation causes the fuel to be metered immediately before it is injected instead of over almost a full rotation of the cam, improving engine control and response time, especially at low engine speeds. Furthermore, the timing of the opening and closing of the solenoid valves relative to camshaft position becomes less critical since the valves only have to be open during the metering period; injection timing is controlled by the camshaft profile and metered quantity of fuel and not by when the solenoid is actuated (as in the embodiment of FIGS. 4 & 5). As a result, problems related to position sensor accuracy and gear train torsional effects are eliminated.

B60J1/2025—Roller blinds powered, e.g. by electric, hydraulic or pneumatic actuators with flexible actuating elements connected to the draw bar for pulling only, e.g. cords, wires or cables

A motorized mechanism for actuating motion within a housing of a window shade arrangement having first and second window shades for controlling the amount of light admitted through a window. The motorized mechanism comprises a first rail assembly movable in the housing and connected to a first end of the first window shade and a first end of the second window shade, a second rail assembly movable in the housing and connected to a second end of the second window shade, a second end of the first window shade being fixed to the housing, said first and second window shades being adapted to be extended and compressed relative to the window in accordance with motion within the housing of at least one of said first and second rail assemblies. A first cable is looped between a motor-driven first pulley and a second pulley along a first path. A second cable is looped between a motor-driven third pulley and a fourth pulley along a second path. Corresponding ends at one side of said first and second rail assemblies are in said first path, with only one of said first and second rail assemblies being connected to the first cable, and corresponding ends at the other side of said first and second rail assemblies being in said second path, with only the other one of said first and second rail assemblies being connected to the second cable.

Despite its many advantages, some room exists for attaining further improvements in this product. For example, the aircraft window has a porthole through which light enters the cabin. In addition to the window shade being movable up and down by a drive assembly to control the amount of light being blocked, its width is sized to be wider than that of the porthole by a certain lateral spacing so that the side edge of the window shade extends laterally past the porthole in order to block incoming light. If the lateral extension of the window shade beyond the porthole is small, some light will bleed around the side of the window shade. Thus, it is desirable to make the window shade as wide as possible relative to the porthole. However, since the width of the shell (Wshell) for the window assembly is a given dimension for each aircraft, the width of the window shade (Wshade) is limited by the width of the vertical drive channel (Wdc) through which the drive assembly moves (Wshade=Wshell−2Wdc). The wider is this drive channel, the narrower must be the window shade. Thus, one area for potential improvement is to make this drive channel of motorized window shade mechanism as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,211 narrower.

One embodiment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,211 has two window shades that can be selectively moved into position to block light. One window shade can be translucent while the other is opaque. Each shade has its own motorized drive mechanism. Both motorized drive mechanisms must fit within the small confines of an aircraft window. To accomplish this, the motorized window shade mechanisms as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,211 had the motors inserted in the rail attached to the bottom edge of the shade. Since the motors moved along with the rail as the shade was extended and compressed, a flexible conductive ribbon functioning as a power cable and moving with the motors was required to energize the motors. This cable required its own space in the drive channel within which to travel with the motors. It is desirable to eliminate the need for this cable and for the space it requires. In fact, this is one way for making the drive channel narrower. Also, installing the motors in the rail imposes severe size limitations on the motor, which makes it more difficult to find a suitable motor in terms of size, performance and price. Such an arrangement also makes the rail large, thereby increasing the stack height of the shade assembly, which is undesirable.

Furthermore, motorized window shades can experience motion even though they should be stationary while the drive motor is inactive, i.e. uncommanded motion. Such uncommanded motion can occur due to such factors as the weight of the shade and/or the compression pressure of the shade while the motor is deactivated. It is desirable to eliminate such uncommanded motion. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other objects are attained in accordance with one aspect of the present invention directed to a motorized mechanism for operating a window shade for controlling the amount of light admitted through a window. The motorized mechanism includes a window shade adapted to be extended and compressed relative to the window in accordance with motion within a housing of a rail assembly attached to one end of said window shade. A motor is secured to the housing and coupled to a motor-driven first pulley. A cable is looped between said motor-driven first pulley and a second pulley, said second pulley being secured to the housing remotely from said first pulley. A component is coupled to one end of said rail assembly and to said cable to be movable within the housing between the first and second pulleys with motion of the cable in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley to extend or compress the window shade.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a motorized mechanism for actuating motion within a housing of a window shade arrangement for controlling the amount of light admitted through a window. The motorized mechanism comprises a first window shade and a second window shade, said first window shade having a first end secured to the housing and a second end secured to a first rail assembly movable in the housing, said second window shade having a first end secured to said first rail assembly and a second end secured to a second rail assembly movable in the housing, said first and second window shades being adapted to be extended and compressed relative to the window in accordance with motion within the housing of at least one of said first and second rail assemblies. A first motor is secured to the housing and coupled to a motor-driven first pulley. A first cable is looped between said first pulley and a second pulley, said second pulley being secured to the housing remotely from said first pulley. A second motor is secured to the housing and coupled to a motor-driven third pulley. A second cable is looped between said motor-driven third pulley and a fourth pulley, said fourth pulley being secured to the housing remotely from said third pulley. A first component is coupled to one end of said first rail assembly and a second component coupled to the other end of said first rail assembly. A third component is coupled to one end of said second rail assembly and a fourth component coupled to the other end of said second rail assembly. The first cable is coupled to said third component to be movable within the housing between said first and second pulleys with motion of said first cable in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley to extend or compress the second window shade, and said second cable is coupled to said second component to be movable within the housing between said third and fourth pulleys with motion of said second cable in response to motor driven rotation of said third pulley to extend or compress the first window shade.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a motorized mechanism for actuating motion within a housing of a window shade arrangement having first and second window shades for controlling the amount of light admitted through a window. The motorized mechanism comprises a first rail assembly movable in the housing and connected to a first end of the first window shade and a first end of the second window shade, a second rail assembly movable in the housing and connected to a second end of the second window shade, a second end of the first window shade being fixed to the housing, said first and second window shades being adapted to be extended and compressed relative to the window in accordance with motion within the housing of at least one of said first and second rail assemblies. A first cable is looped between a motor-driven first pulley and a second pulley along a first path. A second cable is looped between a motor-driven third pulley and a fourth pulley along a second path. Corresponding ends at one side of said first and second rail assemblies are in said first path, with only one of said first and second rail assemblies being connected to the first cable, and corresponding ends at the other side of said first and second rail assemblies being in said second path, with only the other one of said first and second rail assemblies being connected to the second cable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 9 is an exploded view corresponding to the window assembly as shown in FIG. 8, except that motorized drive mechanism 15 is not shown in section but rather in a side view.

Although window 1 can be any type of window set in any environment, the present invention is disclosed with particular applicability to an aircraft window. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, an aircraft window is typically contoured to fit the curvature of the particular aircraft body into which it will be installed. Window 1 has an inner pane 9 and an outer pane 11. A motorized drive mechanism 15 (see FIGS. 4, 5 and 9) is provided for operating window shades 5 and 7. Mechanism 15 is placed in shell 17 and is kept in place by a panel 19 which is attached to the shell. Inner pane 9 is secured by retainer 21 which is snap-fit into a slot (not shown) in panel 19. Outer pane 11 is secured by retainer 23 which is snap-fit onto a flange of shell 17. Thus, shades 5 and 7 are positioned within the interior space of the window between panes 9 and 11.

Shades 5 and 7 and some associated drive mechanism components are shown in FIG. 10. The shades are shown in their fully compressed form. At the bottom of shade 5 is a rail 25 which is comprised of a top cap 27, a bottom cap 29, and a channel 31. Caps 27 and 29 are configured so that they can be snap-fit onto channel 31 to secure them in place. Cap 27 is slipped through the bottom pleat of shade 5, and then it is snap-fit onto channel 31. This way the pleat is attached to rail 25. Thus, as rail 25 is moved, its movement produces extension or compression of shade 5. Cap 29 is decorative and is used to finish off the appearance of the window shade rail aesthetically.

An axle, or shaft, 33 is configured to be inserted into the through-hole in channel 31. As best shown in FIG. 3, the ends of axle 33 protrude from channel 31 so that they can carry gears 35 and 37. Gear 35, while positioned inside carrier 36, slides onto the end of axle 33 that has flat 39 on it. As the end of axle 33 passes through opening 34 in boss 34 a(see FIGS. 3, 5, 7 and 10) of carrier 36 to reach gear 35, carrier 36 is simultaneously mounted onto axle 33 along with gear 35. Gear 35 has a corresponding flat 41 so that it is locked to rotate together with the axle. Similarly, gear 37, while positioned inside carrier 38, is lockably mounted onto the other end of axle 33 so as to be rotatable therewith. For reasons that will become apparent below, gear 37 is a driven gear, and gear 35 is a passive gear. As gear 37 is driven, its movement will cooperate with rack 43 in shell 17 (described in detail below with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7) to move rail 25 up and down to compress and expand shade 5. Since passive gear 35 is coupled to driven gear 37 by axle 33, the two gears will turn together to produce smooth motion of rail 25 along the window without any twisting of the rail or binding of the gears on the rack that might otherwise occur.

Axle 53 is configured to be inserted into the through-hole in channel 51. The ends of axle 53 protrude from channel 51 so that they can carry gears 55 and 57. Gear 55, while positioned inside carrier 56, slides onto the end of axle 53 that has flat 59 on it. Gear 55 has a corresponding flat 61 so that both are locked to rotate together. Similarly, gear 57, while positioned inside carrier 58, is lockably mounted onto the other end of axle 53 so as to be rotatable therewith. For reasons that will become apparent below, gear 55 is a driven gear, and gear 57 is a passive gear. As gear 55 is driven, its movement will cooperate with rack 43 in shell 17 to move rail 45 up and down to compress and expand shades 5 and 7. Since passive gear 57 is coupled to driven gear 55 by axle 53, the two gears will turn together to produce the same smooth motion of rail 45 achieved for rail 25.

Turning now to FIG. 5, it shows motorized drive mechanism 15 along with shades 5 and 7. Rail 25 is shown along with carriers 36 and 38 mounted to the ends of axle 33 housed within rail 25. Similarly, rail 45 is shown with carriers 56 and 58 mounted to the ends of axle 53 housed within rail 45. Passing through carriers 36 and 58 is a loop of a Synchromesh cable 63 that cooperates with motor driven pulley 65 as part of a Synchromesh Cable Drive. Such a drive is available from Stock Drive Products. Synchromesh cable 63 has a straight center section made of a core bundle of braided stainless steel wires encased in a nylon jacket. Wound spirally around the nylon jacket is another section made of a core bundle of braided stainless steel wires encased in a polyurethane jacket. When the Synchromesh cable is placed on the pulley 65, the spirally wound cable section fits within and engages specially sized and configured helical grooves in the pulley, so that rotation of the pulley produces linear motion of the cable.

Cable 63 is stretched between the motor driven pulley 65 and cable tensioning assembly 67 (discussed in detail below with respect to FIGS. 11 and 12). A cable guard 105 (described below in detail in connection with FIGS. 13-15) is mounted adjoining cable 63 and pulley 65. Motor 69 turns pulley 65. Since cable 63 is meshed with the grooves in pulley 65, rotation of pulley 65 produces corresponding linear motion of cable 63.

Carrier 56 is a driven carrier because it is fixed to and driven by cable 63. As shown in FIG. 10, carrier 56 has a hole 71 in its end wall 73. (A good view of hole 71 is shown in FIG. 3 with respect to driven carrier 38). This hole 71 goes completely through carrier 38 to a similar opening (not shown) in the opposite end wall. Cable 63 is inserted through one of these openings and exits through the other one to pass completely through carrier 38. Cable 63 is affixed to carrier 56 by a set screw (not shown) inserted into tapped hole 74 (see carrier 38 in FIG. 3). Cable 63 then continues to carrier 36 which is a passive carrier because it is not affixed to cable 63. Instead, carrier 36 has an elongated channel 75 passing completely therethrough from one end to the other. Cable 63 runs freely through channel 75. Channel 75 can be curved, as is visible in FIG. 10, for example, to match the arc followed by cable 63.

In operation, motor 69 is used to extend and compress shade 7. As motor 69 is controlled to turn in a particular direction, depending on whether extension or compression of shade 7 is desired, and for a specific number of turns, depending on how much movement of shade 7 is desired, it drives pulley 65. In turn, rotation of pulley 65 generates linear motion of cable 63. Since carrier 56 is attached to cable 63, they both move together. As carrier 56 moves, and because its associated gear 55 is in mesh with rack 43, the gear 55 will turn along with axle 53. Rotation of axle 53 will cause rotation of gear 57 at the opposite end of the axle. Since gear 57 is in mesh with rack 43, both ends of rail 45 will move synchronously and smoothly to position the shade as desired. Thus, due to the cable 63 being fixed to driven carrier 56 but not to passive carrier 36, motor 69 drives only shade 7 and not shade 5.

Similarly, at the other side of the window shade assembly, cable 63 ais stretched between the motor driven pulley 65 aand cable tensioning assembly. Motor 69 aturns pulley 65 a. Since cable 63 ais meshed with the grooves in pulley 65 a, rotation of pulley 65 aproduces corresponding linear motion of cable 63 a. Cable 63 ais affixed to driven carrier 38. Cable 63 athen continues to passive carrier 58 which has the same structure as passive carrier 36. Passive carrier 58 is not affixed to cable 63 a. Cable 63 aruns freely through carrier 58.

In operation, motor 69 ais used to extend and compress shade 5. As motor 69 ais controlled to turn in a particular direction, depending on whether extension or compression of shade 5 is desired, and for a specific number of turns, depending on how much movement of shade 5 is desired, it drives pulley 65 a. In turn, rotation of pulley 65 agenerates linear motion of cable 63 a. Since carrier 38 is attached to cable 63 a, they both move together. As carrier 38 moves, and because its associated gear 37 is in mesh with rack 43, the gear 37 will turn along with axle 33. Rotation of axle 33 will cause rotation of gear 35 at the opposite end of the axle. Since gear 35 is in mesh with rack 43, both ends of rail 25 will move synchronously and smoothly to position the shade as desired. Thus, due to the cable 63 abeing fixed to driven carrier 38 but not to passive carrier 58, motor 69 adrives only shade 5 and not shade 7.

The motorized drive mechanism 15 is secured within window assembly 1 by retainers 77 and 77 a(which are mirror images of each other) at the side edges of shell 17, as shown in FIG. 4. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the retainers in greater detail. Retainer 77 ahas a slot 79 notched into its side. Slot 79 is defined by front wall 81 and rear wall 83. Rack 43 is embedded into the front wall 81 to face slot 79. Carrier 38 rides within slot 79 and gear 37 meshes with rack 43. Cable 63 ais also visible in these drawings, as is boss 34 awith its opening 34 to receive axle 33.

Window assembly 1 also includes a manual override assembly 111 shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. This feature is provided so that the window shades can be operated even under conditions when electrical power is lost. Motor 69 has a hex-shaped drive shaft 113. Drive shaft 113 mounted in the housing comprised of lower housing 114 aand upper housing 114 b. Drive shaft 113 turns output shaft 115 via manual override assembly 111. Output shaft 115 has its pulley driving end drivingly coupled to pulley 65. The other end of output shaft 115 is also hex-shaped. Coupler 123 is slidably mounted on the hex-shaped ends of shafts 113 and 115 which adjoin each other. Spring 125 is under compression between shoulder 127 on the coupler and shoulder 129 on the bottom housing. Thus, spring 125 biases coupler 123 into its coupling position. In this position of coupler 123, rotation of motor drive shaft 113 will be transmitted to pulley 65 via shaft 115.

The manual override assembly 111 includes a vertical shaft 117 with a bevel gear 119 at its end which is in mesh with bevel gear 121 on output shaft 115. The top of shaft 117 has an opening 150 (see FIG. 18) that is shaped to receive a tool (not shown) that can be inserted and then used to manually turn shaft 117. As shaft 117 and, along with it, bevel gear 119 are turned, bevel gear 121 can turn shaft 115. However, as long as shafts 113 and 115 are coupled to each other, manual rotation of shaft 115 is prevented by motor 69. To avoid this hindrance, a slidable cover 131 is provided. The flared sides 152 of cover 131 slide on rails 154 and the upper surface 155 of upper housing 114 b. As can be appreciated from FIG. 18, the straight bottom edge 156 of flared side 152 engages under rail 154, while the top 158 rides on surface 155.

Cover 131 has a bottom skirt 133 that has a half-opening 135 through which shaft 115 passes. The wall of skirt 133 that defines opening 135 bears against coupler 123. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, cover 131 is in its static, rest position as spring 125 presses coupler to the right, and coupler 125 likewise presses the skirt to the right. Cover 131 has an upwardly extending wall 137 that can serve as a finger catch. Cover 131 can be moved manually to the left by hooking a finger against wall 137 and pushing against the force exerted by spring 125. This uncovers opening 150 in shaft 117 so that the turning tool can be inserted into it. With the tool in the opening, the cover 131 is prevented from returning to its rest position under the influence of spring 125. Thus, cover 131 stays in its displaced position until the turning tool is removed.

As cover 131 is moved to its displaced position, skirt 133 forces coupler 123 to slide off output shaft 115, thereby de-coupling shafts 113 and 115 from each other. This frees output shaft 115 to turn under turning forces applied by shaft 117 and gears 119, 121 without interference from motor 69.

Although the motorized drive mechanism 15 is disclosed as being motor actuated, the rest of mechanism 15 without the motors can also be highly useful. Motors 69 and 69 acan be replaced by a manual drive arrangement. It could be similar to the manual override assembly 111 as disclosed herein that would function as a permanent drive rather than as an override. However, other manually driven arrangements could also be applied to turn pulley 65 and move cable 63 so as to create linear motion for extending and compressing the shades.

a cable looped between said motor-driven first pulley and a second pulley, said second pulley being secured to the housing remotely from said first pulley; and

a component coupled to one end of said rail assembly and to said cable to be movable within the housing between the first and second pulleys with motion of the cable in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley to extend or compress the window shade.

the gears of said respective components are attached to opposite ends of said axle to engage with respective racks affixed in the housing so that both said gears are driven along the housing in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley.

a second cable looped between said motor-driven third pulley and a fourth pulley, said fourth pulley being secured to the housing remotely from said third pulley;

wherein said first cable is coupled to said third component to be movable within the housing between said first and second pulleys with motion of said first cable in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley to extend or compress the second window shade, and

wherein said second cable is coupled to said second component to be movable within the housing between said third and fourth pulleys with motion of said second cable in response to motor driven rotation of said third pulley to extend or compress the first window shade.

each of said first and second components includes a gear, and the gears of said respective first and second components are attached to opposite ends of said first axle to engage with respective racks affixed in the housing to be driven along the housing in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley,

each of said third and fourth components includes a gear, and the gears of said respective third and fourth components are attached to opposite ends of said second axle to engage with respective racks affixed in the housing to be driven along the housing in response to motor driven rotation of said third pulley.

a first output shaft having one end driving said first pulley and a second end coupled by a first coupler, when in a coupling position, to a drive shaft of the first motor, wherein the first coupler is movably mounted and is spring-biased to be in the coupling position, a first manually actuatable release mechanism configured for movement against the spring bias to a decoupling position of the first coupler to decouple the drive shaft of the first motor from the first output shaft, and a first manually actuatable turning mechanism to turn the first output shaft when the first coupler is in the decoupling position; and

a second output shaft having one end driving said third pulley and a second end coupled by a second coupler, when in a coupling position, to a drive shaft of the second motor, wherein the second coupler is movably mounted and is spring-biased to be in the coupling position, a second manually actuatable release mechanism configured for movement against the spring bias to a decoupling position of the second coupler to decouple the drive shaft of the second motor from the second output shaft, and a second manually actuatable turning mechanism to turn the second output shaft when the second coupler is in the decoupling position.

said first rail assembly includes a first axle extending from one end of said first rail assembly to the other, and gears are attached to opposite ends of said first axle to engage with respective racks affixed in the housing to be driven along the housing in response to motor driven rotation of said first pulley, and

said second rail assembly includes a second axle extending from one end of said second rail assembly to the other, and gears are attached to opposite ends of said second axle to engage with respective racks affixed in the housing to be driven along the housing in response to motor driven rotation of said third pulley.