Monolithic single-piece shaft-and-pinion housing for a sliding support mechanism
Methodology of simplifying the manufacture of a sliding support mechanism configured to support a slide-out of an RV by devising a shaft-and-pinion housing configured as a single-piece monolithic component that includes a hard exterior of the housing (with the co-axial first and second openings therethrough, which are dimensioned to accommodate the shaft). The housing is structured to have a separation distance between a first portion of the hard exterior carrying the first opening and a second portion of the hard exterior carrying the second opening to be dimensioned to reversibly receive the pinion in a space between the first and second openings.
1 . An article of manufacture comprising:
a shaft-and-pinion housing of a sliding support mechanism containing a shaft with a pinion secured on the shaft, said housing configured as a single-piece monolithic profile of a chosen material that includes:
a) a hard exterior of the housing having a first opening therethrough and a second opening therethrough, the first and second opening being co-axial with one another and dimensioned to accommodate the shaft therethrough and having an opening axis,
wherein a separation distance between a first portion of the hard exterior carrying the first opening and a second portion of the hard exterior carrying the second opening is dimensioned to reversibly receive the pinion in a space between the first and second openings;
b) a hollow structural section (HSS), of said monolithic profile, that includes a hollow with a polygonal perimeter that has an axis of the hollow and is limited by a first wall, a second wall opposite to the first wall, a third wall and a fourth wall opposite to the third wall, wherein the first wall, the second wall, the third wall, and the fourth wall are parts of the hard exterior, wherein the axis of the hollow is parallel to a first axis that is transverse to the opening axis; and
c) a pair of inner wall ribs extending along the first axis on inner surfaces of the third and fourth walls, respectively, and protruding towards each other from respective walls along a second axis that is transverse to both the first axis and the opening axis, and
a first retaining element protruding from the first portion of the hard exterior and a second retaining element protruding from the second portion of the hard exterior, wherein at least one of said first and second retaining elements is configured to fit dimensionally into a receiving portion of a rack assembly of the sliding support mechanism such as to limit repositioning of the housing along the opening axis and along the first axis,
wherein a space between the first portion of the hard exterior and a second portion of the hard exterior is not limited along a second axis that is transverse to both the first axis and the opening axis.
2 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of the first and second retaining elements is monolithic with the housing, or
the at least one of the first and second retaining elements includes a roller configured to be removably attachable to the housing and/or a piece of material configured to be attachable to the housing.
3 . An article according to claim 1 , wherein an auxiliary inner wall rib of a pair of auxiliary inner wall ribs is formed in a corner defined by meeting of the second wall with either the third wall or the fourth wall.
4 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , further comprising first and second wing portions outwardly extending, respectively, from the second wall portion along the third and fourth wall portions, and/or at least one outer ridge protruding outwardly from a corresponding wall of at least one of the first and second walls.
5 . An article according to claim 4 , wherein:
a corresponding height of each of said wing portions does not exceed a height of the second wall; and/or
at least one of said wing portions has a first wing height and a second wing height greater than the first wing height, wherein a section of the at least one of said wing portions having the second wing height is separated from the second wall by a section of the at least one of said wing portions having the first wing height.
6 . An article according to claim 4 , further comprising a motor having a motor shaft, the motor being removably secured to free ends of the first and second wings opposite to the second wall such as to have the motor shaft be aligned substantially co-axially with the second axis.
7 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , wherein one of the following conditions is satisfied:
(a) at least one of the third and fourth walls has first and second different from one another wall heights;
(b) a portion of the at least one of the third and fourth walls that has the first wall height is separated from the first wall by another portions of the at least one of the third and fourth wall that has the second wall height, the second wall height being smaller than the first wall height;
(c) the housing includes at least one outer ridge protruding outwardly from a corresponding wall of at least one of the first and second walls.
8 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , wherein the article further comprises the shaft removably inserted through the first and second openings to traverse said space substantially parallel to the opening axis, and the pinion removably put on and secured on the shaft between the first and second portions of the hard exterior such as to have longitudinal movement of the shaft and/or pinion along said opening axis limited by at least one inner wall rib formed on an inner surface of the housing.
9 . An article according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second openings is internally threaded.
10 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , further comprising:
the shaft inserted through the first and second openings to traverse the housing substantially parallel to the opening axis, and the pinion removably put on and secured on the shaft between the first and second portions of the hard exterior such as to have longitudinal movement of the shaft and/or pinion along said opening axis limited by at least one inner wall rib or step formed on an inner surface of the housing.
11 . An article of manufacture according to claim 10 , further comprising the rack assembly of the sliding support mechanism including a rack,
wherein the first and second retaining elements comprise a first wear surface configured to laterally slide upon a sliding surface of the rack assembly and a second wear surface configured to slide within a channel of the rack assembly.
12 . An article of manufacture according to claim 11 , wherein the housing is dimensioned to have a first separation between the first and second wear surfaces along the opening axis and a second separation between the opening axis and the rack to limit a displacement of a combination of the housing and the pinion to maintain operable engagement between the pinion and the rack both along the opening axis and along the first axis.
13 . An article of manufacture according to claim 10 ,
wherein at least one of the first and second retaining elements includes
at least two rollers dimensioned to run within a first channel defined by a lower sliding surface of the rack assembly and/or
a material piece that is dimensioned to run within the first channel and that is monolithic with the shaft-and-pinion housing.
14 . An article of manufacture according to claim 10 , further comprising the rack assembly of the sliding support mechanism including a rack, wherein the rack assembly has a first upper sliding surface and a first lower sliding surface, the first lower sliding surface defining a first channel having a height of the first channel and a width of the first channel.
15 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , further comprising the shaft that includes multiple shaft portions inserted into at least one of the first and second openings, wherein at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:
the multiple shaft portions are moveable with respect to one another; and
the shaft includes at least one joint and first and second shaft portions, of the multiple shaft portions, that are moveably connected to one another at the at least one joint, and further includes a third shaft portion of the multiple shaft portions, the third shaft portion separated from the first shaft portion by the second shaft portion, an axis of the first shaft portion and/or an axis of the third shaft portion being tilted with respect to an axis of the second shaft portion.
16 . An article of manufacture according to claim 1 , further comprising a motor removably secured to the shaft.