DRIVE UNIT FOR AUTOMATICALLY ACTUATING A VEHICLE DOOR

摘要

The invention relates to a drive unit for automatically actuating a vehicle door, especially the tailgate of a motor vehicle. The inventive drive unit (4) can be connected to the vehicle door (1) or a transmission device (6) via an output shaft (5), said transmission device (6) performing a pivoting movement that corresponds to the pivoting movement of the vehicle door (1). The drive unit (4) comprises at least one first sensor unit (7) that can be connected to an electronic evaluation unit (21) and detects the respective angular position of the vehicle door (1). The aim of the invention is to make use of the advantages of an incremental measurement of the position of the vehicle door (1) without having to wait for the vehicle door (1) to reach its final position to be able to recalibrate following a power outage. Said aim is achieved by dividing the entire pivot angle (alpha) of the vehicle door (1) into at least three successive zones (pivot angle ranges) (alpha1-alpha4), the individual pivot angle ranges (alpha1-alpha4) being determined by a first sensor unit (7) that detects absolute values. The pivot angle of the vehicle door within the individual zones (alpha1-alpha4) is then detected with the aid of a second sensor unit (8) which encompasses at least one incremental measuring transducer.