Patent attributes
A slide damper for use with an associated sliding object that is movable between a first position and a second position provides an assisted, dampened return. The slide damper includes a housing having a track, a gear on the housing and a cover configured for movement along the housing. The cover further includes a track engaging pin for engaging the housing track as the cover moves along the housing. A biasing element operably connects the cover and the housing to bias the cover to the second position. A damper assembly is disposed within the cover and includes a damper housing having a geared outer periphery, a damping material disposed in the damper housing and a rotor disposed at least in part within the damper housing for cooperating with the damping material. The rotor has a shaft and is rotatable relative to the damper housing. The rotor shaft extends through the cover and a damper gear operably connects the shaft and the housing gear. The damper assembly is selectively engaged in which the rotor rotates relative to the damper housing when the cover is moved toward the second position and movement of the damper gear along the housing gear is dampened, and disengaged in which the rotor is stationary relative to the damper housing when the cover is moved toward the first position and movement of the damper gear along the housing gear is unimpeded.
