Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Robert P. Seitter
  • Patent number: 5449258
    Abstract: A combined retainer clip and shaft for axially fastening a mechanical element to the shaft includes a shaft being hardened to a predetermined hardness. The retainer clip is formed of an annular body with a frusto-conical annulus surrounding a generally central aperture and hardened to a hardness higher than the hardness of the shaft. The retainer clip is mounted on the shaft at a predetermined position to fixedly mount the mechanical element on the shaft. In one embodiment, a plurality of notches are circumferentially spaced about the portion of the annulus surrounding the aperture in the body to form a discontinuous shaft engaging surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 12, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Donald B. Moote, Teodor G. Nedelcu
  • Patent number: 5447179
    Abstract: A seamless double-walled metal tube which has an outer wall composed of steel having a face-centered cubic grain structure, an inner wall concentrically disposed within the outer wall, the inner wall composed of a steel having a face-centered cubic grain structure, the inner wall having an outerwardly oriented surface directed toward an inwardly oriented surface of the outer wall. The seamless double-wall metal tube also has an intermediate bonding metal region interposed between and metallurgically bonded to the inner wall and the outer wall. The intermediate bonding region is composed of a metal capable of metallurgically bonding with the inner wall and the outer wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 5, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Glen Gibbs, Arnold T. Johnson
  • Patent number: 5445354
    Abstract: A power seat adjuster includes a rotatable drive shaft with first and second axial ends and an intermediate arcuate portion connecting the first and second axial ends. The first and second axial ends are respectively axially connected to a drive motor gear assembly and to a driven lead screw. A horizontal drive block threadingly engaging the lead screw is rotatably and vertically translatingly mounted in an aperture in a lower track for self-alignment of the drive block with respect to the lead screw. A housing rotatably receives the axial connection between one end of the drive shaft and the lead screw. The drive nut is rotatably and translatingly mounted in a bracket fixed to an upper track for self-alignment of the drive shaft with the lead screw. A drive block engages the lead screw and is mounted for rotation and translation in a link.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 29, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Derek K. Gauger, Max O. Heesch
  • Patent number: 5443097
    Abstract: An arrangement and method for closing off fluid passages is disclosed. The arrangement includes first and second closure members inserted one behind the other in the fluid passage, the second closure member slidably fit into the passage with a clearance and positioning against a sealing shoulder in the fluid passage so that abraded particles caused by press fitting of the first closure member behind the second closure member can not get into the fluid passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 22, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventor: Bernd Pfeiffer
  • Patent number: 5443133
    Abstract: The invention is related to a brake shoe with a chamfered edge lining, the chamfered edge achieving desired surface configuration of the lining after only a few braking actions while increasing the service life of the lining. The chamfer has a profile shape which features a hyperbolic contour, steeply angled at the top adjacent the outer face and very shallowly angled at the bottom adjacent the backing plate so that the increment of wear of each braking operation decreases in a strongly degressive way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 22, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Automotive Europe GmbH
    Inventors: Ludwig Dreilich, Hans-Joachim Schmeling, Karl-Heinz Hach
  • Patent number: 5433382
    Abstract: A windshield cleaning system with a spraying device is described, in which windshield cleaning system a jet element made of an elastic material is carried in an adjustable jet body formed in the shape of a ball. The jet element is formed with elastic lids forming a spraying mouth which is normally closed and which is located outside of the jet body. The spraying mouth is opened by the pressure of the washing liquid. With such an arrangement the direction of the spraying jet can be adjusted and the washing liquid is prevented from freezing due to the fact that the spraying mouth can be closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 18, 1995
    Assignee: SWF Auto-Electric GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Baumgarten, Reinhard Edele, Bruno Egner-Walter, Eckhardt Schmid
  • Patent number: 5412170
    Abstract: In an electric switch a good gliding behavior between a bridging contact and metal conductors punched out from a sheet metal blank is achieved. For this purpose the metal conductors have at least one projection extending at least over the entire range of motion of the bridging contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 2, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Automotive Europe GmbH
    Inventors: Georg Hofmann, Hubert Spazierer, Adam Weber
  • Patent number: 5409260
    Abstract: A retaining system for passengers of an automotive vehicle in which an impact element, which is movable toward the part of the body to be retained in case of a crash, is fixed to the vehicle in front of the passenger of the vehicle and is moved into position to block the space in front of the seat on which the passenger is seated only in a crash situation. This retaining system is intended to prevent the so-called "submerging" effect, by which a passenger slides into the space in front of the seat upon which the passenger is seated in a crash situation. The retaining system includes an impact element which is swingable toward the passenger about an axis which extends transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. If the interior design of the vehicle requires, the impact element can be arranged to undergo translatory movement in the direction of the passenger in addition to the swinging movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH & Co. OHG
    Inventors: Gerhardt Reuber, Achim Braun, Siegfried Baier
  • Patent number: 5407256
    Abstract: The invention relates to a load-sensitive twin brake power controller whose change-over pressure is determined by a lever through a rocking element. The housing is extruded. Traditionally, a large-volume cylindrical chamber for the accommodation of the rocking element and a circular dust cover seat are mill cut into the housing. Such a loss of material is avoided by the present invention in that in conjunction with the extruded profile section two housing projections are molded which are each provided with one groove. Between the latter the dust cover is pressed with a sheet metal ring against the housing until the sheet metal ring comes to be locked in the grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 18, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Kurt Saalbach, Rudolf Cezanne, Dieter Fueller
  • Patent number: 5407033
    Abstract: An improved spring energy accumulators are used to actuate brake units mounted to either end of a transmission for a track laying vehicle drive train. The housing of the spring energy accumulator is directly mounted to the housing of the brake unit. The spring energy accumulators are designed to allow installation and removal of hydraulic components contained in an insert cylinder without disturbing a spring mounted highly compressed within the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1992
    Date of Patent: April 18, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Rolf Weiler, Wilhelm Haberland, Dieter Kristen, Goetz Mehner
  • Patent number: 5403077
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a hydraulic assembly for motor vehicle brake systems with slip control which includes at least a valve arrangement (4), a pressure accumulator system (2, 3) and an auxiliary pressure pump. In order to provide a hydraulic assembly which is as operatively safe as possible and has the greatest possible compactness, a central housing (1) shaped as an assembly carrier is provided which accommodates at least the pump pistons of the auxiliary pressure pump with the drive motor as well as the accumulator pistons of the accumulator system and the valve arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 4, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Jochen Burgdorf, Peter Volz, Dieter Dinkel
  • Patent number: 5401087
    Abstract: A solenoid-operated pressure control valve in which a valve shaft can move transverse to its longitudinal axis to permit self-centering of a closure member at the end of the valve shaft, relative to a valve seat which receives the closure member, when the valve shaft is displaced along its longitudinal axis. Longitudinal displacement of the valve shaft is sealedly guided by at least one sealing element through which the valve shaft extends and which can move along a surface of a guide member against which the sealing element is positioned when the valve shaft undergoes self-centering which is permitted by the clearance fit between the valve shaft and a bore in the guide member through which the valve shaft extends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 28, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves Metallwarenfabrik GmbH and Co. OHG
    Inventor: Andre F. L. Goossens
  • Patent number: 5400877
    Abstract: A two-tube shock absorber for automotive vehicles is furnished with a shock absorber piston and an electromagnetically actuatable unidirectional shock absorber valve to adjust a "smooth" characteristic which is desired for enhancing driving comfort. The shock absorber valve is alternatively configurated in the shape of a single-stage, or a two-stage slide valve. The position of the slide depends on the hydraulic pressure differential which decreases above the shock absorber valve, the volumetric stream which flows through the shock absorber valve, and the actuating current of the electromagnetic actuating unit. The inventive shock absorber allows the selection of a special characteristic curve out of a family of potential characteristic curves. Simultaneously, the sensitivity of the shock absorber to errors of the electromagnetic actuation is eliminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 28, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Dieter Kircher, Ronald Bayer, Siegfried Halat, Diogenes Perez, Stefan Sparschuh
  • Patent number: 5400882
    Abstract: In a duo-servo drum brake comprising a mechanical expander adjacent a thrust bearing for supporting the brake shoes, with the expander including an operating lever to which is transmitted the operating force of an actuator substantially in a direction tangential to the edge of the brake drum. The brake shoe is movable through an expander in the direction of the operating force and connected to a thrust bearing through a prestressed spring. The spring force of the prestressed spring opposes the expanding force of the expander and exceeds the operating force required for placing the brake shoes in abutment with the brake drum on the operating lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 28, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Rolf Weiler, Erhard Czich, Harald Goebel
  • Patent number: 5398370
    Abstract: This invention refers to a wiper system for windshields of motor vehicles. This wiper system comprises a wiper arm which can be attached to an oscillatorily drivable wiper shaft by way of an attachment piece. The wiper arm comprises a joint piece being essentially U-shaped in cross-section, flexibly embracing the attachment piece with its planar walls, and a cover for the attachment piece essentially U-shaped in cross-section and embracing the attachment plane with its planar walls. Furthermore, the wiping system is provided with a fluid line, which is guided along the wiper arm in order to supply a washing nozzle with washing fluid. The fluid line is easily assembled in the wiper arm at the attachment piece through a depression in which the fluid line extends. Beyond the depression in the attachment piece the fluid line extends through the wiper arm by being surrounded by a planar wall of the joint piece or the cover and a pressure spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 21, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Automotive Europe GmbH
    Inventors: Eugen Gorner, Helmut Karl, Oldrich Krizek
  • Patent number: 5398904
    Abstract: A gear reducer includes a first non-rotatable gear. A second transfer gear formed of a resilient material engages the first gear. The second gear is eccentrically driven about the first gear by an eccentric collar mounted in the second gear and coupled to a motor output shaft. The second transfer gear nutatingly engages a rotatable third gear and moves one tooth of the third gear into alignment with one tooth of the first gear for each predetermined amount of rotation of the second transfer gear. A rotatable driven shaft is coupled to and rotated by the third gear. The first and third gears each have a plurality of gear teeth arranged at the same pitch circle diameter; but provided in a different number of teeth on each of the first and third gears to provide a selective reduction between the speed of rotation of the motor output shaft and the speed of rotation of the driven shaft coupled to the third gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 21, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventor: Richard W. A. Rees
  • Patent number: 5397270
    Abstract: A flexible drive cable assembly includes a flexible elongated outer sheath enclosing a flexible elongated inner drive shaft. The drive shaft is connected to a driving element, such as a motor at one end, and to a driven element, such as a transmission at the opposite end. The flexible outer sheath is connected to the housing of the driving element at one end, and to the housing of the driven element at the opposite end, such that the outer sheath is held stationary in the longitudinal direction with respect to the inner drive shaft and the two housings. The outer sheath is connected to the housing by an end fitting. The end fitting includes an elongated connector extending outwardly from the housing to an outer end. The connector has a longitudinally extending aperture for passage of a coupling end of the inner drive shaft for connection to the element disposed within the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 14, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Walter B. Pipp, Jr., Anthony K. Carman
  • Patent number: 5390993
    Abstract: A pressure control valve is disclosed comprising a valve tappet (1) guided in a valve housing (3) and accommodating a compression spring (4), with a valve closure member (10) on one end of the valve tappet (1) and mating with a valve seat (9) establishing a connection between a pressure supply port (11) that emanates from a pressure fluid source and a pressure return channels (12) once the pressure attains a specific preset desired valve. In order to diminish noise, at least one friction element (2) is in engagement with the valve tappet (1) movable to abut on radial friction surfaces of the valve housing (3) and/or the valve tappet (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 21, 1995
    Inventors: Erhard Beck, Anton David, Helmut Weisbrod, Horst Kornemann
  • Patent number: 5388894
    Abstract: A brake fluid distribution control system for use in closed antilocking brake systems includes a switch in communication with low pressure accumulators for cyclically activating pumps that evacuate the low pressure accumulators of brake fluid under desired conditions. The method associated with this invention can be implemented by providing an indicator for indicating the amount of fluid within the accumulator and a switch for cyclically activating the pump when the fluid within the accumulator reaches a preselected capacity level. Alternatively, the antilocking brake system electronic controller is provided with appropriate software for cyclically activating the pump that evacuates the accumulators under preselected conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 14, 1995
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Russ W. Holland, Patrick M. Carty
  • Patent number: 5388899
    Abstract: This invention relates to a solenoid valve where a volume governor which governs the hydraulic flow is inserted coaxially to the valve closure member into the valve accommodating body of the valve. The volume governor is integrated by way of series connection between the first pressure medium connection, emanating from a pressure medium source, and the valve closure member. A reduction of the valve operating noises is ensured with a smallest-requirement-answering structural size, thus the control noises being prevented from propagating over the entire connected system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: February 14, 1995
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Volz, Marc Timmermans