Patents Examined by Dana Ivey
  • Patent number: 9180918
    Abstract: A cab tilting device includes: a left torsion bar connected with the left bottom of a cab of a vehicle to generate twisting restoring force to tilt the cab toward the front of the vehicle from the left bottom of the cab in a width direction of the cab; and a right torsion bar connected with the right bottom of the cab to generate the twisting restoring force to tilt the cab toward the front of the vehicle from the right bottom of the cab in the width direction of the cab to generate the same twisting tilting force from the left side to the right side of the cab.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Seunghyun Oh, Byungbae Kim, Dong Geun Lee, Dae Su Kim
  • Patent number: 9180824
    Abstract: A device and a system operative for protecting an automobile door from dent and damage to the finish. The device has a shield that stows in a chamber in an automobile frame below an automobile door, the shield deploying upwardly from the chamber to a position adjacent to the automobile door. The shield is deployed by a hydraulic system coupled to the shield through a plurality of linkages on a track that deploys the shield out the chamber opening and retracts the shield into the chamber. The system has an actuator for actuating the hydraulic system, the actuator selectively actuating the hydraulic system to deploy the shield when the door is locked and selectively actuating the hydraulic system to deploy the shield when is door is opening. A remote control device actuates the hydraulic system in one example embodiment. A sensor actuates the hydraulic system in another example embodiment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Inventors: David Rodriguez, Oscar Merced
  • Patent number: 9180913
    Abstract: A vehicle front end structure includes an engine cradle including an engine mounting structure and a force receiving member. The force receiving member is fixedly attached to the engine cradle. The force receiving member includes a force receiving surface extending rearward from a front corner of the engine cradle in a laterally outbound direction at an inclined angle with respect to a vehicle longitudinal direction. The force receiving member is arranged with respect to the engine cradle to receive a longitudinally directed rearward force on the force receiving surface. The force receiving member is configured with respect to the engine cradle to redirect at least a portion of the longitudinally directed rearward force laterally to the engine cradle at the engine mounting structure which is located rearward of the front corner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Nissan North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth Ameloot, Ramkrishna Jayaram Chunduri, Takaomi Makino, Takuya Yamashita
  • Patent number: 9168710
    Abstract: The invention relates, among other aspects, to a motor-vehicle top (10) comprising a flexible cover layer (11) that provides an outer face of the top with a cutout provided therein, and at least one window is provided in the cutout, particularly a rear window (12), a circumferential edge region of the cover layer being connected to an outer window edge by a polyurethane bead (13), and wherein the polyurethane bead is synthesized by reacting an isocyanate component with a polyol component, the polyol component comprising at least the following constituents: a) polyols, herein polyetherols and/or polyesterols; b) a propellant; c) a lead-free catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: PARAT BETEILIGUNGS GMBH
    Inventor: Christian Kornexl
  • Patent number: 9162627
    Abstract: An item holder for a vehicle interior includes first and second retention members which are operable between at-rest and recessed positions relative to one another. The first and second retention members have edge portions which are generally arranged in a parallel relationship and define a spacing therebetween for the insertion of an item in use. An item stored in the item holder is retained by the first and second retention members in that the first and second retention members are biased towards the at-rest position for engagement of an item therebetween. The item holder provides ready access to personal items as stored therein by a vehicle occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Josh Greiner, Annette Lynn Huebner, Ryan Welch, Kristin Ann Hellman, Artur Sakarian, Scott H. Dunham
  • Patent number: 9162554
    Abstract: To obtain a vehicle rear door structure that can improve a fitting performance of a rear door. A pair of connecting beads, that connect a lock mechanism placement portion with regions positioned at vehicle transverse direction outer sides with respect to a lateral bead, are formed at a rear door inner panel. Upper end portions of the connecting beads are disposed at positions apart from the lateral bead and are connected to an annular bead, and have outer side wall portions and inner side wall portions, that stand erect in a door thickness direction of a rear door. The outer side wall portions and the inner side wall portions both extend in a direction orthogonal to an extension line of the lateral bead as seen in a door elevation view. Further, the outer side wall portions are made integral with an inner peripheral wall portion of the annular bead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Iwano, Kosuke Ebina
  • Patent number: 9162602
    Abstract: A first barrier and a second barrier that, in a C-shape configuration, lay one on top of the other and engage each other and that, in an arched configuration, lay separate and disengaged from each other. In the C-shape configuration, the barriers can close off the bed of a pickup truck such as when the tailgate of the pickup truck is laid out and open. In the arched configuration, the barriers can serve as a four wheel vehicle ramp that extends from the ground up to the open, horizontally extending tailgate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Inventor: Nicholas A. Gargaro, III
  • Patent number: 9162640
    Abstract: A bumper cover fixing bracket mounted between a fender panel and a bumper cover includes a main supporting member having an upper end attached to an upper member, an auxiliary supporting member having a lower end connected to the main supporting member so as to form a Y-shape and an upper end attached to a wheel house front member, and a fastening member coupled to a lower end of the main supporting member and having one side and the other side mounted on the fender panel and the bumper cover, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Mincheol Kim
  • Patent number: 9156507
    Abstract: A truck bed extender which is universally mountable to a plurality of original equipment latching pins and latches for different configured or brand vehicles. Each sidewall is connectable to original equipment tailgate latches on a truck bed body. The mounting interface allows connection for a number of heights relative to truck bed for those original equipment pins. Adjustable simulated mounting pins along lower margins of each sidewall of the bed extender allow for compensation for different placement of original equipment latches on the folded down tailgate. One example is sliders that allow such adjustability. Optionally, stability members of plural configurations are automatically positioned in the gap between tailgate and truck bed body to cooperate with different existing structures on the tailgate of different vehicles to add further stability to the bed extender.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
  • Patent number: 9156391
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a collapsible rigid shelter for mounting on a truck bed. The shelter includes a floor with a pair of floor extensions, a roof shell, a collapsible roof support and a plurality of rigid wall panels. In the transport configuration, the rigid wall panels overlap the floor. The shelter may be transformed to the deployed configuration by using to collapsible roof support to elevate the roof shell, sliding the floor extensions laterally away from each other, and moving the wall panels to extend between from either the floor or one of the floor extensions to the roof shell, and thereby collectively form an enclosure when the shelter is in the deployed configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: TURTLESHEL PRODUCTS INC.
    Inventor: Fabian Loranger
  • Patent number: 9150259
    Abstract: A vehicle having a front wall, two side walls, and a truck bed that altogether define a tonneau is provided. The vehicle includes a tailgate that has a front panel, a rear panel, two side panels, and a top panel that altogether define a cavity. The tailgate also has a tonneau cover deployable from and retractable to within the cavity. The tonneau cover is selectively movable between a stowed position, a deployed position, and a partially deployed position. In the stowed position, the tonneau cover is substantially within the cavity. In the deployed position, the tonneau cover substantially covers the tonneau of the vehicle. The partially deployed position is any position between the stowed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: GM Global Technologies Operations LLC
    Inventors: Brian J. Jutila, Jeffrey A. Diegel, Ronald J. Wojciechowski
  • Patent number: 9139085
    Abstract: A flap arrangement is provided for a motor vehicle, with a movably mounted flap that is in particular preloaded, in particular a tank flap, a holder for fixing the flap, an actuator for actuating the holder, and an actuator for actuating the actuator. The actuator is equipped in order to actuate the holder for fixing and for releasing the flap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Markus Frommann, Heiko Betzen
  • Patent number: 9139142
    Abstract: A 3-layer acoustic insulator system includes an acoustic de-coupler layer, a film acoustic barrier layer connected to the de-coupler layer, and a microfiber acoustic absorber layer connected to an opposite side of the barrier film layer as the acoustic de-coupler layer. The acoustic de-coupler layer is positioned in direct contact with a vehicle component and mimics the geometry of the vehicle component. The acoustic absorber layer is positioned on a passenger compartment facing side of the vehicle component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Cadillac Products Automotive Company
    Inventors: Michael Demo, James Check
  • Patent number: 9139117
    Abstract: The invention relates to a center arm rest (01) for use in a vehicle with a console part (03), which can be directly or indirectly attached to the vehicle body, and with an arm rest (05), which is mounted on the console part so as to be swivelable about a swivel axis between a lower use position and an upper rest position, the arm rest (05) having a top side (07) for resting an arm thereon, which is padded at least in sections, and a bottom side (08) on the opposite side, which is padded at least in sections and forms part of a back rest, comprising a tray device (11), which is swivelably mounted in the center arm rest (01) and which is in an upper non-use position behind the arm rest (05) when the arm rest (05) is in the rest position, and which is swivelable about a hinge axis (12) between the non-use position and a lower use position having the tray device (11) resting on the top side of the arm rest (05) when the arm rest (05) is in the use position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: F.S. Fehrer Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Eberhard von Rothkirch und Panthen, Thomas Hessdorfer, Manfred Dehn
  • Patent number: 9132784
    Abstract: A headache rack for pickup trucks and similar vehicles is disclosed which comprises a three panel construction including a center panel connected between left and right side panels. Each of the left and right side panels is mounted to an upright side rail coupled to one of the side walls of the truck bed, and to a cross bar extending generally horizontally between the side rails. Adjustment structure is provided to adjust the overall lateral dimension of the three panels in order to accommodate truck beds of different width.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: Daws Manufacturing Company, Inc.
    Inventor: Craig Harrison
  • Patent number: 9132717
    Abstract: A vehicle interior component to which a shade assembly, which includes a shade and a shaft, is mounted includes an interior component body including a top wall, and a protruding member. The top wall is arranged such that a longitudinal direction thereof corresponds to an axial direction of the shaft. The top wall has an opening through which the shade is drawn. The top wall has exterior and interior opening edges at the opening. The interior opening edge includes a straight section and a raised section having a different shape from the straight section. The protruding member is arranged below the raised section and having a protruded edge extending straight in the longitudinal direction and on which the shade leans from an exterior side of the vehicle such that the shade bends toward an interior of the vehicle at the protruded edge when the shade is unrolled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: TOYOTA BOSHOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Katsuhiko Usami
  • Patent number: 9132869
    Abstract: Provided is an aerodynamic drag reduction apparatus for reducing aerodynamic drag on an over-the-road vehicle while underway. The aerodynamic drag reduction system includes a frame assembly that is adapted to cooperate with a cargo-carrying portion of the over-the-road vehicle to couple the drag reduction apparatus to the over-the-road vehicle. First and second skirts are adapted to be supported beneath opposite lateral sides of the cargo-carrying portion of the over-the-road vehicle by arcuate rails. The first and second skirts are coupled to the frame assembly in a manner that allows thermal expansion and contraction of the first and second skirts relative to the frame assembly without warping of material forming an air-deflecting surface of the first and second skirts to an extent that would otherwise occur if the first and second skirts were fixedly connected to the frame assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Inventor: Roderick M Dayton
  • Patent number: 9126640
    Abstract: An air guiding device (10) for a motor vehicle, with a spoiler lip (12) extending in the transverse direction (FQ) of the vehicle, and with a pneumatic actuating device (28) for the spoiler lip (12), with the aid of which actuating device the spoiler lip (12) is shiftable between a retracted rest position and an extended position, wherein the pneumatic actuating device (28) has a pneumatic actuator (30) which is fillable with or is emptiable of air, wherein the pneumatic actuator (30) is divided in the transverse direction (FQ) of the vehicle into a plurality of zones (40, 42, 44), wherein the pneumatic actuator (30) has a plurality of air-fillable chambers (46, 48, 50) in each zone (40, 42, 44), and wherein the chambers (46, 48, 50) are fillable with or are emptiable of air in a manner individual to the zones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignees: Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft, Apollo Vredestein B.V.
    Inventors: Steffen Hoelzel, Bjorn Foerster, Gerard Nijman, Mike Ludovica Karel Peeters, Louis-Phillippe Antoine Eugene Maria Reuvekamp, Guido Berge
  • Patent number: 9126639
    Abstract: An air guiding device (10) for a motor vehicle has a spoiler lip (12) mountable on a front part (8) of the motor vehicle via an adapter (32) and extends in the transverse direction (FQ) of the vehicle. A pneumatic actuating device (28) shifts the spoiler lip (12) between a retracted rest position and an extended position. A flexurally elastic rod (24) is guided in a guide (26) near the free end of the spoiler lip (12). The spoiler lip (12) is mounted on the adapter (32) so that the spoiler lip (12), even in the retracted rest position, is under a prestress that opposes the shifting of the spoiler lip (12) out of the rest position into an extended position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignees: Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft, Apollo Vredestein B.V.
    Inventors: Steffen Hoelzel, Bjorn Foerster, Gerard Nijman, Mike Ludovica Karel Peeters, Louis-Phillippe Antoine Eugene Maria Reuvekamp
  • Patent number: 9126632
    Abstract: A vehicle body top structure for enhancing the rigidity and strength of the intersections of side rails and a front rail. The vehicle body top structure is provided with left and right side rails provided so as to extend in the front-and-rear direction at the top part of a vehicle body side part, and a front rail extending left and right, one end part of which is joined to the left side rail, and the other end of which is joined to the right side rail. Thin-plate parts having a smaller plate thickness than thick-plate parts and thick-plate parts are disclosed at the one end and the other end of the front rail. The thin-plate parts are each connected to the left and right side rails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tohru Ono