Patents Examined by Matthew D Lee
  • Patent number: 11572101
    Abstract: A sub-frame includes: a main body portion that has a vehicle body support portion supported by a vehicle body; and a reinforcement plate that is attached to a bottom surface of the main body portion. The main body portion includes a torque rod support portion which supports a torque rod coupled to a power unit. The torque rod support portion has a first shaft support portion which supports one end of a shaft supporting the torque rod, a first opening portion into which the torque rod is able to be inserted, and a second opening portion which is formed below the first shaft support portion. The reinforcement plate has a second shaft support portion supporting the other end of the shaft and covers the second opening portion from below.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yuho Ito
  • Patent number: 11565740
    Abstract: A steering device includes: a housing including a first planar surface, the housing being configured to accommodate a part of a rack shaft; an electric motor including a second planar surface facing the first planar surface, the electric motor including a bracket configured to support a rotary shaft; a tightening member configured to tighten the housing and the bracket in a state where the first planar surface and the second planar surface are mated; and a sealing member configured to provide sealing between the housing and the bracket at a position that is closer to the rotary shaft than the tightening member is. At least one of the first planar surface and the second planar surface is formed with a recess located between the tightening member and the sealing member and depressed from the at least one of the first planar surface and the second planar surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventor: Yusuke Hamaguchi
  • Patent number: 11560119
    Abstract: A pregnancy seat belt that secures an expectant mother and her unborn baby due to the absence of a lap belt traversing the expectant mother's abdomen. The expectant mother is secured instead by a center belt and/or thigh-belts that secure the mother at her thighs and avoid traverse of her abdomen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Inventors: Bill Birgen, Wes Cross
  • Patent number: 11548339
    Abstract: A relative guide device (1) for a steering arrangement (31) is arranged on the wheel-carrier side for the spatial guidance and maintenance of the relative spatial orientation of the steering arrangement (31) with respect to a vehicle body (40). At least one telescopic movement apparatus (2) for movably connecting the steering arrangement (31) is arranged on the wheel-carrier side to the vehicle body (40). A steering force transmission device (30) transmits a steering force to a wheel (R) of a vehicle having a relative guide device (1), and to a wheel suspension (50) for a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Dominik Nees, Michael Frey
  • Patent number: 11548346
    Abstract: A clamp for securing a link to a bar or a rod in order to accommodate multiple connection points. The clamp or sway bar clamp includes multiple connection points for securing a link to a sway bar. The sway bar clamp goes over the end of the sway bar. It converts a sway bar with one connection point to a sway bar with multiple connection points to adjust flex of the sway bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Shock Therapy Suspension, Inc.
    Inventor: Justin Smith
  • Patent number: 11530008
    Abstract: A trailer for towing by a power vehicle is provided and generally includes a frame and a tandem wheel assembly. The frame forms an undercarriage chassis which the tandem wheel assembly is positioned there under. The undercarriage chassis includes a steerable rear wheel assembly, a steerable front wheel assembly, and an extension assembly moving the front wheel assembly between trailing position and a self-propelled position where the rear wheel assembly and the front wheel assembly are positioned to equally support the undercarriage chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: New Heights LLC
    Inventors: Aaron Jay Beiler, William Fisher, Raymond Beiler, Jeremiah Weaver
  • Patent number: 11524654
    Abstract: An occupant protection device for a vehicle includes a collision detector, a main airbag, a belt airbag, a belt controller, a distance detector, and an airbag controller. The collision detector detects a collision of the vehicle. In response to the collision detector detecting the collision, the main airbag deploys from a storage position toward an occupant seated on a seat of the vehicle. The belt airbag is stored in a seatbelt. The belt controller controls winding of the seatbelt, extraction of the seatbelt, and prohibition of the extraction of the seatbelt. The distance detector detects a distance from the storage position to the occupant. When the collision detector detects the collision of the vehicle and the detected distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the airbag controller deploys the belt airbag from within the seatbelt without causing the belt controller to prohibit the extraction of the seatbelt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shota Kanegae, Toru Yamashita
  • Patent number: 11524539
    Abstract: A chassis component for a wheel suspension which has a strut arrangement with at least one strut which is in the form of a profile component with an open cross-section. The at least one strut has a profile base and two wall sections that extend away from the profile base. An articulation point is provided, at least at one end of the strut, for receiving two joint components movably connected to one another, namely, a first joint component having a spherical joint body and a second joint component that rotatably and/or pivotably holds the joint body. In the area of the at least one articulation point, the wall sections have first and second joint accommodation apertures arranged opposite one another. A cylindrical sleeve is pressed in between the first joint accommodation aperture and the second joint accommodation aperture and keeps the opposite wall sections apart from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Manfred Sieve, Philipp Bronswick, Jan Pabst
  • Patent number: 11524544
    Abstract: A spring-absorber system for a wheel suspension of a motor vehicle includes a suspension spring with a spring constant kT and an absorber filled with a fluid and mounted in parallel to the suspension spring. The spring-absorber system also includes at least two additional spring modules via which a total spring constant kG of the spring-absorber system can be varied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Maximilian Dietrich, Uwe Schatzberger, Johannes Schroeder
  • Patent number: 11524748
    Abstract: A suspension arm assembly for supporting at least a section of a recreational vehicle, such as a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle front end, above a support surface is described. The suspension arm assembly has at least one segmented suspension arm formed by an upper arm section, a lower arm section and an intermediate arm section. The intermediate arm section is interconnected between the upper and lower arm sections by detachable end connectors. The intermediate arm section when impacted by objects in its pathway, when the vehicle is in motion and when damaged by an impact force of a strength overcoming its resistance strength, will deform or break. The intermediate arm can then be easily detached from the detachable end connectors for replacement by a further intermediate arm section and thereby permitting on site repair of the suspension arm assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Inventor: Martin Bougie
  • Patent number: 11518206
    Abstract: An example vehicle frame disclosed herein includes end frames having wheels coupled thereto, and a central frame coupled between the end frames, the central frame positioned at an offset relative to the end frames, the vehicle frame rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame between a first position and a second position, the central frame at a first distance from the ground when the vehicle frame is in the first position, the central frame at a second distance from the ground when the vehicle frame is in the second position, the first distance greater than the second distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Michael John Harmon, Hussain Z. Tajmahal, Marielle Conrad, Benjamin Jordan Curtis, David Earl Ooms, Yejin Han
  • Patent number: 11518190
    Abstract: A vehicle component such as an axle spindle or suspension beam (3) is connected to a tubular vehicle axle (1) by fitting a connector sleeve (2) onto the axle and subjecting the assembly to a crimping operation in which plural depressions (206,2018) are formed by indentation in the connector sleeve and the axle wall at the connection region (11,12) to fix the connector sleeve on the tubular axle. In the described proposals a solid lubricant (4) such as molybdenum disulphide is applied at the connection region between the connector sleeve (2) and axle (1), before crimping. The further vehicle component (3) is then connected to the connector sleeve (2) by welding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Inventors: Shaun Macken, Sathya Babu, Nathan Wilson
  • Patent number: 11498815
    Abstract: A crane control for a crane includes at least one operating unit operable by an operator for controlling working functions of the crane. Control signals can be input to actuators of the crane by the operating unit, and a mounting arrangement is provided for mounting the operating unit in a driving cab of the vehicle and a support arrangement connects the operating unit to the mounting arrangement. The support arrangement for the operating unit is supported limitedly moveably between at least two positions, a first position of which is in the form of a working position in which the operating unit is between a steering arrangement of the vehicle and a driving seat, and a second position of which is in the form of a storage position in which the operating unit is moved away from the steering arrangement of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: EPSILON Kran GmbH
    Inventors: Simon Schoerghofer, Johannes Steindl
  • Patent number: 11498603
    Abstract: A steering column includes a steering shaft, a fixing bracket, a first cylinder, a second cylinder, an angle adjustment motor, an angle adjustment screw-nut assembly, a linkage assembly, a height adjustment motor, and a height adjustment screw-nut assembly, where the second cylinder is slidably sleeved with the first cylinder, the steering shaft runs through the first and second cylinders, the steering shaft includes an upper shaft and a lower shaft that are in splined connection, the upper shaft is supported in the second cylinder through a first bearing, the lower shaft is supported in the first cylinder through a second bearing, the first cylinder is hinged to the fixing bracket, the angle adjustment motor can drive the first cylinder to rotate relative to the fixing bracket, and the height adjustment motor can drive the second cylinder to axially move relative to the first cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: BYD COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Peng Zhang, Chenggang Luo
  • Patent number: 11491951
    Abstract: An occupant protection device including a seat belt including a shoulder belt and a lap belt, a locking tongue that is detachably joined to a buckle, that allows the seat belt to pass therethrough, and that is capable of switching between an unlock state in which the seat belt is allowed to move with the locking tongue being between the shoulder belt and the lap belt and a lock state in which movement thereof is restricted, a shoulder-belt puller that is capable of pulling the shoulder belt to apply a tensile force thereto, a side-collision detector that detects a side collision or a precursor thereof, and a control unit that changes a state of the locking tongue into the lock state and causes the shoulder-belt puller to pull the shoulder belt when the side-collision detector detects the side collision that occurs opposite an occupant or the precursor thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chihiro Suzuki, Masaaki Kobayashi, Tsuyoshi Nomura, Noriaki Saito, Takeru Shoji, Keiko Sonoda
  • Patent number: 11491060
    Abstract: A wheelchair-bound passenger restraint device has a wheelchair retractor that rewinds one end portion of a wheelchair belt member in an extractable manner, a wheelchair buckle that can be fitted with a wheelchair tongue plate, a passenger retractor that rewinds one end portion of a passenger belt member in an extractable manner, a passenger buckle that can be fitted with a passenger tongue plate, a buckle sensor that detects that the wheelchair tongue plate has been fitted to the wheelchair buckle, and a passenger belt lock mechanism that is configured to be able to make a changeover between a locked state making the passenger belt member unextractable an unlocked state making the passenger belt member extractable, and that makes a changeover from the locked state to the unlocked state when it is detected that the wheelchair tongue plate has been fitted to the wheelchair buckle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Makoto Sekizuka, Mitsuyoshi Ohno
  • Patent number: 11485311
    Abstract: A side airbag device with a base member for an inflator to be easily fixed thereto, and a method for manufacturing same is provided. The side airbag device includes: an airbag; an inflator configured to supply the airbag with gas; a base member configured to accommodate the airbag and the inflator, and to be fixed to a vehicle body; an outer covering member configured to cover at least a front side of the base member to form a front-facing interior surface; and a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket includes an inflator fixing portion to which the inflator is fixed and a base member fixing portion which is located in a position different from a position of the inflator fixing portion and fixed to the base member. The base member includes, at a left or right side portion thereof, a bracket fixing portion to which the mounting bracket is fixed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: TS TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Atsushi Yamabe, Daisuke Kuriyama
  • Patent number: 11485418
    Abstract: A structure for assembling a vehicle having an axis of elongation, a frame rail and a cross member extending from the frame rail comprises a conduit extending along the axis of elongation of the vehicle. A conveyor is disposed in the conduit. At least one coupling attaches the conduit with at least one of the frame rail and the cross member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: International Truck Intellectual Property Company, LLC
    Inventors: Constantin S. Busuioc, Jay E. Bissontz
  • Patent number: 11485185
    Abstract: A multi-point link for a chassis of a motor vehicle. The multi-point link has at least one hollow profile portion including fiber-reinforced plastic and at least one load introduction element including a metallic material. The hollow profile portion, when viewed in cross section, has at least one hollow space formed as a circumferentially closed chamber. The hollow profile portion and the load introduction element are connected to one another in a common connection portion via a nondetachable glued plug-in connection. At least one stiffening element, which is fixedly connected to the hollow profile portion, is arranged in the chamber to increase the stiffness of the multi-point link.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
    Inventors: Andre Stieglitz, Ingolf Müller
  • Patent number: 11472368
    Abstract: An occupant crash protection includes: a seatbelt that restrains a front-seat occupant sitting in a front seat; a retractor that is installed inside a seatback of the front seat and reels in one end side of the seatbelt, inserted inside the seatback, so as to allow the seatbelt to be pulled out; and a rear-seat airbag module that is installed inside the seatback, on a seat rear side relative to the seatbelt, and inflates and deploys an airbag toward the seat rear side of the seatback while inflating a part of the airbag toward a seat front side so as to press the seatbelt toward the seat front side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Mitsuyoshi Ohno