Patents by Inventor Gerard Kapolnek

Gerard Kapolnek has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11142109
    Abstract: A passenger seat assembly for a vehicle includes a seat back having a center portion disposed on the upper part of the seat back. The center portion of the seat back includes a receptacle and an audio system selectively disposed in the receptacle and the receptacle includes a retention feature and a battery charge unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Gerard Kapolnek, Chad C. Cairns
  • Patent number: 11059406
    Abstract: A seat assembly for an automobile includes a seat back, a sleeve mounted within the seat back, a head restraint, the head restraint including a support post extending therefrom, the sleeve adapted to receive the support post to support the head restraint on the seat back, and a guide cap mounted onto the sleeve adjacent an external surface of the seat back, the guide cap including an electrical port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Gerard Kapolnek, Chad C. Cairns
  • Publication number: 20200317103
    Abstract: A passenger seat assembly for a vehicle includes a seat back having a center portion disposed on the upper part of the seat back. The center portion of the seat back includes a receptacle and an audio system selectively disposed in the receptacle and the receptacle includes a retention feature and a battery charge unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2019
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Inventors: Gerard Kapolnek, Chad C. Cairns
  • Publication number: 20200231076
    Abstract: A powered head restraint assembly for a vehicle includes a head restraint, a seat back, a sleeve in the seat back, and a head restraint support post extending from the head restraint and received by the sleeve in the seat back. The head restraint support post includes a conductive strip on an outer surface of the head restraint support post in contact with a conductive contact in the sleeve to establish an electrical connection between the conductive strip and the conductive contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2019
    Publication date: July 23, 2020
    Inventors: Gerard Kapolnek, Chad C. Cairns
  • Patent number: 10477303
    Abstract: An adjustable positioning head restraint speaker system includes a head restraint unit mounted to a vehicle seat. A left-side speaker unit and a right-side speaker unit are each manually displaced with respect to the head restraint unit to independently position each of the left-side speaker unit and the right-side speaker unit in different temporarily fixed locations with respect to the head restraint unit. A member connects the left-side speaker unit and the right-side speaker unit to one of the head restraint unit and the vehicle seat. The different temporarily fixed locations include at least a first location creating a direct acoustic path into an ear of an occupant of the vehicle seat and a second location defining an indirect acoustic path toward the ear of the occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Gerard Kapolnek, Chad C. Cairns, Daniel W. Booth