Patents Assigned to ITW Automotive Products GmbH
  • Patent number: 9394824
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine's cooling system of which a cooling water regulator is situated in a cooling circuit, said regulator being driven by an engine control in a manner to temporarily wholly interrupt the flow of cooling water, said regulator being shunted by a subsidiary branch containing a blocking element which is associated with a lock driven by the engine control, and the blocking element being designed to be moved by the cooling water pressure in the subsidiary branch into an open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: ITW AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS GMBH
    Inventor: Carsten Heldberg
  • Patent number: 9341107
    Abstract: A thermostatic valve aggregate for a motor vehicle cooling system, having a valve housing containing a valve seat, further having an expansible drive element which is configured in the valve housing and is coupled to a valve element, and a spring biasing the valve element against the valve seat, one coolant hookup on each side of the valve seat, a bypass valve element prestressed by a bypass valve spring in the direction of a bypass valve seat in order to selectively link one bypass hookup to the valve housing to one of the other hookups, characterized in that an electromagnet is mounted on the valve housing and comprises a core extending as far as the bypass valve seat, in that the bypass valve element is fitted with a magnetically effective armature element resting against or nearly reaching the core when the bypass valve rests against the bypass valve seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: ITW AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS GMBH
    Inventor: Carsten Heldberg
  • Patent number: 8827172
    Abstract: A valve fitted with a housing which comprises at least two mutually apart coolant hookups, and a thermally expansible device, including a housing and a push-rod and resting on the housing and operating in concert with a valve element that in turn operates in concert with an annular valve seat, said valve seat being situated between the two hookups, and a spring that biases the valve element toward the valve seat, wherein the valve element is in the form of an annular valve disk made by two-part injection molding, where one annular sealing portion is made of an elastomeric plastic and the remaining valve disk is made of a hard plastic, the outer sealing portion cooperating with the valve seat and the inner sealing portion cooperating in a sealing manner with a housing of the thermally expansible device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH
    Inventor: Rolf Habermann
  • Patent number: 8814232
    Abstract: An external, automobile door handle system including an elongated grip manually accessible from the door outside and fitted at its ends with support protrusions, a first support protrusion resting pivotably at a support connected to the door structure and the second support protrusion being operationally linked to a swivel lever, the swivel lever being connected by a linkage or a cable to a door lock in a manner that said lock shall be opened when the grip is pulled out of the rest position into an open position. The automobile door handle system also includes a centrifugal weight which is supported displaceably in a similarly direction as the grip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Angelo Bertolotti
  • Patent number: 8794863
    Abstract: A connector for joining a plastic, elongated component and a threaded rod insertable into a borehole of the elongated component, which in turn is guided within a stationary bush, includes a locking element for locking the threaded rod in the borehole. The elongated component has a slot between the borehole and its outer surface. The locking element includes a two-arm lever configured within the slot and has a first end which has an engagement portion that can engage in locking manner the thread of the threaded rod, and a second end projecting outward beyond the slot when the engagement portion engages the thread. The lever's first end is prestressed toward the borehole and the lever is dimensioned in a manner that the second end pivots into the slot as the component is being pushed into the bush, as a result of which the engagement portion leaves the borehole, whereas the lever pivots back when the component has been slipped so far into the bush that the second lever end is released from the bush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Gerd Hohmann, Markus Ferdinand, Albert Spongk
  • Patent number: 8596315
    Abstract: A filling neck to feed fuel into a motor vehicle tank using a filling nozzle, exhibiting the following features: a slotted drive ring comprising an insertion portion conically tapering toward the vehicle fuel tank, the cross-sectional constriction being less than the filling nozzle's cross-section; the drive ring, facing the fuel tank comprises, on at least one side of said gap, a locking segment; the drive ring is configured in floating manner in a cup-shaped housing portion of the filling neck, the outside diameter of said ring being less than the inside diameter of the cup-shaped housing portion; a sealing element is associated with the distal end of the drive ring, blocking access to the tank in its closed position; the drive ring's locking segment engages and keeps the sealing element in the locked position, and moves into the open position when said drive ring is expanded by the filling nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Manfred Muller
  • Patent number: 8544932
    Abstract: An automobile fuel-tank tube comprising a tube body made of a first plastic and fitted at one end with means for its affixation to an automobile body opening, further comprising a base integrally shaped with said tube body and made of a second plastic softer than the first and including an aperture to receive in sealing manner a comparatively hard filling pipe, a reinforcing section being integrated into the base and also consists of the first plastic and counteracts radial and/or circumferential deformation of said base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Jurgen Herzig
  • Patent number: 8443493
    Abstract: A fastening device for attaching a structural member to a support member includes a lower portion having a shank portion attachable to the support member, and an upper portion having a radial flange at the outer side and an axial passage. The shank portion is insertable into the axial passage of the upper portion from one end thereof. At least one outer side of the shank portion has an axially parallel extending row of saw-tooth-shaped teeth, and a resilient pawl being formed at the axial passage for cooperating with the row of teeth in a ratchet manner, when the upper portion is pushed onto the shank portion in a first direction, to block a displacement of the upper and lower portions in a second, opposite direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Stefan Seidel
  • Patent number: 8353553
    Abstract: A drive for actuating a flap pivotably supported in or on an automobile includes a push-push kinematics. The kinematics includes a pushbar axially displaceably supported in a housing and having an external actuation end cooperating with the flap. A rotatable ring encloses the pushbar. A groove runs parallel to the pushbar axis and engages with a protrusion at the inner circumference of the ring. A first deflection face runs obliquely to the pushbar axis and cooperates with the protrusion of the ring to rotate this ring when the pushbar is pushed into the housing. A locking recess situated at the pushbar for receiving the protrusion when the pushbar is released, to lock the pushbar in the housing. A second deflection face runs obliquely to the pushbar axis and cooperates with the protrusion when the pushbar is moved out of the locked position by being pushed farther into the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH
    Inventor: Christian Beck
  • Patent number: 8348567
    Abstract: A molded plastic rivet for affixing two parts to each other when the rivet is inserted through two mutually aligned apertures in the parts. The rivet includes a pin having a pin head, a pin shank and first and second pin latching offsets at the distal end of the pin shank. The latching elements include at least first latching offsets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Nikolaus Schwarzkopf
  • Patent number: 8328609
    Abstract: A back-air blocking device to ventilate a motor vehicle's inside space includes a frame or housing made of a first plastic, and a valve flap, made of flexible material, connected in one zone to the frame and in other zones resting against a sealing surface of said frame when the flap is in its rest position. The flap detaches off the sealing surface when subjected to a pressure differential. The valve flap is a thin plate made of a closed-pore, foamed material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Daniel Schneider
  • Patent number: 8313148
    Abstract: A guide sleeve for support bar of a motor vehicle seatback headrest, comprising a hollow, plastic tube fitted with an axial passage and comprising at its upper end an integral flange segment through which runs the tube's axial passage, further a slider guided in sliding manner in a flange segment aperture perpendicularly to the axis of said passage, and fitted with an external grip and an axial continuous passage which can be aligned with the stem's axial passage respectively the flange segment's aperture, the slider moreover comprising a locking segment which may be made to engage with or disengage from a snap-in notch of the support bar as a function of slider position, further with spring elements acting on the slider and biasing it toward the snap-in notches, said spring elements being constituted by a resilient, integral slider segment resting against a wall segment of the aperture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Alberto Lardies, Olga Arenillas
  • Patent number: 8240622
    Abstract: The disclosure concerns a clip having a first shank including a distal end and a proximal end, a head attached to the distal end, a resilient flange attached to the first shank proximate to the proximal end, a second shank extending downwardly from the resilient flange, wherein the second shank includes a free end. A pair of spring members extending obliquely from the free end to the resilient flange, each of the pair of spring members being attached to the resilient flange by a snap-in shoulder, and a pair of longitudinal members extending from the free end and each having a securing element at an opposing end proximate to the resilient flange, wherein the pair of longitudinal members and the securing elements are movable inwardly and outwardly as a result of the pair of spring members flexing inwardly and outwardly, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Gerd Hohmann, Daniel Schneider, Markus Ferdinand
  • Patent number: 8205802
    Abstract: A premounted unit includes a pipe stub and a thermostatic valve. The pipe stub includes a valve seat mechanically biased by a valve spring against the valve seat and resting at its other end against a mating rest element. The unit further includes an expansible element which is configured between a segment of the pipe stub and the valve member and which opens the thermostatic valve as a function of temperature against the force of the valve spring. The unit further includes a U-shaped retention yoke of which the central strip rests against the mating rest element and the legs are connected to an annular cap element thereby recesses being constituted at mutually opposite sides at the inside of the annular cap element and the legs of the retention yoke being fitted at its ends with outwardly pointing hook elements that engage the recesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Rolf Habermann
  • Patent number: 8177467
    Abstract: A fastening device having a fastening element includes a plug-in region and a contact area at a distance therefrom, and a shaft between the plug-in region and the contact area. The plug-in region is axially pressable through a through opening in a wall area in a plugged position of the fastening element, until the contact surface, or an intermediate part situated in between, presses against the wall area from one side and the shaft is radially centered in the through opening. The fastening element is connected to another component. The fastening element is located in its installed position after the fastening element is in its plugged position through the through opening and is then rotated around an axis of its shaft into an installed position delimited by a stop, in which at least one radial projection of the plug-in region engages behind an edge area of the through opening to fix the fastening element in the installed position and thus prevent axial displacement of the shaft out of the through opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignees: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Angela Zoeller, Frank Eckstein, Albert Sbongk
  • Patent number: 8167342
    Abstract: An automobile outer door handle, comprising a lever-shaped handle portion which is manually gripped from the door's outer side and which is fitted with at least one bearing element resting in pivotably manner on a mating bearing element of the door and is coupled by a linkage to a door lock in a manner that, when this lock shall open when the handle portion is pivoted out of a rest position into an open position, an inertial mass being supported in excursion-limited manner in the region of the swivel bearing of the handle portion in a similar direction as the handle portion, said inertial mass locking in one limit position (blocked position) the handle portion into the rest position whereas releasing it in the other limit position (release position) and being moved into the blocked position when a predetermined transverse acceleration acts on the automobile to exert an opening force on the handle portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Angelo Bertolotti
  • Patent number: 8162579
    Abstract: A plastic, undetachable anchor (10) to affix a component (52) to a support (54), comprising a rectangular affixing aperture (56), the anchor comprising a resilient, flange-like head (12), a hollow shank (16) subtending an axis and connected at one end to the head (12) and receiving an affixation screw (20), further resilient detent arms (40,42) connected to the shank end away from the head (14), where the detent arms (40,42) running obliquely outward toward the head (14) are fitted at their free ends with a detent shoulder (44) engaging {in the assembled state—an edge of an affixation aperture (56) facing them in order to secure the anchor (10) against being pulled out of the affixation aperture (56).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Thomas Rueckel
  • Patent number: 8083432
    Abstract: A connection element includes first and second retaining elements adapted to be connected to be freely rotated relative to each other about 360°. The first retaining element has a first outer annular portion and a first inner annular portion concentric to the first outer annular portion. The first outer annular portion has an inner locking portion of limited length in the circumferential direction. The second retaining element has a second outer annular portion and a second inner annular portion concentric to the second outer annular portion. The second inner annular portion is matingly accommodated by the first inner annular portion. An annular circumferentially extending locking portion of the second outer annular portion is within the first outer annular portion gripping behind the inner locking portion when the retaining elements are plugged together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co., KG
    Inventor: Alexander Limpert
  • Patent number: 8075060
    Abstract: A plastic headrest sleeve receiving a headrest rod and comprising a tube fitted at its top end with a flange within which a slider is displaceably supported between a locked position, wherein it locks the headrest rod, and a release position, the wall of the said tube being fitted between its ends with at least one resilient clamping segment, a spring being mounted on the tube outside and biasing the resilient segment toward the tube inside, and a drive element displaceably resting on the tube, said drive element being operationally connected to the slider and the clamping segment in a manner that the spring's action on the clamping segment shall be reduced or eliminated when the slider is displaced into the release position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Matthias Gans
  • Patent number: 8070126
    Abstract: A valve operating device defined by the following features: a slider supported in axially displaceable manner in a housing and linked by an actuation segment to the valve, a first biasing spring configured in the housing and pre-stressing the slider against a first stop, an expansible element configured in the housing and being displaceably supported in approximately coaxial manner relative to the slider between a second and a third stop, a second biasing spring acting on the expansible element and pre-stressing the element against the second stop, the configuration allowing cooperation between the expansible element's drive pin and the slider, a heater associated to the expansible element, a heat dissipating element associated with the expansible element and cooling the expansible element when latter rests against the third stop, the force exerted by the first biasing spring being larger than that of the second biasing spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: ITW Automotive Products GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Torsten Hauk, Rolf Habermann, Carsten Heldberg