Patents Assigned to TRW Automotive GmbH
  • Patent number: 9834174
    Abstract: A tensioner (10) for a vehicle safety device is provided with a tubular casing (12) in which a piston (18) is movably supported as well as with a closure member (26) closing the tubular casing (12) on the front face and forming a cable guide (38) for a tensioning cable (28) which may be connected to a belt buckle or an end fitting (34) and in which cable guide the tensioning cable (28) is deflected in arc shape. Further, the tensioner (10) comprises an inflator (24) accommodated in the closure member (26), wherein the tubular casing (12) includes a receiving area (14) for receiving the closure member (26) as well as a fastening portion (16) serving for fastening the tensioner (10) to a vehicle frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Michal Kacprzak
  • Patent number: 9815489
    Abstract: A device for pressing a rack against a pinion, comprises a housing, a thrust piece which is shiftably guided in the housing along a pressing axis, a bearing element which can axially be fixed at the housing, an axially pressurized force introduction member, and wedge members which each support on the thrust piece, on the bearing element and on the force introduction member, wherein at least three wedge members uniformly distributed in circumferential direction are provided, and wherein the force introduction member urges the wedge members radially to the outside and the thrust piece axially away from the bearing element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Markus Lingemann
  • Publication number: 20170320516
    Abstract: A steering device for a motor vehicle is described, the steering device comprising a steering element for steering the motor vehicle, and an actuating element by means of which wheels of the motor vehicle are adjusted as a function of an actuation of the steering element. The steering element has a steering assist unit associated with it, in particular an electronic steering assist unit for active return of the steering element, the steering assist unit comprising a motor and an open- and closed-loop control unit which drives the motor for generating an assist torque. The open- and closed-loop control unit receives data from a first sensor which directly senses the position of the actuating element, and drives the motor as a function of the position of the actuating element. Further described is a method of controlling a steering device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Publication date: November 9, 2017
    Applicant: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Keiwan Kashi, Catharina Burdessa
  • Patent number: 9796356
    Abstract: A belt retractor (10) for a seat belt comprising a belt reel (20), a belt tensioner (44) adapted to drive the belt reel (20) in a winding direction and an extension limiter (16) adapted to restrict the number of revolutions of the belt reel (20) in an unwinding direction in the activated state. The extension limiter (16) is communicated with the belt tensioner (44) so that the extension limiter (16) can only be activated after the belt tensioner (44) has been activated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Beate Hertäg, Steffen Dambacher, Adrian Landbeck
  • Publication number: 20170297608
    Abstract: A rack-and-pinion steering for a motor vehicle, having a rack which has a longitudinal axis, a rack housing in which the rack is guided for axial displacement, and at least one end stop damping assembly for the rack, the end stop damping assembly being received in the rack housing, the end stop damping assembly including a compression body for damping an end stop and a stop member which is mounted to the rack housing for limited displacement in the axial direction, the stop member resting against a first supporting surface of the rack housing at least partly by means of the compression body in a first axial direction and resting against a second supporting surface of the rack housing in an opposite, second axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2015
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Applicant: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Eduard Span, Robert Kolloch, Nadja Nilgen, Rolf von Laar
  • Patent number: 9751494
    Abstract: A force limiting device for a belt retractor is reversible from a higher restraining force level to a lower restraining force level by means of a reversing means during a force limiting phase, wherein the second restraining force level is largely determined by a performance of at least one force limiting element. The reversing means is arranged so that it accomplishes a significant work share upon reversing which is added to the performance of the force limiting element and thus temporarily increases the restraining force of the force limiting device. In this manner undershooting of the characteristic line of the force limiting device upon reversing to the lower restraining force level is compensated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Martin Roehrle
  • Patent number: 9751496
    Abstract: A belt tensioner (10) for a vehicle occupant restraint system comprises a tube (12) containing gas in the trigger case and an igniter unit (14) arranged in the tube (12) which igniter unit is inserted in an open end face (16) of the tube (12) and includes a base (18) and a cap (20) fastened to the base (18) for accommodating a propelling charge, wherein the cap (20) is arranged at least pertly inside the tube. The igniter unit (14) is welded to the tube (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Simon Schreiber, Thomas Moedinger, Alex Waidmann, Karl-Heinz Köeppel, Markus Peters
  • Patent number: 9731762
    Abstract: A control device for a land vehicle is described. The control device is set up to control at least one actuator of the land vehicle on the basis of an avoidance trajectory calculated by the control device in order to support a driver of the land vehicle during an evasive maneuver. The control device is also set up to receive sensor signals of at least one sensor; to generate an environmental model from the received sensor signals; to determine the position of an object relative to a current position of the land vehicle in the generated environmental model; and to calculate a preliminary avoidance trajectory. In the calculation of the preliminary avoidance trajectory, the current position of the land vehicle in the generated environmental model constitutes the starting point of the preliminary avoidance trajectory. A preliminary end point of the preliminary avoidance trajectory is determined on the basis of the determined position of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Carsten Hass, Torsten Bertram, Martin Keller
  • Publication number: 20170225646
    Abstract: A belt buckle feeder comprises a stationary base (12) adapted to be fixedly mounted to the vehicle and a carriage (14) movable to a retracted position and to an extended position vis-à-vis the base (12), which carriage is connected to a belt buckle (20) via an intermediate plate (22) provided between the belt buckle (20) and the carriage (14). The intermediate plate (22) is tightly connected to the belt buckle (20) and there is provided a positive guidance by which the intermediate plate (22) is pivoted during traversing to the extended position by a predetermined degree vis-à-vis the carriage (14) so that in addition to the traversing movement of the carriage (14) along a tilting direction (N) the belt buckle (20) reversibly tilts from a home position to an inclined position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2015
    Publication date: August 10, 2017
    Applicant: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Jens Klaassen, David Reich, Karsten Kortschack, Karl Birk
  • Patent number: 9707924
    Abstract: In the method for mounting an inflator (12) within a tube (14), especially of a belt tensioner, wherein an end portion (28) of the tube (14) is formed radially inwardly so that a first contact surface (30) directed to the interior of the tube (14) occurs, prior to forming an annular stabilizing disk (34) is arranged between the first contact surface (30) and a second contact surface (32) configured at the inflator (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Thomas Modinger, Martin Nuding, Andreas Pregitzer, Bernd Gentner
  • Publication number: 20170174173
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of folding an airbag (10), especially an airbag (10) to be arranged beneath a vehicle roof (50), comprising an injection orifice (11), a guiding portion (13) arranged adjacent thereto in the longitudinal direction and an inflating portion (12) arranged adjacent to the guiding portion (13) in the longitudinal direction, the method including flatly spreading the airbag (10); laterally folding, especially zigzag folding, at least in portions at least one side part (30; 30?) of the airbag (10) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (L) of the airbag (10); furling the inflating portion (12) at least in portions starting from a trailing edge (26) of the airbag (10) that is maximally spaced from the injection orifice (11) in a first furling direction (AR) in the direction to the injection orifice (11); and forming the guiding portion (13) by laying at least one folding including a first folding bend (14) against the first furling direction (AR) so that the deployment behavior of
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2015
    Publication date: June 22, 2017
    Applicant: TRW Automotive GMBH
    Inventors: Jean-Christophe Peyre, Ramon Ramos
  • Publication number: 20170163203
    Abstract: A method of controlling an electric motor of a drive device of a power steering system, in which a temperature sensor senses the temperature of the drive device and transmits information about the temperature of the drive device to an evaluation unit, the evaluation unit estimates the temperature of a gearbox based on the temperature of the drive device, and, based on the estimated temperature of the gearbox, the evaluation unit adjusts a requested torque of the electric motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2015
    Publication date: June 8, 2017
    Applicants: TRW Limited, TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Hambloch, James Owen Patrick Farrelly
  • Patent number: 9650008
    Abstract: A vehicle occupant restraint device having a knee airbag deployable between an instrument panel and the legs of a vehicle occupant and including an airbag sheath and at least one exhaust orifice formed therein. The vehicle occupant restraint device further has features for qualifying the build of the vehicle occupant, an activating unit for selectively releasing the exhaust orifice and a control which actuates the activating unit depending on the qualification of the build of the vehicle occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Timo Abele, Werner Freisler, Sven Oliver Tamme
  • Patent number: 9643569
    Abstract: A locking mechanism (18) for a belt reel (10) of a belt retractor in a vehicle, including a carrier (22) coupled to the belt reel (10) of the belt retractor, an inertia mass (24) which is pivoting to a limited extent relative to the carrier (22) and a leaf spring (28) applying the inertia mass (24) in a home position, includes at each of the carrier (22) and the inertia mass (24) a seat (34, 36) for the spring ends (30, 32) of the leaf spring (28) in which the spring ends (30, 32) of the leaf spring (28) are pivoted to a limited extent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Thomas Kielwein, Elmar Koch
  • Publication number: 20170120862
    Abstract: The invention relates to a pressure unit (64) for pressurizing a belt shaft (12) in a seat belt system comprising a screw (66) for fastening the pressure unit (64) to a frame (18) of the seat belt system, the screw (66) including a screw head (68) and a screw shank (70), wherein the pressure unit (64) comprises a fastening portion (72) having a screw hole (74) for inserting the screw shank (70), wherein radial play is provided between the screw hole (74) and the screw shank (70) and the fastening portion (72) on the screw head side includes mounting arms (76) for axially fixing the screw (66) in a pre-assembly position. Moreover, the invention also comprises an end fitting (11) of a seat belt system comprising such pressure unit (64).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2015
    Publication date: May 4, 2017
    Applicant: TRW AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Dominik Seitzer, Pawel Gorecki, Michal Kacprzak
  • Patent number: 9630588
    Abstract: The invention relates to a belt tensioner (10) for a seat belt system comprising a belt shaft housing (18) and a belt shaft (12) pivoted in the belt shaft housing (18) about an axis (A), wherein prior to activation of the belt tensioner (10) the belt shaft (12) is retained in a torsionally fixed manner relative to the belt shaft housing (18) in at least one direction of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Hans-Peter Betz, Dominik Seitzer, Ruediger Karl
  • Patent number: 9630646
    Abstract: An apparatus for pressing a rack against a pinion of a steering gear assembly includes a housing, a support yoke slidably guided in the housing along an axis, a bearing element that is fixed to the housing in an axial direction, a first elastic element providing an axial load acting upon the support yoke and the bearing element to urge the support yoke against the rack, a wear-compensating abutment member coacting with the bearing element such that a relative rotation about the axis generates an axial displacement of the abutment member relative to the bearing element, and a separate, second elastic element providing a load acting upon the abutment member in a circumferential direction to urge the abutment member against the support yoke.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: TRW AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Marco Lucchi, Luca Tabaglio, Enrico Sarioli
  • Patent number: 9630587
    Abstract: A belt buckle feeder (10) comprises a belt buckle (18), a stationary base member (12) to be mounted fixedly on the vehicle and a motor-driven slide (16) movably supported on the base member (12) to which the belt buckle (18) is coupled, wherein the slide (16) encloses the base member (12) at least in portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Holbein, Jens Klaassen
  • Patent number: 9616838
    Abstract: The invention relates to an airbag module (10) for being arranged on an instrument panel (5) comprising a fastening portion (22) provided for being arranged on the instrument panel (5), an inflator (16), an airbag (12), a receiving portion (26) for the airbag (12) extending from the inflator (16) to the fastening portion (22) and a retaining portion (24) which is accessible from outside of the receiving portion (26) and serves for retaining the inflator (16). The invention also relates to a subassembly comprising an instrument panel (5) and an airbag module (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, the fastening portion (22) of the airbag module (10) being connected to the instrument panel (5) and a retainer (28) formed separately from the airbag module (10) being provided which is connected to the retaining portion (24) of the airbag module (10).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Juergen Schmid
  • Patent number: 9611902
    Abstract: A controllable clutch (18) for a belt tensioner (16) comprises a drive member (32), a driven element (24) and a clutch pawl (40) that is movably supported on the input side (30) between a home position and an engaged position and in the engaged position couples the drive member (32) to the driven element (24), wherein the clutch pawl (40) is tension-loaded in the engaged position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Nuding, Wolfgang Holbein