Patents Examined by Drew J. Brown
  • Patent number: 11208070
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an airbag system which is operable to deploy in a vehicle crash event. The airbag system includes an airbag having an upper chamber, a lower chamber, an actuator, a tether, and an actuatable pin. In one example, the tether has a predetermined length and extends between the actuator and the lower chamber. The actuator is disposed at a predetermined lateral distance from the lateral chamber and is configured to inflate the upper chamber and the lower chamber to a predefined pressure. Furthermore, the actuatable pin is configured to maintain the tether in an indirect path when the airbag is not deployed and the actuatable pin is configured to allow the tether to have a direct path between the actuator and the lower chamber when the airbag is deployed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Dean M. Jaradi, Mohammad Omar Faruque, S. M. Iskander Farooq, Joseph Edward Abramczyk, Zhibing Deng, Deepak Patel
  • Patent number: 11208071
    Abstract: Provided is an airbag which further reduces the degree of injury to a vehicle occupant while also exhibiting sufficient occupant protection performance using less output from the inflator, by both preventing airbag internal pressure from rising excessively when making contact with the occupant and increasing the speed of deployment in an occupant-protection area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: SUMISHO AIRBAG SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masatoshi Yoshida, Teppei Harabayashi
  • Patent number: 11203389
    Abstract: A leaning vehicle is equipped with a double wishbone (DWB) type suspension apparatus capable of improving comfort felt by an operator In the leaning vehicle, a connecting member is provided such that a first distance is smaller than a second distance. A distance from the connecting member to a hip point of an operator seat in a leaning-vehicle front-back direction is larger than a distance from the connecting member to a rotational center axis of each axle of a left rear wheel and a right rear wheel in the leaning vehicle front-back direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yosuke Hirayama
  • Patent number: 11198411
    Abstract: Airbag cushion diffusers comprising one or more frangible portions and related airbag cushion assemblies and methods. In some embodiments, an airbag cushion assembly may comprise an airbag cushion having an internal diffuser positioned therein. The internal diffuser may comprise a lower panel that may be sewn or otherwise directly coupled to the airbag cushion and an upper panel coupled to the lower panel about respective entire peripheries of the upper and lower panels so as to define a diffuser chamber between the upper panel and the lower panel. The upper panel may comprise a plurality of openings for delivery of inflation gas therethrough and may comprise one or more openings, slits, and/or weakened regions configured to facilitate tearing in specific locations of the diffuser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: Autoliv ASP. Inc.
    Inventor: Joel Yaney
  • Patent number: 11192518
    Abstract: Provided is a curtain air bag device including a cushion body provided with a main cushion part and a cushion moving part that is inflated by gas injected from an inflator when the cushion body is deployed and presses the main cushion part in a desired direction, a strap part configured to bind the cushion body such that the main cushion part and the cushion moving part keep a folded shape and to be broken when the cushion body is deployed, and a mounting part connected to the cushion body and coupled to a vehicle body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Dong Ho Kang
  • Patent number: 11192571
    Abstract: An adjustment mechanism for a steering column includes a lever rotatable to move the adjustment mechanism between a locked position and an unlocked position. The adjustment mechanism also includes a lever connector extending away from an inner face of the lever inwardly toward an axis of the steering column, the lever connector having a lever threaded portion. The adjustment mechanism further includes a cam located adjacent to the lever. The adjustment mechanism yet further includes a cam connector extending away from an outer face of the cam outwardly away from the axis of the steering column, the cam connector having a cam threaded portion engaged with the lever threaded portion to convert rotational motion of the lever to translational motion of the cam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation
    Inventor: Jose de jesus Barajas
  • Patent number: 11192513
    Abstract: An airbag for a front passenger seat is configured to be inflated and expanded between the front passenger seat and an instrument panel. The airbag includes a main bag, a left sub-bag and a right sub-bag. The left sub-bag and the right sub-bag are respectively connected to a left side portion and a right side portion of the main bag. The left sub-bag and the right sub-bag are connected to each other on at least one of an upper portion, a lower portion and a front portion of the airbag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: JOYSON SAFETY SYSTEMS JAPAN K.K.
    Inventors: Shinichi Takeuchi, Kazuya Nakamura
  • Patent number: 11186246
    Abstract: A rooftop airbag apparatus including: a first cushion deployed along a ceiling of a vehicle body; a second cushion connected to the first cushion and deployed toward a bottom of the vehicle body; and a third cushion connected to the second cushion and deployed in a widthwise direction of the vehicle body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Byung Ho Min
  • Patent number: 11186131
    Abstract: A suspension upright assembly for a vehicle provides a wheel hub bearing and a suspension upright including a fiber-reinforced composite bushing arranged around the wheel hub bearing, attachment members for attaching the suspension upright to a suspension assembly and to a brake caliper of the vehicle, and a fiber-reinforced composite truss-structure that connects at least one of the attachment members to the bushing and/or to a further one of the attachment members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Inventors: Michiel Warmerdam, Marco Falossi, Remi Sarlin
  • Patent number: 11180106
    Abstract: An occupant protection device for a vehicle includes a collision predictor, a main airbag, an occupant state detecting device, a sub-airbag, and a deployment controller. The collision predictor is configured to predict a collision of the vehicle. The main airbag is configured to deploy toward an occupant from a front of the vehicle when the collision predictor predicts a collision of the vehicle. The occupant state detecting device is configured to detect a position of an arm of the occupant. The sub-airbag is configured to deploy toward the arm of the occupant and to swiftly deflate after deployment. The deployment controller is configured to, when the collision predictor predicts a collision of the vehicle, cause the sub-airbag to deploy toward the arm of the occupant detected by the occupant state detecting device and cause the main airbag to deploy after deflation of the sub-airbag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shota Kanegae, Toru Yamashita
  • Patent number: 11180179
    Abstract: A dampened adjustment assembly for a steering column includes a lever rotatable to move the dampened adjustment assembly between a locked position and an unlocked position. The dampened adjustment assembly also includes a clamp bolt operatively coupled to the lever. The dampened adjustment assembly further includes a cam operatively coupled to the clamp bolt and disposed within a pocket of a lower jacket. The dampened adjustment assembly yet further includes a dampening component formed of a dampening material and surrounding a perimeter of the cam, the dampening component positioned to contact a surface of the lower jacket to define the unlocked position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation
    Inventors: Zachery P. Schultz, Gregory E. Kociba, Brian K. Rood
  • Patent number: 11180103
    Abstract: An inflatable airbag system can be configured to be mounted to a frontal region of a vehicle. The inflatable airbag system includes a housing configured to be mounted on a steering wheel of a vehicle and an inflator assembly at least partially disposed within the housing. The inflatable airbag system includes an airbag that receives inflation gas from the inflator assembly to expand and deploy out of the housing from a packaged configuration to a deployed configuration to provide occupant crash protection during a collision event, the airbag defining an inflatable chamber. A diffuser is disposed within the inflatable chamber and is in fluid communication with the inflator assembly. An occupant-facing panel of the diffuser comprises an aperture disposed in the center of the occupant-facing panel of the diffuser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Autoliv ASP, Inc.
    Inventors: Travis Hess, Yutaka Hirota, Akira Koizumi, Christopher Banatin, Derrick Staheli
  • Patent number: 11180110
    Abstract: An assembly includes a rod, a tube slidably supported by the rod, a seatbelt buckle supported by the tube, and a lock. The tube and the rod are releasably engageable to each other by the lock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Dean M. Jaradi, Mohammad Omar Faruque, S. M. Iskander Farooq
  • Patent number: 11173979
    Abstract: A leaning vehicle includes: a body frame; a right wheel and a left wheel; a linkage mechanism including arms rotatably supported on the body frame; a left-right tilt angle control mechanism configured to control a tilt angle of the body frame in a left direction or in the right direction by adjusting a rotation of the arms with respect to the body frame; and a control section. The control section controls the left-right tilt angle control mechanism to change the tilt angle of the body frame in the left direction or in the right direction in accordance with an input to the leaning vehicle from a rider while the leaning vehicle is stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuo Hara, Yukihide Fukuhara, Takeshi Toyota, Tatsuya Nagata
  • Patent number: 11173867
    Abstract: An airbag for a passenger seat adapted to be stored in a storage which is disposed in an instrument panel in front of a passenger seat is disclosed. The airbag includes a passenger-side wall which is disposed in a rear portion of the airbag as deployed for arresting a passenger, and a vehicle-side wall that extends from an outer circumferential edge of the passenger-side wall towards a front end of the airbag as deployed in a narrowing fashion for mounting on the storage by the front end. The vehicle-side wall includes a recessed area for circumventing an adjoining object disposed in the vehicle when deployed. The recessed area is composed of a tuck formed in a base member of the vehicle-side wall. The tuck is formed by jointing one or more pair of tuck jointing portions that are distant from one another in the base member as laid flat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: TOYODA GOSEI CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Koji Hosoe
  • Patent number: 11173865
    Abstract: An airbag system includes a front airbag device that is provided in front of an occupant and that includes a front bag body configured to be deployed by being inflated by a gas being supplied during input of an impact, a door-side guide device that is provided on a door, and that includes a door-side guide member which displaces laterally toward the occupant from an inner side surface of the door during input of the impact and which is configured to guide the occupant toward the front bag body in front, and a console-side guide device provided on a console, and that includes a console-side guide member which displaces upward from an upper surface of the console during input of the impact and which is configured to guide the occupant toward the front bag body in front.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Ito, Takashi Saso, Takayuki Shimizu
  • Patent number: 11173944
    Abstract: A motor-adjustable steering column for a motor vehicle includes an outer casing which is held by a support unit that is attachable to a vehicle body and in which an actuator unit is received so as to be telescopically adjustable in the longitudinal direction. A steering spindle is coaxially mounted in a casing tube in the actuator unit so as to be rotatable about a longitudinal axis. An adjustment drive is disposed between the outer casing and the actuator unit and has a threaded spindle which is at least in part disposed within the actuator unit and is drivable in a rotating manner by an electric servomotor engaged in a spindle nut. In order for a compact adjustment drive which is accommodated in a protected manner to be provided, the threaded spindle is disposed at a spacing from the longitudinal axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignees: THYSSENKRUPP PRESTA AG, THYSSENKRUPP AG
    Inventors: Christoph Munding, Hieronymus Schnitzer
  • Patent number: 11173946
    Abstract: A steering column may include an actuating unit with a steering spindle rotatably mounted about its longitudinal axis in a casing tube, a support unit in which the actuating unit can be received, and an energy absorbing device that includes a transmission element that is supportable on the support unit and an energy absorbing element secured to the actuating unit. In a crash event, the transmission element is movable in a direction of the longitudinal axis relative to the plastically-deformable energy absorbing element. The energy absorbing element has an elongated hole parallel to the longitudinal axis and into which an expansion part of the transmission element that is oversized relative to the elongated hole engages. The energy absorbing element may be connected to the actuating unit via a securing element that engages in securing recesses of the energy absorbing element and of the casing tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignees: THYSSENKRUPP PRESTA AG, THYSSENKRUPP AG
    Inventors: Oliver Rietzler, Tassoh Kpekpasse, Benjamin Deeg
  • Patent number: 11167785
    Abstract: A steering column assembly includes a lower jacket having a bridge proximate a forward end of the lower jacket, the bridge defining a slot. The assembly also includes an upper jacket in telescoping engagement with the lower jacket. The steering column assembly further includes a telescope actuator assembly. The steering column assembly yet further includes a telescope drive bracket operatively coupled to, and translated by, the telescope actuator assembly, the telescope drive bracket having a base portion coupled to the upper jacket to move the upper jacket in a telescope direction relative to the lower jacket. The steering column assembly also includes a plate coupled to an outer surface of the upper jacket and disposed between the base portion of the telescope drive bracket and the upper jacket, the plate having a retention feature positioned to contact the bridge of the lower jacket to define a rearward telescope limit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation
    Inventors: Timothy D. Beach, Robert D. Maida
  • Patent number: 11167615
    Abstract: A hollow stabilizer includes a curved part having eight regions defined in a cross section. A first region includes a 90° first part when the center of the inside of the curve is taken to be at 0° and the center of the outside of the curve is taken to be at 180°. A third region includes a 0° third part. A fifth region includes a 270° fifth part. A seventh region includes a 180° seventh part. The radii of curvature of the respective outer surfaces of the third part and the seventh part are larger and the radii of curvature of the respective outer surfaces of the second part and the sixth part are smaller than the radii of curvature of the respective outer surfaces of the fourth part and the fifth part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Norihiro Kawakami, Yurika Okudaira, Yuushi Nogami