Patents Examined by George D Spisich
  • Patent number: 8229620
    Abstract: A method for model-based diagnosis of a mechatronic system. A control unit within the mechatronic system performs error detection and an arithmetic unit outside of the mechatronic system performs error identification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Walter Lehle, Jochen Assfalg, Martin Fritz, Frank Allgoewer
  • Patent number: 8181988
    Abstract: An airbag of an airbag apparatus includes a bag body, a supplementary bag, a communication hole that communicates the bag body and the supplementary bag, an open/close element that opens and closes the communication hole and a connecting element extending from the open/close element. The connecting element is connected at the leading end to an anchor mechanism that regulates the operation of the open/close element under control of a control device. The open/close element keeps closing the communication hole while the anchor mechanism holds the connecting element whereas opens the communication hole when the anchor mechanism releases the connecting element such that inflation gas is fed into the supplementary bag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuichi Adachi, Kazuaki Bito
  • Patent number: 8172027
    Abstract: A vehicle protection system includes an exterior airbag system housed about a vehicle exterior. The system includes at least one first airbag, at least one second airbag, and an inflator system for inflation of the airbags. The inflation system includes at least one inflator operably communicating with the airbags. A sensor system senses impending or actual collision data. The sensor system includes at least one sensor and at least one central computer processing unit for receipt and processing of the data and for selective activation of the inflator system. Upon activation of the inflator system, the at least one first airbag is inflated. The at least one second airbag is sequentially deployable after the at least one first airbag based on measurement of system operating conditions and processing of the operating conditions by the central computer processing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Automotive Systems Laboratory, Inc.
    Inventor: Indu B. Mishra
  • Patent number: 8172260
    Abstract: An inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14) includes a vertically extending central recess (200) and first and second lobes (202 and 204) positioned on opposite sides of the central recess. The central recess (200) and the first and second lobes (202 and 204) are defined at least partially by an elongated center panel (210) of the protection device (14). The center panel (210) includes first and second longitudinal edges (250 and 252) that are spaced apart from each other and that extend along the length of opposite edge portions of the center panel. The center panel (210) also includes first and second end portions (260 and 280) that are spaced apart and that are positioned opposite each other along the length of the center panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Kurt F. Fischer, Douglas M. Gould
  • Patent number: 8170746
    Abstract: A method for identifying unstable driving states is disclosed. The method comprises the following steps: (a) detecting whether the magnitude of a difference between a first value of a driving state variable that is detected by means of a first sensor, and a second value of the driving states variable that is calculated from measured values of at least one further sensor, increases over time, (b) filtering the difference by means of a delay element after it has been established that the difference has increased, (c) comparing the filters difference and the unfiltered difference, and (d) establishing the presence of an unstable driving states when the comparison shows that a deviation between the filtered difference and the unfiltered difference exceeds a predefined threshold value. The method enables an unstable driving state to be identified even when a driving states variable has an offset error which is of the desired size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Continetal Teves AG & Co. oHG
    Inventor: Michael Gärtner
  • Patent number: 8162093
    Abstract: A body for a motor vehicle comprises a frame, a bonnet connected on a first side to the frame by a hinge and on a second side by a bonnet lock, and at least one actuating element which can be extended in the event of an accident in order to raise the bonnet. The actuating element comprises a movable part acting on the first side of the bonnet. A catch of the bonnet lock is coupled to the movable part in order to release the bonnet lock (when said actuating element is extended.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Volker Scheuch, Werner Schmidt, Joachim Schäfer, Martin Zilg
  • Patent number: 8152199
    Abstract: An occupant protection apparatus comprises an inflatable airbag with a panel, the panel including a first vent opening that permits inflation fluid to escape out of the airbag; and a valve sheet including a second vent opening movable relative to the first vent opening, the valve sheet having opposite ends that are each fixed to a surface of the airbag. One end of the valve sheet moves with the panel during inflation of the airbag to move the second vent opening relative to the first vent opening. The apparatus also includes a valve guide or envelope to guide movement of the valve sheet relative to the panel, the valve sheet is capable of sliding between the valve guide and the panel. Both ends of the valve sheet remain fixed to the panel during and after inflation of the airbag. The valve sheet includes a tear tab to temporarily retain the valve sheet to the panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: TK Holdings Inc.
    Inventors: Barney J. Bauer, Moe M. Boumarafi, Jerome Bosch, Jonathan L. Clarke, Nate Dennis, James P. Karlow, Amy L. Klinkenberger, Vivekananadhan Maripudi, Michael J. Scavnicky, Jamie F. Perez Aguilar, Stephanie M. McFadden, Paul A. Baker, Paul G. Maertens, John Paul Ruterbusch, Ray John Roberts, Joseph M. Ehrke
  • Patent number: 8155832
    Abstract: A remote operation apparatus in a vehicle has a display unit, an operation unit, a speed sensor, a brake sensor, a steer angle sensor, a side G sensor, and a control unit. The operation unit is capable of remotely controlling the display contents of the display unit. The operation of the operation unit is allowed when the vehicle is determined, by the control unit, to be stably traveling, and the operation of the operation unit is restricted when the vehicle is determined to be traveling un-stably, based on information on the travel condition of the vehicle from those sensors. The remote operation apparatus having the above-described operation scheme facilitates a stable travel of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Aoki
  • Patent number: 8099213
    Abstract: A method is provided for detecting road-side edges in a road segment using a light-based sensing system. Input range data is captured using the light-based sensing system. An elevation-based road segment is generated based on the captured input range data. The elevation-based road segment is processed by filtering techniques to identify the road segment candidate region and by pattern recognition techniques to determine whether the candidate region is a road segment. The input range data is also projected onto the ground plane for further validation. The line representation of the projected points are identified. The line representation of the candidate regions is compared to a simple road/road-edge model in the top-down view to determine whether the candidate region is a road segment with its edges. The proposed method provides fast processing speeds and reliable detection performance for both road and road-side edges simultaneously in the captured range data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Wende Zhang, Varsha Sadekar
  • Patent number: 8096578
    Abstract: A knee airbag apparatus includes a front panel configured to face toward an occupant when the knee airbag deploys and a rear panel configured to face toward an instrument panel when the knee airbag deploys. The rear panel is joined to the front panel to form an inflatable knee cushion configured to inflate to protect an occupant's knees during a crash event. The knee airbag further includes at least one internal tether extending between the front and rear panels. The internal tether is attached to the front panel at a front panel attachment location offset from a rear panel attachment location. The knee airbag further includes an external tether attached at one end to the front panel, and at a second end at the knee airbag housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: TK Holdings Inc.
    Inventors: Henning Wigger, Gerardo Mendez
  • Patent number: 8056659
    Abstract: The hybrid vehicle includes an engine, two motors, and a power distribution integration mechanism arranged coaxially with one another and a transmission. The transmission includes a transmission shaft extended in parallel with a first motor shaft and a second motor shaft, a first coupling gear train in combination with a second coupling gear train and a clutch arranged to selectively connect a ring gear and a sun gear of the power distribution integration mechanism to the transmission shaft, a deceleration mechanism connected with the transmission shaft and arranged to decelerate power from the transmission shaft and output the power of the reduced speed from a carrier, and a clutch arranged to selectively connect the carrier and the ring gear to a driveshaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidehiro Oba, Yukihiko Ideshio
  • Patent number: 8047567
    Abstract: A gas generator, particularly for a vehicle occupant restraint system, has at least one igniter (12), a pyrotechnic solid propellant bed (22), a combustion chamber (20) containing the propellant bed (22) and at least one wall part (24), the wall part (24) being arranged in the combustion chamber (20), which is moved by a gas stream generated on activation of the gas generator into the region of the propellant bed (22) which is not yet ignited, and in its interior (25) defines a gas-directing channel reaching into the propellant bed (22).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: TRW Airbag Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Werner Zengerle, Simon Schreiber, Karsten Schwuchow, Josef Leitl, Juergen Klimas
  • Patent number: 8050824
    Abstract: An assist gradient Ra and also an F/B gain gradient Rp are inputted to an assist gradient compensation control unit. The F/B gradient Rp is added to the assist gradient Ra in an adder and the sum obtained is inputted into a switching control unit. The assist gradient Ra that has been inputted from a basic assist control unit is directly inputted together with the sum to the switching control unit. When a torque feedback control is executed, the switching control unit outputs the sum of the assist gradient Ra and F/B gain gradient Rp to a filter constant computation unit and an assist gradient gain computation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: JTekt Corporation
    Inventors: Terutaka Tamaizumi, Hirozumi Eki, Hiroshi Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8047560
    Abstract: A retention cover manufacture in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The cover manufacture can include a substrate textile such as a non-woven substrate textile. Fastening elements can be attached to the first face of the substrate textile at or near the longitudinal edges. Moreover, a fastening element can be attached to the second face of the substrate textile substantially along the central longitudinal axis. Also, in accordance with at least one embodiment, a retention cover for enclosing, at least in part, an inflatable object is disclosed. The retention cover can include a textile where, at or near the first longitudinal edge, a loop element can be attached to the textile. In addition, at or near the second longitudinal edge, a hook element can be attached to the textile. Alternatively, at or near a longitudinal edge, an adhesive strip element can be attached to the textile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Avery Dennison Corporation
    Inventor: Clifford Russell Brockman
  • Patent number: 8047572
    Abstract: A reversibly deployable energy absorbing assembly includes a rigid support structure having at least one inlet and at least one outlet; a flexible covering sealingly engaged with the rigid support structure to define an inflatable interior region; a gas source in fluid communication with the at least one inlet; an inlet control valve positioned intermediate the gas source and the at least one inlet; and an actively controlled pressure relief valve in fluid communication with the at least one outlet. The inlet control valve and the pressure relief valve are adapted to provide a response suitable for use in vehicle impact management.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: William Barvosa Carter, Nancy L. Johnson, Alan L. Browne, Guillermo A. Herrera, Geoffrey P. McKnight, Cameron G. Massey, Alan J. Jacobsen
  • Patent number: 8033568
    Abstract: A head-protecting airbag adapted to be mounted on an upper periphery of a window of a vehicle for deployment downward to cover the window includes a primary inflatable portion that includes a protection portion for receiving an occupant's head and a secondary inflatable portion that admits inflation gas of the primary inflatable portion and is inflatable secondarily for preventing a pressure increase of the primary inflatable portion. The primary inflatable portion and the secondary inflatable portion are communicated with a tubular conduit. The protection portion includes an inlet-side inflatable portion located proximate an inlet port of the conduit and a lower inflatable portion located below the conduit. The lower inflatable portion is communicated with part of the inlet-side inflatable portion and has an opening dimension in a vertical direction that is greater than that of the conduit over an entire area below the conduit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki Tanaka, Yoshio Mizuno
  • Patent number: 8020889
    Abstract: An occupant protection apparatus comprises an inflatable airbag with a panel, the panel including a first vent opening that permits inflation fluid to escape out of the airbag; and a valve sheet including a second vent opening movable relative to the first vent opening, the valve sheet having opposite ends that are each fixed to a surface of the airbag. One end of the valve sheet moves with the panel during inflation of the airbag to move the second vent opening relative to the first vent opening. The apparatus also includes a valve guide to guide movement of the valve sheet relative to the panel, the valve sheet is capable of sliding between the valve guide and the panel. Both ends of the valve sheet remain fixed to the panel during and after inflation of the airbag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: TK Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Barney J. Bauer, Moe M. Boumarafi, Jerome Bosch, Jonathan L. Clarke, Nate Dennis, James P. Karlow, Amy L. Klinkenberger, Vivekananadhan Maripudi, Michael J. Scavnicky, Jamie F. Perez Aguilar, Stephanie M. McFadden, Paul A. Baker, Paul G. Maertens, John Paul Ruterbusch, Ray John Roberts, Joseph M. Ehrke
  • Patent number: 8016068
    Abstract: A tandem drive arrangement includes one or more independently driven wheels (118) that are arranged in a tandem configuration along a beam (120). The beam (120) is rotatably connected to a frame (102) of a machine (100). The tandem drive arrangement further includes an actuator (206) operating to selectively impart a rotating moment to the beam (102). The rotating moment tends to rotate the beam (120) in one direction and counteracts a torque imbalance resulting from operation of motors (128) rotating one or more independently driven wheels (118) connected to the beam (120).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Steven A. Daniel, Norval P. Thomson, Daniel Sergison, John V. Mount
  • Patent number: 8007002
    Abstract: An air bag module (60) including an inflatable air bag (50) having a first region formed by opposing edge borders (102, 104) of two facing panels or panel pieces (52, 54), the first region initially open to receive a gas distribution hose (40), the gas distribution hose comprising a tubular portion (42) and a flat portion (44) integrally formed with the tubular portion, the tubular portion configured to receive inflation gas at one portion and having openings (49) therein to permit the egress of inflation gas; the flat portion of the hose located between the opposing edge borders of the facing panels; and a seam or seams (110) extending through the facing borders to join the flat portion of the hose between the facing edge borders in a gas tight manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2011
    Assignee: Key Safety Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce A. Kalandek, James A. Horton
  • Patent number: 8002065
    Abstract: A tractor-trailer combination includes a semitrailer tractor having a front axle and at least one drive axle having a predefined nominal axle load, a semitrailer having a first axle and at least one second axle, and an axle load adjusting device, which has an axle center height drive for the first axle enabling the axle load acting on the drive axle to be changed by adjusting a center height of the first axle, that can automatically switch into a starting assistance mode in which the second-axle axle load is increased to a starting-assistance axle load that is always below a predefined maximum axle load. An axle center height controller is adapted to automatically detect actuation of an off-road starting sensing device, and increase the second-axle axle load to an off-road starting axle load that is greater than the maximum axle load if the off-road starting sensing device is actuated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: WABCO GmbH
    Inventors: Andelko Glavinic, Michael Schoppe, Axel Stender