Patents Examined by Nicole T Verley
  • Patent number: 11685327
    Abstract: A seat belt arrangement for a motor vehicle, with at least one seat belt for the protection of a vehicle occupant seated on a vehicle seat; at least one inflatable gas bag arranged on the seat belt for protecting the vehicle occupant. The gas bag includes a passage through which the seat belt extends and to which at least one inflatable chamber of the gas bag adjoins, wherein during or after inflation of the gas bag at least a sub-section of a wall of the passage presses indirectly and/or directly against the seat belt such that the gas bag couples to the seat belt and follows an extension movement of the seat belt and hence a movement of the vehicle occupant, and wherein the seat belt is at least partly surrounded by a casing element at least within the passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: JOYSON SAFETY SYSTEMS GERMANY GMBH
    Inventors: Norman Steinke, Yves Clauss, Tibor Leupold, Jan Höfer, Mingxi Yan, Tobias Pausch, Koshan Mahdi, Gert Weller
  • Patent number: 11667258
    Abstract: A restraint system includes a restraint configured to deploy from an interior surface and restrain motion of an occupant and a support including a door coupled to an upper portion of the restraint. The door is configured to rotate about a pivot. The door includes a telescoping panel configured to telescopically extend from a stowed position behind the interior surface to a deployed position spaced apart from the interior surface in unison with deployment of the restraint so that the anchor reaches the deployed position after the door rotates about the pivot. The support is configured to orient the upper portion of the restraint in respect to motion of the occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Adam J. Golman, Nathaniel J. Dennis, Jesse T. Buehler, Jonathan O. Sive, Donald R. Monroe, Mikael P. Sedlacek, Arturo Llamazares Domper
  • Patent number: 11661024
    Abstract: A knee airbag configured to rapidly restrain the knees of a passenger and reduce the risk of injury to the passenger by changing a deployment angle of the airbag depending on a seated state of the passenger, the knee airbag including an airbag module coupled to a hinge structure inside a cockpit and configured to rotate around the hinge structure to change a deployment direction of a cushion, a driving unit configured to provide rotational force to the airbag module, and a controller configured to adjust a rotation angle of the airbag module by operating the driving unit based on the seated state of the passenger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Seok Hoon Ko, Do Hyoung Kim
  • Patent number: 11654857
    Abstract: An airbag apparatus of a vehicle. In the airbag apparatus, a plurality of inflators is connected to a roof airbag, and the plurality of inflators is selectively operated according to the information of an occupant boarded in the vehicle, whereby the roof airbag expands to optimize for the occupant in the vehicle and safely protects the occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Dong Oh Lee
  • Patent number: 11654854
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a side mounting seat with an increased area that a vibration welding pressing jig directly presses. It is important to minimize an unpressed area by maximally securing an area that a welding jig may directly press in order to simultaneously secure weldability and exterior quality. The present disclosure provides a structure in which a hollow space in a side mounting seat is reduced by minimizing a necessary area of a hollow doghouse of the side mounting seat of each of both sides of a PAB chute, and a pressing target surface is added to allow the welding jig to press an idle region which is conventionally not directly pressed by the welding jig.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Young Ki Oh
  • Patent number: 11648909
    Abstract: A side airbag that is configured to reduce risk of injury to a passenger by differentiating inner pressures in an airbag cushion at the beginning of a deployment of the airbag cushion. The side airbag includes a diffuser configured to supply gas discharged from an inflator to an inside of an airbag cushion, a separator partitioning an internal space of the airbag cushion up and down so that an upper region of the airbag cushion is more rapidly inflated than a lower region of the airbag cushion by the gas introduced into the airbag cushion through the diffuser, and a passage formed between the upper region and the lower region such that the gas flows between the upper region and the lower region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kum Ho Jo
  • Patent number: 11648904
    Abstract: Proposed is an apparatus for coupling an airbag module to a steering wheel. A coupling open area extends completely through a steering wheel in a forward-backward direction. A hook extends from a rear portion of an airbag module to behind the steering wheel, and includes a bent portion provided on a distal end to be bent in a direction intersecting a longitudinal direction of the hook. A fixing clip is disposed on a rear portion of the steering wheel and fixed to the steering wheel, with an end of the fixing clip being caught by and coupled to the bent portion of the hook to stop movement of the hook forward of the steering wheel. A catching protrusion protrudes from the rear portion of the steering wheel to catch the end of the fixing clip and stop movement of the fixing clip when the hook is decoupled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Oh Koang Kwon
  • Patent number: 11648906
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a seat movable to a forward-facing position and a rearward-facing position. The vehicle includes a track elongated along a vehicle-longitudinal axis. The vehicle includes an airbag assembly movable along the track. The vehicle includes a computer having a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to move the airbag assembly along the track to a first position in response to identifying the seat is in the forward-facing position and to a second position in response to identifying the seat is in the rearward-facing position, the first position different than the second position relative to the seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Zhibing Deng, Joseph E. Abramczyk, Deepak Patel
  • Patent number: 11639145
    Abstract: A vehicle structure material strengthening system and a vehicle containing the same are described. The vehicle structure material strengthening system has at least one collision sensor, a processor, and a power supply. The collision sensor is suitable for being mounted on the vehicle. The processor is electrically connected to the collision sensor for receiving a collision signal from the collision sensor, and determines whether to transmit a power activation signal according to the collision signal. The power supply is electrically connected to the processor and the vehicle. When the collision signal is greater than or equal to a collision threshold, the processor transmits the power activation signal to the power supply, wherein the power supply transmits a circuit to the vehicle according to the power activation signal; or when the collision signal is less than the collision threshold, the processor does not transmit the power activation signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: NATIONAL CHENG KUNG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Shih-Kang Lin, Yu-Chen Liu, Yu-Ching Chen, Kuan-Hsueh Lin
  • Patent number: 11634099
    Abstract: A breakable portion breaks, as a break start point portion, a portion in a vicinity of a center of a tip end side of a door portion away from a hinge portion on a rotation center side of the door portion when the door portion is opened. A breakable coupling portion in an area of the start point portion is disposed such that a width dimension between the breakable openings which are adjacent to each other in a plan view on a tip end portion away from the hinge portion is smaller than a width dimension on a base portion close to the hinge portion of the door portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: TOYODA GOSEI CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hiroki Takai
  • Patent number: 11623677
    Abstract: An electrically adjustable steering device includes a top bracket fixed to a vehicle body, a steering shaft to which a steering wheel is connected, a steering jacket which is held by the top bracket and rotatably supports the steering shaft inside, a tilt actuator which adjusts a tilt of the steering jacket, and a link member which is pivotably supported by the top bracket, the steering jacket, and the tilt actuator. The tilt of the steering jacket can be adjusted by transmitting power of the tilt actuator to the steering jacket via the link member. The link member is placed only on one side of the steering jacket in a vehicle left-right direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: NSK LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshifumi Kurokawa, Victor Corona Martinez
  • Patent number: 11623598
    Abstract: An airbag cover includes a base material, a retainer, an airbag cover main body, and a flexible skin layer. The door portion includes a door constituent portion of the base material, and a door support portion provided in the retainer and holding the door constituent portion. The retainer includes the door support portion, a peripheral edge portion disposed around the door support portion, and a substantially flat plate-shaped hinge portion disposed between the peripheral edge portion and the door support portion and bendable when the door portion is opened. The base material is provided with a space portion at a disposition portion of the hinge portion of the retainer, and the hinge portion is a non-disposition portion of the base material. A region of the hinge portion includes two layers of the hinge portion of the retainer and the skin layer bonded to the hinge portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: TOYODA GOSEI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroki Takai, Atsushi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11603063
    Abstract: An occupant protection device, which protects an occupant seated in a seat, includes: an airbag; and a holder configured to accommodate and hold the folded airbag. The holder is arranged in front of a waist of the occupant seated on the seat. The airbag inflows inflation gas into the inside and inflates so as to protrude from the holder and toward the occupant side, the airbag including: a lower inflation portion configured to cover an upper surface of the thigh; an upper inflation portion which configured to cover a front surface of an upper body; and a cross-inflation portion arranged between the lower inflation portion and the upper inflation portion. A length dimension of the holder is set to a dimension which secures a space for arranging the inflated cross-inflation portion between the waist and the holder when the inflation of the airbag is completed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: TOYODA GOSEI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takeki Hayashi, Kazumi Fukaura, Shinji Yamada
  • Patent number: 11597343
    Abstract: A vehicle airbag system includes an airbag module, a seat detector, and an electronic controller. The airbag module has an airbag that is configured to be movably mounted to a vehicle roof structure. The seat detector detects a position of a vehicle seat. The electronic controller is in communication with the airbag module and the seat detector. The controller controls the airbag module to inflate the airbag in a predetermined direction based on detected position of the vehicle seat by the seat detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Jessica Buice, Jeffrey Clark, Daniel Hoisington, Daniel Lin
  • Patent number: 11584160
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a vehicle wheel, a vehicle frame and an adjustment mechanism configured to move the vehicle wheel relative to the vehicle frame. The adjustment mechanism includes a cam stud and a cam spacer. The cam stud extends at least partially through the vehicle frame. The cam spacer is rotationally fixed to the cam stud. Rotating the cam spacer moves the vehicle wheel relative to the vehicle frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: FCA US LLC
    Inventors: Jason D Wharram, Douglas E Peirce, James N Settles
  • Patent number: 11584327
    Abstract: A bracket assembly for a vehicle frame includes a trim piece with a high retention clip. The trim piece incudes a deployable portion that is configured to partially deploy in response to a first predetermined force. An inflator tube is concealed by the trim piece and includes an air curtain. A bracket is operably coupled to the trim piece. The bracket has a deformable portion and side portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Pamela Avendano Arenas, Christopher Robert Tilli, Maria Fernanda Medina Luna
  • Patent number: 11583456
    Abstract: A wheelchair passenger restraint structure includes: a wheelchair space set in a vehicle cabin so that a passenger of a wheelchair is to be boarded in a forward facing posture; a seatbelt configured to restrain an abdomen part of the passenger of the wheelchair boarded in the wheelchair space; a vertical wall provided behind the wheelchair space in the vehicle-body front-rear direction; and a holding member supported by the vertical wall, the holding member being configured to hold a seating face of the wheelchair from below in the vehicle-body up-down direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Mitsuyoshi Ohno
  • Patent number: 11577677
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a system that is mounted on a mounting structure or chassis intended to protect the vehicles and their occupants. The system uses a main computer, high-precision radars, external airbag impellers, airbags that protect the vehicle and to some extent help its buoyancy, fluid sensors to detect the water limit that the vehicle can reach, and if these sensors are activated send a signal to the main computer that is responsible for activating air bag impellers, an inclinometer to detect the limit of inclination established in the vehicle and if the inclinometer detects an inclination that exceeds the limit established, this sends a signal to the main computer that is responsible for activating all the air bag impeller devices; and a monitor with signal transmitters to visualize in the state in which the system is located.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Inventors: Diogenes Patrick Rojas, Ivan Emilio Bournigal Guzman
  • Patent number: 11577680
    Abstract: An assembly for a vehicle includes a vehicle floor. The assembly includes a base slidably supported by the vehicle floor with the base being slidable relative to the vehicle floor from a stowed position to a deployed position. The assembly includes a tray supported by the base and an airbag supported by the base adjacent the tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Mohammad Omar Faruque, S. M. Iskander Farooq, Dean M. Jaradi
  • Patent number: 11578954
    Abstract: An igniter for a gas generator comprises a pole body (14) having at least one connection pin (16, 18), a retaining ring (20) and an insulation ring (22), wherein the insulation ring (22) spaces apart the at least one connection pin (16, 18) from the retaining ring (20) and electrically insulates it relative to the same. The retaining ring (20) consists of a metal and the insulation ring (22) consists of a plastic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: ZF AIRBAG GERMANY GMBH
    Inventors: Werner Müller, Rolf Mangold, Bernhard Mehnert