Patents by Inventor Carlton B. Ardery

Carlton B. Ardery has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6242820
    Abstract: Apparatus for sensing the weight of an object and providing a digital representation of a weight range within which the sensed weight falls, and apparatus for controlling the deployment of a vehicular air bag in accordance with the weight of a passenger seated in a vehicle seat adjacent the air bag. A number of two-position switches 28 normally assume a first position and are responsive to a force of at least a predetermined amount to assume a second position. The first position represents a first weight range, and the second position represents a second weight range. A support surface 58, 60 overlies the switches to support an object to be weighed. A decoding circuit 30 monitors the positions of each of the two-position switches and provides a digital representation of the weight range within which the weight of the object falls. In the vehicular air bag system, a number of groups of the two-position switches 28 are mounted in a passenger seat 52 adjacent the air bag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: TRW Inc.
    Inventors: Pramod Shankar, L. Dwight Gilger, Carlton B. Ardery, Barry Dunbridge