Patents by Inventor Gary Richard Collins

Gary Richard Collins 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).

  • Vehicular deformation sensor system
    Patent number: 6169479
    Abstract: A sensor system for detecting impacts to a vehicle, allowing for actuation decisions of passive restraint devices. The sensor system includes one or more piezoelectric sensor assemblies (42), each including a coaxial piezoelectric cable (44) contained within a tube housing (54), which is mounted to a structural member of the vehicle. The sensor system may also include accelerometers (36, 38) that are also in communication with the restraints control module (40) and employed in combination with one or more piezoelectric sensor assemblies (42). Further, the sensor system may include diagnostics for monitoring one or more of the sensor assemblies (42) in order to detect a sensor failure, while not interfering with the impact signals from the sensor assemblies (42).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2001
    Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Colm Peter Boran, Eric Lewis Raphael, Gary Richard Collins, Paul Zoratti