Patents by Inventor Mark Charles Stephens

Mark Charles Stephens 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).

  • Publication number: 20190100090
    Abstract: A vehicle battery tray has a floor assembly with elongated tray sections that attach together at edge portions of adjacent tray sections of the elongated tray sections to form a floor structure that supports vehicle batteries contained in the vehicle battery tray. The elongated tray sections may have substantially consistent cross-sectional shapes that extends along a length of the tray sections. A thickness of the tray sections at a central area of the floor structure may be greater than a thickness of another one of the elongated tray sections at an outboard area of the floor structure, such as to withstand an equal or greater transverse bending moment than the outboard area of the floor structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Joseph Robert Matecki, Mark Charles Stephens, Helen Weykamp
  • Publication number: 20190081298
    Abstract: A battery tray for supporting batteries at a lower portion of a vehicle frame includes a floor plate and a perimeter wall disposed around the of the floor plate to substantially surround a containment area for storing vehicle battery cells. The perimeter wall includes a tubular member that extends along a periphery of the floor plate to form a perimeter wall around a containment area for storing vehicle battery cells. The perimeter wall is attached at an upper surface of the floor plate, such that the containment area may be generally bounded horizontally by the perimeter wall and at the bottom by the floor plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2018
    Publication date: March 14, 2019
    Inventors: Joseph Robert Matecki, Mark Charles Stephens
  • Publication number: 20180337374
    Abstract: A battery tray for an electric vehicle includes a battery support structure that has a floor and a perimeter wall extending around a peripheral portion of the floor to border a battery containment area. A plurality of cross members are coupled with the perimeter wall at opposing sides of the battery support structure, where the cross members extend laterally across the battery containment area. A cover is engaged with an upper portion of the perimeter wall of the battery support structure. The cover, the floor, and/or the cross members may include a retention element that is integrally formed therewith and that is configured to engage a component that is disposed in the battery containment area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Joseph Robert Matecki, Mark Charles Stephens, Jeffrey McHenry, Matthew Kuipers
  • Publication number: 20180337377
    Abstract: A battery tray for an electric vehicle includes a tub component that has a floor portion and a perimeter wall portion that integrally extends upward around a peripheral edge of the floor portion to border a battery containment area of the tub component. The tub component may include a plurality of cross member portions that integrally interconnect with the floor portion and the perimeter wall portion so as to span laterally across the battery containment area to divide the battery containment area into separate compartments. A support structure of the battery tray may have an elongated member coupled at an exterior side of each of opposing longitudinal sections of the perimeter wall portion of the tub component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2018
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Mark Charles Stephens, Joseph Robert Matecki, Bob Brady, Matthew Kuipers, Paul Michael Roehm
  • Publication number: 20180337378
    Abstract: A battery tray for a vehicle includes two tray components or pieces that attach or mate together, such as with one tray component over or within the other tray component, to form sealed and separate battery containment areas. The lower tray component that has a panel portion and a pair of elongated reinforcement members integrally protruding upward from opposing edges of the panel portion. Also, the upper tray component has a panel portion and a cross members that integrally extend across its panel portion. The upper tray component is disposed at an upper surface of the panel portion of the lower tray component with the cross members extending between the elongated reinforcement members and defining a battery containment area between each of the cross members.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Mark Charles Stephens, Joseph Robert Matecki
  • Publication number: 20180186227
    Abstract: A battery support structure for a vehicle includes a plurality of side reinforcement members and front and rear reinforcement members. The plurality of side reinforcement members are configured to extend longitudinally relative to an associated vehicle frame, and the front and rear reinforcement members are configured to extend laterally relative to the associated vehicle frame. A plurality of module nodes are attached between adjacent ends of the side reinforcement members and the front and rear members to together form a containment wall that generally surrounds a battery containment area. The plurality of module nodes comprise corner sections of the containment wall, such that a length of the side reinforcement members or the front and rear reinforcement members is selected to provide a desired respective length or width of the battery containment area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2018
    Publication date: July 5, 2018
    Inventors: Mark Charles Stephens, Joseph Robert Matecki, Ed C. Pendergrass