Patents by Inventor Paul M. Slaats

Paul M. Slaats 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).

  • Method and system for multi-stage inflation of a curtain airbag for ejection mitigation
    Patent number: 8333406
    Abstract: The present invention can include an automobile having a multi-stage inflation system. The multi-stage inflation system can include an engine control unit, a multi-stage inflation unit, a curtain airbag, a curtain airbag pressure indicator, and/or a rollover side impact detection unit. The rollover side impact detection unit can detect when a side impact or a rollover occurs to the automobile. When the rollover or the side impact is detected, the engine control unit can instruct the multi-stage inflation unit to deploy and inflate the curtain airbag in multiple stages. The multi-stage inflation unit can include a pyrotechnic inflation unit with multiple compartments. At each of the stages, a different one of the multiple compartments can be activated to substantially inflate the curtain airbag. The multi-stage inflation unit can also optionally include a cold gas inflation unit to supplement the pyrotechnic inflation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventor: Paul M. Slaats
  • METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MULTI-STAGE INFLATION OF A CURTAIN AIRBAG FOR EJECTION MITIGATION
    Publication number: 20120086190
    Abstract: The present invention can include an automobile having a multi-stage inflation system. The multi-stage inflation system can include an engine control unit, a multi-stage inflation unit, a curtain airbag, a curtain airbag pressure indicator, and/or a rollover side impact detection unit. The rollover side impact detection unit can detect when a side impact or a rollover occurs to the automobile. When the rollover or the side impact is detected, the engine control unit can instruct the multi-stage inflation unit to deploy and inflate the curtain airbag in multiple stages. The multi-stage inflation unit can include a pyrotechnic inflation unit with multiple compartments. At each of the stages, a different one of the multiple compartments can be activated to substantially inflate the curtain airbag. The multi-stage inflation unit can also optionally include a cold gas inflation unit to supplement the pyrotechnic inflation unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Inventor: Paul M. Slaats