Patents by Inventor Tetsu Matsuo

Tetsu Matsuo 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: 7938442
    Abstract: A knee airbag device mounted on a steering column has an inner case in which a folded knee airbag is housed, and an outer case that is placed over the inner case. The outer case is fixed to a lower side of a vehicle-rear-side portion of a steering column that moves relative to a vehicle-front-side portion when a load equal to or greater than a threshold load is applied to the steering column in a direction of the axis of the steering column, and has a rigidity with which the shape of the folded knee airbag is maintained under normal conditions. The outer case has an opening formed in a region where the outer case would interfere with the vehicle-front-side portion when the vehicle-rear-side portion moves relative to the vehicle-front-side portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsu Matsuo, Akiyoshi Sanada, Kazuhiro Nakayama, Kazuaki Bito