| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 6659383 |
Seat belt retractor |
December 9, 2003 |
| A seat belt retractor of a vehicle with a belt reel for the seat belt has a frame with two frame legs in which a belt reel is rotatably mounted. A torque rod is arranged in the belt reel with one end if the torque rod connected to a first belt reel part arranged inside an aperture in a f |
| 6648366 |
Driver side air bag with particulate diverter |
November 18, 2003 |
| An air bag module assembly comprising: an inflator (250) having at least one exit port (270) with a thin layer of burst material (272) blocking the at least one exit port (270), the burst material bursting forth from the exit port during an initial moment of activation of the inflator. T |
| 6645326 |
Low temperature autoignition material |
November 11, 2003 |
| The autoignition compositions of the present invention ignites in the temperature range of 120.degree. C. to 160.degree. C. The autoignition compositions are thermally stable at 107.degree. C. for 400 hours and are thermally stable during thermal cycling. The preferred composition for th |
| 6644146 |
Secure attachment of steering wheel to steering shaft |
November 11, 2003 |
| A unique and simple method for attaching a steering wheel to a steering shaft includes a pair of securement members. The steering shaft is provided with a slot extending into an enlarged space. The first securement member extends across a bore in the steering wheel, and is threadably |
| 6641222 |
Seat belt guide |
November 4, 2003 |
| A seat belt guide has a bearing axis for the pivotal mounting of a guide body on a vehicle structure. The guide body has a flexing bar around which the seat belt webbing is guided. A fixing plate can be fixed on the vehicle structure pivotally around the bearing axis with a fixing bolt. |
| 6641078 |
Seat belt retractor with automatic locking mechanism |
November 4, 2003 |
| A seat belt retractor has a rotatably mounted spool for supporting seat belt webbing. An emergency locking mechanism selectively locks the spool against rotation. An automatic locking mechanism selectively locks the spool against paying out webbing. A switch has a first position for |
| 6640648 |
Seat belt force sensor |
November 4, 2003 |
| A force-sensing mechanism (20) comprising: a housing having first (22) and second (24) housing members; a slidable plate positioned between plate portions of the first and second housing members and moveable thereto; various spacers located between the first housing member and the slidin |
| 6634064 |
Seat belt tongue with handle |
October 21, 2003 |
| To improve the grasp on the tongue of a seat belt, a handle extends from the seat belt tongue in the forward direction of the seat belt and is attached in a rotating manner to the central or rear portion of the tongue to perform rotation of the tongue in relation to the handle when the |
| 6631865 |
Seat belt retractor |
October 14, 2003 |
| A seat belt retractor operates in two distinct modes: a first, Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR), mode; and a second, Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR), mode. A toothed ratchet wheel is mounted to rotate with a spool that is biased in a seat belt webbing rewinding direction. A sensor |
| 6629703 |
Opening device for a cold gas inflator |
October 7, 2003 |
| A cold gas inflator having an opening device for rupturing a burst disk. The cold gas inflator is filled with stored gas. The cold gas inflator has a burst disk, which prevents the stored gas from exiting the pressure vessel. In the event of a automobile accident, the opening device is |
| 6629702 |
Device for inflating an airbag |
October 7, 2003 |
| A device for inflating an airbag comprising a container for a compressed gas of a sealing device, which closes the container during normal operation and is provided in a gas release nozzle connected to the container in a gas tight manner, and a throttle opening, via which the release |
| 6622628 |
Method of controlling the initiation of a smart igniter |
September 23, 2003 |
| A smart igniter bus system has a repeater connected by a bus to a controller, and one or more smart igniters connected by the bus to the repeater so that the repeater is between the smart igniters and the controller. The repeater receives data transmitted on the bus by the controller |
| 6620269 |
Autoignition for gas generators |
September 16, 2003 |
| When a vehicle is involved in a fire, the airbag inflator is subjected to extreme temperatures, which may lead to the housing of the inflator rupturing. The use of autoignition material will minimize the risk of the housing rupturing during a fire by causing the combustion of the gas |
| 6619015 |
Airbag folding apparatus and method of folding |
September 16, 2003 |
| An airbag folding apparatus includes a folding tube, a folder support apparatus, and a plunger mechanism. The folding of an airbag utilizing the folding apparatus comprises the following steps. A vehicle airbag is attached to the plunger mechanism and the airbag is lowered into the f |
| 6612326 |
Inflator |
September 2, 2003 |
| An inflator for inflating an airbag has a vessel for containing compressed gas. The vessel has a gas outlet aperture. A support element is located in the gas outlet aperture with a sealing element next to the side of the support element that faces the interior of the vessel. A locking el |
| 6609672 |
Seat belt retractor spool |
August 26, 2003 |
| A spool for a vehicle safety restraint has a cylindrical central spool member made of two separate pieces. The cylindrical portion has a hollow section along its axis for accommodating seat belt webbing and a torsion bar, with a seat belt webbing entrance slot and a seat belt webbing exi |
| 6598821 |
Seat belt retractor |
July 29, 2003 |
| A seat belt retractor has a winding reel rotatably mounted in a frame, an electric motor and a switching mechanism, with which varying torques can be transmitted to the winding reel to adjust the comfort of a wearer of the seat belt or to tighten the seat belt. The switching mechanism is |
| 6595694 |
Ball race for a seat belt pretensioner |
July 22, 2003 |
| A ball ring unit, in particular for reverse movement locks and seat belt systems has a plurality of locking balls arranged in a ring. The ring of locking balls has a covering that combines the locking balls to form a module. The ball ring unit can be used in a seat belt pretensioner. |
| 6588342 |
Frequency addressable ignitor control device |
July 8, 2003 |
| A frequency addressable ignitor control device utilizes electronic bandpass filters tuned to a unique center frequency and bandwidth for each ignitor. Energy generated by the system's controller comprises one or more narrow pulses whose center frequency corresponds to one or more bandpas |
| 6572140 |
Device for regulating inflation of an airbag |
June 3, 2003 |
| A device for regulating the amount of inflation gas supplied to an airbag of a motor vehicle has a cylindrical member with at least one inflation aperture therethrough. An adjustable annular shutter with at least one shutter aperture is rotatably mounted around the axis of the cylindrica |
| 6571435 |
Seat belt buckle with controlled tongue entry |
June 3, 2003 |
| A seat belt buckle assembly including a seat belt buckle, the buckle including: a frame (26) defining a tongue-receiving slot (40); a latch plate (34) operably positioned in relation to the tongue-receiving slot and movable between an unlocked position and a locked position; a latch |
| 6568702 |
No housing driver's air bag module |
May 27, 2003 |
| An air bag module having an inflator (20); a cushion (22); a retainer ring (24) having at least one mounting tab (40) and a plurality of fasteners (28) for engaging the inflator (20) and the cushion (22); a cover (26) having a pair of flaps (44) defining a plurality of apertures for enga |
| 6566869 |
Seat belt tension sensor, methods of integration and attachment |
May 20, 2003 |
| A force sensor (50, 50', 50a) generates a signal indicating the usage of a seat belt. A cylindrical housing (70, 70') has a wall (72) and a bottom (74) which define an internal cavity (88). The bottom has an opening (76) through it. A cable anchor (90) is slidably received within the cav |
| 6565121 |
Three-point seat belt system |
May 20, 2003 |
| A three-point seat belt system for a motor vehicle front seat has a belt tightening drive fastened to the front seat. The belt tightening drive engages an anchoring point of the seat belt fastened to the vehicle seat. The drive element of the belt tightening drive is securely connected t |
| 6564715 |
Frequency addressable ignitor control device |
May 20, 2003 |
| A frequency addressable ignitor control device utilizes electronic bandpass filters tuned to a unique center frequency and bandwidth for each ignitor. Energy generated by the system's controller comprises one or more narrow pulses whose center frequency corresponds to one or more bandpas |
| 6561544 |
Airbag deployment system with seat position sensors |
May 13, 2003 |
| A system for detecting the position of a seat within an automobile in which a selected number of discrete sensors S is used to detect (2xS) seat positions. This is accomplished by using an actuator which, when positioned over three sensors, activates three sensors and when positioned |
| 6561538 |
Annular air bag and driver side air bag module |
May 13, 2003 |
| An air bag module comprising an air bag, the air bag including: a face panel having a first central opening therein; a rear panel having a second central opening therein, that portion of the rear panel about the second central opening forming a neck portion; a tubular insert having an op |
| 6553914 |
Gas generator |
April 29, 2003 |
| A gas generator according has a polymeric closure and an igniter subassembly comprising an igniter and a polymeric gas generator body. The gas generator body and the polymeric closure define a hermetically sealed combustion chamber for receiving a gas generant. The igniter receives an |
| 6550804 |
Driver side air bag module with annular air bag |
April 22, 2003 |
| An air bag module including an air bag, the air bag including: a face panel having a first central opening therein; a rear panel having a second central opening therein, that portion of the rear panel about the second central opening forming a neck portion; a tubular insert having an ope |
| 6550335 |
Device for testing internal pressure of a gas reservoir of an airbag inflator |
April 22, 2003 |
| A device for testing the inflation state of an cold gas inflator for an airbag has a gas reservoir that is filled with gas at a high pressure, in particular an inert gas. Oscillations of frequencies varying within a particular frequency range are generated at an exterior surface the fill |
| 6550306 |
Miniature acceleration sensor |
April 22, 2003 |
| An upper housing is ultrasonically welded to a lower housing forming a hermetic seal about two opposed ferromagnetic leads extending from a reed switch. A shock sensing magnet has a cylindrical bore and is spring biased within the housing to slide along the glass capsule of the reed swit |
| 6548775 |
Paddle flow monitoring device |
April 15, 2003 |
| A flow sensor has a paddle assembly that is mounted to a housing by opposed pivot posts which extend from the paddle assembly between the paddle and the magnet. The housing has two pivot post clips that resiliently capture the pivot posts which are received in mounting holes in resilient |
| 6547900 |
Method of stabilizing the density of gas generant pellets containing nitroguanidine |
April 15, 2003 |
| A non azide gas generant composition of nitroguanidine and phase stabilized ammonium nitrate is provided. This gas generant composition has many desirable characteristics such as little production of ash and the production of essentially toxic free exhaust gas. When nitroguanidine is |
| 6547709 |
Method of folding an air bag |
April 15, 2003 |
| A method of folding an air bag consisting of the following steps: providing an air bag with a square configuration; folding four corners of the air bag toward the center of the air bag resulting in a smaller square configuration; repeating said folding step to place the air bag in a |
| 6540299 |
Controlling headrest according to occupant size in a vehicle |
April 1, 2003 |
| A vehicle seat and a seat headrest are adjustable to accommodate seat occupants of varying heights. The headrest, height and seat position are adjusted together by connecting the headrest drive motor and the seat drive motor to a single control switch. The headrest has a smaller total |
| 6530593 |
Airbag having back parts with a larger surface than the front part |
March 11, 2003 |
| An airbag has a front part facing a vehicle occupant and from two back parts facing away from the vehicle occupant. The two back parts have a larger surface than the front part. The back parts each have a first portion which is dimensioned in such a way that the two first portions of |
| 6527299 |
Device for tightening a rear seat belt |
March 4, 2003 |
| A device for tightening a three-point seat belt is located in the rear of a vehicle. A linear belt tightener is located in the region of the vehicle door sill aligned essentially parallel to the vehicle door sill. The linear belt tightener acts via a pulling element on the belt webbing o |
| 6522998 |
Sled test apparatus and method for simulating pre-impact crash event |
February 18, 2003 |
| The present invention provides a method and device for simulating impact conditions which has a test sled 10, simulated occupant (14), and a pre-impact force-generating device. The pre-impact force-generating device can apply force directly to the simulated occupant being (14), thereby |
| 6517105 |
Steering wheel assembly featuring the elimination of a contact coil |
February 11, 2003 |
| A steering wheel assembly including an inflator subassembly, a steering wheel armature, and a cushion subassembly. The inflator subassembly and the cushion subassembly are located on opposite sides of the steering wheel armature. The inflator subassembly comprises an inflator. The in |
| 6516726 |
Device for releasing gas from a vessel |
February 11, 2003 |
| A device for releasing gas from a vessel drives a piston with a propellant charge that can be ignited by an ignition device. A housing accommodates the piston, the propellant charge and the ignition device. The housing is formed from at least two housing half shells made of plastic mater |
| 6502861 |
Seat belt guide |
January 7, 2003 |
| A seat belt guide has a metallic body for mounting on a vehicle structure. A flexing bar has a low-friction belt webbing guide face around which webbing of a seat belt is guided. The flexing bar and two flexing bar carriers define a webbing guide aperture. A belt webbing guide face is |
| 6494483 |
Airbag module |
December 17, 2002 |
| An airbag module has an airbag and a gas generator. A supporting element is arranged between the gas generator and the airbag in the direction of deployment of the airbag such that, when folded, a portion of the airbag which is at the front in the direction of deployment rests essentiall |
| 6490976 |
Smart igniter communications repeater |
December 10, 2002 |
| A smart igniter bus system has a repeater connected by a bus to a controller, and one or more smart igniters connected by the bus to the repeater so that the repeater is between the smart igniters and the controller. The repeater receives data transmitted on the bus by the controller |
| 6490764 |
Anti-roping latch plate |
December 10, 2002 |
| A latch plate for use with a seat belt and seat belt buckle, the latch plate comprising: a metal load-bearing plate including a generally flat tongue engageable with a locking feature of the seat belt buckle, a first portion of the bearing plate, rearward of the tongue, having a first |
| 6487974 |
Inflator |
December 3, 2002 |
| An ignition enhancer and gas heater composition for vehicle occupant restraint systems (commonly known as "airbags") contains a non-azide fuel, an oxidizer and a metal. The ignition enhancer composition provides reliable and consistent ignition of a main propellant composition to pro |
| 6487919 |
Turbine flow monitoring device |
December 3, 2002 |
| A turbine type flow meter has a four-vaned plastic torpedo-shaped turbine mounted by portions of the plastic turbine within a housing between first and second bearings. The turbine supports a pair of magnets of the Neodymium-Iron-Boron type which rotate with the turbine. An upstream |
| 6485058 |
Seat belt buckle and tongue presenter system |
November 26, 2002 |
| A system (20) comprising a buckle presenter (100) and/or a tongue presenter (200) and mechanism to activate and control each presenter. The buckle presenter and tongue presenter (200) are used to respectively move a seat belt buckle (26) and a corresponding tongue (24) from a stowed posi |
| 6485052 |
Device for inflating an airbag |
November 26, 2002 |
| A device for inflating an airbag has a gas generator. A gas generator housing can be anchored to a vehicle body. An end of an inflation tube is connected to a gas discharge socket fastened to the gas generator housing in an axially aligned and gas-tight manner. The tube end and the gas |
| 6481745 |
Driver Air bag module horn with improved assembly and functionality characteristics |
November 19, 2002 |
| A driver air bag module (22) having a cover (16), a cushion (12), an inflator (10), and a switch assembly (20) is disclosed. The switch assembly (20) is formed by a flat upper housing member (40), which is slideably coupled to a generally flat lower member (42). A pair of electrical |
| 6478334 |
Energy-absorbing anchor, D-ring, turning loop or web guide |
November 12, 2002 |
| An energy absorbing web guide assembly comprising: a web guide for slidingly supporting a section of a seat belt; and a pair of mounting fasteners for mounting the web guide to a mounting surface and for permitting the web guide to resiliently move, in response to forces input theret |
