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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6240961 | Hydraulic power steering control valve A hydraulic fluid control valve (18) for a power steering gear (10) includes first and second relatively rotatable valve members (60, 62) which direct hydraulic fluid to flow between the valve members (60, 62) from inlet ports (70) to outlet ports (92). T... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6240352 | Vehicle arrangement with cooperating power seat and vehicle occupant protection systems A vehicle arrangement (10) includes a power seat system (14) and an occupant protection system (40). The power seat system (14) includes a seat (18) provided for an occupant (16) and movable relative to a vehicle chassis (20). A motor (24) moves the seat ... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6238500 | Smokeless gas generating material An inflator (14) for inflating an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (12) comprises a pressurized container (20), a gas generating material stored under pressure in the container (20), and an igniter (36) for igniting the gas generating materia... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6237942 | Inflatable vehicle occupant protection device Apparatus (10) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle (12) includes an inflatable tubular structure (14) that is inflatable into a position adjacent a vehicle occupant. An inflation fluid source (22) provides inflation fluid for inflating the inf... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6237464 | Centering mechanism for a power steering control valve An apparatus (18) includes first and second relatively rotatable valve members (60, 62) and a centering mechanism (120). The valve members (60, 62) are configured to direct hydraulic fluid between the valve members (60, 62) in accordance with their rotati... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6237940 | Inflator for side curtain An apparatus (10) comprises an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14) having internal surfaces (48). The apparatus (10) also comprises an inflator (20) for directing gas (104) into the inflatable device (14) to inflate the inflatable device. T... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6236850 | Apparatus and method for remote convenience function control with increased effective receiver seek time and reduced power consumption A remote convenience system (10), via an associated method, causes remote control performance of a function. A portable, actuatable transmitter (14) of the system (10) transmits signals (16) that convey a function request during first portions of repeatin... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6236035 | Apparatus and method for sensing with triangulation and time-of-flight for use in an actuatable occupant restraint system An apparatus (32) is preferably part of an occupant protection system (10), and the apparatus determines a characteristic of an object (70) that may be located on a seat (14) of a vehicle (12) for use in control of the system. The object (70) may be a veh... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6234488 | Heat shrinkable boot seal and method of installation An apparatus (10) includes a bearing (24) linking first and second vehicle parts (12, 14) for movement relative to each other, and a boot seal (30) protecting the bearing (24). The boot seal (30) is a tube of heat shrinkable thermoplastic material. The tu... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6236920 | Distributed vehicle safety with bus connection components having a remotely-located initiation electronics arrangement and a bus tap arrangement A distributed vehicle safety system (10) includes an actuatable safety system device (e.g., 16) and a central controller (14) for outputting communication regarding actuation of the device. A communication bus (36) extends from the central controller (14)... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6232875 | Apparatus and method for controlling a tire condition module of a vehicle tire A tire condition sensor module (14) includes a tire condition sensor (78, 84, 88) operative to sense a tire condition of an associated tire (20) and provide a signal indicative thereof. A motion detector (32) is operative to detect movement of the tire an... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6231702 | Cool burning ammonium nitrate based gas generating composition A gas generating composition comprises an organic fuel and an ammonium nitrate oxidizer which is phase stabilized with an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salt. The composition also comprises an ammonium salt coolant selected from the group consisting... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6231701 | Vehicle occupant protection device and solid solution gas generating composition therefor An apparatus (12) for inflating an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (20) comprises a gas generating material (16) which when ignited produces gas to inflate the inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (20). The gas generating material (... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6230624 | Igniter having a hot melt ignition droplet An electrically actuatable igniter (24) comprises a body (60), a pair of electrodes (40) and (42) associated with the body (60), a heating element (44) electrically connected between the electrodes (40) and (42), and an ignition droplet (46) covering and ... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6228193 | Vehicle occupant protection device and solid solution gas generating composition therefor A vehicle occupant protection device comprises a body of gas generating material which comprises a solid solution of a water soluble liquid oxidizer and a hydrophilic polymeric gelling agent. The gelling agent comprises carbon atoms in an effective amount... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6227565 | Air bag inflator with pressure regulation An apparatus (10) for providing inflation fluid for inflating an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14) includes a housing (20) and an inflation fluid source (140) in the housing actuatable to provide inflation fluid under pressure. The housin... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6227562 | Stored gas inflator assembly A safety apparatus (12) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle having a side structure (16) comprises an inflatable protection device (14) having an inflated condition disposed between the vehicle occupant and the side structure. The safety appar... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6227597 | Vehicle seat with limited rearward movement An apparatus (10) includes seat (11) for a vehicle occupant (15) and a support (20) for the seat (11). The seat (11) has a forward position in a vehicle (12) and a rearward position in the vehicle (12). The support (20) enables the seat (11) to move, rela... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6224480 | Blend door assembly for climate control systems An assembly 10 for controlling the temperature of air flowing into the passenger compartment of a vehicle has a frame 20, an arcuate door 40, and an actuation assembly 50. The frame 20 defines an opening 21 through which air flows into the passenger compa... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6224088 | Inflatable occupant protection device extending adjacent a windshield An apparatus (10) includes an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (32). The vehicle occupant protection device (32) has a stored condition and an inflated condition in which the occupant protection device extends across an upper portion (20) of ... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6220628 | Vehicle occupant protection apparatus and method having multiple stage control A vehicle occupant protection apparatus (10) includes an occupant protection device (20), such as an air bag module, that is actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant (14). The protection device (20) has first and second stages (44 and 46). A first dri... | 04/24/2001 |
| 6217340 | Electrical connector assembly A connector assembly 40 mounts a light bulb 20 to a fixture 22. The fixture 22 has an interior surface 24, an exterior surface 26, and an opening 28. The opening 28 defines a peripheral surface interconnecting the interior and exterior surfaces 24, 26. Th... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6217059 | Apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant's legs A safety apparatus (70) for helping to protect an occupant (30) of a vehicle (10) in the event of a vehicle collision comprises an air bag system including at least one inflatable air bag (80) having a deflated condition and an inflated condition. The air... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6217065 | Inflator An inflator (10) for providing inflation fluid to inflate an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device includes a pressure vessel (12) defining a chamber (30) for inflation fluid. The pressure vessel (12) has a passage (48) for inflation fluid flow fr... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6218632 | Capacitive weight sensor The present invention is directed to a weight sensing apparatus (10) for a vehicle seat (22). The weight sensing apparatus (10) includes a differential capacitor (150) including a first capacitor (152) and a second capacitor (176). The first capacitor (15... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6213512 | Seat belt tightening apparatus A vehicle occupant protection system (10) includes a sensor (16) which is effective to sense a distance between a vehicle (12) and an object (14) adjacent to the vehicle (12). The sensor (16) also is effective to provide a sensor signal (18) indicative of... | 04/10/2001 |
| 6213505 | Apparatus for protecting lower extremities of a vehicle occupant An apparatus (10) for helping to protect the lower extremities (44) of an occupant (40) of a vehicle (12) includes a sheet member (50) for extending along the floor (14) of the vehicle. The sheet member (50) has a surface (58) extending under the occupant... | 04/10/2001 |
| 6213506 | Actuatable knee bolster An apparatus (10) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle comprises a knee bolster (20) for engaging at least one leg of the occupant to restrain the occupant. The knee bolster (20) comprises a metal tube (50) having a collapsed condition and an e... | 04/10/2001 |
| 6213800 | Shorting clip for air bag inflator A shorting clip (100) for establishing a short circuit between first and second electrical terminals (64, 66) of an air bag inflator initiator (62) includes a body of electrically insulating material (102) having portions engageable with the initiator for... | 04/10/2001 |
| 6213548 | Head restraint apparatus A headrest apparatus (10) for a vehicle seat (14) includes first and second relatively movable cushion portions (18a, 18b). An outer covering (16) for the first and second cushion portions has a head engaging portion (19) for engaging the head (21) of a v... | 04/10/2001 |
| 6209183 | Bushing installation tool A tool (10) for installing a radially compressible bushing (20) into a housing (30) of a rack and pinion steering system (32). The housing has an end portion (50) that includes a ring-shaped bushing chamber (72) and a circular opening (60) into the bushin... | 04/03/2001 |
| 6212457 | Mixed parallel and daisy chain bus architecture in a vehicle safety system A distributed vehicle safety system (10) and an associated method provide for connection of a plurality of devices (14). Each of the devices (14) performs a function associated with protection of a vehicle occupant. A communication bus (16) conveys commun... | 04/03/2001 |
| 6209404 | Intermittent geneva actuated mechanism An apparatus (10) includes a manually rotatable input member (15), an input gear (20), an output gear (40), a drive link (60), a first planar link (80), and a second planar link (90). The input gear (20) is operatively connected to the input member (15) t... | 04/03/2001 |
| 6212454 | Method and apparatus for disabling an actuatable restraint based on determined crash velocity and displacement An apparatus for controlling an actuatable restraint (14) in a vehicle (12) includes an accelerometer (10) for providing a crash acceleration signal. A velocity determiner (60) determines a crash velocity value from the crash acceleration signal. A first ... | 04/03/2001 |
| 6206132 | Vehicle electric steering apparatus A steering apparatus (10) for use in a vehicle (12) having a steerable road wheel (14), a steering member (30) supporting the road wheel for rotation relative to the steering member, and at least one vehicle suspension part (22) supporting the steering me... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6206414 | Air bag inflator including plural burst disks An air bag inflator (10) includes a container (12) defining a chamber (14), and inflation fluid (66) under pressure in the chamber. A first opening (41) in the container (12) enables fluid flow from the chamber (14) to an inflatable device (32). A first b... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6206412 | Inflator assembly for a vehicle occupant protection device An apparatus (10) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle (12) comprises a vehicle occupant protection device (14) that is inflatable between a part (16) of the vehicle and a vehicle occupant. The apparatus (10) also comprises an inflation fluid s... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6205629 | Latch sensing seatbelt buckle A ferromagnetic latch (42) is moveable from a first position to a second position in which the latch locks a lockable element (16) against movement in a passage (22) in a buckle (12). The buckle (12) also includes a switch (60) which includes a ferromagne... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6206416 | Vehicle safety system A vehicle safety system (10) includes a first vehicle occupant safety device (50) including a first pyrotechnic device (60) that is electrically energizable in response to a first actuation signal (76). The system also includes a second vehicle occupant s... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6203058 | Inflatable curtain with two inflatable members Apparatus (10) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle (12) which has a side structure (16) and a roof (28) comprises an inflatable curtain (14). The curtain (14) is inflatable in a first direction away from the roof into a position between the si... | 03/20/2001 |
