...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8141940 | Headliner assembly having a reinforcement member and subcomponent routing aid A headliner assembly for covering an inner surface of an automotive vehicle roof having an opening is provided. The headliner assembly includes a dimensionally stable substrate having an upper surface facing the inner surface of the roof, and an opposite lower surfa... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8141941 | Slidable window assembly with retractable sunshade A slidable window assembly mounted within the roof of an automotive vehicle is provided. The roof includes an opening and the slidable window assembly includes a window panel having a catch. The window panel is slidably mounted within the roof and slidable between a... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8100466 | Vehicle roof having a modular, multishell structure A vehicle roof for a passenger car, the vehicle roof having a modular, multishell structure, the vehicle roof including a variably configurable functional shell for providing stiffness to the vehicle roof and configured to be directly attached to a body shell of the... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8056967 | Ceiling decorative panel There is provided a ceiling decorative panel that can be carried easily and reliably even if a dome lamp is disposed in an opening portion. The ceiling decorative panel of the present invention is disposed on an inside of a roof panel of a vehicle body. The ceiling ... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8052207 | Interlocking mechanism of sunshade panel in a sunroof device An object of the present invention is to provide an interlocking mechanism of panels of a guide rail for roof panel and a guide rail for sunshade panel even in a case where both guide rails are mutually different in curvature. The interlocking mechanism enables the ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8020928 | Seal mechanical holder for sunroof assembly A seal attachment assembly for a vehicle sunroof comprises a seal including one of an outward extending protrusion and hook and a deflector body including the other of the protrusion and the hook. A cooperative relationship between the protrusion and the hook resist... | 09/20/2011 |
| 8002341 | Roll sunshade device A roll sunshade device, which includes a screen for shadowing an inner opening of a roof of a vehicle, a rotating body which is disposed ahead of the inner opening or behind the inner opening in a front-rear direction of the vehicle and rotates freely around an axis... | 08/23/2011 |
| 8002340 | Joint structure for fixing between sunroof and headliner A joint structure for fixing between a sunroof and a headliner, may include a headliner defining an opening, wherein a portion of the headliner around the opening protrudes and is curved upwards to define the opening, and the headliner has a face fabric attached to ... | 08/23/2011 |
| 7992928 | Vehicle roof structure A vehicle roof structure which can regulate the quantity of lighting while ensuring appearance quality when viewed from the compartment. When a roll shade is arranged at a retreat position, incident light penetrates a glass roof thence penetrates a supporting member... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7942474 | Vehicle HVAC control panel receptacles and HVAC control panel assemblies A receptacle for receiving an HVAC control panel of a vehicle includes a frame and at least one unlocking lever. The frame may define an opening for receiving the HVAC control panel. The at least one unlocking lever may include a handle portion, a shoulder and a tap... | 05/17/2011 |
| 7922240 | Slatted roof for a motor vehicle A slatted roof for a motor vehicle comprises a plurality of slats connected to one another in a material-bonded manner. The slats are guided laterally in guide rails by pegs and are moveable between a closed position, in which the slats block an opening in the roof,... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7909393 | Reclosable fastener riser/spacer, and methods of constructing and utilizing same A plastic spacer/riser to increase useable height of a reclosable fastening system, such as 3M™ Dual Lock™ or Velcro® hook and loop products. The spacer/riser is adapted to be held in place on an external substrate with hot-melt glue, sonic welds, pressure-sens... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7878580 | Roof assembly for a vehicle The roof assembly includes guide rails extending parallel and at a distance from each other. The guide rails each include a guide groove being defined between an upper and lower flange of the guide rails. The guide grooves open in a direction towards each other, and... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7798568 | Sunshade assembly and open roof construction provided therewith A sunshade assembly comprises a flexible sunscreen having opposed longitudinal edges and opposed transversal edges, two opposed longitudinal guides for receiving therein and guiding corresponding ones of the opposed longitudinal edges of the sunscreen, a rotatable w... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7798566 | Molded headliner reinforcement A headliner reinforcement for ensuring the proper placement of a wire harness at a location above a headliner in a motor vehicle is provided. The headliner reinforcement includes a member having a top side and a bottom side, the bottom side being adjacent to the hea... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7798567 | Vehicle roof comprising a movable cover and an openable blind disposed thereunder The invention relates to a vehicle roof (10) comprising at least one at least partially transparent roof part (14) that can be moved in order to at least partly open a roof opening (17), and a blind (20) which allows the movable roof part... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7744151 | Sunshade assembly and open roof construction provided therewith A sunshade assembly includes a flexible sunscreen, a rotatable winding shaft for winding and unwinding the sunscreen and two opposed guides for cooperation with two opposed longitudinal edges of the sunscreen. Each guide extends longitudinally in a curved manner in ... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7744150 | Roof liner and procedure for obtaining a roof liner for vehicles The procedure comprises the following steps: a) joining a foam layer (1) and a plastic fibre mat (2); b) joining a plurality of additional layers (3, 4, 5, 6) to the central core (1, 2),... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7726728 | Headliner having a sunroof opening A headliner assembly covers an inner surface of a motor vehicle roof having a sunroof opening. The headliner assembly includes a dimensionally stable substrate having a first edge extending along the sunroof opening. The substrate has an upper surface facing the inn... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7699387 | Shading device for vehicle roofs with transparent element The present invention consists of a concealment device for vehicle roofs with a transparent element comprising a group of technical solutions in the blocking means which enable unblocking and smooth opening and closing movements without losing efficiency in respect ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7695057 | Reclosable fastener riser/spacer, and methods of constructing and utilizing same A plastic spacer/riser to increase usable height of a reclosable fastening system, such as 3M™ Dual Lock™ or Velcro® hook and loop products. The spacer/riser is adapted to be held in place on an external substrate with hot-melt glues sonic welds, pressure-sensi... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7677653 | Headliner retainer clip A retainer assembly for connecting a headliner panel to a support structure. A retainer clip is configured to connect the support structure to the headliner panel. A slot is defined in the support structure and configured to receive s stem portion of the retainer cl... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7669919 | Actuating device for actuating a wind deflector device The present invention provides an actuating device for a wind deflector device in a vehicle, with a roof opening and a roof closure element, wherein the actuating device has at least one actuating cable which can be coupled to a sun-shielding device, wherein the act... | 03/02/2010 |
| 7641273 | Vehicle headliners and methods of using the same Vehicle headliners and methods of installation include headliners with a substrate layer having at least one handling component formed within the substrate layer, the handling component having a perforation between the handling component and the surrounding substrat... | 01/05/2010 |
| 7621591 | Attachment structure for motor vehicle headliner A headliner assembly covers an inner surface of a motor vehicle roof having a sunroof opening. The headliner assembly includes a dimensionally stable substrate having an upper surface facing the inner surface of the motor vehicle roof and an opposite bottom surface.... | 11/24/2009 |
| 7571958 | Sunshade panel apparatus A sunshade panel apparatus includes, a plurality of sunshade panels including slide members, a guide rail having a guide groove extending to slide and guide the sunshade panels, a panel compartment, an engaging member including an engaged portion and an engaging por... | 08/11/2009 |
| 7537276 | Operator's control device for a shade arrangement This arrangement relates to an operating and control means for a shade arrangement, especially for a vehicle roof with a transparent roof surface, the shade arrangement comprising at least one shade with a shade roller and a shade fabric which can be unrolled theref... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7530630 | Roller blind system for a sliding roof A roller blind system for a sliding roof includes a guide rail and a spring steel band that is guided in the guide rail in sections. The spring steel band has an end that is situated outside the guide rail, and which contracts to a coil. A roller blind is attached t... | 05/12/2009 |
| 7513566 | Headliner stiffener with energy absorbing mechanism An energy absorbent and stiffening assembly for an automotive headliner. The assembly includes at least one energy absorbent cone and at least one stiffening rib joined with and extending outwardly from the energy absorbent cone which stiffens the headliner. ... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7490893 | Laminated headliner assembly and method for forming a lightweight laminated headliner A headliner assembly (10) includes a layer of core material (16), a binding agent (26) adjacent to the core material (16), a first layer of chopped fiberglass (14) adjacent to the binding agent (26), a scrim (20) adja... | 02/17/2009 |
| 7472949 | Open roof construction for a vehicle and method for opening it An open roof construction or assembly for a vehicle includes a closure assembly for the roof opening comprising a number of separate closure panels. A sunshade assembly also comprises a number of separate sunshade panels. In an opened position of the open roof const... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7469960 | Vehicle roof comprising a roller blind system A motor vehicle roof with an at least partially transparent roof section (10) and a shade arrangement (12) located underneath the transparent roof section. In one of three embodiments, with two take-up shafts (16, 18) located in succession in th... | 12/30/2008 |
| 7445276 | Internal sunshade for transparent roofs of automobiles Internal sunshade for transparent roofs of automobiles consisting of a cover (1) sized to cover internally the transparent segment of the roof, mounted and displaceable between two longitudinal rails (2) that run along the sides of the vehicle's roof. ... | 11/04/2008 |
| 7441833 | Arrangement and method for converting of single panel sunroofs into double panel sunroofs and component parts thereof An arrangement and process for conversion of a single panel sunroof into a two panel sunroof uses corner adaptor pieces with planar sides that form an outside corner and a concave inner contour extending between ends of the planar sides, the contour being matched to... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7438341 | Headliner retainer A visor support assembly mountable to a vehicle having a headliner and adapted to secure a portion of a sun-visor includes a support adapted to securedly receive the portion of the sun-visor. The support includes a surface which engages the headliner and an insert w... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7438353 | Guide tube-fixing structure for sunroof device In a guide tube-fixing structure for sunroof device 1 that includes cables C1, C2 for opening and closing a roof panel 4 by push-pull operation; guide rails 5, 5 for guiding opening/closing of the roof panel 4; sunshade rail... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7416245 | Sunshade device for vehicle A sunshade device for a vehicle includes: a plurality of sunshade panels mounted in an inner opening of a vehicular roof along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and arranged in line in a closed state of the sunshade panels; a pair of front and rear sliders eac... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7410189 | Mounting structure of curtain airbag in vehicle A mounting structure of a curtain airbag in a vehicle is disclosed. The structure is adapted to easily form an inflation passage between a pillar trim and pillar by using a head liner; therefore, the overall portions of the curtain airbag can smoothly expand during ... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7393047 | Automobile roof structure Disclosed is an automobile roof structure, which comprises a pair of right and left roof side rails 1, a transparent roof panel 4 attached to cover a space between the roof side rails 1, a sun shade 5 disposed slidably along a bottom surf... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7393046 | Removable storage module for vehicle A removable storage module assembly configured for securement to the headliner in a passenger compartment of a vehicle. The headliner includes a storage module receiving area formed therein having a securement portion disposed proximate the receiving area. A storage... | 07/01/2008 |