Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8113555 | Vehicle impact mitigation system The present disclosure relates to a vehicle impact mitigation system. The impact mitigation system can be configured to mitigate front impact situations. A main rail and an extendable rail—configured to move with respect to the main rail—are provided. A front mo... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8070196 | Bumper mounting assemblies and vehicles incorporating same A bumper mounting assembly comprises a support member mountable to a vehicle front and a bumper-carrying member hingedly mounted to the support member to be movable between an upright position and a lowered position. A primary actuator is secured to the support memb... | 12/06/2011 |
| 7931317 | Reusable trailer mounted attenuator A reusable trailer mounted attenuator with a collapsible scissor frame assembly supported by front, intermediate and rear vertical frames. A self-adjusting shock absorber with staged metering is attached to the scissor frame assembly and controls its collapse under ... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7665779 | Vehicle arresting apparatus A vehicle has a forward end fashioned with a vehicle arresting device. The vehicle arresting device includes an elongate flexible member carried by opposed first and second supports having first and second outer ends, respectively. The first and second supports are ... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7604268 | Trailer mounted crash attenuation system A trailer crash attenuation assembly includes a longitudinal hollow member adapted to act as a hydraulic cylinder at one end, hydraulic fluid disposed in the hydraulic cylinder and a tank connected to the hydraulic cylinder to receive and store said hydraulic fluid ... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7530612 | Underrun protection device Method and arrangement for moving an underrun protection device for vehicles having a frame (3), an impact element (7) arranged on the vehicle at a location corresponding to an expected loading from a force during a possible collision, and at least one... | 05/12/2009 |
| 7452015 | Vehicle arresting apparatus A vehicle has a forward end fashioned with a vehicle arresting device. The vehicle arresting device includes an elongate flexible member carried by opposed first and second supports having first and second outer ends, respectively. The first and second supports are ... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7441817 | Trailer mounted crash attenuation system A trailer crash attenuation assembly includes a longitudinal hollow member adapted to act as a hydraulic cylinder at one end, hydraulic fluid disposed in the hydraulic cylinder and a tank connected to the hydraulic cylinder to receive and store said hydraulic fluid ... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7407204 | Arrangement for a vehicle side fairing, and a vehicle comprising such a side fairing A vehicle side underrun protection having at least one load-bearing member that extends between the wheels or sets of wheels of the vehicle in the vehicle's longitudinal direction. The member(s) extend basically along the outer contour of the vehicle and serves as s... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7374231 | Force and deceleration delimiting devices and methods for operating the same Force and deceleration delimiting devices and methods for operating the same in a vehicle. The devices generally include an open celled material expandable from a non-expanded state to an expanded state, wherein the open celled material is sandwiched between a first... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7347474 | Truck bed extension An extension and ramp assembly for use with the truck beds. The assembly comprises a truck bed floor portion and a cargo bed door portion. The truck bed floor portion mainly includes a plurality of shafts and a motor coupled with a bumper, which provides power to ex... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7347465 | Retractable automotive front end with wedge locking members An extendible rail and bumper apparatus is mountable within the base frame lower rails of an automotive frame to provide an improved crash force absorbing bumper apparatus for deployment on either the front or rear bumpers of an automobile. The extendible rail membe... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7325848 | Moveable guard assembly for all terrain vehicle A moveable guard assembly is configured for installation upon an ATV having a horizontal carrier rack. The movable guard assembly comprises a blocking member and a first securement mechanism. The blocking member is configured for attachment to a front end of the all... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7290810 | Device for absorption of impact energy on an automobile A device for absorption of impact energy on an automobile is provided, with at least one energy absorber arranged between a bumper and the vehicle chassis, which has a deformation element which deforms in the event of a collision. The device adapts to different driv... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7287478 | Method for manufacturing an airbag cushion An airbag cushion having a novel seam structure including either a tri-stitch fold-over seam structure or a double-stitch fold-over seam structure. The novel seam structure allows airbag cushions to be manufactured by using low tenacity yarns, preferably in the rang... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7284788 | Energy-absorbing underrun protection system for a vehicle An energy-absorbing underrun protection system for a vehicle. The energy-absorbing underrun protection system is comprised of a deformable construction adapted for deforming along a longitudinal axis to absorb crash energy. This deformable construction has a torque ... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7272197 | Device for recovering carrier Device for recovering a carrier including a first signal converter for multiplying a complex carrier caused by a phase error to a digitized passband VSB signal, to provide a baseband VSB signal, a second signal converter for multiplying a complex value of a frequenc... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7258191 | Air bag system incorporated into motor vehicle bumper An air bag safety system for motor vehicles comprising at least one bumper designed to house a plurality of airbags within blow away compartments that allow for the individual air bags to be deployed. Further comprising said invention are a plurality of pressure sen... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7232002 | Apparatus for controlling rigidity of vehicle body An apparatus for controlling the rigidity of vehicle body according to the present invention comprises a controller for controlling a buckling form, which controls the buckling form by adding to a member to be inputted to a collision load a lateral force in the dire... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7222895 | Device for storing article protecting automobile body An article that is mounted for protecting an automobile body is stored within the automobile body by electric power when the automobile body does not need to be protected. A device stores within the automobile body by electric power an article (2) having an a... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7216904 | Impact energizable structure An impact energy management system comprises at least a portion of vehicle structure with an impact energizable structure attached thereto. The impact energizable structure receives impact energy from an obstacle and transfers the impact energy to the vehicle struct... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7210718 | Apparatus for protecting the exterior of a vehicle A vehicle protection apparatus can protect a vehicle's exterior. The exterior can have an optional opening. A support attached to the vehicle can support a guard and allow it to move between (a) a retracted position that does not obtrude on the appearance of the veh... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7201429 | Impact actuated animal deflector system An animal deflector system for propelling a deer/large animal away from the front portion of a moving vehicle wherein the system includes a brush guard member mounted on the front of a vehicle by a pair of compression springs connect on one end to the brush guard me... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7198297 | Impact absorbing type steering column apparatus An impact absorbing type steering column apparatus provided with a collision energy absorbing device for absorbing an energy of a secondary collision of an occupant upon a collision of a vehicle comprises an energy absorption quantity adjusting device for changing a... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7192079 | Pedestrian protection apparatus for motor vehicles A pedestrian protection apparatus particularly adapted for motor vehicle front end structures for mitigating injuries of pedestrians struck by the vehicle. The apparatus incorporates a front grill which is moveable between extended and retracted positions. While it ... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7188875 | Underrun protection for vehicles An underrun protection intended for vehicles, includes a stiff sheet unit attachable to the vehicle including on one hand a first box, which is composed of a bottom wall and a border located along the periphery thereof, and which is articulatedly connected to a fast... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7185728 | Vehicle front end structure A vehicle front end structure is configured to handle a front collision by using one or more inflatable bags to bear the collision load and produce a stable reaction force. The front inflatable bag is provided in a region where a colliding object can contact the fro... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7182191 | Motion damper The motion damper includes a damper wall, damper stages, and a damper head. The damper wall and damper stages are successively smaller in size and have a nested relationship. The damper wall and damper stages are each flexibly attached to an adjacent damper stage or... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7174985 | Exterior airbag device An external airbag device is provided which can smoothly deploy its airbag with being caught by neither a rear edge of a hood nor a windshield wiper. A lid 8 is allowed to be displaced relative to a retainer 2 in the vertical direction because hooks | 02/13/2007 |
| 7140123 | Roller and clothes drying apparatus provided with the same A roller capable of easily absorbing impact transmitted thereto while maintaining a desired level of abrasion resistance, and a clothes drying apparatus provided with the roller. The roller is provided with an impact absorption enhancer capable of causing the roller... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7090288 | Apparatus for controlling stiffness of a vehicle body An apparatus for controlling stiffness of a vehicle body includes a slide member, a base member, a deformable member and an actuator. The slide member is disposed parallel to a direction of impact force acting on a first end of the slide member. The base member, whi... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7086673 | Rotating front bumper A front bumper for a mobile vehicle that rotates to provide additional access to the vehicle engine. The rotating front bumper is provided in various embodiments, exemplifying possible modes of configuration and operation thereof. Specifically, methods of retaining ... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7077439 | Vehicle bumper and method of making same A vehicle bumper is formed using fluid pressure such that the bumper is characterized by a curvature. The bumper preferably includes an upper bumper bar portion and a lower bumper bar portion that are interconnected. The bumper is also preferably connectable to a pa... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7070206 | Impact absorbing type steering column apparatus An impact absorbing type steering column apparatus provided with a collision energy absorbing device for absorbing an energy of a secondary collision of an occupant upon a collision of a vehicle comprises an energy absorption quantity adjusting device for changing a... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7063364 | Bumper arrangement A moveable bumper arrangement. The moveable bumper arrangement includes an elongated bumper member, an end bumper member, and a mechanism coupled to the end bumper member. The mechanism allows substantially translational movement of the end bumper member with respec... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7059458 | Device for damping the displacement of a part, involving a metal wire A damping device used for motor vehicle safety, for damping the displacement of at least one part set in motion during a collision between a motor vehicle and an external object, the part being, for example, a bumper, a steering column or a bonnet of a motor vehicle... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7052062 | Trailerable refreshment stand A trailer, intended to be towed on public thoroughfares by a motorized vehicle, that readily converts to a mobile refreshment stand for use at parties and other places where a mobile refreshment stand may be desired having built-in refreshment disbursing, electrical... | 05/30/2006 |
| 6976718 | Vehicle bumper device A vehicle bumper device is equipped with an energy absorption shaft that is provided at a rear portion of a bumper and protrudes the bumper toward a front of a vehicle; and a protrusion mechanism that is provided at the rear portion of the bumper and protrudes the b... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6974166 | Adjustable safety bumper An adjustable bumper system that can be easily attached to a vehicle and removed and replaced if damaged. The bumper system includes housings that are mounted to the rails of the vehicle. The housings are independently mounted and thus can be mounted to any vehicle ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6962378 | Adjustable safety bumper A fully adjustable bumper system that absorbs impact and thereby, avoiding damage to the bumper. The bumper system includes a bumper assembly mounted to a vertically pivoting assembly through horizontally and vertically adjustable assemblies. A stop assembly is atta... | 11/08/2005 |
