发明授权
- 专利标题： Apparatus for protecting lower extremities of a vehicle occupant
- 专利标题（中）： 用于保护车辆乘员的下肢的装置
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申请号： US09498177申请日： 2000-02-04
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公开(公告)号： US06213505B1公开(公告)日： 2001-04-10
- 发明人: Roy D. Van Wynsberghe , Ahmad K. Al-Amin , Jess A. Cuevas , Bryan W. Shirk , Timothy A. Swann
- 申请人： Roy D. Van Wynsberghe , Ahmad K. Al-Amin , Jess A. Cuevas , Bryan W. Shirk , Timothy A. Swann
- 主分类号： B60R2102
- IPC分类号： B60R2102
摘要：
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's lower extremities between opposite first and second end portions (54, 52) of the sheet member. The sheet member (50) has a first condition in which the sheet member is spaced from the vehicle floor (14) by a first distance. The apparatus (10) includes an actuatable power source (84) for pulling at least the first end portion (54) of the sheet member (50) to tension the sheet member between the first end portion and the second end portion (52). The apparatus (10) also includes a vehicle crash sensor (80) for actuating the power source (84) in the event of a vehicle collision to tension the sheet member (50) and move the sheet member from the first condition to a second condition. In the second condition, the sheet member (50) is spaced from the vehicle floor (14) by a second distance that is greater than the first distance.