公开(公告)号：US06454304B1

公开(公告)日：2002-09-24

申请号：US09425851

申请日：1999-10-22

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

IPC分类号： B60R2248

CPC分类号： B60R22/48 ,  B60R22/18 ,  B60R2022/1806 ,  B60R2022/4841 ,  B60R2022/4858

摘要： An apparatus (10) includes seat belt webbing (12) for restraining an object (14) in a vehicle seat (16). A sensor (50) associated with the vehicle seat (16) senses a sensed weight of the object (14) in the vehicle seat. A seat belt tension sensor (60) senses the tension in the seat belt webbing (12). A controller (44) determines a computed weight of the object (14) as a function of both the sensed weight and the tension in the seat belt webbing (12).

摘要翻译： 装置（10）包括用于限制车辆座椅（16）中的物体（14）的安全带织带（12）。 与车辆座椅（16）相关联的传感器（50）感测车辆座椅中物体（14）的感测重量。 安全带张力传感器（60）感测安全带织带（12）中的张力。 控制器（44）根据感测到的重量和安全带织带（12）中的张力来确定物体（14）的计算重量。

公开(公告)号：US6158768A

公开(公告)日：2000-12-12

申请号：US27311

申请日：1998-02-20

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Brian K. Blackburn ,  Joseph E. Mazur

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Brian K. Blackburn ,  Joseph E. Mazur

IPC分类号： B60R21/01 ,  B60R21/015 ,  B60R21/32

CPC分类号： B60R21/01532 ,  B60R21/01554

摘要： An apparatus (47) determines presence, type, and a size value of a vehicle occupant (14) located within a vehicle (12). A first capacitive sensor (46A) is located on a first side of an occupant location within the vehicle (12) and senses a first capacitance value. An associated drive/monitor circuit (42A) provides a first signal (44A) indicative of the first capacitance value. A controller (27) determines from the first signal (44A) whether the first capacitance value is indicative of an occupant located proximate to the first capacitive sensor (46A). The controller (27) determines a first distance between the first capacitive sensor (46A) and the occupant (14) using the first signal (44A). A second capacitive sensor (46C) is located on a second side of the occupant location and senses a second capacitance value. An associated drive/monitor circuit (42C) provides a second signal (44C) indicative of the second capacitance value. The controller (27) determines from the second signal (44C) whether the second capacitance value is indicative of an occupant located proximate to the second capacitive sensor (46C). The controller (27) determines a second distance between the second capacitive sensor (46C) and the occupant using the second signal (44C). The controller (27) determines from at least one of the first and second signals (44A and 44C) whether the occupant type is a child in a child seat. The controller (27) determines a size value of the occupant using the first and second determined distances.

摘要翻译： 设备（47）确定位于车辆（12）内的车辆乘客（14）的存在，类型和大小值。 第一电容传感器（46A）位于车辆（12）内的乘员位置的第一侧上并且感测第一电容值。 相关联的驱动/监视电路（42A）提供指示第一电容值的第一信号（44A）。 控制器（27）从第一信号（44A）确定第一电容值是否指示位于第一电容传感器（46A）附近的乘员。 控制器（27）使用第一信号（44A）确定第一电容传感器（46A）和乘员（14）之间的第一距离。 第二电容传感器（46C）位于乘员位置的第二侧，并感测第二电容值。 相关联的驱动/监视电路（42C）提供指示第二电容值的第二信号（44C）。 控制器（27）根据第二信号（44C）确定第二电容值是否指示位于第二电容传感器（46C）附近的乘员。 控制器（27）使用第二信号（44C）确定第二电容传感器（46C）和乘员之间的第二距离。 控制器（27）从第一和第二信号（44A和44C）中的至少一个确定乘客类型是否是儿童座椅中的儿童。 控制器（27）使用第一和第二确定的距离确定乘员的大小值。

公开(公告)号：US6119546A

公开(公告)日：2000-09-19

申请号：US150179

申请日：1998-09-10

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

IPC分类号： B60R21/16 ,  B60R21/20 ,  B60R21/203 ,  B62D1/04

CPC分类号： B60R21/203 ,  B60R21/2035 ,  B60R2021/167 ,  Y10S411/948 ,  Y10T403/57 ,  Y10T70/577 ,  Y10T70/5889 ,  Y10T70/5956 ,  Y10T74/20834

摘要： An apparatus is provided for use in a vehicle having a rotatable steering shaft (32) and a locking mechanism (56) for preventing rotation of the steering shaft. The locking mechanism (56) is deactivated by an ignition key (58) in the vehicle's ignition. The apparatus comprises a vehicle steering wheel assembly (20) having a front side (68) facing a driver of the vehicle and a back side facing away from the driver, an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (90) for helping to protect the driver of the vehicle in a vehicle collision, and a mechanism (60, 110) for removably connecting the inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (90) with the steering shaft (32). The mechanism (60, 110) for removably connecting the inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (90) requires rotation of the steering wheel assembly (20) to accomplish removal of the inflatable vehicle occupant protection device from the steering shaft (32).

摘要翻译： 提供一种用于具有可旋转转向轴（32）和用于防止转向轴旋转的锁定机构（56）的车辆中的装置。 锁定机构（56）通过车辆点火中的点火钥匙（58）而停用。 该装置包括车辆方向盘组件（20），其具有面向车辆的驾驶员的前侧（68）和背离驾驶员的后侧，用于帮助驾驶员保护驾驶员的充气车辆乘员保护装置（90） 车辆碰撞的车辆和用于将可充气车辆乘员保护装置（90）与转向轴（32）可拆卸地连接的机构（60,110）。 用于可拆卸地连接充气车辆乘员保护装置（90）的机构（60,110）需要方向盘组件（20）的旋转以完成从转向轴（32）移除可充气车辆乘员保护装置。

公开(公告)号：US6025783A

公开(公告)日：2000-02-15

申请号：US70320

申请日：1998-04-30

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

IPC分类号： H01H9/16 ,  G08B21/00

CPC分类号： H01H9/167 ,  H01H9/168

摘要： A wireless switch detection system (10, 100) includes central transmitter (22, 109) for transmitting a transmitter signal. The system (10, 110) also includes a remote switch (28, 128) spaced apart from the central transmitter (22, 109) and having at least two states. A tag circuit (32, 136) is responsive to and powered by the transmitter signal. The tag circuit (32, 136) detects the state of the remote switch (28, 128) and, in response to the transmitter signal, provides a tag signal indicative of the state of the switch (28, 128). A central receiver (26, 111) receives the tag signal.

摘要翻译： 无线开关检测系统（10,100）包括用于发送发射机信号的中央发射机（22,109）。 系统（10,110）还包括与中心发射器（22,109）间隔开并具有至少两个状态的远程开关（28,128）。 标签电路（32,136）响应发射机信号并由其供电。 标签电路（32,136）检测远程开关（28,128）的状态，并且响应于发送器信号，提供指示开关（28,128）的状态的标签信号。 中央接收器（26,111）接收标签信号。

公开(公告)号：US6007100A

公开(公告)日：1999-12-28

申请号：US788394

申请日：1997-01-27

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

IPC分类号： B60R21/055 ,  B60R22/24 ,  B60R22/18

CPC分类号： B60R22/24 ,  B60R21/055

摘要： An apparatus (10) for helping to protect a vehicle occupant's head (140) from an impact in a passenger compartment (13) of a vehicle includes a webbing guide (30) for guiding movement of seat belt webbing (14) in the vehicle. A mounting bolt (70) has a bolt head (76) for attaching the webbing guide (30) to the vehicle. A spring member (100/200) is held in position between the bolt head (76) and a portion (32) of the webbing guide (30). The spring member (100/200) extends into the passenger compartment (13) beyond the bolt head (76) and is compressible in response to application of a force due to occupant movement in the passenger compartment.

摘要翻译： 一种用于帮助保护车辆乘员的头部（140）免受车辆乘客室（13）中的碰撞的装置（10）包括用于引导座椅安全带织带（14）在车辆中的运动的织带引导件（30）。 安装螺栓（70）具有用于将安全带引导件（30）附接到车辆的螺栓头（76）。 弹簧构件（100/200）被保持在螺栓头部（76）与织带引导件（30）的一部分（32）之间的适当位置。 弹簧构件（100/200）延伸到乘客舱（13）中超过螺栓头（76），并且响应于乘客在乘客舱中的作用而施加的力而是可压缩的。

公开(公告)号：US5544918A

公开(公告)日：1996-08-13

申请号：US335894

申请日：1994-11-08

申请人： William J. Fleming ,  Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

发明人： William J. Fleming ,  Charles E. Steffens, Jr.

IPC分类号： B60R21/01 ,  B60R22/28 ,  B60R22/34

CPC分类号： B60R22/34 ,  B60R22/28 ,  B60R2022/288 ,  B60R21/015

摘要： A seat belt webbing retractor (22) includes a spool (72) on which a length of belt webbing (16) is wound. A stop member (100) is fixed in position on a vehicle. A crush plate (60) is secured to the retractor (22), and both the retractor (22) and the crush plate (60) are movable in a direction (132) toward the stop member (100). A crushable energy absorbing material, preferably a honeycomb (130), is disposed in the path of movement of the crush plate (60). The crushable material (130) controls movement of the crush plate (60) relative to the stop member (100), reducing the abruptness of the load on a vehicle occupant during a collision. In a second embodiment, the resistance provided by a crushable member (280) may be controlled in response to a sensed characteristic (310) of the vehicle occupant.

摘要翻译： 一种安全带织带卷收器（22）包括一个卷轴（72），一条卷带（16）的长度被卷绕在该卷轴上。 停止构件（100）固定在车辆上的适当位置。 挤压板（60）固定在牵开器（22）上，并且牵开器（22）和挤压板（60）都能够朝向止动件（100）的方向（132）移动。 破碎板（60）的移动路径中设置有可破碎的能量吸收材料，优选蜂窝（130）。 可压碎材料（130）控制挤压板（60）相对于止动件（100）的运动，从而减少碰撞期间车辆乘员的负载突然性。 在第二实施例中，可以响应于车辆乘员的感测特性（310）来控制由可压溃构件（280）提供的阻力。

公开(公告)号：US5542696A

公开(公告)日：1996-08-06

申请号：US506314

申请日：1995-07-24

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Louis R. Brown

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Louis R. Brown

IPC分类号： B60R21/00 ,  B60R21/207 ,  B60R21/217 ,  B60R21/26 ,  B60R21/261 ,  B60R21/22

CPC分类号： B60R21/207 ,  B60R21/26 ,  B60R2021/0006 ,  B60R2021/2612 ,  B60R21/217

摘要： An air bag module (10) is mounted in a vehicle seat (12). The module (10) includes an inflator (14) and a folded air bag (12) which is spaced apart from the inflator. An expandable throat (150) defines an inflation fluid passage (151) extending between the inflator (14) and the air bag (12). The throat (150) expands, upon actuation of the inflator (14), to increase the effective cross-sectional flow area of the inflation fluid passage by at least 20% and, preferably, by 50% to 100% or more. At least one wall (154) of the throat (100) moves under pressure from inflation fluid from the inflator (14) to expand the throat.

摘要翻译： 安全气囊模块（10）安装在车辆座椅（12）中。 模块（10）包括充气机（14）和与充气机间隔开的折叠气囊（12）。 可膨胀喉部（150）限定在充气器（14）和气囊（12）之间延伸的充气流体通道（151）。 在充气机（14）启动时，喉部（150）膨胀，以使充气流体通道的有效横截面积面积增加至少20％，优选50％至100％或更多。 喉部（100）的至少一个壁（154）在来自充气器（14）的膨胀流体的压力下移动以使咽喉膨胀。

公开(公告)号：US5439249A

公开(公告)日：1995-08-08

申请号：US349385

申请日：1994-12-05

申请人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Thomas H. Vos ,  Scott B. Gentry ,  Joseph F. Mazur ,  Brian K. Blackburn

发明人： Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Thomas H. Vos ,  Scott B. Gentry ,  Joseph F. Mazur ,  Brian K. Blackburn

IPC分类号： B60R21/01 ,  B60R21/015 ,  B60R21/26 ,  B60R21/28

CPC分类号： B60R21/01534 ,  B60R21/01526 ,  B60R21/01536

摘要： A vehicle occupant restraint system (10) comprises a vehicle seat (12) including a seat bottom (14), a seat back (16), and an occupant position sensor (20) mounted in the seat back. The occupant position sensor is located about sixteen inches above a flat plane (99) of the seat bottom of the vehicle seat and below a head rest (11) of the vehicle seat. The seat back of the vehicle seat includes foam material (40) to which the occupant position sensor is secured. The seat back of the vehicle seat also includes fabric material (41) which covers the occupant position sensor secured to the foam material. The fabric material and the foam material of the seat back cooperate to protect the occupant position sensor and hide the occupant position sensor from view. The occupant position sensor senses the position of an occupant in the vehicle seat and provides a position signal (21) functionally related to the position of the occupant in the vehicle seat. An occupant restraint (17) actuates in response to a deceleration signal (31) indicative of sudden vehicle deceleration above a predetermined threshold such as occurs in a vehicle collision. When actuated, the occupant restraint restrains the occupant in the vehicle seat. The operation of the occupant restraint is controlled as a function of the position signal from the occupant position sensor.

摘要翻译： 车辆乘员约束系统（10）包括车辆座椅（12），其包括座椅底部（14），座椅靠背（16）和安装在座椅靠背中的乘员位置传感器（20）。 乘客位置传感器位于车辆座椅的座位底部的平面（99）的上方大约十六英寸处，并位于车辆座椅的头枕（11）的下方。 车辆座椅的座椅靠背包括固定乘客位置传感器的泡沫材料（40）。 车辆座椅的座椅靠背还包括覆盖固定到泡沫材料的乘员位置传感器的织物材料（41）。 座椅靠背的织物材料和泡沫材料配合，以保护乘客位置传感器并隐藏乘员位置传感器。 乘客位置传感器感测乘员在车辆座椅中的位置，并提供与乘员在车辆座椅中的位置功能相关的位置信号（21）。 乘员约束（17）响应于指示突然车辆减速度高于预定阈值（例如在车辆碰撞中发生）的减速信号（31）而致动。 当驾驶时，乘员约束将乘员约束在车辆座椅中。 作为来自乘员位置传感器的位置信号的函数来控制乘员约束的操作。

公开(公告)号：US07364192B2

公开(公告)日：2008-04-29

申请号：US10917581

申请日：2004-08-13

申请人： William P. Braun ,  Kurt F. Fischer ,  Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Alex G. Meduvsky ,  John N. Clark ,  Joseph J. Zwolinski ,  Matthew C. Frank

发明人： William P. Braun ,  Kurt F. Fischer ,  Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Alex G. Meduvsky ,  John N. Clark ,  Joseph J. Zwolinski ,  Matthew C. Frank

IPC分类号： B60R21/276

CPC分类号： B60R21/2338 ,  B60R21/217 ,  B60R21/233 ,  B60R21/2342 ,  B60R21/276 ,  B60R2021/23382 ,  B60R2021/2765

摘要： A vehicle occupant protection apparatus (10) includes an inflatable occupant protection device (12) and a support member (40) having a vent opening (50) through which inflation fluid may flow. The apparatus (10) also includes a mechanism (58) for controlling a flow of inflation fluid through the vent opening (50). Inflation fluid pressure within the inflatable occupant protection device (12) tends to move the mechanism (58) for increasing a flow of inflation fluid through the vent opening (50). The mechanism (58) is responsive to inflation of the inflatable occupant protection device (12) beyond a predetermined distance for restricting the flow of inflation fluid through the vent opening (50). The apparatus (10) further includes a locking member (96) for blocking the mechanism (58) from increasing the flow of inflation fluid through the vent opening (50) after the inflatable occupant protection device (12) has inflated beyond the predetermined distance.

摘要翻译： 车辆乘员保护装置（10）包括充气乘员保护装置（12）和具有通气开口（50）的支撑构件（40），充气流体可以穿过该通气口。 装置（10）还包括用于控制通过通气口（50）的充气流体流动的机构（58）。 可膨胀乘员保护装置（12）内的充气流体压力倾向于移动机构（58），以增加充气流体流过通气孔（50）。 所述机构（58）响应于所述可膨胀乘员保护装置（12）的充气超过预定距离，以限制充气流体通过所述通气口（50）的流动。 所述设备（10）还包括一个锁定构件（96），用于在所述可充气乘员保护装置（12）已经膨胀超过所述预定距离之后，阻止所述机构（58）增加通过所述通气口（50）的充气流体的流动。

公开(公告)号：US06835899B2

公开(公告)日：2004-12-28

申请号：US10224819

申请日：2002-08-21

申请人： George B. Wolfe ,  Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Nick Smith ,  Donald J. Chomic ,  Todd R. Elkins-Trottier

发明人： George B. Wolfe ,  Charles E. Steffens, Jr. ,  Nick Smith ,  Donald J. Chomic ,  Todd R. Elkins-Trottier

IPC分类号： B60R2132

CPC分类号： G01G19/4142

摘要： An assembly (10) is used in a vehicle having a seat (2) for a vehicle occupant and a vehicle floor pan (4) for supporting the vehicle seat (2). The assembly (10) includes a vehicle seat frame (20) for supporting a load of the vehicle occupant in the vehicle seat (2), a sensor (79) for sensing the load of the vehicle occupant, and a housing (100) for transmitting the load of the vehicle occupant to the vehicle floor pan (4). The sensor (79) provides an output signal indicative of the amount of the load of the vehicle occupant. The housing (100) encloses the sensor (79) to protect the sensor (79).