AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENTS HOLDINGS, LLC Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120168117 | Automotive HVAC Diffuser With Cooperating Wall Guide And Vane - A case for an HVAC system has at least two molded shells joined together along a parting line to enclose a heat exchanger chamber, a blower chamber, and a diffuser section. The diffuser section includes a floor, a ceiling, an outer wall, and an inner wall around a longitudinal axis. The walls provide an airflow path through the diffuser between the blower and heat exchanger chamber, and the airflow path makes a substantially right angle turn into the heat exchanger chamber which results in a tendency to create a high flow region at the outer wall because of centrifugal effects. The outer wall is shaped to form a wall guide partially projecting into the airflow path in the diffuser, wherein the wall guide has an upstream encroaching surface and a downstream retreating surface so that a portion of the guided air is directed from the outer wall toward the inner wall. At least one of the floor or the ceiling includes a vane projecting into and deflecting the guided air in the airflow path, wherein the vane has an upstream end proximate to the wall guide and a downstream end extending toward the heat exchanger chamber for initiating a portion of the substantially right angle turn for a portion of the airflow. | 07-05-2012 |
20120140500 | Automotive Headlamp With Staircase Circulator - A lighting system for an automotive vehicle has a housing adapted for mounting to the vehicle with a generally outward facing backplate and at least one socket for an incandescent light source. A transparent lens cover is attached to the housing and forms an internal chamber between the lens cover and the housing. A staircase circulator on the housing comprises a plurality of steps and risers rising from the backplate toward the lens cover along a path that is spaced from the socket, wherein the path is generally along a natural convection flowpath of air within the chamber. | 06-07-2012 |
20120068441 | Air Bag Deployment System with Deflector Rib - An improved air bag deployment system that protects welds or other bonds that are made between the underside of an instrument panel substrate and the outer flange of an air bag deployment chute. A deflector element is located in the gap between the chute flange and the substrate to prevent the deploying air bag from expanding into the gap and potentially damaging the bond. | 03-22-2012 |
20120038133 | Invisible Tear Seam for an Air Bag Deployment Door - A cover panel for the air bag in an automotive vehicle with an invisible deployment door section defined by pre-weakened tear seam formed on the underside of the instrument panel base substrate during the base substrate molding process. Tear seams are formed into the underside of the base substrate by a continuous partial protrusion element and elongated and spaced apart full protrusion elements extending from a lower surface mold preform to define a continuous void path that extends into a portion of the substrate and a series of spaced apart and elongated voids that extend fully through only the base substrate of the laminated cover panel structure to form pre-weakened bridges of substrate material that is pre-weakened in both thickness and length dimensions along the defined tear path. | 02-16-2012 |
20120034859 | HVAC Air Inlet with Blend Mode and Fresh-Restricted Mode - An air inlet system for an automotive HVAC system has a housing comprising a first cylindrical segment enclosing an interior space and having a first radial surface with a first angular divergence. The first radial surface has a fresh air aperture and a recirculation aperture for radially receiving fresh air and recirculated air, respectively. The housing further comprises an outlet body with an exit aperture. A pivoting door element is mounted in the interior space and shaped as a second cylindrical segment with a second radial surface with a second angular divergence which is less than the first angular divergence. The door element has a pivot axis that allows the second radial surface to slide along the first radial surface. The door element pivots to selectably align the opening with the fresh air aperture or the recirculation aperture in order to 1) block the fresh air aperture without blocking the recirculation aperture, 2) simultaneously block portions of the fresh air aperture and the recirculation aperture, 3) block the recirculation aperture without blocking any of the fresh air aperture, or 4) block the recirculation aperture while blocking only a portion of the fresh air aperture. | 02-09-2012 |
20120034077 | HVAC Diffuser With Mounting Receptacle for Variable Blower Control - An automotive HVAC diffuser connects to a blower and a variable blower control (VBC) module having a plurality of cooling fins. An inlet receives air flow from the blower. An outlet is downstream from the inlet. An enclosed passageway is provided between the inlet and the outlet for forming a diffused air stream at the outlet. The enclosed passageway has a plurality of peripheral walls for guiding the air stream between the inlet and the outlet, including a curved outer peripheral wall corresponding to a region with a tendency for a high flow as a result of centrifugal effects. One of the peripheral walls includes a VBC receptacle formed as a depression into the peripheral wall having a substantially flat mounting surface and a first sloped side at an upstream end of the VBC receptacle to shape a portion of the diffused air stream. The flat mounting surface includes a plurality of cooling fin receiving slots arranged to receive the cooling fins, whereby the cooling fins extend into an interior of the diffused air stream. | 02-09-2012 |
20110163483 | Method for Molding and Sealing a Hollow Plastic Tank - A method for manufacturing a hollow parison includes forming a parison having a wall of multiple layers of polymer including a barrier layer, and open ends, each end having an end surface extending around the periphery of the respective end. A mold is formed having a first section and a second section facing the first section, the mold forming a cavity between the two mold sections when the mold is closed, and defining surfaces to which the parison conforms when the mold is closed. The mold sections are closed on the parison such that in the mold at each end of the parison a first portion of each end surface is compressed against a second portion of the respective end surface. The mold sections are further closed on the parison such the barrier layer of the first portion and second portion of the end surface at each parison end are joined and welded mutually along a seal line. Then the mold is opened and a hollow, formed tank is removed from the mold. | 07-07-2011 |
20110048289 | Office System for Motor Vehicle Passenger Compartment - A work surface/storage system can be attached to a motor vehicle which has a passenger compartment with a driver seat, a passenger seat, a passenger restraint belt, and a dash panel in front of the passenger seat. A main body section of the system includes at least one flat surface for providing a writing support for a person in the driver seat, at least one storage bin, and a bottom surface for positioning on the passenger seat. A belt receptacle is located at a rearward end of the main body for capturing the passenger restraint belt so that tension in the passenger restraint belt loads the rearward end against the passenger seat. A front wing section extends forward and upward from the main body section to a distal end. The distal end includes an attachment tab. A bay is provided in the dash panel including a holder for capturing the attachment tab. | 03-03-2011 |
20100301051 | Movable Cup Holder Divider - The disclosed embodiment provides a beverage container holder for a vehicle that utilizes a bin-like member having a floor and generally vertical walls defining a compartment with an opening at its top. A partition member extends across the opening of the bin-like member to divide the compartment into two parts, wherein the partition member is manually adjustable to a plurality of locations within the bin-like member to provide for the retention of beverage containers of various sizes. | 12-02-2010 |
20100287777 | Air Bag Deployment Chute and Method - An integrated air bag support structure that includes a support base for attachment to the rear side of a substrate. The support base is configured to surround a door support panel and both are configured for attachment to the rear side of a substrate in an area that is pre-weakened to define an air bag deployment door in a vehicle instrument panel or a steering wheel air bag module. The upper surfaces of the support base and door support panel are attached to the rear surface of the substrate, and a test tab extends from the base that is attached to the rear surface of the substrate in the same manner as the support base and the door support panel. The test tab has an unattached extension portion for the purpose of gripping and pulling to test the integrity of the attachment without affecting the attachment of the support panel. | 11-18-2010 |
20100270456 | Console Retainer with Integrated Shifter Retention - A console retainer mounts to a floor of a motor vehicle and receives a floor transmission shifter assembly. The shifter assembly has a forward end and a rearward end. The console retainer includes a frame portion for coupling to the floor and configured to receive at least one console trim piece. A pair of lateral side walls are integrally formed with the frame portion as a molded thermoplastic unit, wherein the lateral side walls are substantially parallel to delimit a mounting space for the shifter assembly therebetween, wherein the lateral side walls each have a forward retention feature for fixedly retaining the forward end of the shifter assembly, and wherein the lateral side walls each have a rearward retention feature for fixedly retaining the rearward end of the shifter assembly. | 10-28-2010 |
20100230939 | Air Bag Chute Seal - An integrated air bag chute structure that provides sealing of an air bag aperture in an instrument panel substrate during a foam-in-place process. The structure provides an extended flange with flexible tapered edges that surround the aperture. The tapered edges are compressed against the upper surface of the substrate to seal and surround the substrate aperture when the chute structure is inserted into and retained in the substrate aperture. The air bag chute structure further defines a door support panel with pre-weakened molded edges and a hinge which are all integrally connected to the structure and flange without gaps that would allow for leakage during the foam-in-place process. | 09-16-2010 |
20100230938 | Interlocking One Piece Molded Passenger Air Bag Chute - An integrated air bag chute structure that provides means for providing automatic interlocking attachment of the chute to the substrate of an instrument panel. By inserting the air bag chute into a substrate aperture and utilizing slots, depressions and notches formed in the chute structure beneath a surrounding flange, the aperture edges are captured and retained to thereby lock the chute in place. | 09-16-2010 |
20100186434 | Automotive Thermostatic Expansion Valve With Reduced Hiss - An expansion valve for an air conditioning system circulates refrigerant through a fixed-displacement compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator. An inlet is provided for receiving refrigerant liquefied in the condenser. An outlet of the expansion valve supplies refrigerant to the evaporator. A valve element controls flow of refrigerant between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the valve element is normally closed. A control assembly is coupled to the valve element and is responsive to at least one temperature or pressure in the air conditioning system to open the valve element to variably meter the refrigerant to the evaporator. A bleed passage bypasses the valve element to conduct refrigerant between the inlet and the outlet. The bleed passage is adapted to bleed refrigerant to the evaporator immediately after the compressor shuts off to prime the air conditioning system for a lower superheat when the compressor turns on, and the bleed path has a flow capacity substantially smaller than the flow capacity of the main valve aperture. | 07-29-2010 |
20100147129 | Pre-Weakened Skin Seam for an Air Bag Deployment Cover - An outer cover layer, for a panel that defines a rupturable deployment door of an air bag deployment system in an automotive vehicle, is formed with an invisible pre-weakened tear seam prior to being overlaid onto the panel. The outer cover layer material is pre-weakened along a defined door opening pattern by a single step impression of a variable depth scoring knife into the under surface of cover layer material. The scoring knife contains a series of cutting edges of varying depth and length along its length that coincides with the seam pattern. The scoring may be performed during the conveyance of the cover layer material by making a single impression of the scoring knife into the lower surface thereof so that the maximum cut depth does not penetrate the outer surface of the material. | 06-17-2010 |