Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100219661 | Extendable Air Control Dam for Vehicle - An air dam is attached to the underside of a vehicle and extends downwardly into proximity with the road surface and potential interference with curbs or like obstructions extending above the road surface. A panel assembly includes a top wall attached to the underside of the motor vehicle, forward and rearward walls depending from the top wall, and a bottom wall. These walls cooperate to define an interior space, and the forward and rearward walls have serially arranged pleats connected by living hinges by which the panel assembly can adjusted in height by flexing the living hinges to provide an extended position of the panel assembly in which the bottom wall is positioned further below the underside of the motor vehicle and a withdrawn position in which the bottom wall is withdrawn upwardly closer to the underside of the motor vehicle to avoid potential interference with curb or like obstructions. | 09-02-2010 |
20120146355 | APPARATUS FOR EXTENDING VEHICLE CARGO AREA - An apparatus for a vehicle includes a first panel that defines a loading surface and has first and second sides. The apparatus also includes a support frame connected to the first panel and having first and second supports. A second panel is pivotably connected to the first panel. The first and second supports are configured to be selectively connectable to and releasable from the vehicle body. The apparatus is positionable in a stowed position when the supports are connected to the vehicle body. In the stowed position, the apparatus is within the interior cargo area and the first panel is substantially parallel with and above the floor. The apparatus is pivotable with respect to the vehicle body to a deployed position in which the supports are connected to the vehicle body and in which the apparatus extends at least partially out of the vehicle to provide additional cargo area. | 06-14-2012 |
20120186757 | MOVABLE VISOR OR SCREEN - A movable screen or visor for a window adjacent a trim liner includes a contour rod movable from a stowed position to a deployed position. The contour rod includes a forward end, an offset portion, and a rearward end opposite the forward end from the offset portion. The screen also includes a shade member operatively attached to the contour rod. The shade member is disposed within the trim liner when the contour rod is in the stowed position and is disposed outside of the trim liner in the deployed position. The shade member blocks a portion of the window when the contour rod is in the deployed position. | 07-26-2012 |
20120229268 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VEHICULAR DIRECTION INDICATION - Methods and systems are provided for a vehicle. The method comprises activating a direction indicator on a vehicle responsive to receiving a user activation input and determining when the vehicle has completed a direction changing maneuver (e.g., lane change or turn). Thereafter, the direction indicator is automatically deactivated responsive to determining that the maneuver has been completed. The system comprises a user activation device and a processor configured to activate one or more of a plurality of vehicular direction indicators responsive to a user activation signal. The processor is also coupled to a plurality of vehicle sensors providing movement data related to the vehicle to the processor. By processing the movement data, the processor automatically deactivates the vehicle direction indicators upon determination that the vehicle has completed a maneuver (e.g., lane change or turn). | 09-13-2012 |
20120286493 | WHEEL MASS DAMPER ASSEMBLY - A damper mass damper assembly includes a rod, and a casing disposed annularly about the rod and defining a primary fluid chamber therebetween. The rod includes an annular wall that defines a first and a second expansion chamber disposed at a first and a second end of the rod respectively. The rod further defines a first and a second expansion port connecting the first and the second expansion chambers respectively with the primary fluid chamber in fluid communication. As fluid within the primary fluid chamber expands from heating, the fluid may weep into the first and/or second expansion chambers through the first and/or second expansion ports respectively to maintain the integrity of a first and second cap bearing seal, which seal the fluid within the primary fluid chamber. | 11-15-2012 |
20130113230 | VEHICLE TRIM PANEL WITH CLOTHES HANGER FEATURE - A trim panel for an interior upper surface of a roof of a vehicle includes a plurality of hanging features disposed thereon. Each of the hanging features includes a slot defined by the trim panel, and a hanging portion extending across the slot. The hanging portion is configured to support a clothes hanger thereon. The trim panel may extend laterally across a width of the vehicle, transverse to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and may be disposed adjacent a rear closure assembly, such as a hatchback of an SUV or other similar vehicle. | 05-09-2013 |
20130341110 | FOLDING AIR DAM - A system for controlling airflow through an under-hood compartment of a vehicle body includes a folding air dam assembly configured to control an airflow from the ambient to the under-hood compartment. The air dam assembly includes an extendable portion having a pleat configured to fold when the extendable portion is retracted. The air dam assembly also includes an actuator configured to selectively extend and retract the extendable portion. The system also includes a controller configured to regulate the actuator. A vehicle employing the system is also disclosed. | 12-26-2013 |
20130341137 | High energy density magnetic springs using spatially modulated magnetic fields technology - A magnetic spring utilizing spatially modulated magnetic field patterns of magnetic regions for both stator and slider, allowing custom force curves over the range of motion. Also disclosed is a magnetic spring whose slider can be rotated relative to the stator on the axis, such that the alignment of the spatially modulated magnetic field patterns of the slider and the stator is altered, resulting in changeable force curve for the spring, selected by rotating the slider. | 12-26-2013 |
20140358275 | SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR MAGNETICALLY SUPPORTING AN OBJECT ON A SUPPORT - A support system includes a support, a root magnet, an object, and a cover magnet. The root magnet is fixedly attached to the support. The cover magnet is fixedly attached to the object. The root magnet and the cover magnet are configured to be magnetically attracted to one another such that the object is magnetically attached to the support when the root magnet and the cover magnet are aligned with one another in an attachment arrangement. The root magnet and the cover magnet are configured to magnetically repel one another such that the object is detached from the support when the root magnet and the cover magnet are unaligned with one another in a detachment arrangement. | 12-04-2014 |