Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Adrian Oana

Adrian B Chernoff

Steven Morris

James Thomas Embach

Andrew J Hanzel

Joseph W Cobble, Iii

Frederick I Johnson

Lawrence E Sully

An instrument panel for a vehicle defines a cavity. A storage console is selectively movable within the cavity to provide enhanced accessibility of stored items within the storage console. In an exemplary embodiment, the storage console is a drawer that is selectively movable from a stowed position inside the cavity to an extended position outside the cavity for access by a vehicle user in a passenger compartment. In another exemplary embodiment, the console is movable between an elevated position in which the console occupies space inaccessible to a vehicle user, and a lowered position in which the console is accessible through an opening in the instrument panel.

Vehicle instrument panel having movable storage compartment

A shifter face plate assembly and method for an automatic transmission having a shifter rod in an opening of a floor console which includes an intermediary plate and top face plate. The intermediary plate supports the top plate and floats horizontally laterally to obtain the proper sidewise position of the top plate with respect to the console opening. The top plate floats horizontally longitudinally to obtain the proper lengthwise position of the top plate with respect to the console opening. An eccentric cone on the shifter rod is movable to accommodate any offset of the shifter rod relative to its slot in the top plate after the proper position of the top plate in the console opening is obtained.

Floating PRNDL face plate assembly and method to accommodate floor build variations

A cup holder assembly includes a housing partially defined by a pair of opposing sidewalls and configured to partially enclose an interior space. At least one support ring pivotably moves along a cam surface of the housing between a use position and a stored position. In the use position, the support ring is substantially outside of the interior space, is perpendicular to the opposing side walls, and can at least partially support a container. In the stored position, the support ring is substantially inside of the interior space parallel and substantially adjacent to the one of the side walls.

Cup holder assembly

A cup holder assembly includes a receptacle. A base defining a recess is also included. The base is pivotable with respect to the receptacle between a stored position in which the base is substantially inside the receptacle and a use position in which the base is at least partially outside the receptacle. A partial ring is supported by the receptacle and slides in the channel in one direction such that the partial ring is contained substantially within the channel when the base is in the stored position and slides in the channel in another direction to extend between the receptacle and the base when the base is in the use position to cooperatively form with the base a circumferential support for receiving and at least partially supporting a container.

Cup holder assembly with sliding partial ring

An adjustable instrument panel for a mass assembled vehicle includes a transverse upper support beam which is generally fixed with respect to the vehicle during assembly. A central stack modular structure is pivotably suspended from the upper support beam and adapted to house one or more vehicle options such as a radio, CD, and air conditioning control. The central stack modular structure is combined with a floor console as a unitary structure which has a lower support brace to adjustably connect the unitary structure with respect to the vehicle floor so that the instrument panel can accommodate floor build variations and obtain flow-through with the floor console in vehicles being mass assembled.

Growing community of inventors

Windsor, CA, United States of America

Adrian Oana