Tekonsha Engineering Company

General Aluminum Products, Inc.

Barry G Austin

Larry Eccleston

Marcia S Albright

A trailer hitch cover system for use with vehicle-mounted trailer towing hitches having a crossbar includes at least one cover segment adapted to at least partially cover the trailer hitch crossbar and includes an accessory mount. The system further includes means for securing the cover segment to the trailer hitch crossbar, and at least one accessory mountable on the accessory mount.

Trailer hitch cover and accessory components

A light fixture with an actuator retained switch particularly adapted for surface mounting to a variety of supporting surfaces, e.g., the interior of a recreational vehicle, includes a housing, lens and mounting structure for suspending the switch within the housing. The mounting structure consists of a pair of mutually spaced internal walls which contain slots adapted to receive the edges of the switch. The switch is positioned between the two internal walls such that the operating member of the switch is in position to readily engage the switch actuator. Engagement of the switch operator and actuator serves to lock them together and retain both upon the housing. To operate the switch, the user manipulates the actuator, which is locked to the operating member of the switch, by sliding the actuator from side-to-side.

Light fixture with actuator-retained switch

Light fixture for recreational vehicles

An inertial sensor of the type having an inertially responsive pendulum and a rigid support structure for operatively supporting the pendulum, includes an improved pendulum attitude adjustment assembly which allows precise adjustment of the verticality of the pendulum. The rigid support structure includes a base portion and a pendulum mount portion which is pivotally attached to the base portion. The base is secured at a fixed location and at a fixed attitude relative to the housing. The pendulum is attached at one end to the pendulum mount portion and another end of the pendulum is free to move in response to inertial forces. The attitude adjustment assembly includes an adjustment shaft which is operably coupled to the pendulum mount portion to achieve rotation of the pendulum mount portion with respect to the base portion through a first angle when the adjustment shaft is rotated through an angle greater than the first angle. The pendulum mount portion is preferably rotatable with respect to the base portion through an angle in excess of ninety degrees, and the adjustment shaft has a threaded coupling arrangement which preferably requires rotation of the shaft through a number of degrees in order to rotate the pendulum mount portion a single degree relative to the base portion, thereby providing a desirably high order of resolution while also achieving ease and convenience of operation.

Positioning apparatus for inertial sensors

Electronic controller for electric brakes

Electric brake controller

An electronic controller for outputting pulses of current to actuate towed vehicle brakes includes a trigger point inertial sensor for varying the gain thereof. The trigger point inertial sensor includes a switch connected to the controller for switching the gain between two levels. In the preferred embodiment, the inertial sensor and switch comprise a mercury switch supported on a platform which is rotatable to adjust the switching threshold of the inertial sensor, and to adjust for the mounting position of the brake control.

Multiple-gain electronic brake actuator with trigger point inertial

Control module for electronic brake systems

Electronic brake controller

A freely-flexing cantilever-type inertial sensor is suspended from one end so that its other end may move in response to inertial forces, for example, as a result of braking in a towing vehicle. The pendulum blade is secured to a rigid support structure in a manner whereby the opposite sides of the pendulum, which is preferably of multiple-layer construction and is elastically-deformable, may freely shift longitudinally with respect to one another upon lateral flexure of the pendulum in response to inertial forces. Preferably, this is accomplished by utilizing an adhesive connection directly between the rigid support and the adjacent side of the pendulum, whereby only that layer closest to the support is directly secured to it. The support for the pendulum preferably includes a self-hinge by which the position of the pendulum-supporting portion may be changed with respect to that of a base portion, in order to current for non-verticality in the actual operating environment. The base preferably provides integral mounts for optical components which monitor the inertially-induced pendulum flexure, and the optical axis is preferably coincident with the pivot axis of the self-hinge. The pendulum blade is preferably a short, generally rigid member which is sufficiently stiff to have deflection of less than about 0.050 inches when subjected to inertial focres of about 1 G.

Pendulum-type accellerometer for electrically-actuated braking systems

A seating unit that includes two side support assemblies and a plurality of lateral connecting rods which are received in mounting apertures through the side assemblies. A securing clip is received inside the hollow ends of each lateral connecting rod to prevent the side assemblies from separating. Each clip has a pair of extending legs with a locking tab that seats in a recess within the lateral rod. The lateral rods flex under the weight of a person seated on the seating unit in order to create a frictional locking force between the lateral rods and side assemblies to prevent the side assemblies from sliding toward each other.

Furniture assembly

A patio enclosure adapted for affixation to the exterior wall of an existing structure consisting of a plurality of side and front panels, a roof support structure and an overlying fabric roof. The roof support structure includes a series of rafters having centrally depending therefrom a cable receiving slotted finger. A cable extends between the rafter assembly from its point of affixation to the existing structure to its point of affixation to the front panels of the enclosure. The cable passes through the slot in the depending finger.

Growing community of inventors

Marshall, MI, United States of America

Barry G Austin