Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Bradley Allen Newcomb

Julien P Mourou

Xiaosong Huang

Thomas S Prevost

Joung Min Choi

Hamid Ghavami Kia

Giles D Bryer

Anthony M Coppola

Bhavesh Shah

Sean R Wagner

Jonglee Park

Alireza Fatemi

Derek F Lahr

Robert N Saje

Seongchan Pack

Alan G Holmes

Joseph M Polewarczyk

Venkateshwar R Aitharaju

Chaitanya Sankavaram

Erik B Golm

Louis G Hector, Jr

Selina X Zhao

Song He

Peter P Andruskiewicz, Iv

Su Jung Han

John C Johnson

Nathan F Thompson

Ryan Gergely

Nicholas P Irish

David S Schulz

Jevon Kennell

Yujie Guo

Mohammad Hamza Kirmani

Xiasong Huang

A method for manufacturing at least one of fibers and yarn from natural fibers includes providing at least one of technical fibers, elementary fibers, meso fibrils, and micro fibrils. Greater than or equal to 80% of the at least one of the technical fibers, the elementary fibers, the meso fibrils, and the micro fibrils are short natural fibers having a length that is less than or equal to 12.7 mm. The method includes creating at least one of a dispersion, a gel, a solution, a paste, and a dough including the at least one of the technical fibers, the elementary fibers, the meso fibrils and the micro fibrils; and spinning filaments of the at least one of fibers and yarn using the at least one of the dispersion, the gel, the solution, the paste, and the dough.

Continuous and discontinuous fibers, yarn, fabrics and composites using short natural fibers and fibrils

A transparent structural component including embedded light emitting diodes (LEDs) includes a transparent layer. A plurality of LEDs is arranged on the transparent layer. A plurality of interconnections is made to the plurality of LEDs. A plurality of structural fibers arranged adjacent to the transparent layer. A transparent material encapsulates the transparent layer, the plurality of LEDs, the plurality of interconnections and the plurality of structural fibers.

Transparent structural composites with encapsulated micro-LEDs

An energy absorbing system includes a structural member and a composite energy absorber including a first member arranged within the structural member. The first member has a first repeating geometric pattern extending in a first direction along a first length, a first width in a second direction transverse to the first direction, and a first height in a third direction transverse to the first and second directions. The first member is made of a composite material including first reinforcing fibers and a first polymer matrix.

Composite energy absorber for electric vehicles

Aspects of the disclosure include a vehicle having a glass disposed on the vehicle and a lighting device disposed within the glass, wherein the lighting device includes a plurality of light emitting diodes that are configured to emit light in a first direction, where the first direction is not normal to an outer surface of the glass.

Lighting device for a vehicle

A roof for a vehicle upper body structure includes a body extending between a first side and a second side, and between a front end and a back end. The front end is configured to be coupled to a header. The body includes a polymer and a plurality of fibers. At least a portion of the body has a transparency of greater than 0% to less than or equal to about 20%. A header for a vehicle upper body structure includes an elongated body extending between a first side and a second side, a front end that is configured to be coupled to a windshield, and a back end that is configured to be coupled to a roof. The body includes a polymer and a plurality of fibers. At least a portion of the body has a transparency of greater than 0% to less than or equal to about 20%.

Transparent composite for a vehicle roof

A composite structure includes a structural composite including a plurality of reinforcing fibers encapsulated in a first polymer resin. M sets of traces are arranged on the structural composite. N sets of microLEDs are arranged on the structural composite and connected to the M sets of traces, respectively, where M and N are integers greater than zero. One or more cables are connected to the M sets of traces. The structural composite, the M sets of traces, the N sets of microLEDs, a portion of the one or more cables are encapsulated in a second polymer resin. The second polymer resin includes an integrated lens adjacent to the N sets of microLEDs.

Structural composite with encapsulated microLED task lighting and molded-in optics

A microLED lighting module is disclosed. The microLED lighting module includes a micromodule having one or more transparent polymer layers thereon. Additionally, the one or more transparent polymer lavers are configured to maintain a temperature of the microLED lighting module below approximately 220° C.

MicroLED lighting module

The present disclosure provides a roof for a vehicle upper body structure. The roof includes a body extending between a first side and a second side, and extending between a front end and a back end. The front end is configured to be coupled to a header. The body includes a polymer and a plurality of fibers. At least a portion of the body has a transparency of greater than or equal to about 4%.

A windshield and roof system of a vehicle includes: a windshield that includes glass and that is transparent; a front cross-member that extends laterally between A-pillars of the vehicle, that is disposed rearward of the windshield, and that has a thickness in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle of less than 50 millimeters (mm); and a roof portion that is transparent, that is located rearward of the windshield, where the windshield and the roof portion are joined with the front cross-member.

Structural panoramic windshield and roof

A composite panel includes a backing substrate and a first plurality of fiber tows. The first plurality of fiber tows is stitched to a first surface of the backing substrate in a predetermined pattern to form a fiber reinforced insert. A first polymer layer encapsulates the first surface of the backing substrate and the first plurality of fiber tows.

Fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite body panel

Presented are multilayer composite panels for motor vehicles, methods for making/using such panels, and motor vehicles with transparent composite roof panels having localized reinforcement features. A sandwich-type multilayer composite panel contains one or more exterior layers each including a transparent rigid material, one or more bonding layers each including a transparent adhesive material, and one or more structural reinforcement layers each including a fiber-reinforced polymer material. Each structural reinforcement layer may be attached directly to a bonding layer and/or exterior layer. The composite panel may also include one or more IR-reflective layers, one or more light-absorbing sunshade layers, and one or more insulating low-k layers. The multilayer body panel has a plan-view profile; the individual layers extend substantially the entire length and width of the plan area, whereas the fibers in each structural reinforcement layer are localized to one or more discrete regions within the plan-view profile.

Transparent composite body panels with localized structural reinforcements for motor vehicles

In various aspects, the present disclosure provides a component. The vehicle component includes a polymer matrix, a plurality of fibers in the polymer matrix, and a heating element embedded in the polymer matrix. The heating element may be (i) a discrete heating element, (ii) at least a portion of the plurality of fibers, or both (i) and (ii). The heating element is configured to be coupled to an external circuit to generate heat. In one aspect, the vehicle component is a vehicle header including an elongated body extending between a first side and a second side.

Heated vehicle header

The present disclosure provides a header for a vehicle upper body structure. The header includes an elongated body extending between a first side and a second side. The elongated body includes a polymer and a plurality of fibers. The elongated body includes a front end and a back end. The front end is configured to be coupled to a windshield. The back end is configured to be coupled to a roof. At least a portion of the elongated body has a transparency of greater than or equal to about 4%.

Transparent composite for a vehicle header

An electric motor drive unit including an electric motor having an output shaft and a plurality of gears in driving engagement with the output shaft. The plurality of gears being supported by a plurality of laterally spaced bearings. A composite housing member includes a structural support skeleton supporting multiple ones of the plurality of laterally spaced bearings and a composite shell molded to the structural support skeleton.

Carbon fiber composite drive unit housings for electric vehicles

A system for determining a trigger amplitude indicating a precursor to a material fracture in a specimen under test includes a microphone converting acoustic emission emitted by the specimen under test into electrical signals. A load is exerted upon the specimen under test and the acoustic emission are emitted when the load causes the specimen under test to undergo deformation prior to the material fracture. A control module is in electrical communication with the microphone and executes instructions to monitor the electrical signals generated by the microphone and filter the electrical signals generated by the microphone. The control module converts the electrical signals generated by the microphone into individual frequency components based on a fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The individual frequency components each include a peak intensity. The control module determines the trigger amplitude based on the peak intensity of the individual frequency components of the FFT.

Growing community of inventors

Troy, MI, United States of America

Bradley Allen Newcomb