Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

John T Auman

Wesley A Rogers

Donald F Mennucci

James B Ricketts, Jr

Clarence C Irwin

David F Manz

Timothy R Schlax

Harmahendar Singh

Robert R Luyckx

William A Hehs

Thomas W Stockton

William D Route

An air brake system for a truck in which various control valves controlling air supply to air sub-systems, parking and trailer brakes, and various brake system condition signal generators are mounted on a common manifold positioned remotely from the truck engine compartment and instrument panel, removing them from the instrument panel area and improving the plumbing arrangements for installation, diagnostics and servicing while clearing instrument panel space for other controls and devices which need the benign environment such as that in the truck cab provided for the truck driver. The system components may be used as needed for a straight truck or one composed of a tractor and trailer combination, or on a truck tractor adapted to tow a trailer.

Truck brake control system

Mechanism for retracting a vehicle seat belt and locking the belt against extension includes a track mounted on the vehicle body and a belt carriage mounted on the track for movement in the belt extending and retracting directions. A locking pawl is mounted on the belt carriage and is selectively actuatable to a locked position engaging teeth on the track to lock the belt carriage against belt extending movement. A spring biased reel mounted on the vehicle body winds a cable having its end attached to the locking pawl so that winding of the cable urges the carriage in the belt retracting direction. A reel locking means selectively locks the reel against rotation in the cable unwinding direction so that the cable is tensioned upon attempted extension of the belt to actuate the pawl to the locked position. The reel locking means may be responsive to the rate of belt unwinding or a condition of vehicle deceleration.

Linear locking seat belt retractor

A galvanic exhaust gas sensor having a solid electrolyte disc having a porous electrode thereon for detecting oxygen partial pressure in an exhaust gas stream varying in its flow and composition and having a shield protecting the porous electrode from direct impingement of exhaust gas stream. The shield includes means for accelerating exhaust gas from across the disc face at exhaust gas stream velocities and pressures below a preselected level and for maintaining said flow more constant at exhaust gas stream velocities and pressures above the preselected level, effective to more accurately sense variations in oxygen content of the exhaust gas stream at a porous electrode.

Exhaust gas oxygen sensor

The drawings illustrate a viscous fluid coupling including driven means comprising a housing with a front cover member having cooling fins thereon and rotatably mounted on an engine-driven drive shaft, driving means including a drive plate mounted on the drive shaft within the housing, opposed shear surfaces formed on the drive plate and the adjacent surface of the housing disposed in close face-to-face and spaced relationship, and a viscous fluid in the housing for creating fluid drive coupling of the housing and the drive plate. The improvement comprises a sleeve-type hub coaxial with the cover member and spaced axially from the usual cover-mounted bimetal temperature sensor and a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially oriented, canted fan blades having their inner ends attached to the hub and having at least their outer ends attached to the cover member inwardly of the outer periphery thereof for aiding in the cooling of the viscous fluid.

Viscous fluid coupling

A control and indicating circuit for an inflatable safety system in which oppositely poled diodes provide isolated firing and monitoring networks interconnected between single pole, double throw impact switches. In one embodiment the diode in the firing network is light activated.

Air cushion actuation and monitoring circuit

A portable infrared signal generator is actuatable by a motor vehicle operator at a distance from the vehicle to generate digitally coded infrared signal pulses in accordance with either a first or a second predetermined digital code. A receiver on the motor vehicle is effective to receive the infrared signal pulses, decode them and actuate apparatus responsive to the first digital code to unlock a power door lock and power a light effective to illuminate at least a part of the vehicle or responsive to the second digital code to actuate an alarm. Both the first and second digital codes contain a common identifying portion substantially unique to the particular motor vehicle, which portion may be permanently stored in the generator and receiver by the connections of the input/output terminals of a microprocessor chip mounted on a printed circuit board to one of two voltage sources on the printed circuit board. The receiver includes a photodiode connected in a circuit to operate in the photovoltaic mode so that the infrared pulses can be distinguished from strong background illumination for operation in daylight as well as at night. The receiver further includes a lens and reflector for receiving the infrared pulses over a wide incoming angle. The apparatus may include a sleep mode in which the reception of a predetermined number of signals not containing the code unique to the motor vehicle actuates apparatus to prevent unlocking of the doors and to actuate the alarm.

Vehicle operator security system

Procedure and apparatus for monitoring the lash and the toe-in of a vehicle steering system by comparing the angular position of the vehicle's steering wheel as the front wheel spindles pass through preselected reference positions during tuning maneuvers. For example, an angular position transducer at one front wheel determines the instant at which that wheel spindle crosses the reference position in one direction and gates the output of an angular position transducer of the steering wheel to a comparator which stores the signal corresponding to the instantaneous angular position of the steering wheel. When that wheel spindle next crosses the reference position in the opposite direction the instantaneous output of the steering wheel angular position transducer is again gated to the comparator which then compares the two signals and generates a proportional output signal which is transmitted to a display means which functions to display an improper lash condition warning when the comparator output signal achieves a preselected magnitude.

Growing community of inventors

Washington, MI, United States of America

John T Auman