Joalto Design, Inc.

Mohamed El-Sayed

John A Townsend

John Edward Campbell

Arthur L Guertin

Richard R Vaughan

Michael P Kaczmar

Robert Walker, Jr

A restraint belt presenter assembly includes a restraint belt positioning member carried by a slidable member that is selectively driven by a track drive mechanism to move a restraint belt buckle assembly forward from its unused, storage position to a presentation position for easy grasping by a vehicle seat occupant. The slidable member is connected to a track that may optionally be pivotally mounted to elevate the restraint belt positioning member into the presentation position. Alternatively, the track member may include an inclined distal end, such that the slidable member moves upwardly into the presentation position. Another embodiment includes a pivoting shaft member that pivots the restraint belt buckle assembly forward for a starting position to the presentation position as the slidable member travel upwardly on an inclined track.

Restraint belt presenter

A restraint presentation system is disclosed that includes a movable presenting member, such as an armrest or an actuating arm, that moves between a presenting position and a storage position and a restraint belt connected to a tensioning mechanism. The presenting member preferably has a concave shaped portion on a distal end thereof that captures a contact portion of the restraint belt to position the restraint belt in an operational position so as to be accessible to a vehicle occupant. The tensioning mechanism biases the restraint belt into a retracted position when the presenting member is in the storage position such that the contact portion of the restraint belt is in a co-linear relationship with the concave shaped portion of the presenting member.

Vehicle restraint presenting system

A vehicle component sub-assembly having self-aligning appropriately fitted structural members is disclosed wherein a closure member, such as a vehicle door, hood or trunk is integrated with and becomes a structural part of a vehicle body. The sub-assembly includes mating components wherein a first mating component is mounted to the vehicle body and a second mating component is mounted to the closure member in such a manner that the first and second mating components become substantially aligned and structurally engaged with one another. The first mating component includes at least one structural key member formed thereon and the second mating component has a complementary mating receptacle therein. When the first and second mating components are aligned into interlocking engagement, the structural key members and mating receptacles are thereby structurally integrating the vehicle body and the closure member. The structural key members and mating receptacles may be used with a number of vehicle component sub-assemblies such as door hinges and latches on doors; hoods, trunks, liftgates and deck lids.

Structurally integrating members between vehicle bodies and closures

A vehicle closure panel includes an outer frame that is connected to a central beam portion to provide a primary structure that resists deformation and efficiently distributes impact forces during a collision. The present invention can be used with or without structural key members and mating recesses to integrate the closure panel with the rest of the vehicle body, depending on design criteria. Also, primary structure of the present invention provides a structural modularity for closure panels that simplifies design by reducing the number of overall parts and uses the primary structure alone to meet the demands for crash testing. Thus, a basic structure is relied on for crash strength while accompanying secondary structures provide cosmetic differences. The inventive intrusion frame can be used with conventionally hinged passenger doors (both front and rear), vertically sliding doors, rear minivan doors, utility vehicle lift-gates, tailgates, and cargo doors, trunks, sliding van doors, or any vehicle door opening where it is desired to limit intrusion into the vehicle during a collision.

Vehicle closure panel having an intrusion beam as primary structure

A vehicle seat includes a generally horizontal sitting portion connected to a generally vertical backrest, and an armrest connected to the sitting portion or the armrest. At least one of the sitting portion, the backrest, or the armrest includes a plastically deformable cellular structural material arranged therein. Another embodiment is an armrest for a vehicle seat including an elastically deformable cushion material and a plastically deformable cellular structural material. A further embodiment is a vehicle seat including a sitting portion connected to a backrest, and an armrest connected to at least one of the sitting portion and the backrest. The armrest includes an elastically deformable cushion material and a plastically deformable cellular structural material. A variation of the armrest includes a barrier interposed between the cushion material and the cellular structural material. The sitting portion and the backrest each include plastically deformable cellular structural material arranged therein. For each embodiment, the cellular structural material includes at least one hollow cell having walls disposed normal to the direction a side impact force acts during a collision, whereby the cellular structural material absorbs energy as it is permanently deformed during a collision.

Growing community of inventors

Bloomfield Hills, MI, United States of America

Mohamed El-Sayed