Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Nicholas A Vitale

Dan William Figlioli

Robert R Kubiak

James F Szatkowski

Richard J Hodges

Thomas H Hipp

Pete Nico, Jr

The present invention provides a door assist pedal assembly including a housing member that is mountable to a vehicle floor panel. A pedal is pivotably secured to the housing member, and a cam is also rotatably secured to the housing member such that the cam is engaged by the pedal. A spring configured to bias the pedal into a fully depressed position is disposed between the pedal and the housing member. A cable couples the cam with a vehicle door. Actuation of the pedal by a vehicle occupant causes the cam to rotate and thereby retract the cable such that the vehicle door is pulled toward a closed position.

Door assist pedal

A glare resistant display for automotive vehicles has a lens with horizontal grooves which deflect reflections of external light sources, such as sun light, away from drivers while allowing illumination from behind the lens to pass therethrough so as to be visible to drivers. Indicia is disposed on the front face of the lens and a pointer pivots behind the front face. The indicia and pointer are made distinct because they block or absorb portions of the illumination coming from behind the lens. By utilizing lenses which minimize reflection, dials of instrument panels can be moved further toward steering wheels and drivers, thereby releasing space behind the dials for other uses.

Glare resistant displays for automotive vehicles and lenses for such displays

The design process for a motor vehicle component part by making drawings of cross sections of the part at spaced intervals along the surface. Cardboard templates are cut to the cross sectional shape of the inside of the part, and mounted on a rigid base at the same spaced intervals as the spaced intervals of the cross sections of the drawings to define a skeletal frame. A sheet material such as cardboard is adhesively bonded to the skeletal frame, to define a rough model of the part. This rough model is then layered with glass fiber and bonding resin and finished to the desired outside finished surface dimension shown on the drawing. This provides a finished model of the part, or the glass fibers and bonding resin build up may be removed from the cardboard to be a prototype part. Furthermore, the model may be used to make a mold from which a number of prototype parts may be made.

Growing community of inventors

Fraser, MI, United States of America

Nicholas A Vitale