Gm Global Technology Operations LLC

University of Michigan

Dynalloy, Inc.

Spyderco, Inc.

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Paul W Alexander

Nancy L Johnson

Alan L Browne

Nilesh D Mankame

Xiujie Gao

Wonhee Michael Kim

Richard J Skurkis

Diann Brei

Jonathan E Luntz

Nicholas William Pinto

James Holbrook Brown

Geoffrey P McKnight

Patrick B Usoro

Koray Benli

Christopher Paul Henry

Guillermo A Herrera

Laura Alejandra Giner Munoz

Andrew C Keefe

Aragorn Zolno

Daniel W Booth

Scott R Webb

Lei Hao

Paul Edward Krajewski

Jennifer P Lawall

Dorel M Sala

Christopher Burton Churchill

Peter Maxwell Sarosi

Chandra S Namuduri

Anthony L Smith

John Anthony Cafeo

Mark A Voss

Diane K McQueen

Sanjeev Manubhai Naik

Marten Wittorf

Derek L Patterson

Craig A Kollar

Robert Dallos, Jr

Pablo D Zavattieri

Janet Christine Robincheck

Kenneth A Strom

James Y Khoury

Suresh Gopalakrishnan

Robin Stevenson

Steven Morris

Scott P Charnesky

John Neal Owens

Roy J Mathieu

Nicholas W Pinto

Mark A Kramarczyk

Hanif Muhammad

James Herbert Shoemaker

Jeff E Nasca

Norman K Bucknor

Steven Fulton Griffin

Taeyoung Han

Louis D Thole

James W Wells

Julien P Mourou

Mark T Riefe

Jan Henning Aase

Michael J Walker

Kevin B Rober

Vidyashankar Ramasastry Buravalla

Steven J Weber

Alexander Millerman

Kirk D Bennion

Shivaram Ac

Steven A Lane

Amberlee S Haselhuhn

Mary Ellen DeCaluwe

Tadge J Juechter

Joseph F Szczerba

Thomas W Nehl

Gary Lee Jones

John C Ulicny

Robert Louis Vitale

Bahram Khalighi

William R Rodgers

Chih-Hung Yen

Chin-Hsu Lin

Kuo-Huey Chen

Brian W Whitmarsh

Shawn G Quinn

Andrew Mark Mance

Raymond J Kiefer

Kenneth J Shoemaker

Bhavesh Shah

Scott Willis Jorgensen

Steven Craig Lang

Mohan Sundar

Robert E Doty

John R Czoykowski

Joseph P Fannon

Steven G Corrion

Albert H Butlin, Jr

Stephen W Powell

Geoffrey P Mc Knight

Senthil N Karuppaswamy

Matthew M Stack

Thomas H Froling

A deployable ramp is provided for a cargo loading system of a vehicle. The ramp includes one or more rigid element having a surface for supporting a load. The ramp further includes one or more bladders defining a chamber that is fluidly connected to an outlet of a compressor. The chamber is adapted to receive a fluid from the compressor. The bladder is attached to rigid element, and the at bladder is movable to a collapsed state where the chamber has a first volume. The bladder is further movable to an expanded state where the chamber has a second volume and contains a pressurized fluid for supporting the rigid element, in response to the bladder receiving the fluid from the compressor. The second volume is higher than the first volume.

Deployable truck ramp with bladders

A tension-loaded drive mechanism ('mechanism') is provided for a cargo unloader. The drive mechanism includes a compressor for increasing the pressure of a fluid. The drive mechanism further includes multiple bladders fluidly connected to the compressor to receive the fluid from the compressor and expand in a rearward direction along a longitudinal axis of a cargo bed. The mechanism further includes a strap system having multiple straps attached to each bladder. The strap system further includes multiple spools configured to apply a compression counter force via the straps to the associated bladders, such that the compression counter force increases the pressure of the fluid in the associated bladders to a predetermined drive pressure threshold. The spools are further configured to dispense an associated one of the straps at a predetermined stepped payout rate such that the associated bladders apply a drive force associated with the predetermined drive pressure threshold.

Cargo unloader for a vehicle

An extendable arm assembly includes an extendable arm structure defining a first axis, a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and a third axis perpendicular to the first axis and the second axis. The extendable arm structure is configured to be actuated between a stowed configuration, an extended configuration in which the extendable arm structure extends along the first axis, and an intermediate configuration between the stowed configuration and the extended configuration. The extendable arm structure includes a plurality of expandable cells defining cell chambers therein. The extendable arm assembly is configured to inflate the cell chambers to actuate the extendable arm structure from the stowed configuration to the intermediate configuration.

Extendable arm assembly

A reconfigurable inflatable pickup truck box cover includes a base frame, a side wall system operatively connected to the base frame, and a top wall operatively connected to the side wall system. At least one of the base frame, the side wall system, and the top wall is inflatable.

Reconfigurable inflatable pickup truck box cover

Cargo systems are provided for vehicles that include, in one embodiment: a variable cargo surface disposed within a body of the vehicle behind one or more occupant seats, the variable cargo surface including: a low friction surface that facilitates movement of cargo within the cargo system, the low friction surface having a first coefficient of friction; a high friction surface that inhibits movement of cargo within the cargo system, the high friction surface having a second coefficient of friction that is greater than the first coefficient of friction; and a control device that selectively activates the low friction surface and the high friction surface based on conditions for the vehicle; wherein the low friction surface contacts the cargo within the cargo system when the low friction surface is activated; and the high friction surface contacts the cargo within the cargo system when the high friction surface is activated.

Variable friction cargo surface system for vehicles

A cushion member having improved variable stiffness for a target is provided. The cushion member comprises a cushion housing having an interior with a variable internal pressure and an exterior surface for receiving the target. The cushion housing is arranged to be deformable and comprises granular particles disposed in the interior of the cushion housing. The cushion housing further comprises hollow particles disposed therein with the granular particles. Each hollow particle is compressible and hollow to define a void therein. The hollow particles have a size, a wall thickness, a material, and a bulk modulus defining infill properties thereof. The hollow particles and the granular particles are arranged to allow the cushion housing to be deformed upon contact with the target. The hollow particles and granular particles define a cushion infill having a variable stiffness based on the infill properties and the variable internal pressure of the interior.

Cushion member having variable stiffness

A vehicle seat and storage system includes a vehicle seat having a seat base and a seat back extending from the seat base. A storage apparatus is connected to the seat back and is movable from a stowed position against the seat back to an extended position away from the seat back. The storage apparatus is configured to position and secure one or more cargo items. A seat motor is operably connected to the seat. The seat motor is configured to move the seat back from a first position extending upward from the seat base to a second position where the seat back is disposed flat against the seat base.

Integrated accessibility storage system

An inflatable structure includes a top end cap, a bottom end cap, a bladder attached to the top and bottom end caps and configured to hold pressurized air therebetween, and a plurality of tethers disposed within the bladder, each tether in the plurality of tethers having a first end coupled to the top end cap and a second end coupled to the bottom end cap, wherein when the bladder is inflated, the bladder expands axially forcing the top end cap and the bottom end cap away from one another, the plurality of tethers adapted to restrict movement of the top end cap and the bottom end cap away from one another and limit axial expansion of the bladder, wherein, at least one of the plurality of tethers is elastic, and the inflatable structure is adapted to provide multiple support profiles that are capable of supporting compressive loading.

Inflatable with elastic constraint tethers

A lightweight and portable inflatable assembly includes an inflatable structural component and a chemical reaction based inflator device. The inflatable structural component includes a flexible housing defining a cavity. The inflatable structure is uninflated in a first operational mode and filled with an inflation fluid retained for at least 4 hours in a second operational mode. At least one primary and at least one secondary charge unit are in fluid communication with the cavity. The primary charge unit includes a first gas generant material configured to generate a first predetermined volume of inflation medium for filling the cavity, while the secondary charge unit includes a second gas generant material configured to generate a second predetermined volume of inflation medium for filling the cavity in the second operational mode. The second predetermined volume is ≤about 40% by volume of the first predetermined volume.

Inflatable structures with chemical reaction based inflators

In an exemplary embodiment, an interior heating system for occupant seats of a vehicle is provided. The interior heating system uses a weft co-knit fabric combined with at least one conductive electrode to heat selective regions of a vehicle seat. The interior heating system includes the weft co-knit fabric that contains a set of weft knit active or plated emitting yarn configured with at least one conductive electrode. The knit active or plated emitting yarn is co-knit with at least one parent yarn for enhanced uniformity of an electrical current applied to at least one conductive electrode from the weft co-knit fabric, and a plurality of conductive electrodes arranged in an interdigitated layout to combine together each conductive electrode with a set of a plurality of conductive co-knit active emitting yarns which attach to each electrode tine of the conductive electrode in a select region.

Weft knit interdigitated electrodes for automotive interior heating elements

A vehicle seat includes a seat cushion, a seat back pivotally moveable between an upright position and a reclined position, and at least one upper arm support selectively moveable between a stowed position and an extended position, the at least one upper arm support adapted to provide support for an upper arm of an occupant when the seat back of the vehicle seat is in the reclined position and the at least one upper arm support is in the extended position.

Seat upper arm supports

A lifting system includes a top plate, a bottom plate and N pairs of hinged plates. The N pairs of hinged plates are connected by 2N pairs of hinges to N sides of the top plate and the bottom plate, where N is an integer greater than 2. A bladder is arranged between the top plate and the bottom plate and between inner edges of the N pairs of hinged plates.

Lifting system and vehicle including a lifting system

An inflatable structure includes a top end cap, a bottom end cap, a bladder attached to the top and bottom end caps and configured to hold pressurized air, a plurality of tethers disposed within the bladder, the inflatable structure moveable between a stowed profile and a final support profile, wherein the bladder is pressurized and expanded axially and the plurality of tethers are fully extended and restrict further movement of the top end cap and the bottom end cap away from one another and limit axial expansion of the bladder, a pulley assembly mounted within the bottom end cap, wherein in the stowed support profile, the plurality of tethers are wound onto the pulley assembly, the pulley assembly adapted to allow selective extension of the tethers allowing axial expansion of the bladder, wherein, the inflatable structure is adapted to provide multiple intermediary support profiles capable of supporting compressive loading.

Load lifting tensioned inflatable structure

Stop mechanism for a folding knife

A distributed inflatable touch sensing system is provided. The distributed inflatable touch sensing system includes a sensing bladder array, the sensing bladder array having a plurality of bladders, passageways, and ports in fluid communication. The system further includes a pressure regulator in fluid communication with one of the plurality of ports for regulating a pressure in the sensing bladder array. The system further includes a plurality of sensors, each in fluid communication with one of the plurality of ports, for measuring the pressure in the sensing bladder array. The system further includes a processor in communication with the plurality of sensors. The processor is configured to determine which of the plurality of bladders has been depressed by a user.

Distributed inflatable touch sensing

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Paul W Alexander