Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

T K Holdings, Inc.

Ryan A Miller

Eric M Heitkamp

Brian Boggess

Jason T Hardesty

Brian T Allen

Gregory Joseph Mast

Bradley W Klein

Patrick Joseph Ellison

Duane Trent Detwiler

Christopher J Mampe

Jaime Fermin Perez

Jeremy Paul Lucas

Akihiro Shibuya

Skye Malcolm

Grant G Foreman

Rajendra L Kakarla

Stephen G Rosepiler

David L Burge

Edouard Stuart Sandoz

Takayuki Sugama

William J Gross

Michael D Guerrero

Naoki Munekata

Vivek Maripudi

Adam Goellner

Shivaprasad G Rangaswamaiah

Andrew Solomon

Douglas McLeish

Tyler Jackson

Hirohide Ikeno

Yoshikatsu Takeuchi

Eric M Hejtkamp

Steve Mark

Douglas Longhitano

Christos Agouridis

The present disclosure provides a laminate structure including a laminate body with a second ply positioned between a first ply and a third ply, the second ply having an edge extending outward from a corresponding edge of the first and third plies. The laminate structure further includes a flange positioned on the edge of the second ply. The flange includes a first finger and a second finger extending outward to define a receptacle that receives the edge of the second ply therein.

Attachment method for laminate structures

An airbag includes an outer shell defining an interior of the airbag, and a divider positioned in the interior so as to divide the interior into a first chamber and a second chamber. A valve mechanism is operatively coupled to the divider. The valve mechanism includes an opening enabling fluid communication between the first and second chambers, and a flap positioned in the second chamber overlying the opening. The flap is structured to deflect in a direction away from the opening responsive to a pressure differential urging a flow of gas from the first chamber through the opening into the second chamber. The flap is also structured to block the opening responsive to a reverse pressure differential urging a flow of gas from the second chamber through the opening into the first chamber. The flap includes at least one attachment edge along which the flap is attached to the divider and at least one non-attachment edge along which the flap is not attached to the divider. The valve is structured such that at least a predetermined minimum distance between the at least one non-attachment edge and an edge of the opening is maintained during application of the reverse pressure differential to the flap.

Dual chambered passenger airbag

A front pillar construction on a vehicle frame includes a pillar inner member having pillar inner member mating flanges and a pillar outer member having pillar outer member mating flanges welded to the pillar inner member mating flanges to form a front pillar member with a hollow construction. The front pillar construction further includes an angled reinforcement member fixedly secured to the pillar member at a location arranged to break a wheel of the vehicle disposed immediately forward of the pillar member during small overlap frontal crashes wherein the wheel is forced rearward toward the pillar member.

Front pillar construction having reinforcement member for vehicle frame

A front subframe for a vehicle body structure includes left and right longitudinal members which extend in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. A front cross member extends in a transverse direction of the body so as to extend between front ends of these longitudinal members. A rear cross member extends in the transverse direction of the body so as to extend between rear ends of the left and right longitudinal members. An engagement member as part of the front subframe is provided at each front end of the left and right longitudinal members. The engagement member is adapted to be engaged by an associated object during a narrow offset frontal collision and direct crash forces into the front subframe and vehicle body structure.

Front subframe for a narrow offset collision

A energy-absorbing footrest in a vehicle includes a footrest plate, a plurality of pins depending from an underside of the footrest plate, and a supporting structure defining a plurality of apertures into which the plurality of pins are received. Engagement between the plurality of pins and the supporting structure limits insertion of the plurality of pins into the apertures and thereby supports the footrest plate in an elevated position relative to the supporting structure until a predetermined force is applied to the footrest plate causing the plurality of pins to further insert into the plurality of apertures and the footrest plate to move toward the supporting structure.

Vehicle footrest and method for providing tunable footrest

A method for crash testing a motor vehicle is disclosed. The method provides a crash test routine where an inflatable restraint is deployed using a single deployment pattern throughout at least one government regulation zone. This helps to prevent overlap of a transition zone and can help make the deployment of the inflatable restraint more predictable. This can increase occupant safety and simply testing.

Method for crash testing a motor vehicle

A hanger beam assembly for a vehicle comprises a support beam extending in a vehicle widthwise direction. The support beam includes a first beam member. The first beam member is positioned between a blower assembly of a vehicle HVAC system and a dashboard on a front passenger side of the vehicle. The first beam member is configured to at least partially sever the blower assembly and direct a lower portion of the blower assembly having a blower motor away from the dashboard during a crash incident to at least partially prevent intrusion of the lower portion of the blower assembly into the dashboard.

Vehicle cabin intrusion management

An airbag module for a vehicle includes a gas generator for generating a gas and a multi-chamber airbag operatively connected to the gas generator for receiving the gas. The airbag defines a first inflation chamber, at least one second inflation chamber, at least one third inflation chamber and a fourth inflation chamber. The airbag includes internal vents configured to allow selective communication between the first chamber and each of the at least one second chamber and the at least one third chamber and selective communication between the at least one second chamber and the fourth chamber. The internal vents are configured to maintain a higher pressure in selective chambers by restricting ability of the gas to escape the selective chamber. The order of internal venting between the respective inflation chambers controls the pressure and timing of inflation of the multi-chamber airbag.

Multi-chamber knee airbag

A pedestrian bumper system and method can include an attachment bumper and an attachment bracket for connecting the attachment bumper to the existing vehicle bumper or existing vehicle frame. The attachment bumper can be configured to conform to the existing vehicle bumper such that the frontal crash mode of the vehicle is substantially unchanged. In addition, the attachment bumper can create a new front surface area that includes an area that is lower than the front area of the existing vehicle bumper. Thus, the bumper system can be configured to contact a pedestrian at a lower location to minimize injury during an accident. The bumper system can also be configured to be easily adapted to existing vehicles by either the consumer or the vehicle manufacturer to take advantage of easily modifying vehicles for different market and/or consumer requirements and tastes.

Pedestrian bumper system and method

A hood lift device with a restraint system is disclosed. The system can include a catching hole configured to constrain an actuator tip within a hood after the hood lift device is deployed. By engaging the hood lift device with a hood, the hood may be restrained from contacting a windshield.

Restraint system for a hood lift device

A brake assembly configured to bias the master cylinder to rotate upward in a crash which induces the brake pedal to rotate down and away from the driver. This is achieved with a reduced number of parts, an angle reservoir for the initial position, a localized crush zone in the booster all configured to use the assembly's contact with the lower dash panel as a fulcrum point inducing downward rotation of the brake pedal. The present invention takes geometric advantage of its position proximate the lower dash panel to sure that when the engine compartment portion is pushed rearward toward the occupant compartment, the localized crush zone of the booster case induces upward rotation of the master cylinder causing the booster to pivot about the lower dash panel and cause the parallel brackets to rotate downward.

Crash safe vehicle brake assembly

A bed extension assembly for a vehicle includes a bed assembly having a bed floor, sidewalls disposed along sides of the bed floor and a split tailgate assembly disposed adjacent a rearward edge of the bed floor between the sidewalls. The split tailgate assembly includes a first door pivotally secured to one of the sidewalls and a second door pivotally secured to another of the sidewalls. A bed extender member is movably secured to the bed assembly for movement between a stowed position beneath the bed floor and in an extended position protruding rearwardly from the bed assembly.

Bed extension assembly

A method for preparing a motor vehicle for a crash test is disclosed. The method subjects the motor vehicle to a sequence of different tests and provides a system of staged modifications that can be made to help the motor vehicle pass the current test without invalidating test results obtained earlier in the sequence. In some cases, this method can be used to confirm that a particular motor vehicle qualifies for a certain crash test routine.

Growing community of inventors

Columbus, OH, United States of America

Ryan A Miller