Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Strattec Power Access LLC

Thomas Lawson Booth

Edgar H Schlaps

Howard Kuhlman

Ronald James Wilde

Kevin O'Connor

A power actuator system for a movable vehicle panel such as a lift gate assembly includes a position sensor that detects the pivotal movement of a strut mechanism of the power lift gate assembly relative to the host vehicle. A rotary sensor is coupled directly to an end component of the strut mechanism and provides signals that indicate the total amount of pivotal or rotary movement of the strut mechanism and the lift gate during the opening and closing of the lift gate. The signals provide information to determine the absolute position of the strut and the lift gate for processing in the vehicle's electronic control unit.

Strut position sensor including a magnet mounted on an idler gear contained in a stator portion, which is movable relative to a rotor portion connected to the strut, and a galvanomagnetic sensor in the stator portion for detecting angular position of the strut

A drive assembly for a vehicle door is provided. The drive assembly includes a motor having a driving member. The drive assembly further includes a housing having a shaft rotatably received therein. The drive assembly further includes an input member being rotatably received upon the shaft. The input member is operatively associated with the driving member. The drive assembly further includes a rotor fixedly secured to the shaft. The drive assembly further includes first and second Hall effect sensor modules mounted to the housing in a facing spaced relationship with respect to the plurality of teeth of the rotor that generate first and second signals, respectively. The first and second signals have a quadrature relationship with respect to one another and indicate a rotational direction of the rotor when the plurality of teeth are rotating past the first and second Hall effect sensor modules.

Motor speed sensor assembly for detecting rotational direction and speed

A hollow flexible vinyl or other plastic tube having a shiny inner wall is disposed along a boundary where intrusion detection is desired. A beam of infrared radiation from an LED at one end of the tube is passed through the tube by reflections from the wall to a detector at the other end. The radiation is conducted along curved paths as well as straight paths. An object intruding into the protected space with sufficient force to deform the tube wall attenuates the radiation. A detection circuit senses the attenuation and produces an intrusion signal. The detection circuit includes logic which detects a failure in the radiation source or a light leak in the tube.

Flexible tube optical intrusion detector

A power window control for a motor vehicle provides express or one-touch movement in response to short activations of a control element and traditional power window movement during activation of the control element for longer periods. The control provides for automatic window closing with activation of a power door lock element, as long as the ignition is off unless the ignition key is in the ignition switch and the driver's door is open. This allows single touch vehicle locking but helps prevents the operator from locking himself out of the vehicle with the key still inside. Window movement, once initiated in the open or close direction, is stopped in response to motor stall when the open or closed limit is reached. It is also stopped in the closing direction and reversed to the opening direction in response to a special impediment sensor comprising a flexible tube with an inner reflective surface adjacent the window closing path which directs light from an oscillator controlled light sending element to a light sensing circuit electronically synchronized with the sending element, when an impediment is pushed by the closing window into the tube to collapse it and block the light communication. Circuitry is disclosed for accomplishing the aforementioned features.

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Birmingham, MI, United States of America

Thomas Lawson Booth