The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 14, 1992
Filed:
Feb. 01, 1991
Jack E Smith, Dayton, OH (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A deflatable sealing member forms a weatherstrip to seal a closure opening. The sealing member includes an operative tubular section designed to provide tight interference engagement between the closure and vehicle body when vented to atmosphere and expanded by built-in resilient memory. A bellows pump is connected to the sealing member through a flow control circuit. The bellows pump serves to deflate the sealing member during closing of the closure. The bellows pump is adapted for convenient mounting in a cavity in the closure or vehicle body spaced from the closure hinge area. A flexible cable connects the bellows pump to the closure or vehicle body to provide the necessary actuation for operation of the bellows pump in response to the swinging movement of the closure. As the closure closes, a bleed port of fixed or variable size located at the pump vents the sealing member to ambient pressure, and the sealing member expands by resilient memory to its full cross section so as to provide a tight seal.