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:
Jul. 21, 1992
Filed:
Mar. 19, 1991
Terry Coultas, Canyon Country, CA (US);
William McLeod, Roseville, MI (US);
Paul Wipasuramonton, Rochester, MI (US);
James R Hocking, Sterling Heights, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
An inflator assembly inflates a vehicle occupant restraint. The inflator assembly includes a container which stores gas under pressure. A body of an ignitable pyrotechnic material is disposed within the container. An igniter assembly is actuatable in response to being struck to ignite the body of pyrotechnic material. An actuator assembly is provided to release the stored gas from the container and to actuate the igniter assembly. The actuator assembly includes a pyrotechnic which moves an actuator member to rupture a portion of the container and to strike the igniter assembly. Upon actuation of the igniter assembly, the pyrotechnic material is ignited and begins to burn. During initial burning of the pyrotechnic material, an orifice plate restricts a flow of combustion products to promote burning of the pyrotechic material. During continued burning of the pyrotechnic material, the flow of combustion products enlarges the size of the orifice in the orifice plate to reduce the restriction to the flow of combustion products. The combustion products heat the gas in the container to increase the fluid pressure in the container.