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:
Sep. 22, 1992
Filed:
Sep. 05, 1990
Leonard W Behr, Pontiac, MI (US);
Steven J Anderson, Willis, MI (US);
Donald A Duda, Novi, MI (US);
Robert B Colten, Bloomfield Hills, MI (US);
Automotive Systems Laboratory, Inc., Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
An acceleration sensor comprises a tube formed of an electrically-conductive, nonmagnetic material; an annular magnetically-permeable element, such as an iron washer, encircling a longitudinal portion of the tube; a magnetic sensing mass in the tube which magnetically interacts with the washer so as to be magnetically biased towards a first or 'rest' position in the tube characterized in that a longitudinal portion of the sensing mass is situated within the portion of the tube encircled by the washer, the sensing mass being displaced from its rest position in the tube towards a second position therein in response to an accelerating force exceeding the magnetic bias thereon; and a switch operated by the sensing mass when the sensing mass is displaced to its second position in the tube. The instant accelerometer features a low threshold magnetic bias of the sensing mass to provide a quickened sensing mass response to acceleration inputs of short duration; and a magnetic bias which increases in a substantially linear manner with increasing sensing mass displacement from its rest position towards its second position within the tube.