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. 13, 1994
Filed:
Apr. 02, 1993
Burkhard Schafer, Lemforde, DE;
Kai-Uwe Grams, Cappeln, DE;
Lemforder Metallwaren AG, Lemforde, DE;
Abstract
The present invention pertains to a steering column for a motor vehicle equipped with an inflatable air bag in the steering wheel (6), in which the parts (3, 4) of a steering shaft, which are connected to one another by a universal joint (5), are rotatably mounted in a housing consisting of a movable upper housing part (1) and a lower housing part (2) rigidly attached to the body, and the two parts of the housing are connected by a hinge (7) to a hinge axis (9) that extends approximately horizontally in the plane of the intersection of the axes of the universal joint, and can be interlocked with one another by the frictional engagement of a clamping device (13). In this steering column, the hinge (7) of the two housing parts (1, 2) is arranged at a spaced location from and above the central longitudinal axis (8) of the steering column, and the two housing parts (1, 2) can be interlocked with one another only in a position in which the axes of the steering shaft parts (3, 4) connected to one another by the universal joint (5) form an angle that is open toward the hinge (7), and the frictional engagement can be overcome by the recoil forces of the ignition of the air bag during the inflation of the air bag.