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:
Feb. 25, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 08, 1995
Richard K Riefe, Saginaw, MI (US);
Kurt J Hilbrandt, Hemlock, MI (US);
Howard D Beauch, Frankenmuth, MI (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
An energy absorbing steering column for a motor vehicle including a housing supported on a body structure of the vehicle for translation through a linear collapse stroke in response to an impact on a steering wheel of the steering column and an energy absorber. The energy absorber includes a flat metal ribbon having a first end anchored to the housing, an unrestrained second end, a preformed first undulation near the first end looped over a stationary first roller, and a preformed second undulation tangent to the first undulation looped over a floating second roller. The first and second undulations overlap each other and are confined between a pair of parallel containment walls of the steering column housing. As the steering column housing traverses its linear collapse stroke, the flat metal ribbon is plastically deformed to convert kinetic energy to work by being pulled sequentially over rotating anvils defined by at least one half of the circumference of the stationary first roller and at least one half of the circumference of the floating second roller.