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:
Mar. 25, 1997
Filed:
Feb. 23, 1996
George W Goetz, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
An apparatus (10) for inflating an inflatable vehicle occupant restraint, such as an air bag (12), includes a collision sensor (24), an inflator (14), and first and second initiators (18,20). The collision sensor (24) senses the occurrence and the severity of a vehicle collision. The inflator (14) contains pressurized inflation fluid and ignitable material (60) heating the inflation fluid. The first initiator (18) initiates a flow of the pressurized inflation fluid from the inflator (14). The second initiator (20) ignites the ignitable material (60). A temperature sensor (26) senses the ambient temperature of the inflator (14). A controller (22) actuates the first initiator (18) at an initial time in response to the occurrence of the vehicle collision. The controller (22) actuates the second initiator (20) after the lapse of a delay time which is determined by the controller (22) with reference to the ambient temperature and the severity of the vehicle collision.