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:
Dec. 23, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 27, 1995
George W Goetz, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
An apparatus (22) for inflating an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device includes a housing (40) and a wall (86) located in the housing. The wall (86) cooperates with the housing (40) to define a combustion chamber(102). The wall (86) has an opening (88) through which fluid flows from the combustion chamber (102) to inflate the protection device. An ignitable material (120) is located in the combustion chamber (102). The ignitable material (120), upon ignition, increases the pressure in the combustion chamber (102). A valve member (160) is movable between a first position blocking the flow of fluid from the combustion chamber (102) through the opening (88) in the wall (86) and a second position allowing the flow of fluid from the combustion chamber through the opening in the wall. A spring (200) biases the valve member (160) toward the first position. The valve member (160) has a portion (164) against which the pressure in the combustion chamber (102) acts to move the valve member from the first position toward the second position in response to pressure in the combustion chamber increasing above a predetermined pressure.