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:
Nov. 14, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 29, 1997
Thomas Modzelewski, Brighton, MI (US);
Jeffrey W Stahlbaum, Metamora, MI (US);
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A vehicle occupant safety apparatus includes an air bag (12) and an actuatable inflator (14). The apparatus includes vehicle electric circuitry (18) having a first condition enabling actuation of the inflator (14) and a second condition disabling actuation of the inflator. A disable switch (10) includes an optical transmitter (90) for providing a signal in the form of a light beam (92) and an optical receiver (100) for receiving the light beam from the transmitter. Movement of a key (66) into a position between the optical transmitter (90) and the optical receiver (100) prevents at least a part of the light beam (92) from being directed to the optical receiver, thus modifying the signal. The vehicle electric circuitry (18) changes between the first condition and the second condition in response to the modification of the signal.