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. 06, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 15, 1998
Charles E. Steffens, Jr., Washington, MI (US);
Jinshou Xu, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Kwen Hsu, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
An apparatus (,) includes an elongated pressure vessel (,) containing a source of inflation fluid for a vehicle occupant protection device (,). The apparatus (,) further includes an inflation fluid outlet manifold (,) at one end (,) of the pressure vessel (,). The manifold (,) has outlet openings (,) defining first and second outlet flow areas. The manifold (,) is configured to direct inflation fluid flowing through the first outlet flow area to flow at least partially in a first direction parallel to a longitudinal axis (,) of the pressure vessel (,). The manifold (,) is further configured to direct inflation fluid flowing through the second outlet flow area to flow at least partially in a second, opposite direction parallel to the longitudinal axis (,) of the pressure vessel (,).