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:
Jun. 19, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1998
Bryan W. Shirk, Mesa, AZ (US);
Jess A. Cuevas, Scottsdale, AZ (US);
Ahmad K. Al-Amin, Higley, AZ (US);
Timothy A. Swann, Mesa, AZ (US);
Roy D. Van Wynsberghe, Mesa, AZ (US);
Homer W. Fogle, Jr., Mesa, AZ (US);
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A circuit chip (,) contains a semi-conductor bridge circuit (“SCB”) (,). The SCB (,) initiates an actuatable device, such as an occupant protection device (,A). The circuit chip (,) also contains a memory (,) that holds an identification (,A) of the actuatable device (,A). Preferably, the circuit chip (,) is part of a vehicle occupant protection system (,). Within the system (,) is a controller (,) and a communication interconnection (,) that permits communication between the controller (,) and the device (,A) to control actuation of the device. The controller (,) includes a theft deterrent function (,) to discern the identity of the device (,A) held within the memory (,). The theft deterrent function (,) also makes a determination as to whether the discerned identity of the device corresponds to a predetermined identity and provides a signal indicative of the determination.