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:
May. 20, 2003
Filed:
Jul. 11, 2001
Homer W. Fogle, Jr., Mesa, AZ (US);
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A vehicle occupant safety apparatus ( ) comprises a sensor ( ) for sensing a vehicle crash condition and a control module ( ) for receiving a signal from the sensor ( ) and generating a demand-to-fire signal if the crash condition is above a threshold level. The apparatus ( ) further comprises a plurality of restraint modules ( ) for, when actuated, helping to protect a vehicle occupant. Each restraint module ( ) has at least one initiator ( ) that is energizable to actuate the restraint module ( ). A restraint communication bus ( ) transfers the demand-to-fire signal from the control module ( ) to the restraint modules ( ). A connector ( ) is associated with each initiator ( ). Each initiator ( ) and the associated connector ( ) collectively form a transformer ( ). The demand-to-fire signal is inductively coupled to the initiator ( ) for actuating the restraint module ( ).