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. 22, 2005
Filed:
May. 13, 2002
William Colie Smith, McMinnville, TN (US);
William Colie Smith, McMinnville, TN (US);
Federal-Mogul World Wide, Inc., Southfield, MI (US);
Abstract
An electronic tilt switch for controlling an electrical circuit such as a vehicle hood lamp circuit according to the angle of inclination of the tilt switch. The tilt switch includes a housing, a sliding element, and a solid state electronic sensor, which can comprises a Hall effect sensor or a photo-optical interrupter. The sliding element moves within an axial bore of the housing according to the angle of inclination of the tilt switch. The solid state electronic sensor is mounted to one axial end of the housing and is capable of determining when the sliding element slides past a predetermined position within the bore. This allows the tilt switch to determine whether the vehicle hood has been opened or shut, and is used to turn the lamp on or off accordingly. The housing, sliding element, sensor, and associated electronics can all be environmentally sealed within a single package, which can additionally include one or more molded in connectors. Also disclosed is an integrated tilt switch/lighting module in which one or more light sources are integrated into the sealed package.