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:
Apr. 25, 2006
Filed:
Mar. 10, 2004
William H. Redfield, Lake Forest, IL (US);
William H. Redfield, Lake Forest, IL (US);
Molon Motor & Coil Corp., Rolling Meadows, IL (US);
Abstract
In a deployment apparatus for extending a safety device from a school bus, the safety device is attached to a connector which is rotated about a pivot pin that is turned by a friction clutch driven by an output shaft. The safety device may be either a guard arm on a front bumper or a stop sign on a side of the school bus. The present invention is an improvement, i.e. an L-shaped bracket and a gear box are integrally molded together into a unitary structure. Gears inside the box turn the output shaft and an electric motor, operatively connected to the gear box, drives the gears. Furthermore, the L-shaped bracket has closed-end elongated slots through which fasteners extend to secure the unitary structure to an inside wall of the deployment apparatus. Because the L-shaped bracket and the gear box form a unitary structure, vibrations and constant jarring caused by the school bus do not separate the L-shaped bracket from the gear box, as may occur in the prior art devices which have an L-shaped bracket and a separate gear box bolted together.