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:
Sep. 18, 2007
Filed:
Oct. 03, 2005
Michael Bolz, Welzheim, DE;
Martin Prokscha, Schwaebisch Gmuend, DE;
Michael Bolz, Welzheim, DE;
Martin Prokscha, Schwaebisch Gmuend, DE;
TRW Automotive GmbH, Alfdorf, DE;
Abstract
An electric motor drives a belt spool of a seatbelt retractor in a vehicle using a micro-controller and a drive circuit that drives the electric motor. A plurality of PWM control signal sources are provided each of which has a trigger input and a control signal output. Each control signal source, upon application of a trigger pulse to its trigger input, provides on its control signal output a control pulse of a duration different from durations of control pulses of all other control signal sources. A set of motor control programs are permanently stored in the micro-controller. A program selection signal is sent to the micro-controller from a central sensor unit in the vehicle. Trigger pulses are sent by the micro-controller to the trigger inputs of the control signal sources. Particular ones of the control signal sources are selected for application of their signal outputs to the drive circuit in a control sequence defined by a selected control program.