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:
Mar. 29, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 19, 2009
Carl D. Spamer, Brighton, MI (US);
Daniel F. Gillay, Plymouth, MI (US);
Carl D. Spamer, Brighton, MI (US);
Daniel F. Gillay, Plymouth, MI (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Abstract
The present invention discloses a retention apparatus for a fin subassembly used in connection with a vent assembly of a vehicle including a headliner assembly mounted to an interior vehicle body structure. A curtain side airbag is disposed between the headliner assembly and the vehicle body structure. The headliner is configured to be displaced by the curtain side airbag upon airbag deployment so as to provide a safety feature for passengers of the vehicle. The vent assembly includes a trim cover, a retainer ring and a fin subassembly. The trim cover is mounted to a vehicle headliner and the trim cover having a predetermined inside diameter. The fin subassembly having a plurality of fins configured to direct airflow from an air duct and also having an extended actuator operatively connected to the fins to permit simultaneous and identical movement of the fins. The fin subassembly is mounted in the retainer ring and the retainer ring is rotatably mounted in the trim cover to allow the retainer ring and fin subassembly to freely rotate. The extended actuator having a length greater than that of the predetermined inside diameter of the trim cover to prevent the fin subassembly from detaching from the vent assembly as a whole upon curtain side airbag deployment.