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:
Oct. 01, 2013
Filed:
Jun. 11, 2012
Raymond E. Kalisz, Livonia, MI (US);
Jeffery N. Conley, Belleville, MI (US);
Nicholas A. Mazzocchi, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Raymond E. Kalisz, Livonia, MI (US);
Jeffery N. Conley, Belleville, MI (US);
Nicholas A. Mazzocchi, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
An active bolster for automotive crash protection has front and back walls with their outer peripheral edges sealed together to provide a bladder chamber therebetween. A gas source supplies an expansion gas to inflate the bladder chamber during a crash. The back wall has a pleated section comprising a plurality of generally-parallel rows of generally-circumferential pleats that unfold during inflation. The unfolding of the pleats controls a deployment trajectory of the front wall, and the pleats have an undulating transverse curve length corresponding to a maximum trajectory of the front wall. The pleated section further comprises a plurality of transverse ribs joining adjacent pleats in selected locations to reduced the unfolding during inflation to provide a modified deployment trajectory.