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. 25, 2014
Filed:
Feb. 01, 2013
GM Global Technology Operations Llc, Detroit, MI (US);
Alan L. Browne, Grosse Pointe, MI (US);
Tadge J. Juechter, Troy, MI (US);
Nancy L. Johnson, Northville, MI (US);
Paul W. Alexander, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
Xiujie Gao, Troy, MI (US);
Richard J. Skurkis, Lake Orion, MI (US);
Kirk D. Bennion, Mount Clemens, MI (US);
GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
An inlet, positioned to access the flow of air passing around and under a moving vehicle, draws in air which is conveyed through a duct and discharged to cool a brake on a vehicle. The inlet has a closure so that access of cooling air may be denied when the brake temperature is less than a predetermined temperature and opened only when the brake temperature exceeds that predetermined temperature. The closure is operated by a temperature-operated actuator. In embodiments the actuator may be suitably positioned to sense a temperature representative of the brake temperature and to incorporate a thermally activated phase change, active or smart material preselected to operate the inlet closure when the sensed brake temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature.