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. 24, 2018
Filed:
Apr. 21, 2016
GM Global Technology Operations Llc, Detroit, MI (US);
Richard J. Skurkis, Lake Orion, MI (US);
Nancy L. Johnson, Northville, MI (US);
Paul W. Alexander, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
Dorel M. Sala, Troy, MI (US);
Nicholas W. Pinto, IV, Shelby Township, MI (US);
Xiujie Gao, Troy, MI (US);
GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A resettable sensor assembly includes a housing having a longitudinal axis and defining a cavity therein. The assembly includes a divider disposed within the cavity and in contact with the housing, at least one electrical contact disposed within the cavity and extending through the divider, and a pin reversibly translatable within the cavity along the axis. The assembly includes at least one actuator element disposed within the cavity and abutting the housing. The element is configured for translating the pin along the axis between a first position wherein the pin contacts the electrical contact and a second position wherein the pin is spaced apart from the electrical contact. The actuator element is formed from a shape memory alloy that is transitionable between an austenite crystallographic phase and a martensite crystallographic phase in response to a thermal activation signal to thereby translate the pin between the first and second positions.