Vehicle grill with reciprocal moveable louvers
AssigneeLacks Enterprises, Inc.
InventorDavid Walters
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A grill assembly for attachment to a vehicle front end including a base grill portion, having a front surface, a back surface, a perimeter portion, and cross-rail portions. The cross-rail portions define a plurality of grill openings therebetween. A plurality of louvers are configured to communicate with the plurality of grill openings. The assembly is in communication with a controller to effectuate generally linearly reciprocal movement of at least one of the base grill portion or the plurality of louvers in a direction generally defined by a direction of travel of the vehicle to vary an amount of air flow through the plurality of grill openings.
Claims36
A grill assembly for attachment to a vehicle front end, comprising:
- a base grill portion having a front surface, a back surface, a perimeter portion, and a plurality of cross-rail portions;
- a plurality of grill openings disposed in the base grill portion and generally between the plurality of cross-rail portions, the plurality of grill openings configured to permit air flow from an exterior of the vehicle to an interior compartment;
- a plurality of louvers, each having a front side, each of the plurality of louvers configured to communicate with a forward portion of a respective one of the plurality of grill openings, such that each of the plurality of louvers communicates with one or more of the plurality of grill openings;
- the plurality of louvers configured to move in their entirety between a first position where the plurality of louvers are disposed such that air can flow through each of the corresponding ones of the plurality of grill openings and a second position where each of the plurality of louvers engages a respective one of the plurality of grill openings to close off air flow through each of the plurality of grill openings;
- whereby, in both the first and second positions, the front sides of each of the plurality of louvers are oriented generally parallel to the base grill portion.
A grill assembly for attachment to a vehicle front end comprising:
- a base grill portion having a front surface, a back surface, perimeter portion and a plurality of cross-rail portions;
- a plurality of grill openings disposed generally between the plurality of cross-rail portions, the plurality of grill openings configured to permit air flow from an exterior of the vehicle to an interior compartment;
- a plurality of louvers each having a front side and being configured to communicate with the front surface of the base grill portion, the plurality of louvers being disposed on the grill assembly such that they can move between a first position and a second position, such that the entirety of each of the plurality of louvers moves between the first position and the second position;
- each of the plurality of louvers in communication with at least a respective one of the plurality of grill openings;
- whereby in the first position the plurality of grill openings are exposed to allow air to flow therethrough and a second position where the plurality of louvers nest within each of the plurality of grill openings to substantially prevent air flow therethrough.
A grill assembly for attachment to a vehicle front end, comprising:
- a base grill portion having a front surface, a back surface, and a perimeter portion;
- a plurality of grill openings formed in the front surface configured to permit air flow from an exterior of the vehicle to and interior engine compartment;
- a plurality of louvers configured to move generally between a first position where the grill openings are exposed to allow air flow therethrough and a second position where each of the plurality of louvers closes off at least a respective one of the plurality of grill openings such that air is prevented from flowing therethrough;
- wherein in the first position, the plurality of louvers are disposed outwardly with respect to the front surface of the base grill portion;
- whereby in the second position, the plurality of louvers engage the front surface of the base grill portion;
- whereby in both the first position and the second position the front surface of the plurality of louvers lies generally parallel to the base grill portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.