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US 7,401,846 B2Granted
Volume-filling mechanical assemblies and methods of operating the same
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorsAlan L. Browne, Ching-Shan Cheng, Nancy L. Johnson, Gary L. Jones, Scott R. Webb, Francis D. Wood, Ruth M. Gusko, Chin-Hsu Lin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A volume-filling mechanical structure for modifying a crash or impact comprising a honeycomb celled material expandable from a compact state to a expanded state and methods for operating the same.
Claims4
A volume filling mechanical assembly for a vehicle, the assembly comprising:
- an open celled material expandable from a non-expanded state to an expanded state, wherein the open celled material further comprises a first rigid end cap connected to one end of the open celled material and a second rigid end cap connected to an other end of the open celled material;
- and
- an activation mechanism regulating expansion of said open celled material from said non-expanded state to said expanded state in response to an activation signal, wherein the activation mechanism comprises an expansion agency interfaced with the first and second end caps, and further comprising an active material based actuator adapted to selectively trigger an expansion of the expansion agency.
A method of stiffening and/or reinforcing a vehicle member, comprising
- disposing a volume filling structure within a vehicle member, wherein the volume filling structure is in the unexpanded state;
- and
- expanding the volume filling structure within the vehicle member, wherein expanding the volume filling structure stiffens and/or reinforces the vehicle member;
- and
- wherein expanding the volume filling structure comprises attaching a tether to one end of the volume filling structure and manually exerting a force on the tether effective to expand the volume structure.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.