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US 7,681,939 B2Granted
Collapsible armrest for a vehicle door
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorNicholas H. Augustyn
Life of this patent
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AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorNicholas H. Augustyn
Estimating the term…
Provided is an armrest assembly disposed on an inner door panel of a vehicle. The armrest assembly includes an armrest panel shaped to form the body of the armrest, and a support surface made of flexible skin. The armrest panel is fixed to a predetermined location on the inner door panel, and extends upwardly and away from the inner door panel to a proximal end. The proximal end is spaced apart and opposite the inner door panel to define an cavity. The flexible skin is attached to the proximal end and pulled taut over the cavity and fixed to the inner door panel to form the support surface for receiving the load of a passenger arm. The armrest assembly having the flexible skin for a support surface is able to fold into itself when the vehicle door is subject to a predetermined load, thus presenting no rigid structure posing a threat of being pushed into a passenger under said predetermined load.
An armrest assembly for a vehicle door, the vehicle door having an inner door panel, the inner door panel having an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface, the armrest assembly comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.