Apparatus for reducing the likelihood of injury to drivers of motor vehicles as a result of head-on collisions
US5320384A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 14, 1992 |
| Grant date | Jun 14, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 14, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB62D1/195
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
The steering wheel column and/or the bearing for the steering wheel column in a motor vehicle is pushed or pulled away from a position in front of the driver in the event of a head-on collision whose intensity exceeds a preselected minimum value. The displacing unit which is activated in the event of head-on collision of preselected minimum intensity (e.g., a collision which causes the engine block and/or the transmission case to move rearwardly with reference to the frame of the motor vehicle) can entrain the steering wheel column and/or the bearing for the steering wheel column by way of a carrier which is pivotably mounted adjacent the steering wheel column or its bearing and has one or more projections with cutting edges penetrating into the steering wheel column and/or bearing in response to activation of the displacing unit. Each projection can include a cylindrical portion which extends at an oblique angle from a side of the carrier and whose axis preferably makes an acute angle with an adjacent surface of the steering wheel column or its bearing.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.