David L Gorman

US Patent:

7810837, Oct 12, 2010

Filed:

Feb 3, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/364872

Inventors:

Scott D. Thomas - Novi MI, US
David J. Gorman - Royal Oak MI, US
Steven E. Morris - Fair Haven MI, US

Assignee:

GM Global Technology Operations, Inc. - Detroit MI

International Classification:

B60R 21/045

US Classification:

2807301

Abstract:

An inflatable restraint system for selectively restraining an occupant of a motorized vehicle is presented herein. The inflatable restraint system includes a bladder having forward and rearward panel portions. The bladder is attached to the vehicle instrument panel, and configured to transition from a non-expanded state, in which the rearward panel portion is substantially flush with respect to the instrument panel, to an expanded state, in which the rearward panel portion is extended into the passenger compartment distal from the instrument panel. An inflation device is operatively coupled to the bladder, and configured to selectively transition the bladder from the non-expanded state to the expanded state. One or more trajectory control arms are attached at one end to the bladder, and a second end to the vehicle. The trajectory control arms are configured to redirect the bladder along an upward, arcuate path when transitioning to the expanded state.

US Patent:

8016331, Sep 13, 2011

Filed:

Feb 11, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/369310

Inventors:

Daniel D. Ralston - Farmington Hills MI, US
Kevin E. Holdren - Tecumseh, CA
Kenneth R. Bastien - Howell MI, US
David Gorman - Royal Oak MI, US
Amit Kulkarni - Farmington Hills MI, US

Assignee:

Shape Corp. - Grand Haven MI

International Classification:

B60R 19/04

US Classification:

293120, 293121

Abstract:

A vehicle bumper system includes an elongated reinforcement beam for mounting to a vehicle frame and an energy absorber abutting a front surface of the reinforcement beam. The energy absorber includes longitudinally-elongated hollow crush lobes configured to crush and absorb energy upon a vehicle crash, the crush lobes including interconnected top, bottom, side and front walls. At least one opposing pair of the walls, such as the top and bottom walls, are elongated parallel a length of the beam to define enlarged areas that are generally unsupported, but the one pair of walls further include a plurality of spaced external ribs extending perpendicular to the length for stabilizing the enlarged areas.