Patents
US 11969059 B2: Electrically releasable buckle assembly for a motor vehicle restraint
- Granted
- 2024-04-30
- Filed
- 2020-08-25 application 17635919
- Type
- Utility · 9 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
An electrically releasable buckle assembly (12) for a motor vehicle restraint (10) may include latch components (18) configured to releasably engage a tongue member (14B) of the motor vehicle restraint (10), a release button (16) operatively coupled to the latch components (18), the release button (16) having a latched position in which the latching components engage the tongue member (14B) and a release position in which the latch components (18) release the tongue member (14B), an electrical energy source (32), at least one shape memory alloy component (26) operatively coupled to the release button (16), the at least one shape memory alloy component (26) responsive to heating thereof by electrical energy supplied by the source (32) to a temperature at or above a transition temperature thereof to move the release button (16) from the latched position to the release position, and means (34) for selectively supplying electrical energy from the electrical energy source (32) to the at least one shape memory alloy component (26).
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg240430.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Mills & Manufacturing, Inc. 70 patents | US company or organization | Westfield, IN | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris P. Jessup | Sheridan, IN | 27 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Nathan Andrew BEADLE | Carmel, IN | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Brian Nelson Coffman | Gurley, AL | 4 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Wei Zhang | 安丰镇, CN | 9 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A44B | Buttons, pins, buckles, slide fasteners, or the like | A44B11/2569 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-06-14 | Security interest Security interest Security interest | INDIANA MILLS & MANUFACTURING, INC. signed 2022-06-09 IMMI SAFEGUARD, INC. signed 2022-06-09 | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. INDIANAPOLIS, IN | 60365/76 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2022-02-17 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | BEADLE, NATHAN signed 2020-10-05 COFFMAN, BRIAN N. signed 2020-10-06 JESSUP, CHRIS P. signed 2020-10-12 ZHANG, WEI X. signed 2020-10-12 | INDIANA MILLS & MANUFACTURING, INC. WESTFIELD, IN | 59032/500 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.