Liquid metal rotary connector apparatus for a vehicle...

Electrical connectors – Interrelated connectors relatively movable during use – Having liquid contact

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C439S013000, C439S015000

Reexamination Certificate

active

07726972

ABSTRACT:
A liquid metal rotary connector for a vehicle steering mechanism utilizes a conductive alloy comprising Gallium, Indium, Tin and Zinc to electrically couple stationary and rotary terminals of the connector. The alloy is a liquid at ambient temperatures, and has a melting point of −36° C., though testing has shown that it operates satisfactorily at temperatures as low as −40° C. In a preferred arrangement, the rotary connector provides a two-wire connection through which power is supplied from the steering column to the steering wheel, and electronic modules located in the steering column and the steering wheel support bi-directional data communication through voltage and current modulation of the supplied power.

REFERENCES:
patent: 5170930 (1992-12-01), Dolbear et al.
patent: 5498164 (1996-03-01), Ward et al.
patent: 5626484 (1997-05-01), Okuyama et al.
patent: 5779492 (1998-07-01), Okuyama et al.
patent: 5969534 (1999-10-01), Hubner et al.
patent: 6600405 (2003-07-01), Kremers et al.
patent: 6663395 (2003-12-01), Sobhani
patent: 6665186 (2003-12-01), Calmidi et al.
patent: 7198412 (2007-04-01), Hamasaki et al.
patent: 7524194 (2009-04-01), Eldridge et al.

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Liquid metal rotary connector apparatus for a vehicle... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Liquid metal rotary connector apparatus for a vehicle..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Liquid metal rotary connector apparatus for a vehicle... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-4195661

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.