Claims:We Claim:

1. A mechanism (100) for shattering a window glass (114) of a vehicle (300), the mechanism (100) comprising:
a body (101) defined with a chamber;
a resilient member (102) disposed within the chamber, wherein one end of the resilient member (102) is coupled to an end of the body (101);
a pin (103) movably disposed in the chamber and loaded against an end opposite to the one end of the resilient member (102), wherein the pin (103) is configured to displace between an operating position and a rest position; and
an actuator (108) positioned adjacent to the body (101), wherein the actuator (108) is configured to displace between a first position and a second position to selectively displace the pin (103) between the rest position and the operating position, wherein the pin (103) in the operating position is configured to shatter the window glass (114).

2. The mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient member (102) is configured to provide biasing force to the pin (103) towards to the actuator (108).

3. The mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient member (102) is a compression spring.

4. The mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pin (103) comprises:
a flange portion (105); and
an elongated member (106) extending away from the flange portion (105), wherein a free end of the elongated member (106) is defined with a pointed edge (107).

5. The mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, comprises a guide member (116) at an end, opposite to the end to which the resilient member (102) is coupled of the body (101), wherein the guide member (116) is defined with a cavity (117) to guide the pin (103) during displacement from the rest position to the operating position.

6. The mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the actuator (108) is a liner actuator (108), configured to displace between the first position and the second position to release the pin (103) from the rest position to the operating position.

7. A system (200) for shattering window glass (114) of a vehicle (300), the system (200) comprising:
a mechanism (100) disposed in a door (115) of the vehicle (300), the mechanism (100) comprising:
a body (101) defined with a chamber;
a resilient member (102) disposed within the chamber, wherein one end of the resilient member (102) is coupled to an end of the body (101);
a pin (103) movably disposed in the chamber and loaded against an end opposite to the one end of the resilient member (102), wherein the pin (103) is configured to displace between an operating position and a rest position; and
an actuator (108) positioned adjacent to the body (101), wherein the actuator (108) is configured to displace between a first position and a second position to selectively displace the pin (103) between the operating position and the rest position, wherein, the pin (103) in the operating position is configured to shatter the window glass (114); and
a control unit (109) communicatively coupled to the actuator (108) and one or more of sensors (113) associated with the vehicle (300), wherein the control unit (109) is configured to selectively operate the actuator (108) between the first position to the second position, corresponding to signals received from one of the one or more sensors (113), for selectively displacing the pin (103) between the rest position to the operating position, to shatter the window glass (114).

8. The system (200) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the one or more sensors (113) are one of a water level detection, a fire detection sensor, and an acceleration sensor.

9. The system (200) as claimed in claim 7, comprises an occupant detection sensor (113) communicatively coupled to the control unit (109), wherein the control unit (109) is configured to selectively operate the actuator (108) between the first position to the second position, upon receiving signal from each of the one or more sensors and the occupant detection sensor (113).

10. The system (200) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the resilient member (102) is configured to provide biasing force to the pin (103) towards to the actuator (108).

11. The system (200) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the resilient member (102) is a compression spring.

12. The system (200) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the actuator (108) is a liner actuator (108), configured to displace between the first position and the second position to release the pin (103) from the rest position to the operating position.

13. The system (200) as claimed in claim 7, comprises an auxiliary power source configured to operate the actuator (108), upon interruption of power from main battery supply of the vehicle (300).

14. A vehicle (300) comprising a system (200) as claimed in claim 7.

Dated this 22nd day of March 2021

GOPINATH ARENUR SHANKARARAJ
Of K&S Partners
IN/PA 1852
AGENT FOR THE APPLICANT
, Description:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See section 10; rule 13]

TITLE: “A MECHANISM FOR SHATTERING A WINDOW GLASS OF A VEHICLE”

Name and Address of the Applicant: TATA MOTORS LIMITED; Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street, Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai 400 001 Maharashtra, India.

Nationality: IN

The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

[001] TECHNICAL FIELD

[002] Present disclosure generally relates to a field of automobiles. Particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a mechanism for shattering a window glass of a vehicle. Further, embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a system for shattering the window glass of the vehicle during emergency conditions.

[003] BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[004] With advancements in the field of automobiles, special focus has been laid towards catering required safety systems for a vehicle, to ensure safety of occupants. Few such safety systems include air bags, anti-lock braking system (ABS), traction control system (TCS) and the like. Such safety systems are hugely designed to ensure safety of the occupants from collision/crash of the vehicle. However, when a vehicle falls/gets immersed into water bodies or spontaneous combustion occurs in the vehicle or when the vehicle topples, the aforementioned safety systems shall not have any impact on ensuring safety of the occupant, as such system do not aid the occupants to evacuate from the vehicle. Further, in such emergency situations (i.e., vehicle immersed in water bodies, spontaneous combustion in the vehicle and vehicle topple), it would be difficult for the occupants to egress from the vehicle, due to difficulties in opening the door because of outside water pressure, pain or panic of the occupant and the like, which may lead to loss of life.

[005] Considering the above, breaking window glass in such emergency conditions has been adapted to form a temporary evacuation path for the occupants to egress from the vehicle, thus minimizing the casualties. Conventionally, manual hammers have been adapted for breaking the window glasses in emergency situations. However, use of the manual hammers would need a basic skill to handle and break the glass, and the same may lack in the emergency situations, due to panic. As a result of this, window glass may not be reliably broken in a short period of time, thus leading to high casualties, which is undesired.

[006] The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or other such limitations associated with the prior art.

[007] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[008] One or more shortcomings of conventional systems are overcome, and additional advantages are provided through a mechanism and system as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered as a part of the claimed disclosure.

[009] In one non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a mechanism for shattering a window glass of a vehicle is disclosed. The mechanism includes a body defined with a chamber and a resilient member disposed within the chamber. One end of the resilient member is coupled to an end of the body. Further, the mechanism includes a pin, which is movably disposed in the chamber and loaded against an end opposite to the one end of the resilient member. The pin is configured to displace between an operating position and a rest position. Furthermore, the mechanism includes an actuator positioned adjacent to the body. The actuator is configured to displace between a first position and a second position to selectively displace the pin between the operating position and the rest position. The pin in the operating position is configured to shatter the window glass.

[010] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the resilient member is configured to provide biasing force to the pin towards to the actuator and the resilient member is a compression spring.

[011] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the pin includes a flange portion and an elongated member. The elongated member extends away from the flange portion, where a free end of the elongated member is defined with a pointed edge.

[012] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the actuator is a liner actuator, configured to displace between the first position and the second position to release the pin for displacing the pin from the rest position to the operating position.

[013] In another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a system shattering window glass of a vehicle is disclosed. The system includes a mechanism disposed in a door of the vehicle. The mechanism includes a body defined within a chamber and a resilient member disposed with the chamber. One end of the resilient member is coupled to an end of the body. Further, the mechanism includes a pin, which is movably disposed in the chamber and loaded against an end opposite to the one end of the resilient member. The pin is configured to displace between an operating position and a rest position. Furthermore, the mechanism includes an actuator positioned adjacent to the body. The actuator is configured to displace between a first position and a second position to selectively displace the pin between the operating position and the rest position. The pin in the operating position is configured to shatter the window glass. Further, the system includes a control unit communicatively coupled to the actuator and one or more of sensors associated with the vehicle. The control unit is configured to selectively operate the actuator between the first position to the second position, corresponding to signals received from one of the one or more sensors, for selectively displacing the pin between the rest position to the operating position, to shatter the window glass.

[014] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the one or more sensors are one of a water levels detecting sensor, a fire detection sensor, and an acceleration sensor.

[015] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the system includes an auxiliary power source configured to operate the actuator, upon interruption of power from main battery supply of the vehicle.

[016] It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

[017] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

[018] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[019] The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

[020] Figure. 1 a block diagram of a system for shattering a window glass of a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[021] Figure. 2 illustrates a partial sectional view of a mechanism of the system of Figure. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[022] Figures. 3 illustrates a partial sectional view of the mechanism of Figure. 2, disposed in a door and depicting an actuator in a first position and a pin being in a rest position;

[023] Figures. 4 illustrates a partial sectional view of the mechanism of Figure. 2, disposed in the door and depicting the actuator in the second position and the pin at an operating position;

[024] Figure. 5 illustrates a schematic side of a vehicle, equipped with mechanism of Figure. 1, and depicting shattered state of window glasses, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[025] Figure. 6 is a flow chart depicting operation of the system to shatter the window glass of the vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[026] The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

[027] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[028] While the embodiments in the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.

[029] It is to be noted that a person skilled in the art would be motivated from the present disclosure and modify various features of the mechanism and the system, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, such modifications are considered to be part of the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings show only those specific details that are pertinent to understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skilled in the art having benefit of the description herein. Also, the mechanism and the system of the present disclosure may be employed in variety of vehicles having different specification.

[030] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the disclosure, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a mechanism or system that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such system, method, or assembly, or device. In other words, one or more elements in a system or device proceeded by “comprises a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or device.

[031] Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a mechanism for shattering a window glass of a vehicle. In emergency situations such as vehicle or a portion of the vehicle immersed in water, spontaneous combustion in the vehicle and topple of the vehicle, it would be difficult for occupants to egress from the vehicle, due to difficulties in opening the door because of outside water pressure, pain or panic of the occupant and the like, which may lead to loss of life. Considering this, breaking window glass in such emergency conditions has been adapted to form a temporary evacuation path for the occupants to egress from the vehicle. Conventionally, manual hammers have been adapted for breaking the window glasses in emergency situations. However, use of the manual hammers would need a basic skill to handle and break the glass, which may not be done by the occupants in the emergency situations, due to panic. As a result of this, window glass may not be reliably broken in a short period of time, thus leading to high casualties, which is undesired.

[032] Accordingly, the present disclosure discloses a mechanism for shattering a window glass of a vehicle. The mechanism may be configured to automatically shatter the window glass in the emergency conditions of the vehicle. The mechanism may include a body, which may be defined with a chamber and a resilient member, which may dispose in the chamber. Further, the mechanism may include a pin, which may be movable disposed in the chamber and loaded against an end of the resilient member. The pin may be configured to displace between a rest position and an operating position. Furthermore, the mechanism may include an actuator, which may be positioned adjacent to the body. The actuator may be configured to displace between a first position and a second position.

[033] In an embodiment, the actuator may be operated by a control unit, which may be communicatively coupled to one or more sensors, which are configured generate signals corresponding to emergency condition of the vehicle. The control unit upon receiving the signals from the at least one of the one or more sensors may operate the actuator to displace from the first position to the second position. As a result of displacement of the actuator, the pin may displace from the rest position to the operating position. The pin in the operating position, may impact the window glass, thus shattering the window glass.

[034] The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to Figures. 1 to 6. In the figures, the same element or elements which have similar functions are indicated by the same reference signs.

[035] Figure. 1 shows a block diagram of a system (200) for shattering a window glass (114) of a vehicle. The system (200) may broadly include a mechanism (100), one or more sensors and occupant detection sensor (113) associated with the vehicle and a control unit (109) communicatively coupled to the mechanism (100) and each of the one or more sensor and the occupant detection sensor (113). The control unit (109) may be configured to actuate the mechanism (100), upon receiving signals (i.e., signals corresponding to danger/emergency condition of the vehicle) and presence of occupant from the one or more sensors and the occupant detection sensor (113), respectively to shatter the window glass (114). Shattering the window glass (114) may create an evacuation path for the occupants to egress from the vehicle during emergency condition of the vehicle, thus ensuring safety of the occupants and minimizing casualties.

[036] Referring to Figure. 2, which illustrates a perspective of the mechanism (100). In an embodiment, the mechanism (100) may be disposed in a door (115), adjacent i.e., substantially perpendicular to the window glass (114), which is disposed in the door (115). As an example, the mechanism (100) may be disposed in all the doors of the vehicle, to shatter window glasses of respective doors and also may be disposed in A pillar and C or D pillar [depending on the type of vehicle] to shatter the front and rear windshield, respectively in emergency conditions of the vehicle. As seen in Figure. 2, the mechanism (100) may include a body (101), which may be defined with a chamber, and may configured to accommodate various components of the mechanism (100). In an embodiment, the body (101) may include any geometrical configuration, such as but not limiting to cylindrical, rectangular and the like. Further, the mechanism (100) may include a resilient member (102), which may be disposed within the chamber. One end of the resilient member (102) may be coupled or butt against to an end of the body (101) [i.e., against wall of the chamber]. In an embodiment, the resilient member (102) may be but not limiting to a compression spring or a coil spring. As apparent from Figure. 2, the mechanism (100) may include a pin (103), which may be movably disposed in the chamber, such that the pin (103) may be configured to displace between a rest position and an operating position. One end of the pin (103) may be loaded against an end [ i.e., the end opposite to the one end coupled to the body (101)] of the resilient member (102). In an embodiment, the pin (103) may include a flange portion (105), which may contact the end of the resilient member (102). Further, the pin (103) may include an elongated member (106), which may extend from the flange portion (105). A free end of the elongated member (106) may be defined with a pointed edge (107), which may be configured to impact with the window glass (114), for shattering the window glass (114).

[037] In an embodiment, the pin (103) may be manufactured by but not limiting to metal, ceramic and the like.

[038] Further referring to Figure. 2, the mechanism (100) may include an actuator (108). The actuator (108) may position adjacent to the body (101). The actuator (108) may be a linear actuator (108) and may be configured to displace between a first position and a second position. In one embodiment, the actuator (108) may be positioned perpendicular to the body (101), such that at the first position of the actuator (108), the pin (103) may abut the actuator (108), resulting in the pin (103) to reside in the rest position [best seen in Figure. 3]. In an embodiment, in the rest position, the pin (103) resides completely within the chamber defined in the body (101). Further at the second position of the actuator (108), the pin (103) may displace from the rest position to the operating position, due to the biasing force exerted by the resilient member (102). In other words, displacement of the actuator (108) between the first position and the second position may selectively displace the pin (103) between the rest position to the operating position [best seen in Figure. 4], to impact the window glass (114) for shattering [best seen in Figure. 5] the window glass (114). In an embodiment, in the operating position, a portion of the pin (103) [i.e., pointed edge (107) and a portion of the elongated member (106)], protrude out of the chamber, to impact the window glass (114).

[039] In an embodiment, the linear actuator (108) may be one of a pneumatic actuator, an electric actuator and a hydraulic actuator.

[040] In an embodiment, the system (200) may include an auxiliary power source, which may be configured to power the actuator (108). The auxiliary power source may be adapted, upon interruption of power from main battery supply of the vehicle.

[041] In an embodiment, as best seen in Figures. 3 and 4, the mechanism (100) may include a guide member (116) at an end [i.e., the end opposite to which the resilient member (102) is coupled] of the body (101). The guide member (116) may be defined with a cavity (117), which may be configured to guide the pin (103) [thus, the elongated member (106)], during displacement from the rest position to the operating position.

[042] Now turning back to Figure. 1, the system (200) may include a control unit (109), which may be communicatively coupled to the actuator (108), one or more sensors and an occupant detection sensor (113) associated with the vehicle. The one or more sensors and the occupant detection sensor (113) may be configured to generate a signal upon detecting intended factors, that are to be determined by the one or more sensors and the occupant detection sensor (113). In an embodiment, the one or more sensors may be but not limiting to water level detection sensors, fire detection sensor, acceleration sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope and the like, and these sensors may be mounted at one or more locations such as but not limiting to battery mounting bracket, rear truck, near to window winding motor, and the like in the vehicle. The water level detection sensor may be configured to generate signals corresponding to immersion of the vehicle or a substantial portion of the vehicle in water, the fire detection sensor may be configured to generate signals corresponding to fire break-out or spontaneous combustion in the vehicle and the acceleration sensor may be configured to generate signals corresponding to toppling of the vehicle. In an embodiment, immersion of the vehicle in water, fire breakout in the vehicle and topple of the vehicle indicate danger/emergency condition of the vehicle.

[043] Further referring to Figure. 1 and in an embodiment, the control unit (109) may include a receiving module (110), processing module (111) and an actuation module (112). The control unit (109) may be configured to operate the mechanism (100) to shatter the window glass (114) in emergency condition of the vehicle (300). Now, working of the control unit (109) to operate the actuator (108) to selectively displace between the first position and the second position to shatter the window glass (114) is described hereinafter.

[044] The receiving module (110) of the control unit (109) may be configured to receive signals from the one or more sensors and the occupant detection sensor (113) associated with the vehicle (300), corresponding to emergency/danger condition (i.e., immersion of the vehicle in water, fire break-out in the vehicle and vehicle topple) and occupant seating in the vehicle (300), respectively. In an embodiment, the receiving module (110) may be a wireless or wired receiver which receives a wireless signal from at least one of the one or more sensors and the occupant detection sensor (113). Upon receiving the signals, the processing module (111) of the control unit (109) may process the signals and provided an input signal to the actuation module (112). Based on the input signal received from the processing module (111), the actuation module (112) may operate the actuator (108) to displace from the first position to the second position, to release (thus, displace) the pin (103) (i.e., the pin (103) loaded by the resilient member (102)) from the rest position to the operating position, such that the pointed edge (107) of the pin (103) impacts the window glass (114), thus shattering the window glass (114). Shattering the window glass (114) may create an evacuation path for easy egressing of the occupant from the vehicle (300) during emergency/danger condition of the vehicle (300). Thus, the system (200) ensures safety of the occupant during emergency/danger situation of the vehicle.

[045] In an embodiment, the system (200) in the foregoing paragraphs is described in relation to one door (115) of the vehicle (300). However, the same cannot be construed as a limitation, as the system (200) may be equipped in all the doors of the vehicle (300) to shatter the respective window glass (114) during emergency danger /condition of the vehicle (300).

[046] Turning now to Figure. 6 which is a flowchart depicting operational sequence of the system (200) for shattering window glass (114) of the vehicle (300).

[047] As illustrated in flowchart of Figure. 6, the one or more blocks illustrates a sequence of operation of the system (200). The operation may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform functions or implement abstract data types.

[048] The order in which the operation is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

[049] As shown in block 201, the receiving module (110) of the control unit (109) may receive signals, corresponding to one of the vehicle immersed in water, fire break-out in vehicle and vehicle topple, from at least one of the one or more sensors (113) and presence of occupant inside the vehicle (300) by the occupant detection sensor (113). The signals received by the receiving module (110) may be processed by the processing module (111) of the control unit (109) to generate an input signal to an actuation module (112) of the control unit (109), [as shown in block 202].

[050] Further, as seen in block 203, the actuation module (112) upon receiving an input signal, may actuate the actuator (108) to displace from the first position to the second position, which may result in releasing (thus, displacing) of the pin (103) loaded against the resilient member (102), from the rest position to the operating position, such that the pin (103) impacts the window glass (114) to shatter the window glass (114).

[051] In an embodiment, the mechanism (100) includes less components making the mechanism (100) simple and compact.

[052] In an embodiment, the mechanism (100) may be fitted in the existing doors, without substantial modification to the door.

[053] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the control unit (109) may be a centralized control unit (109), or a dedicated control unit (109). The control unit (109) may be implemented by any computing systems that is utilized to implement the features of the present disclosure. The processing module (111) of the control unit (109) may comprise at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user or system generated requests. The processing module (111) may be a specialized processing module such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing modules, digital signal processing modules, etc. The processing module (111) may include a microprocessor, such as AMD Athlon, Duron or Opteron, ARM’s application, embedded or secure processors, IBM PowerPC, Intel’s Core, Itanium, Xeon, Celeron or other line of processors, etc. The processing module (111) may be implemented using a mainframe, distributed processor, multi-core, parallel, grid, or other architectures. Some embodiments may utilize embedded technologies like application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[054] In some embodiments, the control unit (109) may be disposed in communication with one or more memory devices (e.g., RAM, ROM etc.) via a storage interface. The storage interface may connect to memory devices including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as serial advanced technology attachment (SATA), integrated drive electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, universal serial bus (USB), fiber channel, small computing system interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, redundant array of independent discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.

[055] It is to be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art may develop a system (200) of similar configuration without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Such modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure covers such modifications and variations provided they come within the ambit of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[056] Equivalents:

[057] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[058] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.” While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

[059] Referral Numerals:

Particulars Referral numeral
System 200
Mechanism 100
Body 101
Resilient member 102
Pin 103
Flange portion 105
Elongated member 106
Pointed edge 107
Actuator 108
Control unit 109
Receiving module 110
Processing module 111
Actuation module 112
One or more sensors and occupant detection sensor 113
Window glass 114
Door 115
Guide member 116
Cavity 117
Vehicle 300
Process steps 201-203