Patent ID: 7314234

Claim:
A safety steering column system for a motor vehicle that is selectively configured upon entry into the motor vehicle of a driver in the event of an accident to control the movement of at least a steering wheel end region of a steering column away from the driver of the vehicle correlated to a driver's configuring parameters comprising (a) the steering column comprised of an upper and a lower telescoping part with the upper part including the steering wheel end region, with the telescoping parts of the steering column being mounted for telescoping toward the front of the vehicle, (b) an adjustment mechanism intercoupling the telescoping parts of the steering column, (c) a first sensing device for sensing a physical parameter related to the size of the driver when the driver has entered the motor vehicle and providing a first configuring output, (d) a second sensing device for sensing a seat belt parameter of whether the driver who is when seated in the motor vehicle has a seat belt fastened and providing a second configuring output, (e) the adjustment mechanism including (i) a lockable load absorber, (ii) a triggerable unlocking device associated with the load absorber that when triggered unlocks the load absorber, and (iii) at least one triggerable operator that when triggered positively moves the telescoping pads of the steering column together away from the driver, and (f) a controller for receiving the outputs from the sensing devices and responsive to the received outputs for configuring the adjustment mechanism, when the driver enters the motor vehicle and prior to any accident, by controlling the triggerable unlocking device and the triggerable operator so that the adjustment mechanism operates to operate according to one of at least three preselected different and distinct operations.