[DML] Re: Torsion Bars

["Andrei Cular" <acular1@xxxx>]

I did a quick search at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html and found
these two patents that relate to the torsion bars. The first is for the use
of the bars to open the doors, the second is all about the manafacturing
process. It sould contain all the basic info needed to reproduce the bars
in the future if ever needed.


U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,658
Inventors: DeLorean; John Z. (New York, NY)
Assignee: Delorean Research Limited Partnership (Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Appl. No.: 231398
Filed: February 4, 1981

Abstract
A door is mounted to hinge about a horizontal axis between a closed position
and an open position. A torsion bar is mounted in pretensioned manner to
bias the door from the closed position to the open position and to hold the
door in the open position in a tensioned manner. The vehicle body is made of
molded reinforced plastic while the hinges and mounting plates are metal.
"The torsion bar 40 is made of any suitable material, such as a cryogenic
material as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,180. "




Inventors: Markow; Edward G. (Oakdale, NY); Aleck; Benjamin J. (Jackson
Heights, NY)
Assignee: Grumman Aerospace Corporation (Bethpage, NY)
Appl. No.: 793480
Filed: May 3, 1977


Abstract
A method of making high performance torsion bars from austenitic stainless
steels which comprises the steps of fabricating a blank complete with
splined ends and torsion working said blank below the Md temperature of the
material to a stress value above 80-90% of its ultimate. Prior working may
be done in tension at below the Md temperature, and subsequent precipitation
hardening may be added to the basic process.