1958-1971 | T4drive

User Experience and Safety is at the Forefront

1958-1971

Ralph Teeter was the man behind the invention of cruise control which was patent issued in 1950. The idea lacked a speed lock which in turn needed to be fixed for the safety of drivers.
Throughout the process of Teeter trying to get manufacturers to use his speed stat he was able to engineer a solution in which the car's electronic motor monitors a speed until the driver comes in contact with the brake once again.
In 1958, Chryslers Motors added the speed stat as an addition to the luxurious model and eventually on all their models. Following this, Cadillac also adopted the speed stat in their automobiles.

Originally seatbelts had a 2-point design, but in 1959 Nils Bohlin; a Volvo engineer, came up with the three-point seatbelt design that would allow for easier use and safer restrictions.
Due to a devastating loss that the President of Volvo at the time had experienced due to the two-point seatbelt design, "Gunnar Ellengau poached Nils Bohlin from competitor Saab" to solve this problem immediately.

There is a difference between invention and innovation and it is important to understand the difference in user experience in this scenario. The invention of the seatbelt was already conquered, yet the innovation of a safer more comfortable version was created.

In 1967 Robert Kearns was issued several patents regarding his invention of intermittent wipers that would pause between wipes and be set to intervals depending on the rain.
Although Kearns marketed his product to a vast list of carmakers but was unable to come through with a licensing deal with any of them.
About 10 years later Kearns is to sue Ford Motors for patent infringement and win as although not deliberate his invention was different conceptually by parts and mechanisms winning Kearns 10.2 million.

A defining moment in the history of car advancements and developments came in 1971 when Chrysler "came up with the first four-wheel electronically-controlled ABS system", called "Sure Brake".

This system, unfortunately, faded for them due to poor marketing strategies, yet Mercedes continued with this suit and introduced their own ABS system that is similar to those they have today.