Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-03
2001-09-25
English, Peter C. (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S730100, C244S121000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293582
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Inflatable elements, bag or belt, deploying from locations adjacent vehicle occupants have been proposed and suggested to distribute belt loading during a collision (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,682,498 and 3,841,654).
Prior restraint systems have combined seat belts, including lap and shoulder components, with inflatable members. For example, vehicle air bags have been proposed to be mounted adjacent shoulder belts and lap belts for deployment upon rapid deceleration of a vehicle (U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,662). Other prior inflatable bag vehicle restraint systems have required that the bag be supported by a portion of the vehicle in front of the occupant (i.e., the dashboard or wheel post unit). Further, prior lap belt mounted bags were deployable in front of the occupant's belt and have not caused the lap belt to have its slack removed by the inflation of the bag.
Finally, it has been proposed to provide bags for inflation between the occupant and shoulder straps (U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,569).
None of the prior art proposals provide proper protection where the restraint system can only be deployable from and restrained by a lap belt area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises an occupant vehicle restraint system in which a configured inflatable air bag is supported by a lap belt. The lap belt is positioned adjacent the bag or in a passageway in the air bag which passageway is part of the inflatable pressure-retaining envelope of the bag. The bag is sized and shaped so that the force of the occupant's torso tending to move forward in a rapid deceleration of the vehicle is restrained by the bag engaging a sufficiently large support area consisting of the top portion of the occupant's legs and a variable seat surface between the occupant's legs. The belt-receiving passageway may be located so that a rear portion of the bag is inflatable between the belt and the occupant and the remainder of the bag is inflatable forward of the belt to prevent any substantial rotation of the torso.
By so locating the belt-engaging bag surface or the belt-receiving passageway, a rear portion of the bag when inflated tightens the lap belt as such rear portion presses against the occupant's lap upper thigh portion and lower stomach area. At the same time the forward portion of the bag inflates to serve as a structural air stiffened column to provide a restraint against the occupant's forward movement and rotation of the occupant's torso.
The present inventive restraint system and its method of operation utilizes an air bag deployed from the lap belt area which bag as deployed is fully supported and constrained by (1) the lap belt and (2) surfaces including occupant's legs and the surface upon which the occupant is seated. The invention is particularly useful for occupants seated in seats that are not adjacent a dashboard or a wheel post. Occupants in the back seats in passenger land vehicles and airplane passengers are readily protectable utilizing the present inventive restraint system.
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English Peter C.
Pennie & Edmonds LLP
Universal Propulsion Company, Inc.
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