Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-06
2001-05-01
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S728200, C280S739000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224101
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an air bag incorporated in, for example, the steering wheel of a vehicle and adapted to be inflated by gas flowing into the air bag so as to reduce a shock delivered to an occupant of the vehicle. The invention also relates to an air bag apparatus including said air bag and a steering wheel equipped with said air bag apparatus.
BACKGROUND ART
Examples of conventional air bag apparatuses for a driver seat include an air bag apparatus incorporated in, for example, the steering wheel of an automobile and adapted to inflate a pouch-shaped air bag with gas flowing into the air bag so as to reduce a shock delivered to the driver of the automobile as a result of a collision. The air bag used for such an air bag apparatus is formed into a flat bag by sewing a pair of circular bag materials (panels) together along the edge. Each bag material is a geowoven made of a polyamide-based synthetic fiber. The air bag has a mounting hole which is formed in the bag material located at the side that faces the body of the vehicle so as to introduce gas into the air bag. The air bag is stored in the steering wheel in such a state that the air bag is folded into a compact shape with the material around the mounting hole affixed to the body of the steering wheel. When the inflator is actuated, the pressure of the gas ejected from the inflator expands the air bag toward the driver so as to receive and hold the driver, who has been thrown forward, thereby reducing the shock delivered to the driver.
An air bag having the configuration described above is required to inflate widely and flatly, and various structures to meet this requirement have heretofore been offered. For example, a configuration which calls for connecting the bag material at the driver side and the bag material at the vehicle side together by means of a tether belt is widely known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 50437-1973, Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2631300 and the specification of European Patent No. EPO775614A2, another typical configuration well known to those skilled in the art calls for connecting the bag material at the driver side to the bag material at the vehicle side with a cloth which is provided with a gas flow-through hole, and introducing the gas ejected from the inflator into a plurality of sections inside the air bag, wherein the gas is introduced into the sections in sequence, from one section to another. These configurations are intended to effectively hold an occupant who sits in a normal position by limiting the shape into which the air bag may be inflated. Other known examples of the conventional art include a configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 192703-1996, which includes cloth panels designed to control the flow of gas in such a way that the gas flows in the direction of the outer edge of the air bag. Yet another example, which is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 11084-1986, calls for dividing the interior of the pouch-shaped air bag into sections with sectioning members, which are connected to a gas supply opening by means of such an expansion limiting member as a belt.
Nowadays, there is a demand for an air bag apparatus which is capable of controlling the process of expansion of the air bag and reducing the pressure applied to an occupant even if the occupant is out of position, in other words the occupant is extremely close to the air bag apparatus or at any other out of the ordinary position.
In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an air bag which is capable of controlling the shape of the air bag and the pressure to be applied to various locations of the air bag throughout the process of expansion of the air bag, and obtaining superior shock absorption characteristics
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An air bag
2
according to the invention includes a first fabric portion
41
facing an object to be protected; a second fabric portion
42
adapted to form, in combination with the first fabric portion
41
, an outer skin of the air bag
1
, and being fastened to a supporting member
14
; one or more middle fabric portions
43
to be disposed between the first fabric portion
41
and the second fabric portion
42
so as to form a plurality of compartments
45
,
46
that are arranged in layers such that the planar surfaces face the object to be protected; a center connecting portion
53
at which the middle fabric portion(s)
43
is (are) connected to said supporting member
14
; one or more middle connecting portions
57
located between the center connecting portion
53
and the outer edge portion
44
and adapted to connect the middle fabric portion
43
to the second fabric portion
42
; gas communicating portions
51
located between the middle connecting portion(s)
57
and the outer edge portion
44
and adapted to communicate between the compartments
45
,
46
; and a gas inlet portion
48
which is adapted to permit the gas to be introduced therethrough and communicates with any one of the aforementioned compartments
45
,
46
other than the compartment that is located closest to the object to be protected. Specifically, with the configuration as above, when gas is introduced from the gas inlet portion
48
, the gas is supplied into the compartment(s)
45
located at a distance from the object to be protected and inflates said compartment(s)
45
into a given shape and, subsequently, the gas is fed through the gas communicating portions
51
into the compartment
46
positioned on the side where the object to be protected is located and inflates the compartment
46
into a given shape. As the middle fabric portion(s)
43
is (are) affixed at the center connecting portion
53
to the supporting member and affixed at the middle connecting portion(s)
57
to the second fabric portion
42
, the shape into which the air bag is inflated can easily be controlled. In other words, the distance by which the air bag expands in the direction of the object to be protected and the pressure applied toward the object can easily be controlled. Therefore, the invention enables the easy reduction of the pressure applied to the object to be protected, which may be located extremely close to the air bag. As the gas communicating portions
51
are located between the middle connecting portion(s)
57
and the outer edge portion
44
, it is possible to inflate the compartment(s)
45
located at a distance front the object to be protected into a given shape as far out as the outer edge portion
44
, and subsequently feed the gas into the compartment
46
positioned on the side where the object to be protected is located, thereby inflating said compartment
46
. Furthermore, as the compartment
46
positioned at the side where the object to be protected is located is inflated in such a manner as to cover the portion where the center connecting portion
53
is located, the invention ensures sufficient performance characteristics of shock absorption even at the location where the center connecting portion
53
is formed.
According to another feature of the invention, the middle connecting portion
57
or at least one of the middle connecting portions
57
is provided with a gas outlet portion
58
adapted to communicate the outside of the air bag with any one of the compartments
45
,
46
other than the compartment
45
,
46
that is located closest to the supporting member. As the gas outlet portion
58
for discharging the gas that has inflated the air bag is formed in a compartment
46
located closer to the object to be protected than is the compartment
45
which is provided with the gas inlet portion
48
, this configuration is not only capable of respectively inflating the compartments
45
,
46
into desired shapes but also maintaining the inflated shapes for a given period of time. Furthermore, by forming a gas outlet portion
58
at a middle connecting portion
57
adapted to connect the middle fabric portion(s)
43
to the second fab
Endo Tetsuji
Kaneko Kazuhiro
Nishijima Kazuyoshi
Sugiyama Toshiyuki
Watanabe Tsuyoshi
Dickson Paul N.
Fleming Faye M.
LaPointe Dennis G.
Mason & Assoc., P.A.
Nihon Plast Co. Ltd.
LandOfFree
Air bag, air bag apparatus, and steering wheel does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Air bag, air bag apparatus, and steering wheel, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Air bag, air bag apparatus, and steering wheel will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2458202