Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-07
2004-02-17
English, Peter C. (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S728300, C280S732000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06692017
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag apparatus for an automobile for protecting a person in a vehicle such as a car; for example, a driver or a passenger sitting in the front passenger seat, from impact upon head-on or side collision of the vehicle to thereby ensure safety of the person. More particularly, the invention relates to an improvement in the structure of reinforcement for a surface panel, such as an instrument panel cover to be fractured upon inflation of an airbag.
2. Description of the Related Art
An airbag apparatus for a front passenger seat or a driver seat of a vehicle, such as a car, or that to be mounted on a side pillar of the vehicle basically includes an airbag, an airbag case for accommodating the folded airbag, and an inflater for inflating the airbag. The airbag apparatus is disposed inside an instrument panel cover of the vehicle.
Generally, an instrument panel cover of a car is made of a synthetic resin, such as polypropylene, and covers the surface of an instrument panel core formed integrally from a synthetic resin, such as polypropylene.
A conventional airbag apparatus for a front passenger seat will be described with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2
.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing a conventional instrument panel cover having a fracture-opening section for allowing an inflating airbag to project outward therethrough.
FIG. 2
is a schematic sectional view taken along line II—II of FIG.
1
.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, an airbag apparatus for a front passenger seat
1
includes an airbag case
5
adapted to accommodate a folded airbag
4
, which is inflated by means of gas from an inflater. The airbag case
5
is disposed behind a substantially horizontal surface
3
a
of an instrument panel cover
3
in the vicinity of a windshield
1
a
of a car.
The airbag case
5
has an opening portion
5
a
formed in opposition to the inside surface of the instrument panel cover
3
. A flexible fracture-opening lid
6
formed of a synthetic resin is disposed at an opening portion
3
b
formed on the instrument panel cover
3
in opposition to the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
, so as to cover the opening portion
3
b
. Upon inflation of the airbag
4
, the fracture-opening lid
6
is split open in a casement condition through fracture along a center groove
6
a
and peripheral grooves
6
b
, which are formed on the inside surface of the fracture-opening lid
6
in opposition to the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
. The inflating airbag
4
projects outward through the thus-formed opening.
A mounting leg portion
7
and a plurality of engagement pieces
8
are formed on the inside surface of the fracture-opening lid
6
. The mounting leg portion
7
assumes the form of a rectangular frame slightly greater in size than the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
. The engagement pieces
8
are elastically engaged with the edge of the opening portion
3
b
of the instrument panel cover
3
. A plurality of rectangular through-holes
7
c
are formed in a front wall
7
a
of and in a rear wall
7
b
of the mounting leg portion
7
. The rectangular through-holes
7
c
are engaged with corresponding hooks
9
provided on a front wall
5
b
and a rear wall
5
b
of the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
, thereby attaching the fracture-opening lid
6
to the opening portion
3
b
of the instrument panel cover
3
.
When, upon inflation of the airbag
4
, the fracture-opening lid
6
is split open in a casement condition through fracture along the center groove
6
a
and the peripheral grooves
6
b
, the rectangular through-holes
7
c
formed in the front and rear walls
7
a
and
7
b
of the mounting leg portion
7
are engaged with the hooks
9
provided on the front and rear walls
5
b
of the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
, thereby preventing scattering of the fracture pieces of the fracture opening lid
6
.
According to the airbag apparatus for a front passenger seat shown in
FIG. 1
, the opening portion
3
b
is formed in the instrument panel cover
3
in such a manner as to face the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
. The fracture-opening lid
6
is a discrete element different from the instrument panel cover
3
and made of a flexible resin material and is fitted to the opening portion
3
b
. Thus, the manufacture and the assembly work of the instrument panel cover
3
and the fracture-opening lid
6
are rather complicated. Also, the fracture-opening lid
6
easily deforms when an external force is applied thereto, and encounters difficulty in matching color with the instrument panel cover
3
because it is made of material different from that of the instrument panel cover
3
, thereby damaging the appearance or design of the instrument panel cover
3
.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, there has been proposed a seamless-type airbag apparatus for a front passenger seat. The airbag apparatus does not employ a discrete fracture-opening lid, and therefore a fracture line of an opening portion of an instrument panel cover is invisible.
The proposed airbag apparatus is shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4
.
FIG. 3
is a schematic perspective view showing a single-plate-type instrument panel cover
3
having a fracture-opening section
30
for allowing an inflating airbag to project outward therethrough.
FIG. 4
is a schematic sectional view taken along line IV—IV of FIG.
3
.
As shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4
, hinge grooves
30
a
and fracture grooves
30
b
and
30
c
are formed on the inside surface of the instrument panel cover
3
by use of a laser. Specifically, a pulsating laser beam is perpendicularly applied to the inside surface of the instrument panel cover
3
while being moved along peripheral portions of reinforcement plate members
10
fixed to the inside surface, thereby forming the grooves
30
a
,
30
b
, and
30
c
; i.e., forming the fracture-opening section
30
having a size corresponding to that of the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
and adapted to allow an inflating airbag to project outward therethrough.
The longitudinally formed fracture groove
30
b
and the fracture grooves
30
c
formed perpendicularly to the fracture groove
30
b
divide the fracture-opening section
30
into a front fracture-opening subsection
31
and a rear fracture-opening subsection
32
. Upon inflation of an airbag, the fracture-opening subsections
31
and
32
are split apart from each other in a casement condition (in opposite directions) while hinging on the hinge grooves
30
a.
When, upon inflation of an airbag, the fracture-opening section
30
of the instrument panel cover
3
is split open by pressure of the inflating airbag
4
, the hinge groove
30
a
may be broken with a resultant separation of the fracture-opening subsections
31
and
32
from the instrument panel cover
3
. In order to avoid this problem, the paired reinforcement plate members
10
are provided on the inside surface of the fracture-opening section
30
of the instrument panel cover
3
. Specifically, horizontal first end portions of the reinforcement plate members
10
are fixedly attached to the inside surface of the fracture-opening section
30
through thermal joining or like processing. Second end portions
10
a
of the reinforcement plate members
10
are bent at their hinge portions
11
and extend downward along the inner surfaces of front and rear walls of a frame-shaped reinforcement rib
12
projecting integrally from the inside surface of the instrument panel cover
3
. The front and rear walls of the reinforcement rib
12
and corresponding second end portions
10
a
of the reinforcement plate members
10
are engaged with corresponding hooks
36
attached to front and rear walls
5
b
of the airbag case
5
. The inside distance between the second end portions
10
a
is slightly greater than a corresponding outer size of the opening portion
5
a
of the airbag case
5
. The reinforcement plates
10
prevent scattering of the fracture-o
Hayashi Akihito
Taoka Yoshifumi
Yasuda Mitsuo
Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd.
English Peter C.
Ladas & Parry
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