Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-30
2001-10-09
Culbreth, Eric (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S730200, C280S743200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299197
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air bag system, to an interior vehicle covering, to a seat, and to a triggering process for an air bag system.
Normally, air bag systems are accommodated behind a covering, such as a dashboard support covering, a door covering, or a seat cover, which tears open when the air bag system is triggered in order to allow an air bag of the air bag system to pass through. For ensuring the safety function of the air bag system, the covering can not significantly hinder the air bag from emerging. Currently, only the force of the inflating air bag is used in practice to rip open the covering along a weakening line, such as a tearing seam or a tearing thread. The strength of the tearing seam, the quality and yield of the material with a high tolerance, and time delay therefore currently affect inflation of an air bag accommodated in such a manner, such as a thorax air bag, out of a seat backrest. Such weakening lines, however, cannot be constructed to be arbitrarily weak, since it is necessary to prevent the covering, such as a seat cover, from opening up there during normal use according to its purpose. Considerable portions of the force of the inflating air bag and the time must therefore be used for opening the covering; this counteracts the provision of the protective function.
Thorax air bags protecting against lateral impacts, for example, are frequently accommodated in seat backrests in the vehicle under covering fabrics in an invisible manner. In order to emerge in the event of a crash, such an air bag destroys the sewn seam at the edge of the seat. A correspondingly high force is required for this purpose. If the seat covers have a low stretching capacity (such as linen), then the air bag still inflates fast in comparison to stretchable coverings, but when considered in an absolute sense, nevertheless with a considerable time delay. With a stretchable covering (such as stretch fabrics or a velour fabric), the air bag first inflates the covering and, in this process, additionally loses force. Time delays of 50% are conceivable. In order to prevent this, “collars” made of a material with a low stretching capacity are sometimes placed around the air bag module and sewn into the seams of the seat cover. High expenditures and a still increased opening force of the seam are required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to improve the inflation behavior of an air bag of an air bag system which is accommodated behind a vehicle interior covering.
This object is achieved by a particularly claimed air bag system, a particularly claimed interior vehicle covering, a particularly claimed seat and a particularly claimed air bag system triggering process.
The invention provides an air bag system which has an air bag and a covering which contains at least one tearing thread or string in an outlet area of the air bag for opening the covering. This string is a thread of a woven fabric and/or of a seam of the covering in the outlet area of the air bag. According to the invention, tearing devices are also provided which are applied in the outlet area of the air bag from the covering to the at least one tearing thread. The tearing devices are coupled to the air bag system such that, when the air bag system is triggered, they weaken or open the covering before or during inflation of the air bag by severing the at least one tearing thread.
The tearing devices, therefore, keep the tearing thread from being severed by the air bag directly, and particularly before the contact with the inflating air bag, so that the covering is already opened up or at least weakened further when the inflating air bag presses against it from the inside. Therefore, the air bag does not require as much force and time for passing through or emerging from the covering as with a covering with defined weakening lines as is known from practice. In other words, according to the invention, weakening lines or opening lines are generated only as required, for example, according to what is referred to as the “run” principle. Although this does not mean that weakening lines cannot be provided from the beginning, as a result of the invention, a more extensive weakening or opening along these lines is achieved specifically when required.
The invention therefore utilizes the fact that woven fabrics or seams weakened by “runs” can be opened up by very light force.
Advantages, in addition to a high inflating speed, include a lower inflating tolerance and lower air bag system costs.
According to a preferred further development of the invention, the tearing thread can be opened up by energy reduced by 1:5 by the inflating of an air bag, such as a thorax air bag, since the tearing thread is correspondingly weakened by the tearing devices.
The covering preferably is a seat cover of a seat bottom part and/or of a seat backrest, a headrest covering, a headrest cheek covering, a dashboard covering, a door covering, a roof ceiling or another interior vehicle covering.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the tearing devices contain severing devices which are applied to the at least one tearing thread of the covering and are coupled to the air bag system such that, when the air bag system is triggered, they weaken or open up the covering before or during the inflating of the air bag by severing the at least one tearing thread. The severing devices preferably contain a severing thread, a severing string or a severing wire by which the at least one tearing thread can be severed at at least one point. As an alternative or in addition, the severing devices can be sewn in the outlet area of the air bag from the covering into the woven fabric and/or seam of the covering in addition to the at least one tearing thread.
Another preferred embodiment of the invention has an air bag system which contains at least one part which can be moved when the air bag system is triggered or which can be moved itself when it is triggered, and in which the tearing devices or, optionally, the severing devices are coupled to the movable part of the air bag system or the movable air bag system in order to sever the at least one tearing thread of the covering by the movement of the part or of the air bag system.
The above-mentioned embodiment can be further developed by providing the air bag system with an air bag module housing with a lid as the movable part and in which the lid opens up when the air bag system is triggered. By way of the opening movement, the lid cuts the at least one tearing thread of the covering with the tearing devices or, optionally, the severing devices.
Another further development of the air bag system which can be moved itself or of the air bag system with the movable part, which can also be used in addition to the above-mentioned variant, is that coupling of the tearing devices, or optionally of the severing devices, to the air bag system is ensured by the permanent direct connection or engagement, when triggered, with the movable part, optionally the lid, or with the air bag system which can be moved itself.
Preferred implementations of the air bag system according to the invention are a thorax air bag in a seat backrest and/or in a seat bottom part, a head air bag in a headrest, a frontal air bag in a dashboard, a side air bag in a vehicle door, in a vehicle side part or in a seat headrest cheek and/or a roof air bag at a vehicle roof.
The object of the invention is also achieved by an interior vehicle covering for covering an air bag system having at least one tearing thread in an outlet area of an air bag of the air bag system. Also, according to the invention, for the at least one tearing thread, severing devices are sewn in which either are coupled to the air bag system or can be coupled to the air bag system. When the air bag system is triggered, the at least one tearing thread of the covering can be severed by the severing devices for weakening or opening up the thread.
A preferred further development thereof is that the severing d
Culbreth Eric
Fleit Martin
Inova GmbH Technische Entwicklungen
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