Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-26
2001-06-26
Swann, J. J. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S731000, C200S061550
Reexamination Certificate
active
06250666
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an airbag housing with an integrated horn mechanism for installation in a steering wheel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is desirable that the hub cushion of a steering wheel serves as the operating button for the horn of a motor vehicle in spite of the presence of an airbag in the steering wheel. For this reason, driver's side airbag modules until now often have been assembled onto a horn mechanism arranged in the steering wheel, so that the entire airbag module serves as an operating button for the horn.
Such an arrangement of an airbag module is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,600. In this arrangement, the airbag housing, which houses the gas generator and the folded together airbag, is fastened on two resilient members by means of a plurality of bolts. Insulating members are arranged between the resilient members and the airbag housing to insulate the resilient members electrically from the airbag housing. Furthermore, insulating members are provided between the bolts, by which the airbag housing is fastened on the resilient members, and the resilient members, in order to prevent electrical contact between the bolts and the resilient members. The bolts are threaded into the airbag housing from the underside and are connected to the housing in an electrically conductive manner. The bolt heads are designed as contact pins. The resilient members are welded to a contact plate, which is fastened on the steering wheel by means of threaded fasteners. The horn of the motor vehicle is operated by exerting pressure on the front panel of the airbag module and consequently on the airbag housing. Thus the resilient members are elastically deformed and the bolts designed as contact pins come into contact with the contact plate. In this way, an electrical connection between the airbag housing and the contact plate is established, which closes the horn circuit and consequently puts the horn into operation.
A further arrangement of an airbag module in combination with a horn mechanism is known from EP 0 572 125. Here, between the airbag housing and a support bracket provided on the steering wheel there are arranged compressible members that permit a resilient movement of the airbag housing in the direction of the support bracket. The airbag housing is fastened on the support bracket by means of threaded bolts, which are electrically insulated from the support bracket by additional insulating members. These bolts serve as guiding members, along which the airbag housing and support bracket can move toward each other. When there is pressure on the airbag housing as an operating button for the horn, the airbag housing and the support bracket are brought into contact with each other, whereby the horn circuit is closed and the horn is activated.
These known arrangements of an airbag module in combination with a horn mechanism all comprise a multiplicity of parts and require diverse additional insulating members. Furthermore, assembly is laborious and time intensive, since numerous threaded fasteners are employed. Assembly is additionally made more difficult by the fact that the required threaded fasteners are arranged in such a way that they are poorly accessible, so that assembly is difficult and consequently also time-intensive and expensive. The large number of parts required results not only in the additional costs for the parts but also in increased costs for storing and providing them.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved airbag housing which can be resiliently fastened to a supporting means, or installation supporting means, on a motor vehicle and is inexpensive to produce and quick and easy to assemble.
The airbag housing according to the invention is integral with resilient members and requires no additional components for resilient mounting on a supporting means or installation supporting means on the motor vehicle. This considerably reduces the number of individual parts required, as a result of which the production, storage and assembly costs are also reduced. During assembly, the resilient, movable attachment of the airbag housing, which houses a gas generator, an airbag and a covering cap, also does not require any additional assembly parts or assembly steps in comparison with a conventional, non-resiliently fastened airbag housing. The reduction in assembly steps and individual parts also has the effect of reducing the number of possible sources of error, as a result of which the reliability of the airbag module and of the resilient mobility of the airbag housing is increased. Furthermore, the tolerances and gap dimensions are reduced, as a result of which both the function and the esthetics are improved.
The airbag housing preferably can be attached to a supporting means formed on a steering wheel of the motor vehicle. It is consequently an airbag housing for a driver's side airbag, which usually is arranged centrally in the hub portion of the steering wheel. The assembly space in a steering wheel is very restricted. Thus the arrangement of the airbag housing according to the invention is particularly favorable, since it is possible to dispense with laborious additional assembly operations for the fastening of resilient members.
The airbag housing preferably is designed as part of a switching or contact means. In such a design, the resiliently mounted airbag housing may, due to its mobility, serve as an activating member for a switching or contact means. Such a switching or contact means enables an additional function on a motor vehicle, such as, for example, the horn, to be operated by pressure on the airbag housing. Use of the airbag housing according to the invention has the effect that the number of individual parts required, and consequently also the production and assembly time, are considerably reduced, in comparison with the arrangement of conventional airbag modules in combination with contact means. As a result the production costs also can be reduced considerably. Furthermore, a reduced number of parts and simplified assembly also leads to fewer possibilities for error, as a result of which great reliability of the switching or contact means and of the airbag module is achieved.
It is particularly preferred for the contact means to operate a horn of the motor vehicle. This function is required in the case of an airbag module arranged in a steering wheel, since the driver of the motor vehicle would like to retain the accustomed operating button for the horn, usually arranged in the center of the steering wheel, even with a driver's airbag integrated into the steering wheel. Since the horn often is needed in situations of danger, a reliable function is important here, and the airbag housing according to the invention plays a part in ensuring this.
The at least one resilient member of the airbag housing preferably is designed as a tongue shaped bending bar. Such a tongue shaped resilient member advantageously is formed by a U-shaped cutout in the airbag housing. By suitable choice of the width, thickness and length as well as of the material of the tongue shaped bending bar, the desired resilient property or resilient rigidity of the resilient member can be set as desired. Such resilient members can be arranged favorably in the base plate of the airbag housing, around the gas generator. The bending bars preferably extend in the direction of the spokes of the steering wheel, so that they can be supported on the latter, which leads to a great stability of the steering wheel and of the airbag housing. The bending bars preferably are arranged uniformly in the vicinity of the circumference of the airbag housing, as a result of which a uniform and/or constant inward and outward deflection or resilient deflection respectively of the airbag module is ensured even when pressure is applied outside the center of the airbag housing.
The airbag housing preferably is fastened to the supporting means by means of clip or snap hooks. Such a design permits extrem
Breed Automotive Technology Inc.
Drayer Lonnie R.
Swann J. J.
Zeender F.
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