Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-07
2003-09-30
Dunn, David R. (Department: 3616)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S730200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626457
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a curtain airbag in which a curtain-shaped airbag portion is deployed at the inner surface side of a side window glass. More particularly, the present invention relates to a curtain airbag which has the advantage of, for example, precisely deploying a bag portion along a side window glass.
In the curtain airbag, a curtain-shaped airbag portion is deployed at the inner surface side of a side window glass beside an occupant at the time of an emergency of a vehicle. By the deployment of the curtain-shaped airbag portion, shock that is exerted on the occupant when the occupant collides with a side surface of the vehicle is absorbed or the occupant is prevented from being thrown out of the vehicle during a roll-over of the vehicle.
FIG.
10
(A) is an exploded perspective view of the structure of a conventional curtain airbag, and FIG.
10
(B) is a side sectional view of FIG.
10
(A).
A curtain airbag
100
shown in FIGS.
10
(A) and
10
(B) comprises a bag body
101
. The bag body
101
is a bag-shaped body that is formed by placing two sheets to be piled each other and joining them together by sewing, bonding, or welding. In a normal condition before deployment, as shown in FIGS.
10
(A) and
10
(B), the bag body
101
is folded up in bellows. Ears
101
A are formed at a top edge of the bag body
101
. Although only one ear
101
A is shown in FIG.
10
(A), a plurality of ears
101
A, for example, seven ears
101
A, is formed on the bag body
101
at predetermined intervals in a longitudinal direction of the bag body
101
. Holes
101
a
to
101
c
are formed in each of the ears
101
A.
The bag body
101
is accommodated in a sleeve-shaped cover
103
, which is rectangular in a cross section. A slit is formed in a top edge, i.e. left top edge in FIG.
10
(B), of the cover
103
. The ears
101
A of the bag body
101
are pulled up outward from the slit. As shown in FIG.
10
(B), a tear line
103
a
is formed in the bottom surface of the cover
103
along a longitudinal direction thereof. When the bag body
101
deploys, the tear line
103
a
is ruptured, so that the bag body
101
deploys downward from the cover
103
. The cover
103
in a condition of receiving the bag body
101
at the inside thereof is disposed along the roof side of the vehicle.
Hangers
110
are mounted to the ears
101
A of the bag body
101
. The hanger
110
includes a rectangular inner plate
111
and a rectangular outer plate
112
. The inner and outer plates
111
and
112
are linked by a corresponding linking portion
113
. Each ear
101
A of the bag body
101
is sandwiched between the corresponding inner and outer plates
111
and
112
(refer to FIG.
10
(B)). Holes
111
a
and
112
a
are formed in the center portions of the inner and outer plates
111
and
112
, respectively.
A pawl
111
b
is formed at the right edge of each inner plate
111
. A pawl
112
b
is formed at the left edge of each outer plate
112
. In the condition that the hanger
110
is mounted, the pawl
111
b
of the corresponding inner plate
111
is folded after being inserted into the hole
101
b
of the corresponding ear
101
A, and the pawl
112
b
of the corresponding outer plate
112
is folded after being inserted into the hole
101
c
of the corresponding ear
101
A. A bolt (not shown) for mounting the curtain air bag
100
to the body of the vehicle is inserted into the holes
111
a
and
111
b
of the hanger
110
and the hole
101
a
of the ear
101
A of the bag body
101
.
An inflator
105
, shown in FIG.
10
(A), is connected to an open end of the bag body
101
. A cap
106
covers an end, i.e. right end in FIG.
10
(A), of the inflator
105
. The cap
106
is ruptured by the pressure produced by ignition of the inflator
105
. The end of the inflator
105
covered by the cap
106
is secured to the open end of the bag body
101
by a clamp band
108
. The inflator
105
is supported at both sides inside a retainer
107
. The retainer
107
is secured to, for example, an A pillar of an automobile by screws
109
while supporting the inflator
105
.
In the above-described conventional curtain airbag
100
, when deployment gas is supplied into the bag body
101
from the inflator
105
, the bag body
101
is inflated, so that the tear line
103
a
of the cover
103
is ruptured, causing the bag body
101
to deploy. At this time, reaction force produced by the deployment of the bag body
101
is received by the ears
101
A of the bag body
101
and the hangers
110
. However, the deployment direction of the bag body
101
itself is not restricted very much, so that there is a tendency for the bag body
101
to deploy towards the inside of the cabin of an automobile. Therefore, the bag body
101
may not deploy smoothly along the inner surface of a window glass.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems and has as an object the provision of a curtain airbag which has an advantage of being capable of precisely deploying a bag portion along a side window glass.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To overcome the above-described problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a curtain airbag in which a curtain-shaped airbag portion is deployed along an inner surface side of a window glass, i.e. side window glass, beside an occupant at the time of an emergency of a vehicle. The curtain airbag comprises a bag body; an inflator connected to one end of the bag body for supplying deployment gas; a cover which covers the bag body; a hanger connected to a top end portion of the bag body, which is used to hang the bag body from a structural member of the vehicle; and a restricting member which restricts the deployment direction of the bag body so that the bag body deploys along the inner surface of the window glass.
According to this aspect of the present invention, since the deployment direction of the bag body is restricted by the restricting member, it is possible to smoothly deploy the bag body along the inner surface of the window glass.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a curtain airbag in which a curtain-shaped airbag portion is deployed at an inner surface side of a window glass, i.e. side window glass, beside an occupant at the time of an emergency of a vehicle. The curtain airbag comprises a bag body; an inflator connected to one end of the bag body for supplying deployment gas; a cover which covers the bag body; a hanger connected to a top end portion of the bag body, which is used to hang the bag body from a structural member of the vehicle; and a receiving member provided along the top end of the bag body, which receives reaction force produced when the bag body deploys downwards.
According to this aspect of the present invention, the receiving member receives the reaction force produced when the bag body deploys in the downward direction, so that deployment force of the bag body can be concentrated in one, downward direction. Therefore, the bag body smoothly deploys along the inner surface of the window glass. In addition, as a result of the bag body deploying precisely in one downward direction, it is possible to reduce variations in the deployment time of the bag body.
In the curtain airbag of the present invention, the member may be a plate which is provided along the top end of the bag body and which extends substantially perpendicular to the window glass. In this case, by using the plate, reaction force produced when the bag body deploys downward can be precisely received. In addition, when the member is a plate, the structure is simplified, so that it can be easily formed.
The curtain airbag of the present invention may further comprise an inner-surface-side member or skirt that extends down from an occupant-side edge of the plate. In this case, the inner-surface-side member prevents the bag body from protruding tow
Masuda Yasushi
Nakanishi Ryosuke
Nakazawa Wataru
Dunn David R.
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Takata Corporation
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