Device for reducing the impact of pedestrians

Details Device for reducing the impact of pedestrians Device for reducing the impact of pedestrians

1999-06-25

2001-02-06

Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)

Motor vehicles

With means for promoting safety of vehicle, its occupant or...

Responsive to engagement of portion of perimeter of vehicle...

C280S730100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06182782

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device for reducing the impact to pedestrians.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,632 discloses a device for reducing the impact to pedestrians, which considerably reduces the magnitude of trauma to the head and upper body of a pedestrian. Such impact may occur upon striking the front hood of a motor vehicle during a collision. Referring to
FIG. 29
, discussion proceeds on this known device.
FIG. 29
illustrates a motor vehicle
1
equipped with this known device. In
FIG. 29
, a sensor
2
is suitably arranged in a zone of a front bumper bar of the vehicle
1
to detect a collision with a pedestrian. A front hood
3
can be pivoted around an essentially horizontally extending swivel pin placed at the front edge of the vehicle
1
. The front hood
3
can be displaced by means of an air bag
5
that extends essentially across the entire width of the vehicle, so as to move it from a rest position indicated by one dot chain lines to an interception line indicated by full lines. In the rest position, the air bag
5
is folded and placed underneath the front hood
3
, approximately in the zone under the cowl. The air bag can be inflated in the shortest possible time through a gas generator
4
. The gas generator
4
may include a gas producing solid propellant charge that is ignited by means of the sensor
2
over a signal line.
JP-A 7-108902 discloses an air bag
5
that is inflated to extend over a front hood
3
of a vehicle
1
. A sensor
2
is arranged in the zone of a front bumper bar of the vehicle
1
. A gas generator
4
is placed underneath the front hood
3
. When the gas generator
4
is activated by means of the sensor
2
upon a collision with a pedestrian, the air bag
5
is inflated, forming an impact buffer between the front hood
3
and the pedestrian.
Both of the devices are effective in reducing impact to the pedestrian's head upon detection of a collision. In the known devices, a pressurized gas is introduced into the air bag to inflate the bag to lift the front hood from the rest position to the interference position or to extend over the front hood. A large volume of gas is required, making it difficult to reduce the size of a gas generator. Thus, difficulty arises in placing the folded air bag and the gas generator underneath the front hood.
In the device according to JP-A 7-108902, the inflated air bag that extends over the front hood, creates an impact buffer upon detection of a collision with a pedestrian. When the pedestrian lands on the front hood during the collision, the head of the pedestrian, hit by the vehicle, contacts with the air bag. The stress of a direct impact to the head is the product of the magnitude of interference area through which the head contacts with the air bag and the magnitude of internal pressure of the air bag. The head is spherical so that the magnitude of stress, which the head is subject to, increases with the increasing magnitude of displacement. Thus, the air bag must have a considerable amount of vertical dimension to absorb the kinetic energy of the head. The air bag and the associated gas generator therefore become bulky, making it difficult to find installation space underneath the hood.
The art relating to reduction of impact to pedestrian is fairly well developed. However, a need remains for further development of such devices, especially in light of current movement to increased care of pedestrians involved in collision with a motor vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an impact reducing device, which is easy to mount to a motor vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an impact reducing device, which effectively reduces impact to a pedestrian involved in a collision with a motor vehicle.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for reducing impact to a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle having a hood extending in a generally horizontal plane and covering a compartment in front of a windshield of the vehicle, comprising:
a displacement mechanism for the displacement of the hood from a rest position to a impact position raised relative to the rest position; and
an air bag module including an air bag, said air bag module being operative in cooperation with said displacement mechanism to inflate the air bag, causing the air bag to have a first cushion portion extending beneath the rear of the hood across at most the entire width of the hood and a second cushion portion extending out from the rear of the hood.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for reducing impact to a pedestrian involved in interference with a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle having a hood extending in a generally horizontal plane and covering a compartment in front of a windshield of the vehicle, comprising:
means for generating a signal upon collision of a pedestrian with the motor vehicle;
means for displacing the hood from a rest position to a impact position raised relative to the rest position in response to said signal; and
an air bag module under the hood, said air bag module including a gas generator and an inflatable air bag, said air bag module being operative in response to the displacement of the hood from the rest position to the impact position to admit gas to said air bag, inflating the air bag to deploy a first cushion portion beneath the rear of the hood across at most the entire width of the hood and to deploy a second cushion portion out from the rear of the hood to extend over the windshield.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for reducing impact to a pedestrian involved in interference with a motor vehicle having a hood extending in a generally horizontal plane and covering a compartment in front of a windshield of the vehicle, comprising:
generating a signal upon collision of a pedestrian with the motor vehicle;
raising the hood from a rest position to a impact position in response to said signal; and
inflating an air bag after the hood has been raised from the rest position to the impact position to deploy a first cushion portion beneath the rear of the hood across at most the entire width of the hood and to deploy a second cushion portion out from the rear of the hood to extend over the windshield.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3709316 (1973-01-01), Glance
patent: 3829140 (1974-08-01), Jehu et al.
patent: 4093290 (1978-06-01), Pearson
patent: 4249632 (1981-02-01), Lucchini et al.
patent: 4946002 (1990-08-01), Vu et al.
patent: 2711338A1 (1978-09-01), None
patent: 2841315A1 (1980-04-01), None
patent: 7-108902 (1995-04-01), None

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