Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-23
2004-02-24
Nguyen, Son T (Department: 3643)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
active
06695342
ABSTRACT:
This application claims priority from Japanese patent application of Tanase et al, filed Jun. 1, 2001, No2001-167266, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated into the present application by this reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head protecting airbag device for expanding an airbag while extending it at the time of a rollover (e.g., a turnover or a side roll) or a side collision of a vehicle. The airbag of the head protecting airbag device is folded up and housed above the upper edge of a window inside of the vehicle. Moreover, the airbag expands while extending to cover the inner side of the window when it admits an inflating gas.
2. Description of Related Art
The airbag device of the prior art for covering the window on the inner side of a vehicle with an airbag expanded is disclosed in International Laid-Open No. WO98/19894. In this airbag device, a folded airbag is housed above the upper edge of a side window positioned on the side face of the vehicle. At a predetermined time, moreover, an inflating gas flows from an inflator into the airbag so that the airbag expanded covers the inner side of the side window.
Moreover, the airbag having completed its expansion is so tensed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle that it may not be moved to the outside of the vehicle by the passenger.
However, the following problems have occurred when such airbag is employed in the head protecting airbag device which is activated when a rollover (e.g., a turnover or a side roll) of the vehicle is predicted.
During the rollover of the vehicle, more specifically, it is unavoidable that the upper half of the passenger is seriously rocked in the transverse directions as the vehicle turns. When the airbag is extended and expanded with the passenger's head portion being extremely close to the side window, for example, the airbag may be arranged not between the head portion and the side window but closer to the center of the cabin than the head portion inside of the vehicle. If, in this case, the airbag is longitudinally tensed as the expansion of the airbag is completed, it cannot be arranged between the passenger's head portion and the side window. On the contrary, the airbag pushes the head portion onto the side window.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention contemplates to solve the above-specified problems. In short, the invention has an object to provide a head protecting airbag device which can arrange the expanded airbag smoothly between the passenger and the side window even if the passenger is close to the side window.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head protecting airbag device comprising an airbag folded and housed above the upper edge of a window inside of a vehicle and expanded while being extended to cover the inner side of the window when it admits an inflating gas. The airbag includes a body portion and an extension portion. The body portion covers the inner side of a side window positioned on the side face of the vehicle. The extension portion is arranged on at least the front side of the body portion, and extends on the inner side of the vehicle body generally perpendicularly to the side window. Moreover, the extension portion is formed into such a sheet shape having flexibility that it can be arranged in front of a passenger upon completion of the expansion of the airbag. Moreover, the body portion upon completion of the expansion fixes its upper edge on the body side while allowing the lower edge to move generally perpendicular to the side window upon completion of the expansion. The extension portion is fixed at its leading edge (the edge removed from the airbag body portion) on the vehicle body and is housed in a roof portion over the front side of the passenger such that it can protrude downward along with the body portion housed above the upper edge of the side window.
In the head protecting airbag device according to the first aspect of the invention, the body portion expands while extending downward from the upper edge of the side window positioned on the side face of the vehicle thereby to cover the inner side of the side window, when the airbag admits the inflating gas. Moreover, the extension portion is pulled by the body portion to protrude downward from the roof portion acting as the housing so that it is arranged in front of the passenger.
Even if the body portion of the airbag is arranged closer to the center of the cabin than the head of the passenger which is close to the side window at the beginning of completion of the expansion, the lower edge of the body portion can move generally at a right angle with respect to the side window. Therefore, the airbag having completed the expansion does not push the passenger forcibly onto the side window. If the vehicle makes a rollover, a transverse movement or a side collision, on the contrary, the passenger may move away from the side window and toward the center of the vehicle. If the airbag body portion then moves its lower edge inward and then returns it outward, it can enter into the space between the passenger and the side window. If the airbag body portion is then sandwiched between the passenger's head portion and the side window, the head portion is properly restrained (or protected) by the airbag body portion.
Here, the extension portion's leading edge apart from the body portion is fixed on the body side of the vehicle. However, the extension portion has flexibility. Therefore, the airbag body portion having completed its expansion can flex the extension portion to rock the lower edge like a free end. As a result, the body portion can smoothen the inward movement and the outward returning movement of the lower edge.
Upon completion of the expansion of the airbag, moreover, the airbag extension portion is arranged in front of the passenger. This extension portion is fixed at its leading end portion apart from the body portion on the vehicle body side and is connected at its root portion to the airbag body portion. Therefore, it is hard for the extension portion to move forward. As a result, the extension portion can restrain (or protect) the passenger's head properly even if when it is on the inner side of the airbag body portion it moves forward.
In the head protecting airbag device according to the first aspect of the invention, therefore, even if the passenger is close to the side window, the airbag having expanded can be smoothly arranged between the passenger and the side window. Even if the passenger moves forward, moreover, the airbag can retrain the passenger smoothly.
In this head protecting airbag device of the first aspect, it is desired that the extension portion is formed to extend from the whole front vertical end of the body portion.
With this construction, the vicinity of the boundary between the extension portion and the body portion can be a wide area. Therefore, the extension portion can retain an area as wide as possible, thereby to improve its ability to retrain the passenger moving forward.
In this head protecting airbag device of the first aspect, moreover, the extension portion may be formed into a mesh shape for retaining a forward visibility.
With this construction, the extension portion is enabled to retain the forward visibility by the mesh shape even if the airbag completes its extension and expansion so that the extension portion is arranged in front of the passenger. Therefore, the passenger can grasp the surrounding situation easily. Here, this mesh-shaped structure may include a net shape or a lattice shape so that the extension portion can restrain the passenger moving forward and can retain the forward visibility.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a head protecting airbag device comprising an airbag folded and housed above the upper edge of a window inside of a vehicle and expanded while being extended to cover the inner side of the window when it admits an inflating gas. The airbag in
Oguchi Shinji
Sakane Katsunobu
Tanase Toshinori
Nguyen Son T
Posz & Bethards, PLC
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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