Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-08
2004-05-18
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
active
06736422
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to head-protecting bags for occupants of automobiles. More specifically, it relates to a head-protecting bag device which is normally folded along an upper corner of a lateral side of a vehicle compartment and inflates as a curtain along windows of side doors and a B-pillar when the vehicle in involved in a side impact collision or rolls over.
A head-protecting bag for an automobile is typically folded along an upper corner of a lateral side of a compartment in a normal state (when the automobile is not in an emergency such as a collision), and inflates as a curtain along windows of side doors and a B-pillar when the automobile is involved in a side impact collision or rolls over. Such a head-protecting bag is typically formed with two sheets overlapping each other and connected to each other at edges thereof. The edges are stitched together with sewing threads along a linear connecting part to thereby form a space between the sheets to be filled with gas. The head protecting bag is typically referred to as a head side curtain or curtain type bag.
The configuration of a known head-protecting bag for occupants in an automobile is described below with reference to
FIGS. 5 and 6
.
The known head-protecting bag
1
includes a compartment-side sheet
2
and a window-side sheet
3
that overlap each other and are sewn together. A space
4
is formed between the sheets
2
and
3
. Although the sheets
2
and
3
are separate bodies, they may be formed with one piece of sheet which is folded and the folded portions of the sheet overlap each other.
The sheets
2
and
3
are connected to each other along various linear connecting parts. A linear connecting part
10
extends along the peripheral edge of the sheets
2
and
3
(the linear connecting part
10
partly deviates from the edge toward a central portion of the overlapping sheets
2
and
3
). Linear connecting parts
11
and
12
that divide the space
4
are provided. In addition, the bag
1
includes annular connecting parts
13
for reinforcing portions in the vicinities of the ends of the linear connecting parts
11
and
12
. The sheets
2
and
3
are cut away at the insides of the annular connecting parts
13
to thereby form circular openings
14
.
The head-protecting bag
1
extends along a lateral side of the compartment in the longitudinal direction of the automobile. The head-protecting bag
1
is provided with protrusions
16
and
18
, one of which protrudes from the front end of the head-protecting bag
1
and the other protrusion protrudes from the rear end thereof. The protrusions
16
and
18
are provided with holes
17
and
19
for fixing the head-protecting bag
1
to the automobile body. The head-protecting bag
1
is also provided with a plurality of protrusions
20
upward protruding from an upper edge of the head-protecting bag
1
, the protrusions
20
each being provided with a hole
21
for fixing the head-protecting bag
1
to the automobile body.
The head-protecting bag
1
is provided with an inlet
5
at the front end or the rear end of the head-protecting bag
1
for introducing gas from an inflator (not shown). In the exemplary embodiment shown in
FIG. 5
, the inlet is located at the rear end. The gas inlet may be disposed at a position other than that described above. The inflator may be disposed inside the head-protecting bag
1
.
The upper and lower ends of the linear connecting part
11
,
12
are separate from the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the linear connecting part
10
. The linear connecting part
11
,
12
is connected at the upper and lower ends thereof to the annular connecting parts
13
. The linear connecting parts
11
and
12
prevent the space
4
between the sheets
2
,
3
from expanding to have an excessively large thickness. The annular connecting parts
13
reinforce the ends of the linear connecting parts
11
and
12
.
The head-protecting bag
1
is connected to an A-pillar of the automobile via bolts, rivets, or the like applied through the holes
17
of the protrusion
16
which is disposed, for example, at the front side. The bag
1
is connected to a C-pillar via a bolt, a rivet, or the like applied through the hole
19
of the protrusion
18
which is disposed at the rear side. The bag
1
is connected to a roof side-rail via bolts, rivets, or the like applied through the holes
21
of the protrusions
20
which are disposed at the upper edge of the head-protecting bag
1
. As shown in FIG.
6
(
a
), the head-protecting bag
1
is disposed along the upper corner of a lateral side of the compartment in a state in which the head-protecting bag
1
is folded along the roof side-rail.
The folded head-protecting bag
1
may be covered with a cover (not shown). The cover is broken or opens when the head-protecting bag
1
inflates.
When the automobile collides at the side or rolls over, the head of the occupant is protected in such a manner that the inflator (not shown) operates, gas flows into the space
4
through the gas inlet
5
(see FIG.
6
(
b
)), and the head-protecting bag
1
inflates and extends downward as a curtain along the lateral side of the compartment as shown in FIGS.
6
(
c
)-
6
(
e
).
The head-protecting bag
1
is generally folded in a form of bellows (in a zigzag) from the lower edge toward the upper edge thereof, as shown in FIG.
6
(
a
). In FIGS.
6
(
a
) to
6
(
e
), white circles represent the upper edge of the head-protecting bag
1
, and black circles represent the lower edge of the head-protecting bag
1
.
However, when gas starts to flow from the inflator into the head-protecting bag
1
which is folded as described above, and the head-protecting bag
1
inflates from the upper edge toward the lower edge (in the steps shown in FIGS.
6
(
b
) and
6
(
c
)), the lower edge of the head-protecting bag
1
is likely to be caught by the lateral side of the compartment. When the high-pressure gas is further supplied into the head-protecting bag
1
in this state and a lower portion of the head-protecting bag
1
starts to inflate, stiffness of the head-protecting bag
1
is increased due to the rising inner pressure and the head-protecting bag
1
tends to extend straight. Therefore, the lower edge of the head-protecting bag
1
is strongly pressed to the lateral side of the compartment and the head-protecting bag
1
is bent in a V-shape, as shown in FIG.
6
(
d
), whereby the head-protecting bag
1
does not extend downward smoothly.
In order to avoid such phenomenon that the bag does not smoothly extend because the lower edge thereof is caught by the lateral side of the compartment during the inflation of the bag, a folding method for folding a bag is studied, as shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8
. FIGS.
7
(
a
) to
7
(
c
) show the steps of folding a bag. FIGS.
8
(
a
) to
8
(
d
) show the steps in which the bag folded by this folding method is inflated. In
FIGS. 7 and 8
, white circles represent the upper edge of the head-protecting bag
1
and black circles represent the lower edge of the head-protecting bag
1
.
As shown in FIG.
7
(
a
), the head-protecting bag
1
is firstly folded once such that the lower half of the head-protecting bag
1
overlaps a surface thereof which faces the compartment side (the sheet
2
). As shown in FIGS.
7
(
b
) and
7
(
c
), the folded head-protecting bag
1
is further folded in a zigzag from the lower end of the folded body of the folded head-protecting bag
1
toward the upper end thereof.
Therefore, when the head-protecting bag
1
folded as shown in FIG.
8
(
a
) starts to inflate from the upper edge, as shown in FIG.
8
(
b
), the lower half of the head-protecting bag
1
moves so as to incline apart from the lateral side of the compartment (toward the inner side of the compartment), as shown in FIG.
8
(
c
), and the head-protecting bag
1
inflates extending downward.
In this folding method, the head-protecting bag
1
is folded so as to form a twofold body such that the lower half of the head-protecting bag
1
overlaps the surface of the head-
Foley & Lardner LLP
Jordan Charles T.
Lofdahl Jordan
Takata Corporation
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