Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-07
2001-03-20
Rice, Kenneth R. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S753000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06203057
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention related generally to inflatable vehicle protective devices and, more particularly, to an inflatable knee bolster.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Inflatable knee bolsters have been developed to enhance vehicle occupant protection in the event of sudden vehicle deceleration. Such devices increase the duration of deceleration of occupants' femurs and control upper torso kinematics during a frontal impact event. The bolster impact surface is moved from a stored position to an extended position to intercept an occupant's knees early in the impact event. This allows the knees more time to decelerate to the vehicle's final velocity. The initial positioning of the bolster impact surface in a retracted, stored position allows more styling flexibility and enhances occupant ingress and egress.
Current inflatable knee bolster installations comprise an inflatable air bag sandwiched between an impact surface and a reaction surface. When the inflator is triggered, the air bag expands to move the impact surface a predetermined distance to active position. This position is determined by tethers between the reaction and impact surfaces. These installations comprise numerous parts, bits and pieces and require careful installation.
It would be desirable to provide a simpler inflatable knee inflatable bolster which would be less costly to manufacture and assemble into the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a simpler inflatable knee bolster which would be less costly to manufacture and assemble into the vehicle.
In one aspect this invention features an inflatable bolster for a vehicle occupant having an outer wall that is projected outwardly from a stored position to an extended position by inflation of an expansible chamber by an inflator. The expansible chamber includes a unitary hollow body having an outer wall and an inner wall interconnected by U-shaped normally folded accordion pleats. An attachment tab extends from the top of the chamber for attachment to vehicle structure, and another attachment tab extends from the bottom of the chamber for attachment to vehicle structure. Alternatively, the bottom of the outer surface could be attached directly to vehicle structure. The inflator is mounted on the hollow body in fluid communication with the interior of the body and is operable to pressurize the expansible body to unfold the accordion pleats to expand the body and project the front wall outwardly to the extended position adjacent the occupant.
In another aspect of this invention, the bolster is an inflatable knee bolster having an outer wall that is projected outwardly to an extended position adjacent the occupant's knees by inflation of an expansible chamber by an inflator. The outer and inner walls are interconnected at their bottoms by a bottom wall and at their tops and sides by the accordion pleats which are U-shaped and extend from the bottom side corners up the sides and across the top of the body. The top tab is a frangible tab which is broken by expansion of the expansible chamber, allowing the outer wall to pivot about the bottom wall and extend.
Preferably, tethers on the frangible tab limit movement of the outer wall. Also, vent holes are preferably included to provide subsequent controlled deflation of the expansible body. The hollow body is preferably a blow molding of polypropylene.
These and other objects and features of this invention will become more readily apparent upon reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
REFERENCES:
patent: 4198075 (1980-04-01), Kob et al.
patent: 5312131 (1994-05-01), Kitagawa et al.
patent: 5324070 (1994-06-01), Kitagawa et al.
patent: 5382051 (1995-01-01), Glance
patent: 5476283 (1995-12-01), Elton
patent: 5536043 (1996-07-01), Lang et al.
patent: 5570901 (1996-11-01), Eyrainer
patent: 5615914 (1997-04-01), Galbraith et al.
patent: 5716093 (1998-02-01), Sadr
patent: 5775729 (1998-07-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 5816613 (1998-10-01), Specht et al.
patent: 5931493 (1999-08-01), Sutherland
patent: 3934588 (1991-04-01), None
patent: 195 46 143 (1997-06-01), None
Conlee James Kent
Fisher Martin B.
Mahmood Nicole M.
Marshall George E.
Spencer Graham Thornton
General Motors Corporation
Marra Kathryn A.
Rice Kenneth R.
LandOfFree
Inflatable knee bolster does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Inflatable knee bolster, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Inflatable knee bolster will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2477102