Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-02
2003-01-21
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3616)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S733000, C280S749000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06508487
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inflatable structures, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing side impact and rollover protection in a vehicle from the roof rail to the belt line.
2. Background of the Invention
Inflatable structures are widely used to protect vehicle occupants during rapid vehicle deceleration, such as the deceleration encountered in a collision. Vehicle manufacturers place inflatable structures throughout vehicles in strategic locations where occupants can be expected to impact hard vehicle components. Generally, manufacturers may place inflatable structures above and/or below the dashboard on both the driver and passenger side, and along the sides of the vehicle at both the head level just below the roof rail, and the hip level, or “belt-line” level, just above the door panel. The lower inflatable structures protect the leg, hip, and lower torso of the occupant, while the upper inflatable structures cushion the head and upper torso. For purposes of this specification, and as shown in
FIG. 1
, the belt line
100
is the bottom edge of the side window opening in an automobile door, while the roof rail
102
is the upper edge of the side window opening.
In a conventional installation, an inflatable structure is stowed in an uninflated state within a vehicle component, e.g., roof rail, as the dotted line
104
represents in FIG.
1
.
The typical construction of an inflatable structure includes an inflatable chamber
106
with one cord or strap
108
attached at each end. The cords or straps (hereinafter referred to as “cords”) attach the inflatable structure to anchor points
110
on the vehicle structure. Typically, these anchor points are statically mounted fasteners, e.g., M6 bolts. As used herein, statically mounted refers to an anchor that allows a cord to which it is attached to pivot around it, but not to move through it or around it.
Upon deployment, the inflatable structure inflates and emerges from its stowed location. The inflation fills the interior chamber of the inflatable structure, expands the walls of the inflatable structure, and reduces the overall length of the inflatable structure. The inflatable structure can be of any shape that substantially reduces in length when it inflates, such as a tubular or oval shape. As an example, inflatable tubular structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,322 to Bark et al., which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,270 to HÅland et al. describes another type of inflatable structure that reduces in length upon inflation.
The shorter axial length of a deployed inflatable structure pulls on the anchor points to which the inflatable structure is attached to produce substantial tension. This axial tension keeps the inflated inflatable structure in the desired deployed location, centered between the two anchor points. To provide side impact head protection for front and rear seat passengers, an inflatable structure is generally mounted to the upper portions of the A-pillar and the C-pillar of an automobile.
FIG. 1
illustrates this typical prior art installation, with the inflatable structure attached to the A-pillar A and C-pillar C, and spanning the B-pillar B. Similarly, to provide side impact torso protection, an inflatable structure (not shown in
FIG. 1
) is attached to the lower portions of the A-pillar A and the C-pillar C of the vehicle.
As
FIG. 1
illustrates, in the stowed position, the uninflated inflatable structure lies along a path
104
from its first anchor point
110
, through the vehicle structure in which it is enclosed (e.g., roof rail
102
), and to its second anchor point
110
. In the deployed position, the inflatable structure extends along the shortest line connecting the two anchor points
110
. Thus, the stowed length of the inflatable structure is greater than its deployed length. In addition, the closer the anchor points
110
are to belt line
100
, the greater the stowed length is in proportion to the deployed length. Thus, a belt-line inflatable structure must reduce its length during deployment substantially more than an inflatable structure that is mounted at head level.
In addition, some vehicle geometries require belt-line inflatable structures to reduce their lengths even more. Vehicle platforms that have tall window openings greatly increase the proportion of stowed length to deployed length. For example, vehicles such as trucks, vans, and some sports-utility vehicles, have tall, narrow window openings that require a long stowed length up the pillars and around the roof rail, and a relatively short deployed length spanning the narrow window.
To provide adequate protection, an inflatable structure must develop considerable axial tension so that the inflatable structure maintains a rigid, impact-absorbing area that cushions an occupant's body from the hard vehicle components. In comparison to head level inflatable structures, attaining this axial tension is a significant challenge for belt-line mounted inflatable structures because of the greater difference in length between the stowed and deployed positions. The practical result of this geometry is that belt-line mounted inflatable structure do not achieve the desired tension for maximum occupant protection. In fact, with some trucks and other vehicles with tall windows, the proportion of stowed length to deployed length is too great, acceptable tension is unattainable, and belt-line deployment is impossible.
Thus, there remains a need for an inflatable structure system that provides adequate tension for belt-line applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a system and method for deploying a lower, or belt-line, inflatable structure with substantial axial tension. The system, referred to herein as an inflatable structure system, includes an inflatable structure serial assembly held on its ends by two static anchors. The serial assembly can be independent inflatable structures connected together, or one continuous inflatable structure. One or more dynamic anchors, mounted opposite the static anchors, restrains the serial assembly at an intermediate portion of the serial assembly such that the serial assembly has a first axis between the one static anchor and the one or more dynamic anchors and a second axis between the other static anchor and the one or more dynamic anchors. The one or more dynamic anchors allow the serial assembly to move axially along the first axis and the second axis, to equalize the axial tension of the serial assembly along the first and second axes.
In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
FIG. 2
a
, the inflatable structure system includes an upper inflatable structure
200
, a lower or belt-line inflatable structure
204
, an upper static anchor
202
, a lower or belt-line static anchor
208
, and at least one dynamic anchor
205
. In a further embodiment, the inflatable structure system also includes a shield (not shown in
FIG. 2
a
) covering both inflatable structures.
The two static anchors
202
and
208
are mounted on a vehicle structure (or member) opposite to a vehicle structure (or member) on which the at least one dynamic anchor
205
is mounted. For example, as in the embodiment of
FIG. 2
a
, dynamic anchor
205
could be on A-pillar A and the two static anchors
202
and
208
could be on the C-pillar C. Of course, anchors
202
,
208
, and
205
could be mounted on any pillars (e.g., including a B-pillar), members, or other structures of a vehicle, so long as anchors
202
and
208
oppose dynamic anchor
205
. As another example, dynamic anchor
205
could be on C-pillar C, with static anchors
202
and
208
on A-pillar A. Of the two static anchors, upper static anchor
202
is closer to roof rail
212
than belt-line (or lower) static anchor
208
.
Upper inflatable structure
200
is attached to upper static anchor
202
and to belt-line inflatable structure
Dickson Paul N.
Dunn David R.
Shaw Pittman LLP
Simula Inc.
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