Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-03
2004-06-22
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3616)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S753000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06752417
ABSTRACT:
The present application claims priority to Japanese patent application No. 2001-150435 of Takimoto et al., filed May 21, 2001, and Japanese patent application No. 2001-150448 of Takimoto et al., filed May 21, 2001, and the entirety of each is hereby incorporated into the present application by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a knee protecting airbag device which is provided with an airbag capable of protecting the knees of the passenger or driver in the front seats. The airbag extends and expands from a folded state when it is fed with an inflating gas.
In the prior art, a device for protecting the knees of a driver or a passenger has been disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 80797/1996 or No. 315894/1998.
The airbag device of No. 80797/1996 is arranged at a portion on the lower side of a lower cover of a dashboard. This airbag device is provided with an airbag for protecting the driver from the ankles to the knees. When the airbag device is activated, the airbag protrudes obliquely upward from a lower position by extending and expanding.
The airbag device of No. 315894/1998 is arranged near a column cover below the steering wheel. This airbag device is provided with an extensible and expandable airbag. This airbag extends and expands to protect the area from the lower portions of the knees to the vicinity of the toes of the driver.
However, such knee protecting airbag devices have room for improvement with regard to efficient expansion with the passage of time from the start to the completion of the extension and expansion of the airbag, to protect the knees of a passenger such as the driver.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of this, an object of the present invention is to provide a knee protecting airbag device that can properly protect the knees of a passenger or driver in the front seat by extending and expanding the airbag efficiently throughout the extension and expansion of the airbag.
The vertical, transverse and longitudinal directions correspond to the vertical, transverse and longitudinal directions of the vehicle.
The word “passenger” is used to refer to either a driver or a person in the passenger seat. That is, the word “passenger” includes the driver.
In order to achieve the above-specified object, there is provided a knee protecting airbag device comprising an airbag for inflating, when fed with an inflating gas, to protect the knees of a passenger, and a housing portion for housing the airbag when folded. The housing portion is arranged on the lower side of a member on the vehicle body and in front of the knees of the seated passenger. The housing portion includes an opening for permitting the airbag to protrude toward the rear of the vehicle. The airbag is arranged in front of the knees of the passenger to extend and expand when fed with the inflating gas, out from the housing portion toward the vehicle rear. The airbag includes a lower expansion portion and an upper expansion portion. The lower expansion portion is in an upstream part of the flow of inflating gas and protrudes from the opening of the housing portion toward the rear, when fed with the inflating gas, to cover the front sides of the knees. The upper expansion portion is in a downstream part of the flow of inflating gas and protrudes upward from the lower expansion portion along the rear side of a member attached to the vehicle body to cover the periphery of the airbag opening and at least the portion above the airbag opening.
Just after the knee protecting airbag device of the invention is activated, the vehicle completes the front collision, and the knees of the passenger move forward relative to the vehicle. Just after the action of the airbag device, however, the lower expansion portion is located in the upstream part of the flow of the inflating gas and expands prior to the upper expansion portion, while protruding to the rear from the airbag opening. Therefore, the knees of the passenger can be properly protected by the lower expansion portion even if the knees move forward relative to the vehicle.
After the initial stage of the extension and expansion of the airbag, the knees of the passenger are bent to rise if the passenger moves relative to the vehicle while the feet of the passenger remain on the floor panel. In other words, the knees move upward to the rear side of a member attached to the vehicle body. This state takes place whether the knees are in or out of contact with the airbag. At this time, the airbag has already passed through the initial stage of the extension and expansion, and the upper expansion portion, which is in the downstream side of the inflating gas, has extended upward from the lower expansion portion along the rear side of a member attached to the vehicle body and has expanded to cover the periphery of the airbag opening and at least the portion above the airbag opening. Therefore, the upper expansion portion protects the upwardly moving knees. In other words, the knees can be protected against hard members such as the key cylinder by the upper expansion portion of the airbag even if the hard members are arranged in front of the upper expansion portion.
The upper expansion portion may start its expansion either after or before the expansion of the lower expansion portion is completed.
In the knee protecting airbag device according to the present invention, the expansions of the lower expansion portion and the upper expansion portion are completed to cover the position of the moving knees of the passenger. In other words, the airbag device of the invention adjusts the expansion mode of the airbag according to the time lapse from the start to the completion of the extension and expansion. In the airbag device of the invention, the airbag is not extended and expanded to provide a large protection area from the beginning of the expansion. Therefore, the airbag device can protect the two knees of the passenger properly without using a high-output inflator or an airbag having a large volume.
In the knee protecting airbag device according to the invention, therefore, the knees of the passenger can be properly protected by extending and expanding the airbag efficiently as the time elapses from the start to the completion of the extension and expansion of the airbag.
It is desired that the airbag is provided with a tether arranged in the interior of the airbag for connecting the vehicle and the passenger side (front and rear) walls of the airbag to regulate the thickness of the airbag when the lower expansion portion is extending and expanding. With this construction, the distance (or the thickness of the lower expansion portion) between the front wall and the rear wall of the airbag is regulated during expansion. In other words, the airbag feeds the inflating gas to the upper expansion portion without filling the lower expansion portion unnecessarily. Therefore, the airbag can promote the completion of expansion of the upper expansion portion. At the extending and expanding time of the lower expansion portion, it is of course necessary that the lower expansion portion is restrained from becoming excessively thick. Therefore, the lower expansion portion is smoothly arranged at a predetermined position even if the space between the front of the passenger compartment and the knees of the passenger is narrow.
It is desired that a flow-directing cloth is arranged in the airbag for guiding the inflating gas from the lower expansion portion to the upper expansion portion. With this construction, the inflating gas is directed from the lower expansion portion to the upper expansion portion by the flow-directing cloth, and the upper expansion portion easily protrudes upward from the lower expansion portion along the rear face of the member attached to the vehicle body while airbag protrusion directly out toward the rear is limited. As a result, the upper expansion portion is smoothly arranged between the knees of the passenger and the rear face of the vehicle side member.
In this case, the protrusion of the up
Funabashi Satoshi
Koyama Toru
Takimoto Masahiro
Hayes Bret
Poon Peter M.
Posz & Bethards, PLC
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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