Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-17
2001-02-27
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S753000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06193272
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a knee protector for vehicle passengers comprising an air bag arranged in the foot area, respectively, in the lower region of the dashboard of a vehicle behind a cover plate, wherein the air bag, upon deployment and inflation, will act on the cover plate so that it becomes detached from the securing means and is moved as a load distribution plate in the direction toward the knees of the passenger.
A knee protector with the aforementioned features is known from European Patent Document 0 684 164 A1. This knee protector device a the cover plate which is integrated in the foot area of the vehicle at the dashboard, and behind the cover plate the air bag is arranged which is deployed in the case of an accident. When deployed, the air bag will inflate and will cause the cover plate to become separated because of the inflation pressure so that the cover plate is moved in the direction toward the knee of the passenger. This cover plate upon contact at the knees will act as a load distribution plate. The subsequent energy absorption of the knee protector is achieved, similar to the action of air bag devices acting on the torso of a passenger, in that the pressure acting on the load distribution plate and thus on the air bag will cause gas to be released from the air bag via openings provided in the device or because of the permeability of the fabric of the air bag. For limiting the displacement movement of the load distribution plate in the direction toward the knee of the passenger, the load distribution plate of the known knee protector device is connected by a cable portion to the securing device.
The known knee protector has the disadvantage that the movement of the load distribution plate depends on the inflation behavior of the air bag loading it, so that a non-directed (random) displacement of the load distribution plate cannot be prevented. There is, for example, the risk that the load distribution plate will impact the knee of the passenger with an edge instead of the plate surface. Moreover, movement of the passenger and the resulting pressure during the energy absorption phase of the air bag supporting the load distribution plate can result in lateral displacement causing non-uniform energy absorption.
Another knee protector device is known from Patent Document WO 97/09207 in which the load distribution plate is fixedly connected to the air bag or is a component of the air bag fabric. This also has the aforementioned disadvantage with respect to the inflation behavior or the behavior during energy absorption.
In European Patent Document 0 820 905 A1 a knee protector is disclosed in which the inflating air bag will cause a deformable portion of the dashboard to bulge outwardly in the direction toward the knees of the passenger whereby the air bag will not penetrate the respective portion in the dashboard. With such a device it is possible to realize only limited deformation strokes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the energy absorption for a knee protector of the aforementioned kind having a movably arranged load distribution plate that can be released from the dashboard.
This is inventively solved in that the knee protector has a securing member for securing the knee protector in a vehicle and an inflatable air bag mounted in the initially folded position on the securing member. A deformable cage is connected to the securing member and encloses the air bag in the initially folded state, in the deployed state and all intermediate states of inflation/deflation. A cover connected to a side of the cage opposite the securing member is provided and attached to the securing member when the air bag is in the initially folded position. The cover is configured to detach from the securing member and to perform a movement away from the securing member upon deployment of the air bag in order to provide the load distribution plate for knee protection. The deformable cage is configured to guide the cover during the movement away from the securing member upon deployment of the air bag and during a return movement toward the securing member.
The basic idea of the present invention is that the load distribution plate is connected by a cage to the securing member. The cage is comprised of a deformable material and provides a guiding action for the load distribution plate upon its displacement resulting from the inflation of the air bag as well as during its return movement. The cage completely encloses the air bag in all movement (inflation/deflation) states. The invention has the advantage that the displacement of the load distribution plate during inflation of the air bag results in a defined guiding action in the direction toward the knees of the passenger so that a knee injury of the passenger can be substantially prevented. Advantageously, during the impact of the passenger onto the load distribution plate a defined guided deformation of the cage being in its stretched position is ensured which, in addition to the energy absorption by the air bag, provides an additional component of energy absorption. Since the cage completely encloses the air bag in all movement states and the cage cannot carry out evasive movements during loading of the load distribution plate, it is ensured that the surface of the load distribution plate is identical to the contact surface between the inflated air bag and the inner side of the load distribution plate so that a correspondingly high energy absorption coefficient is provided.
According to one embodiment it is suggested that the cage comprises a structure having stretching as well as compression zones so that the envisioned tasks of the cage during displacement of the load distribution plate in the direction toward the knees of the passenger as well as the subsequent return movement during energy absorption can be realized.
For this purpose, the cage may be provided with corner regions for connecting the cage to the securing member, embodied as a securing plate, and to the load distribution plate, wherein the corner regions have stays that are provided with regions of reduced material strength. According to one embodiment of the invention, lateral surfaces extend between the corner regions or stays. These lateral surfaces (sidewalls) are provided with flexible (stretchable and compressible) structures designed as a diamond-shaped grid.
In order to prevent injuries of the passengers caused by the knee protector, it may be suggested that the connecting regions of the load distribution plate to the cage are rounded.
Inasmuch as the knee protector is a separate element provided in the foot area of the vehicle or mounted within the dashboard, at least partially integrated therein, it is suggested that the cage has an outer side which for visual appearance reasons is provided with a cover having a circumferential rated break point. Accordingly, a cushioning of the load distribution plate and the adjacent areas is provided so that this also reduces the risk of injury. The provided rated break point allows the detachment of the load distribution plate from the remainder of the cover connected to the securing member and its movement relative to the securing member. The cage of the present invention may be made of metal or a suitable composite material.
In another embodiment, the cage and the load distribution plate are connected to one another so as to form a monolithic part whereby the load distribution plate as a monolithic component of the cage is then provided with a cover at its outer side facing the passenger.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5209519 (1993-05-01), Shiga et al.
patent: 5382051 (1995-01-01), Glance
patent: 5458366 (1995-10-01), Hock et al.
patent: 5536043 (1996-07-01), Lang et al.
patent: 5931493 (1999-08-01), Sutherland
patent: 6039380 (2000-03-01), Heilig et al.
patent: 0 684 164 (1995-11-01), None
patent: 0 820 905 (1998-01-01), None
patent: 97/09207 (1997-03-01), None
Aigner Joachim
Balser Werner
Autoliv Development AB
Jasmin Lynda
Mai Lanna
Robert W. Becker & Associates
LandOfFree
Knee protector with load distribution cage does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Knee protector with load distribution cage, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Knee protector with load distribution cage will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2572615