Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Patent
1996-08-02
1997-12-02
Ellis, Christopher P.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
2807431, 2807302, B60R 2124
Patent
active
056927746
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The invention relates to a lateral impact gas bag for a vehicle occupant restraining system comprising a wall in which an inlet opening for the inflation of the gas bag is provided, and furthermore a partition in the interior of the gas bag, which divides the interior of the gas bag into two adjacent chambers, which may communicate with each other through a connecting opening formed in the partition, the wall of the gas bag being folded up in a space saving manner in a stowed condition thereof and the gas bag is adapted to deploy during inflation generally in a preferred deployment direction extending from the inlet opening.
Such a lateral impact gas bag is provided to protect a vehicle occupant during a lateral collision both in the case of a lateral impact of the vehicle against an obstacle and also in the case of a lateral impact of another object against the vehicle. Unlike conventional gas bags, which are arranged in front of the vehicle occupant looking in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a gas bag for such an impact must obviously be inflated at the side of the vehicle occupant. Gas bags of this type are generally placed either in a door cladding or in a lateral section of the seat.
As regards the position of installation and the purpose of use of such a gas bag there are more particularly two requirements. On the one hand such a gas bag must have a comparatively small thickness owing to the limited space available for its deployment while on the other hand such a gas bag must be able to be inflated extremely rapidly owing to the very short crumple zone available on lateral impact.
In the case of gas bags in accordance with the prior art the flattened form of the inflated gas bag is maintained by tethers or additional fabric walls, which must be separately stitched in place. A short inflation time may be ensured in the case of a lateral impact gas bag if the gas bag is designed with a comparatively small volume. This however involves reduction in the protective action, since a larger gas bag also means improved protection of the vehicle occupant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide a gas bag which even prior to its complete deployment is able to ensure preliminary protection for a vehicle occupant and for this purpose becomes suitably positioned even during its deployment.
This object is achieved in the case of a gas bag of the type initially mentioned in that the two chambers are elongated and the longitudinal extent thereof coincides with the preferred deployment direction, that the inlet opening is provided at a first longitudinal end and the connecting opening is provided at a second longitudinal end of the first chamber and that the connecting opening is shut off, in the folded condition of the wall, by overlying wall parts and during deployment of the wall is only released on reaching a point adjacent to the second longitudinal end of the first chamber. Owing to this design in accordance with the invention for a lateral impact gas bag it is possible to ensure that at first the first chamber of the gas bag is filled and correctly positioned so that preliminary protection is provided more quickly for a vehicle occupant and that after this the second chamber is inflated so that the full protective action is available.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment the wall is manufactured of a single fabric part, which comprises a first and a second ply and an intermediately placed middle ply, the partition being constituted by a middle strip of the middle ply which divides the middle ply into a first and a second section. This embodiment offers the advantage that the partition may be formed by a single fabric part and no additional tethers or fabric walls are necessary which have to be separately stitched in place. This renders possible low-price production of the gas bag in accordance with the invention.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment the wall furthermore extends in a cross section perpendicular to the preferred depl
REFERENCES:
patent: 4262931 (1981-04-01), Strasser et al.
patent: 5273309 (1993-12-01), Lau et al.
patent: 5340151 (1994-08-01), Sato
patent: 5454595 (1995-10-01), Olson et al.
patent: 5520413 (1996-05-01), Mossi et al.
patent: 5586782 (1996-12-01), Zimmerman, II et al.
Acker Dominique
Herpich Thomas
Maier Gunter
Ellis Christopher P.
TRW Occupant Restraint Systems GmbH
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