Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-10
2001-05-22
English, Peter C. (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C297S216130, C297S452380
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234518
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application claims the priority of German Patent Document 198 56 972.6, filed Dec. 10, 1998, the disclosures of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle seat having a side air bag.
A motor vehicle seat is known from German Patent Document DE 197 29 472 C1. The panel framing the air bag housing, relative to the mounted position, comprises (1) a rearward leg; (2) an upper leg; (3) a lower leg; and (4) a forward leg, and therefore is closed in a surrounding manner. With the exception of the forward leg, all legs of the panel have a two-cheek construction, with an outer cheek and an inner cheek. On the interior sides of the inner cheeks, detent noses are provided which, when the panel is pushed on, engage behind the sheet metal edges of a cutout. The forward leg is adjacent to the bridge plate and is constructed as a strip which, when the panel is in the mounted position, projects toward the interior and the side. On the inward-projecting part, three detent noses are arranged which project into the plane of an interior clamping strip formed of several sections. A shorter exterior clamping strip is situated opposite the interior clamping strip. When the panel is pushed onto the cutout, the detent noses engage in corresponding openings of the bridge plate. The exterior clamping strip is simultaneously pushed onto the exterior side of the bridge plate so that this bridge plate is clamped in between the interior and the exterior clamping strip. In this manner, the panel is fastened on all sides at the cutout or on one side on the bridge plate.
From German Patent Documents DE 196 42 938 A1 and DE 196 32 586 A1, panels for side air bags are known. However, these panels are not used for guiding the air bag housing because they are fastened to the housing or are constructed in one piece with the housing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle seat having a panel for covering an air bag outlet, while maintaining its advantages.
This object is achieved by means of a motor vehicle seat according to the present invention. In the panel according to the present invention, in comparison to known panels, the forward leg, which has a fairly complicated construction, is eliminated. This reduces the costs for the injection molding dies as well as the costs of the material. Furthermore, no panel part will now be situated in the range of the inflating path of the air bag. As a result, the inflating air bag reliably will not impact the panel, which might otherwise possibly splinter parts off the panel that can fly around in the occupant compartment and endanger the occupants.
Despite the elimination of the forward leg and the connected simpler construction of the panel, this panel remains fully operable. The ends of the inner cheeks of the upper or lower leg of the panel (which are pulled in toward the bottom or toward the top) form contact surfaces for the air bag housing and are completely sufficient for its lateral guidance. These guiding surfaces are also sufficiently rigid because they are reinforced on their exterior side by the molded-on detent noses. These detent noses are used for locking the panel to the bridge plate so that the panel is reliably fastened on all sides in the cutout.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5816660 (1998-10-01), Johnson, III et al.
patent: 5951039 (1999-09-01), Severinski et al.
patent: 6089595 (2000-07-01), Enders
patent: 19642938 A1 (1997-05-01), None
patent: 19632586 A1 (1998-02-01), None
patent: 19729472 C1 (1998-11-01), None
Ryl Axel
Scheuren Norbert
Schophaus Ulf
English Peter C.
Evenson, McKeown, Edwards & Lenahan P.L.L.C.
Micro Compact Car smart GmbH
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