Package making – Methods – With contents treating
Patent
1998-01-05
1999-10-05
Moon, Daniel B.
Package making
Methods
With contents treating
493405, 493451, B65B 6304
Patent
active
059606118
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process for folding an inflatable airbag as a constituent part of a passenger restraint system particularly in motor vehicles, which is arranged folded in a housing or similar accommodation chair when not in use and in the event of release can be automatically inflated into its form of use by introduction of a gas produced by a gas generator.
An inflatable airbag with the above features is described in German patent application 43 43 026-A1; the known airbag is folded in such a way that in the event of release the gas flowing out of the gas generator flows directly to its fold surfaces without the gas supplied by the gas generator flowing round other fold surfaces first. The published document describes the procedure when folding the airbag, which is complicated and results from the folding, and the disadvantage emerges that the packing process for an airbag folded in this way can only be carried out in an awkward manner and it cannot be ensured that the desired position of the individual fold surfaces of the folded airbag as regards the gas supplied by the gas generator flowing to them is ensured.
The object of the invention is therefor ore to provide a process for folding an airbag with the typical features that is simple to implement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The way in which this object is achieved will emerge from Claim 1; advantageous embodiments of the invention are given in the sub-claims.
The fundamental idea of the invention provides that before the start of its folding the airbag is brought into its form of use and starting from this is folded by being acted upon by mechanical folding aids, avoiding the formation of double layers of the airbag fabric, in such a way that at least the fold surfaces of the folded airbag formed in the first folding step are arranged in one layer with respect to the gas generator in such a way that the outflowing gas acts directly on the fold surfaces of the folded airbag formed in the first folding step without first flowing round other fold surfaces. As the airbag is therefore made into its for of use before the start of the folding process, the subsequent folding can advantageously be purposefully automated, wherein a high reproducibility of the folding as well as of the inflation is guaranteed at the same time because the fold surfaces are brought into their folded position starting from the inflated state of the airbag.
Furthermore, although in principle it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,011 and 5,360,387 partially to inflate an airbag in the course of the folding process and then to empty the airbag again for subsequent folding processes, overall this makes the folding process more complicated to implement and no connection can be made between the folding and the inflation of the airbag by means of a partial step of this kind.
A first embodiment of the invention provides that the base fabric surface of the airbag allocated to the gas generator remains unfolded in the region of the housing and/or the accommodation chamber and the fabric surfaces of the airbag rising upwards above it are folded in one layer in the direction of the base fabric surface this means that double layers are avoided when folding the blank, because the fabric parts rising when the airbag is inflated are folded in the direction of the base fabric surface connected to the gas generator, so that when folding is completed and in the event of release the air expelled from the airbag in the corresponding folding process is replaced by the inflowing gas without resistance and the airbag unfolds again in the sequence of its folding.
According to an embodiment the process provides that the airbag brought into its form of use is acted upon by several--corresponding to the number of desired folds--folding aids arranged perpendicular to the base fabric surface and/or to the accommodation chamber and descending from above onto the base fabric surface and is folded into folds which are parallel and standing perpendicular to the base fabric s
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Aigner Joachim
Andersson Thomas
Bramberger Peter
Hermann Bernhard
Thorbjornsson Martin
Autoliv Development AB
Moon Daniel B.
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