Chairs and seats – Crash seat – Force-absorbing means incorporated into back
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-14
2001-04-10
Cranmer, Laurie K. (Department: 3624)
Chairs and seats
Crash seat
Force-absorbing means incorporated into back
C297S216100, C280S730200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213550
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat including a side airbag effective for protecting a passenger on a vehicle such as an automobile, when the vehicle receives side impact.
An airbag apparatus mounted on a vehicle, such as an automobile, is an apparatus which instantaneously inflates an airbag by means of an inflator in case of collision, to protect a passenger by preventing him or her from second collision with an interior member of the vehicle. To protect the passenger from head-on collision, an airbag is amounted in front of the passenger, i.e., in the center pad of the steering wheel, or near the glove box in front of the assistant driver's seat. A so-called side airbag, incorporated in a seat back or the like, is effective for side impact.
FIGS. 7 and 8
shows a side airbag apparatus
1
provided in a conventional vehicle seat
2
. The vehicle seat
2
. incorporates an inflator
5
in a side portion
4
of a seat back
3
on the side nearer to a door. The inflator
5
is operated in response to a signal output from a sensor when the vehicle receives side impact, so that the airbag
6
is inflated by gas generated by the inflator
5
. As shown in
FIG. 8
, the seat back
3
includes a frame
7
, a pad
8
, a cover member
9
, etc. As the airbag
6
is inflated, a sewing thread
11
of a sewing portion
10
between a seat-back front cover element
9
a
and a side cover element
9
b
is cut by pressure developed inside and applied to the cover member
9
. Then, the airbag
6
expands forward from the seat back
3
through the cut portion, as indicated by the two-dots-chain line B, and expands to a shape which can protect side and head portions of the passenger.
In the conventional seat back
3
, the cover member
9
covering the pad
8
is made of artificial leather such as vinyl leather, or cloth such as woven fabric or knit fabric. The cover member
9
is manufactured as follows. First, rolled material
15
A (a roll of a long sheet-like material
15
) as shown in
FIG. 9
is cut into shapes of the cover elements: the seat back front cover element
9
a,
the side cover element
9
b,
etc. Then, the cover elements are sewn together. According to the knitting structure of jersey, etc., constituting the lining fabric of the material
15
made of artificial leather or the like, the material
15
extends less in the longitudinal direction of the rolled material
15
A (hereinafter referred to as the length direction, indicated by the arrow L) than in the lateral direction thereof (the width direction, indicated by the arrow W). For example, when the material is cut, the elongation percentage in the length direction L is 40 to 45%, while that in the width direction W is 230 to 240%.
To manufacture the cover member
9
of the conventional seat back
3
shown in
FIG. 7
, the seat-back front cover element
9
a
and the side cover element
9
b
are cut out from the rolled material
15
A, such that the longitudinal directions of the elements
9
a
and
9
b
correspond to the length direction L of the material
15
, as shown in FIG.
9
. Therefore, the seat-back front cover element
9
a
and the side cover element
9
b,
after sewn together, extend less in the vertical direction of the seat back
3
than in the width direction and the back-forth direction thereof.
In the case where the cover member
9
extends less in the vertical direction than in the width direction and the back-forth direction thereof as in the conventional seat back
3
described above, when the airbag
6
is expanding forward as indicated by the two-dots-chain line B in
FIG. 8
, the cover member
9
tends to expand in the width direction of the seat back
3
as indicated by the dot-chain line C. For this reason, the force for cutting the sewing thread
11
of the sewing portion
10
between the seat-back front cover element
9
a
and the side cover element
9
b
may not be fully exerted on the sewing thread
11
. In this case, a portion other than the sewing portion
10
, for example, a portion of the side cover element
9
b
may be torn and the airbag
6
may be expands from that portion, resulting in a low inflating property of the airbag
9
.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle seat, wherein, when an airbag is expanded, a predetermined portion of an airbag storage section is cut, so that a normal inflating property can be obtained.
According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle seat containing in a seat back an airbag which is expanded by an inflator, wherein a cover member for covering an airbag storage section of the seat back is constituted by a plurality of cover elements made of material having different elongation percentages in length and width directions, and the cover elements are obtained by cutting the material and sewn together to constitute the cover member, such that a less extendible direction of the material corresponds to a direction of expansion of the airbag. In other words, the cover elements are obtained by cutting the material and sewn together such that the less extendible direction crosses a sewing portion between the cover elements.
More specifically, the seat-back front cover element located on a front surface of a side portion of the seat back is obtained by cutting the material such that the less extendible direction of the material corresponds to a width direction of the seat back, and the side cover element located on a side surface of the side portion is obtained by cutting the material such that the less extendible direction of the material corresponds to a back-forth direction of the seat back, and the cover elements are sewn together in a sewing portion extending in a vertical direction.
In the vehicle seat according to the present invention, the inflator is operated at the time of side impact, with the result that gas is blown to expand the airbag and the pressure of the expanded airbag is exerted to the cover member from the inside. Since the cover member is made of a material extendible less in the direction of expansion of the airbag, the sewing thread or the like in a predetermined sewing portion is cut, so that the side cover element, etc., may not be torn. Therefore, the airbag is expanded stably in a proper direction, thereby moderating the second collision between the passenger and the interior member of the vehicle. In this specification, the airbag represents a bag-shaped member which is expanded by gas, e.g., nitrogen gas. The gas used to expand the airbag is not limited to nitrogen.
With the vehicle seat of this invention, when the airbag incorporated therein is expanded, a desired position, for example, a predetermined sewing portion, can be cut. Thus, the direction of expansion of the airbag is stabilized, so that the normal inflating property can be exhibited.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5860673 (1999-01-01), Hasegawa et al.
patent: 5904370 (1999-05-01), Steiner et al.
patent: 5938232 (1999-08-01), Kalandek et al.
patent: 5967546 (1999-10-01), Homier et al.
patent: 5967603 (1999-10-01), Genders et al.
patent: 6003938 (1999-12-01), Lachat et al.
patent: 6045151 (2000-04-01), Wu
patent: 6074003 (2000-06-01), Umezawa et al.
patent: 6095602 (1999-01-01), Umezawa et al.
Takazawa Syunji
Yoshida Yuichi
Cranmer Laurie K.
Frishauf, Holtz Goodman, Langer & Chick, P.C.
Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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