Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-20
2001-03-13
Culbreth, Eric (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S729000, C280S743100, C280S749000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199898
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head and, more particularly, to a cushion which can be inflated along windows of side doors in the event of a side impact or roll-over situation.
2. Description of Related Art
One such protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head is disclosed in International Patent Publication WO96/26087, particularly, FIG.
1
and
FIG. 9
of the publication. The known cushion has a vacancy comprising a duct extending from the end at the front side of a vehicle (the front end) to the end at the rear side of the vehicle (the rear end) along the upper edge of the cushion. There are also a plurality of cells or chambers that extend downward from and communicate with the duct. Between the adjacent cells, an occupant-side sheet (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “cabin-side sheet”) and a vehicle body-side sheet (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “door-side sheet”) are joined.
According to the cushion disclosed in WO96/26087, the duct is formed by interweaving the cabin-side sheet and the door-side sheet. The duct thus formed is not ideal for introducing gas into the cells.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head that alleviates or minimizes the above described difficulties.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head that allows gas to be introduced into chambers, which are formed between sheets, in a timely manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head that is simple and cost-effective to manufacture.
A preferred embodiment of the invention intended to accomplish at least some of the foregoing objects includes a protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head having two sheets superposed on each other and joined together to form a plurality of chambers arranged in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle.
A protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head according to the present invention is disposed in the vicinity of a corner between a ceiling and a side surface of a vehicle cabin and is adapted to be inflated with introduced gas downwardly along the side surface. The protective cushion includes an occupant-side sheet and a body-side sheet superposed on each other and sewn together so as to form a plurality of vacant chambers between the sheets. Gas is introduced into the chambers, which are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The cushion also has a longitudinally extended gas passage at its upper portion. The gas passage is constructed of a cylindrical member that is provided separate from the sheets. There is at least one opening at an approximate midpoint of the gas passage that allows gas to be transferred from the cylindrical member to the chambers of the cushion.
In the protective cushion for a vehicle occupant's head, gas supplied to the cylindrical member is supplied into chambers through an end of the cylindrical member and/or openings formed in the cylindrical member. By selecting the length of the cylindrical member and/or the positions of the openings, gas can be introduced into desired chambers from desired positions.
The cylindrical member may be made of a fabric sheet or a pipe constructed from a metal or a synthetic resin. In the cases in which the cylindrical member is made from a sheet, the sheet composing the cylindrical member (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “cylindrical member sheet”), the cabin-side sheet, and the door-side sheet are sewn together with a common thread or yarn. The sewing preferably is both for forming the cylindrical member and for sewing together the cabin-side sheet and the door-side sheet, thus reducing the man-hours required in manufacturing the cushion.
According to the present invention, the upper portion of the cushion, where the cylindrical member sheet, the cabin-side sheet, and the door-side sheet are sewn together, may be provided with small holes through which bolts or rivets are inserted to secure the cushion to the vehicle body. In this case, the force applied to the cylindrical member is transmitted directly to the vehicle body.
According to the present invention, the protective cushion may further comprise stitching in the cylindrical member downstream portion from the opening in the gas flowing direction. This stitching closes or constricts the sectional area of the gas passage in the cylindrical member. Preferably, when the gas pressure in the cylindrical member reaches or exceeds a predetermined value, the sectional area of the gas passage is enlarged as a result of the stitching breaking.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3970328 (1976-07-01), Wallsten
patent: 5316336 (1994-05-01), Taguchi et al.
patent: 5788270 (1998-08-01), Haland et al.
patent: 5899486 (1999-05-01), Ibe
patent: 96/26087 (1996-08-01), None
Masuda Yasushi
Mishina Joji
Nakanishi Ryosuke
Uchiyama Atsuyuki
Culbreth Eric
Foley & Lardner
Takata Corporation
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