Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-22
2001-01-30
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S728300, C200S061540
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179325
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to an airbag device for a driver which is installed in a steering wheel of an automobile and more particularly to an airbag device for a driver in which a horn switch is arranged on a hidden side of an occupant-facing portion of a module cover of the airbag device.
An airbag device for a driver comprises an inflator, an airbag, a retainer to which the inflator and the airbag are attached, and a module cover for covering the airbag. The module cover is provided with a tear line. When the inflator is actuated to inflate the airbag, the module cover is torn along the tear line so that the airbag is deployed into a vehicle cabin. When the module cover is torn along the tear line, a flap like a tongue is formed in the module cover and the flap opens into the vehicle cabin.
In one of the driver airbag devices, a horn switch is arranged on the hidden side of an occupant-facing portion of the module cover, so that depressing the occupant-facing portion of the module cover sounds the vehicle horn. An airbag device disclosed in Japanese patent publications 8-188109 and 9-66793 has a horn switch in a form of a sheet or a membrane and a plate for supporting the switch which are arranged on a hidden side of a module cover, whereby the horn switch is actuated just by lightly depressing the module cover. The plate extends over the entire area on the hidden side of the occupant-facing portion of the module cover and both sides of the backing plate are supported by the retainer so that the sheet switch for the horn is supported firmly by the plate. Since the supporting plate is disposed over a tear line of the module cover, the plate should be also provided with a tear line along the tear line formed in an occupant-facing portion of the module cover. When the airbag is inflated by gases spouted from the inflator, the airbag should tear not only the module cover but also the plate along the respective tear lines. As a result thereof the inflator employed in the airbag device of this type should have high pressure for generating gas.
If the supporting plate is arranged within a range of one of the tongue-like flaps defined by the tear line of the occupant-facing portion of the module cover, the plate is not required to have the tear line. In this case, however, since the plate is held by the retainer only at one end thereof, that is, in the cantilevered state, the plate is easily moved backward together with the sheet switch when the switch is depressed so that it is necessary for actuation of the sheet switch to depress the occupant-facing portion of the module cover with relatively strong force.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a driver airbag device which has no tear line formed in a backing plate, enables its airbag to be sufficiently quickly inflated with an inflator of small capacity, and enables a sheet switch to be actuated just by lightly depressing an occupant-facing portion of a module cover.
A driver airbag device of the present invention comprises an airbag, an inflator, a retainer to which the airbag and the inflator are attached, a module cover for covering the airbag, a supporting plate which is disposed on a hidden side of an occupant-facing portion of the module cover, and a sheet switch which is disposed between the occupant-facing portion of the module cover and the backing plate. The module cover has a leg which extends from the occupant-facing portion of the module cover and which is attached to the retainer. The supporting plate has a main portion which confronts the occupant-facing portion and a mounting arm which extends from the main portion along the leg and is attached to the retainer. The module cover includes a tear line and at least one area defined by the tear line. The main portion of the supporting plate confronts only the one area. The plate comprises projections which extend from the main portion. The projections are engaged with engaging portions formed in the leg of the module cover, thereby preventing backward movement of the main portion.
The airbag device has the plate disposed only within a range corresponding to the area defined by the tear line of the module cover and the plate has no tear line. The plate does not tear but bends smoothly when pushed by the deploying airbag.
The supporting or backing plate has the projections which are engaged with the leg of the module cover so as to prevent the backward movement of the main portion, so the sheet switch is actuated only by lightly depressing the occupant-facing portion of the module cover.
The projections may be disposed to extend in the opposite direction to each other about the main portion. The engaging portions may be formed at a position of said leg near the occupant-facing portion.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5338059 (1994-08-01), Inoue et al.
patent: 5371333 (1994-12-01), Kanai et al.
patent: 5499841 (1996-03-01), Trojan et al.
patent: 5775728 (1998-07-01), Niwa et al.
patent: 8-188109 (1996-07-01), None
patent: 9-66793 (1997-03-01), None
Ilan Ruth
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Mai Lanna
Takata Corporation
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