Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-03
2003-01-07
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3616)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S732000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06502851
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a structure for attaching a passenger side airbag device to a hidden side of an instrument panel.
In a conventional passenger side airbag device, an airbag in a folded state is accommodated within a canister-like container, which is sometimes referred to as a “retainer”, and the front opening of the container or retainer is covered by a lid. Disposed at the bottom of the container is an inflator or gas generator for inflating the airbag. The lid is composed of a covering member separated from an instrument panel or composed of a certain area in the instrument panel defined by tear lines.
Referring to
FIG. 12
, a general structure of a passenger side airbag device will be described, which has a lid formed at a certain area in an instrument panel as mentioned above.
FIG. 12
is a sectional view showing a conventional passenger side airbag device, and the structure for attaching the passenger side airbag device to an instrument panel.
The conventional passenger side airbag device
100
shown in
FIG. 12
comprises a container
101
which has a rectangular shape in its plan view, an airbag
102
which is folded and accommodated in the container
101
, an instrument panel
103
covering an opening of the container
101
at the upper side of the container
101
, a plate
104
which is interposed between the opening of the container
101
and the instrument panel
103
to connect the container
101
to the instrument panel
103
, and an inflator
105
which is substantially formed in a cylindrical shape and generates gas for inflating the airbag
102
.
The instrument panel
103
is provided with tear lines or breakable portions
103
a
formed in the back surface thereof. The tear lines
103
a
define a certain area in the instrument panel
103
as the lid for covering the opening of the container
102
.
The plate
104
is arranged behind the instrument panel
103
to extend along the certain area of the instrument panel
103
. The plate
104
is integrated with the instrument panel
103
and has connecting pieces
104
a
formed around the periphery thereof for connecting the container
101
to the instrument panel
103
.
Disposed at the bottom of the container
101
is a semi-cylindrical inflator receiving member
106
. The inflator
105
is fitted in the inflator receiving member
106
and the upper half of the inflator
105
is held by a retaining member
107
. The retaining member
107
has flanges
107
a
to be superposed on the bottom of the container
101
. Clamped between the flanges
107
a
and the bottom of the container
101
is an edge portion of a gas inlet of the airbag
102
. The flanges
107
a
and the receiving member
106
are fixed to the container
101
together by bolts and nuts.
Provided around the periphery of the opening of the container
101
are fixing members
108
to be fixed to the connecting pieces
104
a.
Each fixing member
108
has an overhung portion
108
a
which is formed to project from the outer periphery of the container
101
and to extend along the back surfaces of the connecting pieces
104
a.
The overhung portions
108
a
are provided with through holes (not shown) through which bolts or rivets are inserted.
The container
101
in which the airbag
102
in the folded state is accommodated is attached to the certain area of the instrument panel
103
as the lid from behind in such a manner that the overhung portions
108
a
of the fixing members
108
provided around the periphery of the opening of the container
101
are brought in contact with the connecting pieces
104
a.
The connecting pieces
104
a
and the overhung portions
108
a
are connected to each other by bolts or rivets, so that the container
101
and the instrument panel
103
are connected.
In the aforementioned passenger side airbag device
100
, since the container
101
is securely fixed to the connecting pieces
104
a
all around the periphery of the opening by the fixing members
108
fixed to the periphery of the opening, it is hard to detach the container
101
from the instrument panel
103
. Particularly, in a state that the container
101
and the instrument panel
103
are connected to each other to compose the passenger side airbag device
100
and the instrument panel
103
is mounted to a vehicle body, it is very hard, from a cabin of the vehicle, to detach the container from the instrument panel
103
without detaching the instrument panel
103
from the vehicle body, for example, for maintenance of the passenger side airbag device
100
. In particular, it is significantly hard to cancel the connection between the connecting piece
104
a
and the fixing member
108
of the container
101
at the windshield side, i.e. front side of the vehicle body, without detaching the instrument panel
103
from the vehicle body.
It is an object of the present invention to resolve the aforementioned problem and to provide a passenger side airbag device, wherein a container can be easily attached to and detached from an instrument panel and still can be detached from the instrument panel even when the instrument panel is mounted to a vehicle body.
It is another object of the invention to provide a structure for attaching the passenger side airbag device to the instrument panel.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A passenger-side airbag device of the present invention comprises a container having at least a pair of oppositely facing side faces, and an airbag which is folded and accommodated in the container. The container has a coupling member disposed on one of the pair of the side faces for coupling the container to an instrument panel, and a fixing member on the other one of the pair of the side faces for fixing the container to the instrument panel.
In the structure for attaching the passenger side airbag device of the present invention, the aforementioned passenger side airbag device is attached to a hidden side of the instrument panel.
In the structure for attaching the passenger-side airbag device according to the present invention, the coupling member is preferably positioned at the front side or one side of a vehicle, the coupling member is a hook or an aperture, and the instrument panel is provided with an engaging member which is an aperture or a hook. The engagement between the coupling member and the engaging member is achieved by inserting the hook into the aperture. Further, in the structure for attaching the passenger side airbag device, it is preferable that the fixing member of the passenger side airbag device is detachably attached to the instrument panel.
According to the aforementioned structure, the passenger side airbag device of the present invention can be easily attached to the instrument panel by engaging the coupling member disposed on the side face of the container facing the front of the vehicle with the engaging member of the instrument panel, and then detachably fixing the fixing member disposed at the other side face opposite to the aforementioned side face to the instrument panel. On the other hand, the passenger side airbag device of the present invention can be easily detached from the instrument panel by releasing the fixing between the fixing member and the instrument panel and then pulling out the coupling member from the engaging member at the front side of the vehicle because the engagement between the coupling member and the engaging member is not fixed permanently. As a result, even when the passenger side airbag device is attached to the instrument panel and the instrument panel is mounted to a vehicle body, the passenger side airbag device can be detached from the instrument panel without detaching the instrument panel from the vehicle body. The detachment can be conducted from the cabin side.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5303951 (1994-04-01), Goestenkors et al.
patent: 5460400 (1995-10-01), Davidson
patent: 5564732 (1996-10-01), Bauer et al.
paten
Dickson Paul N.
Ilan Ruth
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Takata Corporation
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