Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-20
2004-10-26
Dunn, David R. (Department: 3616)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S743100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06808198
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inflatable airbags for protecting vehicle occupants during collision events. More specifically, the present invention relates to an airbag module configured to be installed in a support pillar of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Inflatable airbags enjoy widespread acceptance as passive passenger restraints for use in motor vehicles. Airbags have built a reputation of preventing numerous deaths and injuries over years of development, testing, and use. Studies show that in some instances, the use of frontally placed vehicular airbags can reduce the number of fatalities in head-on collisions by 25% among drivers using seat belts and by more than 30% among unbelted drivers. Other statistics suggest that in a frontal collision, the combination of a seat belt and an airbag can reduce the incidence of serious chest injuries by 65% and the incidence of serious head injuries by up to 75%. These numbers and the thousands of prevented injuries they represent demonstrate the life-saving potential of airbags and the need to encourage their use, production, and development.
In part as a result of benefits such as those described above, automakers are now required to install airbags in most new vehicles manufactured for sale in the United States. Many automobile manufacturers have turned this airbag technology requirement into a marketing tool. Enticed by the promise of added safety, vehicle purchasers frequently seek out vehicles with sophisticated airbag systems.
Airbags are often installed in the steering wheel and in the dashboard on the passenger's side of a car. These airbags are often large and thick because airbags are used for the primary deceleration of a vehicle occupant. In a large percentage of collisions the occupant is accelerated forward through the vehicle. Frontal airbags are generally constructed to inflate toward the vehicle occupant, often with significant force. Airbag systems are generally designed to protect an occupant in a specific space within the car in a specific set of predicted positions. When a vehicle occupant is not positioned in a predicted position, deployment of the airbag may cause injury to the occupant.
Frontal airbags are generally housed within the dashboard, steering wheel, or other similar interior panels of a vehicle, and are covered by a trim cover panel. The trim cover panel covers the compartment that contains the airbag module. Such airbag covers are typically made of rigid plastic, and are configured to open by the pressure from the deploying airbag. During deployment of the airbag, it is preferable to retain the airbag cover in at least partial attachment to the vehicle to prevent the airbag cover from flying loose in the passenger compartment. If the airbag cover were allowed to detach and freely move into the passenger compartment, it could cause injury to a passenger.
Airbags are generally linked to a control system within the vehicle that triggers their initiation when a collision occurs. This control system is often referred to as an electronic control unit (or “ECU”). The ECU includes a sensor that continuously monitors the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle. This information is sent to a processor which processes it using an algorithm to determine if a deceleration experienced by the vehicle is a collision or not. If this accelerometer measures an abnormal deceleration, such as one caused by a collision event, it triggers the ignition of an airbag inflator.
When the processor of the ECU determines, based on a set of pre-determined criteria, that the vehicle is experiencing a collision, the ECU transmits an electrical current to an initiator assembly. The initiator assembly is in turn connected to an inflator that is coupled to the airbag module. The initiator activates the inflator. An inflator is a gas generator that typically uses a compressed or liquefied gas or mixture of gases, a solid fuel, or some combination of the two, to rapidly generate a large volume of inflation gas. This inflation gas is then channeled, often through a segment of specialized tubing called a gas guide, to the airbag. The gas inflates the airbag, allowing it to absorb the impact of the vehicle occupants and thus prevent possible injury.
Following the activation of the airbag system and the deceleration of any vehicle occupants, the airbags rapidly deflate to release the vehicle occupants. Some airbags may be fully inflated within 50 thousandths of a second, and subsequently deflated within two tenths of a second.
As experience with the manufacture and use of airbags has progressed, the engineering challenges involved in their design, construction, and use have become better understood. First, most airbag systems are designed to rapidly inflate and provide a cushion in front of or alongside an occupant based on a presumption that the occupant will be in a predetermined position. Problems have been noted to occur when the occupant is “out of position” with regard to this presumed placement when a collision event occurs and the airbag deploys. Similarly, problems may occur when the occupant, though possibly at first in the predicted position, strikes a glancing blow to the airbag, and is then deflected out of the airbag before proper deceleration can occur.
Other out-of-position injuries occur when an occupant is positioned within the inflation path of the airbag. In such cases, the occupant may be struck by the airbag when it inflates, in some cases causing substantial injury to the occupant. Airbags currently used in the art inflate with significant force in order to be inflated and in place in a very short period of time. Part of the problem may be attributed to the fact that most airbags inflate directly toward the occupant.
Additional problems in airbag use involve effective coverage of potential impact surfaces of a vehicle interior by airbags. Many of the known airbags effectively protect the occupant from contact with regions of the dashboard, the windshield, and often, the steering wheel. One area more difficult to protect traditionally has been the vehicle's A-pillar. This rigid pillar carries potential to cause serious injury to a vehicle occupant during a collision event.
Other problems faced in the development and use of airbags include costs encountered in providing a proper housing and attachment for airbags. Many dashboard- and steering wheel-mounted airbags require the use of housings separate from the structure of the vehicle itself for convenient use, thus raising the cost of use of the airbags. It would be an advancement in the art to provide an airbag mounted and housed within the structure of the vehicle to reduce the cost of airbags.
Finally, with airbags mounted in dashboards, doors, steering wheels, etc., considerable damage is often caused to the mounting panel by deployment of the airbag. Specifically, in dashboard-mounted systems, deployment often causes sufficient damage to the instrument panel of the vehicle to merit complete replacement.
Accordingly, the need exists for a pillar-mounted frontal airbag system to better protect a vehicle occupant. Such a system could protect the vehicle occupant in a wide variety of collision events, including those requiring better shielding of the A-pillar. Specifically, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a pillar-mounted frontal airbag suitable for mounting in a vehicle in the A-pillar of the vehicle, the airbag module requiring reduced housing and attachment means and reducing the need for instrument panel replacement after airbag deployment. Finally, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an airbag which reduces the incidence of out-of-position injuries by deploying first along the dashboard of a vehicle, and then deploying toward the occupant, thus contacting the occupant (if at all) with greatly reduced inflation force. Such a device is disclosed and claimed herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The apparatus of the present invention has been developed in re
Fredin Steven R.
Schneider David W.
Autoliv ASP Inc.
Brown Sally J.
Dunn David R.
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