US20020027337A1 - Airbag door of a vehicle - Google Patents

Airbag door of a vehicle Download PDF

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Publication number
US20020027337A1
US20020027337A1 US09/752,104 US75210400A US2002027337A1 US 20020027337 A1 US20020027337 A1 US 20020027337A1 US 75210400 A US75210400 A US 75210400A US 2002027337 A1 US2002027337 A1 US 2002027337A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
airbag door
vehicle
airbag
rolled
deployed
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
US09/752,104
Other versions
US6390497B1 (en
Inventor
Dal Shin
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Hyundai Motor Co
Original Assignee
Hyundai Motor Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hyundai Motor Co filed Critical Hyundai Motor Co
Assigned to HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY reassignment HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SHIN, DAL SOO
Publication of US20020027337A1 publication Critical patent/US20020027337A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US6390497B1 publication Critical patent/US6390497B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
    • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
    • B60R21/20—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components
    • B60R21/205—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components in dashboards
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
    • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
    • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
    • B60R21/20—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components
    • B60R21/215—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components characterised by the covers for the inflatable member
    • B60R21/2165—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components characterised by the covers for the inflatable member characterised by a tear line for defining a deployment opening
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
    • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
    • B60R21/20—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components
    • B60R21/215—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components characterised by the covers for the inflatable member
    • B60R21/2155—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components characterised by the covers for the inflatable member with complex motion of the cover; Retraction under the lining during opening

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an airbag door of a vehicle which is designed to prevent the breakage of the windshield usually resulted from a direct contact with an airbag door when said airbag door is deployed upon a vehicle collision.
  • the object of this invention is to provide an airbag door of a vehicle characterized by having a dual safety mechanism comprising 1) a plate spring beneath the internal surface of said airbag door with a restoring force to be rolled up and also 2) multiple evenly spaced grooves formed in the lower part of said airbag door so that said airbag door can be rolled up along the grooves when said airbag door is deployed, thus enabling to prevent the windshield from breakage resulted from a direct contact with an airbag door when said airbag door is deployed due to a vehicle collision.
  • FIG. 1 shows an airbag door of a vehicle installed according to this invention.
  • FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a deployed airbag door of a vehicle installed according to this invention.
  • FIG. 3 shows a side view of a plate spring mounted inside an airbag door of a vehicle installed according to this invention.
  • FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show a deployed conventional airbag door of a vehicle.
  • the main object of this invention is to provide an airbag door of a vehicle characterized by having a plate spring 12 inside said airbag door 10 manufactured entirely by means of injection molding and also by having many evenly spaced grooves 14 in the lower part of said airbag door 10 .
  • FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an airbag door of a vehicle.
  • the airbag door 10 is de signed to be opened up as an airbag is deployed upon a vehicle collision.
  • a plate spring 12 manufactured entirely by injection molding as shown in FIG. 3.
  • Said plate spring 12 is the one that has a restoring force to be rolled up, and it is installed so that the direction that it is being rolled and the direction that said airbag door 10 is deployed can be unidirectional.
  • there are provided many grooves 14 in the lower part of the airbag door 10 which are evenly spaced and also parallel to the east-west direction of a given vehicle frame.
  • the airbag door 10 Since the airbag door 10 is torn open triggered by a vehicle collision, the airbag door 10 is rolled up being forced by the restoring force of the plate spring 12 , and the airbag door 10 is being rolled up via a multiple sequential bending action with its bending activity centered on the grooves 14 formed in the lower part of said airbag door 10 . Because the airbag door 10 is being rolled up to be deployed, the airbag door 10 can avoid contacting the windshield 18 and is thus able to prevent said windshield from the breakage which used to occur in vehicles equipped with the conventional airbag doors. Further, said airbag door 10 having only grooves 14 can be also bent in a multiple and sequential fashion even without a plate spring 12 .
  • this invention presents a novel airbag door of a vehicle which can prevent the usual breakage of a windshield resulted from a vehicle collision by providing a dual safety system which has a plate spring with a restoring force to be rolled up mounted beneath the airbag door thus airbag door can be rolled up instead of being burst open in the case of the conventional airbag doors and also many evenly spaced grooves formed in the lower part of the airbag door can lead the airbag door to an orderly and sustained deployment sufficient to avoid sudden contact with the windshield of a vehicle when there is a vehicle accident.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Air Bags (AREA)

Abstract

This invention relates to an airbag door of a vehicle characterized by having a plate spring 12 located underneath the internal surface of said airbag door 10 which has a restoring force to be rolled up and multiple evenly spaced grooves 14 generated in the lower part of said airbag door 10 so that said airbag door 10 can be rolled up along the groove when said airbag door 10 is deployed thus enabling to prevent the windshield from breakage resulted from a physical contact with an airbag door 10 when said airbag door is deployed upon a vehicle collision.

Description

    BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  • 1. Field of the Invention [0001]
  • This invention relates to an airbag door of a vehicle which is designed to prevent the breakage of the windshield usually resulted from a direct contact with an airbag door when said airbag door is deployed upon a vehicle collision. [0002]
  • 2. Description of the Prior Art [0003]
  • Many vehicles have been provided with airbags as a way to protect passengers as well as drivers from a possible automotive vehicle accident. The conventional airbags, however, have not been considered very advantageous in that the airbag doors which encompass those airbags often damage the windshield of a vehicle when said airbag doors are torn away as the airbags are deployed. One way to prevent the breakage of the [0004] windshield 18 is to mount a regulating device 16 to control the angle of airbag deployment on both sides of the airbag door 10 so that angle of deployment can be kept within a certain degree as shown in FIG. 5. Moreover, the central part of an airbag door 10 is cut open so that said airbag door 10 can avoid contacting the windshield 18 thus preventing the breakage of said windshield 18 as shown in FIG. 6. However, the mounting of said regulating device that can control the deployment angle of airbag door in FIG. 5 is very difficult and also those devices are usually unable to tolerate the pressure delivered by the deploying airbag. Moreover, the fact that the conventional airbags in FIG. 6 are deployed as the airbag doors are torn open in the center endangers that the direction of the airbag deployment may not be directed toward a passenger when there is a vehicle collision.
    • SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
  • Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide an airbag door of a vehicle characterized by having a dual safety mechanism comprising 1) a plate spring beneath the internal surface of said airbag door with a restoring force to be rolled up and also 2) multiple evenly spaced grooves formed in the lower part of said airbag door so that said airbag door can be rolled up along the grooves when said airbag door is deployed, thus enabling to prevent the windshield from breakage resulted from a direct contact with an airbag door when said airbag door is deployed due to a vehicle collision.[0005]
    • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1 shows an airbag door of a vehicle installed according to this invention. [0006]
  • FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a deployed airbag door of a vehicle installed according to this invention. [0007]
  • FIG. 3 shows a side view of a plate spring mounted inside an airbag door of a vehicle installed according to this invention. [0008]
  • FIGS. 4, 5 and [0009] 6 show a deployed conventional airbag door of a vehicle.
  • [Code Explanation of the Major Parts][0010]
  • [0011] 10: airbag door
  • [0012] 12: plate spring
  • [0013] 14: a groove
  • [0014] 16: a regulating device of deployment angle
  • [0015] 18: windshield
    • DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
  • The main object of this invention is to provide an airbag door of a vehicle characterized by having a [0016] plate spring 12 inside said airbag door 10 manufactured entirely by means of injection molding and also by having many evenly spaced grooves 14 in the lower part of said airbag door 10.
  • The overall scheme of this invention can be delineated in a more clear fashion with reference to the FIGS as set forth hereunder. [0017]
  • FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an airbag door of a vehicle. The [0018] airbag door 10 is de signed to be opened up as an airbag is deployed upon a vehicle collision. Underneath said airbag door 10, there is provided a plate spring 12 manufactured entirely by injection molding as shown in FIG. 3. Said plate spring 12 is the one that has a restoring force to be rolled up, and it is installed so that the direction that it is being rolled and the direction that said airbag door 10 is deployed can be unidirectional. In addition, there are provided many grooves 14 in the lower part of the airbag door 10 which are evenly spaced and also parallel to the east-west direction of a given vehicle frame. Since the airbag door 10 is torn open triggered by a vehicle collision, the airbag door 10 is rolled up being forced by the restoring force of the plate spring 12, and the airbag door 10 is being rolled up via a multiple sequential bending action with its bending activity centered on the grooves 14 formed in the lower part of said airbag door 10. Because the airbag door 10 is being rolled up to be deployed, the airbag door 10 can avoid contacting the windshield 18 and is thus able to prevent said windshield from the breakage which used to occur in vehicles equipped with the conventional airbag doors. Further, said airbag door 10 having only grooves 14 can be also bent in a multiple and sequential fashion even without a plate spring 12. Consequently, this invention presents a novel airbag door of a vehicle which can prevent the usual breakage of a windshield resulted from a vehicle collision by providing a dual safety system which has a plate spring with a restoring force to be rolled up mounted beneath the airbag door thus airbag door can be rolled up instead of being burst open in the case of the conventional airbag doors and also many evenly spaced grooves formed in the lower part of the airbag door can lead the airbag door to an orderly and sustained deployment sufficient to avoid sudden contact with the windshield of a vehicle when there is a vehicle accident.

Claims (2)

What is claimed is:
1. An airbag door of a vehicle characterized by having an elastic member placed underneath the internal surface of an airbag door manufactured by an injection molding which has a restoring force to be rolled up and also multiple evenly spaced grooves formed in the lower part of said airbag door.
2. The airbag door of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member is a plate spring.
US09/752,104 2000-09-01 2000-12-29 Airbag door of a vehicle Expired - Fee Related US6390497B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
KR1020000051636A KR100353055B1 (en) 2000-09-01 2000-09-01 Airbag door for automobile
KR2000-51636 2000-09-01

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20020027337A1 true US20020027337A1 (en) 2002-03-07
US6390497B1 US6390497B1 (en) 2002-05-21

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US09/752,104 Expired - Fee Related US6390497B1 (en) 2000-09-01 2000-12-29 Airbag door of a vehicle

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US6390497B1 (en)
JP (1) JP3427185B2 (en)
KR (1) KR100353055B1 (en)
DE (1) DE10065565B4 (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6481780B2 (en) * 2000-08-14 2002-11-19 Eagle Parts And Products, Incorporated Golf bag covers for use with golf carts
EP1544059A2 (en) * 2003-12-19 2005-06-22 Dr.Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft Dashboard with passenger airbag
US20070145728A1 (en) * 2005-12-22 2007-06-28 Mazda Motor Corporation Instrument panel structure with airbag unit
EP1914125A1 (en) * 2006-10-19 2008-04-23 GM Global Technology Operations, Inc. Interior lining part for a motor vehicle
WO2011144572A1 (en) 2010-05-17 2011-11-24 Faurecia Interieur Industrie Arrangement of an airbag in a dashboard comprising a flap provided with a retaining tie having a reinforced anchoring point

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE20015135U1 (en) * 2000-09-01 2001-01-11 Trw Repa Gmbh Airbag restraint system
US6733032B2 (en) * 2001-03-12 2004-05-11 Delphi Technologies, Inc. Air bag cover assembly
JP4487704B2 (en) * 2004-09-21 2010-06-23 三菱自動車工業株式会社 Vehicle side door
DE102007023075B4 (en) * 2007-05-16 2016-06-02 Volkswagen Ag Plastic interior fitting made of hard plastic with a cover for an airbag of an airbag module
FR2925410B1 (en) * 2007-12-21 2010-05-14 Faurecia Interieur Ind ADVANCED DASHBOARD
DE102009012899A1 (en) 2009-03-12 2010-09-16 GM Global Technology Operations, Inc., Detroit Lining part for use in air bag arrangement at dashboard in front passenger side in vehicle, has swiveling device enabling swiveling of flap relative to lining part around hinge area, and arranged to swivel away flap from windscreen
DE102009058706A1 (en) * 2009-12-17 2011-06-22 GM Global Technology Operations LLC, ( n. d. Ges. d. Staates Delaware ), Mich. Motor vehicle interior lining part, has rigid cover closing opening towards passenger compartment and comprising wall thickness, which is ten percent of wall thickness of edge region
FR2962958B1 (en) 2010-07-26 2012-08-10 Faurecia Interieur Ind INFLATABLE SAFETY CUSHION ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING A FLAP CONNECTED TO A DASHBOARD BY A LINEAR LINK HAVING FOUR PARALLEL RESTRAINTS

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2564846Y2 (en) * 1990-07-12 1998-03-11 マツダ株式会社 Car airbag structure
JP2959265B2 (en) * 1992-03-25 1999-10-06 タカタ株式会社 Airbag device lid for passenger seat
JPH0687397A (en) * 1992-09-04 1994-03-29 Kansei Corp Automobile instrument panel
DE19616942B4 (en) * 1996-04-27 2005-06-16 Mst Automotive Gmbh Automobil-Sicherheitstechnik Airbag cover
KR200144273Y1 (en) * 1997-05-30 1999-06-15 양재신 Front passenger's airbag cover
KR19990041306A (en) * 1997-11-21 1999-06-15 양재신 Car airbag door structure
DE29721642U1 (en) * 1997-12-08 1998-04-02 Trw Repa Gmbh Airbag module for a vehicle occupant restraint system
US6158763A (en) * 1998-12-09 2000-12-12 Chrysler Corporation Airbag assembly concealed within an instrument panel
DE29922988U1 (en) * 1999-12-30 2000-05-18 Trw Automotive Safety Sys Gmbh Airbag module cover

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6481780B2 (en) * 2000-08-14 2002-11-19 Eagle Parts And Products, Incorporated Golf bag covers for use with golf carts
EP1544059A2 (en) * 2003-12-19 2005-06-22 Dr.Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft Dashboard with passenger airbag
US20050167955A1 (en) * 2003-12-19 2005-08-04 Dr. Ing. H.C.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft Instrument panel with a passenger airbag
EP1544059A3 (en) * 2003-12-19 2006-01-25 Dr.Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft Dashboard with passenger airbag
US7367583B2 (en) 2003-12-19 2008-05-06 Dr. Ing. H.C.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft Instrument panel with a passenger airbag
US20070145728A1 (en) * 2005-12-22 2007-06-28 Mazda Motor Corporation Instrument panel structure with airbag unit
US7658404B2 (en) * 2005-12-22 2010-02-09 Mazda Motor Corporation Instrument panel structure with airbag unit
EP1914125A1 (en) * 2006-10-19 2008-04-23 GM Global Technology Operations, Inc. Interior lining part for a motor vehicle
WO2011144572A1 (en) 2010-05-17 2011-11-24 Faurecia Interieur Industrie Arrangement of an airbag in a dashboard comprising a flap provided with a retaining tie having a reinforced anchoring point

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US6390497B1 (en) 2002-05-21
JP2002087195A (en) 2002-03-26
KR100353055B1 (en) 2002-09-18
KR20020018357A (en) 2002-03-08
DE10065565B4 (en) 2008-11-27
JP3427185B2 (en) 2003-07-14
DE10065565A1 (en) 2002-03-14

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Effective date: 20100521