CA2064042A1 - Air bag in an air bag unit - Google Patents
Air bag in an air bag unitInfo
- Publication number
- CA2064042A1 CA2064042A1 CA 2064042 CA2064042A CA2064042A1 CA 2064042 A1 CA2064042 A1 CA 2064042A1 CA 2064042 CA2064042 CA 2064042 CA 2064042 A CA2064042 A CA 2064042A CA 2064042 A1 CA2064042 A1 CA 2064042A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- air bag
- cloth
- inflator
- gas
- flameproof
- 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.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 239000004744 fabric Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 44
- 230000002787 reinforcement Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 23
- 238000007664 blowing Methods 0.000 abstract description 14
- 238000009958 sewing Methods 0.000 abstract description 13
- 238000002844 melting Methods 0.000 abstract description 4
- 230000008018 melting Effects 0.000 abstract description 4
- 239000000853 adhesive Substances 0.000 abstract description 3
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 description 42
- 239000003795 chemical substances by application Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 239000000567 combustion gas Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000035939 shock Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229920002379 silicone rubber Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 239000004945 silicone rubber Substances 0.000 description 2
- 208000027418 Wounds and injury Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000006378 damage Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229920001971 elastomer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 208000014674 injury Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 239000007921 spray Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005507 spraying Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229920003002 synthetic resin Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000000057 synthetic resin Substances 0.000 description 1
Landscapes
- Air Bags (AREA)
Abstract
In an air bag unit (1) for protecting an occupant of a vehicle by inflating an air bag (3) with the gas supplied from an inflator (2) in an emergency, a flameproof cloth (10) is provided to cover the portion to mount the inflator where the reinforcement cloth (7) of said air bag (3) is sewn and where high pressure gas from the inflator (2) directly hits. As the result, hot gas blown out of the gas blowing holes of the inflator (2) directly hits the flameproof cloth (10), and the portion where the reinforcement cloth (7) of the air bag (3) is fixed is not brought into direct contact with hot gas immediately after blown out because the flameproof cloth (10) serves as a shield. Accordingly, the melting of the sewing threads (8 and 8') fixing the reinforcement cloth (7) or the adhesive agent can be avoided. Further, the reinforcement cloth (7) is perfectly fixed on the air bag (3) when the air bag (3) is inflated and expanded, and the air bag (3) can be further strengthened.
Description
20~40~2 SPECIFICATION
Air bag in an air bag unit FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air bag unit for protecting an occupant in a vehicle by inflating an air bag by high pressure gas when the vehicle is collided, and in particular to an air bag in an air bag unit to be mounted on an inflator, which blows out gas in the direction perpendicular to the direction toward the occupant.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
The air bag unit installed on the fixed portion of car body in front of the seat in a vehicle plays an important role in the protection of the occupant from injury due to the collision against car body by instantaneously inflating with the pressure of combus-tion gas released from an inflator, which is fixed on steering wheel or dashboard in an emergency such as vehicle collision.
As shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, such air bag unit comprises an inflator 2 which explodes gas generating agent by collision signal from collision detecting
Air bag in an air bag unit FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air bag unit for protecting an occupant in a vehicle by inflating an air bag by high pressure gas when the vehicle is collided, and in particular to an air bag in an air bag unit to be mounted on an inflator, which blows out gas in the direction perpendicular to the direction toward the occupant.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
The air bag unit installed on the fixed portion of car body in front of the seat in a vehicle plays an important role in the protection of the occupant from injury due to the collision against car body by instantaneously inflating with the pressure of combus-tion gas released from an inflator, which is fixed on steering wheel or dashboard in an emergency such as vehicle collision.
As shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, such air bag unit comprises an inflator 2 which explodes gas generating agent by collision signal from collision detecting
2~4~2 sensor (not shown) when the deceleration of the vehicle exceeds a certain level and blows out the gas, and an air bag with its base fixed on said inflator 2 is inflated by the blown gas thus blown out. This air bag unit 1 is installed, for example, on the fixed portion of car body such as the central portion of the steering wheel 13 with the air bag a folded up and placed in a pad.
When the vehicle is collided, the gas generating agent in the inflator 2 is exploded, and the generated gas is blown into the air bag 3 from the blowing holes 4 as shown in Fig. 3. As the result, the air bag 3 is instantaneously inflated and expanded.
Therefore, the air bag 3 receives the occupant, who is pushed forward by inertia and protects the occupant from the collision against car body.
The air bag 3 of this type must have considerable strength on the portion to be connected to the fixed part of the car body because tensile force caused by the pressure of combustion gas and inertia of the occupant are applied on it when inflating.
For this reason, in a conventional type air bag unit 1, the mounting base of the air bag 3 is strength-ened by reinforcement cloth 7 as shown in Fig. 3. The reinforcement cloth 7 is usually made of the same 20~0~2 material as that of the air bag 3. Further, the rein-forcement cloth 7 is overlapped on the air bag 3 and is integrally sewn 8 or bonded with it.
When such air bag 3 is mounted on the inflator 2, it is mounted as if it encloses gas blowing holes 4 on the inflator 2. On the other hand, the gas coming out of the gas blowing holes 4 of the inflator 2 is high temperature and high pressure gas. In this case, gas blowing holes 4 are provided in such manner that gas is blown out in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the occupant. As the result, when high temperature and high pressure gas is blown out of the gas blowing holes 4, the gas directly hits the mounting portion of the air bag 3.
When hot gas directly hits the mounting base of the air bag 3, it also directly hits the sewing threads 8 of the reinforcement cloth 7, which is within the area exposed to the gas. Direct contact of such hot gas may result in the melting of sewing threads by heat of the gas because the threads are not heat-resistant.
As the result, the reinforcement cloth 7 is partially separated from the air bag 3 and cannot fulfill the function to reinforce the air bag 3.
Further, there have been proposed several methods to solve the above problems: heat-resistant coating 2~6~o~
on inner side of base cloth of the air bag, or spraying of silicone rubber on the sewing threads. These methods lead, however, to the increased weight of base cloth of air bag 3 or to more complicated manufacturing processes.
To overcome these problems, the object of the present invention is to offer an air bag, which can protect the sewn portion of the reinforcement cloth on the mounting base of the air bag from hot gas.
DISCLOS~RE OF THE INVENTION
To solve the above problems, the air bag accord-ing to the present invention is characterized in that a flameproof cloth is provided to cover the portion to mount the inflator where reinforcement cloth of the air bag is sewn and where hot gas from the inflator directly hits.
According to the air bag of this invention with the above arrangement, hot gas blown out of the gas blowing holes of the inflator directly hits the flame-proof cloth. As the result, the flameproof cloth serves as a shield, and the hot gas immediately after blowing out does not hit the portion where the rein-forcement cloth of air bag is sewn up. Accordingly, the sewing threads or adhesive agent to fix the rein-forcement cloth are not melted. When the air bag is o ~ ~
inflated and expanded, the reinforcement cloth is perfectly fixed on the air bag, and it can fulfill the function to strengthen the air bag.
Moreover, by providing the flameproof cloth, there is no need to spray silicone rubber on the sewlng threads, and the manufacturing process can be simpli-fied. Because the portion around exhaust holes can be strengthened by the flameproof cloth, the number of the reinforcement cloths can be reduced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the air bag of the present invention when it is inflated and expanded;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same air bag;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 1 of a conventional type air bag; and Fig. ~ is a schematical cross-sectional view show-ing an example when the air bag unit is mounted in steering wheel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As shown in Fig. 1, the air bag unit 1 comprises an inflator 2 and an air bag 3. The inflator 2 is ~0~4X
formed in thin cylindrical shape with gas generating agent sealed in it. On its lateral side, a plurality of gas blowing holes 4, 4, ... ...are provided in peripheral direction with adequate spacings.
On outer periphery of the inflator 2, a flange 5 is provided outside the gas blowing holes 4, and this flange 5 is mounted on an air bag holder 6. The base of the air bag 3 is fixed in the holder 6 so that the gas blowing holes 4, 4, ...... are enclosed by the air bag 3.
As shown in Fig. 2, the air bag 3 is made of flexible and airtight material, which is a woven cloth coated with rubber or synthetic resin, and the mounting base is reinforced by overlapping the reinforcement cloth 7 and by integrally sewing it with sewing threads 8.
Also, exhaust holes 9 are formed in radial direc-tion on the peripheral portion of the mount of the air bag 3. On inner side of the base of the air bag 3, flameproof cloth 10 is provided to cover the sewlng threads 8' of the reinforcement cloth 7 in the area which is directly exposed to the blown gas from inflator 2. This flameproof clot 10 prevents hot gas flow A blown out of the inflator 2 from directly hitting the sewing threads 8' of the reinforcement 2 ~ 2 cloth 7. Thus, the melting of the sewing threads 8' which fixes the relnforcement cloth 7 on the air bag 3 is prevented.
Also, the flameproof cloth 10 reinforces the exhaust holes 9 as it is sewn on the portion not directly exposed to hot gas, i.e. peripheral portion around the opening 11 where inflator 2 is mounted, the portion around the exhaust holes 9, and the end of the flameproof cloth 10. The base of the air bag 3, the flameproof cloth 10 and the reinforcement cloth 7 are airtightly connected to the inflator 2 by bolts and nuts by overlapping the inner periphery and by squeez-ing with ring-like hardware 6' and the holder 6.
The air bag unit 1 with such arrangement is mounted, for example, on the central portion of steering wheel with the air bag 3 folded up and placed in a pad as in the conventional case shown in Fig. 4.
Next, description is given on the operation of this embodiment.
When the vehicle is collided against an obstacle and its deceleration exceeds a certain level, collision detecting sensor (not shown) issues collision signal, and the gas generating agent in the inflator 2 is exploded by this signal. As the result, gas is generated, and the generated gas is blown out of the 2~64~2 blowing holes as shown by the arrow A in Fig. 1.
The gas thus blown out strikes the wall of the flameproof cloth 10 placed face-to-face to the blowing holes 4, and the air bag 3 is instantaneously inflated and expanded. The inflated air bag 3 receives the occupant, who is pushed forward by inertia. In this case, gas is released at adequate speed from the exhaust holes 9 on the air bag 3. This alleviates the shock applied on the occupant, who is collided against the air bag 3.
When hot gas is blown out of the gas blowing holes 4 of the inflator 2, the flameproof cloth 10 serves as a shield against hot gas, and the hot gas does not hit directly the sewing threads 8' of the reinforcement cloth 7 of the air bag 3. As the result, the melting of the sewing threads 8' can be perfectly prevented.
Because the flameproof cloth 10 is fixed on the air bag 3 by sewing threads 8 at the points which are not directly exposed to hot gas, the flameproof cloth 10 is not detached from the air bag 3, and the air bag
When the vehicle is collided, the gas generating agent in the inflator 2 is exploded, and the generated gas is blown into the air bag 3 from the blowing holes 4 as shown in Fig. 3. As the result, the air bag 3 is instantaneously inflated and expanded.
Therefore, the air bag 3 receives the occupant, who is pushed forward by inertia and protects the occupant from the collision against car body.
The air bag 3 of this type must have considerable strength on the portion to be connected to the fixed part of the car body because tensile force caused by the pressure of combustion gas and inertia of the occupant are applied on it when inflating.
For this reason, in a conventional type air bag unit 1, the mounting base of the air bag 3 is strength-ened by reinforcement cloth 7 as shown in Fig. 3. The reinforcement cloth 7 is usually made of the same 20~0~2 material as that of the air bag 3. Further, the rein-forcement cloth 7 is overlapped on the air bag 3 and is integrally sewn 8 or bonded with it.
When such air bag 3 is mounted on the inflator 2, it is mounted as if it encloses gas blowing holes 4 on the inflator 2. On the other hand, the gas coming out of the gas blowing holes 4 of the inflator 2 is high temperature and high pressure gas. In this case, gas blowing holes 4 are provided in such manner that gas is blown out in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the occupant. As the result, when high temperature and high pressure gas is blown out of the gas blowing holes 4, the gas directly hits the mounting portion of the air bag 3.
When hot gas directly hits the mounting base of the air bag 3, it also directly hits the sewing threads 8 of the reinforcement cloth 7, which is within the area exposed to the gas. Direct contact of such hot gas may result in the melting of sewing threads by heat of the gas because the threads are not heat-resistant.
As the result, the reinforcement cloth 7 is partially separated from the air bag 3 and cannot fulfill the function to reinforce the air bag 3.
Further, there have been proposed several methods to solve the above problems: heat-resistant coating 2~6~o~
on inner side of base cloth of the air bag, or spraying of silicone rubber on the sewing threads. These methods lead, however, to the increased weight of base cloth of air bag 3 or to more complicated manufacturing processes.
To overcome these problems, the object of the present invention is to offer an air bag, which can protect the sewn portion of the reinforcement cloth on the mounting base of the air bag from hot gas.
DISCLOS~RE OF THE INVENTION
To solve the above problems, the air bag accord-ing to the present invention is characterized in that a flameproof cloth is provided to cover the portion to mount the inflator where reinforcement cloth of the air bag is sewn and where hot gas from the inflator directly hits.
According to the air bag of this invention with the above arrangement, hot gas blown out of the gas blowing holes of the inflator directly hits the flame-proof cloth. As the result, the flameproof cloth serves as a shield, and the hot gas immediately after blowing out does not hit the portion where the rein-forcement cloth of air bag is sewn up. Accordingly, the sewing threads or adhesive agent to fix the rein-forcement cloth are not melted. When the air bag is o ~ ~
inflated and expanded, the reinforcement cloth is perfectly fixed on the air bag, and it can fulfill the function to strengthen the air bag.
Moreover, by providing the flameproof cloth, there is no need to spray silicone rubber on the sewlng threads, and the manufacturing process can be simpli-fied. Because the portion around exhaust holes can be strengthened by the flameproof cloth, the number of the reinforcement cloths can be reduced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the air bag of the present invention when it is inflated and expanded;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same air bag;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 1 of a conventional type air bag; and Fig. ~ is a schematical cross-sectional view show-ing an example when the air bag unit is mounted in steering wheel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As shown in Fig. 1, the air bag unit 1 comprises an inflator 2 and an air bag 3. The inflator 2 is ~0~4X
formed in thin cylindrical shape with gas generating agent sealed in it. On its lateral side, a plurality of gas blowing holes 4, 4, ... ...are provided in peripheral direction with adequate spacings.
On outer periphery of the inflator 2, a flange 5 is provided outside the gas blowing holes 4, and this flange 5 is mounted on an air bag holder 6. The base of the air bag 3 is fixed in the holder 6 so that the gas blowing holes 4, 4, ...... are enclosed by the air bag 3.
As shown in Fig. 2, the air bag 3 is made of flexible and airtight material, which is a woven cloth coated with rubber or synthetic resin, and the mounting base is reinforced by overlapping the reinforcement cloth 7 and by integrally sewing it with sewing threads 8.
Also, exhaust holes 9 are formed in radial direc-tion on the peripheral portion of the mount of the air bag 3. On inner side of the base of the air bag 3, flameproof cloth 10 is provided to cover the sewlng threads 8' of the reinforcement cloth 7 in the area which is directly exposed to the blown gas from inflator 2. This flameproof clot 10 prevents hot gas flow A blown out of the inflator 2 from directly hitting the sewing threads 8' of the reinforcement 2 ~ 2 cloth 7. Thus, the melting of the sewing threads 8' which fixes the relnforcement cloth 7 on the air bag 3 is prevented.
Also, the flameproof cloth 10 reinforces the exhaust holes 9 as it is sewn on the portion not directly exposed to hot gas, i.e. peripheral portion around the opening 11 where inflator 2 is mounted, the portion around the exhaust holes 9, and the end of the flameproof cloth 10. The base of the air bag 3, the flameproof cloth 10 and the reinforcement cloth 7 are airtightly connected to the inflator 2 by bolts and nuts by overlapping the inner periphery and by squeez-ing with ring-like hardware 6' and the holder 6.
The air bag unit 1 with such arrangement is mounted, for example, on the central portion of steering wheel with the air bag 3 folded up and placed in a pad as in the conventional case shown in Fig. 4.
Next, description is given on the operation of this embodiment.
When the vehicle is collided against an obstacle and its deceleration exceeds a certain level, collision detecting sensor (not shown) issues collision signal, and the gas generating agent in the inflator 2 is exploded by this signal. As the result, gas is generated, and the generated gas is blown out of the 2~64~2 blowing holes as shown by the arrow A in Fig. 1.
The gas thus blown out strikes the wall of the flameproof cloth 10 placed face-to-face to the blowing holes 4, and the air bag 3 is instantaneously inflated and expanded. The inflated air bag 3 receives the occupant, who is pushed forward by inertia. In this case, gas is released at adequate speed from the exhaust holes 9 on the air bag 3. This alleviates the shock applied on the occupant, who is collided against the air bag 3.
When hot gas is blown out of the gas blowing holes 4 of the inflator 2, the flameproof cloth 10 serves as a shield against hot gas, and the hot gas does not hit directly the sewing threads 8' of the reinforcement cloth 7 of the air bag 3. As the result, the melting of the sewing threads 8' can be perfectly prevented.
Because the flameproof cloth 10 is fixed on the air bag 3 by sewing threads 8 at the points which are not directly exposed to hot gas, the flameproof cloth 10 is not detached from the air bag 3, and the air bag
3 is reinforced by the flameproof cloth 10.
In the above embodiment, the reinforcement cloth 7 is fixed on the air bag 3 by the sewing threads 8', whereas the reinforcement cloth 7 may be fixed on the air bag 3 by means of adhesive agent.
.
APPLICABILITY IN THE INDUSTRY
The air bag of the air bag unit acco.rding to the present invention can be used on a vehicle and applied for protecting the occupant of the vehicle by absorb-ing the shock, which occurs when the vehicle is collided.
In the above embodiment, the reinforcement cloth 7 is fixed on the air bag 3 by the sewing threads 8', whereas the reinforcement cloth 7 may be fixed on the air bag 3 by means of adhesive agent.
.
APPLICABILITY IN THE INDUSTRY
The air bag of the air bag unit acco.rding to the present invention can be used on a vehicle and applied for protecting the occupant of the vehicle by absorb-ing the shock, which occurs when the vehicle is collided.
Claims
1. An air bag in an air bag unit for protecting an occupant of a vehicle by inflating the air bag with the gas supplied from an inflator in an emergency, characterized in that a flameproof cloth is provided to cover the portion to mount the inflator where rein-forcement cloth of the air bag is sewn and where high pressure gas from the inflator directly hits.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2064042 CA2064042A1 (en) | 1990-05-30 | 1990-05-30 | Air bag in an air bag unit |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2064042 CA2064042A1 (en) | 1990-05-30 | 1990-05-30 | Air bag in an air bag unit |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2064042A1 true CA2064042A1 (en) | 1991-12-01 |
Family
ID=4149492
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2064042 Abandoned CA2064042A1 (en) | 1990-05-30 | 1990-05-30 | Air bag in an air bag unit |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2064042A1 (en) |
-
1990
- 1990-05-30 CA CA 2064042 patent/CA2064042A1/en not_active Abandoned
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FZDE | Dead |