Classifications

• • 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
  • B60R21/18—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags the inflatable member formed as a belt or harness or combined with a belt or harness arrangement
• • 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
  • B60R21/23—Inflatable members
  • B60R21/231—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration
  • B60R2021/23153—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration specially adapted for rear seat passengers
• • 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
  • B60R21/26—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags characterised by the inflation fluid source or means to control inflation fluid flow
  • B60R21/261—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags characterised by the inflation fluid source or means to control inflation fluid flow with means other than bag structure to diffuse or guide inflation fluid
  • B60R2021/2612—Gas guiding means, e.g. ducts
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R22/00—Safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles
  • B60R22/02—Semi-passive restraint systems, e.g. systems applied or removed automatically but not both ; Manual restraint systems
  • B60R22/023—Three-point seat belt systems comprising two side lower and one side upper anchoring devices
  • B60R2022/026—Three-point seat belt systems comprising two side lower and one side upper anchoring devices at least two ends of the belt being retractable after use
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R22/00—Safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles
  • B60R22/18—Anchoring devices
  • B60R2022/1818—Belt guides
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R22/00—Safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles
  • B60R22/18—Anchoring devices
  • B60R22/26—Anchoring devices secured to the seat

Definitions

• This invention relates to a system for restraining the body of an
• the invention relates to a seat belt restraint system
• the inflatable tubular section can be made of a woven or braided tube
• the restraint system reduces the extent
• Conventional seat belts are designed to protect the occupants of
• Primary injuries are injuries caused by
• the seat belts themselves may often be
• inflatable bladders are attached to the shoulder straps of a harness
• bladders inflate to protect the upper body, primarily the head and neck of
• the bladder is securely affixed to shoulder straps and a lap belt.
• the bladder is securely affixed to shoulder straps and a lap belt.
• portions of the bladder are subjected to high pressures, which can
• the inflatable section is inflated to protect the person wearing
• ends of the inflatable section contract as they fill and assume a
• fibers of the material do not change their orientation: the two sets of fibers
• inflatable structure contracts upon inflation, in an unconstrained condition
• Lf is the length of flat, uninflated, material
• Li is the length of unconstrained inflated material
• an inflatable structure having a flat diameter of 20 cm
• an inflatable restraining band having a series of sections, some of which are inflatable to a greater degree than others interconnecting them.
• inflatable structure expands upon inflation.
• the present invention is a seat restraint system having an inflatable
• crash sensor that shortens greatly as it inflates.
• the invention is intended
• the inflatable structure is a key component of the present invention.
• the inflatable structure must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics: (1) it must have the following characteristics:
• under tension must be at least 15%, and should preferably be 20% to 40%;
• the increase should be at least 50 %
• the length of the structure is the direct result of the inflation of the
• an inflatable structure which is 91 cm long and has
• a diameter of 12 cm prior to inflation reduces its length by about 28 cm and
• inflatable structure is a tubular structure that comprises a braided tube of
• the fibers of the braided tube of the present invention form
• fibers seek an orientation that allows a lower resultant stress and hence a
• braided tube 221 preferably contains an inner bladder 222, as shown in
• the decreasing tube length acts as a
• pretensioning device first by drawing any slack out of the seat belt system
• braided tube helps greatly to further restrict subsequent occupant motion.
• the inflated braided tube additionally provides a much larger
• the inflatable braided tube is connected to a gas generator which is in
• gas generator is ignited, and generating inflating gas that inflates the
• the gas generator can be integrated within the seat back or
• inflatable structure comprises an extruded net.
• An extruded net is likely to
• Figures 4a and 4b are schematic diagrams of
• Figures 4a and 4b show how, as the extruded net is inflated, it
• the longitudinal angle prior to inflation is about 10°-
• longitudinal angle after inflation can be as high as 150°. This results in the
• desired inflatable structure i.e., a structure which contracts substantially in
• fabricate the modified extruded net include nylon and polyester fibers.
• the tensile strength of the net at the nodes should be equal to the tensile
• a third preferred embodiment uses a woven net, as shown in Figures
• the woven net is similar to the extruded net, but the joints are
• polyester and aramid fibers polyester and aramid fibers.
• a fourth preferred embodiment, shown in Figure 2d, uses a protective
• sheath 223 fabricated from woven fabric, e.g. nylon or polyester fabric, in
• the sheath has the appearance of
• the present invention may be implemented in the rear seat of an
• FIGS. 7a-7b the inflatable section of the torso belt is shown as connected to a hose which is connected to a rigid pipe.
• the rigid pipe is connected to a
• the rigid pipe is biased
• FIGS. 8a-8c show an embodiment of the present invention for rear
• hose 800 is flexible
• Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.
• This embodiment is similar to the
• the hose is bent into a U shape or J shape
• the primary object of the present invention is to prevent or reduce the
• the first air belt was inflated to a
• the first air belt shows essentially no improvement over the conventional
• the second air belt shows some improvement
• the present invention is due to its ability to reduce its overall length to a
• braided tube member that can greatly shorten (by 20% to 40%) as it inflates
• Figure la is a schematic diagram of a side view of the present
• Figure lb is a schematic diagram of a side view of the present
• Figure lc is a schematic diagram of a front view of the present
• Figure ld is a schematic diagram of cut-away rear view of the present
• Figure le is a schematic diagram of a cut-away rear view of the
• Figures lf and lg are schematic diagrams of the latch assembly
• Figure lh is an overall schematic diagram showing how the latch and
• buckle assemblies of Figures lf and lg, respectively, are used with the torso
• Figure 2a is a schematic diagram of the braided tube of the present
• Figure 2b is a schematic diagram of the braided tube of the present
• Figure 2c is a schematic diagram of a braided tube having an inner
• Figure 2d is a schematic diagram of a braided tube having an inner
• Figure 3a is a schematic diagram showing the relative distance of the
• first air belt inflated to a relative pressure of 1 bar
• second air belt inflated
• Figure 3b is a schematic diagram showing the relative distance of the
• Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of an extruded net tubular
• Figure 4b is a schematic diagram of an extruded net tubular
• Figure 5a is a schematic diagram of a modified extruded net tubular
• Figure 5b is a schematic diagram of a modified extruded net tubular
• Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of a woven net tubular structure
• Figure 6b is a schematic diagram of a woven net tubular structure
• Figures 7a-7b are a schematic diagrams of a rear seat installation of
• Figures 8a-8c are schematic diagrams of a rear seat installation of the
• Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a rear seat installation of the
• preferred embodiment comprises lap belt 102, shoulder or torso belt 103,
• an inflatable section 101 comprising a torso portion lOlt, buckle
• belt 102 and torso belt 103 form one continuous strap which is attached to or
• Lap belt 102 is
• the lap belt 102 is connected to anchored inertial reel 117 so that the length
• Inertial reel 117 pivotally mounts lap belt 102 to the floor or seat
• lap belt 102 ends at the male portion (the tongue) of buckle assembly 105.
• the male portion (the tongue) may or may not be fixed to the
• the tongue is either a fixed tongue or a sliding tongue, depending
• Buckle strap 107 is pivotally
• buckle assembly 105 fasten
• the gas generator could also be located in the seat base
• Durable tubing 116 provides a fluid path from gas generator
• inflatable section 101 extends diagonally from
• the vehicle e.g., at the roof rail or at the upper B-pillar area (not shown)).
• the torso belt 103 then is anchored to the seat 121 or vehicle (not shown) by an inertial retractor 118. As shown in Figure la, torso strap 103 is
• inertial retractor 118 preferably routed inside the vehicle seat to inertial retractor 118, which is
• gas generator 122 is preferably mounted inside the
• Torso strap 103 buckle
• strap 107, and lap belt 102 are formed from conventional webbing material
• strap 107 could be a steel
• the key component of the safety belt system 110 is the inflatable
• inflatable structure is a braided tube 101 that is integrated in the torso belt
• the braided tube 101 is similar to the braided tubes disclosed in U.S.
• Figures lf and lg are schematic diagrams of the latch assembly
• the generator is placed in the buckle assembly of the torso belt.
• Figure lf is a schematic diagram of the latch assembly of the seat belt
• frangible seals 144 and 146 allowing gas to flow from gas generator 150
• Lock tang 149 (at the end of the latch assembly) engages
• Figure lh is an overall schematic diagram of this
• Braided tube 101 is shown in detail in Figures 2a-2d. Braided tube
• Typical fiber materials include aramid, nylon, dacron, polyamide and
• Braided tube 101 is made of continuous fibers that may or
• elastomeric material such as silicone rubber
• the fibers of this invention form spirals and change their orientation (included longitudinal angles) upon inflation. Prior to inflation,
• the spirals are stretched-out longitudinally and the tubular restraint has a
• the fibers seek an orientation that allows a larger volume
• angle 201 is a longitudinal angle and angle 202
• braided tube 101 is elongated with its woven fibers forming obtuse and
• the fibers upon inflation, the fibers will seek a preferred maximum longitudinal angle
• the angle after inflation is approximately 100° in an unloaded, or unconstrained
• the percentage of contraction is not a function of the initial
• Lf is the length of flat, uninflated, material
• Li is the length of unconstrained inflated material
• Li/Lf cos ( ⁇ i/2)/cos ( ⁇ f/2) (6)
• Lf - Li Lf(l - cos ( ⁇ i 2)/cos ( ⁇ f/2)) (7) where: ⁇ f is the longitudinal angle prior to inflation ⁇ i is the longitudinal angle after inflation.
• the invention contracts as a result of both inflation
• the braid contraction is in addition to — not instead of — the retraction in a
• the fibers in the braided tube form clockwise and counterclockwise
• the spirals are stretched-out longitudinally, and have a relatively small
• the tube fibers seek an orientation that allows a larger
• Figure 2b shows that as it inflates, braided tube 101 shortens in
• the braid fibers ultimately seek an
• the fibers in the uninflated braided tube typically have a longitudinal
• maximum longitudinal inflation angle of the fibers is approximately 110°.
• Figure la shows seat belt system 110 of the present invention in the
• the seat belt system 110 is constrained on the outboard side by the first inertial reel 117 and on
• inertial reel 118 (shoulder or torso belt) inertial reel 118. Inertial reels 117 and 118 lock up
• braided tube 101 As braided tube 101
• the male portion of the buckle assembly 105 can be located
• Braided tube 101 is not stowed under any belt member, but is instead
• tube 101 is a seamless structure.
• braided tube 101 When fully inflated, braided tube 101 has a diameter of
• inflated braided tube 101 helps to further restrict occupant motion.
• the present invention provides side impact crash
• Figures 3a and 3b illustrate the results of simulated crash tests.
• the belt continues to contract and further restrains the occupant
• the crash sensor detects the impact, and initiates inflation of
• Figures 4a and 4b show how the extruded net contracts in length as it is
• intersecting members 401 form flexible joints 402 at the intersections of the
• this embodiment uses members 501 which
• intersections 502 include nodes 504
• fabricate the modified extruded net include nylon and polyester fibers.
• Extruded Net can be obtained from Paeon, Inc., City of Baldwin Park, California 91706, or from Polynet, Inc., P.O. Box 27, Three Rivers,
• a third preferred embodiment used a woven net, as shown in Figures
• Figures 6a and 6b show fibers 601 woven in a net comprising
• the woven net is similar to the extruded net, but the
• woven net include nylon, polyester and aramid fibers.
• the gas generator 122 used in the invention is preferably similar to
• the present invention could be installed for the protection of
• front seat occupants e.g., a driver and a passenger
• front seat occupants e.g., a driver and a passenger
• the inflatable portion could also be routed through a constraint at the top of the back of the rear seat, over the rear shelf of the
• the retractor uses an
• inertial reel i.e., a reel that locks up in the event of a frontal impact.
• the rigid hose is connected to a hose, which in turn is attached to a rigid pipe.
• the rigid hose is connected to a hose, which in turn is attached to a rigid pipe.
• FIGS. 8a-8c illustrate an alternative to the embodiment shown in
• Figures 7a-7b The embodiment of Figures 8a-8c uses a flexible hose, and a
• flexible retractor includes torsion springs 801 and rollers 802 to hold flexible
• Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.
• fill hose 901 is held in a low-friction channel 902.
• Fill hose 901 is held in a low-friction channel 902.
• gas generator 907 is connected at one end to gas generator 907 and at its opposite end to
• Retractor 906 reels in or pays out the belt as the occupant sits back or moves
• Figure 9 shows the position of the hose and inflatable
• connector 905 move up the channel to accommodate the forward position of
• the hose material itself (e.g., nylon) is resilient such that the
• D-ring 903 that positions the inflatable structure over the
• Graphite powder or other lubricants may be used,

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (2)

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ID=22268078

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (15)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1998
  • 1998-10-09 IL IL14132798A patent/IL141327A0/xx unknown
  • 1998-10-09 EP EP98957322A patent/EP1117567A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-10-09 WO PCT/US1998/021601 patent/WO2000021798A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-10-09 JP JP2000575727A patent/JP2002527282A/ja active Pending
  • 1998-10-09 CA CA002341509A patent/CA2341509A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-10-09 AU AU13606/99A patent/AU1360699A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-10-09 KR KR1020017003821A patent/KR20010106490A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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