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
  • B60R21/20—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components
  • B60R21/207—Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components in vehicle seats
• • 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
  • B60R21/23138—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration specially adapted for side protection
• • 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
  • B60R21/233—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other
• • 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
  • B60R21/2334—Expansion control features
  • B60R21/2338—Tethers
• • 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
  • B60R2021/161—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags characterised by additional means for controlling deployment trajectory
• • 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
  • B60R2021/23107—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration the bag being integrated in a multi-bag system
• • 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
  • B60R21/23138—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration specially adapted for side protection
  • B60R2021/23146—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration specially adapted for side protection seat mounted
• • 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
  • B60R21/233—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other
  • B60R2021/23308—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other the individual compartments defining the external shape of the bag
• • 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
  • B60R21/2334—Expansion control features
  • B60R21/2338—Tethers
  • B60R2021/23386—External tether means

Definitions

• the invention relates to a vehicle seat provided with an enveloping protection system.
• X is a longitudinal front-rear axis of the vehicle directed towards the rear
• Y is a transverse axis directed towards the right of the vehicle
• Z is a vertical axis directed upwards.
• these high-performance airbags each comprise two components placed on the sides of the seat, each of these components having an inflatable bag and at least one strap sewn to said bag.
• the two components deploy forward under the effect of the inflation of the bags to completely envelop the individual who is seated on the seat.
• the strap that is sewn to the air bag is intended to guide the deployment of the bag so that it effectively envelops this individual.
• fitting such an airbag with two components into a seat is complicated because:
• a seat according to the invention comprises a high-performance airbag capable of effectively protecting an individual who would be seated on said seat by enveloping it, while meeting the requirements mentioned above.
• the subject of the invention is a vehicle seat comprising a backrest structure, a seat structure having an anti-submarining hump, and an airbag having two components placed on the sides of said seat on either side of a individual who would be seated on it, so that:
• each component of the airbag comprises a main airbag and at least one strap sewn to said main bag, said component being able to deploy towards the front of the seat in the event of a vehicle impact, so that said components are caused to completely envelop the individual, -said at least one strap of each component has a high attachment point to an upper zone of the backrest structure and a low attachment point to the anti-submarining hump of the seat structure, and said at least one strap of each component passes along one side of the backrest structure and along one side of the seat structure at the same angle as that between the backrest and the seat.
• the seat comprises for each component of the airbag at least one secondary airbag intended to inflate simultaneously with the main bag in the event of an accidental impact of the vehicle, said at least one secondary airbag creating a additional hump on the main bag around which said at least one strap is intended to pass, so as to be taut so that it can effectively guide the deployment of the main airbag.
• the strap of each component of the airbag must have a considerable length in order to be able in particular to run along the side, both the seat cushion and the seat back. However, it turns out that this significant length is greater than the useful length of each strap in order to be able to effectively guide the main inflatable bags of the two components.
• the length of the straps is of the order of 1.3 m in order to be able to be correctly stored in the seat, whereas their useful length in order to be able to effectively guide the main airbags must be of the order of 1 m .
• the length of these straps is therefore not optimized, and said straps run the risk of not guiding the main airbags in an optimized manner.
• a seat according to the invention implements secondary airbags intended to pre-tension the straps so that they guide effectively deploying the main airbags.
• the secondary bags inflate simultaneously with the main bags, and the straps pass around these secondary bags so as to be under mechanical tension.
• Each component of the airbag can comprise one or more secondary bags depending on their volume and their shape.
• the secondary bags can inflate, either from the gases generated in the main air bags, or from their own source of gas.
• these secondary bags are not extensible and have a constant volume once they have been inflated.
• These secondary airbags, once they have been inflated, can take different shapes, such as for example spherical, substantially parallelepiped, cylindrical or elongated coil.
• the secondary airbag is in fluid communication with the main airbag, so that the inflation of the main bag instantly causes the inflation of the secondary airbag.
• the secondary airbags benefit from the gas production sources of the main airbags.
• the gases emitted in said main airbags will more or less quickly invade the secondary airbags in order to put the airbag straps under mechanical tension. These can then correctly guide the deployment of the two components of the airbag.
• each secondary airbag is in fluid communication with the main airbag by means of at least two connecting channels.
• These connecting channels by virtue of their section and their number, must allow rapid passage of the gases between the main airbags and the secondary airbags so that the latter can inflate quickly and play their role as a mechanical tensioning element for the straps.
• the volume of a secondary airbag is less than the volume of a main airbag. Since the secondary air bags do not have the main purpose of protecting an individual who is seated on the seat, they do not have to be particularly bulky. They must be sized as precisely as possible to be able to ensure mechanical tension of the airbag straps.
• the secondary airbag is connected to the main airbag so that when said main airbag is deployed, the secondary airbag is found outside the main airbag relative to said seat.
• the main air bags come directly on contact with an individual sitting in the seat, and the secondary airbags are separated from that individual by the primary airbags. Since these secondary air bags are not intended to directly protect an individual, they may find themselves far from the latter.
• the secondary airbag once it has been inflated following an impact of the vehicle against an external obstacle, creates an elongated bead on the main airbag.
• This elongated bead is comparable to a sausage of substantially cylindrical shape.
• each component of the airbag comprises two straps which, when said component is mounted in said seat, are superimposed in the latter, said at least one secondary inflatable bag being intended to place mechanical tension said two straps.
• it may be considered to use either two low-volume secondary airbags dedicated to the two straps of the same component, or a single extended secondary airbag serving the two straps of the same component.
• the seat structure has on each of its sides an internal casing and an external casing providing a passage between them, said at least one strap of each component of the airbag being inserted in said passage , said two casings constituting guide tracks to allow said at least one strap and the main airbag to deploy on the seat in the event of a vehicle impact.
• the presence of these two casings on each side of the seat will allow smooth deployment of the airbag straps in the right direction.
• said at least one strap of each component of the airbag is bent with an angle greater than 90°, during its passage between the backrest structure and the seat structure. This preliminary folding is doubly necessary, because:
• the backrest is pivotally mounted around an axis of rotation, said at least one strap of each component of the airbag being placed in alignment with this axis of rotation. In this way, passing in alignment with this axis of rotation, said at least one strap of a component of the airbag will not prevent the backrest from being adjustable in inclination.
• a vehicle seat according to the invention has the advantage of having an enveloping airbag capable of being deployed in an efficient manner, while being stored effectively in the seat. It also has the advantage of implementing airbag deployment means in the form of secondary airbags, which occupy almost no volume during the normal life of the vehicle, in which a seat would be mounted according to the invention.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat according to the invention, the airbag being deployed around an individual seated on said seat
• FIG. 2 is a side view of a seat according to the invention, showing the actual length of an airbag strap and the useful length of said strap to deploy the airbag
• FIG. 3 is a front view of a secondary airbag superimposed on a main airbag and of an airbag strap placed above this secondary airbag,
• FIG. 4 is a side view of the secondary inflatable bag, the main inflatable bag and the airbag strap of Figure 3, said secondary bag and said main bag being inflated,
• FIG. 5 is a side view of the secondary airbag superimposed on the main airbag and the airbag strap of Figure 3, said two bags being folded,
• FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the secondary inflatable bag, the main inflatable bag and the airbag strap of Figure 4,
• a seat 1 according to the invention is preferably a passenger seat conventionally comprising a seat 2 provided with a structure and a backrest 3 also provided with a structure.
• this airbag 4 comprises two separate components 5, 6, each comprising a main airbag 7 and two straps 8, 9 sewn to this main airbag 7.
• the two components 5, 6 of this airbag 4 are stored in the seat 1, on each side 10, 11 thereof, so that they find themselves placed on either side of an individual who would be seated on said seat 1.
• a seat according to the invention is preferably a seat with an on-board belt.
• the two straps 8, 9 are superimposed and include a top attachment point to an upper 12 and central zone of the structure of the backrest 3, as well as a low attachment point to a central zone 13 of an anti-submarining hump 14 of the seat 2.
• the main inflatable bag 7 is inserted into one side of the backrest 3, so as to not to be visible from outside said seat 1 .
• the two superimposed straps 8, 9 extend between their top attachment point and their bottom attachment point, passing over the sides of the backrest 3 and the sides of the seat 2 without ever being visible from outside said seat. 1 .
• the backrest 3 can be tilted around an axis of rotation 17 extending in a horizontal and transverse direction Y of the vehicle in which the seat 1 would be mounted. This axis of rotation 17 is placed in a rear zone of the seat 2 and the two superimposed straps 8, 9 pass in alignment with this axis of rotation 17 so as not to hinder the adjustment in inclination of said backrest 3.
• the two components 5, 6 of the airbag 4 deploy simultaneously forwards like the 'indicate the two arrows 15, 16 to completely encircle an individual who would be seated on the seat 1. Indeed, during this deployment the two bags 7 inflated with the two components 5, 6 come in continuity with each other to form a continuous protective bead around the individual.
• the deployment of each component 5, 6 of the airbag 4 is caused by the inflation of the inflatable bag 7 and is guided by the two straps 8, 9 which are sewn to said bag 7 and which are fixed both to the backrest structure 6 and to the seat structure 2.
• the two components 5, 6 of the airbag 4 can play their protective role perfectly, it is important to integrate them properly into the seat 1, so that they can deploy smoothly and efficiently in the desired direction, and without interfering with other elements of said seat.
• the integration of the two components 5, 6 of the airbag 4 in the seat 1 must not prevent, for example, the operation of a seat belt, or the elements of the said seat 1 must not be able to harm the deployment of said components 5, 6.
• the two straps When the two straps extend on the sides of the backrest 3 and of the seat 2 between their upper attachment point and their lower attachment point, they are constrained to have a significant length which can for example be of the order of 1.3 m.
• the useful length of said straps 8, 9 in order to be able to effectively guide the deployment of the main airbag 7 of each component 5, 6 of the airbag 4 on the seat 1, must be reduced, for example to be of the order of 1 m.
• the seat 1 of Figure 2 has both airbag straps 8, 9 having a normal path along the backrest 3 and the seat 2, and shortened straps 18 materializing straps 8, 9 shortened airbags.
• the seat 1 comprises either airbag straps 8, 9 4 having a normal route, or shortened airbag straps 18. These two types of straps 8, 9, 18 appear at the same time in FIG. 2 to directly compare their trajectory within the seat 1 .
• a seat 1 implements at least one secondary inflatable bag 20 for each of said components 5, 6, intended tensioning the airbag straps 8, 9 so that they can effectively guide the main airbag 7 of each component 5, 6.
• This secondary airbag 20 constitutes an additional bag which differs from the main airbag 7.
• the volume of the secondary airbag 20 is less than the volume of the main airbag 7.
• each secondary airbag 20 is in fluid communication with the main airbag 7 by means of at least one connecting channel 21 .
• a gas emission device of the main airbag 7 is activated, making it possible to instantly inflate said main airbag 7 as well as the airbag secondary 20 thanks to the presence of this link channel 21. Indeed, the gases will instantly pass from the main airbag 7 to the secondary airbag 20.
• the secondary airbag 20 is arranged on the main airbag 7 so that the two superposed straps 8, 9 of a component 5, 6 of the airbag 4 pass above said airbag secondary 20 which is folded over the main airbag 7.
• the secondary airbag 20 is folded against the main airbag 7 which is itself folded, and the two straps 8, 9 pass over said secondary airbag 20 in being in contact with him.
• the secondary airbag 20 is inserted between the main airbag 7 and said two straps 8, 9 superimposed.
• each component 5, 6 deploys forwards so that:
• the secondary airbag 20 is inflated on the main airbag 7, being separated from the individual by the main airbag 7,
• the superimposed straps 8, 9 match the shape of the secondary inflatable bag 20 by being in contact with said secondary inflatable bag 20.
• the secondary airbag 20 thus contributes to improving the effectiveness of said straps 8, 9 in their role of guiding the deployment of the main airbag 7 .
• each component 5, 6 of the airbag 4 may for example have two secondary airbags 20 each having the shape of an elongated cylindrical bead. These two secondary airbags 20 are advantageously identical, and when the component 5, 6 of the airbag 4 deploys, as shown in FIG. 7, said two secondary airbags 20 emerge from the main airbag 7 while being parallel and placed one above the other.

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

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=80999941

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2021
  • 2021-12-23 FR FR2114358A patent/FR3131258A1/fr active Pending
• 2022
  • 2022-12-05 EP EP22830482.0A patent/EP4452698A1/de active Pending
  • 2022-12-05 WO PCT/EP2022/084472 patent/WO2023117395A1/fr not_active Ceased

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