ES2535560B1 - Airbag system for passenger transport - Google Patents

Abstract

A system of airbags for use in terrestrial or aquatic means of passenger transport comprising inflatable cushions, supply to said inflatable cushions of air or gas from general deposit and individual deposits for the control cabin and for the passenger cabin. The electricity supply to the system comes from the general supply of the means of transport, or it can be individualized by means of electrochemical batteries that activate electrovalves and operate by sudden deceleration, one for each airbag.

Description

DESCRIPTION

AIRBAGS SYSTEM FOR PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION MEANS OBJECT

The present invention relates to a system of airbags for use in terrestrial means or 5 passenger transport hubs. Particularly, it refers to a system of airbags for use in, among others, railways, buses, trucks that have the capacity and authorization to transport someone other than the driver himself, surface and underwater watercraft.

10 BACKGROUND

It is well known the use of airbags or inflatable cushions in cars. Its use in other areas, for example on motorcycles, is very restricted.

WO 2009/077628 (of the same inventor) discloses an airbag system for aircraft for use in all types of aircraft, both commercial, sports, ultralight, and 15 military civilians, including those that use rotors (helicopters).

There is no background in the prior art on the use, except in cars, of airbags in terrestrial or aquatic means of passenger transport such as, mainly, railways and buses.

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However, it is easy to imagine the importance that the introduction of such airbags in railways and buses would have for the salvation of multiple lives or reduction of the importance of personal injury in the case of accidents.

An airbag system for use in land or water passenger transport means is claimed in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION

The invention is an integral system of airbags for land or aquatic means of passenger transport consisting of:

- inflatable cushions through a supply of air or gas from tanks,

- manual switches for activating the airbags installed in the cockpit and in passenger areas, located in and operable from the dashboard of the cockpit;

- approach sensor - contact to automatically activate said airbag systems in the cockpit and passenger areas;

- electric lines and solenoid valves for inflating inflatable cushions located in the cockpit and passenger areas, and

5 - air or gas conductive pipes.

All the above elements are known in the art. The present invention also includes:

- an electrochemical battery for each airbag in the cases in which an individualized installation is required for each passenger.

In the means of transporting said passengers (railways, buses, trucks, surface and submarine watercraft and the like of any kind and utilization), the preferred location of the airbag system of the invention will be on the back of the 15 back of the previous seats or on the floor. In any of these cases, inflatable cushions can be installed on front screens or on the roof for the first rows of seats. In the control cabins, their most appropriate location would generally be on the ceiling or in an area of the instrument cluster. The receptacles of the inflatable cushions, depending on the case, may adopt a parallelepipedic, spherical or any other configuration. They are provided with pipes that connect them to the air tanks. In the design, a recessed space of the appropriate configuration can be provided in the back of each seat and the inflatable cushions can be placed in these spaces, prior to the molding and / or foaming of the filling material of the passenger seats.

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In this preferred location of the airbag system on the back of the back of each seat, whatever the means of transport, a study should be carried out that takes into account the different configuration, complexity and arrangement of the seats. Likewise, since the seats are provided in some cases with folding trays and other 30 auxiliary elements, their design will be adapted accordingly and the spaces required for expansion of the inflatable cushions must be left.

In the control cabins, due to the significant differences existing between the different models of means of transport and the complexity of the different cabins, a location study should be carried out in each case, although in general the location more

Appropriate inflatable cushions would be on the ceiling. The cause is that the control system of the different means of transpose uses different means to govern them. If the location and configuration of the instrument cluster allow it, the most efficient location of the airbag system will be in an area of the instrument cluster of 5 instruments.

The air or gas tanks for inflatable cushions can be of the individual type or deposits generated according to the design of the means of transport. The individual tanks are arranged for each seat, or group of seats, separately and those of the 10-command cabin are located in the lower area of the floor. In the case of deposits generates, according to the characteristics of the different existing means of transport, a general deposit of air or propellant gas can be used that distributes the gaseous fluid to each airbag by rows or groups of seats for the passenger areas, and cockpit. The airbag system is equipped with pipes that connect it to the air or gas tanks. Its regulation will generally be carried out by means of solenoid valves.

On the other hand, the airbag system can be designed for an autonomous individual installation. In this case, the installation described, in terms of wiring, connections with alternative systems, valves, etc., used for the airbag operating system, both for passenger seats and for the cockpit, It can be perfectly replaced by electrochemical batteries that operate by sudden deceleration, one for each airbag, set for a selected deceleration of the range 5-12 G's, These batteries (usually used by the Army) consist of 2 interior tanks, filled with two chemical substances , the 25 which when coming into contact as a result of a sudden deceleration, give rise to a chemical reaction with the consequent production of sufficient electrical energy for the opening of the solenoid valves or putting into operation of a pyrotechnic system that would open the individual tanks of air or gas, thus activating the airbags. Batteries of this type are, for example, those of lithium ion of the MP / VL series or similar of the 30 Saft company.

These batteries would be connected directly to the airbags becoming a totally autonomous system, eliminating in this way any type of external connection and the technical problems that could arise from this type of installation.

In the latter case, the airbag system for land or water passenger transport means of the invention consists of:

- inflatable cushions;

5 - supply of air or gas from individual deposits and a general deposit;

- electrochemical batteries that work by abrupt deceleration; Y

- air or gas conductive pipes within said control cabin, a pipe going from an individual tank D1 to the instrument cluster Cl, a pipe going from a general tank D2 to the ceiling, and conductive pipes going from the general tank

10 D2 or individual deposits D3 for each seat or group of seats in the passenger cabins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

15 For a better understanding of the airbag system for use in terrestrial or aquatic means of passenger transport of the invention, preferred embodiments thereof will be described below with the help of the accompanying drawing in which, with an indicative and non-limiting character, the following is represented:

Figure 1 schematically represents an arrangement of the components of an airbag system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In a first preferred embodiment of the invention, the installation of the airbag system in the control and passenger cabins of terrestrial or passenger transport means for the protection of cabin and passenger personnel is provided; The system is directly governed manually by the command staff and automatically in the event that the staff fails to react on time. The cabin system governs not only the airbags installed in the cabin, but also 30 drives the airbags installed in the passenger departments.

In this first embodiment, the system comprises inflatable cushions located in the receptacles of the instrument panel and on the roof of the cabin, which are supplied with air or gas impeller from air or gas tanks, individuals D1 or

alternatively from the general warehouse for cabin D2 (its installation locations depend on the type of means of transport); E1-E2 solenoid valves which in turn are placed depending on the location projected for the deposits; a manual switch IMC (manual switch cabin) of activation of the airbags installed in the cabin of 5 command; an IMP manual switch (manual passage switch) for activating the airbags located in the spaces destined for the passage; L1-L2 electric tubs, whose installation depends on the project of location of the air or gas tanks; an approach-contact SAC sensor; and T1-T2-T3 pipes for air / gas, whose installation depends on the project of location of the air / gas tanks.

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With regard to the area of the passage, the performance includes inflatable A3 airbag cushions located in rectangular receptacles arranged in a suitable place on the back of each seat, depending on the existence or not of a folding tray, TV monitor, or similar; individual deposits D3; electrovalves E3-E4, 15 whose arrangement depends on the location of the air or gas tanks; an electrical line L3 of connection with the manual switch and with the approach sensor located in the control cabin; and an air or gas supply pipe T.

In line with the foregoing, the automatic system will also inflate all airbags 20 in the passage.

In the particular case of protection of passengers in the first row of seats, the placement of the airbags should be done in a bulkhead or similar installed for this purpose.

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When in an emergency situation due to technical problems, the cabin personnel, by means of the IMC manual switches for activating the airbags installed in the control cabin, would activate the E1-E2 solenoid valves, releasing the air or gas from the tanks D1-D2, and inflating the inflatable cushions A1 located in the box of 30 instruments of the cabin, and A2 on the roof of the cabin, and by means of the IMP manual switches of activation of the airbags located in the spaces for the passage , and through the electric connection line L3, would activate the E3-E4 solenoid valves, releasing the air or gas from the D3-D2 tanks, inflating the inflatable cushions of the passenger seat backrests.

In the event that the means of transport is approaching an imminent risk of collision to an obstacle, including another means of transport that circulates ahead in the same or opposite direction, due to technical problems or problems of the driver of the means of transport itself, The approach sensor - SAC contact automatically activates the airbag system, which in turn will activate said electrovalves E1-E2, releasing the air or gas from said tanks D1-D2 and inflating said cushions A1-A2, as! such as the E3-E4 solenoid valves, releasing the air or gas from the D3-D2 tanks, inflating the inflatable cushions of the passenger seat backrests.

10 In a second preferred embodiment, the installation described, in terms of wiring, connections with alternative systems, etc., used for the airbag operating system, both for passenger seats and for the cockpit, is replaced by electrochemical batteries that operate by sudden deceleration, one for each airbag, set for a selected deceleration of the range 5-10 G's, 15 These batteries would be connected directly to the airbags becoming a completely autonomous system, thus eliminating any type of external connection and technical problems that could arise from this type of installation. These batteries consist of 2 internal tanks, filled with two chemical substances, which when coming into contact as a result of a sudden deceleration, give rise to a chemical reaction 20 with the consequent production of the electrical energy sufficient for the opening of the solenoid valves or commissioning of a pyrotechnic system that would open individual air or gas tanks, thus activating airbags.

Once the characteristics of the invention have been sufficiently described, as well as about 25 preferred embodiments thereof, it should also be added that it is possible to make modifications of arrangement, shape and materials without altering the essence of the invention that is claimed below.

Claims (3)

1. Airbag system for use in land or water passenger transport, characterized in that it comprises: 5 - inflatable airbag cushions; - supplying said inflatable air or gas cushions from individual tanks D1 for the control cabin and D3 for the passenger cabin and a general tank D2; - electro-chemical batteries that activate electrovalves and operate by sudden deceleration, one for each airbag; Y 10 - air or gas conductive pipes inside said control cabin, going a first pipe from an individual tank D1 to the dashboard of the control cabin, a second pipe going from a general deposit D2 to the roof of the control cabin, and a third pipes going from the general deposit D2 or individual tanks D3 for each seat or group of seats in passenger cabins 15 2. - Airbag system for use in land or water passenger transport, characterized in that it comprises: - inflatable airbag cushions; - supplying said inflatable air or gas cushions from individual tanks 20 D1 for the control cabin and D3 for the passenger cabin and a general tank D2; - an IMC manual switch to activate airbags installed in the cockpit and an IMP manual switch to activate airbags located in the passenger cabins, both said IMC and IMP switches being placed in and being operable from an instrument panel of the cockpit; 25 - approach sensor - contact, SAC, to automatically activate these airbag systems of the cockpit and passenger cabin; - electric lines L1-L2 and electrovalves E1-E2 for the inflation of inflatable cushions located in said control cabin, lines L3 and electrovalves E3 for inflation of inflatable cushions located in said passenger cabins, and electrovalve E4 for 30 actuation of the air or gas supply from a general tank D2; Y - air or gas conductive pipes within said control cabin, the pipe T1 going from the individual tank D1 to the instrument panel, the pipe T2 going from the general tank D2 to the instrument panel, the pipe T3 going from said both tanks D1, D2 to the roof of the cockpit, and conductive pipes T going 35 from individual tanks D3 to the passenger cabin. 3.- Airbag system for use in terrestrial or aquatic means of passenger transport according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the airbag system of the control cabins consists of inflatable cushions installed in the instrument panel and in the ceiling; and because said airbag system of the passenger cabins 5 consists of inflatable cushions installed in rectangular receptacles on the back of the passenger seats of all rows, except the first one, of each passenger cabin, and because inflatable cushions are installed on front screens or on the roof for the front row seats. 10