FR2885098A1 - Knee gas cushion folding method, involves spreading knee gas cushion such that front wall of cushion is placed on back wall of cushion, folding back lateral sections of cushion, and rolling cushion with folded back sections - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves spreading a knee gas cushion (10) such that a front wall (12) of the cushion is placed on a back wall (14) of the cushion. The lateral sections of the knee gas cushion are folded back, and the cushion is rolled with the folded back lateral sections. The cushion is rolled in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the folding of the lateral sections. An independent claim is also included for a device for retaining a passenger of a vehicle including a gas cushion module containing a knee gas cushion.

Description

The invention relates to a method of folding a gas cushion,

  particular of a knee gas cushion. The invention further relates to a gas bag module and a vehicle passenger restraint device.

  Knee protection systems by a gas cushion, as known for example from DE 298 07 424 Ul, serve to prevent the knees of a vehicle passenger from being, in case of restraint, displaced in the direction of the vehicle. of the dashboard. The gas bag deploys in front of the passenger's knees so that after inflation, the knees are directly supported on the gas bag and are retained by it.

  One condition for a knee gas cushion to perform its function is fast and reliable deployment. The invention provides a method of folding a gas cushion which ensures a perfect deployment of the gas cushion.

  The method according to the invention for folding a gas cushion, in particular a knee gas cushion, comprising a front wall and a rear wall, has the following steps: - spread the gas cushion so that the front wall comes to place on the rear wall, -rate side sections of the gas bag, and - wind the gas bag with the side sections folded.

  A folded gas bag according to the invention has an optimized deployment behavior which manifests itself in particular by an initial extension of the gas bag in the transverse direction of the vehicle. In this way it is possible to avoid direct "forward projection" on the passenger's legs of the vehicle. Moreover, it can be opposed to a deployment of the gas cushion between the knees of the passenger of the vehicle, which would cause an undesirable leg spacing. The folding according to the invention allows for rapid positioning of the inflated gas bag, so that the gas bag is available as a retaining means in a timely manner.

  The invention further provides a gas bag module for a vehicle passenger restraint device, comprising a gas generator and a gas bag which is folded according to the method according to the invention.

  Furthermore, the invention provides a vehicle passenger restraint device comprising a gas bag module according to the invention, wherein the gas bag module is arranged behind the dashboard of a vehicle.

  Other features and advantages of the invention emerge from the description which follows and the attached drawings to which reference is made. The drawings show: FIGS. 1 to 6, schematically individual steps of the folding method according to the invention in perspective view; and FIG. 7, a schematic side view of a portion of the gas bag module according to the invention.

  Figure 1 shows in simplified form a knee gas pad 10 spread of a gas cushion module for one. vehicle passenger restraint device, having a front wall 12 which rests on a rear wall 14, only the front wall 12 being visible in the representation of Figure 1. The front wall 12 is the wall facing the passenger of the vehicle, more precisely to his knees, in the inflated state of the gas bag 10. Inside the gas bag 10 can be arranged guard bands to further influence the deployment behavior and the shape of the gas bag 10 inflated.

  Behind the gas bag 10 is arranged a gas generator 16 which is generally fixed to the rear wall 14 of the gas bag 10 before the folding operation. It is also possible to arrange the gas generator 16 inside the gas bag 10. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the gas generator 16 occupies a median position in the lower region of the gas bag 10. In practice, the gas bag 10 is first laid with the rear wall 14 on a flat surface, before performing the following folding steps.

  As indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1, lateral sections 18 of the gas bag 10 are folded forward in a first folding step, so that the shape shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. Next, a first portion 20 of the side section 18 is folded outwardly in the opposite direction (FIG. 3) before a second portion of the side section 18 is folded outwardly again together with the first folded portion 20. It is of course also possible to carry out these folding steps firstly on a lateral section 20 and then on the other lateral section 20. The gas cushion 10 obtains, in both cases, the shape shown in FIG. 4, in which the lateral sections 18 folded several times do not extend above the gas generator 16 or above the region on which the gas generator 16 is subsequently mounted.

  The gas cushion 10 with the folded side sections 18 is then wound backward starting at the top, as shown in FIG. 4. In practice, the gas cushion 10 is rotated before this step, so that come to rest on its front wall 12 and on the side sections 18 folded. As shown in FIG. 5, however, the gas cushion 10 is not fully wound. On the contrary, the section 22 of the gas bag 10, on which is also going to be mounted the gas generator 16, is placed in the opposite direction around the wound section of the gas bag 10, so that the cushion pack to At the end, the gas has the shape shown in FIG. 6. In FIGS. 5 and 6, for better illustration, the folded lateral sections 20 are not shown separately.

  In order to fold the gas bag 10 (including winding), conventional auxiliary tools such as folding blades or the like can be used. To temporarily fix the gas bag 10 in the respective shape and to predetermine the size of the windings during winding, it is advantageous to use staples.

  Figure 7 shows the gas bag package permanently folded with the gas generator 16 from the side. Due to the last folding step, the gas generator 16 is on the outer face of the gas bag package.

  The gas bag package can now be secured with an envelope to simplify storage and transportation. The gas bag 10 is mounted behind the dashboard of the vehicle, together with the gas generator 16 and as part of a driver's side gas bag module for a passenger knee restraint.

  The gas cushion folding method can be applied in principle also for other gas cushion modules, in particular for front passenger gas cushion modules.

2885098 5

Claims (12)

  A method of folding a gas bag (10), in particular a knee gas bag, having a front wall (12) and a rear wall (14), the method having the following steps: - spreading the gas bag (10) so that the front wall (12) comes to rest on the rear wall (14), - fold down side sections (18) of the gas bag (10), and wind the gas bag (10). ) with the side sections (18) folded.   2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the winding direction is substantially perpendicular to the direction of folding.   3. Method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that a lateral section (18) is folded in a first direction and then a first portion (20) of the lateral section (18) is folded in a second direction opposite to the first direction.   4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that a second portion of the lateral section (18) is folded in the second direction together with the folded portion (20).   5. Method according to one of the claims   characterized in that only a predetermined portion of the gas bag (10) is wound, and the remaining portion (22) of the gas bag (10) is placed around the wound portion of the gas bag (10), opposite of the winding direction.   6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for folding the lateral section (18), using staples, folding blades or the like to temporarily fix the gas bag (10).   7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for winding the gas bag (10) is used staples, folding blades or the like.   A gas bag module for a vehicle passenger restraint device, comprising a gas generator (16) and a gas bag (10) which is folded according to a method according to one of the preceding claims.   9. Gas bag module according to claim 8, characterized in that the gas generator (16) is arranged outside the gas bag (10).   10. Gas cushion module according to claim 8, characterized in that the gas generator (16) is arranged inside the gas bag (10).   11. Gas bag module according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the folded side sections (18) do not extend above the gas generator (16).   12. Gas bag module according to one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that there are arranged guard strips inside the gas bag (10).   13. Vehicle passenger restraint device comprising a gas bag module according to one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the gas bag module is arranged behind a dashboard of a vehicle.