GB2261409A

GB2261409A - A vehicle occupant restraining system

Info

Publication number: GB2261409A
Application number: GB9223867A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wolfgang Henseler
Original assignee: Daimler Benz AG; Mercedes Benz AG
Current assignee: Daimler Benz AG
Priority date: 1991-11-16
Filing date: 1992-11-13
Publication date: 1993-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2012-11-13
Also published as: FR2683778A1; DE4137810C1; FR2683778B1; GB2261409B; GB9223867D0

Abstract

The internal pressure of an airbag 5 is rendered lower or higher as a function of whether the safety belt 2 is being worn or not. The internal pressure of the airbag is controlled in the event of an accident by the actual body of the vehicle occupant 4, for which purpose the airbag 5 has on its surface, facing the vehicle occupant, gas openings 8 which are covered by the body of the vehicle occupant 4 later or earlier or to a lesser or greater extent as a function of whether the safety belt is being worn or not. <IMAGE>

Description

" - J ' ---; 1 A vehicle occupant restraining system The invention relates

to a vehicle occupant restraining system for a -- motor vehicle, which comprises an inflatable airbag and a safety belit.

In EP-A 0 357 225 a restraining system is described which conprises an inflatable airbag and a safety belt, it being possible to control the internal pressure of the - I -her the safe' airbag as a function Of Whet L-y belt is being worn or not, in that the insertion of a lock tongue of the safety belt brings about a specific switching position of a switch in the locil-, of the safety belt. The inflation process of the airbag can thus he influenced by means of a comprehensive electrical control de-vice.

US-PS 33 511 519 discloses an airbag for supporting a vehicle occ-Liuant, which airbag can be inflated in the event of an accident, the airbag having gas openings in the direction of the vehicle cccupant., through which openings the gas can escape. These qas openings are intended to render the airbag capable of being ccr.pressed due to the gas escaping in the event of tiie impact. of the vehicle occupant, and thus the vehicle occupant is not thro-,:n back so strongly by the gas cushion.

DE-PS 39 16 Oil discloses a gas cushion having outlet openings which permit a partial pressing out of the gas voluir..e at particular points of the gas cushion, by which means the gas cushion can be cOnpressed in a selectively stronger manner when loaded by a vehicle occupant in this region.

According to the present- invention there is provided a vehicle occupant restraining system for a motor vehicle, which comprises an inflatable airbag and a safety belt, wherein the internal pressure of the airbag is controlled in the event of an accident by the actual body of the vehicle occupant impinging thereon, for which purpose the airbag has on its surface facing the vehicle occupant when expanded, 2 gas openings which are covered by the body of the vehicle occupant later or earlier or to a lesser or greater extent as a function of whether the safety belt is being worn or not.

In the event of an accident, the airbag is unfolded by being filled with a gas. The airbag also has on a surf ace, facing the vehicle occupant, gas openings which are covered by the body of the vehicle occupant later or earlier or to a lesser or greater extent as a function of whether L.he safety belt is being worn or not. As a result, the internal pressure of the airbag can be varied via the out-flowing quantity of gas for the vehicle occupant who has put on his belt and the vehicle occupant who has not.

The gas openings in the airbag can be obtained in a known manner by means of an airbag material which is produced from ncn-coated material and which, due tO its porosity, allows the pressurised gas to escape frointri the inside of the airbag at points provided for this purpose.

in each case a larger quantity of gas should escape L.hrough the gas openings at the sides of the airbag facing away fro-m the vehicle occupant than towards the vehicle the vehicle occupant. is troubled by the occupant, so that escaping gas to the smallest possible degree.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a side view of a vehicle occupant wearing a safety belt with the airbag inflated, and Fig. 2 shows a side view of a vehicle occupant who is nott- wearing a safety belt. and whose body is being thrown into an inflated airbag.

In Fig. 1, a vehicle occupant 4 can be seen sitting on a front seat 3 and wearing a saf ety belt 2 in a motor vehicle 1 (only partially illustrated). In front of the vehicle occupant 4 in the direction of the front of the vehicle there is an inflated airbag 5 which originally lay folded into a dashboard 6 and which has been suddenly filled, in the event of an accident of the vehicle 1, by t-he 3 activation of a gas source (not illustrated). Here, there is the problem that the internal pressure of the airbag 5 has to be sufficiently high to restrain, in the event of an accident, even a vehicle occupant not wearing a safety belt, as illustrated in Fig. 2. An airbag 5 for a vehicle occupant 4 not wearing a saf elCy belt should, however, have a lower internal pressure than an airbag 5 for a vehicle occupant 4 not wearing a safety belt. In order to obtain a different internal pressure of the airbag 5 for a vehicle occupant 4 wearing a safety belt and for a vehicle occupant 4 not wearing a safety belt, the airbag 5 has on a surface 7, facing the vehicle occupant 4, gas openings 8 which in the event of an accident are covered by the body of the vehicle occupant 41 as a function of whether the safety belt 2 is being worn or not. This internal pressure of -&-he airbag 5 can be controlled by the later impacting of the body of the vehicle occupant 4 wearing the safety belt against the gas openings 8 and also by a smaller degree of covering of the gas openings 8 in the case of a vehicle occupant 4 wearing a safety belt, the result being in each case that a larger quantity of gas escapes and thus there is a greater degree of compliance of the airbag 5 in the case of an impact of the vehicle occupant 4.

The airbag 5 can be produced fron non-coated material which is permeable to gas in certain areas, the airbag 5 having in each case a greater degree of permeability to gas than is constituted by the quantity of gas which escapes through the gas openings 8 in front of the body of the vehicle occupant 4, whilst maintaining the possibility of controlling the internal pressure of the airbag at the gas outlet openings 8 in front of the body of the occupant 4 at sides 9 facing away from the vehicle occupant 4, so that the vehicle occupant 4 is not troubled severely by the escaping gases.

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Claims

1. A vehicle occupant restraining system for a motor vehicle, which comprises an inflatable airbag and a safety belt, wherein the internal pressure of the airbaq is controlled in the event of an accident by the actual body of the vehicle occupant impinging thereon, for which purpose the airbag has on its surface facing the vehicle occupant when expanded, gas openings which are covered by the body of the vehicle occupant later or earlier or to a lesser or greater extent as a function of whether the safety belt is being worn or not.

2. A vehicle occupant restraining system according to Claim 1, wherein the airbag is produced from non-coated material which is permeable to gas in certain areas.

3. A vehicle occupant restraining system according to Clain, I or 2, wherein in each case a larger gas outlet is provided on the sides facing away front the vehicle occupant than in front of the body of the vehicle occupant.

4. A vehicle occupant restraining system for a motor vehicle, substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

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