GB2283463A - Airbag made from one or two pieces of cloth - Google Patents
Airbag made from one or two pieces of cloth Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2283463A GB2283463A GB9421339A GB9421339A GB2283463A GB 2283463 A GB2283463 A GB 2283463A GB 9421339 A GB9421339 A GB 9421339A GB 9421339 A GB9421339 A GB 9421339A GB 2283463 A GB2283463 A GB 2283463A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- air bag
- panels
- vent hole
- vehicle
- lower panel
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
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
- B60R21/23—Inflatable members
- B60R21/231—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration
-
- 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
- B60R21/2342—Tear seams
-
- 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
- B60R2021/23169—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration specially adapted for knee protection
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Air Bags (AREA)
Description
Title of The Invention
Air Bag 2283463 Field of The Invention and Related Art Statement
The present invention relates to an air bag of an air bag device for protecting an occupant in a passenger seat or a rear seat when a vehicle comes into collision.
A conventional air bag for a passenger seat will be described with reference to Fig. 16 and Fig. 17.
The air bag 1 for a passenger seat has an opening 2 for introducing gas from an inflator (not shown) which is disposed at the rear portion of the air bag 1. The air bag 1 is made of cloth and provided with flaps 3 which are made by impregnating synthetic resin or piling up and sewing reinforcing cloths on the periphery of the opening 2. The flaps 3 are provided with a plurality of through holes for inserting bolts or rivets for connecting the air bag 1 to a container (not shown) of the air bag device.
The air bag 1 is made by sewing the peripheries of side panels 7 on the periphery of a long center panel 6.
The side panels 7 are each provided with a vent hole 5 previously. When the occupant plunges into the air bag 1, the vent holes 5 allow gas to flow out to absorb an impact applied to the occupant.
In the conventional air bag for a passenger seat as 1 mentioned above, it takes many man-hours to sew the side panels 7 on the center panel 6 of a predetermined size because of a three-dimensional sewing.
That is, when each of the side panels 7 is sewed on the center panel 6, the peripheries of them are superposed on each other and sewed by a sewing machine. For superposing the peripheries, it is necessary to curve the center panel 6 along the periphery of the side panel 7. Therefore, it is difficult to superpose the edge portion of the center panel 6 on each of the peripheries of the side panels 7. Because the center panel 6 and the side panels 7 are sewed up with curving the center panel 6, it is difficult and needs a lot of time and labor to sew them up.
When one of side panels is sewed on the center panel after the other side panel has been sewed on the center panel, it is particularly difficult to sew them up because the other side panel sewed up is bulky and is an obstacle to sew them up.
Object and Summary of The Invention
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air bag which can be made by sewing easily.
An air bag according to the present invention relates to an air bag of an air bag device for a passenger seat or a rear seat and is characterized in that the air.bag is made by superposing two panels and connecting the peripheral portions 2 of the panels.
Preferably, one of the panels has a vent hole and an opening for introducing gas from an inflator. The panels are preferably made of cloths and are connected by sewing.
Since the air bag of the present invention is made by superposing panels such as two sheets of cloth and connecting the peripheries of them by sewing or the like, the air bag is produced easily.
As one of panels is provided with an opening for an inflator and a vent hole, the relative portion between the opening and the vent hole can be kept constant.
Brief Description of The Drawings
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an air bag according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section view of the air bag according to the embodiment; Fig. 3 is a section view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section view of a vent hole of the air bag according to the embodiment; Fig. 5 is a side view showing a sewing method of the air bag according to the embodiment; Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the air bag according to the embodiment; Fig. 7 is a side view of the inside of a vehicle 3 mounted with an air bag device according to the embodiment; Fig. 8 Is a side view of the inside of the vehicle mounted with the air bag device according to the embodiment; Fig. 9 is a side view of the inside of the vehicle mounted with the air bag device according to the embodiment; Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing a production method of an air bag according to another embodiment; Fig. 11 is a side view of the inside of a vehicle mounted with an air bag device according to another embodiment; Fig. 12 is an enlarged section view of a portion XII of Fig. 11; Fig. 13 is a bottom view of an air bag 18C according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 14 is a side view of the inside of a vehicle mounted with an air bag device according to another embodiment; Fig. 15 is a side view of the inside of a vehicle mounted with an air bag device according to a different embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 16 is a perspective view of a conventional air bag for a passenger seat; and Fig. 17 is an exploded view showing the structure of the conventional air bag for a passenger seat.
Detailed Description of The Preferred Embodiment 4
Embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings. Figs. 1-6 are explanatory views of an air bag according to an embodiment of the present invention and Figs. 7-9 are side views showing the inside of a vehicle mounted with an air bag device according to the embodiment.
As shown in Fig. 9, the air bag device 14 is mounted in an instrument panel 12 of the vehicle 10. The air bag device 14 has a casing 16, an air bag 18 folded and accommodated in the casing 16, an inflator 20 for generating gas for deploying the air bag 18, and a lid 22 covering the casing 16. The lid 22 has one side connected to the casing 16 to allow the lid to rotate toward the cabin 24 of the vehicle. The other side of the lid 22 opposite to the one side is connected to the casing 16 such that it becomes detached from the casing 16 upon pushing force of the air bag 18 when the inflator 20 operates to deploy the air bag 18.
The air bag 18 is formed in an envelope shape by sewing up two sheets of cloth which are a lower panel 34 at the lower side thereof and an upper panel 36 at the upper side thereof, as shown in Figs. 1-6. The air bag 18 is structured to extend toward the portion about the corner 32 where a seat cushion 28 and a seat back 30 of a seat 26 in the vehicle 10 cross each other.
The lower panel 34 has an opening 38,for introducing gas from the inflator 20 and vent holes 40. Flaps 42, 44, 46, and 48 are disposed on the periphery of the opening 38 and are 5 connected to the casing 16.
As shown in Fig. 6, the panels 34 and 36 are formed in a shape extending longer in the longitudinal direction than the width direction of the vehicle 10. The opening 38 in the air bag 18 is positioned near the front of the vehicle.
The flaps 42 and 46 are integral with the lower panel 34. The flaps 44 and 48 are formed by sewing other cloths on the lower panel 34. However, all the flaps may be integral with the lower panel or may be provided by sewing other cloths on the lower panel.
The flaps 42,44,46,48 are provided with a plurality of through holes (slits may be employed) for inserting bolts or rivets. The tips of the flaps 42-48 are turned to hold a reinforcing rod 52 and are sewed back on the flaps 42-48, respectively.
Each vent hole 40 is provided with a ring-shaped patching cloth 54 sewed on the periphery thereof. The panels 34 and 36 are, work bench 56 as shown in Fig. 5, superposed on each other on a of a sewing machine. The peripheral portions of the panels 34 and 36 are, as shown in Fig. 6, sewed up securely with a thread 58.
It is quite easy to sew them up because the two panels 34 and 36 are sewed in a state that the panels 34 and 36 are superposed on the flat work bench 56 as mentioned above.
The panels 34 and 36 are preferably structured so as CS to cross aslant textures of the panels each other.
When the vehicle mounted with the air bag device 14 as structured above comes into collision, the inflator 20 spouts out gas to deploy the air bag 18. The lid 22 is pushed by the air bag 18 deploying and opens toward the cabin 24 of the vehicle. The air bag 18 then extends into the cabin 24 of the vehicle, as shown in Fig. 7. The air bag 18 extends toward the portion about the corner 32 where the seat cushion 28 and the seat back 30 cross each other, as shown in Fig. 8. The air bag 18 finally touches the waist 60 of the occupant to restrain the waist 60 of the occupant.
As a result of various kinds of experiments, it is proved that the air bag 18 restraining the waist 60 can protect enough the occupant as well as a conventional air bag deployed widely in front of the upper part of the occupant, such as a part from the chest to the head, of the occupant. The air bag device 14 has an effect of restricting a forward movement of the lower part of the occupant without a seat belt when the vehicle comes into collision.
The air bag 18 of the air bag device 14 has a small volume as compared with a conventional air bag which deploys widely in front of the upper part of the occupant. Therefore, the air bag 18 is completely deployed in a short time. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the inflator 20.
The air bag 18 made by sewing up two panels 34 7 and 36 is employed in the above embodiment, but the invention is not limited thereto. An air bag according to the present invention may be an air bag such as an air bag 18A shown in Fig. 10 which is structured by folding one sheet of panel 62 in two and sewing up the peripheral portions of an upper panel 62a and a lower panel 62b.
Fig. 11 is a side view of the inside of a vehicle mounted with an air bag device according to another embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 12 is an enlarged section view of a portion XII of Fig. 11.
In the air bag 18B used for this embodiment, one part of the lower side surface is lapped and sewed up with a thread 64. The thread 64 has characteristics to snap when a tensile force applied to the thread 64 exceeds a predetermined value due to an inner pressure of the air bag 18B exceeding a predetermined value.
In this embodiment, side portions with said vent hole in between are sewed up with the thread 64. That is, the vent hole 40 is in a closed state.
In the air bag device as structured above, the air bag 18B is deployed by an operation of the inflator. The thread 64 does not snap until the air bag 18B becomes in an intermediate deployed state as shown in Fig. 11. After the intermediate deployed state, the inner pressure in the air bag 18 B is increased so that the tensile force applied to the thread 64 exceeds the strength of the thread 64, thereby the 8 thread 64 snaps. The tip portion of the air bag 18B extends toward the seat cushion 28 first as shown by the arrow 99 and, by a snap of the thread 64, the air bag then extends toward the portion about the corner 32 where the seat cushion 28 and the seat back 30 cross each other, as shown by the arrow 100. The vent hole 40 is opened by the snap of the thread 64. In this embodiment, the vent hole 40 is closed until the thead 64 snaps so as to prevent the gas leakage through the vent hole 40.
A seam of a thread 64A may be disposed not only at the side portions with the vent hole 40 in between of the lower panel but also at any place in an air bag 18C as shown in Fig. 13.
The air bag according to the present invention can be used for a topmount-type air bag device or a mid-mount-type air bag device by changing the position of the opening 38 for an inflator.
The top-mount-type air bag device is mounted in the upper part of the instrument panel and the mid-mount-type air bag device is mounted in the middle part in the vertical direction of the instrument panel 12.
By choosing a position of the opening for an inflator, the air bag according to the present invention can be mounted on any vehicle having an instrument panel of different forms or a body of different sizes without changing the.outer size of the air bag. Fig. 15 shows an example that the air bag 18E 9 is mounted on a small vehicle having an angular-shaped instrument panel 12. By choosing a position and a configuration of the opening for an inflator, the air bag can be applied to the top-mount-type air bag device or the mid-mount-type air bag device even if the air bag has the same outer size.
The air bag device is mounted on the instrument panel 12 in the above mentioned embodiments, the air bag device may be mounted also on the seat back 30 for protecting an occupant in a rear seat.
The panels are made of cloths in the above mentioned embodiments, the panels may be instead made of synthetic resin sheet.
The upper panel and the lower panel are connected by sewing up, these panels may be connected also by adhesion or heat sealing.
As mentioned above, according to the present invention, an air bag can be made easily and the production cost of an air bag for a passenger seat or an air bag for a rear seat can be remarkably reduced. A relative position between the vent hole and the opening for an inflator can be defined exactly as desired in design.
1 0 1
Claims (12)
1. An air bag of an air bag device for a passenger seat or a rear seat comprising two panels, said panels being superposed and connected at the peripheral portions thereof.
2. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of said panels has a vent hole and an opening for introducing gas from an inflator.
3. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said panels are made of cloths and are connected by sewing.
4. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said panels are a lower panel and an upper panel which are not integral, said lower panel is provided with an opening for introducing gas from an inflator and a vent hole, said panels are formed in a shape extending longer in the longitudinal direction than the width direction of a vehicle, and said vent hole in said lower panel is positioned near the front of the vehicle.
5. An air bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein the 1 1 peripheral portions of said opening is provided with flaps for fixing said air bag to a casing of said air bag device.
6. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said panels are formed by folding back a long sheet of a panel.
7. An air bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein one part of said lower panel is lapped and sewed by a thread to shorten the length of said lower panel in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, said thread has a strength to snap after said lower panel is deployed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
8. An air bag as claimed in claim 7, wherein said thread connects side portions with said vent hole in between so that said vent hole is closed.
9. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein the peripheral portions of said panels are connected by sewing, adhesion or melting.
10. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air bag is for a passenger seat.
11. An air bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air bag is for a rear seat.
1 2
12. An air bag substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying description and Figures 1 to 9; or Figure 10; or Figures 11 and 12; or Figure 13; or Figure 14; or Figure 15 of the drawings.
13
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP5276811A JPH07125592A (en) | 1993-11-05 | 1993-11-05 | Air bag |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB9421339D0 GB9421339D0 (en) | 1994-12-07 |
| GB2283463A true GB2283463A (en) | 1995-05-10 |
Family
ID=17574722
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9421339A Withdrawn GB2283463A (en) | 1993-11-05 | 1994-10-24 | Airbag made from one or two pieces of cloth |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPH07125592A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE4439267A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2283463A (en) |
Cited By (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0700809A1 (en) * | 1994-09-08 | 1996-03-13 | Morton International, Inc. | Hidden volume cushion |
| EP0773144A1 (en) * | 1995-11-13 | 1997-05-14 | TRW Occupant Restraint Systems GmbH | Air bag for a vehicle occupant restraint system |
| EP0794090A1 (en) * | 1996-03-05 | 1997-09-10 | Morton International, Inc. | Flat-sewn airbag cushion attachment and method of making same |
| US5765863A (en) * | 1996-03-27 | 1998-06-16 | Morton International, Inc. | Airbag cushion having compression-deployed section |
| GB2339558A (en) * | 1998-07-10 | 2000-02-02 | Rover Group | A vehicle airbag assembly |
| EP1283136A3 (en) * | 2001-08-10 | 2003-09-10 | Takata Corporation | Leg protection device for vehicle occupant |
Families Citing this family (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2000016210A (en) * | 1998-06-30 | 2000-01-18 | Nippon Plast Co Ltd | Airbag |
| KR101684948B1 (en) * | 2010-05-06 | 2016-12-09 | 현대모비스 주식회사 | Passenger airbag apparatus |
| JP5615098B2 (en) * | 2010-08-26 | 2014-10-29 | 日本プラスト株式会社 | Airbag device for passenger seat of automobile |
Citations (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2237538A (en) * | 1989-08-11 | 1991-05-08 | Takata Corp | Inflatable air bags for use in vehicles |
| US5100168A (en) * | 1990-04-06 | 1992-03-31 | Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. | Air bag for vehicles |
| EP0485599A1 (en) * | 1990-05-30 | 1992-05-20 | Takata Kabushiki Kaisha | Air bag in air bag unit |
| US5141787A (en) * | 1990-05-28 | 1992-08-25 | Nippon Seiki K.K. | Air bag |
| GB2263668A (en) * | 1992-01-28 | 1993-08-04 | Autoliv Dev | Vehicle air bag construction |
| EP0558762A1 (en) * | 1991-09-27 | 1993-09-08 | Teijin Limited | Airtight woven sheet for air bags and method of manufacturing the same |
-
1993
- 1993-11-05 JP JP5276811A patent/JPH07125592A/en active Pending
-
1994
- 1994-10-24 GB GB9421339A patent/GB2283463A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1994-11-03 DE DE4439267A patent/DE4439267A1/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2237538A (en) * | 1989-08-11 | 1991-05-08 | Takata Corp | Inflatable air bags for use in vehicles |
| US5100168A (en) * | 1990-04-06 | 1992-03-31 | Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. | Air bag for vehicles |
| US5141787A (en) * | 1990-05-28 | 1992-08-25 | Nippon Seiki K.K. | Air bag |
| EP0485599A1 (en) * | 1990-05-30 | 1992-05-20 | Takata Kabushiki Kaisha | Air bag in air bag unit |
| EP0558762A1 (en) * | 1991-09-27 | 1993-09-08 | Teijin Limited | Airtight woven sheet for air bags and method of manufacturing the same |
| GB2263668A (en) * | 1992-01-28 | 1993-08-04 | Autoliv Dev | Vehicle air bag construction |
Cited By (8)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0700809A1 (en) * | 1994-09-08 | 1996-03-13 | Morton International, Inc. | Hidden volume cushion |
| EP0773144A1 (en) * | 1995-11-13 | 1997-05-14 | TRW Occupant Restraint Systems GmbH | Air bag for a vehicle occupant restraint system |
| US5806881A (en) * | 1995-11-13 | 1998-09-15 | Trw Occupant Restraint Systems Gmbh | Gas bag for a vehicle occupant restraint system |
| EP0794090A1 (en) * | 1996-03-05 | 1997-09-10 | Morton International, Inc. | Flat-sewn airbag cushion attachment and method of making same |
| US5765863A (en) * | 1996-03-27 | 1998-06-16 | Morton International, Inc. | Airbag cushion having compression-deployed section |
| GB2339558A (en) * | 1998-07-10 | 2000-02-02 | Rover Group | A vehicle airbag assembly |
| EP1283136A3 (en) * | 2001-08-10 | 2003-09-10 | Takata Corporation | Leg protection device for vehicle occupant |
| US7207594B2 (en) | 2001-08-10 | 2007-04-24 | Takata Corporation | Leg protection device for vehicle occupant |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPH07125592A (en) | 1995-05-16 |
| DE4439267A1 (en) | 1995-05-11 |
| GB9421339D0 (en) | 1994-12-07 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |