GB2509370A

GB2509370A - Airbag mounted on a windscreen wiper

Info

Publication number: GB2509370A
Application number: GB201319402A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ajay Hukar; Mahendra Kurkuri
Original assignee: Daimler AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2013-11-04
Filing date: 2013-11-04
Publication date: 2014-07-02
Also published as: GB201319402D0

Abstract

A safety system 32 for a vehicle 10 comprising an airbag 34 mounted on a windscreen wiper 22. If a collision is detected such as with a pedestrian or cyclist then the airbag deploys from a stowed position to a protective position with the airbag 34 extending at least across a portion of the outer surface 28 of a windscreen 14 of the vehicle 10 in the protective position. The airbag moves with the wiper and a control unit 40 determines the position of the windscreen wiper relative to the object in the collision; the control unit 40 communicates with an actuator 42 to move the airbag 34 and wiper 22 to the protective position.

Description

Safety System for a Passenger Vehicle The invention relates to a safety system for a passenger vehicle according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Such a safety system for a passenger vehicle can be found in DE 10 2011 008 285 Al.

The safety system comprises at least one airbag which is deployable from a stowage position into at least one protective position. In the protective position the airbag extends at least across a portion of an outer surface of a windscreen of the passenger vehicle. In DE 102011 008 285 Al, the airbag can be arranged in the region of awindscreen wiper.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety system for a passenger vehicle, the safety system providing a particularly high safety, in particular for pedestrians and cyclists.

This object is solved by an arrangement having the features of patent claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments with expedient and non-trivial developments of the invention are indicated in the other patent claims.

In order to provide a safety system indicated in the preamble of patent claim 1, by means of which a particularly high safety, in particular for pedestrians and cyclists can provided, according to the present invention the airbag is mounted on a windscreen wiper of the passenger vehicle. This means the airbag is arranged on the windscreen wiper in such a way that the airbag is moved together with the windscreen wiper when the windscreen wiper is moved, for example, in relation to the windscreen of the passenger vehicle.

In its protective position the airbag mounted on the windscreen wiper can cover at least a portion of the windscreen and/or a cowl and/or at least one A-pillar of the passenger vehicle so that traffic participants such as pedestrians or cyclists can be cushioned and protected form hitting the windscreen and/or the cowl and/or the A-pillar directly by means of the airbag when a collision of the passenger vehicle with such a traffic participant happens.

Moreover, the airbag can be deployed in a wide range of different positions in relation to the windscreen since the airbag can be moved in relation to the windscreen by moving the windscreen wiper. Thereby, for example, the airbag can be moved by moving the windscreen wiper in dependency on an area in which the traffic participant hits the passenger vehicle. Thus, the traffic participant can be protected very effectively.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention derive from the following description of a preferred embodiment as well as from the drawing. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figures and/or shown in the figures alone can be employed not only in the respective indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention.

The drawing shows in: Fig. 1 partially a schematic and perspective top view of a passenger vehicle comprising a safety system which has at least one airbag being deployable from a stowage position into at least one protective position, the airbag extending at least across a portion of an outer surface of a windscreen of the passenger vehicle in the protective position, wherein the airbag is mounted on a windscreen wiper of the passenger vehicle; and Fig. 2 a schematic view of the safety system.

Fig. 1 shows a passenger vehicle 10. From the passenger vehicle 10, a roof 12, a windscreen 14, lateral A-pillars 16, a bonnet 18, and a cowl 20 can be seen in Fig. 1 at least partially. The passenger vehicle 10 also comprises a windscreen wiper 22 having at least one wiper arm 24 and a wiper blade which cannot be seen in Fig. 1 and is mounted on the wiper arm 24.

The windscreen wiper 22 is pivotably mounted on the body of the passenger vehicle 10 about a rotation axis 26. The passenger vehicle 10 further comprises at least one actuator, in particular an electric motor for moving the windscreen wiper 22 in relation to the body and the windscreen 14. Thus, the windscreen wiper 22 can be moved in relation to the windscreen 14 into different positions by means of the actuator which cannot be seen in Fig. 1. One of said positions of the windscreen wiper 22 is shown in Fig. 1 by a solid line, wherein two other positions of the windscreen wiper 22 are shown in Fig. 1 by dashed lines. The windscreen wiper 22 is used to remove rain and debris from an outer surface 28 of the windscreen 14, the outer surface 28 facing away from an interior of the passenger vehicle 10 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle towards the front. By pivoting the wiper arm 24 about the rotation axis 26 the blade made of rubber and touching the outer surface 28 is pivoted back and forth over the outer surface 28, thereby pushing water and debris from the outer surface 28.

The movement of the windscreen wiper 22 is illustrated by a double arrow 30 in Fig. 1.

The windscreen wiper 22 is movable across a movement area which is arched. For example, the dashed lines in Fig. 1 show respective end positions in which the movement of the windscreen wiper 22 stops and is reversed.

The passenger vehicle 10 also comprises a safety system 32. The safety system 32 comprises at least one airbag 34 which is deployable from a stowage position into at least one protective position shown in Fig. 1. In the protective position the airbag 34 extends at least across a portion of the outer surface 28. This means the airbag 34 is arranged outside the interior of the passenger vehicle 10. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the airbag 34 is mounted on the windscreen wiper 22 so that the airbag 34 is moved together with the windscreen wiper 22 when the windscreen wiper 22 is moved in relation to the windscreen 14, the A-pillars 16, the roof 12 and the bonnet 18. For example, the safety system 32 can comprise a plurality of airbags mounted on the windscreen wiper 22. The at least one airbag can be arranged within the wiper arm 24 in the stowage position. The assembly of the at least one airbag 34 in the stowage position is designed in such a way that the vision for the driver through the windscreen 14 is not affected during operation of the windscreen wiper 22.

In order to deploy the airbag 34 form the stowage position into the protective position, the airbag 34 is inflated with air by means of at least one inflator. Thereby, the airbag 34 can be deployed into the protective position particularly fast.

In the protective position, the airbag 34 covers at least a portion of the hard windscreen 14 and/or at least one of the A-pillars 16 and/or the cowl 20 so that a traffic participant such as a pedestrian or a cyclist, in particular the head of the traffic participant can be protected from hitting the windscreen 14 and/or the A-pillar and/or the cowl 20 directly.

The safety system 32 is also illustrated in Fig. 2. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the windscreen wiper 22 is also a component of the safety system 32. The safety system 32 comprises at least one sensor 36 capable of detecting a collision of the passenger vehicle with a traffic participant such as a pedestrian or a cyclist. The sensor 36 provides a signal 38 characterizing the detected collision. The safety system 32 further comprises a control unit 40 which is an electronic processing unit capable of receiving the signal 38.

The safety system 32 also comprises said actuator for moving the windscreen wiper 22, the actuator being designated with reference sign 42 in Fig. 2. The actuator 42 is configured to move the windscreen wiper 22 and, thus, the airbag 34 from at least one first position into at least one second position in dependency on the detected collision. In other words, if a collision of the passenger vehicle 10 with a traffic participant is detected, the control unit 40 provides a signal 44 for controlling the actuator 42. The actuator 42 is configured to receive the signal 44. By receiving the signal the actuator 42 is controlled or actuated so that the windscreen wiper 22 with the airbag 34 is moved in relation to the windscreen 14 by means of the actuator 42.

Thus, the safety system 32 operates in two stages which are both driven by the sensor 36. A first one of said stages is the movement or rotation of the windscreen wiper 22 into a required position by means of the actuator 42. The second stage is the inflation the airbag 34 into its protective position.

Preferably, the extent of the movement, i.e. the rotation of the windscreen wiper 22 depends on the location at which the traffic participant, in particular the pedestrian or the cyclist impacts on the passenger vehicle 10, in particular a front bumper of the passenger vehicle 10. For example, the sensor is arranged on the front bumper, wherein the safety system 32, in particular the sensor, is configured to determine a location or an area of the vehicle at or in which the traffic participant collided with the passenger vehicle 10, wherein the windscreen wiper 22 together with the airbag 34 is moved by means of the actuator 42 in dependency on the determined location or area. In other words, as soon as the pedestrian collides with the passenger vehicle 10, the sensor 36 identifies the impact position of the vehicle, in particular a co-ordinate in the transverse direction of the vehicle (y-direction) at the front bumper so that the windscreen wiper 22 can be rotated in such a way that the airbag 34 is moved into a position corresponding with the impact position.

For example, the co-ordinate of the impact position in the transverse direction of the vehicle corresponds with the co-ordinate of the airbag 34 in the transverse direction of the vehicle. The vertical height of the airbag 34 may vary for different bumper impact locations.

Thereby, the airbag 34 can be moved into a position at which the pedestrian is likely to hit the windscreen 14 and/or the cowl 20 and/or at least one of the A-pillars 16. For example, as soon as the windscreen wiper 22 reaches the desired position the airbag 34 is inflated and deployed into the protective position before the head of the pedestrian hits the windscreen 14. Thus, the head of the pedestrian can be cushioned by the airbag 34 and protected from hitting the windscreen 1 directly. The airbag 34 can be deployed before and/or after and/or while the windscreen wiper 22 is moved into the desired position by means of the actuator 42.

List of reference signs passenger vehicle 12 roof 14 windscreen 16 A-pillar 16 bonnet cowl 22 windscreen wiper 24 wiper arm 26 rotation axis 26 outer surface double arrow 32 safety system 34 airbag 36 sensor 38 signal control unit 42 actuator 44 signal

Claims

Claims A safety system (32) for a passenger vehicle (10), the safety system (32) comprising at least one airbag (34) which is deployable from a stowage position into at least one protective position, the airbag (34) extending at least across a portion of an outer surface (28) of a windscreen (14) of the passenger vehicle (10) in the protective position, characterized in that the airbag (34) is mounted on a windscreen wiper (22) of the passenger vehicle (10).
2. The safety system (32) according to claim 1, characterized in that the safety system (32) comprises: -at least one sensor (36) capable of detecting a collision of the passenger vehicle (10) with a pedestrian, and -at least one actuator (42)to move the windscreen wiper (22) with the airbag (34) from at least one first position into at least one second position in dependency on the detected collision.
3. The safety system (32) according to claim 2, characterized in that the safety system (32) is configured to move the windscreen wiper (22) from the first position into the second position before and/or while the airbag (34) is deployed.
4. The safety system (32) according to any one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the safety system (32) is configured to determine a location at which the pedestrian collided with the passenger vehicle (10), wherein the windscreen wiper (22) is moved by means of the actuator (42) in dependency on the determined location.
5. The safety system (32) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the sensor (36) is arranged on a front bumper of the passenger vehicle (10).
6. A passenger vehicle (10) comprising at least one safety system (32) according to any one of the preceding claims.