MXPA99003090A - Inflatable protective cushion for covering side windows of a vehic - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an inflatable protective cushion for covering side windows of a vehicle in the event of a side impact, having a front end and a front anchor point in an area of a column A and a rear anchor point in an area of column C of the vehicle, and having a gas distribution pipe extending substantially between columns A and C connected to a gas generator, the gas distribution pipe has a portion located on the inflatable protective cushion and one end located outside the inflatable protective cushion, the end has a piston slidably housed therein, a piston rod connected to the piston protruding from the end of the gas distribution tube, one of the anchor points is provided at a free end of the piston. the piston rod

Description

COJÍ N PROTECTOR I N FLABLE FOR CU WINDOWS LATERAL OF U N VEHICLE LO The invention relates to an inflatable protective cushion for covering the side windows of a vehicle in the event of a side impact, having a front end and a front anchor point in an area of the A column and a rear anchor point in the an area of column C of the vehicle, and having a gas distribution pipe extending substantially between columns A and C of the vehicle and connected to a gas generator. Such a protective cushion is placed in the folded state along the lower roof edge inside the vehicle. Because of the curved shape of the roof edge, the lower edge of the protective cushion has a length greater than the vertical connection line between the two anchor points. When the protective cushion is actuated, the automatic reduction of its lower edge occurs due to the expansion of the protective cushion in the transverse direction towards the connection line between the anchor points. In its activated state, the protective cushion is extended accordingly along its lower edge. However, after the gas pressure inside the protective cushion has decreased, the tension along its lower edge is lost. However, the protection action of the protective cushion is desired in the event of a vehicle rollover, to act as a protective curtain. The protective cushion can not adequately fulfill this function when it is not under tension along its lower edge. By this invention, a protective cushion of the type mentioned initially is developed in the aspect that, upon activation of the protective cushion, it is tensioned along its lower edge with the tension that remains effective even after it has decreased the pressure in the protective cushion. According to the invention this is achieved in that the gas distribution tube has an end with a piston slidably connected thereto, a piston rod connected to the piston protruding from the end of the gas distribution tube, one of the anchor points which is provided at a free end of the piston rod. Upon activation of the protective cushion, the piston and, with it, the piston rod, is pushed out of the front end of the gas distribution tube, causing the front anchor point of the protective cushion to be displaced towards the front. This means that the effective length of the line between the two anchor points is increased. The protective cushion is now stretched along its lower edge between the two anchoring points, independently of a shortening of the protective cushion that will occur when inflated. The tensioning of the protective cushion will remain effective even after its relaxation. According to a preferred embodiment, which is favored by the interior design of modern vehicles, the piston rod is inclined at an acute angle with respect to the straight line defined by the anchor points. With this embodiment there is no need for a separate rear seal for both the piston and the piston rod, because the piston rod is clamped at the front end of the gas distribution pipe, due to the traction exerted along the length of the piston rod. of the lower edge of the protective cushion. Advantages and additional features of the invention read from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the aforementioned drawing, in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic overview of an activated protective cushion in a vehicle; and Fig. 2 shows an enlarged detail view of an area marked by a frame in Fig. 1. The protective cushion, which is generally designated 10 in the illustrations, is designed to cover the side window of a vehicle in the event of a side impact or when the vehicle is overturned, and extends from a front anchor point 12 in column A until reaching an anchor point 14 in column C of the vehicle. A gas generator 16 is additionally placed in the column C, from which a gas distribution pipe 18 leads to the interior of the protective cushion 10. In its activated state, the protective cushion 10 forms a curtain covering the side windows of the vehicle as well as the size of column B. As illustrated in Fig. 1, not all the surface of the protective cushion is inflatable; The front end portion of the protective cushion, which is adjacent to the anchor point 12, is not inflatable. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the gas distribution pipe 18 leaves the protective cushion 10 at its front end and extends to the front anchor point 12. A slide piston 20 is inserted into the front end of the distribution pipe. of gas 18 and a piston rod 22, rigidly connected to the piston, protrudes from the end of the gas distribution tube 18. This end of the gas distribution tube 18 is folded inwardly and thus forms a seal for the piston 22. The free end of the piston rod 22 is provided with a ring 24 which is connected to a tension band 26, sewn on the front end of the protective cushion 10. The flow section of the gas distribution tube 18 is reduced by a gas deflection ramp 28 before leaving the protective cushion 10. The diameter of the gas distribution tube is also reduced at its front end. In its advantageous embodiment, the gas distribution tube 18 extends at its front end by means of an insert tube which is inserted inside the distribution tube of the gas bag 18 and has a cross section with a smaller diameter than that of the tube. of gas distribution 18. To operate the protective cushion, the gas generator 16 is turned on. The compressed gases supplied by the gas generator 16 are fed into the inflatable part of the protective cushion 10 by means of the gas distribution pipe. 18. At the same time, the pressure produced acts on the inner end face of the piston 20, whereby the piston with its piston rod 22 is pushed forward until it meets the retainer provided by the folded end at the front end of the gas distribution tube 18. Together with the piston rod 22, the ring 24 is displaced in a forward direction, whereby the distance between the anchor points 12, 14 is increases and the lower edge of the protective cushion 10 is tensioned accordingly. Since the piston rod 22 is at an acute angle with respect to the vertical line between the anchoring points 12, 14, the piston 20 is clamped at the front end of the gas distribution pipe 18 by the tensile force produced from so that the subsequent catch becomes unnecessary.

Claims (7)

1 . An inflatable protective cushion (10) for covering the side windows of a vehicle in the event of a side impact, having a front end and a front anchor point (12) in an area of a column A and a rear anchor point (14) in an area of the column C of the vehicle, and having a gas distribution tube (18) extending substantially between the columns A and C and connected to a gas generator (16), characterized in that the Gas distribution pipe (18) has one end with a piston (20) slidably accommodated therein, a piston rod (22) connected to the piston (20) protruding from the end of the gas distribution pipe ( 18), one of the anchor points (12) that is provided at a free end of the piston rod (22). The protective cushion according to claim 1, characterized in that the piston rod (22) is inclined at an acute angle with respect to the straight line defined by the anchoring points (12, 14). The protective cushion according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the gas distribution tube (18) projects at the front end of the protective cushion (10) from the latter and extends within the area of the point of front anchor (12). The protective cushion according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the end of the gas distribution tube (18), from which the piston rod (22) is projected, is folded inwardly to form a retainer for the piston (20). The protective cushion according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a ring (24) is formed on the free end of the piston rod (22). The protective cushion according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the flow cross section of the gas distribution pipe (18) is reduced in front of the piston (20). The protective cushion according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gas distribution tube (18) is extended, by means of an insert tube at the end of the gas distribution pipe that houses the piston (20), the insert tube that is inserted in the gas distribution tube (18) and that has a smaller cross section than that of the gas distribution tube (18). SUMMARY An inflatable protective cushion (10) for covering the side windows of a vehicle in the event of a side impact, having a front end and a front anchor point (12) in an area of a column A and an anchor point rear (14) in an area of column C of the vehicle. The protective cushion further has a gas distribution pipe (18) extending substantially between columns A and C. The gas distribution pipe is connected to a gas generator (16). The gas distribution tube (18) has one end with a piston (20) slidably accommodated therein. A piston rod (22) is connected to the piston (20) projecting from the end of the gas distribution tube (18). One of the anchoring points (12) is provided at a free end of the piston rod (22).