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
  • B60R21/235—Inflatable members characterised by their material
• • 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
  • B60R21/233—Inflatable members characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other
  • B60R2021/23324—Inner walls crating separate compartments, e.g. communicating with vents
• • 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
  • B60R21/235—Inflatable members characterised by their material
  • B60R2021/23504—Inflatable members characterised by their material characterised by material
  • B60R2021/23528—Metal

Definitions

• THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to an air-bag and more particularly relates to an air-bag intended for use in a vehicle such as a motor car.
• a typical air-bag is made of a fabric, such as a woven polyamide material, and the air-bag is adapted to be inflated very rapidly in response to a signal which senses an impact or an accident situation.
• air-bags are located in the steeling wheel or in the dashboard to provide protection for an occupant of the vehicle in the event that a frontal impact should occur.
• Such air-bags are inflated relatively rapidly and commence deflation almost immediately so as to provide a soft cushion.
• a soft cushion tends to decelerate an occupant of a vehicle, when the occupant is thrown forwardly during a frontal impact, without injuring the occupant.
• Air-bags of the type described above are generally inflated in a period of time which is less than 50 milliseconds, and often the air-bag is substantially deflated 200 milliseconds after the impact is sensed. Consequently, air-bags of this type do not provide sustained protection, which may be desirable in the event of a roll-over accident and which may also be desirable in the event that a second impact should occur following an initial impact.
• the present invention seeks to provide an improved air-bag arrangement.
• an air-bag comprising a first metal layer and a second metal layer super-imposed on the fust layer, at least one of said layers being plastically deformable, the layers being provided with a peripheral seal sealing the layers together to define a substantially gas-tight chamber, there being gas generating means within the chamber and means to activate the gas generating means.
• the metal may be coated with plastic or laminated in some other way.
• the metal layers preferably have a very low permeability.
• the air-bag when inflated, may remain inflated for a relatively long period of time, thus providing sustained protection.
• the use of metal may also provide the advantages of corrosion resistance and wear resistance.
• the first chamber is substantially gas-tight.
• both of the layers are plastically deformable.
• the gas generating means are retained in position by regions of the said two layers where the two layers are secured together.
• the gas generating means are retained in position in a respective chamber that communicates with the fust chamber.
• the gas generating means comprise pyrotechnic means, and the means to activate the gas generating means comprise means to ignite the pyrote clinic means.
• the pyrotechnic means comprise an igniter adapted to be ignited in response to an electrical signal, and an inflator adapted to be activated in response to activation of the igniter.
• the igniter comprises a pyrotechnic charge within a housing formed of a plastics material.
• the inflator comprises a pyrotechnic charge within a housing of a plastic material.
• the igniter and the inflator are located in adjacent recesses defined by the said first metal layer and second metal layer, with there being a passage between the two recesses providing a communication between the recesses.
• the pyrotechnic means communicate with the rest of the chamber by one or more flow passages of a constricted size.
• the chamber is divided into a plurality of intercommunicating cells by a plurality of regions in which the first layer is secured to the second layer.
• the first layer is welded to the second layer.
• peripheral seal is constituted by a peripheral weld.
• FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an air-bag in accordance with the invention in an uninflated state
• FIGURE 2 is a part schematic view corresponding to Figure 1 of an air- bag in an uninflated state
• FIGURE 3 is a side view of the air-bag of Figures 1 and 2 in an uninflated state
• FIGURE 4 is a schematic sectional view of the air-bag, as shown in Figures 1-3, in an inflated state.
• a substantially square metal sheet 1 is illustrated, which is to be utilised to form part of an air-bag in accordance with the invention, with regions 2 of the sheet which are to be welded or otherwise secured to another corresponding sheet being shaded.
• the sheets may be plastic coated or laminated in some other way.
• the metal sheet has a thickness such that the metal sheet is plastically deformable.
• the regions 2 where the sheet is to be welded to a corresponding sheet include a peripheral region 3 surrounding substantially the whole of the exterior of the sheet, with the exception of a small region 4 located in the centre of one side of the sheet.
• the region 4 is slightly recessed, and is aligned with a larger recess 5 located adjacent the edge of the sheet.
• the recess 5 is bounded by regions 6,7 where the sheet 1 is to be welded or otherwise connected to a super-imposed sheet.
• the regions 6,7 are separated by a fuither passageway 8 which is aligned with the passageway 4 that is located on the opposite side of the recess 5.
• the passageway 8 leads to a fuither recess 9.
• the recess 9 is bounded by a region 10 which substantially surrounds the recess 9.
• the region 10 has two breaks or passages 11, 12 formed therein.
• the passages 11, 12 form a communication between the recess 9 and two cells 13, 14 which are defined by a plurality of aligned regions 15 where the illustrated sheet 1 is to be connected to a super-imposed sheet.
• the regions 15 extend transversely across the sheet 1 in three parallel lines, with the regions 15 being separated by gaps 16.
• the regions 15 and the gaps 16 serve to define not only the cells 13, 14 but also two additional cells 17, 18, with all of the cells 13, 14, 17, 18 being in communication with each other through the gaps 16.
• the igniter 20 has a plug 21 which is formed on one end of a cylindrical housing 22.
• the plug 21 is located within the passage 4 and the housing 22 is located within the recess 5.
• the housing 22 may be formed of a plastics material.
• the housing 22 contains a pyrotechnic charge.
• a pah of electric wires 23 are provided which extend through the plug to a squib located within the housing 22.
• the inflator 24 comprises a cylindrical housing, which may be formed of a plastics material, which contains an appropriate pyrotechnic material. An inflator 24 is located within the recess 9.
• Figure 3 illustrates a complete air-bag in accordance with the invention.
• a second sheet 30, which is identical to the sheet 1 of Figure 1, is superimposed on top of the combination of the sheet 1, the igniter 20 and the inflator 24 as shown in Figure 2.
• the sheet 1 and the sheet 30 are welded or otherwise seemed together in all of the shaded regions 2 as described above and with reference to Figure 1.
• the peripheral region 3 is seemed to the plug 21 of the igniter 20 so that the peripheral region 3 forms a substantially gas- tight seal.
• the complete air-bag comprises a first or main chamber incorporating the cells 13, 14, 17 and 18, which is in communication with a second chamber, constituted by the recess 9, where the pyrotechnic material is retained in position by the regions of the metal sheets 1 and 30 that have been welded together.
• the igniter 20 is of a lesser diameter than the inflator 24.
• the air-bag as described above, is intended to be mounted m a motor vehicle and associated with a sensor adapted to sense an accident situation.
• the sensor provides an electrical signal through the wires 23 to activate the igniter 20.
• the pyrotechnic material within the igniter 20 is thus ignited.
• Hot gas flows through the passage 8 extending between the recess 5 and the recess 9.
• the hot gas ignites the pyrotechnic charge within the inflator 24.
• the pyrotechnic charge within the inflator 24 generates hot gas which passes through the passageways 11 and 12 from the recess 9 so that gas is supplied to the cells 13 and 14, and subsequently to the cells 17 and 18.
• the passageways 11 and 12 are dimensioned so that a sufficient pressure is maintained within the recess 9 during combustion of the pyrotechnic material within the inflator 24 to ensure that the combustion is completed in an effective manner.
• the cells 13, 14, 17 and 18 inflate to have a substantially cylindrical form, as shown in Figure 4.
• the first chamber defined by the cells 13, 14, 17 and 18 may be substantially gas-tight, and thus all of the combustion products of the pyrotechnic charges within the igniter 20 and the inflator 24 are retained within the chamber defined by the air-bag, and the heat of combustion is also retained within the ah-bag, at least initially. This facilitates full inflation of the air-bag.
• the gas generating means constituted by the igniter and the inflator are contained within the chamber defined by the ah-bag, there is no need to provide a separate gas generator housing, and also no need to provide a duct connecting the gas generator housing to the air-bag.
• the ah-bag may be provided with a vent adapted to permit some gas to escape.
• the vent may be sealed, for example by a foil or plug, so that the vent may open automatically if the pressure in the ah-bag exceeds a predetermined threshold.
• an air-bag as described above may be mounted in vaiious alternative positions within a motor vehicle.
• the air-bag may be mounted on a side door to provide protection in the event that a side impact should occur, or may be mounted beneath a dashboard to provide protection for the knees and lower legs of an occupant of a vehicle.
• the air-bag will be inflated within a relatively short period of time, but will remain inflated for a relatively long period of time, at least when compared with the time of inflation of a prior proposed fabric bag. Since the metal is not permeable, or has a veiy low permeability, the gas will be retained within the bag, thus keeping the bag inflated.
• An ah-bag as described may thus provide valuable protection in the event, for example, of a roll-over accident. Since the ah-bag is of metal, and the metal is plastically deformed during inflation, the air-bag will retain its "inflated" form, even if a vent is opened and the ah pressure in the air-bag is reduced to atmospheric pressure.
• the use of metal may make the ah-bag especially suitable for use where the bag is exposed to wear, or where the bag is in an environment where a fabric bag may deteriorate, particularly if the metal is corrosion-resistant.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Air Bags (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10866737

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (22)

Citations (7)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1999
  • 1999-12-21 GB GB9930186A patent/GB2357465B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2000
  • 2000-12-21 WO PCT/SE2000/002624 patent/WO2001045986A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-12-21 US US10/168,338 patent/US6783154B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-12-21 DE DE60012046T patent/DE60012046T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-12-21 JP JP2001546508A patent/JP4636483B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-12-21 EP EP00989126A patent/EP1240057B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-12-21 AU AU25670/01A patent/AU2567001A/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (7)

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