EP2475556A2

EP2475556A2 - Passenger airbag, method of manufacturing the same, and method of deploying the same

Info

Publication number: EP2475556A2
Application number: EP10815630A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jin Kuk Kim; Myung Sik Pae; Jeong Hyun Cheon
Original assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Current assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Priority date: 2009-09-10
Filing date: 2010-09-10
Publication date: 2012-07-18
Also published as: EP2475556A4; CN102481889B; CN102481889A; WO2011031085A2; WO2011031085A3

Abstract

Disclosed are a passenger airbag, a method of manufacturing the same, and a method of deploying the same. The airbag has a simple structure so that the airbag is easily manufactured and waste parts of a fabric are significantly reduced. The position of an inflator is varied such that a part of the airbag corresponding to the head or the body of the passenger is inflated with a greater volume.

Description

PASSENGER AIRBAG, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND METHOD OF DEPLOYING THE SAME

The present invention relates to a passenger airbag, a method of manufacturing the same, and a method of deploying the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a passenger airbag and a method of manufacturing the same, in which the passenger airbag has a simple structure so that it can be easily manufactured and a waste part of a fabric for the passenger airbag can be significantly reduced after the cutting process.

In addition, the present invention relates to a method of deploying an airbag in such a manner that a part of the airbag corresponding to the head or the body of the passenger can be selectively and rapidly inflated with a greater volume as compared with other parts of the airbag by varying the position of an inflator installed in the airbag.

In general, an airbag system is provided in a vehicle as a safety device to attenuate impact applied to passengers and to prevent the passengers from spring out of the vehicle by inflating an airbag cushion just like a balloon when vehicle collision occurs.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional passenger airbag module and FIG. 2 is a development view showing a fabric for manufacturing the conventional passenger airbag module.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional passenger airbag module Af includes an airbag Bf having one main panel 4f, two side panels 2f and a tether 6f, and an inflator 200f installed at one side of the airbag Bf.

The main panel 4f has a recess at the center thereof and the side panels 2f have many curved parts so that the shape of the airbag Bf is complicated.

In particular, the side panel 2f has a substantially triangular shape, in which a plurality of projections having irregularly curved shapes other than linear shapes are formed at a lower portion of the side panel 2f, so the shape of the side panel 2f is complicated.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the main panel 4f and the side panels 2f are designed on a fabric 100f while leaving a great margin in the fabric 100f. Thus, when the main panel 4f and the side panels 2f are prepared from the fabric 100f, a great amount of waste parts is generated, so that the product yield is degraded and the product cost is increased due to the wasted parts.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3 shows an airbag disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,454,594.

As shown in FIG. 3, the airbag 10g includes a first textile member 16g having a butterfly shape and a second textile member 14g, in which an edge 20g of the first textile member 16g are joined with an edge 18g of the second textile member 14g.

According to the above patent, the airbag 10g having a pocket shape is formed as the first and second textile members 16g and 14g are joined together. However, the first and second textile members 16g and 14g have complicated shapes with many irregularly curved parts so that a great amount of waste parts may be generated after the cutting process for the fabric.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the inflator 200f is biased to one side of the side panel 2f in the conventional airbag Bf.

Therefore, when the inflator 200f is operated, an airbag cushion is deployed toward the passenger in the form of a pocket, thereby attenuating impact applied to the passenger.

However, the conventional airbag Bf represents several problems as follows.

First, when the airbag cushion is deployed toward the passenger after colliding with a windshield, a lower portion of the airbag is spaced apart from a dashboard due to the pocket structure of the airbag, so that the airbag may be shaken while being inflated. Thus, the airbag may not stably attenuate the impact.

That is, the passenger makes contact with the airbag cushion as the airbag has been almost deployed. At this time, if the airbag is still shaken, the impact absorbing function of the airbag may not be effectively realized.

Second, the airbag is manufactured with various shapes depending on the type of vehicles. For instance, the airbag can be manufactured such that a part of the airbag corresponding to the head of the passenger can be inflated greater than a part of the airbag corresponding to the body of the passenger.

In contrast, the airbag can be manufactured such that a part of the airbag corresponding to the body of the passenger can be inflated greater than a part of the airbag corresponding to the head of the passenger.

However, in this case, the airbags must be designed with various shapes, so that much time is required for designing and manufacturing the airbag and the manufacturing cost is increased.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems occurring in the prior art, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a passenger airbag and a method of manufacturing the same, in which the passenger airbag has a hexahedral structure so that excessively curved parts are removed and wasted parts are minimized after the cutting process for a fabric, thereby significantly improving the product yield of the airbag and reducing the manufacturing cost thereof.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a passenger airbag and a method of manufacturing the same, in which the passenger airbag has a hexahedral structure so that a lower portion of an airbag is supported on a dashboard when the airbag is deployed, thereby preventing the airbag from being shaken and allowing the airbag to be stably deployed.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling deployment of an airbag, in which a part of the airbag corresponding to the head or the body of the passenger can be selectively and rapidly inflated with a greater volume as compared with other parts of the airbag by varying the position of an inflator installed in the airbag in such a manner that the airbag can be deployed suitably for the type of vehicles.

In order to accomplish the above objects, there is provided a passenger airbag including two side panels having substantially rectangular shapes; and a main panel adjacent to edges of the side panels, wherein the side panels are bonded to the main panel so that the passenger airbag has a substantially hexahedral shape.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a passenger airbag. The method includes the steps of preparing a fabric; preparing a side panel having a regular square shape or a rectangular shape from one side of the fabric; preparing a main panel having a predetermined length from the other side of the fabric; and bonding the side panel with the main panel, wherein the airbag is manufactured in a substantially hexahedral shape.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling deployment of an airbag in a passenger airbag module including a plurality of side panels, a main panel bonded to edges of the side panels and an inflator installed on the main panel. According to the method, a position of the inflator is varied such that a specific part of the airbag is inflated with a greater volume as compared with other parts of the airbag when the airbag is completely deployed.

According to the present invention, the passenger airbag has a hexahedral structure without curved parts so that wasted parts can be minimized after the cutting process for a fabric, thereby significantly improving the product yield of the passenger airbag and reducing the manufacturing cost thereof.

In addition, according to the present invention, the tether installed in the conventional airbag is not required, so the manufacturing cost for the passenger airbag can be reduced.

Further, the lower portion of the airbag can be supported on the dashboard when the airbag is deployed, so that the airbag can be prevented from being shaken, thereby effectively protecting the passenger.

In addition, according to the present invention, a part of the airbag corresponding to the head or the body of the passenger can be selectively and rapidly inflated with a greater volume by varying the position of an inflator installed in the passenger airbag, so that the manufacturing process of the passenger airbag can be simplified and the manufacturing cost thereof can be remarkably reduced.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional passenger airbag module;

FIG. 2 is a development view showing a fabric for manufacturing a conventional passenger airbag module;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an airbag disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,454,594;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a passenger airbag module according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a development view showing a fabric for manufacturing a passenger airbag module according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6 to 8 are views showing the deployment procedure of an airbag according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a passenger airbag module according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10 to 12 are views showing the deployment procedure of an airbag according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a view showing the simulation of an airbag deployed toward a model of a human body; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a part shown in FIG. 13.

Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a passenger airbag module according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a development view showing a fabric for manufacturing the passenger airbag module according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are views showing the deployment procedure of an airbag according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the passenger airbag module X1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an airbag B and an inflator 200 installed in the airbag B. The airbag B has two side panels 2 and a main panel 4 bonded to edges of the side panels 2 so that the airbag has a hexahedral structure.

A hole H1 is formed at one side of a bottom surface of the main panel 4, and the inflator 200 is installed in the hole H1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the side panel 2 has a substantially regular square shape or a rectangular shape.

If the side panel 2 has the rectangular shape, the airbag B has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. In addition, if the side panel 2 has the regular square shape, the airbag B has a regular hexahedral shape.

In addition, corner portions of the side panel 2 may be right-angled or smoothly curved in an arc shape C.

Therefore, corner portions of the airbag B may be right-angled or smoothly curved in an arc shape C corresponding to the shape of the corner portions of the side panel 2.

The main panel 4 has a strip shape having a predetermined length such that the main panel 4 can be bonded to four lateral sides of the side panel 2.

In particular, one main panel 4 is bonded to four lateral sides of the side panel 2 or the main panel 4 divided into several parts is bonded to four lateral sides of the side panel 2 after connecting several parts of the main panel 4 with each other to manufacture the airbag B.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, waste parts of the fabric where the main panel 4 and the side panels 2 are designed to manufacture the airbag B can be minimized. In detail, about 95% of the fabric can be utilized so that the raw material cost can be reduced.

According to the related art, the side panel 2 is formed with irregularly curved parts and the main panel 4 has the non-linear structure, so that the cutting process for the fabric may be complicated and a great amount of waste parts may be generated.

However, according to the present invention, the main panel 4 and the side panels 2 have the rectangular structure, that is, the linear structure, so the waste of the fabric can be significantly reduced after the cutting process.

Hereinafter, the method of manufacturing the passenger airbag module X1 according to the present invention will be described.

The method includes the steps of preparing the fabric, preparing the side panels 2 in the form of the rectangular shape or the regular square shape from the fabric, preparing the main panel 4 having the predetermined length from the fabric, and bonding the side panels 2 to the main panel 4, thereby forming the airbag B having the hexahedral structure.

That is, after arranging the two side panels 2 such that they are spaced apart from each other by a width of the main panel 4, the main panel 4 is bonded to edges of the side panels 2 by using adhesive or sewing, thereby forming the airbag B having the substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

Then, the hole H1 is formed at one side of the bottom surface of the airbag B, and the inflator 200 is installed in the hole H1.

The inflator 200 is generally known in the art, so the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, the deployment procedure of the airbag B according to the first embodiment will be described.

The inflator 200 is installed at one side (left part in the drawing) of the airbag B.

Thus, if there is no interference of a windshield W, the airbag B is inflated and deployed in the form of the rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in FIG. 6, so that a lower portion A2 of the airbag B is directed toward the passenger and an upper portion A1 of the airbag B is directed toward the windshield W.

In particular, a left part of the airbag B, into which gas pressure is directly introduced from the inflator 200, is rapidly inflated with a greater volume as compared with other parts of the airbag B.

However, actually, the airbag B is deployed toward the passenger after the upper portion A1 of the airbag B collides with the windshield W as shown in FIG. 7, so that the shape of the upper portion A1 of the airbag B may be deformed while the airbag B is being deployed toward the passenger.

That is, the airbag B according to the present invention has no tether therein, so the shape of the airbag B can be freely changed.

Thus, the part of the airbag B, which has been primarily inflated, makes contact with the head of the passenger, thereby attenuating the impact applied to the head of the passenger.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the lower portion A2 of the airbag B is inflated while being securely supported on the dashboard D in front of the passenger seat, so that the airbag B may not be shaken when the airbag B is deployed.

Accordingly, gas is introduced into the airbag B through the hole H1 formed at one side of the bottom surface of the airbag B, so that the upper portion A1 of the airbag B is rapidly inflated with a greater volume, thereby protecting the head of the passenger.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a passenger airbag module according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 10 to 12 are views showing the deployment procedure of the airbag according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, the passenger airbag module X2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes an airbag B and an inflator 200 installed in the airbag B. The airbag B has two side panels 2 and a main panel 4 bonded to edges of the side panels 2 so that the airbag has a hexahedral structure.

A hole H2 is formed at one side of a bottom surface of the main panel 4, and the inflator 200 is installed in the hole H2.

The structure of the side panels 2 and the main panel 4 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is identical to that of the first embodiment of the present invention, so detailed description thereof with be omitted in order to avoid redundancy.

Hereinafter, the deployment procedure of the airbag B according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12.

As shown in FIG. 10, the inflator 200 is installed at the center of the bottom surface of the airbag B.

Therefore, gas introduced into the airbag B from the inflator 200 is uniformly distributed in the upper portion A1 and the lower portion A2 of the airbag B.

If there is no interference of the windshield W, the airbag B may be inflated and deployed in the form of the rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in FIG. 10.

However, actually, the airbag B is deployed toward the passenger after the upper portion A1 of the airbag B collides with the windshield W as shown in FIG. 11.

In addition, the lower portion A2 of the airbag B is inflated after being reflected from the dashboard D.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 12, a middle part of the airbag B is bulged so that the middle part of the airbag B may primarily make contact with the body of the passenger, thereby attenuating the impact applied to the body of the passenger.

Accordingly, gas is introduced into the airbag B through the hole H1 formed at the center of the bottom surface of the airbag B, so that the middle part of the airbag B corresponding to the body of the passenger is primarily inflated with a greater volume, thereby protecting the body of the passenger.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the simulation of the airbag deployed toward a model of a human body, and FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a part shown in FIG. 13.

Referring to FIGs. 13 and 14, 'X1' represents the airbag B according to the first embodiment, in which the part of the airbag B corresponding to the head of the passenger is inflated with a greater volume.

That is, since the inflator 200 is biased to one side of the airbag B, the part of the airbag B corresponding to the head of the passenger may be inflated with a greater volume.

In addition, 'X2' represents the airbag B according to the second embodiment, in which the part of the airbag B corresponding to the body of the passenger is inflated with a greater volume.

That is, since the inflator 200 is installed at the center of the bottom surface of the airbag B, the part of the airbag B corresponding to the body of the passenger may be inflated with a greater volume.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

A passenger airbag comprising:

two side panels having substantially rectangular shapes; and

a main panel adjacent to edges of the side panels, wherein the side panels are bonded to the main panel so that the passenger airbag has a substantially hexahedral shape.
The passenger airbag of claim 1, wherein corner portions of the side panel are right-angled or smoothly curved.
The passenger airbag of claim 1, wherein one main panel is bonded to edges of the two side panels.
The passenger airbag of claim 1, wherein the main panel is divided into several parts, which are connected to each other, and bonded to edges of the two side panels.
The passenger airbag of claim 3 or 4, wherein the main panel is bonded to the side panels by using adhesive or sewing.
A method of controlling deployment of an airbag in a passenger airbag module including a plurality of side panels, a main panel bonded to edges of the side panels and an inflator installed on the main panel, the method comprising:

varying a position of the inflator such that a specific part of the airbag is inflated with a greater volume as compared with other parts of the airbag when the airbag is completely deployed.
The method of claim 6, wherein the inflator is installed at a center or one side of a bottom surface of the main panel so that a middle part or one side of the airbag is inflated with a greater volume as compared with other parts of the airbag.