Vehicle curtain airbag device

• US 10,532,716 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2017
• Issued: 01/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Hioda, Seiji, Ohara, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Beck, Karen
• Application Number:
  US15/712,875
• Publication Number:
  US 20180099635A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0048 Head
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23153 specially adapted for rear seat passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23386 External tether means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/23138 specially adapted for side protection B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers

Abstract

There is provided a vehicle curtain airbag device including: a rear seat chamber configured to inflate and deploy between the head of a rear seat occupant and a vehicle cabin side section, the rear seat chamber including a restraint face that opposes the head in a vehicle width direction and is angled or curved toward a vehicle width direction outer side, on progression toward a vehicle front side, in a fully inflated and deployed state.

Claims

1. A vehicle curtain airbag device comprising:

a front seat chamber configured to inflate and deploy between a head of a front seat occupant and a vehicle cabin side section, and

a rear seat chamber configured to inflate and deploy between a head of a rear seat occupant and the vehicle cabin side section, the rear seat chamber including a restraint face that opposes the head of the rear seat occupant in a vehicle width direction and is angled or curved toward a vehicle width direction outer side, on progression toward a vehicle front side, in a fully inflated and deployed state, wherein the rear seat chamber is formed in a shape in which a vehicle width direction inflation width at a location to the vehicle rear side of the center of gravity of the head of the rear seat occupant is thicker than a vehicle width direction inflation width at a location to the vehicle front side of the center of gravity, in the fully inflated and deployed state.

2. The vehicle curtain airbag device of claim 1, wherein:

the rear seat chamber is formed by joining together respective outer peripheral edge portions of a pair of side-face cloths that are arranged side-by-side in the vehicle width direction, in the fully inflated and deployed state, and of a rear-face cloth provided between rear edge portions of the pair of side-face cloths.

3. The vehicle curtain airbag device of claim 1, wherein:

the rear seat chamber includes a pair of side-face portions that are arranged side-by-side in the vehicle width direction, in the fully inflated and deployed state;

an inner tether that links the pair of side-face portions together is provided inside the rear seat chamber; and

the inner tether is formed in a shape in which a vehicle width direction dimension of the inner tether increases on progression toward the vehicle rear side in the fully inflated and deployed state.

4. The vehicle curtain airbag device of claim 3, wherein:

elongated-strip-shaped cloths are stitched into a rectangular loop shape to form the inner tether.

5. The vehicle curtain airbag device of claim 1, wherein:

a rear end portion of the rear seat chamber inflates and deploys in the vehicle width direction between a headrest of a rear seat and a vehicle body side section.

6. A vehicle curtain airbag device comprising:

a rear seat chamber configured to inflate and deploy between a head of a rear seat occupant and a vehicle cabin side section, the rear seat chamber including a restraint face that opposes the head in a vehicle width direction and is angled or curved toward a vehicle width direction outer side, on progression toward a vehicle front side, in a fully inflated and deployed state, wherein the rear seat chamber is formed in a shape in which a vehicle width direction inflation width at a location to the vehicle rear side of the center of gravity of the head is thicker than a vehicle width direction inflation width at a location to the vehicle front side of the center of gravity, in the fully inflated and deployed state, and

an outer tether that is overlaid on the vehicle width direction inner side of the rear seat chamber and spans between respective front and rear end portions of the rear seat chamber, in the fully inflated and deployed state;

wherein in a non-inflated state of the rear seat chamber, the outer tether is set with a front-rear direction dimension shorter than the front-rear direction dimension of the rear seat chamber at the location where the outer tether is overlaid on the rear seat chamber.

7. A vehicle curtain airbag device comprising:

a rear seat chamber configured to inflate and deploy between a head of a rear seat occupant and a vehicle cabin side section, the rear seat chamber including a restraint face that opposes the head in a vehicle width direction and is angled or curved toward a vehicle width direction outer side, on progression toward a vehicle front side, in a fully inflated and deployed state, wherein the rear seat chamber is formed in a shape in which a vehicle width direction inflation width at a location to the vehicle rear side of the center of gravity of the head is thicker than a vehicle width direction inflation width at a location to the vehicle front side of the center of gravity, in the fully inflated and deployed state,

an outer tether that is overlaid on the vehicle width direction inner side of the rear seat chamber and spans between respective front and rear end portions of the rear seat chamber, in the fully inflated and deployed state, and

a cloth similar to the cloth of the curtain airbag is cut out into a substantially triangular shape to form the outer tether;

wherein in a non-inflated state of the rear seat chamber, the outer tether is set with a front-rear direction dimension shorter than the front-rear direction dimension of the rear seat chamber at the location where the outer tether is overlaid on the rear seat chamber.