Abrasion and/or puncture resistant fabrics, airbag cushions, and methods
First Claim
1. A fabric adapted for use in airbag cushions, especially side curtain airbags providing rollover protection, comprising:
- an airbag fabric having at least one coating, film, fabric or layer on the exterior surface thereof, having at least one of abrasion resistance, puncture resistance, and combinations thereof, and having an ASTM D 4833 index puncture resistance greater than about 210 lbs. and ASTM F 1342 puncture resistance greater than about 10 lbs.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Typical road surfaces are concrete, and gravel filled asphalt. They are very abrasive to fabrics that slide on those surfaces. For the new side impact curtain-type airbag, in a rollover situation, the airbag needs to protect the occupant from directly contacting the road hazard and should not deflate quickly or break when sliding on such road surfaces. We have found that a layer of elastomer can provide much better abrasion resistance than a layer of heavy industrial fabric. A Jacquard bag coated with 1.2 oz/yd2 polyurethane showed significant increase in air leakage rate after 5 cycles of concrete sliding abrasion. A 3 mil thick polyurethane film was laminated to the coated Jacquard woven airbag. After 110 cycles of sliding abrasion using the same concrete, no visual damage or change in bag leakage was observed. This finding indicates surprisingly better abrasion resistance of a thin elastomer film than a heavy industrial fabric.
29 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A fabric adapted for use in airbag cushions, especially side curtain airbags providing rollover protection, comprising:
an airbag fabric having at least one coating, film, fabric or layer on the exterior surface thereof, having at least one of abrasion resistance, puncture resistance, and combinations thereof, and having an ASTM D 4833 index puncture resistance greater than about 210 lbs. and ASTM F 1342 puncture resistance greater than about 10 lbs. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50)
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2. A fabric adapted for use in airbag cushions, especially side curtain airbags providing rollover protection, comprising:
an airbag fabric covered with a film layer, wherein said fabric is adapted for use in an airbag having a characteristic leak-down time after inflation of at least 5 seconds.
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3. A fabric adapted for use in airbag cushions, especially side curtain airbags providing rollover or impact protection, comprising:
an airbag fabric having at least one of a woven and knit fabric laminated to the exterior surface thereof. - View Dependent Claims (11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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4. An airbag fabric having an ASTM D 4833 index puncture resistance greater than about 210 lbs. and ASTM F 1342 puncture resistance greater than about 10 lbs.
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5. A puncture resistant airbag fabric comprising at least two layers of fabric, with at least one layer being coated airbag fabric and the other being a woven or knitted fabric.
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6. A puncture resistant airbag fabric comprising at least two laminated layers of fabric adapted for use on the side of an airbag facing the outside of a vehicle when inflated.
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42. An airbag structure that does not exhibit significant change in pressure characteristic when collided with a broken glass surface at its peak pressure.
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43. A puncture resistant airbag comprising different constructions or coatings on the side facing the occupant and on the side facing outside, where the side facing the occupant has an ASTM F 1342 puncture resistance of less than about 12 lbs. and the side facing the outside of the vehicle has an ASTM F 1342 puncture resistance of greater than about 10 lbs.
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44. In an airbag cushion, the improvement comprising:
at least one exterior surface having an inner fabric layer, an intermediate coating, primer or adhesive layer, and an outer film or fabric layer, and having an ASTM D 4833 index puncture resistance greater than about 210 lbs. and ASTM F 1342 puncture resistance greater than about 10 lbs. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51)
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52. An airbag cushion adapted for use between an occupant and a window comprising:
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an inner or inside surface, wall, construction, or coating adjacent the occupant, and an outer or outside surface, wall, construction, or coating adjacent the window, wherein said inner or inside surface, wall, construction, or coating adjacent the occupant is at least one of lighter, softer, more flexible, and less abrasive than said outer or outside surface, wall, construction, or coating adjacent the window of said vehicle.
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Specification