Airbag device

• US 20030184069A1
• Filed: 03/25/2003
• Published: 10/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Takimoto, Masahiro, Nagata, Atsushi, Mizuno, Yoshio
• Granted Patent: US 7,055,858 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/743.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23169 specially adapted for knee protection
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23382 Internal tether means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23576 Sewing
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/217 Inflation fluid source retainers, e.g. reaction canisters; Connection of bags, covers, diffusers or inflation fluid sources therewith or together
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/233 comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other B60R21/232 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers

Abstract

An airbag device comprising: an airbag adapted to be expanded and inflated by admitting an inflating gas; and an inflator housed in the airbag for feeding the inflating gas to the inside of the airbag. The airbag includes an airbag body forming a bag-shaped outer peripheral wall, and a reinforcing cloth for preventing a gas leakage from the airbag body. The reinforcing cloth is joined at its peripheral edge on the upstream side of the inflating gas to the outer peripheral wall in the airbag body but is not joined at the edge portion of the reinforcing cloth on the downstream side of the inflating gas.

Claims

1. An airbag device comprising:

an airbag adapted to be expanded by admitting an inflating gas; and

an inflator housed in said airbag for feeding the inflating gas to the inside of said airbag,

wherein said airbag includes an airbag body forming a bag-shaped outer peripheral wall, and a reinforcing cloth for preventing a gas leakage from said airbag body,

wherein said reinforcing cloth is joined at its peripheral edge to said outer peripheral wall in said airbag body on the upstream side of the inflating gas, and

wherein said reinforcing cloth is joined to said outer peripheral wall at most of its edges but is not joined at the edge portion of said reinforcing cloth on the downstream side of the inflating gas.

2. An airbag device according to claim 1,

wherein said airbag body is formed by joining the peripheral edges of a base cloth forming said outer peripheral wall, to each other, and

wherein said reinforcing cloth is joined at its peripheral edges together with the peripheral edge of said base cloth to said airbag body.

3. An airbag device comprising an airbag including:

a flexible bag-shaped airbag body for forming an outer peripheral wall when it completes its inflation; and

a tether made of a band-shaped cloth member having such a flexibility as to regulate the shape of said airbag body having completed its inflation,

wherein the lengthwise end portions of said tether provide joint ends to be joined to said airbag body,

wherein said joint ends of said tether are provided with a folded portion formed by folding the edges of said tether cloth member so that a crease along the lengthwise direction of said tether may be formed on at least one widthwise edge of said tether, and

wherein said folded portion of said tether is joined to said airbag body so that said cloth member of said tether are overlapped integrally.

4. An airbag device according to claim 3,

wherein a flexible reinforcing cloth is sandwiched between said folded portion of said tether and the portion of said airbag body joined to said folded portion.

5. An airbag device according to claim 4,

wherein said reinforcing cloth is connected to and integrated with said tether cloth member.

6. An airbag device according to claim 4,

wherein said reinforcing cloth is joined along its periphery to said airbag body, and

wherein the peripheral edge joint portion is arranged to enclose the end portion of the joint portion of said tether to said airbag body, which is arranged in said folded portion.

7. An airbag device according to claim 6,

wherein the portion of said tether joined to said airbag body and the peripheral edge joint portion of said reinforcing cloth are formed by one continuous sewing thread.

8. An airbag device according to claim 3,

wherein the portion of said tether to be joined to said airbag body is sewn with a sewing thread, and

wherein the portion of said joined portion near said joint end is formed in an arc-like curve.