Occupant restraint system

• US 20040150198A1
• Filed: 12/19/2003
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Utsumi, Hidetoshi, Saito, Yuichi, Aoki, Takashi, Totsuka, Hirofumi, Takemura, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 7,213,835 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/025 Pillars; Roof rails
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2013/0287 integrating other functions or accessories
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/213 in vehicle roof frames or pillars
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge

Abstract

In an occupant restraint system in which an air bag is inflated with a gas generated by an inflator so as to be deployed along an inner surface of a side portion of a passenger compartment in a curtain-like fashion when a vehicle is involved in a collision, a portion of the air bag in a folded state which is located in the vicinity of an end portion thereof is disposed within a space between a pillar and a pillar garnish mounted on a side of the pillar which faces a passenger compartment. By accommodating the air bag within an air bag accommodation chamber formed by partitioning the space with a bulkhead formed integrally on the pillar garnish, the bulkhead is allowed to be interposed between other members residing within the pillar garnish such as clips and brackets and the air bag.

Claims

1. An occupant restraint system comprising:

an air bag in a folded state being arranged in such a manner as to extend along a side portion of a roof and a pillar, the air bag being inflated with a gas generated by an inflator so as to be deployed in a curtain-like fashion along an inner surface of a side portion of a passenger compartment when a vehicle is involved in a collision; and

a pillar garnish mounted on a side of a pillar which faces the passenger compartment, the pillar garnish having a bulkhead for partitioning a space formed between the pillar and the pillar garnish so as to define an air bag accommodation chamber for accommodation of the air bag.

2. An occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the pillar garnish has a mounting member for mounting the pillar garnish on the side of the pillar, the mounting member being disposed in a chamber defined by partitioning the space formed between the pillar and the pillar garnish by the bulkhead and different from the air bag accommodation chamber.

3. An occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the pillar garnish has a first portion, and a second portion on which the bulkhead is formed, and the second portion and the bulkhead defining the air bag accommodation chamber.

4. An occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the pillar garnish has a first portion on which the bulkhead is formed, and a second portion, and the second portion and the bulkhead defining the air bag accommodation chamber.