Airbag apparatus

• US 20060066081A1
• Filed: 09/29/2005
• Published: 03/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Tadashi, Yamada, Tadashi, Ikeda, Takanobu, Kino, Masao, Ito, Michiyasu
• Granted Patent: US 7,168,735 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/730.200
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23386 External tether means
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers

Abstract

A head protecting airbag is folded up to be housed at an upper part of a window of a vehicle so as to be deployed and inflated downward from the upper part of the window so as to cover an interior side of the window. In the airbag, a plurality of parallel cells adapted to be deployed and inflated by an inflating gas introduced thereinto are provided in parallel with each other below 10 a gas supply passage portion in which the inflating gas flows along a longitudinal direction. In a cell of the parallel cells so provided which is required to deploy quickly, of front and rear partitioning portions, a partitioning portion situated at an upstream side of the gas flowing in the gas supply passage portion is provided such that an end thereof which extends upward from a lower edge portion is disposed so as to form an inlet port between a distal end of a horizontal portion of a downstream side partitioning portion and itself.

Claims

1. An airbag apparatus mounted in a vehicle, comprising:

an airbag folded and housed in a housing part of the vehicle, the airbag being including

a gas introducing portion which inflates to separate an interior wall portion and an exterior wall portion from each other by introducing an inflating gas thereinto, the gas introducing portion including

a gas supply passage portion which is extended along a longitudinal direction at an upper edge of the airbag so as to communicate with a connecting port portion connected to an inflator for supplying the inflating gas, and

a plurality of parallel cells arranged substantially in parallel with each other in the longitudinal direction so as to extend downward, each of which has an inflating gas inlet port at an upper portion side thereof facing the gas supply passage portion; and

a non-introducing portion which keeps the interior and exterior wall portions joined to each other so as not to allow the inflating gas to be introduced thereinto, the non-introducing portion including

a peripheral portion which defines an outer peripheral edge of the airbag, and

extending partitioning portions which extend upward from a lower edge portion of the peripheral portion to partition the parallel cells,

wherein the parallel cells include a quick deployable cell which has a downstream side extending partitioning portion which locates at a downstream side in an inflating gas flow and an upstream side extending partitioning portion which locates at an upstream side in the inflating gas flow, so that the quid deployable cell is capable of deploying quickly.

2. An airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the downstream side extending partitioning portion has a vertical portion which extends upward from the lower edge portion, and a horizontal portion which is disposed to curve from an upper end of the vertical portion along a lower edge of the gas supply passage portion so as to cover an upper end of the quick deployable cell.

3. An airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upstream side extending partitioning portion is arranged such that an upper end thereof which extends upward from the lower edge portion is disposed so as to form an inlet port between a distal end of the horizontal portion of the downstream side extending partitioning portion.

4. An airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the airbag is folded up and housed in an upper part of a window of the vehicle, and is deployed downward from the upper part of the window so as to cover an interior side of the window when an inflating gas is introduced thereinto.