Woven air bag with integrally woven 3-D tethers
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A woven air bag having at least one inflatable chamber, the air bag comprising:
- a fabric layer integrally woven together using warp threads and weft threads, the fabric layer having an inner side and an outer side;
one or more chamber boundary regions where two fabric layers are woven together;
one or more tethers, the one or more tethers being made of a plurality of threads, the threads being either additional threads different from the warp or weft threads, additional warp threads, additional weft threads or any combination thereof which are in the inflatable chamber and attached to said chamber by being woven into said fabric along two or more localized woven attachment locations; and
wherein the woven fabric layer has the same number of warp threads per inch and weft threads per inch throughout the fabric layer except at the localized woven tether attachment locations and the chamber boundary regions.
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Abstract
An air bag (20) is disclosed having separable fabric layers (40, 42) that are locally integrally woven together using warp threads (82) and weft threads (80). One or more integrally woven tethers (70, 70a) extend between the fabric layers at selected locations. Each tether is formed of a plurality of threads (72, 72a). The threads (72, 72a) can be either additional threads, different from the warp or weft threads, additional warp threads, additional weft threads or any combination thereof.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A woven air bag having at least one inflatable chamber, the air bag comprising:
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a fabric layer integrally woven together using warp threads and weft threads, the fabric layer having an inner side and an outer side;
one or more chamber boundary regions where two fabric layers are woven together;
one or more tethers, the one or more tethers being made of a plurality of threads, the threads being either additional threads different from the warp or weft threads, additional warp threads, additional weft threads or any combination thereof which are in the inflatable chamber and attached to said chamber by being woven into said fabric along two or more localized woven attachment locations; and
wherein the woven fabric layer has the same number of warp threads per inch and weft threads per inch throughout the fabric layer except at the localized woven tether attachment locations and the chamber boundary regions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A woven air bag having at least one inflatable chamber, the air bag comprising:
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a fabric integrally woven together using warp threads and weft threads, the fabric having a first layer and a second layer and a woven boundary;
tethers being made of a plurality of the tether threads, the tether threads being either additional threads different from the warp or weft threads, additional warp threads, additional weft threads or any combination thereof which are in the inflatable chamber and the tether threads woven into said fabric along at least one localized woven band and thereafter extending in a first direction across the air bag from a first or second layer to an opposite layer, each band having at least three sections, a first section woven in the first layer, a second section woven in the second layer and a third section transitioning between the first layer at a first transition location and entering the second layer at a second transition location; and
wherein each of the first or second fabric layer has the same number of threads per inch in the warp direction or threads per inch in the weft direction throughout except for where the tether threads are woven into the first or second fabric layers and at the woven boundary. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification