Side airbag for vehicle

• US 20070252366A1
• Filed: 04/23/2007
• Published: 11/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Autoliv AB (Autoliv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Delphi Corporation (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Inventors: Choi, Kyun-soon, Lee, Dong-jun, Oh, Eun-hwan, Jang, Myung-ryun, Kim, Tae-woo, Yoo, Byoung-sun
• Granted Patent: US 7,762,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/729
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge

Abstract

Provided is a side airbag installed at a roof rail over a driver seat and a rear seat, which includes: a driver seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls being curved in a direction opposite to a flow direction of a gas injected from an inflator, and a rear seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls of the rear seat side airbag being curved in a direction opposite to the chamber walls of the driver seat side airbag. Therefore, it is possible to protect a driver and a passenger on the rear seat, when the side airbag is deployed, by aligning an inlet of the driver seat side airbag disposed at the driver seat to a flow direction of the gas to rapidly deploy the side airbag. In addition, it is possible to safely protect the head of a driver or a passenger by first deploying a portion of the side airbag at which the driver or the passenger is positioned.

Claims

1. A side airbag for a vehicle installed at a roof rail over a driver seat and a rear seat, comprising:

a driver seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls being curved in a direction opposite to a flow direction of a gas injected from an inflator; and

a rear seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls of the rear seat side airbag being curved in a direction opposite to the chamber walls of the driver seat side airbag.

2. The side airbag according to claim 1, wherein a partition wall is formed between the driver seat side airbag and the rear seat side airbag, and the partition wall has a larger width than the chamber walls and a triangular shape.

3. The side airbag according to claim 1, wherein the chamber, among the chambers of the driver seat side airbag, farther away from the inflator has a larger inner space and a larger inlet than the chamber near the inflator.

16. The side airbag according to claim 1, wherein each of the chamber walls is formed by attaching two airbag cushions face to face along predetermined lines and have a curved pocket shape at each tip part.

4. A side airbag for a vehicle installed at a roof rail over a driver seat and a rear seat, comprising:

a driver seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls being curved in a flow direction of a gas injected from an inflator; and

a rear seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls of the rear seat side airbag being curved in the same direction as the chamber walls of the driver seat side airbag.

5. The side airbag according to claim 4, wherein the driver seat side airbag and the rear seat side airbag are divided by a partition wall.

6. The side airbag according to claim 4, wherein the chamber walls of the driver seat side airbag and the rear seat side airbag are curved in the same direction as a flow direction of an expansion gas.

7. The side airbag according to claim 5, wherein the driver seat side airbag has a first chamber formed nearest a front pillar panel assembly, a downward chamber wall projecting downward from the airbag cushion over the first chamber, and upward chamber walls projecting upward from the airbag cushion, the downward chamber wall and the upward chamber walls being curved in a direction opposite to each other.

8. The side airbag according to claim 7, wherein the upward chamber walls of the driver seat side airbag have different heights.

9. The side airbag according to claim 7, wherein the respective chamber walls of the driver seat side airbag and the rear seat side airbag have a larger height nearer the partition wall and a smaller height further from the partition wall.

17. The side airbag according to claim 4, wherein each of the chamber walls is formed by attaching two airbag cushions face to face along predetermined lines and have a curved pocket shape at each tip part.

10. A side airbag for a vehicle installed at a roof rail over a driver seat and a rear seat, comprising:

a driver seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls being curved in a flow direction of an expansion gas injected from an inflator to form a first deployment part, a second deployment part, and a dead zone deployment part, which are sequentially formed at driver seat along backward direction, and

a rear seat side airbag having a plurality of division chambers divided by chamber walls projecting therebetween, the chamber walls being curved in a flow direction of an expansion gas injected from an inflator to form a fourth deployment part, a fifth deployment part, and a sixth deployment part, which are sequentially formed at the rear seat along backward direction.

11. The side airbag according to claim 10, wherein the dead zone deployment part has a vent hole formed by projecting and bending a sixth chamber wall adjacent to the fourth deployment part to be spaced apart from a fourth chamber wall so that the expansion gas is slowly introduced through the vent hole.

12. The side airbag according to claim 10, wherein the first deployment part comprises three chambers and two chamber walls.

13. The side airbag according to claim 10, wherein a seventh chamber wall projects upward between the fourth deployment part and the fifth deployment part to be bent toward the fourth deployment part to form a smaller inlet of the fourth deployment part than a width thereof.

14. The side airbag according to claim 10, wherein a tenth deployment part projects upward between the fifth deployment part and the sixth deployment part to be bent and form a smaller inlet of the fifth deployment part than a width thereof.

15. The side airbag according to claim 10, wherein a partition part is formed over the first deployment part to divide the expansion gas injected form the inflator into upper and lower streams.

18. The side airbag according to claim 10, wherein each of the chamber walls is formed by attaching two airbag cushions face to face along predetermined lines and have a curved pocket shape at each tip part.