Energy Absorber With Double-Acting Crush Lobes
First Claim
1. An energy absorber construction comprising:
- first and second polymeric panel members with opposing walls connected together, the opposing walls each defining at least one pair of crush lobes that define at least one cavity therebetween, with each crush lobe being movable between a collapsed position where the crush lobes are collapsed toward each other and an expanded position where the crush lobes are expanded in generally opposite directions; and
an inflator connected to the cavity and constructed to expand the crush lobes prior to an impact.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An energy absorber includes opposing aligned crush lobes expandable in opposite directions, and when expanded, potentially collapse with different energy-absorbing rates and stroke distances. The energy absorber forms a subassembly design that is adaptable and easily modified for predetermined energy absorption crush curves and specific energy-absorbing circumstances, such that it can be used inside a vehicle passenger compartment or outside a vehicle in different locations, such as for a knee bolster on the instrument panel, or on a door inner panel, or on an under-knee seat component, or on a headliner or A-pillar cover, or hood-lifter for pedestrian safety. One version of the energy absorber includes formed sheets bonded along a perimeter to define two cavities and an inflator-holding pocket connected to the cavities by integrally-formed tunnels.
66 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An energy absorber construction comprising:
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first and second polymeric panel members with opposing walls connected together, the opposing walls each defining at least one pair of crush lobes that define at least one cavity therebetween, with each crush lobe being movable between a collapsed position where the crush lobes are collapsed toward each other and an expanded position where the crush lobes are expanded in generally opposite directions; and an inflator connected to the cavity and constructed to expand the crush lobes prior to an impact. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An energy absorber construction comprising:
first and second panel members with opposing walls attached together, the opposing walls defining at least one set of aligned crush lobes extending in opposite directions and defining a sealed cavity therebetween and that are each movable between a collapsed position where the crush lobes are collapsed toward each other and an expanded position where the crush lobes are expanded in opposite directions, at least one of the crush lobes including sidewalls having an offset ring section adapted to unroll when the crush lobe is expanded and later roll and collapse when the crush lobe is compressed from the expanded position toward the retracted position;
whereby, when the crush lobes are in the expanded position and the construction is impacted, energy is absorbed both by the offset ring section of the sidewalls rolling and also by compressed fluid in the sealed cavity.- View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. An energy absorber construction comprising:
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a two-direction expandable energy absorber including opposing walls with crush lobes sealed together to define at least one common cavity and a passage extending to a center region, the opposing walls each including at least one of the crush lobes with the crush lobe being configured to move from an outward expanded position toward a collapsed retracted position; and an inflator in the center region for expanding the crush lobes from the retracted position to the expanded position. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An energy absorber construction comprising:
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an energy absorber having adjacent panels forming at least one pair of aligned crush lobes configured to move between a collapsed position adjacent each other and an extended position away from each other, the crush lobes each including an outer wall section extending from the associated panel, an intermediate wall section extending from the outer wall section, and an inner wall section extending from the intermediate wall section, the intermediate wall section being more flexible than the inner and outer wall sections so that during extension from the collapsed position to the extended position, ends of the intermediate wall section roll into alignment with the inner and outer wall sections, and during collapse from the extended position toward the collapsed position, the ends of the intermediate wall section roll toward and re-align with the intermediate wall section; and an inflator connected to the energy absorber to cause extension of the crush lobes from the collapsed position to the extended position.
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34. A method comprising steps of:
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forming two panels each with at least one crush lobe therein; attaching the two panels with the at least one crush lobes aligned to define a sealed cavity and facing in opposite directions, but with the crush lobes in a collapsed position; and connecting an inflator to the cavity to extend the crush lobes to an extended position. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A method comprising steps of:
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providing first and second polymeric panel members with opposing walls, the opposing walls each defining at least one pair of crush lobes; attaching the panels members with the crush lobes aligned to define at least one cavity therebetween, with each crush lobe being movable between a collapsed position where the crush lobes are collapsed toward each other and an expanded position where the crush lobes are expanded in generally opposite directions; and attaching an inflator to the cavity and expanding the crush lobes immediately prior to an impact to provide an energy absorbing device.
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38. A method comprising steps of:
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providing first and second polymeric panel members with opposing walls, the opposing walls each defining at least one pair of crush lobes; attaching the panel members together with the crush lobes aligned to define at least one cavity therebetween, including positioning each crush lobe to have a side wall extending partially into a cavity defined by the other crush lobe in the at least one pair; and connecting an inflator to the cavity that is constructed to expand the crush lobes in less than a second and prior to an impact for absorbing energy.
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39. A method comprising steps of:
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providing first and second panel members with opposing walls attached together, the opposing walls defining at least one set of aligned crush lobes extending in opposite directions and defining a sealed cavity therebetween and that are each movable between a collapsed position where the crush lobes are collapsed toward each other and an expanded position where the crush lobes are expanded in opposite directions, at least one of the crush lobes including sidewalls having an offset ring section; and expanding the crush lobes from the collapsed position toward the expanded position including unrolling the offset ring section when the crush lobes are expanded and later re-rolling the offset ring section when the crush lobes are compressed from the expanded position toward the retracted position;
whereby, when the crush lobes are in the expanded position and the construction is impacted, energy is absorbed both by the offset ring section of the sidewalls rolling and also by compressed fluid in the sealed cavity.
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40. A method comprising steps of:
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providing an energy absorber having adjacent panels forming at least one pair of aligned crush lobes that are configured to move between a collapsed position adjacent each other and an extended position away from each other, the crush lobes each including an outer wall section extending from the associated panel, an intermediate wall section extending from the outer wall section, and an inner wall section extending from the intermediate wall section, the intermediate wall section being more flexible than the inner and outer wall sections; expanding the crush lobes from the collapsed position to the extended position so that ends of the intermediate wall section roll into alignment with the inner and outer wall sections; collapsing the crush lobes from the extended position toward the collapsed position so that the ends of the intermediate wall section roll toward and re-align with the intermediate wall section.
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Specification