TURRET AIR BAGS

• US 20160001731A1
• Filed: 02/14/2014
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencate Advanced Armor Design, Inc. (Koninklijke Ten Cate NV)
• Original Assignee: TenCate Advanced Armor USA, Inc. (Koninklijke Ten Cate NV)
• Inventors: Hansen, Andrew R., Dobriski, Josef S., Palmer, Paul A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,580,038 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0002 Type of accident
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0018 Roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0065 Type of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01034 Controlling a plurality of restraint devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01231 control of expansion timing or sequence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01302 monitoring vehicle body vibrations or noise
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23107 the bag being integrated in a multi-bag system
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/13 Roll-over protection electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/20 Arrangements for storing inflatable members in their non-use or deflated condition; Arrangement or mounting of air bag modules or components
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/231 characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 23/24 Turret gun mountings feeding, loading or guiding ammunition F41A9/00; mechanical elevating or traversing systems for turret guns F41A27/18
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 7/04 Armour construction in general F41H5/00

Abstract

A turret airbag system is provided including a plurality of airbags disposed within the turret to protect an occupant of the turret from injury and/or ejection from the turret. Turret airbags may be configured in padding around a turret access opening, and/or as substantially cylindrical airbags that deploy between the occupant of the turret and a wall or exterior opening of the turret. In some examples, the turret airbag(s) may be integrated with a countermeasure system that deploys explosion countermeasures and activates the turret airbags based on sensor data and multiple thresholds that indicate a collision event, a rollover event and/or an explosion event.

Claims

1. A turret for a vehicle, comprising:

a first opening configured to allow access to the turret from an interior of the vehicle, and to at least partially accommodate a human torso;

a wall at least partially surrounding said first opening;

a plurality of airbags arranged at least partially around said first opening, and configured to deploy between said first opening and said wall.

2. The turret of claim 1, further comprising a weapon mount, wherein at least one of said airbags is configured to deploy between said first opening and said weapon mount.

3. The turret of claim 1, wherein said airbags are included in a padding around said first opening, and are configured to deploy upward.

4. The turret of claim 1, wherein said airbags are substantially cylindrical when deployed.

5. The turret of claim 4, wherein said airbags are configured to deploy upward.

6. The turret of claim 1, wherein said airbags are included in at least one of the wall or an overhead of the turret.

7. The turret of claim 6, wherein said airbags are included in said wall and are configured to deploy at least partially inward.

8. The turret of claim 6, wherein said airbags are included in said overhead of the turret and are configured to deploy at least partially downward.

9. The turret of claim 1, further comprising a second opening defining an interface between an inside of the turret and an outside of the turret, wherein at least one of said airbags is configured to at least partially obstruct said second opening when deployed.

10. A method of protecting an occupant in a vehicle turret, comprising:

detecting, by one or more computer processors, at least one of a rollover event or a collision event in the vehicle;

deploying a plurality of airbags at least partially in the vehicle turret,

wherein, the turret includes a first opening configured to allow access to the turret from an interior of the vehicle, and to at least partially accommodate a human torso, and a wall at least partially surrounding said first opening, and

the plurality of airbags are arranged at least partially around the first opening, and deploy between the first opening and the wall.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the turret includes a weapon mount, and at least one of the airbags is deployed between the first opening and the weapon mount.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the airbags are included in a padding around the first opening, and deploy upward.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the airbags are included in at least one of the wall or an overhead of the turret.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the turret includes a second opening defining an interface between an inside of the turret and an outside of the turret, and at least one of the airbags is deployed to at least partially obstruct the second opening.

15. A vehicle safety system, comprising:

a first sensor device including a plurality of sensors configured to detect a rollover event, an impact event, and an explosive event;

a countermeasure;

a turret airbag;

a processor in communication with said first sensor device, said processor configured to process signals received from said first sensor device and to selectively initiate at least one of said countermeasure or said turret airbag based on results of processing the signals;

wherein, initiating the turret airbag is based at least in part on the signals exceeding a first threshold, and

wherein, initiating the countermeasure is based at least in part on the signals exceeding a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to initiate the turret airbag based on signals received from different sensor packages associated with different areas of the vehicle, and to selectively initiate individual countermeasures in different areas of the vehicle based on signals received from different sensor packages associated with each of the different areas of the vehicle.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the second threshold is greater than 30 g.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising at least one countermeasure device, wherein the at least one countermeasure device includes one or more of a mass ejector and a thruster.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is in further communication with a second sensor device that senses a different type of condition than the first sensor device, and the processor is further configured to process signals received from said second sensor device in determining whether to initiate at least one of the turret airbag or the countermeasure.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the turret airbag includes a plurality of airbags disposed at least partially around an opening of the turret that is configured to allow access to the turret from an interior of the vehicle.