Production of passive restraint device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for manufacturing an inflatable confinement for use in protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, which method comprises:
- providing a mold having an exterior surface forming a desired shape;
conforming a stretchable knitted fabric to said exterior surface of said mold, by applying said fabric over said exterior surface of an at least partially deflated inflatable mold and inflating said mold to a predetermined size, thus stretching said fabric to take on said shape of said exterior surface of said mold;
subsequently applying an elastomer coating to said fabric; and
curing said elastomer coating at a sufficient temperature and for a sufficient time to provide a cured elastomer-coated fabric having a shape identical to said shape of said mold;
wherein said heating step relaxes and heat sets said fabric so as to permit subsequent stretching of said elastomer-coated fabric.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An elastomer-coated fabric for use as a confinement. The confinement is formed by conforming a fabric to a mold having the shape of the desired confinement, and subsequently applying a layer of elastomer to the fabric. A curing operation then cures the elastomer such that the elastomer-coated fabric retains the shape of the mold. Advantageously, the curing operation also relaxes and heat sets the fabric in order to permit a controlled amount of further stretch, even if the fabric was stretched a maximum amount when it was conformed to the mold.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method for manufacturing an inflatable confinement for use in protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, which method comprises:
-
providing a mold having an exterior surface forming a desired shape; conforming a stretchable knitted fabric to said exterior surface of said mold, by applying said fabric over said exterior surface of an at least partially deflated inflatable mold and inflating said mold to a predetermined size, thus stretching said fabric to take on said shape of said exterior surface of said mold; subsequently applying an elastomer coating to said fabric; and curing said elastomer coating at a sufficient temperature and for a sufficient time to provide a cured elastomer-coated fabric having a shape identical to said shape of said mold; wherein said heating step relaxes and heat sets said fabric so as to permit subsequent stretching of said elastomer-coated fabric. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A method of manufacturing an inflatable confinement for use in passive air bag restraint devices, which method comprises:
-
applying a seamless knitted fabric stretchable in both a machine and a cross-machine direction onto an at least partially deflated inflatable mold; inflating said inflatable mold to a predetermined size having an exterior surface of a desired shape, thus stretching said fabric as said mold is inflated; applying an elastomer coating to said stretched fabric on said mold in an amount sufficient to render said stretched fabric non-porous; curing said elastomer coating at a predetermined temperature for a time sufficient to provide a cured elastomer-coated stretchable fabric having and retaining a shape identical to said desired shape of said mold exterior surfaces, said curing step also relaxing and heat setting said stretchable fabric so as to permit subsequent stretching of said elastomer-coated fabric during inflation of said confinement in a collision; and deflating said inflatable mold so as to permit removal of said elastomer-coated fabric from said mold. - View Dependent Claims (8)
-
-
9. A method for manufacturing an inflatable confinement for use in protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, which method comprises:
-
providing a mold having an exterior surface forming a desired arcuate shape; conforming a stretchable knitted fabric to said exterior surface of said mold in a manner to provide bands of increasing or decreasing fabric density depending upon the shape of said mold, wherein said conforming said stretchable fabric comprises applying said fabric over said exterior surface of an at least partially deflated inflatable mold and inflating said mold to a predetermined size, thus stretching said fabric to take on said shape of said exterior surface of said mold; subsequently applying an elastomer coating to said fabric; and curing said elastomer coating at a sufficient temperature and for a sufficient time to provide a cured elastomer-coated fabric having a shape identical to said shape of said mold; wherein said curing step relaxes and heat sets said fabric so as to permit subsequent stretching of said elastomer-coated fabric. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method of manufacturing an inflatable confinement for use in passive air bag restraint devices, which method comprises:
-
providing a mold of a predetermined size and having an exterior surface of a desired shape; applying a knitted fabric onto said exterior surface of an at least partially deflated inflatable mold and inflating said mold to a predetermined size, thus stretching said fabric to take on said shape of said exterior surface of said mold; subsequently applying an elastomer coating to said fabric in an amount sufficient to render said stretched fabric non-porous; curing said elastomer coating by heating to a predetermined temperature for a time sufficient to provide a cured elastomer-coated stretchable fabric having and retaining a shape identical to said desired shape of said mold exterior surfaces, said curing step also relaxing and heat setting said stretchable fabric so as to permit subsequent stretching of said elastomer-coated fabric during inflation of said confinement in a collision; and removing the inflatable confinement from said mold. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
Specification