Air bag cover opening mechanism for use in vehicle
First Claim
1. An air bag cover opening mechanism for an air bag device for use in a vehicle, comprising:
- an air bag secured to a vehicle body and adapted to accommodate an air bag in a folded state, said air bag case being provided with an opening;
an air bag cover for closing the opening of said air bag case;
a connecting member for pivotally connecting one end of said air bag cover to said air bag case about which said air bag cover pivots when opened; and
connecting means for connecting another end of said air bag cover to said air bag case in such a manner that only a tensile load acting in a direction of a path of opening of said air bag cover acts on said connecting means,said connecting means comprises;
a retainer having an end secured to said air bag cover; and
attachment members by which a second end of said retainer is secured to said air bag case,said attachment members comprise;
a spacer which is inserted into said retainer; and
a bolt for rotatably securing said retainer to said air bag case via said spacer such that said retainer can rotate about an axis of said spacer so that only a tensile load in the direction of opening of the air bag cover is applied to the retainer when the air bag cover opens.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An air bag cover opening mechanism for an air bag for use in a vehicle. An air bag cover for closing an opening provided in an air bag case with an air bag accommodated therein has at one end thereof a hinge formed integrally with an inner surface layer of the air bag cover. A slit is provided in the inner surface layer of the air bag cover at the other end thereof to allow one end of a retainer to be retained therein. The other end portion of the retainer has a hole. With this hole aligned with a hole provided in a side wall of the air bag case, a spacer is inserted into the aligned holes, and a bolt is threadedly inserted into an internally threaded hole provided in the spacer and is tightened, thereby allowing the retainer to be rotatably held onto the air bag case and the other end of the air bag cover to be fixed. At the time of inflation of the air bag, the retainer rotates such that only a tensile load oriented in the same direction as the direction of a load applied to the air bag cover acts on the retainer, allowing a breaking portion of the retainer to be broken.
30 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An air bag cover opening mechanism for an air bag device for use in a vehicle, comprising:
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an air bag secured to a vehicle body and adapted to accommodate an air bag in a folded state, said air bag case being provided with an opening; an air bag cover for closing the opening of said air bag case; a connecting member for pivotally connecting one end of said air bag cover to said air bag case about which said air bag cover pivots when opened; and connecting means for connecting another end of said air bag cover to said air bag case in such a manner that only a tensile load acting in a direction of a path of opening of said air bag cover acts on said connecting means, said connecting means comprises; a retainer having an end secured to said air bag cover; and attachment members by which a second end of said retainer is secured to said air bag case, said attachment members comprise; a spacer which is inserted into said retainer; and a bolt for rotatably securing said retainer to said air bag case via said spacer such that said retainer can rotate about an axis of said spacer so that only a tensile load in the direction of opening of the air bag cover is applied to the retainer when the air bag cover opens. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An air bag cover opening mechanism for an air bag device for use in a vehicle, comprising:
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an air bag case secured to a vehicle body and adapted to accommodate an air bag in a folded state, said air bag case being provided with an opening; an air bag cover for closing the opening of said air bag case; a connecting member for pivotally connecting one end of said air bag cover to said air bag case about which said air bag cover pivots when opened; and connecting means having a retainer and attachment members, said retainer having one end secured to said air bag cover and another end secured rotatably to said air bag case by means of said attachment members, said attachment members comprise a spacer which is inserted into said retainer and bolt for rotatably securing said retainer to said air bag case via said spacer such that only a tensile load acting in the direction of opening of said air bag cover retainer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An air bag cover opening mechanism for an air bag device for use in a vehicle, comprising:
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an air bag case secured to a vehicle body and adapted to accommodate an air bag in a folded state, said air bag case being provided with an opening; an air bag cover for closing the opening of said air bag case; a connecting member for pivotally connecting one end of said air bag cover to said air bag case; and connecting means having a retainer, a spacer inserted into said retainer, and a bolt for rotatably securing said retainer to said air bag case via said spacer such that said retainer may rotate about an axis of said spacer such that only a tensile load acting in the direction of opening of said air bag cover is applied to said retainer, said retainer being formed of a resin and having a first end secured to said air bag cover and a second end secured rotatably to said air bag case by means of said spacer and said bolt, said retainer having at an intermediate portion thereof a breaking portion whose tensile strength at rupture is smaller than that at opposite end portions thereof. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification