Air bag inflator
First Claim
1. An inflator for a vehicular air bag, the inflator having an outer housing, an ignitor located centrally thereof, a propellant chamber circumferentially surrounding the ignitor, an a filter chamber circumferentially surrounding the ignitor chamber, the outer housing comprising:
- a metal cover and a metal base wherein one or the other of the cover has a circumferential lip defining a channel and a rim of the other of the cover and base is received with the channel, and the cover and base are shaped such that an external portion of the lip abuts the other of the cover and base to form a joint which sealingly connects the cover and base and secures the cover and base together during operation of the inflator.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An inflator for a vehicular air bag. The inflator has a metal cover and metal base sealingly connected to each other by a weldless joint. The cover or the base has a circumferential lip defining a channel and a rim of the other of the cover and base is received within the channel. The cover and base are shaped such that an external portion of the lip abuts the other of the cover and base to form a joint which sealingly connects the cover and base. In a disclosed embodiment, the cover and base are of stamped metal and the base has a circumferential lip defining a channel or trough which receives an external circumferential lip portion of the lid, an external portion of the lip being in abutment with the cover, the channel and lip portions thus being shaped to interlock with each other.
-
Citations
13 Claims
-
1. An inflator for a vehicular air bag, the inflator having an outer housing, an ignitor located centrally thereof, a propellant chamber circumferentially surrounding the ignitor, an a filter chamber circumferentially surrounding the ignitor chamber, the outer housing comprising:
a metal cover and a metal base wherein one or the other of the cover has a circumferential lip defining a channel and a rim of the other of the cover and base is received with the channel, and the cover and base are shaped such that an external portion of the lip abuts the other of the cover and base to form a joint which sealingly connects the cover and base and secures the cover and base together during operation of the inflator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
- 5. The inflator of claim 5 wherein the propellant chamber is surrounded by an inner housing having a top metal member and a bottom metal member, wherein one or the other of the top and bottom members has a circumferential lip defining a trough and an edge of the other of the top and bottom members is received within the trough, and the top and bottom members are shaped such that an external portion of the lip abuts the other of the top and bottom members to form a joint which sealingly connects the top and bottom members.
-
10. An inflator for a vehicular air bag, the inflator having an outer housing, an ignitor located centrally thereof, a propellent chamber circumferentially surrounding the ignitor, and a filter chamber circumferentially surrounding the ignitor chamber, wherein:
-
the outer housing comprises a stamped metal cover and a stamped metal base wherein the base has a circumferential lip defining a channel and the cover has a rim received within the channel, and the cover and base are shaped such that an external portion of the lip abuts the cover to form a joint which sealingly connects the cover and base and secures the cover and base together during operation of the inflator; each of the cover and the base has a surrounding side well and a radially outwardly directed collar extending between the side wall and the joint, the external portion of the lip abutting the collar of the cover and an outer surface of the collar of the base coextending with the collar of the cover to provide abutting access for a support against an external surface thereof during manufacture of the joint; the propellent chamber is surrounded by an inner housing having a top stamped metal member and a bottom stamped metal member, wherein the bottom member has a circumferential lip defining a trough and a circumferential edge of the top member is received within the trough, and the top and bottom members are shaped such that an external portion of the lip abuts the top member to form a joint which sealingly connects the top and bottom members and secures the top and bottom members together during operation of the inflator; the top member has a surrounding side wall extending between the inner housing joint and an upper surface of the top member and a surrounding portion of the bottom member radially inward of the inner housing Joint is offset toward the upper surface of the top member and abuts an Inner portion of the surrounding side wall to provide abutting access for a support against the surrounding portion of the bottom member radially inward of the inner housing joint during manufacture of the joint; the filter chamber is defined between the inner housing and the outer housing and there is a metal divider which divides the filter chamber into two compartments and a rim of the divider is sandwiched between the collars of the cover and the base; the base and bottom members have central apertures in communication with each other and a tube inserted through the apertures is located to define an ignitor chamber central of the propellent chamber, the tube having two compressed portions extending radially outwardly and enveloping therebetween portions of the base and bottom member surrounding the tube for sealed connection therebetween; and the axially upper end of the tube includes a radially inwardly directed lip, the top member of the inner housing has a central aperture surrounded by a downwardly directed flange located radially inwardly of and in abutment with the lip of the tube, and there is a rivet received in the end of the tube to sealingly compress the tube lip and flange together. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
-
Specification