Safety arrangement for a vehicle occupant
First Claim
1. A safety arrangement for a vehicle occupant comprising an airbag arrangement having a first airbag compartment positioned to protect the occupant'"'"'s head and a second airbag compartment positioned to protect the occupant'"'"'s torso during a side collision, gas generator means actuatable in response to a signal from a collision sensor, and control means for controlling the activation of the gas generator means, wherein the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement are assembled as a unit and attached to a vehicle component or structural part and wherein the first and second airbag compartments have different filling characteristics and the first airbag compartment has a longer relaxation time than the second airbag compartment and the first and second airbag compartments, when filled with gas from the gas generator means, extend forwardly in vertically spaced relation substantially in the direction of view of the vehicle occupant and provide a substantially C-shaped contour in side view.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A safety arrangement for protecting a vehicle occupant during a side collision provides airbags laterally adjacent to the head and torso portions of the occupant. The airbags are fillable with propellant gas by at least one gas generator contained in the same unit as the airbags in response to a signal from a collision sensor connected to a control unit. To permit the airbag arrangement to be as small in volume as possible, the airbags may be combined in one unit. The airbags are deployable forwardly in the direction of view of the occupant and, when filled, have a substantially C-shaped contour in side view. The unit containing the airbags and the gas generator may be mounted either in a vehicle component or on a structural part of the vehicle.
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Citations
20 Claims
- 1. A safety arrangement for a vehicle occupant comprising an airbag arrangement having a first airbag compartment positioned to protect the occupant'"'"'s head and a second airbag compartment positioned to protect the occupant'"'"'s torso during a side collision, gas generator means actuatable in response to a signal from a collision sensor, and control means for controlling the activation of the gas generator means, wherein the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement are assembled as a unit and attached to a vehicle component or structural part and wherein the first and second airbag compartments have different filling characteristics and the first airbag compartment has a longer relaxation time than the second airbag compartment and the first and second airbag compartments, when filled with gas from the gas generator means, extend forwardly in vertically spaced relation substantially in the direction of view of the vehicle occupant and provide a substantially C-shaped contour in side view.
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9. A safety arrangement according to claim wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is attached to a central tunnel of the vehicle.
Specification