Substantially smoke-free and particulate-free inflator for inflatable safety restraint system
First Claim
1. An inflator for providing, when actuated, propellant gases to inflate a bag of an inflatable safety system, the inflator comprising:
- a housing having disposed therein a solid gas-generating propellant composition capable of generating propellant gases in a chemical reaction when the inflator is actuated;
said solid gas-generating propellant composition comprising a solid fuel-rich component that exothermally decomposes when said chemical reaction occurs, said fuel-rich component being in the form of a plurality of spaced, extruded grains;
said solid gas-generating propellant composition also comprising a solid oxygen-containing oxidizer that provides oxygen, when said chemical reaction occurs, to oxidize at least one decomposition product of said fuel-rich component, said oxidizer being disposed in a space between adjacent said propellant grains;
wherein said solid gas-generating propellant composition is substantially free of metal-containing constituents; and
wherein said inflator, when actuated to cause said chemical reaction, provides gases that are substantially entirely said propellant gases generated from said solid gas-generating propellant composition.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Provided is an inflator for providing propellant gases to inflate a bag of an automotive safety system for restraining an occupant of a vehicle in which the inflator is a pure pyrotechnic inflator that generates propellant gases that are substantially free of metal-containing particulate and condensable materials without requiring storage of a pressurized gas. The propellant gases are generated from a solid gas-generating propellant composition including two components. A first component is fuel-rich and has a fast burn rate. The second component is a oxidizer that, although having a slow burn rate, operates in combination with the first component at an acceptably fast burn rate to oxidize carbon monoxide and/or hydrogen produced during combustion of the first component to carbon dioxide and/or water, respectively.
66 Citations
48 Claims
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1. An inflator for providing, when actuated, propellant gases to inflate a bag of an inflatable safety system, the inflator comprising:
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a housing having disposed therein a solid gas-generating propellant composition capable of generating propellant gases in a chemical reaction when the inflator is actuated; said solid gas-generating propellant composition comprising a solid fuel-rich component that exothermally decomposes when said chemical reaction occurs, said fuel-rich component being in the form of a plurality of spaced, extruded grains; said solid gas-generating propellant composition also comprising a solid oxygen-containing oxidizer that provides oxygen, when said chemical reaction occurs, to oxidize at least one decomposition product of said fuel-rich component, said oxidizer being disposed in a space between adjacent said propellant grains; wherein said solid gas-generating propellant composition is substantially free of metal-containing constituents; and wherein said inflator, when actuated to cause said chemical reaction, provides gases that are substantially entirely said propellant gases generated from said solid gas-generating propellant composition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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23. An inflator for providing, when actuated, propellant gases to inflate a bag of an inflatable safety system, the inflator comprising;
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a housing having disposed therein a solid gas-generating propellant composition capable of generating propellant gases in a chemical reaction when the inflator is actuated; wherein said solid-generating propellant comprises a solid fuel-rich component and a plurality of ammonium nitrate granules, each said granule of ammonium nitrate being coated with a polymeric material; and wherein said solid gas-generating propellant composition is substantially free of metal-containing constituents. - View Dependent Claims (22, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An inflator for providing, when actuated, propellant gases to inflate a bag of an inflatable safety system, the inflator comprising:
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a housing having disposed therein a solid gas-generating propellant composition capable of generating propellant gases in a chemical reaction when the inflator is actuated; said solid gas-generating propellant composition comprising a first solid combustible component that, when combusted alone, generates gases comprising a first mole fraction of carbon monoxide gas, said first solid combustible component being in the form of a plurality of grains; said solid gas-generating propellant composition also comprising a second solid combustible component that, when combusted in combination with said first component, generates, together with first component, gases having a second mole fraction of carbon monoxide gas that is smaller than said first concentration; wherein said solid gas-generating propellant composition is substantially free of metal-containing materials, such that said propellant gases generated from said solid gas-generating propellant composition are substantially in the absence of metal-containing particulate materials and metal-containing condensable materials, and wherein said propellant composition is made by the process of mixing a plurality of particles of said second solid combustible component in a polymeric material, forming a web structure from said polymeric material which contains each of said particles of said second solid combustible component, disrupting said web structure with said particles of said second solid combustible component to define a plurality of coated said solid combustible component which are coated with said polymeric material, distributing said plurality of coated said second solid combustible components throughout said plurality of grains of said first solid combustible component and fixing a position of said plurality of coated second solid combustible components relative to said plurality of grains of said first solid combustible component; and wherein said inflator, when actuated to ignite said first component and said second component, provides gases that are substantially entirely said propellant gases generated from said solid gas-generating propellant composition. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. An inflator for providing, when actuated, propellant gases to inflate a bag of an automotive safety system for restraining an occupant of a vehicle, the inflator comprising:
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a housing having disposed therein a solid gas-generating propellant composition capable of generating propellant gases when the inflator is actuated; said solid gas-generating propellant composition comprising particles having a component that undergoes a crystalline phase change within an ambient temperature range of storage and operation of the inflator, said crystalline phase change being accompanied by a volume change; wherein, said particles are bound in a structure having a porosity of larger than about 20 percent, providing space to accommodate said volume change and reducing the possibility of structural deterioration of said bulk form due to said volume change. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification