Vehicle window air bag curtain

• US 5,899,491 A
• Filed: 04/29/1998
• Issued: 05/04/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimler-Benz AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Inventors: Tschaeschke, Ulrich
• Primary Examiner(s): Oberleitner, Robert J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fleming, Faye M.
• Application Number:
  US09/067,957
• Time in Patent Office: 370 Days
• Field of Search: 280/730.2, 280/730.1, 280/743.1, 280/728.1, 280/749, 280/748, 280/743.2
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23316 Inner seams, e.g. creating separate compartments or used as tethering means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge

Abstract

An air bag curtain, particularly for a vehicle window, comprises several tube-shaped chambers which are arranged side-by-side. The chambers are spaced from one another and can be filled with gas and have a largely circular cross-section after being filled with gas. In the effective gas-filled position, the air bag curtain extends between two lateral fastening points. The chambers, which are crossed by a tension line connecting the two fastening points with one another, are constructed with a bulge in the crossing area which results in the oval cross-section being oriented approximately in the direction of the tension line.

Claims

1. Air bag curtain for a vehicle window, comprising a plurality of spaced tube-shaped chambers arranged side-by-side and arranged to be filled with gas so as to have a largely circular cross-section after being filled with the gas,

wherein, in an effective position, in a gasfilled manner, the air bag curtain is configured to extend between two lateral fastening points, and the chambers, which are crossed by a tension line connecting the two fastening points are constructed with a bulge in a crossing area so as to result in an oval cross-section oriented approximately in the direction of the tension line.

2. The air bag curtain according to claim 1, wherein the tension line extends below a center of gravity of a sitting occupant'"'"'s head.

3. The air bag curtain according to claim 1, wherein shaping boundary lines of the chambers are sewed or woven.

4. The air bag curtain according to claim 1, wherein the shaping boundary lines of the chambers are constructed to be substantially parallel.

5. The air bag curtain according to claim 1, wherein the air bag curtain is configured to take up a gathered storage position along a boundary edge of the vehicle window and is changed into the effective position upon gas filling, and is tensioned along the tension line between the fastening points.