Side impact air bag system

• US 6,065,772 A
• Filed: 09/26/1997
• Issued: 05/23/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Nakamura, Junichi, Ookochi, Tsutomu, Yamamoto, Ryosuke, Miwa, Kazuya, Nagayama, Noritaka, Shimoda, Mikiharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Dickson, Paul N.
• Application Number:
  US08/935,081
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 280/730.1, 280/730.2, 280/743.1
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0006 Lateral collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23316 Inner seams, e.g. creating separate compartments or used as tethering means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23324 Inner walls crating separate compartments, e.g. communicating with vents
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/207 in vehicle seats
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/23138 specially adapted for side protection B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2342 Tear seams
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/237 characterised by the way they are folded

Abstract

An air bag system having an air bag module 20 including an inflator 22 and an air bag 25 is installed in a seat back 12. When a side collision occurs against a vehicle, the air bag 25 is inflated between a passenger and an inner wall of a vehicle compartment. The air bag 25 has a separator 27 for vertically separating the inside of the air bag 25 into first and second chambers 28 and 29. The separator 27 is extended along a vehicle front-to-rear direction, and defines a communication portion 27a at a vehicle rear side in the air bag 25 for interconnecting the two chambers 28 and 29 and guiding gas blown by the inflator 22 from the first chamber 28 to the second chamber 29.

Claims

1. A side impact air bag system comprising:

a gas generating device attached to a vehicle seat, said gas generating device blowing gas toward a front side of said seat when a collision force applied to a side of a vehicle is detected; and

a bag having a front side and a rear side and being connected to said gas generating device and deployed by said gas, said bag including;

a first chamber positioned between a torso of a passenger and a vehicle side part when deployed, the gas blown from said gas generating device flowing directly into said first chamber to deploy said first chamber;

a second chamber positioned between a head of the passenger and a vehicle side part when deployed, said gas flowing via said first chamber into said second chamber to deploy said second chamber; and

a first separator extending along a front-to-rear direction of the seat when the bag is deployed for dividing said bag into said first chamber and said second chamber,

wherein said first separator is positioned relative to the rear side of said bag such that a first communication passage is defined between the first separator and the rear side of the bag for connecting said first chamber and said second chamber and such that gas is communicated between the first and second chambers via the first communication passage only at the rear side of the bag while the bag inflates, and

wherein said gas blown from said gas generating device to the seat front side is deflected to said first communication passage by an inner surface of the seat front side of said first chamber, and further deflected to the seat front side to deploy said second chamber by an inner surface of the seat rear side of said first communication passage when passing said first communication passage.

2. The side impact air bag system according to claim 1, wherein said gas flowing into said second chamber is further deflected to a seat rear upper part of said second chamber by an inner wall of the seat front side of said second chamber.

3. The side impact air bag system according to claim 1, wherein said first separator is a partitioning wall.

4. The side impact air bag system according to claim 1, wherein said first separator is a seam.

5. The side impact air bag system according to claim 1, wherein said bag includes a third chamber provided on the seat rear upper part of said second chamber.

6. The side impact air bag system according to claim 5, wherein said bag includes a second separator for separating said second chamber from said third chamber.

7. The side impact air bag system according to claim 6, wherein said second separator is positioned relative to a rear side of said bag such that a second communication passage is defined therebetween for connecting said second chamber and said third chamber.

8. The side impact air bag system according to claim 7, wherein said second separator is a seam.

9. The side impact air bag system according to claim 8, wherein said seam has a strength set lower at the side of said second communication passage than a strength at the seat rear side.

10. The side impact air bag system according to claim 6, wherein a strength of said second separator is set lower than a strength of said first separator.

11. The side impact air bag system according to claim 10, wherein the strength of said second separator is set such that said second separator is broken when said second chamber is deployed.

12. The side impact air bag system according to claim 11, wherein said first separator and said second separator are seams.

13. The side impact air bag system according to claim 1, wherein said second chamber receives gas from said gas generating device only through said first communication port.

14. The side impact air bag system of claim 1, wherein the rear side of the bag is located closer to the gas generating device than the front side of the bag.

15. A side impact air bag system comprising:

a gas generating device that blows gas toward a front side of said seat when a collision force applied to a side of a vehicle is detected; and

a bag having a front side and a rear side and being connected to said gas generating device and deployed by said gas, said bag including;

a first chamber positioned between a torso of a passenger and a vehicle side part when deployed, the gas blown from said gas generating device flowing directly into said first chamber to deploy said first chamber,

a second chamber positioned between a head of the passenger and a vehicle side part when deployed, said gas flowing via said first chamber into said second chamber to deploy said second chamber, and

a first separator extending along a front-to-rear direction of the seat when the bag is deployed for dividing said bag into said first chamber and said second chamber, and

a first communication passage connecting said first chamber and said second chamber and positioned such that gas is communicated between the first and second chambers via the first communication passage only at the rear side of the bag while the bag inflates,

wherein said gas blown from said gas generating device to the front side of the seat is deflected to said first communication passage by an inner surface of the seat front side of said first chamber, and further deflected to the seat front side to deploy said second chamber by an inner surface of a seat rear side of said first communication passage when passing said first communication passage, and

wherein said second chamber receives gas from said gas generating device only through said first communication passage.

16. The side impact air bag system according to claim 15, wherein an inner wall of a seat front side of said second chamber further deflects said gas flowing into said second chamber to a seat rear upper part of said second chamber.

17. The side impact air bag system according to claim 15, wherein said first separator is a seam.

18. The side impact air bag system according to claim 15, wherein said bag includes a third chamber provided on the seat rear upper part of said second chamber, and wherein said bag includes a second separator for separating said second chamber from said third chamber.

19. The side impact air bag system according to claim 18, wherein said second separator is positioned relative to said seat front side such that a second communication passage is defined therebetween for connecting said second chamber and said third chamber.

20. The side impact air bag system according to claim 19, wherein said second separator is a seam whose strength is lower at the side of said second communication passage than at the seat rear side.

21. The side impact air bag system according to claim 18, wherein a strength of said second separator is lower than a strength of said first separator.

22. The side impact air bag system according to claim 21, wherein the strength of said second separator is set such that said second separator is broken when said second chamber is deployed.

23. The side impact air bag system according to claim 22, wherein said first separator and said second separator are seams.

24. The side impact air bag system of claim 15, wherein the rear side of the bag is located closer to the gas generating device than the front side of the bag.