Air bag assembly with selectively variable volume
First Claim
1. An air bag assembly comprising an air bag and a primary inflator for inflating the air bag upon actuation thereof, characterized bythe air bag having a full inflated volume and a lesser partial inflated volume, andincluding a plurality of tethers, and means for anchoring the tethers to reduce the inflated volume of the air bag to the partial inflated volume which includes a secondary inflator that is selectively operable to release the tethers and coact with the primary inflator to inflate the air bag to full volume,whereby actuation of only the primary inflator will inflate the air bag to only partial volume as constrained by the tethers, and further actuation of the secondary inflator will release the tethers and inflate the air bag to full volume.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, an air bag assembly comprises an air bag and a primary inflator for inflating the air bag. The air bag has a full inflated volume and a lesser partial inflated volume which is achieved by anchoring a plurality of tethers with a heat-sensitive link to reduce the inflated volume of the air bag to the partial inflated volume. A secondary inflator is selectively operable to release the tethers and coact with the primary inflator to inflate the air bag to the full inflated volume. Actuation of only the primary inflator inflates the air bag to only partial volume as constrained by the tethers. Actuation of the secondary inflator melts the link to release the tethers and inflate the air bag to full volume. In another embodiment, the secondary inflator is replaced by a tether control which includes an actuator that is selectively operable to release the tethers. The air bag includes a vent which is normally open so that operation of only the inflator will inflate the air bag to only partial volume as constrained by the tethers, while operation of the actuator releases the tethers and closes the vent and enable the inflator to inflate the air bag to full inflated volume.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. An air bag assembly comprising an air bag and a primary inflator for inflating the air bag upon actuation thereof, characterized by
the air bag having a full inflated volume and a lesser partial inflated volume, and including a plurality of tethers, and means for anchoring the tethers to reduce the inflated volume of the air bag to the partial inflated volume which includes a secondary inflator that is selectively operable to release the tethers and coact with the primary inflator to inflate the air bag to full volume, whereby actuation of only the primary inflator will inflate the air bag to only partial volume as constrained by the tethers, and further actuation of the secondary inflator will release the tethers and inflate the air bag to full volume.
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3. An air bag assembly comprising an air bag and an inflator for inflating the air bag upon actuation thereof, characterized by
the air bag having a full inflated volume and a lesser partial inflated volume, and including a plurality of tethers, and a tether control for anchoring the tethers to reduce the inflated volume of the air bag from full inflated volume to partial inflated volume, including an actuator that is selectively operable to release the tethers and enable inflation of the air bag to full volume, whereby operation of only the inflator will inflate the air bag to only partial volume as constrained by the tethers, and further operation of the actuator will release the tethers and enable inflation of the air bag to full volume.
Specification