Knee protecting airbag device

• US 7,055,851 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2002
• Issued: 06/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Kazumasa, Takimoto, Masahiro, Koyama, Toru, Mizuno, Yoshio
• Primary Examiner(s): Dickson, Paul N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FREEDMAN, LAURA
• Application Number:
  US10/299,657
• Publication Number:
  US 20030094795A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,294 Days
• Field of Search: 280/728.2, 280/730.1, 280/732, 280/743.1
• US Class Current: 280/730.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23169 specially adapted for knee protection
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23382 Internal tether means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/206 in the lower part of dashboards, e.g. for protecting the knees
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2165 characterised by a tear line for defining a deployment opening
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2171 specially adapted for elongated cylindrical or bottle-like inflators with a symmetry axis perpendicular to the main direction of bag deployment, e.g. extruded reaction canisters B60R21/2176 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/233 comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other B60R21/232 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/237 characterised by the way they are folded

Abstract

A knee protecting airbag device in which a folded airbag and an inflator are housed and held in a case. In the inflator, a connection portion to be connected with a connector having leadwires connected is exposed to the outside of the case through insert holes formed in the airbag and in the case. The through hole of the case has an internal diameter size smaller than the external diameter size of the general portion of the inflator near the connection portion of the inflator.

Claims

1. A knee protecting airbag device,

wherein a knee protecting airbag is folded and housed in a case arranged in front of the knees of a seated passenger and is protruded toward the rear of a vehicle from said case when an inflating gas flows in, so that the airbag is expanded and inflated upward while being unfolded,

wherein said case is provided with a surrounding wall portion of a generally square tube shape opened on the rear side of the vehicle, and a bottom wall portion closing the vehicular front side of said surrounding wall portion, said surrounding wall portion defining an opening opposite to the bottom wall portion,

wherein said case has a height near the opening larger than the height of said bottom wall portion and the case is expanded toward a leading edge of said opening when said airbag is expanded and inflated;

wherein an upper wall portion in said case surrounding wall portion can be deformed to expand said case opening when said airbag is expanded and inflated;

wherein a distance between an upper wall portion of said surrounding wall portion and a lower wall portion of said surrounding wall portion does not decrease from the bottom wall portion to the opening; and

wherein an airbag cover is arranged to cover the vehicular rear of said case, the airbag cover including a door portion covering said opening, the door portion opening to protrude said airbag when said airbag is inflated, a door opening made by the door portion when opened having a width along the vertical direction larger than a width of the bottom wall portion in the vertical direction.

2. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 1,

wherein the lower wall portion of said case surrounding wall portion is arranged so that an opening side end thereof is higher than a bottom wall portion side end thereof.

3. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of the height near the opening to a height of the bottom wall portion is in the range of 1<

h1/h2≦

1.8, where h1 is the height near the opening and h2 is the height of the bottom wall portion.

4. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of the height near the opening to a height of the bottom wall portion is in the range of 1.2<

h1/h2≦

1.6, where h1 is the height near the opening and h2 is the height of the bottom wall portion.

5. A knee protecting airbag device,

wherein a knee protecting airbag folded is housed in a case arranged in front of the knees of a seated passenger and is protruded toward the rear of the vehicle from said case when an inflating gas flows in, so that it is expanded and inflated upward while being unfolded, and

wherein said case is provided with a surrounding wall portion of a generally square tube shape opened on the rear side of the vehicle, and a bottom wall portion closing the vehicular front side of said surrounding wall portion, said surrounding wall portion defining an opening opposite to the bottom wall,

wherein said airbag is folded in one direction, creating transverse fold lines such that an upper edge of the airbag approaches an inflator edge of an airbag to form a first folded portion, and then the two side edges of the airbag, which are transverse to the transverse fold lines, are folded either over the upper side or beneath the lower side and toward a central portion of the first folded portion, to form second folded portions;

the second folded portions being arranged in said case along the transverse direction, each second folded portion and the central portion being arranged along the vertical direction and then substantially along an opening face of the case,

wherein said case is made deformable at the upper wall portion or the lower wall portion of said case surrounding wall portion so that the height in the vicinity of the opening may be enlarged when said airbag is expanded and inflated,

wherein a distance between the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion does not decrease from the bottom wall portion to the opening, and

wherein an airbag cover is arranged to cover the vehicular rear of said case, the airbag cover including a door portion covering said opening, the door portion opening to protrude said airbag when said airbag is inflated, a door opening made by the door portion when opened having a width along the vertical direction larger than a width of the bottom wall portion in the vertical direction.

6. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 5,

wherein the wall portion, as located on the folding side of the two edges of said airbag, in said case surrounding wall portion is made deformable.

7. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 6,

wherein said airbag is folded such that the two transverse edge sides are folded beneath the lower side near the central portion of the folded portion.

8. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 5, wherein a ratio of a height near the opening to a height of the bottom wall portion is in the range of 1<

h1/h2≦

1.8, where h1 is the height near the opening and h2 is the height of the bottom wall portion.

9. A knee protecting airbag device according to claim 5, wherein a ratio of a height near the opening to a height of the bottom wall portion is in the range of 1.2<

h1/h2≦

1.6, where h1 is the height near the opening and h2 is the height of the bottom wall portion.