Method for setting inner pressure of vehicular external airbag, and vehicular external airbag system
First Claim
1. A method for setting, by use of a plurality of dummies of different sizes, an inner pressure of a vehicular external airbag deployed along an outer surface of at least a front windshield of a vehicle, said method comprising:
- a first step of, when a small-size dummy of the plurality of dummies has collided against the vehicle and once a head of the small-size dummy hits the deployed airbag at a predetermined velocity, setting the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag to a characteristic such that the inner pressure takes a predetermined maximum level value capable of not only preventing the small-size dummy from bouncing off said external airbag but also preventing the head of the small-size dummy from hitting a bottom of said external airbag; and
a second step of, when a medium-size dummy of the plurality of dummies collided against the vehicle, setting the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag to a characteristic such that the inner pressure decreases away from the predetermined maximum level value at a pre-determined decrease rate to prevent the medium-size dummy from bouncing off said external airbag.
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Accused Products
Abstract
When a small-size dummy has collided against a vehicle and once the head of the small-size dummy hits the deployed external airbag at a pre-determined velocity, the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag is set to a characteristic such that the inner pressure takes a predetermined maximum level value capable of not only preventing the dummy from bouncing off the airbag but also preventing the head of the dummy from hitting the bottom of the airbag. When a medium-size dummy has collided against the vehicle, the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag is set to a characteristic such that the inner pressure decreases away from the maximum level value at a predetermined decrease rate to prevent the medium-size dummy from bouncing off the airbag.
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Citations
4 Claims
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1. A method for setting, by use of a plurality of dummies of different sizes, an inner pressure of a vehicular external airbag deployed along an outer surface of at least a front windshield of a vehicle, said method comprising:
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a first step of, when a small-size dummy of the plurality of dummies has collided against the vehicle and once a head of the small-size dummy hits the deployed airbag at a predetermined velocity, setting the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag to a characteristic such that the inner pressure takes a predetermined maximum level value capable of not only preventing the small-size dummy from bouncing off said external airbag but also preventing the head of the small-size dummy from hitting a bottom of said external airbag; and a second step of, when a medium-size dummy of the plurality of dummies collided against the vehicle, setting the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag to a characteristic such that the inner pressure decreases away from the predetermined maximum level value at a pre-determined decrease rate to prevent the medium-size dummy from bouncing off said external airbag. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A vehicular external airbag system comprising:
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an inner pressure control characteristic setting unit storing therein predetermined inner pressure control characteristics to control an inner pressure of a vehicular external airbag deployed along an outer surface of at least a front windshield of a vehicle; and a vehicular external airbag apparatus comprising; said external airbag; an inflator for inflating and deploying said external airbag upon detection of a collision of an external object against the vehicle; and a control section, wherein, when a small-size external object collided against the vehicle and once a part of the small-size external object hits the deployed external airbag at a predetermined velocity, said control section performs first control, in accordance with the inner pressure control characteristics stored in said inner pressure control characteristic setting unit, such that said inflator is ignited at predetermined first timing and the inner pressure of the deployed external airbag takes a predetermined maximum level value capable of not only preventing the small-size external object from bouncing off said external airbag but also preventing the part of the small-size external object from hitting a bottom of said external airbag, and when a large-size external object, greater in size than the small-size external object, collided against the vehicle and once a part of the large-size external object hits the deployed external airbag at a predetermined velocity, said control section performs second control, in accordance with the inner pressure control characteristics stored in said inner pressure control characteristic setting unit, such that said inflator is ignited at predetermined second timing later than said first timing and the inner pressure is kept, for a predetermined time period, at a predetermined level value smaller than the maximum level value and capable of not only preventing the large-size external object from bouncing off said external airbag but also preventing the part of the large-size external object hitting the bottom of said external airbag. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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Specification