Air bag module with adjustable cover

• US 7,255,365 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2004
• Issued: 08/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Vigeant, Peter L., Geyer, David L., Schorle, Michael A., Misetich, Ronald J., Kellogg, Darrell A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Culbreth; Eric
• Assistant Examiner(s): GOODEN JR, BARRY J
• Application Number:
  US10/961,973
• Publication Number:
  US 20050082794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,040 Days
• Field of Search: 280/728.2, 280/732, 280/728.3
• US Class Current: 280/732
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/2172 the cover being connected to the surrounding part and to the module, e.g. floating mounts
• 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

Abstract

An air bag module including a canister and a cover coupled to said canister. One of the cover and canister has a projection and the other of the cover and canister has an opening. The projection is disposed in the opening and engages the other of the cover and canister to restrict movement of the cover relative to the canister and create a frictional force acting to resist movement of the cover relative to the canister.

Claims

1. An airbag module comprising:

a canister;

a cover coupled to said canister, said canister and cover defining a cavity;

a nub provided on one of said cover and canister;

a slot provided on the other of said cover and said canister, the slot being a hole having a receiving section that is within the hole and an engaging section that is within the hole extending from said receiving section;

wherein said nub is disposed in said receiving section when said cover is in a neutral position relative to said canister and, when said cover is moved relative to said canister in the direction toward a final installed position from said neutral position, said nub engages said engaging section to create a frictional force resisting movement of said cover relative to said canister.

2. An airbag module comprising:

a canister;

a cover coupled to said canister, said canister and cover defining a cavity, one of said cover and canister having a nub with a width and the other of said cover and said canister having a slot with a receiving section and a tapered section extending from said receiving section, said receiving section having a width that is larger than said nub width and said tapered section having a width that narrows as said tapered section extends from said receiving section;

wherein said nub is disposed in said receiving section when said cover is in a neutral position relative to said canister and, when said cover is moved relative to said canister in the direction toward a final installed position from said neutral position, said nub is moved into said tapered section to create an increasing frictional force resisting movement of said cover relative to said canister, said frictional force increasing as said canister effects relative movement in a direction away from said cover;

an inflator disposed in said cavity; and

an air bag disposed in said cavity and operably associated with said inflator.

3. The air bag module of claim 2 wherein said nub extends from said cover and said slot is formed in said canister.

9. The airbag module according to claim 2, wherein the canister includes a side wall and a plurality of tabs extending from said side wall, each of said tabs having a leg and a wing extending from said leg and spaced from said side wall to define a passage,

wherein the passage is maintained between the tabs and said side wall after assembly of the air bag module,

wherein the cover includes a plurality of cutouts each having a center opening and a lateral cavity extending from said center opening,

wherein the slot is configured so that said width of said tapered section at said receiving section is greater than said width of said nub and the width of said tapered section remote from said receiving section is less than said width of said nub,

wherein each of said tabs is disposable in a cutout with said wings aligned with said lateral cavities when said cover is in an initial position relative to said canister, and

wherein said cover is movable relative to said canister in the direction toward a final installed position from said initial position to a neutral position wherein said wings are offset from said lateral cavities.

4. A method of assembling an airbag canister within a vehicle instrument panel comprising:

coupling a cover to a canister by displacing the cover to a neutral position relative to the canister so as to realize limited slip interface between the cover and the canister;

disposing tab wings on the canister into cutouts on the cover;

displacing the cover until the tab wings are not aligned with the cutouts on the cover;

engaging a locking nub on the cover into a receiving section of a locking slot on the canister;

placing the canister with the cover in said neutral position within a cavity defined by an instrument panel of a vehicle;

connecting the canister to the instrument panel with a fastener assembly;

enabling adjustment of the cover relative to the canister after initial coupling of the airbag canister within the vehicle instrument panel;

tightening the fastener assembly to securely couple the canister to the instrument panel; and

displacing the cover to a final installed position relative to the canister.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said step of placing the canister within the instrument panel further includes the step of engaging shoulders on the cover with shelves on the instrument panel.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein during said step of tightening the fastener assembly, the cover remains substantially stationary relative to said instrument panel.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein during said step of tightening the fastener assembly a bias force is created by the shoulders against the shelves to prevent movement of the cover relative to the instrument panel.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein during said step of coupling the cover to the canister, a resilient biasing force is created to maintain the neutral position of the cover relative to the canister during said steps of placing the canister and the coupled cover into the cavity of the instrument panel and connecting the canister to the instrument panel with the fastener assembly.