Airbag apparatus

• US 7,837,226 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2009
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Shibayama, Koji, Honda, Kensaku, Nagata, Atsushi, Sato, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Dickson; Paul N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coker; Robert A
• Application Number:
  US12/591,852
• Publication Number:
  US 20100140906A1
• Time in Patent Office: 355 Days
• Field of Search: 280/729, 280/730.2, 280/742, 280/743.1
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/26094 characterised by fluid flow controlling valves
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/23138 specially adapted for side protection B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence

Abstract

A check valve 60 is formed by a pair of the valve body portions 61. Ends of the valve body portions 61 that are close to an upper inflation portion EU are joined to a communication passage wall 51 by an outflow-side joint portion 41. Each valve body portion 61 includes a flexible portion 64 that is located in the vicinity of the outflow-side joint portion 41 and between the outflow-side joint portion 41 and a lower inflation portion EL. The front edges of the valve body portions 61 are joined to the communication passage wall 51 by a first edge joint portion 67. The first edge joint portion 67 also functions as a wall joint portion 63 that joins the communication passage walls 51 to each other. The rear ends of the valve body portions 61 are joined to each other by a second edge joint portion 68, which extends along the flowing direction of inflation gas. An auxiliary joint portion 69 is located between the first edge joint portion 67 and the second edge joint portion 68, and in the vicinity of the second edge joint portion 68. The auxiliary joint portion 69 joins the valve body portions 61 to each other. The auxiliary joint portion 69 also functions as a rigid portion 65, which is harder to flex than the flexible portion 64. The rigid portion 65 extends along the flowing direction of the inflation gas.

Claims

1. An airbag apparatus comprising an airbag and a check valve, wherein the airbag has a plurality of inflation portions inflated by inflation gas, an adjacent pair of the inflation portions being connected to each other by a communication passage formed by a pair of communication passage walls, wherein the check valve has a pair of valve body portions provided in the communication passage, one of the inflation portions being a gas inflow inflation portion, which is inflated and deployed by a relatively high internal pressure, and another inflation portion being a gas outflow inflation portion, which is inflated and deployed by an internal pressure that is lower than that of the gas inflow inflation portion, wherein the check valve restricts flow of the inflation gas from the gas inflow inflation portion to the gas outflow inflation portion,

the airbag apparatus being characterized in that end portions of the valve body portions that are in the vicinity of the gas outflow inflation are each connected to corresponding one of the communication passage wall by an outflow-side joint portion extending in a direction intersecting a direction in which the inflation gas flows through the communication passage, wherein each valve body portion has a flexible portion that is located in the vicinity of the outflow-side joint portion and between the outflow-side joint portion and the gas inflow inflation portion, wherein the flexible portion can be flexed toward the gas outflow inflation portion, wherein a first edge joint portion is provided on a side edge of one of the valve body portions, the first edge joint portion being used for joining the valve body portion to the corresponding communication passage wall, wherein a wall joint portion is provided on or in the vicinity of the first edge joint portion, the wall joint portion being used for joining the communication passage walls to each other, wherein a second edge joint portion is provided on a side edge of the other valve body portion, the second edge joint portion being used for joining the valve body portions to each other, and the second edge joint portion extending along the flowing direction of the inflation gas, wherein an auxiliary joint portion is provided in the vicinity of the second edge joint portion and between the first edge joint portion and the second edge joint portion, the auxiliary joint portion being used for joining the valve body portions to each other, and the auxiliary joint portion extending from the vicinity of the flexible portions toward the gas inflow inflation portion, and wherein a rigid portion, which is harder to flex than the flexible portion, is provided on or in the vicinity of the auxiliary joint portion, the rigid portion extending along the flowing direction of the inflation gas.

2. The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the length of the rigid portion is longer than the distance between a spot of the wall joint portion at which the distance from the rigid portion is smallest and ends of the outflow-side joint portions that are close to the rigid portion.

3. The airbag apparatus according to claim 2, characterized by a gas supply source that supplies the inflation gas into the airbag, wherein an end of the gas supply source that is close to the gas inflow inflation portion is located in the gas outflow inflation portion.

4. The airbag apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the rigid portion is formed by sewing the valve body portions together with sewing threads.

5. The airbag apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the inflation gas is supplied into the airbag in response to an impact from a side of the vehicle, wherein the airbag is caused to pop out forward by the inflation gas and is inflated and deployed between a body side portion of the vehicle and an occupant seated on a vehicle seat.

6. The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by a gas supply source that supplies the inflation gas into the airbag, wherein an end of the gas supply source that is close to the gas inflow inflation portion is located in the gas outflow inflation portion.

7. The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the rigid portion is formed by sewing the valve body portions together with sewing threads.

8. The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the inflation gas is supplied into the airbag in response to an impact from a side of the vehicle, wherein the airbag is caused to pop out forward by the inflation gas and is inflated and deployed between a body side portion of the vehicle and an occupant seated on a vehicle seat.

9. The airbag apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the gas inflow inflation portion is a lower inflation portion, which is inflated and deployed in the vicinity of the lumbar region of the occupant, and the gas outflow inflation portion is an upper inflation portion, which is inflated and deployed in the vicinity of the thorax of the occupant, and wherein the upper inflation portion is located above the lower inflation portion.