Airbag
First Claim
1. An occupant side-impact protection apparatus for a motor vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- an inflatable cushion stored in a folded configuration and deploys from a seat assembly within the motor vehicle;
an inflator configured to provide gas to inflate the cushion;
wherein the cushion is configured to inflate to protect an occupant of the vehicle; and
a tether to provide tension to tailor a deployment trajectory of the cushion;
wherein the tether is coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location, the tether being disposed externally relative to the cushion;
wherein a distance along the tether from the first coupling location to the second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the first coupling location to the second coupling location; and
wherein, upon deployment, one of the first and second coupling locations is located nearer to a seat back of the seat assembly than the other of the first and second coupling locations and the other of the first and second coupling locations is located at a forward location relative to the one of the first and second coupling locations in a vehicle longitudinal direction.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An occupant side-impact protection apparatus for a motor vehicle comprising an inflatable cushion stored in a folded configuration and an inflator configured to provide gas to inflate the cushion. The cushion is configured to inflate to protect the occupant of a vehicle. The side-impact protection apparatus further includes a tether to provide tension to tailor the deployment trajectory of the cushion. The tether is coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location and the distance along the tether from the first coupling location to the second coupling location is less than the distance along the cushion from the first coupling location to the second coupling location.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An occupant side-impact protection apparatus for a motor vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an inflatable cushion stored in a folded configuration and deploys from a seat assembly within the motor vehicle; an inflator configured to provide gas to inflate the cushion;
wherein the cushion is configured to inflate to protect an occupant of the vehicle; anda tether to provide tension to tailor a deployment trajectory of the cushion; wherein the tether is coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location, the tether being disposed externally relative to the cushion; wherein a distance along the tether from the first coupling location to the second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the first coupling location to the second coupling location; and
wherein, upon deployment, one of the first and second coupling locations is located nearer to a seat back of the seat assembly than the other of the first and second coupling locations and the other of the first and second coupling locations is located at a forward location relative to the one of the first and second coupling locations in a vehicle longitudinal direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An occupant side-impact protection apparatus for a motor vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an inflatable cushion stored in a folded configuration and deploys from a seat assembly within the motor vehicle; an inflator configured to provide gas to inflate the cushion;
wherein the cushion is configured to inflate to protect an occupant of the vehicle; anda tether to provide tension to tailor a deployment trajectory of the cushion, wherein the tether is coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location, the tether being disposed externally relative to the cushion; wherein a distance along the tether from the first coupling location to the second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the first coupling location to the second coupling location; wherein both the first coupling location and the second coupling locations are located on a perimeter of the cushion; and
wherein, upon deployment, one of the first and second coupling locations is located nearer to a seat back of the seat assembly than the other of the first and second coupling locations and the other of the first and second coupling locations is located at a substantially forward location relative to the one of the first and second coupling locations in a vehicle longitudinal direction. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An occupant side-impact protection apparatus for a motor vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an inflatable cushion stored in a folded configuration; an inflator configured to provide gas to inflate the cushion, wherein the cushion is configured to inflate to protect an occupant of the vehicle; a first tether to provide tension to tailor a deployment trajectory of the cushion, wherein the first tether is coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location, wherein a distance along the first tether from its first coupling location to its second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the first tether'"'"'s first coupling location to the first tether'"'"'s second coupling location, wherein the first tether'"'"'s first coupling location is located on a perimeter of the cushion and the first tether'"'"'s second coupling location is located on a portion of the cushion away from the perimeter; and a second tether coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location; wherein a distance along the second tether from its first coupling location to its second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the second tether'"'"'s first coupling location to the second tether'"'"'s second coupling location; and wherein both the second tether'"'"'s first coupling location and the second tether'"'"'s second coupling location are located on the perimeter of the cushion.
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22. An occupant side-impact protection apparatus for a motor vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an inflatable cushion stored in a folded configuration; an inflator configured to provide gas to inflate the cushion, wherein the cushion is configured to inflate to protect an occupant of the vehicle; a first tether to provide tension to tailor a deployment trajectory of the cushion, wherein the first tether is coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location, wherein a distance along the first tether from its first coupling location to its second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the first tether'"'"'s first coupling location to the first tether'"'"'s second coupling location, wherein both the first tether'"'"'s first coupling location and the first tether'"'"'s second coupling locations are located on a perimeter of the cushion; and a second tether coupled to the cushion at a first coupling location and a second coupling location; wherein a distance along the second tether from its first coupling location to its second coupling location is less than a distance along the cushion from the second tether'"'"'s first coupling location to the second tether'"'"'s second coupling location; and wherein the first coupling location of the second tether is located on the perimeter of the cushion and the second coupling location of the second tether is located on a portion of the cushion away from the perimeter.
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Specification