Center curtain air bag apparatus for vehicle

• US 8,573,634 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2012
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Choi, Jun Yeol, Kwak, Dae Young
• Primary Examiner(s): ROCCA, JOSEPH M
• Application Number:
  US13/472,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20130069348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 539 Days
• Field of Search: 280/729, 280/730.1, 280/730.2, 280/743.1, 280/749
• US Class Current: 280/730.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23153 specially adapted for rear seat passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/2617 Curtain bag nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/214 in roof panels
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge

Abstract

A center curtain air bag apparatus for a vehicle efficiently protects a rear seat passenger with an air bag cushion that is deployed during a car collision accident.

Claims

1. A center curtain air bag apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

an air bag housing installed to folded and stored along a roof panel in a left and right direction of a car body, between a front seat and a rear seat;

an inflator fixed to the air bag housing that generates air bag gas by an explosive operation by a control signal from an air bag ECU; and

an air bag cushion including an upper end fixed to the air bag housing and a plurality of chambers, wherein the air bag cushion is folded to be adhered closely to the air bag housing and then is deployed downward toward a floor panel by a pressure produced when the inflator is exploded;

wherein the airbag cushion is connected to an intermediate portion of a side curtain airbag so that movement of the air bag cushion in a traverse direction of the vehicle is minimized when a pressure is applied to the air bag cushion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a diffuser fixed within the air bag housing, together with the inflator, and dividedly supplies the air bag gas coming from the inflator into respective chambers of the air bag cushion.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pair of support panels connected to both sides of the air bag cushion and a center pillar to minimize a movement of the air bag cushion when a pressure is applied to the air bag cushion.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein both ends of the air bag housing are fixed by a support bracket to an edge of a car body panel, to which the roof panel and a side panel are connected.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a retainer covered by the air bag cushion is provided on an upper end of the air bag cushion, and the air bag housing, the air bag cushion and the retainer are connected by a plurality of connecting pins.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air bag cushion is divided into the plurality of chambers by a plurality of needle lines sewn vertically wherein the chamber has the same upper end interval L1 as the lower end interval L2.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air bag cushion is divided into the plurality of chambers by a plurality of needle lines sewn vertically wherein a middle chamber of the air bag cushion has a wider space than those of left and right chambers.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air bag cushion is divided into the plurality of chambers by a plurality of needle lines sewn vertically wherein the upper end interval L4 of the chamber is narrower than that of the lower end interval L5.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air bag cushion is divided into the plurality of chambers by a plurality of needle lines sewn vertically wherein the upper end interval L6 of the chamber is narrower than that of the lower end interval L7, and the chamber disposed on a left upper end of the air bag cushion and the chamber disposed on a right upper end of the air bag cushion communicate through a connection passage.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air bag cushion is divided into the plurality of chambers by a plurality of needle lines sewn vertically spaced from one another wherein the chambers are communicated through a middle passage 58 formed on a middle part of the air bag cushion.