Knee airbag with clamshell housing
First Claim
1. A knee airbag with clamshell housing module comprises:
- an airbag;
an inflator;
a one-piece housing, the housing containing the airbag and inflator within a hollow interior of the housing formed by a first housing part and a second housing part, the first and second housing parts being locked together along four common sides and remain locked together in locking engagement during airbag deployment, along three common sides by a locking engagement snap in feature and where each first and second housing parts are joined by a hinge extending along a fourth housing side, the housing includes a deployable rotatable door cover formed as a portion of the second part between the hinge and a tear seam and being partially separated from the second part by the tear seam which upon deployment tears permitting the door cover to rotate and articulate about the hinge as the airbag is inflated extending upward relative to the lower portion of the instrument panel between the instrument panel and an occupant'"'"'s knees.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A knee airbag module (200) has an airbag (201), an inflator (206) and a housing (202). The knee airbag module (200) is a self-contained assembly for mounting to a vehicle frame part (108) under the instrument panel (106). The housing (202) contains the airbag (201) and inflator (206) within a hollow interior of the housing formed by a first housing part (300) and a second housing part (302). The first and second housing parts are joined together. The housing (202) includes a deployable door cover (220) formed in the second part that articulates about a hinge (222) as the airbag (201) is inflated. The airbag (201), when inflated, extends upward relative to the lower portion of the instrument panel (106) between the instrument panel (106) and an occupant'"'"'s knees (120). The door cover (220) is partially separated from the second housing part (302) by a tear seam (320). The hinge (222) is near a portion of the tear seam (320).
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A knee airbag with clamshell housing module comprises:
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an airbag; an inflator; a one-piece housing, the housing containing the airbag and inflator within a hollow interior of the housing formed by a first housing part and a second housing part, the first and second housing parts being locked together along four common sides and remain locked together in locking engagement during airbag deployment, along three common sides by a locking engagement snap in feature and where each first and second housing parts are joined by a hinge extending along a fourth housing side, the housing includes a deployable rotatable door cover formed as a portion of the second part between the hinge and a tear seam and being partially separated from the second part by the tear seam which upon deployment tears permitting the door cover to rotate and articulate about the hinge as the airbag is inflated extending upward relative to the lower portion of the instrument panel between the instrument panel and an occupant'"'"'s knees. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification