Dual chambered passenger airbag
First Claim
1. An airbag, upon deployment, comprising at least one panel defining an interior of the airbag and a divider positioned in the interior so as to divide the interior into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, the divider having at least one opening formed therealong, the at least one opening being positioned such that all edges of the at least one opening reside within a zone (Z3) bounded by a first vertical plane (P1) residing a predetermined distance (100f) along the divider from an inflator side (22) of the airbag toward an occupant contact side of the airbag, and a second vertical plane (P2) passing through a predetermined location (100j) defined through a shoulder bolt of a Hybrid III 6-year old anthropomorphic test device in Position 1 defined by FMVSS208 Out of Position testing updated or verified as of Oct. 28, 2013.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An airbag 10 includes at least one panel 12 defining an interior 104/102 of the airbag, and a divider 100 positioned in the interior so as to divide the interior into an upper chamber 102 and a lower chamber 104. A valve mechanism 200 is operatively coupled to the divider 100 for restricting a flow of gases from the lower chamber 104 into the upper chamber 102. The valve mechanism 200 includes one or more valves 200 with a desired aggregate opening(s) and located in predetermined location(s) thereby affecting a designed inflation profile. The divider 100 has an arcuate length Ld, measured between two divider airbag attachment points 100d and 100a, greater than a corresponding linear horizontal airbag length La, measured between the same two attachment points. The passenger side airbag 10 for each unique vehicle is designed by iteratively reconciling the requirements of FMVSS208 with the present airbag design.
31 Citations
20 Claims
- 1. An airbag, upon deployment, comprising at least one panel defining an interior of the airbag and a divider positioned in the interior so as to divide the interior into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, the divider having at least one opening formed therealong, the at least one opening being positioned such that all edges of the at least one opening reside within a zone (Z3) bounded by a first vertical plane (P1) residing a predetermined distance (100f) along the divider from an inflator side (22) of the airbag toward an occupant contact side of the airbag, and a second vertical plane (P2) passing through a predetermined location (100j) defined through a shoulder bolt of a Hybrid III 6-year old anthropomorphic test device in Position 1 defined by FMVSS208 Out of Position testing updated or verified as of Oct. 28, 2013.
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10. An airbag for an automotive vehicle comprising:
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at least one outer panel forming an airbag, the airbag having an inner wall, said airbag also having a linear length extending toward a rear position of said automotive vehicle when the airbag is fully deployed; and a perforated divider sealed and fixed to said inner wall thereby forming an upper chamber and a lower chamber within said airbag, said divider having an arcuate length extending toward the rear of said automotive vehicle when the airbag is fully deployed, said arcuate length extending completely across said linear length, wherein said arcuate length is at least 5% greater than said linear length. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of forming an airbag comprising the steps of:
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providing a vehicle occupant seating drawing defining a centerline of normally-seated H-III adult male 50 percentile (AM50) and H-III adult female 5 percentile (AF05) anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs); defining the airbag/cushion profile by placing a fully chambered or deployed airbag profile in position for the normally-seated AM50 as shown in the vehicle drawing; finalizing the airbag/cushion profile by confirming the airbag profile for the forward-seated AF05 overlaps with regard to the airbag profile AM50; positioning a divider within a predetermined zone Z that defines the hip, shoulder, and thoracic regions of the AM50 and the AF05 ATDs to form an upper chamber and a lower chamber within the airbag; locating a leading edge of the occupant side of the airbag defined by a divider panel seam along a predetermined zone Z2, that is oriented along the hip areas of the ATDs; defining a first plane P1 by using the leading edge of the head of an H-III 6-year old ATD in out-of-position 2 defined by FMVSS208, section 22 as updated or verified as of Oct. 28, 2013, wherein P1 tangentially intersects the leading edge of the 6-year old ATD head as it rests upon the instrument panel; defining a second plane P2 by using the profile of an H-III 3-year old or H-III 6-year old ATD in out-of-position 1 as defined by FMVSS208, section 22 wherein P2 intersects the centerline of a shoulder bolt of the ATD, and extends substantially parallel to P1; defining a zone Z3 between P1 and P2 within a filled cushion profile of the airbag; and locating one or more valves on the divider and within Z3. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification