Wrap-around curtain for a vehicle

• US 9,327,669 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Jaradi, Dean M., Faruque, Mohammed Omar, McCoy, Robert William
• Primary Examiner(s): Ilan, Ruth
• Application Number:
  US14/319,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20150375704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 673 Days
• Field of Search: 280/730.2, 280/749
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0009 Oblique collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0048 Head
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0058 Shoulders
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/08 automatically movable from an inoperative to an operative position, e.g. in a collision electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01

Abstract

A vehicle curtain system comprises a curtain having at least a front wall and two side walls, at least one pretensioner having a corresponding pretensioner cable, and a plurality of tethers, each having a first end attached to the curtain.

Claims

1. A vehicle curtain system comprising:

a curtain having at least a front wall and two side walls;

one or more pretensioners, each having a corresponding pretensioner cable; and

a plurality of tethers, each having a first end attached to the curtain and a second end arranged to be attachable to one of a vehicle roof and a vehicle pillar;

wherein each pretensioner is configured to apply force to the corresponding pretensioner cable to deploy the curtain and the one or more pretensioners are a sole mechanism provided to apply force to deploy the curtain downward;

wherein at least one of the second ends is attached to the vehicle roof and at least one of the second ends is attached to at least one of the vehicle pillars.

2. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein the pretensioner is one of a retractor tensioner or pyro mechanical tensioner.

3. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein each of the walls includes a single layer of fabric.

4. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein the tethers are made of fabric.

5. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein the curtain includes a fourth wall in addition to the front wall and the two side walls.

6. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein some but not all of the first ends of the tethers are attached to a top edge of the curtain.

7. The curtain system of claim 1, further comprising a controller programmed to provide an instruction to trigger the pretensioner when an oblique impact event is identified.

8. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein one of the second ends is attached to a first vehicle pillar and one of the second ends is attached to a second vehicle pillar.

9. The curtain system of claim 1, wherein the tethers are arranged to extend to exert a force on the curtain when the curtain is in a deployed state.

10. A vehicle curtain system comprising:

a curtain having at least a front wall and two side walls;

one or more pretensioners affixed to a vehicle body, each pretensioner having a corresponding pretensioner cable with a first end attached to the curtain and a second end attached to the pretensioner; and

a plurality of tethers, each having a first end attached to the curtain and a second end arranged to be attachable to one of a vehicle roof and a vehicle pillar;

wherein each pretensioner is configured to apply force to the corresponding pretensioner cable to deploy the curtain and the one or more pretensioners are a sole mechanism provided to apply force to deploy the curtain downward;

wherein at least one of the second ends is attached to the vehicle roof and at least one of the second ends is attached to at least one of the vehicle pillars.

11. The curtain system of claim 10, wherein the at least one pretensioner is one of a retractor tensioner or pyro-mechanical tensioner.

12. The curtain system of claim 10, wherein the at least one pretensioner is attached to one of the vehicle pillars.

13. The curtain system of claim 10, wherein each of the walls includes a single layer of fabric.

14. The curtain system of claim 10, wherein the tethers are made of fabric.

15. The curtain system of claim 10, wherein the curtain includes a fourth wall in addition to the front wall and the two side walls.

16. The curtain system of claim 10, wherein the curtain is in a rolled or folded arrangement proximate to a roofline of the vehicle body when the curtain system is in an undeployed state.

17. The curtain system of claim 10, where each of the walls is substantially flat when the curtain system is in a deployed state.

18. The curtain system of claim 10, further comprising a controller programmed to provide an instruction to trigger the pretensioner when an oblique impact event is identified.

19. A vehicle curtain system comprising:

a curtain having at least a front wall and two side walls;

one or more pretensioners, each having a corresponding pretensioner cable;

a controller; and

a plurality of tethers, each having a first end attached to the curtain and a second end arranged to be attachable to one of a vehicle roof and a vehicle pillar;

wherein the controller is programmed to trigger each pretensioner to apply force to the corresponding pretensioner cable to deploy the curtain and the one or more pretensioners are a sole mechanism provided to apply force to deploy the curtain downward;

wherein at least one of the second ends is attached to the vehicle roof and at least one of the second ends is attached to at least one of the vehicle pillars.