Dual chamber side airbag apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An airbag module for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from impact, the airbag module comprising:
- a cushion comprising a divider that defines a first chamber and a second chamber within the cushion;
an inflator that produces inflation gas in response to receipt of an activation signal; and
a housing comprising a first aperture and a second aperture, wherein the housing is shaped to retain the inflator at any of a plurality of positions to enable tuning of a flow rate of a first flow of inflation gas into the first chamber via the first aperture and tuning of a flow rate of a second flow of inflation gas into the second chamber via the second aperture.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An airbag module is disclosed which, in one configuration, inflates from a vehicle seat to protect a vehicle occupant against lateral impact. The airbag module has a cushion with a pelvic chamber and a thoracic chamber. The airbag module also has an inflation assembly including an inflator within a housing inside the cushion. The housing has an aperture disposed within each of the chambers such that, when the inflator deploys, the pelvic chamber is inflated to a relatively higher pressure. The inflator may be moved axially within the housing to control the pressure ratio between the chambers. The housing is attached to the vehicle seat via attachment features that may be located at a variety of positions with respect to the remainder of the housing to facilitate adaptation of the inflation assembly to multiple cushion and vehicle configurations.
55 Citations
34 Claims
-
1. An airbag module for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from impact, the airbag module comprising:
-
a cushion comprising a divider that defines a first chamber and a second chamber within the cushion;
an inflator that produces inflation gas in response to receipt of an activation signal; and
a housing comprising a first aperture and a second aperture, wherein the housing is shaped to retain the inflator at any of a plurality of positions to enable tuning of a flow rate of a first flow of inflation gas into the first chamber via the first aperture and tuning of a flow rate of a second flow of inflation gas into the second chamber via the second aperture. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An inflation assembly for an airbag module for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from impact, the airbag module comprising a cushion, the inflation assembly comprising:
-
an inflator that produces inflation gas in response to receipt of an activation signal; and
a housing comprising a first aperture and a second aperture, wherein the housing is shaped to retain the inflator at any of a plurality of positions such that, at each position, a first flow of inflation gas exits the housing via the first aperture and a second flow of inflation gas exits the housing via the second aperture in response to deployment of the inflator;
wherein positioning the inflator with respect to the housing tunes a flow rate of the first flow with respect to a flow rate of the second flow. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
-
17. An inflation assembly for an airbag module for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from impact, the airbag module comprising a cushion, the inflation assembly comprising:
-
an inflator comprising an outlet orifice through which inflation gas exits the inflator in response to receipt of an activation signal; and
a housing within which the inflator is disposed, the housing having a generally tubular shape with a first end, a second end, and a curved wall extending between the first and second ends, the housing comprising a first aperture defined by the first end and a second aperture formed in the curved wall such that the outlet orifice is disposed generally between the first and second apertures;
wherein, in response to deployment of the inflator, a first flow of inflation gas exits the housing via the first aperture and a second flow of inflation gas exits the housing via the second aperture. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A side airbag module for protecting an occupant of a seat of a vehicle from impact, the airbag module comprising:
-
a cushion comprising a divider that defines a first chamber and a second chamber within the cushion, the cushion having a mounting region that traverses the divider;
an inflator that produces inflation gas in response to receipt of an activation signal; and
a housing within which the inflator is disposed, wherein the housing is disposed within the mounting region, the housing comprising a first aperture disposed within the first chamber, a second aperture disposed within the second chamber, and a mounting feature disposed to facilitate attachment of the housing to the seat;
wherein the housing comprises an elongated shape and the mounting region has a length sufficient to permit lengthwise positioning of the housing at a plurality of locations within the mounting region to permit installation of the housing at a plurality of locations with respect to the seat, independent of a position of the cushion with respect to the seat. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for controlling inflation gas flow into a cushion of an airbag module for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from impact, the cushion comprising a divider that defines a first chamber and a second chamber, the airbag module further comprising an inflator that produces inflation gas in response to receipt of an activation signal and a housing shaped to retain the inflator at any of a plurality of positions, the method comprising:
-
establishing a first desired pressure to which the first chamber is to be inflated and a second desired pressure to which the second chamber is to be inflated;
determining which position of a plurality of positions of the inflator with respect to the housing will most nearly provide the first and second pressures; and
installing inflator at the determined position within the housing. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A method for assembling an airbag module for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from impact, the airbag module comprising a cushion, an inflator, and a housing, the cushion comprising an outer wall and a divider that defines a first chamber and a second chamber within the cushion and an opening formed in the outer wall in communication with the second chamber, the cushion having a mounting region that traverses the divider, the divider comprising an end adjoining the mounting region, the end having an insertion surface and a resting surface, the method comprising:
-
inserting the inflator into the housing;
inserting the housing and the inflator into the mounting region such that the housing is in contact with the outer wall and the insertion surface; and
rotating the housing and the inflator into alignment with the mounting region such that the housing is in contact with the outer wall and the resting surface to substantially prevent gas flow between the first and second chambers, outside the housing. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
-
Specification