Vehicle occupant restraint system

• US 7,971,902 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2009
• Issued: 07/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Joyson Safety Systems Japan K.K., Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Takata Corporation (Ningbo Junsheng Investment Group Co., Ltd.), Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Azuma, Seiji, Oota, Kouichi, Okamoto, Hideaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Culbreth; Eric
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENGLISH, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US12/431,919
• Publication Number:
  US 20090278339A1
• Time in Patent Office: 797 Days
• Field of Search: 280/728.1, 280/733, 280/736, 280/742, 280/801.1, 280/730.1, 180/268
• US Class Current: 280/733
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/18 the inflatable member formed as a belt or harness or combined with a belt or harness arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/231 characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration

Abstract

A vehicle occupant restraint system including: a seatbelt device including a shoulder belt portion restraining a part of a vehicle occupant from one of shoulders to a chest, and a lap belt portion restraining a waist of the vehicle occupant; an upper airbag provided in the shoulder belt portion, and configured to be deployed forward from the shoulder belt portion; a lower airbag provided in the lap belt portion, and configured to be deployed forward from the lap belt portion, the deployed upper and lower airbags coming into contact with each other in a vertical direction; and a movement restraining portion restraining relative movement of the deployed upper and lower airbags in a front-rear direction, extending downward from a lower side of the deployed upper airbag, and positioned in the rear of the deployed lower airbag.

Claims

1. A vehicle occupant restraint system comprising:

a seatbelt device comprising a shoulder belt portion for restraining a part of a vehicle occupant from a shoulder of the vehicle occupant to a chest of the vehicle occupant, and a lap belt portion for restraining a waist of the vehicle occupant;

an upper airbag provided in the shoulder belt portion and configured to be deployed forward from the shoulder belt portion when a collision of the vehicle is detected or predicted;

a lower airbag provided in the lap belt portion and configured to be deployed forward from the lap belt portion when the collision of the vehicle is detected or predicted, the deployed upper and lower airbags coming into contact with each other in a vertical direction; and

a movement restraining portion for restraining relative movement of the deployed upper and lower airbags in a front-rear direction, the movement restraining portion extending downward from a lower side of the deployed upper airbag, and abutting a rear of the deployed lower airbag.

3. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein:

the deployed upper airbag has a concave portion where an outer surface of the upper airbag is concaved inwardly, and

the movement restraining portion extends in a width direction of the vehicle and joins both ends of the concave portion in the width direction.

4. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the movement restraining portion is a non-deploying portion of the upper airbag.

5. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 3, wherein:

the upper airbag is formed by joining together marginal portions of two sheet materials,

the concave portion is formed of a concaved section where the joined portions of the two sheet materials are arranged so as to curve inward, and

the movement restraining portion is formed of a part of the sheet materials arranged in the concaved section.

6. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein an upper end of the deployed upper airbag is movably supported by the shoulder belt portion.

8. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the movement restraining portion that extends downward from the lower side of the deployed upper airbag is positioned between an upper section of the deployed lower airbag and the vehicle occupant.

9. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 1, wherein a tensile force acts on the movement restraining portion of the deployed upper airbag.

11. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 5, wherein the part of the sheet materials arranged in the concaved section is formed to have a substantially triangular shape.

2. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim wherein:

the shoulder belt portion extends from an anchor portion to a buckle portion, the anchor portion arranged on one of right and left sides of the seated vehicle occupant near a level of the shoulders, the buckle portion arranged on the other side of the vehicle occupant, and

the movement restraining portion joins a part of the lower side of the upper airbag on the side where the anchor portion is arranged, to a part of the lower side of the upper airbag on the side where the buckle portion is arranged.

10. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 2, wherein the movement restraining portion comprises a linear member joining a part of the lower side of the upper airbag on the side where the anchor portion is arranged to a part of the lower side of the upper airbag on the side where the buckle portion is arranged.

7. A vehicle occupant restraint system comprising:

a seatbelt device including a shoulder belt portion for restraining a part of a vehicle occupant from a shoulder of the vehicle occupant to a chest of the vehicle occupant, and a lap belt portion for restraining a waist of the vehicle occupant;

an upper airbag provided in the shoulder belt portion and configured to be deployed forward from the shoulder belt portion when a collision of the vehicle is detected or predicted;

a lower airbag provided in the lap belt portion and configured to be deployed forward from the lap belt portion when the collision of the vehicle is detected or predicted, the deployed upper and lower airbags coming into contact with each other in a vertical direction; and

a movement restraining means for restraining relative movement of the deployed upper and lower airbags in a front-rear direction, the movement restraining means extending downward from a lower side of the deployed upper airbag, and abutting a rear of the deployed lower airbag.