Patent Application
20190039550
Embodiments of the invention pertain to airbag devices that are designed to utilize a reduced interior surface area of a vehicle.
An airbag devices are typically positioned in a steering wheel or glove box of a vehicle to protect occupants of the vehicle, in case of emergency, such as a vehicle collision. An airbag is rapidly inflated or deployed by a pressure of a gas from a gas generator called an inflator, to protect an occupant.
An airbag of the airbag module 150a, 150b is folded to be deployable, and covered by a module cover. The module cover is torn and broken by an inflating pressure of the airbag in case the airbag is deployed by a generated gas from an inflator.
For one embodiment of the present invention, systems and devices for implementing airbags within vehicles are described herein. The airbags are designed to utilize a reduced interior surface area of a vehicle. An airbag device for a vehicle includes an airbag capable of being deployed upon detection of a collision condition for the vehicle and a container to contain the airbag prior to deployment. In one example, the container has a depth that exceeds a diameter of the container.
Other features and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows below.
Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which:
Systems and devices for implementing airbags within vehicles are described herein with the airbags being designed to utilize a reduced interior surface area of a vehicle.
In one embodiment, an airbag device for a vehicle, comprises an airbag capable of being deployed upon detection of a collision condition for the vehicle and a container to contain the airbag prior to deployment. In one example, the container has a depth that exceeds a diameter of the container to provide a sufficiently large airbag for protection of occupants during a collision while also reducing an interior surface area that is needed for deployment of the airbag within the vehicle.
For an autonomous vehicle, the steering wheel can be positioned further from an occupant. Due to this greater distance from the steering wheel to an occupant, a larger airbag device may be needed to protect the occupant during an impact or collision condition for the vehicle. In one example, the steering wheel and airbag are 300-400 mils from an occupant. A 100 liter air bag has a cross-sectional area of approximately 25 mils2 and a depth of approximately 100-200 mils. Variable dimensions of the airbag device are determined based on a volume needed for safety of an occupant. The steering column does not include a mechanical drive shaft. Instead, a drive by wire system is utilized thus allowing space for an airbag device within the steering column.
The system 1200 includes processing system 1202 (e.g., one or more processors or processing devices (e.g., microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like)), a memory 1204 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or DRAM (RDRAM), flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device 1216 (e.g., a secondary memory unit in the form of a drive unit, which may include fixed or removable computer-readable storage medium), which communicate with each other via a bus 1208. The storage units disclosed in computer system 1200 may be configured to implement data storing mechanisms for performing the operations of autonomous vehicles.
The computer system 1200 may further include an airbag system 1210 (e.g., airbag system 600) having sensors, a control module, and airbag devices as discussed for airbag system 600. The computer system 1200 also includes sensor system 1214 and mechanical control systems 1206 (e.g., motors, driving wheel control, brake control, throttle control, etc.). The processing system 1202 executes software instructions to perform different features and functionality (e.g., driving decisions) and provide a graphical user interface 1220 for an occupant of the vehicle. The processing system 1202 performs the different features and functionality for autonomous operation of the vehicle based at least partially on receiving input from the sensor system 1214 that includes laser sensors, cameras, radar, GPS, and additional sensors.
The computer system 1200 may further include a network interface device 1222. The computer system 1200 also may include an input device 1212 (e.g., touch input, voice activation device, etc.) and a Graphic User Interface (GUI) device 1220 (e.g., a touch-screen with input & output functionality).
The computer system 1200 may further include a RF transceiver 1224 that provides frequency shifting, converting received RF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF. In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may be understood to include other signal processing functionality such as modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/de-interleaving, spreading/dispreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and other signal processing functions.
The Data Storage Device 1216 may include a machine-readable storage medium (or more specifically a computer-readable storage medium) on which is stored one or more sets of instructions embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Disclosed data storing mechanism may be implemented, completely or at least partially, within the memory 1204 and/or within the processing system 1202 by the computer system 1200, the memory 1204 and the processing system 1202 also constituting machine-readable storage media.
The computer-readable storage medium 1224 may also be used to one or more sets of instructions embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. While the computer-readable storage medium 1224 is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that stores the one or more sets of instructions. The terms “computer-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “computer-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
