Patent Application
20060049617
This application relates to devices for protecting vehicle occupants and more particularly (but not exclusively) to cushions designed to inflate when a vehicle is impacted. The cushions are especially adapted as protective designs when side-impact collisions occur and are intended to reduce likelihood of occupants experiencing injuries to their thoraxes or other portions of their torsos. The cushions may, however, be useful in other circumstances and perform other protective functions too.
Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,322 to Bark, et al. describes an existing protective system for vehicle occupants. Versions of the system, designed to be mounted along the periphery of a side window of a vehicle (at or near the roof rail), include a braided tube containing a gas generator. As noted in the Bark patent:
Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,194 to Yaniv, et al. discusses use of the braided tube in the torso section of a seat belt. According to the Yaniv patent:
The inflated braided tube . . . provides a much larger restraint surface area for the occupant's body, which helps to distribute belt load forces. When the inflated braided tube is loaded by the occupant's body, it flattens slightly. This flattening increases the contact area between the body and the braided tube, thus further reducing the stress or load concentration on the occupant. In a side impact the inflated section provides occupant head protection. See Yaniv, col. 4, 11. 1-8. The contents of both the Bark and Yaniv patents are incorporated herein in their entireties by this reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,450 to Hurford, et al. illustrates an inflatable restraint system having an air bag configured to protect head and thorax regions of an occupant during a side-impact collision. The bag inflates from its bottom,
Detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,732 to Warner, et al., finally, is an inflatable restraint system designed to be mounted on a side door of a vehicle. In the system, an air bag is maintained in position by a cushioning panel. When the air bag deploys, it propels the cushioning panel toward an occupant of the vehicle.
The present invention provides alternatives to the designs described in the above-mentioned patents and in commercial use today. Although not necessarily limited to protecting torsos of occupants whose vehicles are engaged in side-impact collisions, the invention is designed in an attempt to provide at least some protection in these circumstances. In particular, whereas most commercially-available thorax-protective devices use a vented bag reacting against the structure of the intruding vehicle to absorb occupant energy created by a crash, the present invention preferably utilizes an unvented inflatable cushion to create its own structure and transfer occupant energy to more force-tolerant areas of the occupants.
Certain embodiments of the invention include an inflatable cushion having one end attached to a seat back and the other to an associated seat pan. The cushion preferably is tubular when inflated and braided as described in the Bark and Yaniv patents. It need not necessarily be so shaped and structured, however. Indeed, in some embodiments, the cushion may be knit, for example, rather than braided.
Assuming that the cushion (or other countermeasure) may generate tension due to its shape and design and contact a vehicle occupant, it effectively can pre-load the occupant before the side- (or obliquely-) impacting vehicle intrudes significantly into the structure of the occupied vehicle. The cushion additionally may affirmatively load, independently of vehicle structure or vehicle intrusion, an occupant's pelvis in-board, reducing the likelihood of (or mitigating effects of) contact and interaction between the occupant and the intruding vehicle. Further products of use of the invention may be to reduce impact force on weaker, less tolerant areas of a body (such as ribs) and, as noted above, distribute it to more tolerant areas (such as pelvises and shoulders).
Among other benefits of versions of the present invention is that they may be deployed very rapidly. Rapid deployment may be effected in part because of the relatively small volume of cushioning material needing to be inflated. The proximity of the cushion to the occupant of the vehicle also may facilitate its rapid use.
Other embodiments of the invention position the inflatable cushion so that it descends from the roof rail of a vehicle. This positioning facilitates energy being transferred to shoulders of occupants. Generally, though, its functions may be similar to those of the embodiments described earlier. Alternatively, a non-inflatable pre-loading device may be utilized. Such a device could be attached to an inflatable component, although it need not necessarily be so attached.
It thus is an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide protective cushions for persons.
It also is an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide inflatable cushions for use by occupants of vehicles.
It is another optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide inflatable tubular cushions adapted to pre-load vehicle occupants independent of and before significant intrusion of a vehicle impacting the occupied vehicle from a side or an oblique angle.
It is, moreover, an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide inflatable cushions adapted to transfer impact forces from some portions of occupants' bodies to other portions.
It is a further optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide inflatable cushions designed to move portions of a body in-board, thereby providing an independent force vector in the same direction as that of an impacting vehicle.
It is yet another optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide inflatable cushions connected to vehicle seats, vehicle roof rails, or both.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant field with reference to the remaining text and the drawings of this application.
a-2b are partially-schematized, partially cut-away illustrations of the system of
Shown schematically in
a-2b similarly illustrate system 10 of the invention together with human H, seat platform 14, head rest 18, lap belt 22, and shoulder belt 26. Further shown in
This connection of system 10 may occur utilizing connector segments 34 and 38 (see also
Also forming part of system 10 may be inflatable component 50. In the version shown in
Structure 54 may be braided as depicted both in
Preferably, inflatable component 50 has a portion positioned behind a seated occupant H. This feature of system 10 exists in
Activation of system 10 may occur when a vehicle in which occupant H is riding is impacted by another vehicle approaching, for example, from out-board side 42 of seat platform 14. When system 10 is activated, component 50 is deployed, resulting in inflation of structure 54. Such inflation, as noted above, significantly increases the diameter of structure 54 while decreasing its length. These actions tension structure 54 and render it taut, forcing portion 74 against the out-board pelvic region of occupant H. This force effectively loads occupant H independent of the intrusion and prior to complete intrusion of the impacting vehicle, potentially reducing the likelihood or severity of injury in certain crashes. It further may tend to push occupant H in-board, away from the impacting vehicle.
By inducing load on the pelvic region of the occupant H, system 10 tends to reduce—or potentially even eliminate—impact force on other, less force-tolerant areas of the human body (such as, but not limited to, ribs). Moving occupant H in-board in advance of the intruding vehicle structure also reduces the velocity of the occupant H relative thereto. Stated differently, if inflation of portion 74 forces occupant H in-board at, for example, five miles per hour, and the intruding vehicle is impacting the occupied vehicle from the out-board side at, for example, fifteen miles per hour, the relative velocity between the occupant H and the impacting vehicle is only ten miles per hour (rather than fifteen miles per hour, which would be true if occupant H were not caused to move in-board by system 10).
Illustrated respectively in
Systems 10a, 10b, and 10c additionally differ in their attachment points to seat platform 14 and seat back 30 and in the inflated shapes of component 50. System 10a, for example, may be connected to seat platform 14 farther forward than are systems 10b and 10c, while system 10c is attached to seat back 30 higher than are systems 10a and 10b. System 10a, further, may include a bend in its inflatable component (denoted 50a), and system 10b may have an inflatable component 50b of varying diameter along its length. Persons skilled in the art will, however, recognize that any of systems 10a, 10b, and 10c may be attached to a seat, shaped, and configured other than as illustrated in
Any or all of conventional sensors, actuators, inflators, charges, gas supplies, or gas generators may be employed in connection with any of systems 10, 10a, 10b, or 10c. Although not a present preference, any or all of inflatable components 50, 50a, and 50c may be vented if appropriate or desired. Moreover, any of systems 10, 10a, 10b, or 10c could be connected to the roof rail or other structure of a vehicle instead of attachment to either or both of seat platform 14 or seat back 30.
The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing exemplary embodiments and certain benefits of the present invention. Modifications and adaptations to the illustrated and described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
