Patent Application
20150115584
Vehicles employ airbags in various locations within the vehicle to restrain a vehicle occupant during load events, such as a crash. In such load events, the vehicle occupant may be forced in a specific direction at varying speeds, and therefore with varying kinetic energy. The airbag generally is positioned within the vehicle to come into contact with the occupant during such load events. The airbag generally is inflatable by a gas such that it may provide a cushion for the occupant and absorbs the kinetic energy from the occupant's movement.
In some situations, it may not be desired to have the airbag fully inflated and deployed when it comes into contact with the occupant. Such situations are known as partial low risk deployment (PLRD) events or out-of-position conditions, and may include, but are not limited to, when the occupant is a child, a small-size adult, a child in a rear-facing car seat, or an adult positioned too closely to the airbag. To account for these situations, many airbags include a vent or vent assembly that allows gas to vent during early deployment of the airbag, thereby slowing the inflation of the airbag. As the airbag nears full deployment and inflation, such as in non-PLRD events or in-position conditions, the vent may close to prevent any further gas from escaping the airbag.
Current manufacturing constraints require the vent to be of a minimum diameter or area. However, this minimum diameter or area may allow more gas to vent during early deployment of the airbag in both PLRD and non-PLRD events than is desired, which may result in slower deployment of the airbag.
Therefore, there exists a need for a vent assembly that minimizes the amount of gas loss during early deployment of an airbag.
An exemplary airbag assembly may include an airbag cushion that is inflatable by a gas from a stowed position to a fully deployed position. The airbag cushion may define at least one opening configured to allow at least a portion of the gas to exit the airbag cushion. The at least one opening may have a first area. The exemplary airbag assembly may also include at least one panel attached to the airbag cushion that may be positioned over at least a portion of the at least one opening. This may allow the at least one panel to partially obstruct the at least one opening.
An exemplary vent assembly for an airbag assembly having an airbag cushion may have at least one panel attachable to the airbag cushion. The airbag cushion may be inflatable by a gas, and may define at least one opening that has a first area. The at least one opening may be configured to allow at least a portion of the gas to exit the airbag cushion. The at least one panel may be positioned over the at least one opening to partially obstruct the at least one opening.
An exemplary method may include first providing at least one first panel in the shape of an airbag cushion. The exemplary method may then include cutting at least one opening in the at least one first panel, the at least one opening having a first area. The exemplary method may then include attaching at least one second panel to the at least one first panel, the at least one panel being positioned over at least a portion of the at least one opening to partially obstruct it. The exemplary method may further include forming the airbag cushion from the at least one first panel such that it defines an interior chamber and is inflatable by a gas. The at least one opening may be configured to allow at least a portion of the gas to exit the airbag cushion.
While the claims are not limited to a specific illustration, an appreciation of the various aspects is best gained through a discussion of various examples thereof. Referring now to the drawings, exemplary illustrations are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent the illustrations, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain an innovative aspect of an example. Further, the exemplary illustrations described herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limiting or restricted to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description. Exemplary illustrations are described in detail by referring to the drawings as follows:
The airbag assembly 10 may be configured to deploy from a stowed position to a fully deployed position during a load event in which the vehicle 12 is subjected to a load, thereby causing the occupant 16 to move in a specific direction with a certain velocity. The airbag assembly 10 may include an airbag cushion 18 and at least one vent assembly 20. The airbag cushion 18 may be made of a flexible material and may define an interior chamber such that the airbag cushion 18 may be inflatable by a gas from the stowed position to the fully deployed position. In the stowed position, the airbag cushion 18 may be at least partially deflated and stored in a compartment in a component 22 of the vehicle 12. The component 22 may include, but is not limited to, a glove compartment, a steering column, a dashboard, and the like. In at least a partially deployed position, i.e., any position between the stowed position and the fully deployed position, the airbag cushion 18 may be configured to contact the occupant 16 during a load event, thereby offering a degree of protection to the body and/or head of the occupant 16.
The vent assembly 20 may be configured to allow gas to vent from the interior chamber of the airbag cushion 18 at least during initial deployment of the airbag assembly 10. This may be particularly beneficial in partial low-risk deployment (PLRD) events in which the occupant 16 may be positioned with respect to the airbag assembly 10 such that the occupant 16 may come into contact with the airbag cushion 18 prior to full deployment. For example, this may occur when the occupant 16 is a child, a small size adult, a child in a rear-facing car seat, or an adult simply positioned closer to the airbag assembly 10. In PLRD events, it may be desirable to reduce the speed at which the airbag cushion 18 is inflated and therefore reduce the impact of the occupant 16 with the airbag cushion 18, which may be accomplished by the vent assembly 20. While two vent assemblies 20 are shown, it should be appreciated that there may be any number of vent assemblies 20, and they may be in varying sizes, as described below. Furthermore, the vent assemblies 20 may be located in a substantially similar location on the other side of the airbag cushion 18 such that the gas may be vented substantially equally from each side of the airbag cushion 18 to allow for substantially uniform deployment.
Referring now to
The vent assembly 22 also may include a panel 26 configured to reduce the amount of gas that may pass through the opening 24. The panel 26 may be attached to the airbag cushion 18. In one exemplary approach, the panel 26 may be attached by being sewn to the airbag cushion 18. In another exemplary approach, the panel 26 may be attached via an adhesive. While
The panel 26 may be made of any fabric or other material, including, but not limited to, the same material as the airbag cushion 18. As explained above, the panel 26 may reduce the amount of gas that may be vented through the opening 24. The panel 26 may be configured in various approaches to accomplish this, e.g., as seen in the exemplary illustrations shown in
In another exemplary approach depicted in
Referring back to
Referring now to
With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claims.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent upon reading the above description. The scope should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the technologies discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the application is capable of modification and variation.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those knowledgeable in the technologies described herein unless an explicit indication to the contrary in made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
