Patent Grant
9333931
Oblique impacts in a vehicle may be defined as impacts that occur at an angle of 10-50 degrees relative to the vehicle's trajectory. During an oblique impact, occupants of the vehicle typically move forward and laterally with respect to a length of the vehicle. Improved systems are needed for absorbing crash energy during an oblique impact.
With reference to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, a passenger protection system 100 includes a rotatable attachment 10, a first frame member 12, and a flexible sheet 24. During an oblique impact, a controller 72 included in an impact sensing sub-system 70 activates a triggering mechanism 11, which causes actuation of a rotatable attachment 10, deploying the flexible sheet 24, which is then positioned to receive an occupant moving both forward and laterally with respect to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle 110, thereby absorbing impact energy from the occupant.
The rotatable attachment 10 connects the first frame member 12 to a mountable portion of the vehicle 110, e.g., a vehicle seat 30. The vehicle seat 30 generally includes a seat base 32 and a seat back 34. The rotatable attachment 10 may be attached at a suitable mounting location, e.g., proximate to an upper edge 36 of the vehicle seat 30. During the oblique impact, the rotatable attachment 10 rotates the first frame member 12 to a deployed state, deploying the flexible sheet 24 such that the sheet 24 can receive the occupant.
The first frame member 12 may be rotatably connected to the rotatable attachment 10, i.e., connect to the rotatable attachment 10 in such a way that rotation of the rotatable attachment 10 causes rotation of the frame member 12. The first frame member 12 may be constructed of any suitable material, e.g., a rigid polymer or a metal. During the oblique impact, the first frame member 12 rotates from an undeployed state to the deployed state. In the undeployed state, the first frame member 12 may be adjacent, i.e., proximately close and similarly aligned, to an interior side 38 of the seat back 34. The first frame member 12 may extend downward, i.e., generally extending toward a floor of the vehicle 110 at a shallow angle, e.g., 0-45 degrees relative to the floor, from the mounting location in the undeployed state. The first frame member 12 may be located on or in a side 38 of the seat back 34, i.e., substantially flush with, or beneath a surface of, the side 38 (and in any case generally covered by a fabric, leather, etc. seat cover).
The flexible sheet 24, as mentioned above, is arranged to receive a vehicle occupant during an oblique impact when the sheet 24 is in a deployed state. As seen, for example, in
At least a portion of a lower edge 28 of the flexible sheet 24 may be attached to the second frame member 14. During an oblique impact, the flexible sheet 24 may extend from the first frame member 12 to the second frame member 14 to receive the occupant. In an embodiment, the flexible sheet 24 may tautly extend between the first and second frame members 12, 14, in a deployed state, forming the impact surface for the occupant. The term “tautly” as used herein means that the flexible sheet 24 extends with substantially no slack between the first frame member 12 and the second frame member 14. However, even when taut, the flexible sheet 24 may, e.g., due the nature of flexible material used for the flexible sheet 24, e.g., an elastic polymer or fabric, have some ability to flex or give to thereby absorb energy, e.g., when the flexible sheet 24 is impacted by an object such as a human head or other body part.
A movable element 22 may be disposed in the longitudinal cavity 20. At least a portion of the lower edge 28 of the flexible sheet 24 may be attached to the movable element 22, best seen in
The flexible sheet 24 may be constructed of any suitable material, e.g., a flexible polymer or a fabric. During an oblique impact, the first frame member 12 rotates from the undeployed state in or on the seat back 34 side 38 into the deployed state, extending the flexible sheet 24. The use of the flexible sheet 24 advantageously allows the passenger protection system 100 to maintain a limited profile in the undeployed state.
The passenger protection system 100 typically includes a triggering mechanism 11 as part of the impact sensing sub-system 70. The rotatable attachment 10 can be arranged to hold the first frame member 12 in the undeployed state until triggering of the triggering mechanism 11. When triggered, the triggering mechanism 11 causes the first frame member 12 to rotate about an axis A of the rotatable attachment 10 into the deployed state. The triggering mechanism 11 allows the passenger protection system 100 to rapidly deploy during the impact. In an embodiment, the triggering of the triggering mechanism 11 causes the rotatable attachment 10 to extend along the axis A toward the seat back 34 side 38, the axis A being substantially parallel to the upper edge 36 of the seat back 34. The rotatable attachment mechanism 10 then rotates, causing rotation of the first frame member 12, extending the flexible sheet 24 and forming an impact surface for a vehicle 110 occupant.
The rotatable attachment 10 may be a pretensioner 42, as illustrated in
Alternatively, the rotatable attachment 10 may include other known mechanisms, such as an electric motor or a rotatable spring tightened and locked with a lock pin. The electric motor may be attached to the first frame member 12 and rotate upon triggering of the triggering mechanism 11, moving the first frame member into the deployed state. The rotatable spring may be attached to the first frame member 12 and rotate the first frame member 12 when the triggering mechanism 11 releases the lock pin, releasing the rotatable spring and rotating the first frame member 12 into the deployed state.
As illustrated in
The passenger protection system 100 may include an impact sensing sub-system 70, as stated above and illustrated in
An impact sensor 78 such as is known is typically in communication with the controller 72 to communicate data to the controller 72. The impact sensor 78 may be of any suitable type, e.g., using accelerometers, radar, lidar, and/or a vision system. The vision system may include one or more cameras, CCD image sensors, and/or CMOS image sensors, etc. Based on data communicated by the impact sensor 78, the controller 72 may cause triggering the triggering mechanism 11.
Communications between the controller 72, the impact sensor 78, the triggering mechanism 11, and or other components in the vehicle 110, may be connected to a communication bus 80, such as a controller area network (CAN) bus, of the vehicle 110. The controller 72 may use information from the communication bus 80 to control the triggering of the triggering mechanism 11. The triggering mechanism 11 may be connected to the controller 72 or may be connected to the communication bus 80, as shown in
The vehicle 110 may include an airbag 60. In the deployed state, the flexible sheet 24 and the airbag 60 may contact, providing a continuous impact surface for the occupant during the oblique impact. The continuous impact surface may receive the occupant from several directions, absorbing crash energy.
The rotatable attachment 10 may be disposed in any suitable vehicle component, including but not limited to a vehicle seat, a vehicle roof, an instrument panel, a console, a package tray, and/or a headrest. A portion of at least one frame, such as a frame member, may be attached to the rotatable attachment 10 in any suitable manner to allow rotation of the frame. The flexible sheet 24 may have any suitable portion, such as an edge, attached to the frame in any suitable manner to allow the flexible sheet 24 to extend when the frame is rotated. The flexible sheet 24 may extend tautly, i.e., with substantially no slack, when the frame is rotated. At least one tether 50 may be arranged to attach the flexible sheet 24 to any suitable attachment point, including but not limited to a vehicle component, the frame, and/or the rotatable attachment.
As used herein, the adverb “substantially” means that a shape, structure, measurement, quantity, time, etc. may deviate from an exact described geometry, distance, measurement, quantity, time, etc., because of imperfections in materials, machining, manufacturing, etc.
In the drawings, the same reference numbers indicate the same elements. Further, some or all of these elements could be changed. With regard to the components, processes, systems, methods, etc. described herein, it should be understood that these are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claimed invention.
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 to those of skill in the art upon reading the above description. The scope of the invention 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 arts discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the invention is capable of modification and variation and is limited only by the following claims.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their plain and ordinary meanings as understood by those skilled in the art 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.
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| H07291084 | Nov 1995 | JP |
| 20051412 | Jan 2005 | JP |
| 2013123989 | Jun 2013 | JP |
| 2013166535 | Aug 2013 | JP |
