The present invention relates to a seal construction for a cushion for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision. The present invention further relates to a seal construction for a side airbag curtain.
In a conventional cushion design used for rollover airbag application, a variety of means are used to ensure that the cushion chambers retain pressure over a period of time ranging from 1 to 10 seconds after an inflator has caused deployment. Conventional designs often use one-piece woven technology and may use sewn seams to form airbag chambers. Sewn airbag cushions, because of their inherent design, will not retain inflation gas pressure for an extended period of time. In this situation, an extended period of time may range from about 1 second to 10 seconds or more from the time the cushion has reached maximum pressure. Typical rollover airbag performance requirements necessitate retention of 50% to 70% of a cushion peak pressure over an extended period of time.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sealed cushion construction that includes two or more cut fabric panels that are joined with an adhesive/sealant material to form one or more air retention chambers. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an adhesive/sealant between fabric layers that will enclose all air retention chambers so that a sealed cushion assembly can be created that will have enhanced air retention properties. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seal construction that allows improved design and manufacturing flexibility.
An airbag according to the present invention includes at least two fabric panels, a seam connecting the fabric panels, wherein the seam is composed of an adhesive/sealant material and the seam separates a gas retention chamber on one side of the seam and a non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or outer edge of the airbag on another side of the seam, and sewing disposed within the boundaries of the seam for reinforcing the seam.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an airbag includes at least two fabric panels, a seam connecting the fabric panels, wherein the seam is composed of an adhesive/sealant material and the seam separates a gas retention chamber on one side of the seam and a non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or outer edge of the airbag on another side of the seam, and a plurality of sewings disposed within the boundaries of the seam for reinforcing the seam, wherein the sewings are disposed with the boundaries of the seam so that the median of the sewing positions is no closer to a boundary of the gas retention chamber 50% of the width of the seam, and no closer to a boundary of the non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or outer edge than 10% of the width of the seam.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, appended claims, and the accompanying exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, which are briefly described below.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
For example, a two part RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) material may be used as an adhesive/sealant material to form a seam. Such an adhesive/sealant material may be dispensed as a viscous material onto a fabric panel as a bead that forms an outline of internal and/or external gas retention chambers. A second fabric panel may then be assembled over the dispensed bead and first fabric panel to form a sandwich of fabric, adhesive/sealant material, and fabric, thereby forming an airbag cushion with one or more gas retention chambers. Once this sandwich has been assembled, the assembly may be compressed to distribute the adhesive/sealant material on to both fabric panels. The final shape of the adhesive/sealant material located between the fabric panels is a relatively thin and wide section of adhesive/sealant material.
In the example shown in
In the example shown in
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewing is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 of adhesive/sealant material so that the sewing 70 is no closer than ¼ of the width W of the seam 60 to an edge or boundary of the seam 60. In the example shown in
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than ⅓ of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60.
The sewing 70 may include one or more lines of sewing. In an embodiment of the present invention, the sewing 70 includes one line of sewing.
Placement of the sewing within the seam may depend upon the gas pressures used with the air retention chamber and the strength required for the seam. Further, some deformation or elongation of the adhesive/sealant material may be allowed as a means to absorb energy during inflation of the airbag. Placement of the sewing may also be designed to control this energy absorption by placing the sewing closer to or further away from seam areas that may deform or elongate during airbag deployment. For example, the sewing 70 may be placed closer to the boundary of the seam 60 with the non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or outside edge of the airbag, to control energy absorption during airbag deployment, as shown in
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than ½ of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 1/10 of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewing is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 60% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewing is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 70% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewing is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 80% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. Even more preferably, the sewing is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 90% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 50% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 20% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 60% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 20% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 70% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 20% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 50% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 30% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewing 70 is placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the sewing is no closer than 60% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 30% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag.
Placement of the sewing 70 within the seam 60 may also depend on whether the seam 60 is the seam at the outer edge of the airbag or if the seam is an internal seam that is contained with the airbag. For example, the seam may compose an exterior seam 110 or an interior seam 120 of an airbag, as shown in
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown by a top view in
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 50% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 60% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 70% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 80% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. Even more preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 90% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 10% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 50% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 20% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 60% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 20% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 70% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 20% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sewings ares placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 50% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 30% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag. More preferably, the sewings are placed within the boundaries of the seam 60 so that the median M of the sewing positions is no closer than 60% of the width W to an edge or boundary of the seam 60 with gas retention chamber 20 and a distance of 30% of the width W of the seam 60 to the edge of the seam 60 with non-gas retention area, non-inflatable region, or the outside edge of the airbag.
Given the disclosure of the present invention, one versed in the art would appreciate that there may be other embodiments and modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, all modifications attainable by one versed in the art from the present disclosure within the scope and spirit of the present invention are to be included as further embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is to be defined as set forth in the following claims.