Frontal airbag assemblies for reducing rotational velocity of a head of an occupant
AssigneeAutoliv ASP, Inc.
InventorsXiaohong Wang, Changsoo Choi, Jeffrey D. Williams
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Airbag assemblies are disclosed that can reduce rotational velocity of an occupant's head during a collision event and thereby mitigate traumatic brain injury/head injury to an occupant. An airbag includes a pair of lobes or protrusions to deploy and extend from the rear face of the airbag on either side of the occupant's head to limit rotation of the head. A pair of vertical tethers within an interior of the airbag configure the lobes and contour the rear face to form one or more low fabric tension zones or bubbles. The lobes maintain high fabric tension, similar to a pressurization of a main inflatable chamber of the airbag.
Claims21
An inflatable airbag cushion comprising:
- an occupant-facing surface to be positioned forward of a vehicle seating position for receiving a head of an occupant during a collision event, the occupant-facing surface including:
- a convexly shaped central receiving area to provide an impact surface configured to receive the head of the occupant during the collision event, and
- a pair of lobes disposed on opposing sides of the central receiving area, the pair of lobes configured to inflate to extend rearward to engage opposing sides of a head of the occupant to reduce a rotational velocity of the head of the occupant during the collision event, wherein the pair of lobes is configured to extend rearward over the shoulders of the occupant during the collision event;
- and
- a plurality of lateral surfaces adjoining the occupant-facing surface and extending forward from the occupant-facing surface to define an inflatable chamber to receive inflation gas.
An inflatable airbag cushion comprising:
- an occupant-facing surface to be positioned forward of a vehicle seating position for receiving a head of an occupant during a collision event, the occupant-facing surface including:
- a central receiving area to provide an impact surface configured to receive the head of the occupant during the collision event, and
- a pair of lobes disposed on opposing sides of the central receiving area, the pair of lobes inflating to extend rearward to engage a head of the occupant to reduce a rotational velocity of the head of the occupant during the collision event, wherein the pair of lobes is configured to extend rearward over the shoulders of the occupant during the collision event;
- a pair of lateral sides that taper together to provide a symmetric taper at a forward portion of the inflatable airbag;
- and
- a plurality of vertical tethers disposed internal to the inflatable airbag cushion and coupled to internal surfaces to draw the central receiving area of the occupant-facing surface to configure the impact surface to form a low fabric tension bubble that extends between the pair of lobes, wherein each of the plurality of vertical tethers is horizontally offset from an adjacent tether of the plurality of vertical tethers.
An inflatable airbag cushion comprising:
- an occupant-facing surface to be positioned forward of a vehicle seating position for receiving a head of an occupant during a collision event, the occupant-facing surface including:
- a convexly shaped central receiving area to provide an impact surface configured to receive the head of the occupant during the collision event, and
- a pair of lobes disposed on opposing sides of the central receiving area, the pair of lobes to inflate to extend rearward to engage opposing sides of a head of the occupant to reduce a rotational velocity of the head of the occupant during the collision event, wherein the pair of lobes is configured to extend rearward over the shoulders of the occupant during the collision event;
- and
- a plurality of lateral surfaces adjoining the occupant-facing surface and extending forward from the occupant-facing surface to define an inflatable chamber to receive inflation gas,
- wherein a pair of opposing lateral surfaces of the plurality of surfaces taper together to provide a symmetric tapering cross-section at a forward portion of the inflatable airbag, and
- wherein the symmetric taper configures the forward portion of the inflatable airbag to have a triangular cross-section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.