Airbag-based occupant safety systems
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsAlexander M. Zoellner, Jorge C. Fialho, Nathaniel J. Dennis, Rikard Fredriksson
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Abstract
Occupant safety systems suitable for use in both traditional and opposed seating systems include various combinations of passive safety components: sensors that provide an output signal indicative of an imminent collision, inflatable restraints that deploy from opposing interior surfaces of a passenger compartment of a vehicle based on the output signal, and inflators disposed within door cavities that selectively inflate an airbag or vent the inflator to an exterior of a vehicle based on the output signal.
Claims20
An occupant safety system, comprising:
- a sensor that provides an output signal indicative of an imminent collision;
- and
- a pair of inflatable restraints that deploy from opposing interior surfaces of a passenger compartment of a vehicle based on the output signal, each inflatable restraint comprising:
- a central chamber of a first pressure;
- and
- a pair of outer chambers of a second pressure that extend along opposing side surfaces of the central chamber upon deployment,
- wherein the central chambers and the outer chambers of the pair of inflatable restraints meet along an interface region within the passenger compartment.
An occupant safety system, comprising:
- a sensor that provides an output signal indicative of an imminent collision;
- a first inflatable restraint that deploys from a first interior surface of a passenger vehicle in response to the output signal;
- a second inflatable restraint that deploys from a second interior surface of the passenger vehicle in response to the output signal, wherein the first inflatable restraint and the second inflatable restraint each include a central chamber having a first stiffness and a pair of outer chambers having a second stiffness that is lower than the first stiffness;
- and
- an interface structure defined on one or both of the first inflatable restraint and the second inflatable restraint to restrain motion of the first inflatable restraint relative to the second inflatable restraint when the first inflatable restraint and the second inflatable restraint are deployed.
An occupant safety system, comprising:
- a sensor that provides an output signal indicative of an anticipated location of an imminent collision on a vehicle;
- an inflator that selectively inflates an airbag into an interior of the vehicle based on the output signal indicating a first location and outside an exterior of the vehicle based on the output signal indicating a second location;
- and
- a chute switch that selectively directs inflation of the airbag into the interior of the vehicle or outside the exterior of the vehicle based on the output signal,
- wherein the inflator is disposed within a cavity of a door of a vehicle, and
- wherein the first location differs from the second location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.