Vehicle side airbag
AssigneeZoox, Inc.
InventorMarkus Jost
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An airbag for a vehicle, such as a side airbag, may be mounted to or proximate to a seat assembly on which a passenger may sit. The side airbag may include a chamber and an inflator configured to cause the chamber to expand toward the passenger to slow an acceleration of the passenger responsive to an imminent impact of the vehicle with another object or surface. Upon deployment of the chamber, the side airbag may cause a portion of the seat assembly (a seat tub, seat pan, and/or cushion coupled thereto) to deform toward the passenger seated thereon while remaining occluded from the passenger by the assembly. In some examples, the chamber may be stored in an unfolded position to allow for a more rapid deployment.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a body having a passenger compartment;
- a seat assembly disposed in the passenger compartment and coupled to an external seat frame;
- a side airbag system at least partially obscured from the passenger compartment by a component of the seat assembly, the side airbag system comprising:
- a sensor configured to detect an imminent impact with an object;
- a chamber coupled to the external seat frame;
- and
- an inflator coupled to the chamber and in communication with the sensor, wherein the chamber and the inflator are configured such that the seat assembly is removable from the external seat frame without decoupling the side airbag system;
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more memories storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
- receiving a signal from the sensor indicative of the imminent impact;
- and
- causing, based at least in part on the signal, the chamber to expand,
- wherein, when fully expanded, the chamber of the side airbag system is fully obscured from the passenger compartment by the seat assembly.
A side airbag system at least partially obscured from a passenger compartment of a vehicle by a component of a seat assembly, wherein the seat assembly comprises a seat tub and a seat pan, the side airbag system comprising:
- a sensor configured to detect an imminent impact with an object;
- a chamber coupled to the seat tub;
- an inflator coupled to the chamber and in communication with the sensor, wherein the chamber and the inflator are configured such that the seat pan of the seat assembly is removable from the seat tub without decoupling the side airbag system from the seat tub;
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more memories storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
- receiving a signal from the sensor indicative of the imminent impact with the object;
- and
- causing, based at least in part on the signal, the chamber to expand,
- wherein, when fully expanded, the chamber of the side airbag system is fully obscured from the passenger compartment by the seat assembly.
A side airbag comprising:
- a chamber coupled to a portion of a seat frame of a vehicle to which a seat assembly is coupled and configured to expand toward a passenger compartment of the vehicle, wherein the chamber is coupled to the portion of the seat frame in an unfolded position and such that at least a portion of the seat assembly is removable without disturbing the side airbag;
- and
- an inflator coupled to the chamber, wherein the inflator is configured to receive a signal indicating an imminent impact with an object and, based at least in part on the signal, cause the chamber to expand toward the passenger compartment and deform at least a portion of the seat assembly toward a centerline of the seat assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.