Air bag assembly for a motor vehicle
AssigneeFaurecia Industries
InventorsEtienne Galmiche, Frederic Vannelli
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This motor vehicle equipment assembly comprises an air bag support, an air bag fixed to the support by first fixing means, a force spreader plate for spreading the force of the impact of a passenger against the air bag, and frangible fixing means fixing the plate to the support. The air bag comprises the force spreader plate and a sheath of substantially closed cross-section. The sheath is fixed to the force spreader plate along one end by fixing means in such a manner that the inside volume of the air bag is defined by the sheath and by the force spreader plate.
Claims11
1/ A motor vehicle equipment assembly, of the type comprising:
- an air bag support;
- an air bag fixed to the support by first fixing means, the air bag having a rest configuration and a deployed configuration;
- a force spreader plate for spreading the impact force from a passenger over the air bag, said plate having a visible surface forming a portion of the facade of the equipment in the mounted state;
- and
- frangible fixing means fixing said plate relative to the support when the air bag is in its rest configuration, which means are broken under the force for deploying the air bag;
- wherein the air bag comprises the force spreader plate and a sheath of substantially closed cross-section, wherein the sheath has a first end fixed to the support by said first fixing means and a second end, and wherein the sheath is fixed to the force spreader plate along said second end by second fixing means in such a manner that the inside volume of the air bag is defined in its portion close to the second end of the sheath by the sheath and by the force spreader plate secured to the sheath.
2/ An assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first and/or second fixing means comprise clamping means for clamping the sheath against said plate and/or against said support.
3/ An assembly according to claim 2, wherein the clamping means comprise:
- openings formed in said respective first or second end of the sheath;
- studs placed on the plate and/or the support and extending through the openings;
- and
- members co-operating with the studs and clamping the corresponding end of the sheath against the surface of the plate or of the support respectively.
4/ An assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first and/or second fixing means comprise a portion of the support and/or of the plate molded onto said respective first or second end of the sheath.
5/ An assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first and/or second fixing means comprise said respective first or second ends of the sheath fixed to the support and/or to the plate by heat-sealing.
6/ An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the assembly has elastic zones for damping the stresses applied to the plate during deployment of the air bag.
7/ An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section of the sheath in the deployed state is substantially constant.
8/ An assembly according to claim 1, comprising supplementary impact damping means adapted to damp a second impact of the passenger against the air bag.
9/ An assembly according to claim 1, further comprising supplementary means for retaining and guiding the force spreader plate during deployment of the air bag, and wherein these means comprise reinforced portions of the sheath, in particular portions that are formed integrally therewith, said portions extending from said first end to said second end and being fixed firstly to the plate and secondly to the support.
10/ An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the support is a lining of a door for being hinged to a piece of motor vehicle equipment, and the plate is at least a portion of the visible surface of the door.
11/ An assembly according to claim 1, comprising means for adjusting the inclination of the force spreader plate, said means for adjusting being formed by said sheath which is cut from an extruded tube with an inclination for the line of cut.