Air bag with pressure-managed gas delivery inflatable duct
AssigneeAutoliv ASP, Inc.
InventorsMike Ravenberg, Balaskandan Shankar, Patrick Jamison, Arthur Yakumo, Larry F. Lunt
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Abstract
An inflatable side airbag has an inflatable duct for the delivery of inflation gas. The inflatable duct of the inflatable side airbag provides for rapid deployment of a multi-chamber air bag while controlling the rate of inflation and the relative pressure of the chambers. The inflatable duct allows a single inflator to inflate a high pressure pelvis chamber and a lower pressure thorax chamber while preventing fluid communication between the two chambers upon completion of inflation.
Claims20
An air bag inflation system having at least two inflatable chambers, the air bag inflation system comprising:
- a first inflatable chamber;
- a second inflatable chamber, the second inflatable chamber being located adjacent the first inflatable chamber;
- an inflatable duct disposed intermediate the first chamber and the second chamber, the inflatable duct having an inlet for receiving inflation gas, a first valve set comprising at least one first valve providing fluid communication between the inflatable duct and the first chamber, and a second valve set comprising at least one second valve providing fluid communication between the inflatable duct and the second chamber;
- and
- an inflator for delivering inflation gas sufficient to inflate the inflatable duct through the inlet to the inflatable duct, wherein the delivery of the inflation gas causes the inflatable duct to inflate thereby exposing at least one of either the first valve set and the second valve set to the inflation gas for allowing inflation of at least one of either the first inflatable chamber and the second inflatable chamber respectively.
An inflatable air bag having at least two inflatable chambers for protecting a vehicle occupant, the inflatable air bag comprising:
- a first inflatable chamber;
- a second inflatable chamber, the second inflatable chamber being located adjacent the first inflatable chamber;
- and
- an inflatable duct disposed intermediate the first chamber and the second chamber, the inflatable duct having an inlet for receiving inflation gas, a first valve set comprising at least one first valve providing fluid communication between the inflatable duct and the first chamber, and a second valve set comprising at least one second valve providing fluid communication between the inflatable duct and the second chamber;
- and
- wherein the delivery of an inflation gas to the inlet causes the inflatable duct to inflate thereby exposing at least one of either the first valve set and the second valve set to the inflation gas for allowing inflation of at least one of either the first inflatable chamber and the second inflatable chamber respectively.
A method for inflating an airbag having at least two inflatable chambers, the method comprising the acts of:
- deploying an inflator thereby generating a stream of inflation gas;
- channeling the stream of inflation gas into an inlet of an inflatable duct, thereby inflating the duct;
- exposing at least one first valve to the inflation gas from among a first valve set providing fluid communication between a first inflatable chamber and the inflated duct;
- exposing at least one second valve from among a second valve set providing fluid communication between a second inflatable chamber and the inflatable duct;
- flowing the inflation gas through each of the exposed valves from among the first valve set and the second valve set, thereby inflating the inflatable chambers;
- and
- completing the deployment of the inflator such that inflation gas pressure is insufficient to maintain inflation of the inflatable duct, thereby restricting fluid communication between each of the inflatable chambers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.