Vehicle frame mounted deployable metal bag to mitigate side impact crash intrusions
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsMohammad Omar FARUQUE, Yijung CHEN, Dean M. JARADI, S. M. Iskander FAROOQ
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Abstract
A vehicle includes a frame and a rocker panel disposed adjacent the frame and separated therefrom by a gap. The vehicle further includes a structural restraint system that includes a deployable metal bag mounted on the frame facing the rocker panel and an inflator. The structural restrain system further includes a controller configured to, responsive to sensor inputs indicative of an impact on the rocker panel, energize the inflator to inflate the deployable metal bag to fill the gap and transfer force acting on the rocker panel to the frame.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a frame;
- a rocker panel disposed adjacent the frame and separated therefrom by a gap;
- a deployable metal bag mounted on the frame facing the rocker panel;
- an inflator;
- and
- a controller programmed to, responsive to sensor inputs indicative of an impact on the rocker panel, energize the inflator to inflate the deployable metal bag to fill the gap and transfer force acting on the rocker panel to the frame.
A structural restraint system comprising:
- a deployable metal bag configured to mount to a frame of a vehicle and inflate into a gap between the frame and a rocker panel;
- an inflator;
- and
- a controller programmed to, responsive to an accelerometer input indicative of an impact to the rocker panel, cause a transfer of force acting on the rocker panel to the frame by energizing the inflator to inflate the deployable metal bag.
A vehicle comprising:
- a structural restraint system, including an inflator and a deployable metal bag, disposed on a frame opposite a rocker panel and configured to, responsive to sensor inputs indicative of an impact on the rocker panel, energize the inflator to inflate the deployable metal bag to fill a gap between the frame and the rocker panel and transfer force acting on the rocker panel to the frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.