Knee airbag assemblies
AssigneeAutoliv ASP, Inc.
InventorJames Ernie Jacobson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inflatable knee airbag having a flexible housing is disclosed. An inflatable knee airbag may provide protection for the lower anatomy of an occupant in a vehicle collision event. The disclosed inflatable knee airbag may include components, such as the inflatable airbag cushion, inflator, etc., within a flexible housing supported by a rigid or semi-rigid mounting plate. The flexible housing may conform to the shape of enclosed components, and may support and protect the enclosed components. The flexible housing may be lighter and more cost-effective than conventional housing methods.
Claims22
An airbag assembly comprising:
- a flexible housing;
- an inflatable airbag cushion disposed within the flexible housing in a compressed configuration;
- an inflator to supply inflation gas to the inflatable airbag cushion, the inflator at least partially disposed within the flexible housing;
- and
- a mounting plate coupled to the flexible housing,
- wherein the airbag assembly comprises at least three attachment studs configured to couple to a reaction surface of a vehicle, the attachment studs protruding from the mounting plate.
A method of assembling an airbag assembly, comprising:
- inserting an inflator into an airbag cushion;
- coupling the airbag cushion to a mounting plate configured to couple to a reaction surface of a vehicle;
- coupling the inflator to the mounting plate;
- compressing the airbag cushion and at least partially wrapping the airbag cushion, inflator, and mounting plate with an initially flexible cover to form an intermediate package, the flexible cover being formed from a ductile fabric material including a plurality of polymeric fibers;
- and
- simultaneously heating and pressing the intermediate package to fuse the fibers to form a compressed package having a stable shape defined by the fused fibers.
An airbag assembly comprising:
- an airbag cushion;
- an inflator to supply inflation gas to the airbag cushion, the inflator at least partially disposed within the airbag cushion;
- a mounting plate coupled to the airbag cushion;
- and
- a flexible cover wrapped around the airbag cushion, inflator, and mounting plate, the flexible cover formed from ductile fabric material including a plurality of polymeric fibers, at least some of the fibers being fused to one another to impart a predetermined stable shape to the airbag assembly,
- wherein the airbag assembly comprises a plurality of studs that extend out of the flexible cover and are configured to couple to a reaction surface of a vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.