Far-side airbag assemblies with pillow and sail
AssigneeAutoliv ASP, Inc.
InventorsTerry Alan Wheelwright, Andrew Lawrence Holliday, Charles Paul Dinsdale, Derek John Wiscombe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Far-side inflatable airbag assemblies are disclosed to be installed to deploy adjacent an occupant during a far-side collision event or a far-side oblique collision event, and may retain the occupant at the occupant's vehicle occupant position to protect the occupant from collision with structures within the vehicle, as well as from collisions with other occupants of the vehicle. The far-side inflatable airbag assemblies of the present disclosure may be particularly beneficial when installed between vehicle occupant positions of the vehicle.
Claims20
An inflatable airbag system comprising:
- an inflator;
- and
- an inflatable airbag cushion configured to be mounted at a side portion of a seat of a vehicle and to deploy in a forward direction from the side portion of the seat to be positioned adjacent a vehicle occupant position defined by the seat, the inflatable airbag cushion comprising:
- a main cushion coupled to the inflator, the main cushion to deploy forward from the portion of the seat;
- a pillow cushion coupled at an upper portion to an upper portion of the main cushion, the pillow cushion to be disposed on an occupant side of the main cushion to be positioned between the main cushion and the vehicle occupant position;
- and
- a sail panel coupled at a first end to a lower portion of the main cushion, and at a second end to a lower portion of the pillow cushion,
- wherein, in a deployed state, the main cushion, the pillow cushion, and the sail panel form a shape that is one of roughly triangular and roughly doughnut-like, the shape extending over a shoulder of an occupant.
(canceled)
An inflatable airbag system to be mounted at a side of a seat of a vehicle, the inflatable airbag system comprising:
- an inflator;
- and
- an inflatable airbag cushion comprising a main cushion, a pillow cushion coupled at an upper portion to an upper portion of the main cushion to be disposed on an occupant side of the main cushion, and a sail panel having a lower portion coupled to a lower portion of the main cushion and an upper portion coupled to a lower portion of the pillow cushion,
- wherein the main cushion, the pillow cushion, and the sail panel, in a deployed state, form a triangular shape in a plane transverse to a longitudinal midline of the vehicle, the triangular shape causing the main cushion, the pillow cushion, and the sail panel to mutually support each other and provide resistance to lateral deflection of the inflatable airbag cushion, and
- wherein the inflatable airbag cushion is configured to initially deploy in a forward direction over a shoulder area of a vehicle occupant position defined by the seat from a lateral portion of a seatback of the seat of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.