Temperature compensated stored gas inflator

A stored gas inflator which is operable over a wide range of initial temperatures and such that its output is modified as a function of initial temperature, comprising:

• a vessel containing gas under pressure and having an outlet for the gas;
• sealing means sealing the outlet and adapted to open the outlet upon command and to permit passage of the gas through the outlet;
• a temperature-dependent flow control means for varying the exiting flow area,
• whereby at cold initial conditions the inflator reaches complete discharge more quickly than it does at hot initial conditions, and whereby at hot conditions some gas remains inside the vessel at the time of the end of the accident while at cold initial conditions less of the gas remains inside the vessel at the time of the end of the accident.

A stored gas inflator for an airbag and which is operable over a wide temperature range and whose temperature dependance during operation is substantially reduced, comprising:

• a vessel containing gas under pressure and having an outlet for the gas;
• a sealing means for sealing the outlet and adapted to open the outlet and to permit passage of the gas through the outlet;
• a thermal reservoir element adjacent the outlet and normally being at substantially the same initial temperature as the gas stored in the vessel;
• said vessel containing a first exiting flowpath means for directing the gas out through the open outlet along a first exiting flowpath with a first orifice area that bypasses the thermal reservoir element and out through the open outlet;
• said vessel containing a second exiting flowpath means for directing the gas along a second exiting flowpath with a second orifice area through the thermal reservoir element and out through the open outlet;
• a temperature-dependent flow control means that cooperates with at least one of the exiting flow path means that creates a first fraction of gas exiting through the first exiting flowpath and second fraction of gas exiting through the second exiting flowpath and said temperature-dependent flow control means being operable such that at low initial temperatures of the inflator, the second fraction of gas is larger than it is at a high initial temperature.