US 6,471,238 B2Granted

Air-bag device and a method for folding an air-bag

AssigneesMazda Motor Corporation, Ashimori Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsToshihiro Ishikawa, Takeshi Takagi, Kazunori Etou, Akinori Koyama, Kouichi Ishida

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Abstract

An air-bag 12 is designed to vertically expand after transversely expanding while being inflated. The air-bag 12 having a substantially circular shape is folded from its opposite ends toward its middle along a direction “a” corresponding to vertical direction and rolled in an opposite direction, is then folded in a zigzag manner one fold over another from its opposite ends toward its middle along a direction “b” (transverse direction), and is accommodated in a container casing 14. Accordingly, the inventive air-bag device and air-bag folding method can suppress an inflation (expansion) of the air-bag toward a passenger at an early stage of the inflation of the air-bag, promote a transverse expansion more than a vertical expansion of the air-bag at the early stage of the inflation, and prevent a blow out of a gas toward the passenger.

Claims22

Dependent claims

An air-bag device provided in a steering wheel including a bottom wall portion, steering wheel spokes and a main body, the air bag being positioned in an area enclosed by the bottom wall portion, the steering wheel spokes and the main body and comprising:

an inflator;
an air-bag inflated by a gas supplied from the inflator;
and
a cover member for covering front sides of the inflator and the air-bag and to be split open upon inflation of the air-bag, the cover member including a front wall portion covering a front surface and outer circumferential surface of the air-bag and a surrounding wall portion continuously formed with said front wall portion and has a first splitting line extending in a middle position on a rear surface of the cover member along a first direction and over opposite ends of the front wall portion along a second direction and a second splitting line on the surrounding wall portion continuously formed with the front wall portion along the second direction with the second splitting line extending from an end of said first splitting line substantially towards a frontward direction;
said air-bag is accommodated under the cover member in such a folded state that:
(1) opposite ends of the air-bag along a first axis are folded towards its middle along a first axis and are rolled in a direction opposite to the folding direction along the first axis, and (2) opposite ends of the air-bag along a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis, are folded in a zigzag manner one fold over another along the second axis.

3 more elements

An air-bag device for a vehicle provided in a steering wheel including a bottom wall portion, steering wheel spokes and a main body, the air bag being positioned in an area enclosed by the bottom wall portion, the steering wheel spokes and the main body and comprising:

an inflator,
an air-bag inflated by a gas supplied from the inflator, the air-bag being accommodated by, after being folded along a first axis, being folded along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis,
a cover member for covering the front sides of the inflator and the air-bag and to be split open during the inflation of the air-bag, the air-bag being longer along the first axis than along the second axis, the cover member including a front wall portion covering a front surface and outer circumferential surface of the air-bag and a surrounding wall portion continuously formed with said front wall portion and has a first splitting line extending in a middle position on a rear surface of the cover member along a first direction and over opposite ends of the front wall portion along a second direction and a second splitting line on the surrounding wall portion continuously formed with the front wall portion along the second direction with the second splitting line extending from an end of said first splitting line substantially towards a frontward direction;
and
a diffusion member for diffusing the gas blown from the inflator along a direction transverse to a length of the vehicle.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/542,471Filed 4 Apr 2000
Priority: JP 11-0988796 Apr 1999
Published: US 2002/0093183 A118 Jul 2002
Granted: 29 Oct 2002
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

B60R 21/237
Inflatable members: characterised by the way they are folded
B60R 21/21656
Characterised by a tear line for defining a deployment opening: steering wheel covers or similar cup-shaped covers
B60R 21/2346
Expansion control features: soft diffusers
B60R 21/2171
Inflation fluid source retainers, e.g. reaction canisters; Connection of bags, covers, diffusers or inflation fluid sources therewith or together:…