US 7,066,490 B2Granted

Airbag device

AssigneeToyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

InventorsTadashi Yamamoto, Hitoshi Iida, Hirohisa Yokoyama, Tadashi Yamada

Life of this patent

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Abstract

An airbag device comprises a folded and housed airbag including: a vehicle front-facing wall portion having a gas inlet through which inflating gas can enter; and a passenger-facing wall portion directly opposite the gas inlet port. In the airbag, there is arranged a flow regulating cloth. This flow regulating cloth regulates the inflow of the inflating gas so that the unnecessary protrusion of the passenger-facing wall portion toward the passenger is prevented. Moreover, the flow regulating cloth breaks at a portion made to be easily torn, before the completion of inflation of the airbag. In other words, the airbag is released from the regulation of the inflow of the inflating gas before the completion of inflation.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An airbag device comprising an airbag inflated by admitting an inflating gas and including an outer wall at the completion of inflation and an auxiliary inflation portion arranged within said airbag body,

wherein said airbag body includes a gas inlet port through which inflating gas can enter,
wherein said auxiliary inflation portion communicates with said gas inlet port and inflates to protect a passenger before the completion of inflation of said airbag body,
wherein said auxiliary inflation portion includes gas outlet ports for allowing the inflating gas flowing at the time of inflation to flow out to said airbag body and is constructed to end its inflated state by breaking at a portion removed from the outer wall of said airbag body before the completion of inflation of said airbag body,
wherein said auxillary inflation portion can inflate to retain the cushioning action to protect the passenger by raising an internal pressure therein, before the completion of inflation of the airbag body,
wherein the outer wall of said airbag body includes a vehicle front-facing wall portion having said gas inlet port, and a passenger-facing wall portion directly opposite said gas inlet port,
wherein the auxiliary inflation portion of said airbag is joined to said passenger-facing wall portion and can regulate the spacing distance of said passenger-facing wall portion from said gas inlet port so as to prevent the protrusion of said airbag body toward the passenger at the beginning of inflation, and
wherein the regulation of said spacing distance is ended by the breakage of said auxiliary inflation portion, thereby allowing completion of the inflation of said airbag body.

4 more elements

wherein said airbag body includes a gas inlet port through which inflating gas can enter,
wherein said auxiliary inflation portion communicates with said gas inlet port and inflates to protect a passenger before the completion of inflation of said airbag body,
wherein said auxiliary inflation portion includes gas outlet ports for allowing the inflating gas flowing at the time of inflation to flow out to said airbag body and is constructed to end its inflated state by breaking at a portion removed from the outer wall of said airbag body before the completion of inflation of said airbag body,
wherein the outer wall of said airbag body includes a vehicle front-facing wall portion having said gas inlet port, and a passenger-facing wall portion directly opposite said gas inlet port,
wherein the auxiliary inflation portion of said airbag is joined to said passenger-facing wall portion and can regulate the spacing distance of said passenger-facing wall portion from said gas inlet port so as to prevent the protrusion of said airbag body toward the passenger at the beginning of inflation,
wherein the regulation of said spacing distance is ended by the breakage of said auxiliary inflation portion, thereby allowing completion of the inflation of said airbag body,
wherein the auxiliary inflation portion of said airbag is formed into such a cylindrical shape with a circumferential wall portion in which are arranged said gas outlet ports, the circumferential wall portion extending from the periphery of the gas inlet port of said vehicle front-facing wall portion to the portion of the passenger-facing wall portion directly facing said gas inlet port,
wherein the edge of said circumferential wall portion toward the passenger-facing wall portion is joined to said passenger-facing wall portion, and
wherein said portion of said passenger-facing wall portion directly opposite the gas inlet port is the ceiling wall portion of said auxiliary inflation portion.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/926,036Filed 26 Aug 2004 · division
Priority: JP 2001-30312728 Sep 2001
Published: US 2005/0023809 A13 Feb 2005
Granted: 27 Jun 2006
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

B60R 21/231
Inflatable members: characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration
B60R 21/2338
Expansion control features: tethers
B60R 21/2346
Expansion control features: soft diffusers
B60R 2021/23382
Tethers: internal tether means

Family

Application10/253,504Parent of this division · filed 25 Sep 2002
US 2005/0023809 A1Pre-grant publication · published 3 Feb 2005
US 6,899,352 B2Parent of this division
US 2003/0062712 A1Published application
US 7,066,490 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.