US 8,523,222 B2 · Curtain airbag assembly for a motor vehicle

Abstract

An airbag assembly for a motor vehicle includes an inflator and a curtain airbag securable to a body structure of the motor vehicle. The airbag includes two or more deployment tubes and two or more inflatable chambers. Vents connect the deployment chambers with the inflatable chambers. Gasses from the inflator pass first into the deployment tubes to rapidly inflate them to vertically extending positions and draw the airbag over a window opening. The gasses then pass through the vents into the inflatable chambers to complete the deployment of the curtain airbag. The rapid inflation and deployment of the deployment chambers provides cushioning for an occupant's head early in a crash event, followed by the inflation of the inflatable chambers to provide additional head protection and increasing the resistance of the curtain airbag to ejection through the underlying window apertures.

Claims12

Dependent claims

An airbag assembly for a motor vehicle comprising:

an inflator;
a curtain airbag having an upper edge securable to a body structure of the motor vehicle, a first and a second inflatable chamber, a first deployment tube located at one end of the airbag and connected with the first inflatable chamber by a first vent, a second deployment tube located at an opposite end of the airbag and connected with the second inflatable chamber by a second vent, and a third deployment tube located between and bounding adjacent edges of the two inflatable chambers, the gasses flowing through the vents into the respective inflatable chambers during deployment of the curtain airbag;
and
a manifold connecting the inflator with the curtain airbag and having a first outlet supplying gas to the first deployment tube, a second outlet supplying gas to the second deployment tube, a third outlet supplying gas to the third deployment tube, a fourth outlet supplying gas to the first inflatable chamber, and a fifth outlet supplying gas to the second inflatable chamber.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Curtain airbag assembly for a motor vehicle

Life of this patent

Curtain airbag assembly for a motor vehicle

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12