Abstract: An airbag cushion of a vehicle airbag device has a bottom surface into which the inflator is inserted, a restraining surface on the occupant side, a side surface connecting the bottom surface and the restraining surface, a recess part formed in a prescribed range in the center of the restraining surface and recessed toward the bottom surface side, and one or more tethers stretched between the recess part and the bottom surface. The recess part is formed by being pulled toward the bottom surface side by the tether during expansion and deployment. The airbag cushion further has folds and restraining parts formed along the imaginary line on the inner wall of the recess part during inflation and deployment.

Abstract: With the steering wheel, steering system, method of controlling steering, and non-temporary computer readable storage media, a grasp detection function can be applied to a steering wheel with a heating function, where one function can contribute to the improvement of the other function. The steering wheel includes a core part to which ground potential is supplied, a first conductor provided on the exterior of the core part and insulated from the core part, and a second conductor provided on the exterior of the first conductor and insulated from the first conductor to sense gripping of the steering wheel.

Abstract: A tether mechanism for an airbag module including an airbag, the mechanism comprising: at least one tether arrangement, wherein one end of a tether arrangement can be attached to the airbag; and a tautening device for the tether arrangement.

Abstract: A steering wheel deice comprising: a horn spring provided between a steering wheel and an airbag module which serves as a damper mass; a damper unit provided on the airbag module; and a pin, one end of which is held by the steering wheel, and at another end of which the damper unit is disposed in a slidable manner. A conduction circuit of a horn includes: the pin which is formed from an electrically conductive material; a horn contact that is provided on the airbag module and that contacts and separates from the pin due to elastic deformation of the horn spring; and a U-shaped spring that is provided to the steering wheel and that conducts by clipping the pin.

Abstract: A hands-on detection device of a steering wheel according to one embodiment of the present invention is a hands-on detection device of a steering wheel comprising: a core metal; a shield electrode provided outside the core metal and separated by an insulator (In); a sensor electrode further provided outside the shield electrode and separated by an insulator (In); and a control unit configured to acquire the capacitance value of the sensor electrode in a state in which the shield electrode and the core metal are short-circuited, and determine whether or not there is a failure based on the capacitance value.

Abstract: A vehicle device comprising a base vehicle and a seat unit being releasably connectable to the base vehicle is described. The base vehicle comprises an electronic control means and a vehicle-side wireless communication means, and the seat unit comprises at least one sensor, a battery, an electronic unit, and a seat-side wireless communication means. In order to provide the electronic control means of the base vehicle with the necessary information about the seat unit in an energy-saving manner, the electronic unit reads-out the status of the at least one sensor in a certain time-scheme and transmits a sensor related signal via the seat-side wireless communications means only if the status of the sensor changed since the previous read-out.

Abstract: An airbag device in which the deployment behavior of a cushion is stable when expanded and deployed and the cushion does not tilt while restraining an occupant, even in a vehicle in which a console box is lower than the upper surface of a seat cushion or in a vehicle without a console box. The airbag device 1 includes a cushion 2 and an inflator 3 that injects gas to expand the cushion 2. The cushion 2 has a main chamber 2d that expands and deploys on one side of the occupant, and a lower chamber 2e that extends downward from a part of the main chamber 2d. The lower chamber 2e is formed so that, when expanded and deployed, a lower end part of the lower chamber 2e can come into contact with the upper surface of a console box.

Abstract: In a seatbelt retractor attachment structure, a seatbelt retractor is fixed to a vehicle body via a retractor bracket. The retractor bracket includes a fixing portion, fastening portion, and a curved portion. The fixing portion is fixed to a retractor frame of the seatbelt retractor. The fastening portion is fastened and fixed to the vehicle body. The curved portion connects the fixing portion and the fastening portion. The curved portion includes a part bent from the fixing portion in a direction surrounding the seatbelt retractor and a part folded back toward the fastening portion. The curved portion has a substantially U shape. The fastening portion includes at least one of a pair of bent flange portions on both sides in a width direction of the fastening portion and a bead portion protruding along a longitudinal direction of the fastening portion.

Abstract: A vehicle steering wheel having a rim to be gripped by a driver of the vehicle, a trim casing arranged to cover a body of the rim so as to at least partially form an outer surface of the rim, a flexible heating device inserted between the trim casing and the body of the rim, comprising at least one heating track, wherein the heating track is a surface track deposited on the flexible heating device, and in that the rim body comprises at least one groove arranged to house at least one part of the flexible heating device, said at least one part comprising a portion of the surface track.

Abstract: A buckle assembly and a seat belt buckle. The buckle assembly includes a buckle configured to engage with a latch plate to secure a seat belt to a seat. The buckle assembly further includes a force-limiting module connected to the buckle and configured to define a force threshold. The force-limiting module includes: a mandrel having a hollow structure and rotatably supported at two axial ends; a torsion bar positioned in a hollow inner cavity of the mandrel to be arranged coaxially with the mandrel, only a portion of the torsion bar being connected to the mandrel in a co-rotatable manner; and a winding component having a winding portion wound around an outer circumferential surface of the mandrel and a fixing portion fixed to the buckle.

Abstract: To provide an airbag device provided in a steering wheel, which enables an airbag module to be made smaller so as to be compatible with a steering wheel having a smaller center pad than conventional ones. The airbag device includes an airbag module containing an airbag cushion and a cylindrical inflator that supplies inflator gas to the airbag cushion, a damper unit that dampens vibrations transmitted between the airbag module and the steering wheel, a mounting member formed of a plate material and to which the inflator and the damper unit are assembled, and an elastic member that is provided between the mounting member and the steering wheel and elastically holds the airbag module to the steering wheel. The mounting member is formed with a circular through-hole part for press-fitting the inflator to secure the inflator, and a retaining part for holding the damper unit.

Abstract: A method for occupant protection in a vehicle, a vehicle occupant protection system, a vehicle and a computer readable medium. The vehicle comprising at least one seat for accommodating an occupant, wherein the seat is slidably connected with the vehicle by a connection mechanism, and wherein the seat is lockable in a defined seating position by a locking mechanism, to prevent sliding in the connection mechanism when locked and to allow sliding when unlocked, the method comprising determining an imminent or ongoing vehicle crash; determining a seating position; upon the determination of the seat being an in a rearward seating position and the occurrence of an imminent or ongoing vehicle crash; unlocking the locking mechanism to allow the sliding of the seat from the rearward seating position towards a conventional driving seating position.

Abstract: The invention relates to a load-bearing seat belt retractor for a seat structure of a vehicle seat. The seat belt retractor has two housing halves, between which functional modules of the seat belt retractor are arranged. One functional module is a belt spool with a winding axis, wherein a plurality of support plates oriented perpendicularly to the winding axis is provided on the functional modules, each said support plate having at least two locking noses, and the locking noses engage into corresponding locking holes in the two housing halves. The housing halves have beads and/or reinforcements directed toward the functional modules, and at least one section of a functional module and/or a section of a support plate is supported against the beads and/or reinforcements in at least one direction parallel to the winding axis.

Abstract: A steering wheel for a vehicle is described. This steering wheel comprises a steering wheel body comprising a grounding feature adapted for being connected to the vehicle ground and at least one electronic assembly being secured to the steering wheel body. The electronic assembly comprises an electronic component, a signal terminal and an assembly-side grounding area being electrically connected to a body-side grounding area of the grounding feature of the steering wheel body. In order to ease the assembly process, at least one electrically conductive and resilient contact element extends between the assembly-side grounding area and the first body-side grounding area. This electrically conductive and resilient contact element is under mechanical tension such that it transfers a force between the steering wheel body and the electric electronic assembly.

Abstract: An airbag-helmet having a protective main body (10) having an inner surface pointing towards the head of the user when the helmet is worn, and an outer surface pointing away from the head of the user when the helmet is worn. Further, an inflator (40) and an airbag (30) being attached to the protective main body (10) at least indirectly and being in fluid communication to the inflator (40) are provided. The airbag (30) includes at least one tubular protection section (30a, 30b, 30c) extending from the outer surface of the protective main body (10) when the airbag (30) is filled with gas by the inflator (40).

Abstract: A self-locking belt retractor comprising a belt shaft which is rotatably mounted in a frame, wherein a safety belt can be wound up said belt shaft, a blocking device which blocks the belt shaft if a predetermined feed-out acceleration of the safety belt in the feed-out direction of the safety belt is exceeded, and comprising a control disc device mounted on the belt shaft, the control disc device comprising a control disc and an inert mass which is mounted on the control disc so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis.

Abstract: Providing of a gripping determination system and gripping determination method enabling detecting whether or not the driver is gripping the steering device with higher accuracy. A gripping determination system that determines a gripping state of a steering device having an electrode on a part of a steering device of a vehicle, includes: an electrostatic capacitance detecting part that detects electrostatic capacitance of the electrode, a steering torque sensor that detects steering torque of the steering wheel shaft, and a determining part that determines whether or not the steering device is being gripped based on detection results of the electrostatic capacitance detecting part and the steering torque sensor.

Abstract: The present invention provides an occupant state detection device to which a touchpad and a grip sensor are both provided and in which the grip sensor and the touchpad can operate normally and a computer program. The occupant state detection device comprises: a steering wheel having a touchpad that can be operated using electrostatic capacitance and a grip sensor that detects whether a driver is gripping a rim portion; an operation determination unit that makes an operation determination regarding whether the touchpad is being operated; and a grip determination unit that makes a grip determination regarding whether the rim portion of the steering wheel is being gripped.

Abstract: A vehicle steering wheel device enabling miniaturizing an airbag module and also a miniaturized horn pad portion while ensuring a damping effect comparable to a conventional damping effect. Each damper has a straight pin, a grip provided at a first end is engaged to a central cored bar through rotate operation around the pin axis, and a connecting tip end part that connects to the module housing is provided at the other end. A plurality of insertion holes through which the connecting tip end part is inserted are arranged in the module housing surrounding the outer edge of the inflator, and the connecting tip end part is formed with a constricted portion having an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the insertion hole, and the connecting tip end part is connected to the module housing via a set spring supported by the module housing to engage the constriction.

Abstract: Gas generator comprising: a first chamber having first pressurized gases and a first outlet port, a second chamber with second pressurized gases and a second outlet port, a diffusion zone, arranged to receive and diffuse towards an airbag the first pressurized gases and the second pressurized gases, wherein the first pressurized gases and the second pressurized gases are arranged to react together once they are mixed, characterized in that the gas generator comprises at least one deflector arranged to impose on the first pressurized gases a first discharge trajectory in the separate diffusion zone of a second discharge trajectory of the second pressurized gases.