Abstract: In an airbag arrangement for a front seat passenger in a motor vehicle, an airbag is mounted, in its stowed condition, in a dashboard of the vehicle. The airbag is configured to inflate to a deployed condition interposed between the dashboard and the front seat passenger. The inflated airbag is wider on an upper side, over an impact region nearer the front seat passenger, than on a lower side adjacent the dashboard. The airbag is narrower at an end adjacent the vehicle dashboard than at an end nearer to the front seat passenger.

Abstract: A seat belt retractor incorporating a force limiter to permit the restricted paying out of a seat belt webbing and a control mechanism for controlling the force limiting functions of the retractor. The arrangement includes a two part spindle within a retractor. On a first part of the spindle the safety belt is wound. A second part of the spindle is configured to be locked by a retractor locking device. The two spindle parts are interconnected by a belt load limiting torsion bar. The torsion bar has two sections of different torsional stiffness. The junction between the two torsion bar sections is releasably connected to part of the spindle. When the connection is present one energy absorbing level is provided and when the connection is controlled there is another energy absorbing level. The connection is broken in response to a relative movement between the two spindle parts caused by an initial belt force in excess of a predetermined force.

Abstract: In a night vision arrangement for a motor vehicle in which a camera captures an infra-red image of the roadway in front of the vehicle, a video signal generated by the camera is processed by a signal processor so that the field of view of the image displayed by a display unit is selected in accordance with a control signal. The control signal is generated by a signal generator which is responsive to one or more parameters of the movement of the vehicle. The width of the field of view may be decreased with increasing speed. The axial direction of the field of view may be adjusted depending upon the nature of a turning movement of the vehicle.

Abstract: In at least one embodiment, the present invention provides a side airbag apparatus for a vehicle having a seat with a back rest part and a hinge mechanism. The side airbag includes a separation means defining a front airbag chamber and a rear airbag chamber within the side airbag. A connecting passage connects the front and a rear airbag chambers adjacent a lower extremity of the separation means. An attaching portion provided on the rear portion of the rear airbag chamber attaches the side airbag to the backrest part. An inflator proximate said attaching portion injects gas into the rear airbag chamber which flows through the connecting passage into the front airbag chamber.

Abstract: In at least one embodiment of the present invention, an inflatable curtain for a motor vehicle is provided. The inflatable curtain is formed of layers of fabric and is deployable from a rolled state forming a roll to an inflated state. The air-bag comprises part of the air-bag that forms the upper-most edge of the air-bag when the air-bag is in the inflated state extending downwardly from the roll to lie proximate a side part of the motor vehicle on which the air-bag is to be mounted. At least a portion of the roll is positioned above the upper-most edge in the rolled state and is driven downward below the upper-most edge during deployment to the inflated state. The air-bag further provides a gas flow duct. When the air-bag is in the rolled state, the gas flow duct is provided at the top part of the roll.

Abstract: A vehicle structure arrangement includes a pressurizable reinforcement element that may be arranged interiorly a beam, such as an A-pillar to reinforce the beam. The reinforcement element may be a tubular element having a flexible wall portion, The tubular element may be adapted to be self-stiffened when in a pressurized active state. In the pressurized state, the material and dimension of the tubular element wall portion are adapted to withstand actual stresses along longitudinal direction of the wall portion. The reinforcement element may be activated by a pre-crash unit.

Abstract: A vehicle air bag device may include an air bag having an integrally formed inflator insertion portion 4 into which an inflator 5 for discharging a gas is inserted. A bracket that is formed to attach the inflator to a vehicle body includes an inflator side mounting portion 8 mounted onto an outer side of the inflator insertion portion so as to partially cover the inflator insertion portion partially. A strip-form body 10 is disposed over and attaches the bracket, the inflator insertion portion, and the inflator such that the strip-form body. The strip-form body and the inflation insertion portion are displaced from each other by a step formed by the bracket, thereby forming a gap disposed between the strip-form body and said inflation insertion portion. A seal portion formed on the bracket is sealingly aligned with the strip-form body and seals the gap.

Abstract: An air-bag for use in a safety arrangement in a motor vehicle includes a front panel and a rear panel. The two panels are superimposed and attached to one another around their peripheries in order to define an inflatable chamber. The front panel is provided with an aperture within which is secured an additional panel. The additional panel has an area greater than the aperture and is configured so as to define a plurality of adjacent substantially wave-shaped projections which extend forwardly from the front panel when the air-bag is inflated.

Abstract: An airbag has a skin enclosing a gas chamber and the skin has a vent which is closed in the resting state of the airbag and which opens when the pressure in the gas chamber exceeds a pre-determined value is described. The vent includes a vent hole in the skin and a tearable connection closing the vent hole in the resting state of the airbag. The airbag is folded to a package at least along a first direction and the tearable connection connects the skin around the vent hole directly to itself such that the tearable connection extends from a first point to a second point. In order to ensure that the vent remains closed during deployment and that the vent opens after the pressure inside the gas chamber exceeds a predetermined value within a rather small tolerance of the pressure, the line connecting the two points encloses an angle between 30° and 60° with the first direction.

Abstract: A side airbag unit for a vehicle seat including a generally cylindrical gas generator unit having a longitudinal axis. The vehicle seat has a backrest with a front surface and a side surface. In order to achieve the result that the airbag requires little additional space and nevertheless is relatively easy to mount on the vehicle seat, the longitudinal axis extends generally parallel to the front surface and perpendicular to the side surface of the vehicle seat.

Abstract: A safety arrangement includes an airbag housing, a cover and pair of horn contacts for actuating a vehicle horn. The airbag housing mounts to a steering wheel frame. The cover is resiliently mounted on the housing and spaced therefrom such that the cover may be depressed towards the housing to close the horn contacts. The housing and cover are hooked to one another for preventing subsequent disconnection of the cover from the housing upon release of the cover to open the horn contacts. A stop is mounted to one of the cover and the housing for movement between a operable position, in which the stop arrests relative movement of the cover and housing towards one another so as to prevent un-hooking of the cover from the housing, and an assembly position, in which the cover may be depressed sufficiently far towards the housing to allow un-hooking of the cover from the housing and consequent disconnection of the housing and cover upon release of the cover.

Abstract: A safety arrangement (1) for a motor vehicle having an electric battery (2) and an occupant safety device (6) such as an airbag (7) or seat-belt pre-tensioner. The arrangement (1) having a crash sensor (10) responsive to acceleration, a battery sensor (13-17) arranged to monitor a battery parameter indicative of the condition of the battery, an actuator (8) for activating the occupant safety device (6), and a control unit (9) operable to receive and process signals (x,b) from both the crash sensor (10) and the battery sensor (13-17). The control unit (9) is operable to issue an actuating command to the actuator (8) to activate the occupant safety device (6) in response to a signal x from the crash sensor.

Abstract: A knee air bag for a vehicle has an inflator, a diffuser and a cushion to protect a passenger's knee when the cushion is deployed. The knee air bag also includes an inflator connector which is provided on a back of the cushion, and an external tether which is provided on an upper portion of the inflator connector and secured at lower and upper ends thereof to the back of the cushion, thus guiding the cushion so that the cushion is deployed upwards. The knee air bag makes the cushion come into close contact with a seatback of the vehicle when the knee air bag is deployed, thus reducing interference with a roof air bag located at an upper position, therefore preventing a passenger's head or neck from suffering secondary injuries.

Abstract: A self-locking seat-belt retractor for a vehicle has a U-shaped seat belt retractor frame (2) with two opposite frame pieces (2a, 2b) each with an opening (2c, 2d), in which a belt shaft (1) is rotatably mounted. A sensor device (3) is configured to actuate a locking device (4) to lock the belt shaft (1) if a predetermined vehicle deceleration is exceeded. A mass (6) is supported in a housing of the sensor device. The sensor device (3) with the housing (9) is held in a support element (7) mounted on the frame piece (2a) of the seat belt retractor frame (2). The support element (7) protrudes into an opening 25 on the frame piece (21) from one side with a portion receiving the sensor device (3). A cover element (11) closes the opening (25) from the other side of the frame piece (2a).

Abstract: A curtain air bag system includes a main deployment portion for an occupant seated in a front seat, that is housed folded up in an upper edge portion of an opening in a vehicle body, and inflates by receiving a supply of gas when the vehicle is in a side collision and when the vehicle rolls over, and deploys in a curtain shape downward with respect to the vehicle; an auxiliary deployment portion that inflates by receiving a supply of gas via a gas passage that is communicated with a portion of the auxiliary deployment portion in a vertical direction of the vehicle, and that deploys such that a lower end side, when viewed from a side, overlaps with a side door forward of the main deployment portion; and a connecting portion that connects a portion on an upper end side of the auxiliary deployment portion to a front pillar.

Abstract: A ramp bracket for a curtain airbag is constructed so that an open space between a front and a rear is divided into two portions, that is, an upper chamber and a lower chamber by a partition, and the front and the rear are separated from each other at an area defining the lower chamber. Such a ramp bracket allows the airbag to be smoothly deployed between a head liner and a pillar trim, and minimizes the injury to a passenger who collides with the ramp bracket.

Abstract: A seat belt buckle fastening detector 40, which detects the existence of seat belt fastening, includes a printed circuit board 41 including a normally-closed contact NC, a normally-opened contact NO, and a common contact COM. A slider 42 electrically connects the normally-closed contact NC and the common contact COM, or the normally-opened contact NO and the common contact COM. The common contact COM is formed on one surface 41 a of the print circuit board 41, and the normally-closed contact NC and the normally-opened contact NO are formed on the other surface 41b of the print circuit board 41.

Abstract: A ramp apparatus for a curtain airbag for a vehicle, positioned between a headliner and a vehicular body panel such that the curtain airbag is deployed through a matching part formed between the headliner and a pillar trim, may include a support ramp fastened to the vehicular body panel and receiving a lower portion of the folded curtain airbag, and a deployment ramp extending from a first end of the support ramp to enclose a portion of the curtain airbag therein and deploying towards the interior of the vehicle to seal a gap between the vehicular body panel and the pillar trim by expansive pressure of the curtain airbag in the event of a vehicle collision.

Abstract: A passenger airbag module includes a housing, an inflator generating gas pressure according to a control signal of an electronic control unit, and an airbag cushion folded in the housing such that the airbag cushion is expanded in the form of a dual chamber. The airbag cushion is provided therein with a tether having a rectangular shape corresponding to a sectional shape of the airbag cushion. The tether is installed in the transverse direction to divide the airbag cushion into an upper chamber and a lower chamber. Transfer holes are formed at edges of the tether. In the passenger airbag module, the upper chamber is primarily expanded by concentrating gas flow into the upper chamber to instantly deploy the airbag cushion in the proper position, thereby safely protecting the occupants.

Abstract: The invention relates to a self-locking seat belt retractor having the following components: a locking device (9) which can be actuated in a vehicle-sensitive and/or in a belt webbing-sensitive manner, a belt shaft (1), upon which the belt webbing can be wound, a two-stage load limiting device (13) located within the force flow between the locking device (9) and the belt shaft (1) for allowing a load-limited belt webbing extraction during a load limitation, the load limiting device (13) includes a first load limiting element (3) having a high load limitation level and a second load limiting element (2) having a low load limitation level, the load limitation level can be switched from the high load limitation level to the low load limitation level during the load limitation, a third load limiting element (14) parallel to the second load limiting element (2) with the low load limitation level is provided between the locking device (9) and the belt shaft (1), wherein the third load limiting element (14) is f