AIRBAG WITH INDIVIDUALLY TUNABLE COMPARTMENTS
An airbag includes a manifold having an outer panel and an inflation chamber defined at least in party by the outer panel. The airbag further includes a first compartment and a second compartment spaced from the first compartment connected to the outer panel and positioned external to the inflation chamber. A first one-way valve is in fluid communication with the manifold and the first compartment, and a second one-way valve is in fluid communication with the manifold and the second compartment.
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Vehicles may include a variety of airbag assemblies to deploy airbags during vehicle impacts to absorb impact energy from vehicle occupants during the impact. The airbag assembly may include an airbag and an inflator in fluid communication with the airbag. The inflator may inflate the airbag with an inflation medium to inflate the airbag from an uninflated position to an inflated position. The vehicle may include an impact sensing system in communication with the airbag assembly. The impact sensing system may sense a vehicle impact and instruct the inflator to inflate the airbag when a vehicle impact is sensed.
Airbag assemblies for occupants in a rear seat of the vehicle can present different design criteria than those for occupants in a front seat. For example, airbag assemblies for occupants in the front seat may be designed for and mounted in an instrument panel and/or a steering wheel of the vehicle. The rear seats of vehicles generally lack comparable structures for the design and mounting of airbag assemblies. Rather, occupants in the rear seats are generally proximate a seat back of the front seat of the vehicle.
With reference to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views,
As shown in
As shown in
This allows for the first compartment 30 and the second compartment 32 to be independently tuned for stiffness, i.e., pressure, among other things. For example, the first compartment 30 may be tuned to a different pressure than the second compartment 32 when the airbag 22 is in the inflated position. In this way, the first compartment 30 and the second compartment 32 may be independently tuned to absorb energy from different parts of the occupant 38, such as a head, a torso, and extremities in an impact event.
With reference to
As shown in
For example, as shown in
The airbag 22 may be a component of an impact absorbing system 100, as shown in
The inflator 42 expands the airbag 22 with the inflation medium. The inflator 42 may be, for example, a pyrotechnic inflator that uses a chemical reaction to drive inflation medium into the airbag 22. As such, when the impact absorbing system 100 activates the pyrotechnic inflator, a chemical reaction occurs causing the inflator 42 to fill the airbag 22 with the inflation medium. The inflator 42 may also be a cold-gas inflator. When activated, the cold-gas inflator ignites a pyrotechnic charge that releases the inflation medium to the airbag 22. Alternatively, the inflator 42 can be of any other suitable type, such as a hybrid inflator
The inflator 42 is in fluid communication with the airbag 22, as set forth above. As shown in
As shown in
In the example of the first one-way valve 34 shown in
A first flap 46 is disposed between the outer panel 26 and the first compartment 30. The first flap 46 may be supported by the outer panel 26. For example, as shown in
As shown in
The first flap 46 as described above is an example of one structure that may allow the flow of the inflation medium in one direction while restricting the flow of the inflation medium in the other direction. Alternatively, other structures may be disposed between the first opening 44 and the first compartment 30 that allow the flow of the inflation medium in one direction while restricting the flow of the inflation medium in the other, e.g., a baffle, etc.
With continued reference to
The second one-way valve 36, like the first one-way valve 34, may be of any suitable type that would allow the inflation medium to flow from the manifold 24 to the second compartment 32 in response to a positive pressure difference between the manifold 24 and the second compartment 32, and restrict the inflation medium from flowing from the second compartment 32 to the manifold 24 when there is a positive pressure difference between the second compartment 32 and the manifold 24. The first one-way valve 34 and the second one-way valve 36 may be the same type of one-way valves, or different types, such as the one-way valves described above.
As shown on
The second one-way valve 36 includes a second flap 54 disposed between the outer panel 26 and the second compartment 32. The outer panel 26 may support the second flap 54. The second flap 54 may include two first edges 56 that are fixed to the outer panel 26, and two second edges 58 that are not fixed to the outer panel 26. The two first edges 56 of the second flap 54 may be spaced apart and substantially parallel relative to each other. One of the first edges 56 can be fixed to the outer panel 26 on one side of the second opening 52, and the other first edge 56 can be fixed to the outer panel on an opposite side of the second opening 52. The two second edges 58 of the second flap 54 can also be spaced apart and substantially parallel relative to each other, with one of the second edges 58 disposed on one side of the second opening 52, and the other second edge 58 disposed on an opposite side of the second opening 52.
Referring to
The first compartment 30 of the airbag 22 is external to the inflation chamber 28 and may be connected, e.g., stitched, to the outer panel 26 of manifold 24, as shown in
As shown in
The first compartment 30 may also include a first external vent 72, as shown in
As discussed above and shown in
Like the first compartment 30, the second compartment 32 may also include one or more tethers 60 fixed to an interior surface 74 of the second compartment 32, as shown in
The second compartment 32 may include a second external vent 80 extending through the second compartment 32, as shown in
As with the first external vent 72 discussed above, the second external vent 80 can be of any size, and the second compartment 32 may include any suitable number of second external vents 80. In this way, the second compartment 32 may also be further tuned for stiffness to allow for the second compartment 32 to be independently tuned to absorb energy from different parts of the occupant 38, such as a head, torso and extremities of the occupant 38, during an impact event.
The airbag 22 may be formed of any suitable airbag material, such as a woven polymer. For example, the airbag 22 may be formed of woven nylon yarn, e.g., nylon 6-6. Other suitable examples include polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyester, or any other suitable polymer. The woven polymer may include a coating, such as silicone, neoprene, urethane, and so on. For example, the coating may be polyorgano siloxane.
With reference to
The housing 20 can include a cover 92. The cover 92 of the housing 20 is configured to open when the airbag 22 inflates to the inflated position. In the example of the cover 92 shown in
As shown in
With continued to
A schematic of the impact absorbing system 100 which includes an impact sensing system 102, the inflator 42, and the airbag 22 is shown in
The controller 106 may be a microprocessor-based controller. The controller 106 may include a processor, memory, etc. The memory of the controller 106 may store instructions executable by the processor.
The sensor 104 is in communication with the controller 106 to communicate data to the controller 106. Based on the data communicated by the sensor 104, the controller 106 instructs the inflator 42 to activate. The controller 106 may be programmed to activate the inflator 42 to inflate the airbag 22 to the inflated position in response at least to a front impact of the vehicle 10. Specifically, the sensor 104 may sense the front impact and, based on the sensed front impact, the controller 106 may provide an instruction to the inflator 42 to inflate the airbag 22.
The controller 106 and the sensor 104 may be connected to a communication bus 108, such as a controller area network (CAN) bus, of the vehicle 10. The controller 106 may use information from the communication bus 108 to control the activation of the inflator 42. The inflator 42 may be connected to the controller 106, as shown in
In operation, the airbag 22 is in the uninflated position, as shown in
The disclosure has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings, and the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
Claims
1. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:
- a seat back;
- an airbag housed in the seat back in an uninflated position and being inflatable to an inflated position extending from the seat back;
- the airbag including a manifold having an outer panel and an inflation chamber defined in part by the outer panel;
- a first compartment connected to the outer panel and positioned external to the inflation chamber;
- a second compartment connected to the outer panel and positioned external to the inflation chamber and spaced from the first compartment; and
- a first one-way valve in fluid communication with the manifold and the first compartment and a second one-way valve in fluid communication with the manifold and the second compartment.
2. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second compartments includes two end portions and a middle portion, the two end portions extending further in a vehicle-rearward direction relative to the middle portion when the at least one of the first and second compartments is in an inflated position.
3. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the first compartment extends upwardly from the manifold in a substantially vertical direction when the first compartment is in an inflated position, and the second compartment extends downwardly from the manifold in a substantially vertical direction when the second compartment is in an inflated position.
4. The vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the seat back has a top end, and the airbag is housed proximate the top end.
5. An airbag comprising:
- a manifold having an outer panel and an inflation chamber defined at least in part by the outer panel;
- a first compartment connected to the outer panel and positioned external to the inflation chamber;
- a second compartment connected to the outer panel and positioned external to the inflation chamber and spaced from the first compartment;
- a first one-way valve in fluid communication with the manifold and the first compartment and a second one-way valve in fluid communication with the manifold and the second compartment; and
- at least one of a first external vent in the first compartment and a second external vent in the second compartment.
6. The airbag of claim 5, wherein the first one-way valve opens in response to a positive pressure difference between the manifold and the first compartment.
7. The airbag of claim 6, wherein the first one-way valve includes a first opening extending through the outer panel between the inflation chamber and the first compartment, and a first flap disposed between the outer panel and the first compartment.
8. The airbag of claim 7, wherein the first flap is supported by the outer panel.
9. The airbag of claim 8, wherein the first flap includes a first edge fixed to the outer panel and a second edge disconnected from the outer panel.
10. The airbag of claim 5, wherein the second one-way valve opens in response to a positive pressure difference between the manifold and the second compartment.
11. The airbag of claim 10, wherein a first one-way valve includes a first opening extending through the outer panel and a first flap disposed between the outer panel and the first compartment, and second one-way valve includes a second opening having a different size than the first opening.
12. The airbag of claim 5 further comprising a housing with the manifold supported by the housing and a positioning tether fixed to the housing and to the manifold.
13. The airbag assembly of claim 5, wherein the first compartment extends upwardly from the manifold in a substantially vertical direction when the first compartment is in an inflated position.
14. The airbag assembly of claim 5, wherein the second compartment extends downwardly from the manifold in a substantially vertical direction when the second compartment is in an inflated position.
15. (canceled)
16. The airbag assembly of claim 15, wherein the first external vent has a different size then the second external vent.
Type: Application
Filed: May 6, 2016
Publication Date: Nov 9, 2017
Applicant: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Dearborn, MI)
Inventors: Raj S. Roychoudhury (Bloomfield Hills, MI), Roger J. Chen (Oxford, MI)
Application Number: 15/148,205