39results about How to "Improved occupant protection" patented technology

An occupant protection apparatus for a vehicle includes: a main bag that, when an occupant who is seated in a seat of the vehicle is about to fall forward, is deployed in front of the occupant and is capable of supporting the head and upper body of the occupant; a sub-bag that is deployed on a longitudinal centerline side of the head of the occupant who plunges into the main bag; and a center bag that is deployed in the center in a lateral direction of the vehicle. The sub-bag is deployed on a door side of the center bag and, when subjected to a load of the head of the occupant who plunges into at least the main bag while being inclined toward the longitudinal centerline side, comes into contact with the lateral side of the center bag on the door side so as to overlap it.

An energy-absorbing padding includes multiple stacked base layers, each of which includes a plurality of projecting, hollow, hemispherical or dome-shaped impact-absorbing elements defining respective convex impact surfaces. The elements of a first base layer, which either project in a direction opposite those of at least one other base layer or project in the same direction in a nested relationship, provide a staged response characteristic in which the first elements of a first base layer accommodate initial and off-axis occupant impacts, while the elements of the at least one other layers provide additional stiffness and energy absorption capability subsequent to at least a partial collapse of the first elements. The wall thickness of the elements may advantageously vary, for example, as a function of distance from the base layer, while a plurality of strengthening ribs may advantageously further serve to enhance the energy absorption capacity of the elements.

An occupant protection apparatus for a vehicle includes: a main bag that, when an occupant who is seated in a seat of the vehicle is about to fall forward, is deployed in front of the occupant and is capable of supporting the head and upper body of the occupant; a sub-bag that is deployed on a longitudinal centerline side of the head of the occupant who plunges into the main bag; and a center bag that is deployed in the center in a lateral direction of the vehicle. The sub-bag is deployed on a door side of the center bag and, when subjected to a load of the head of the occupant who plunges into at least the main bag while being inclined toward the longitudinal centerline side, comes into contact with the lateral side of the center bag on the door side so as to overlap it.

An energy management system for mounting in a vehicle, the energy management system comprising an inflatable bolster for mounting in a glove box door of a glove box of the vehicle, the inflatable bolster including an expansible hollow interior, an inflator module for inflating the expansible hollow interior, a front wall for projecting inwardly into the vehicle and away from the glove box on inflation of the expansible hollow interior, and a back wall located between the expansible hollow interior and the glove box, and a support structure for mounting to the inflatable bolster, the support structure being operable to resist the back wall being forced into the glove box due to inflation of the inflatable bolster.

In at least one embodiment, an air bag system comprises an air bag having an impact surface which in a non-inflated state is arranged in a housing located below the upper edge of a windowsill of a vehicle door. In an inflated state, at least part of the impact surface is positioned above the windowsill. There is a supporting surface for the air bag below the upper edge of the windowsill. The air bag defines a main chamber and a supporting chamber. The impact surface forms part of the main chamber. The supporting chamber, in an inflated state, is situated between the main chamber and the supporting surface and is supported at least in part by the supporting surface.

An air bag for a motor vehicle and a method of folding an air bag. The method includes the steps of positioning the air bag, extending the air bag in a first direction, positioning first and second perimeter sections of the air bag toward a center line to create upper and lower pleats, and rolling the air bag in a second direction disposed opposite the first direction.

The invention relates to a device for a motor vehicle for protecting vehicle occupants when there is an impact of energy directed laterally at a motor vehicle door due to a collision, having a connecting structure which has at least two parts with a first part permanently connected with the motor vehicle door and a second part permanently connected with an energy-absorbing region of the motor vehicle body located in the vehicle interior. Both parts via at least one common joint region can be operationally connected with each other to conducting-away of at least part of the energy input laterally acting on the motor vehicle door in the region of the motor vehicle body. The energy impact acting on the motor vehicle door is conducted away from the pivot bearing by a force acting linearly and horizontally via the first and the second part to the first end of the second part permanently connected with the motor vehicle body.

An air bag for a motor vehicle and a method of folding an air bag. The method includes the steps of positioning the air bag, extending the air bag in a first direction, positioning first and second perimeter sections of the air bag toward a center line to create upper and lower pleats, and rolling the air bag in a second direction disposed opposite the first direction.

A knee airbag is described which is located in front of a front seat (S) in the footwell, whereby this footwell is limited on a first side by the vehicle inner structure (F) and on the side lying opposite the first side is limited by a center console (M). When it is completely filled and free from external forces, this knee airbag (10) exhibits a certain maximum width (b) horizontally and perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle (f). In order to improve the safety of the vehicle occupants in case of a laterally-offset frontal collision, knee airbag (10) is arranged in the footwell in such a way that its maximum width (b) in inflated state is greater than the separation (a) between vehicle inner structure (F) and center console (M).

A control system for safety deployment. The control system includes a processor, a first imaging sensor, and a second imaging sensor. The first and second imaging sensor are in electrical communication with the processor. The processor generates a safety system activation decision based on two-dimensional information received from the first imaging sensor and three-dimensional information based on the first and second imaging sensor.