Airbag
The airbag is activated without an external energy source by an actuator composed of an induction coil and a magnet, which solves the limitation of external energy source and enables independent use and multi-scenario application.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- AUTOLIV DEV AB
- Filing Date
- 2025-01-29
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing airbags require an external energy source to activate, which limits their independent use and application scenarios.
An actuator composed of an induction coil and a magnet is used to generate a current pulse through the tensioning element to activate the air generator, thus achieving activation without an external energy source.
The airbag can be activated independently without an external power source, making it suitable for a variety of applications such as protecting athletes, rescue, and buoyancy assistance.
Smart Images
Figure CN122497609A_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to an airbag having the features of claim 1.
[0002] A common type of airbag includes an inflatable liner and a cold air generator containing a large volume of high-pressure gas, preferably liquid nitrogen or CO2. When activated, the cold air generator suddenly releases a very high volumetric flow rate of gas, which is then fed into the liner to inflate it.
[0003] These types of airbags are used, for example, to protect motorcyclists, skiers, cyclists, drivers of scooters, or similar mobile vehicles. Their use could also be considered to protect people at risk of falling or athletes engaging in dangerous sports.
[0004] Airbags can be integrated into clothing or worn as separate items, such as airbag vests. An airbag includes a pad, which, in the intended arrangement of the airbag, is positioned relative to the person to be protected such that, when inflated, the pad deploys into a geometry in which, in the event of a fall or general hazard, the person to be protected is either immersed in the pad along with the body parts to be specifically protected, or the area of the body parts to be protected is covered by the pad.
[0005] Furthermore, such airbags can also be used in any application where a padding system might require sudden inflation. These devices can be, for example, swimming aids, buoyancy devices, rescue devices for rescuing people and creating free space, or general lifting and pressure devices. The inflatable padding of an airbag intentionally creates a corresponding buoyancy or displacement volume, generating buoyancy, creating corresponding free space, or it can also be used to lift objects.
[0006] The airbag's cooling generator includes a release closure that, when the airbag is activated, can be released by an electrical pulse, causing airflow to be released.
[0007] Such gas generators are known, for example, from publication DE 195 24 094 A1. There, an electric pulse is generated by means of an energy source, which is supplied with energy, for example, from a vehicle battery.
[0008] The drawback of this solution is that an external power source must be provided to activate the airbag.
[0009] In this context, the present invention is based on the objective of providing an airbag with a pad and a cooling generator that can be activated without an external energy source.
[0010] According to the present invention, an airbag having the features of claim 1 is proposed to solve this task. Further preferred embodiments of the invention can be found in the dependent claims, drawings, and associated description.
[0011] According to the basic idea of the present invention, an actuator for releasing a closure includes an induction coil and a magnet connected to a first end of a tensioning element, and is provided with a releasable blocking mechanism that holds the magnet in a predetermined position relative to the induction coil with a defined holding force, wherein the magnet can be displaced relative to the induction coil by applying tension to the tensioning element exceeding the holding force of the blocking mechanism, or the induction coil can be displaced relative to the magnet by applying tension to the actuator exceeding the holding force of the blocking mechanism, thereby generating a current pulse in the induction coil required for releasing the closure.
[0012] Therefore, the proposed airbag includes an actuator that can be activated independently of an external energy source, as it generates the energy required to release the closure itself in the form of short current pulses. Activation is triggered by pulling the tensioning element or the actuator, and after overcoming the holding force applied by the blocking mechanism, relative movement of the magnet is caused by the induction coil, or relative movement of the induction coil is caused by the magnet. This means that the airbag can be used as a standalone unit and does not need to be integrated into a higher level of control or energy structure. If the airbag is intended, for example, for rescue and to create free space or as a buoyancy aid, it can also be manually activated by the operator pulling the tensioning element itself and thus actively triggering the airbag. To ensure that the airbag is not accidentally triggered, for example, in the event of vibration, the magnet is held in place on the induction coil by the blocking mechanism until a predetermined holding force is reached. The magnitude of the holding force is set such that natural acceleration or other external mechanical action on the airbag, and particularly on the actuator, will under no circumstances cause the tension acting on the tensioning element and the magnet to exceed the predetermined holding force and the airbag to be unintentionally triggered.
[0013] Furthermore, it is proposed that the actuator includes a housing to which the induction coil is attached, and the housing includes a guide for a magnet, the guide being designed to guide the magnet relative to the induction coil during relative movement and specifically to perform movement through the induction coil. Thus, the magnet and the induction coil are partially aligned with each other via the housing, and the movement of the magnet in its path is precisely defined relative to the induction coil by the guide, such that the magnet moves through the induction coil or the induction coil moves over the magnet.
[0014] Furthermore, it is proposed that a steel plate be disposed on the housing, and the magnet is fixed to the steel plate by its magnetic attraction against the tension applied by the pulling element. The steel plate forms a device for fixing the magnet, wherein the magnetic properties of the magnet itself are used to fix the magnet. The magnetic force acting between the steel plate and the magnet can supplement the holding force of the blocking mechanism, or alternatively, be part of the holding force applied by the blocking mechanism. Therefore, the steel plate will be part of the blocking mechanism.
[0015] Furthermore, it is proposed that the blocking mechanism includes a spring-loaded locking element that secures the magnet in a predetermined position, and the retaining force applied to the magnet is limited by the force exerted by the spring on the locking element. The spring force is designed to limit the retaining force, and a steel plate acting on the magnet may also be provided.
[0016] It is also proposed that a guide profile be provided on the housing, in which the locking element is guided during movement from a locked position to a released position. The guide profile on the housing guides the movement of the locking element relative to the housing, and therefore also guides its movement relative to the magnet.
[0017] Furthermore, it is proposed that the current pulse includes a current intensity of 1.2 A within a 2 ms time span, and preferably a current intensity of 1.75 A within a 0.5 ms time span. Various tests have demonstrated that the proposed current intensity and the duration of the current pulse are sufficient to release the seals of the applicant's air conditioner generator.
[0018] Furthermore, it is proposed that the magnet includes a magnetic field having a magnetic flux density of at least 1 T.
[0019] Furthermore, it is proposed that the tensioning element includes a fastening attachment at its second end for securing the tensioning element to an external structure. Therefore, the airbag can be easily integrated into a more advanced structure for automatic activation, wherein when the airbag moves relative to the attached second end due to the external attachment of the second end of the tensioning element, the tensioning element automatically generates the tension required to release locking and activate the cooling generator or airbag.
[0020] In addition, to address this task, a vehicle with a restraint device is proposed, the restraint device having an airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the airbag includes a person retainer for securing the airbag to a person sitting in the vehicle, and a traction element is attached to the vehicle.
[0021] By having the person to be protected carry the airbag and attaching a second end to the vehicle, the airbag deploys using the relative movement of the person to be protected relative to the vehicle that inevitably occurs during an accident. This means that the airbag actually activates itself when the person moves relative to the vehicle, with the activation threshold and the direction of movement of the person triggering activation being defined by the design of the tensioning element and the attachment position of the second end.
[0022] The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. These drawings illustrate...
[0023] Figure 1 It is a vehicle in the form of a motorcycle according to the invention, on which a person is seated, wherein the airbag according to the invention is in various forward-displaced positions; and
[0024] Figure 2 It is a cold air generator with an actuator before activation; and
[0025] Figure 3 It is a cold air generator with an actuator during activation; and
[0026] Figure 4 It is an enlarged view of the actuator as a single component; and
[0027] Figure 5 It is an actuator that is in various positions before and during activation.
[0028] Figure 1 A vehicle 100 in the form of a motorcycle according to the invention is shown, on which a person 200 is seated, wearing an airbag 1 according to the invention, such as an airbag in the form of a vest. The vehicle is conceived here as a motorcycle, but it is also conceivable that the person 200 is seated on a bicycle, a scooter, a jet ski, a sled, etc.
[0029] In example a) on the left, a vehicle 100 with a person 200 can be seen before the airbag 1 is activated. The airbag 1 is designed as a vest and includes a pad 2 and an actuator 3 as basic components, wherein the actuator 3 is positioned on the back of the person 200 in the deployed position of the airbag 1, and the pad 2 covers most of the back, a portion of the shoulder area, and the chest area. However, depending on the optimal constraint geometry of the person 200 to be protected, the pad 2 can include any shape and also cover other parts of the body, such as the head in the form of a hood or the side areas of the body.
[0030] As a basic component, the actuator 3 includes a housing 11 having an induction coil 5 disposed thereon and a magnet 4 capable of displacement within the housing 11. The magnet 4 is connected to a first end of a tensioning element 6, which is connected to the vehicle 100 at its second end in an anti-tension manner. For this purpose, the second end of the tensioning element 6 includes a fastening attachment, by which the second end can be fastened to a suitable mating attachment on the vehicle 100. The person 200 first puts on the airbag 1 and then attaches the second end of the tensioning element 6 to the vehicle, which effectively puts the airbag 1 into a ready state.
[0031] If an accident occurs at the spare position of airbag 1, the person will accelerate relative to the vehicle, such as... Figure 1 As shown in diagrams b) and c), the tensioning element 6 is initially tensioned in the first stage. During further movement of the person 200, the actuator 3 then moves further relative to the magnet 4, wherein the moving magnet 4 is blocked by the tensioning element 6 from passing through the induction coil 5.
[0032] This movement of magnet 4 can also be... Figure 2 and Figure 3 This is observed at two different locations using magnet 4. Figure 2 From this, we can see that... Figure 1 The position of magnet 4 before activation of airbag 1 is shown in a) above. Actuator 3 is connected via wire 10 to the releasable closure 9 of the airbag 1's cooling generator 8, which in turn is fluidly connected to the airbag 2 of airbag 1. Actuator 3 also includes a releasable blocking mechanism 7, which is arranged on housing 11 such that it holds magnet 4 in a predetermined position at a distance from induction coil 5. The releasable blocking mechanism 7 can... Figure 4 As seen in the enlarged view, the releasable blocking mechanism 7 is designed to block the magnet 4 with a predetermined holding force to prevent movement in the direction of the induction coil 5, as will be explained in more detail below.
[0033] If the tension in the tensioning element 6 increases to the extent that it exceeds the holding force applied by the blocking mechanism 7, the magnet 4 is pulled through the induction coil 5, thereby overcoming the holding force of the blocking mechanism 7. This generates a current pulse in the induction coil 5, which releases the releasable closure 9 of the air generator 8 and activates the air generator 8 to inflate the gasket 2. In this embodiment example, although the actuator 3, having the housing 11 and the induction coil 5 arranged thereon, is pulled relative to the magnet 4 blocked in this direction of movement, this is the same result as pulling the magnet 4 by the actuator 3, because only the relative movement of the magnet 4 relative to the induction coil 5 (or vice versa) is important for generating the current pulse. Therefore, in this embodiment example, the applied tension corresponds to the tension applied to the actuator 3.
[0034] The current pulse released when magnet 4 passes through induction coil 5 to release closure 9 includes a current intensity of 1.2 A over a time span of 2 ms, preferably 1.75 A over a time span of 0.5 ms. For this purpose, magnet 4 includes a magnetic field with a magnetic flux density of at least 1 T. Neodymium magnets themselves have been experimentally proven to be magnet 4. For induction coil 5, it has been proven useful to use insulated copper wire with a diameter of 0.4 mm wound with at least 1000 turns, the inner diameter of which is 20 mm, and the axial length of induction coil 5 is 40 mm.
[0035] Figure 4 An enlarged cross-section of the actuator 3, comprising a magnet 4 and a releasable blocking mechanism 7, is shown. A steel plate 16 is disposed on the housing 11, and the magnet 4 is additionally fixed to the steel plate by applying its magnetic force. This facilitates assembly, and the magnet 4 can be held in place relative to the housing 11 in a generally simplified manner. The releasable blocking mechanism 7 includes a spring 15, abutting a first end against an annular disc 12, and a second end of the spring supporting the housing 11 in the axial direction. Two rod-shaped locking elements 13 are located on the side of the annular disc 12 opposite to the spring 15, each of the two rod-shaped locking elements being guided in an obliquely outwardly extending guide profile 14. The side of the locking elements 13 opposite to the annular disc 12 abuts the end face of the magnet 4, such that they block the magnet 4 from... Figure 4 In the example, the induction coil 5 to be added moves in the direction of the magnet 4. The locking element 13 is spring-loaded against the magnet 4 via the annular disk 12 by the spring 15. The first end of the tensioning element 6 is connected to the magnet 4, wherein the tensioning element 6 extends outward through the annular disk 12 and the spring 15 between the blocking elements 13.
[0036] The holding force applied to the magnet 4 by the releasable blocking mechanism 7 defines the minimum tension to be applied via the tensioning element 6 to activate the airbag 1, or conversely, the tension to be applied to the actuator 3 when the magnet 4 is blocked to activate the airbag 1. If the magnet 4 is in contact with the steel plate 16 and is therefore additionally held by its own magnetic force, the holding force to be overcome is generated by the sum of the holding force of the blocking mechanism 7 and the magnetic force between the magnet 4 and the steel plate 16. The spring 15 is a compression spring in the form of a helical spring having an annular coil of the same diameter through which the tensioning element 6 extends.
[0037] Figure 5 The releasable locking mechanism 7 is shown in various positions of the magnet 4. Figure a) shows the position of the magnet 4 before the airbag 1 is activated, i.e., corresponding to... Figure 1 a) Figure 2 and Figure 4 Magnet 4 contacts steel plate 16 and is blocked from moving in the direction of the induction coil 5 to be added by a spring-loaded locking element 13 that contacts the end face of magnet 4. If tension is now applied via tensioning element 6 or via actuator 3, and this tension exceeds the holding force of blocking mechanism 7 and the magnetic force between steel plate 16 and magnet 4, magnet 4 is displaced in the direction of the arrow in Figure b), or actuator 3 is displaced against the direction of the arrow along with housing 11, blocking mechanism and induction coil 5. This relative movement causes locking element 13 to be radially outward in guide profile 14. Simultaneously, by compressing spring 15, annular disk 12 is displaced in the direction of induction coil 5 to be added via locking element 13, or conversely, induction coil 5 is displaced in the direction of annular disk 12. Locking elements 13 are displaced outward until they contact the radially outer side of magnet 4, and magnet 4 can be further displaced between locking elements 13 by annular disk 12 and spring 15, as... Figure 5 As can be seen in example c), when actuator 3 moves, housing 11 will further displace above the stationary magnet along with annular disk 12 and spring 15. This removes the obstruction of magnet 4, and magnet 4 can be pulled by induction coil 5 during further movement to generate the necessary current pulse, or conversely, actuator 3 can move above magnet 4 together with induction coil 5. The current pulse required to release closure 9 is generated based on the law of induction and then transmitted to closure 9 via wire 10 to release the current pulse. If the current pulse is to be increased, this can be done by increasing the number of turns of induction coil 5, by using magnet 4 with a higher magnetic flux density, or by increasing the relative velocity of magnet 4 with respect to induction coil 5.
[0038] According to the present invention, the retaining force of the blocking mechanism 7 alone is sufficient to keep the magnet 4 in the deactivated state of the airbag 1. However, the retaining force can also be supported by the magnetic force between the steel plate 16 and the magnet 4.
[0039] This invention is described with reference to the application of an airbag 1 to a person 200 sitting on a motorcycle. However, it is also conceivable to use the airbag 1 to protect a person 200 on another vehicle 100, provided that the person to be protected has a fixed spatial reference to the vehicle 100, such that the tensioning element 6 can be attached to the vehicle 100 accordingly, and that movement of the person 200 away from its normal position can activate the airbag 1.
[0040] Furthermore, the airbag 1 according to the invention can also be used for rescuing people, for example as a buoyancy aid or to create free space. In this case, the airbag 1 can be positioned accordingly and manually triggered by pulling the tensioning element 6. Such a buoyancy aid can be used, for example, by a skier who has been trapped by an avalanche. Additionally, the airbag 1 can be used, for example, to rescue injured people by positioning the airbag 1 in a corresponding contraction section and expanding the contraction section accordingly by activating the airbag 1 and inflating the padding 2.
[0041] List of reference numerals
[0042] 1 airbag
[0043] 2 pads
[0044] 3 actuators
[0045] 4 magnets
[0046] 5 Induction coils
[0047] 6 tensioning elements
[0048] 7 blocking mechanisms
[0049] 8 air conditioning generators
[0050] 9 closing elements
[0051] 10 wires
[0052] 11 Casing
[0053] 12-ring disk
[0054] 13 Locking Elements
[0055] 14 Guided Outline
[0056] 15 springs
[0057] 16 steel plate
Claims
1. An airbag (1), the airbag having - Padding (2) - A cold air generator (8), which is fluidly connected to the gasket (2) and filled with pressurized gas, wherein -The air cooler (8) includes a closure (9) that can be released by an electric pulse, wherein - When activated by releasing the closure (9), the cold air generator (8) suddenly releases the pressurized gas into the liner (2), thereby inflating the liner (2), and -Actuator (3), the actuator being used to release the closure (9). Its features - The actuator (3) includes an induction coil (5) and a magnet (4), the magnet being connected to the first end of the tensioning element (6), and - A releasable blocking mechanism (7) is provided, which uses a defined holding force to fix the magnet (4) in a predetermined position relative to the induction coil (5), wherein - By applying tension to the tensioning element (6) exceeding the holding force of the blocking mechanism (7), the magnet (4) is fixed relative to the induction coil (5), or - By applying tension to the actuator (3) that exceeds the holding force of the blocking mechanism (7), the induction coil (5) is able to be displaced relative to the magnet (4), thereby generating a current pulse in the induction coil (5) required to release the fastener (9).
2. The airbag (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that... - The actuator (3) includes a housing (11), the induction coil (5) is attached to the housing, and - The housing (11) includes a guide for the magnet (4), the guide being designed such that the magnet (4) performs a movement through the induction coil (5) during the displacement movement.
3. The airbag (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that... - A steel plate (16) is provided on the housing (11), and the magnet (4) is fixed to the steel plate by its magnetic attraction against the tension applied by the tensioning element (6).
4. The airbag (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The blocking mechanism (7) includes a locking element (13), which is loaded by a spring (15) and fixes the magnet (4) in the predetermined position. - The retaining force applied to the magnet (4) is limited by the force exerted on the locking element (13) by the spring (15).
5. The airbag (1) according to claim 4, referring to any one of claims 2 or 3, is characterized in that... - A guide profile (14) is provided on the housing (11), in which the blocking element (13) is guided during movement from the blocking position to the releasing position.
6. The airbag (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that... The current pulse includes a current intensity of 1.2 A within a time span of 2 ms, and preferably includes a current intensity of 1.75 A within a time span of 0.5 ms.
7. The airbag (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that... - The magnet (4) includes a magnetic field having a magnetic flux density of at least 1 T.
8. The airbag (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that... - The tensioning element (6) includes a fastening attachment at its second end for fastening the tensioning element (6) to an external structure.
9. A vehicle (100) having a restraint device, said restraint device having an airbag (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that - The airbag (1) includes a person retainer for securing the airbag (1) to a person (200) sitting in the vehicle (100), and - The tensioning element (6) is attached to the vehicle (100).