Airbag Deployment Restricting Member for Occupant Injury Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle airbags suddenly inflate upon deployment, potentially injuring occupants by striking their chest, neck, or head.
Innovation Solution
A deployment restricting member is integrated into the airbag, featuring a tear part with adjustable cut parts and gaps, delaying the inflation of the upper rear surface portion and ensuring the lower portion inflates first, thereby preventing sudden deployment towards the occupant.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the airbag is suddenly inflated toward the occupant to provide immediate protection, then the protective function is improved, but the risk of injuring the occupant's chest, neck, or head increases
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment restricting member is pre-installed on the airbag to control the deployment sequence. Before the airbag can fully inflate, the restricting member must first be overcome or torn, which delays the inflation of the upper rear surface portion and ensures the lower portion inflates first, providing a softer initial contact with the occupant.
Solution Approach 2:
The airbag deployment is segmented into distinct phases: first the lower portion inflates to provide initial protection, then the upper rear surface portion inflates after the restricting member is torn. This segmentation allows different parts of the airbag to deploy at different times, reducing the risk of sudden impact to the occupant's head and neck.
2Area of stationary object
If the upper portion of the rear surface part of the airbag is allowed to inflate immediately, then the overall protective coverage is improved, but the sudden inflation toward the occupant's head and neck causes injury
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment restricting member is pre-installed to control the deployment sequence. Before the airbag can fully inflate, the restricting member must first be overcome or torn, which delays the inflation of the upper rear surface portion and ensures the lower portion inflates first, providing a softer initial contact with the occupant.
Solution Approach 2:
The deployment restricting member is designed with a tear part that fails at a predetermined pressure. As the airbag inflates and pressure builds, the restricting member dynamically transitions from a constrained state to a torn state, allowing the upper portion to inflate only after the lower portion has already deployed and made contact with the occupant.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a vehicle airbag. The vehicle airbag includes a deployment restricting member linked with an upper portion of a rear surface part of an outer portion of the vehicle airbag, prepared in a strip shape, and having one end statically fixed with a collar of the vehicle airbag in adjacent to the collar of the vehicle airbag and an opposite end coupled with the upper portion of the rear surface part of the outer portion of the vehicle airbag, thereby delaying the rear surface part of the vehicle airbag. A tear part is provided at the central portion of the deployment restricting member so that the tear part is torn under a predetermined pressure. In initial deployment of the vehicle airbag, the upper portion of the rear surface part of the airbag is confined in a folded state, so that the lower portion of the airbag is first inflated. The airbag is prevented from being suddenly inflated, thereby preventing the chest, the neck, or the head of the occupant from being injured.