Airbag Flap Lattice Hinge for Compact Contaminant Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing airbag flap designs are complex, require significant space, and are costly to manufacture, lacking a simple and efficient mechanism for deployment.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating slots and/or openings in the flat plastic material at the joint point of the airbag flap and flap support wall, allowing the material to stretch during deployment, forming a lattice structure for additional path length without increasing unstretched dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional airbag cover is used without a flap, then the airbag deployment space is available, but contaminants can enter the airbag module through the vent hole during non-deployment periods
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag cover is segmented into a fixed portion and a movable flap portion, allowing the flap to open during deployment and close during non-deployment to prevent contaminant entry while maintaining structural integration
Solution Approach 2:
The flap acts as an intermediary element between the vent hole and the internal airbag module, selectively allowing airflow during deployment while blocking contaminant entry during storage
2Reliability
If the airbag cover is made entirely movable to allow flap motion, then contaminant protection is improved, but the structural strength and positioning stability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag cover is divided into a fixed portion that maintains structural strength and a movable flap portion that provides contaminant protection, with the fixed portion comprising the main body and mounting features
Solution Approach 2:
Only the specific flap portion requires movability for its protective function, while the rest of the cover maintains fixed, rigid characteristics to ensure overall structural integrity
3Reliability
If a flap structure is added to the airbag cover, then contaminant protection is improved, but the manufacturing complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is designed as a single molded piece with an integrated flap portion, allowing one-step injection molding that incorporates both fixed and movable elements without requiring separate assembly operations
Solution Approach 2:
The fixed portion and movable flap portion are combined into a single integrated cover component, eliminating the need for separate parts and assembly steps while achieving contaminant protection
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
AI summary
The invention relates to an airbag flap over the through-opening of an airbag chute channel, wherein and airbag covering lies over the airbag flap and the airbag flap is connected via a joining point to a flap support wall in a moulded manner, which is in turn secured to the airbag covering and/or to a wall of the chute channel, wherein the airbag flap and the flap support wall consist of the same flat plastic material, in particular a composite material, wherein a direction-finguiding structure, in the form of numerous slits and/or openings, is arranged in the flat plastic material, in particular in the composite material, in the region of the joining point and/or on one or both sides of the joining point, in the flat plastic material, in particular in the composite material, and thereby creates at least one stretchinged region in the material in the direction in which the airbag flap is moved outwards through the airbag cushion.