Head-Protecting Airbag Folding for Rollover Arrest
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional head-protecting airbag devices face challenges in maintaining effective deployment and occupant arrest during vehicle rollovers and side impacts, particularly when the vehicle body member intrudes, causing the airbag to bend or fail in covering the window adequately.
Innovation Solution
The airbag is designed with a vertical size reducing folding mechanism that unfolds from a housing on the vehicle's window periphery, featuring a front inflatable shielding region and a sub inflatable region with a supportive lower end, allowing it to deploy and inflate over the vehicle body member, even when intruded upon, while also facilitating easy deployment between the occupant's head and window.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the lower end of the sub inflatable region is supported by a vehicle body member disposed below the beltline, then the airbag can effectively arrest the occupant during rollover, but the airbag may bend and fail to cover the window adequately when the vehicle body member intrudes during side impact
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag is divided into multiple inflatable regions including a main inflatable region and a sub inflatable region, with the sub inflatable region further divided into a head-protecting inflatable portion and a lower end portion. This segmentation allows different regions to perform specialized functions: the head-protecting portion can deploy between the occupant's head and window during side impact, while the lower end portion provides support during rollover.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the airbag are designed with different functional qualities. The head-protecting inflatable portion is specifically designed to protect the head and can deploy in the space between the head and window, while the lower end portion is designed to be supported by the vehicle body member. This local differentiation allows the airbag to effectively respond to different collision scenarios.
2Reliability
If the sub inflatable region is folded over the inboard side wall of the airbag during folding, then the airbag can deploy at the inboard side of the vehicle body member even when intruded, but the airbag may have difficulty deploying between the head and window during side impact where early catch is needed
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag is pre-positioned in the housing at the upper periphery of the window, with the head-protecting inflatable portion oriented toward the space between the occupant's head and window. This preliminary positioning ensures that when inflation occurs, the head-protecting portion can rapidly deploy into the critical space without being obstructed by folding configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of folding the sub inflatable region over the inboard side wall as in conventional designs, the patent folds it in a different configuration that allows the head-protecting portion to remain accessible and deployable toward the head-window space. This inverted folding approach prioritizes rapid head protection deployment while still maintaining stable positioning during intrusion.
3Volume of moving object
If the airbag is stored in a housing on the upper periphery of the window in a folded configuration, then the airbag can be compactly stored, but the deployment process may be delayed or obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag is stored in a nested configuration within the housing, with the communication passage and inflatable regions folded in a compact manner that maintains the inflation pathway. The bellows-like folding of the communication passage allows it to be compactly stored while ensuring rapid gas flow during deployment, minimizing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The airbag employs dynamic folding configurations that allow for rapid expansion during deployment. The bellows-like structure of the communication passage and the strategic folding of inflatable regions enable the airbag to transition from a compact stored state to a fully inflated protective barrier in minimal time, overcoming the potential delay from storage confinement.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration ensures effective occupant arrest and deployment during rollovers and side impacts by maintaining the airbag's position over the vehicle body member and allowing smooth inflation to cover the window, enhancing both deployment and arrest properties.
Implementation Method 1
an airbag (20) which is so deployable as to cover the window when fed with an inflation gas
Data Source
AI summary
A head-protecting airbag device includes an airbag that is inflatable in such a manner as to separate an inboard side wall and an outboard side wall while unfolding downward from a housing. The airbag includes a front inflatable shielding region that covers an inboard side of a window and includes a sub inflatable region that is inflatable later than the main inflatable region. The sub inflatable region includes a supportive inflatable region that is supported by a vehicle body member which is disposed below a beltline. The airbag is stored in the housing such that a front lower corner of the sub inflatable region is folded inward on a crease extending obliquely rearward and downward from the front edge to the lower edge of the airbag before the airbag is subjected to a vertical size reducing folding that brings the lower edge as unfolded flatly close to the upper edge.