Side Curtain Airbag Outboard Deployment Force Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing side curtain airbag deployment methods generate excessive force against the vehicle's roofliner and garnish, risking injury to occupants and causing damage to the garnish, due to the direction of force during inflation and unrolling.
Innovation Solution
The airbag is folded and stored such that it unfolds toward the outboard side of the vehicle, directing the inflation force outward to the vehicle frame or skin, reducing the force on the roofliner and garnish, and maintaining a safe position away from occupants during deployment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the air bag is rolled and stored toward the inside of the vehicle, then the air bag can be compactly stored in limited space, but excessive force is generated against the roofliner and garnish during deployment causing damage and injury risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional storage orientation by positioning the rolled-up portion of the air bag toward the outboard side (exterior) of the vehicle instead of the inboard side (interior). This reversal changes the deployment force direction to act toward the roofliner and garnish from the exterior, preventing damage to these components while maintaining compact storage in the limited space above the door.
2Ease of manufacture
If the air bag is positioned to deploy inward toward the roofliner, then the air bag can be hidden when not deployed, but the force generated during deployment risks contacting occupants and causing injury
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reverses the deployment direction by storing the air bag with the rolled-up portion toward the outboard side, causing the air bag to expand outward toward the vehicle exterior rather than inward toward the occupant compartment. This inversion maintains the concealment benefit while eliminating the harmful effect of occupant contact during deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The roofliner serves as an intermediary element between the deploying air bag and the garnish. By directing the deployment force through the roofliner toward the exterior, the system uses this intermediate structure to absorb and redirect the force, preventing both garnish damage and occupant injury while maintaining effective air bag deployment.
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 method reduces the risk of injury to occupants by minimizing force on the roofliner and garnish, preventing damage to the garnish and ensuring the airbag deploys effectively without contacting passengers.
Implementation Method 1
As the air bag fills with air and the air bag unrolls
Data Source
AI summary
A method of folding together a vehicle side curtain airbag is provided that includes bending a base section of an extended air bag toward the outboard side of the vehicle and fully over onto a middle section of the air bag located directly above the base section. The adjacent base and middle sections are then rolled, as a group, by first moving a crease line between the base and middle sections toward the outboard side of the vehicle, then curling the crease line back toward the unrolled portion of the base and middle sections and then rolling the remainder of the unrolled portion of the base and middle sections. A top section of the airbag is collapsed in a pleated manner.