Vehicle Airbag with Pulling Wire for Posture Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional airbags are ineffective in protecting occupants who assume a lying posture during vehicle collisions, as they are outside the protection range and can cause additional injury due to the seat belt wrapping around the neck.
Innovation Solution
An airbag system with a protective cushion that deploys forward and is designed to be wider on the occupant side, featuring multiple cushion portions and a support panel to interact with the seat belt, along with a pulling wire mechanism that adjusts the airbag's position based on the seatback tilt, ensuring coverage regardless of seating or lying position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the airbag is designed for conventional seating positions, then it effectively protects seated occupants, but it fails to protect occupants in lying posture and may cause additional injury due to seat belt wrapping around the neck
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag system employs a pulling wire mechanism connected to the seatback that dynamically adjusts the airbag's deployed position based on the seatback tilt angle. When the seatback is tilted backward (lying posture), the pulling wire pulls the airbag downward to reposition it in front of the occupant's head, ensuring continuous protection across different postures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the spatial parameter of the airbag's position from a fixed deployed location to a variable location that shifts vertically based on seatback angle. This parameter change allows the airbag to maintain optimal protective positioning whether the occupant is seated upright or reclining.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the airbag deployment position is fixed, then the structure is simple, but it cannot accommodate various seating positions and lying postures
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag system is segmented into independent functional components: the airbag module, the pulling wire mechanism, and the seatback tilting mechanism. This segmentation allows the pulling wire to independently adjust the airbag position without redesigning the entire airbag system, maintaining relative structural simplicity while achieving adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The pulling wire acts as an intermediary element that transmits the mechanical motion from the seatback tilting mechanism to the airbag module. This intermediary component enables position adjustment with minimal structural complexity by simply transferring motion rather than requiring a complex actuation system.
3Area of stationary object
If the airbag is positioned to protect seated occupants, then seated occupants are protected, but lying occupants are outside the protection range
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag's protection range is made dynamic through the pulling wire mechanism that shifts the airbag's vertical position according to seatback tilt. This dynamic repositioning expands the effective coverage area to include both seated and lying occupants by moving the airbag from a higher positioned location to a lower position in front of the head when reclining.
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
The airbag system effectively protects occupants by adjusting its deployment position to match the occupant's posture, preventing head movement and ensuring safe positioning during collisions, thereby reducing injury risk across various seating positions.
Implementation Method 1
a first cushion portion disposed on a side of a vehicle body by protruding forward from the seatback and configured to be inflated by being supplied with gas from an inflator; and a second cushion portion disposed in front of the head of the occupant by extending from the first cushion portion toward the occupant side and configured to be inflated by being supplied with gas from the first cushion portion
Data Source
AI summary
an airbag for a vehicle is provided. In particular, a deployment position of an airbag cushion is changed to correspond to the occupant's seating position or the occupant's lying position in response to the vehicle collision. Accordingly, the occupant is more safely protected regardless of seating position.