Side Impact Airbag Recesses for Passenger Collision Prevention

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing side impact airbags fail to maintain a constant position during inflation, leading to potential collisions between passengers, especially head-to-head collisions, as they are not adequately fixed in place during a side vehicle collision.

Innovation Solution

The side impact airbag is designed with recesses formed by sewing panels into a predetermined shape, including U-shaped sections and internal tethers that are inclined towards the front and bottom of the vehicle, which are connected to the panels through sewing lines, ensuring the airbag is deployed and maintained between two seats, preventing passenger collisions by distributing load evenly.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If the airbag is deployed between two seats without additional fixing structures, then the deployment speed is fast, but the position stability during inflation is poor leading to passenger collisions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedeployment speedVSAvoidposition stability
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The airbag is divided into two separate panels (first panel and second panel) that are connected through sewing lines forming recesses. This segmentation allows each panel to independently interact with passengers while maintaining overall position stability, resolving the contradiction between fast deployment and stable positioning.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The recesses formed by sewing lines act as intermediary structures between the airbag panels and passengers. These recesses engage with passenger bodies to prevent airbag movement during inflation, providing position stability without compromising deployment speed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of manufacture

If the airbag uses a simple panel structure without recesses, then the manufacturing is simple, but the ability to prevent passenger collisions is insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoidcollision prevention capability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The recesses are pre-formed in the airbag panels through sewing lines before deployment. This preliminary structuring ensures that when the airbag inflates, the recesses are already positioned to engage with passengers and prevent collisions, maintaining reliability while keeping manufacturing relatively simple.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Stability of the object's composition

If the airbag panels are sewn into a complex predetermined shape with multiple recesses, then the position stability is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveposition stabilityVSAvoidstructural complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of making the entire airbag structure complex, the invention applies localized recesses at specific positions on the panels where they are most effective for preventing passenger collisions. This local quality approach maintains position stability while minimizing overall device complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3326870B1Wehicle with side impact airbag
Publication Date: 2021.04.28 AUTOLIV DEV AB
  • EP3326870B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3326870B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP3326870B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

Provided is a side impact airbag which is deployed between two seats in the width direction of a vehicle to thereby prevent passengers seated on the two seats from colliding with each other. The airbag is configured to, when being fully inflated, form recesses on both sides thereof to accommodate the shoulders and arms of the passengers, such that the fully inflated airbag is configured to be maintained in a certain posture by the pressure applied to the shoulders and arms of the passengers accommodated in the recesses