Airbag Head Protection via Segmented Side Restraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional airbag devices have difficulty in accurately protecting the head of an occupant moving obliquely forward due to insufficient depth of the recessed portion and protruding portion, leading to inadequate protection during oblique or offset collisions.
Innovation Solution
The airbag device features a head receiving section with left and right restraining surfaces that protrude rearward from the upper half body restraining surface, allowing for closer proximity to the occupant's head and improved protection by covering the side surfaces, while maintaining a reduced volume increase compared to conventional designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the recessed portion and protruding portion are continuously formed over the entire upper and lower regions of the occupant protecting section, then the head protection coverage is improved, but the depth of the depression of the recessed portion cannot be sufficiently secured
Solution Approach 1:
The head receiving section is divided into left and right regions with a center region, where the left and right regions have protruding portions for head reception while the center region maintains a different configuration. This segmentation allows the protruding portions to extend further forward without compromising the overall structural integrity and depth requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The protruding portions are localized to specific left and right regions rather than being continuously formed across the entire occupant protecting section. This local quality approach allows these specific areas to have enhanced forward extension for better head coverage while other areas maintain appropriate depth characteristics.
2Speed
If the head receiving section protrudes rearward from the upper half body restraining surface, then the separation distance to the occupant's head is reduced for quicker reception, but the volume of the airbag increases
Solution Approach 1:
The head receiving section is segmented into discrete left and right protruding portions rather than a continuous structure. This segmentation reduces the overall volume required while maintaining the critical function of head reception at reduced separation distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The protruding portions extend rearward only in the necessary left and right regions rather than across the entire width, providing sufficient head reception capability without excessive volume increase. The action is partial rather than complete, optimizing the balance between performance and volume.
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 enables quick and accurate reception of the occupant's head during collisions, providing enhanced protection without excessive volume expansion, and ensures wide and accurate restraint of the head even during frontal collisions.
Implementation Method 1
configured to deploy and inflate to protrude toward a rear side of a vehicle by flowing of an inflation gas therein
Data Source
AI summary
An airbag device includes an airbag stored in a storage part provided in front of an occupant seated on a seat. The airbag has an occupant protecting section configured to protect the occupant on a rear surface at the time of completion of inflation; the occupant protecting section includes: an upper half body restraining surface configured to receive an upper half body of the occupant; and a head receiving section formed in a left region and a right region of a center in a left-right direction of the occupant protecting section to protrude rearward from the upper half body restraining surface, in a region above the upper half body restraining surface. The head receiving section is configured so that a part between a left restraining surface and a right restraining surface upon completion of inflation is continued from the upper half body restraining surface.