Airbag Split Walls Adapt Vehicle Contours

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing airbag designs struggle to adapt to varying interior contours of vehicles efficiently, leading to increased time and cost in optimizing airbag placement, and often result in seams being thermally overloaded during impact.

Innovation Solution

The airbag design features split upper and lower walls composed of juxtaposed side portions connected along opposed margins, allowing for easy adaptation to different interior geometries by varying the geometry of these walls and incorporating bulges to improve contact with the instrument panel, and using seamless sidewalls and a gas deflecting means to reduce thermal stress on seams.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If the airbag uses a one-piece cloth part folded and sewn at margins (two-dimensional airbag), then manufacturing cost is reduced, but adaptability to complex interior contours is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing costVSAvoidadaptability to interior contours

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The airbag is divided into multiple separate components: a tubular central part and two sidewalls, allowing each component to be optimized independently for both manufacturing efficiency and contour adaptability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If the airbag uses plural individual parts sewed together (three-dimensional airbag), then adaptability to complex interior contours is improved, but manufacturing complexity and seam thermal overload increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability to interior contoursVSAvoidsewing complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The airbag is segmented into a tubular central part and two sidewalls that can be manufactured separately and assembled, reducing overall sewing complexity while maintaining contour adaptability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The tubular central part serves multiple functions: it forms the main airbag structure, provides the circumferential connection between sidewalls, and can be adapted to various interior geometries through dimensional variations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Ease of manufacture

If seams are present in the airbag structure, then assembly of multiple parts is enabled, but thermal overload of seams during impact occurs

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveassembly capabilityVSAvoidthermal overload of seams

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The seams are extracted and positioned away from the high-temperature inflation zone, located instead in cooler peripheral areas where thermal exposure during deployment is minimized

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS8955879B2Airbag

Publication Date: 2015.02.17 ZF AUTOMOTIVE GERMANY GMBH

AI summary

An airbag, especially a passenger airbag, comprises a rear injection orifice, a front wall (14) for the impact of the occupant as well as two opposed sidewalls (16, 18) and an upper wall and a lower wall. Each of the upper and lower walls is split and consists of side portions (50, 52) which are juxtaposed and are connected to each other along opposite margins (40, 42).