Airbag Device with Support Bag for Oblique Collision Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional front airbags and passenger airbags face challenges in achieving stable deployment behavior during oblique collisions, as the cushion tends to swing inwardly due to gas flow, leading to irregular deployment and potential interference between the main and support bags.
Innovation Solution
The airbag device incorporates a main bag and a support bag, both reduced in size and stored compactly, with the support bag positioned ahead of the main bag, allowing for smooth gas supply and earlier inflation, which cancels out swinging by subsequent deployment of the main bag, ensuring stable and quick deployment towards target locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the cushion is configured to cover the center console and expand inwardly in the vehicle-widthwise direction, then the airbag can protect occupants during oblique collisions, but the cushion swings in the vehicle-widthwise direction due to gas flow, causing irregular deployment behavior
Solution Approach 1:
The cushion is divided into a main bag and a support bag that are stored separately in the housing. The support bag is positioned on the opening side and inflates first to provide stable support, while the main bag inflates subsequently to provide extended coverage. This segmentation allows each bag to have independent deployment control, preventing the swinging issue while maintaining comprehensive protection coverage during oblique collisions.
2Speed
If the support bag is positioned on the main bag on the opening side and both are reduced in size for compact storage, then the airbag device can be deployed quickly, but the bags may interfere with each other during inflation
Solution Approach 1:
The support bag is positioned on the opening side of the housing and is designed to inflate first before the main bag. This preliminary action ensures that the support bag establishes a stable foundation and guides the gas flow direction before the main bag expands. By controlling the inflation sequence, the system achieves both quick deployment and stable behavior without interference between the bags.
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 the airbag device to be inflated and deployed quickly with reduced swinging and interference, resulting in more stable deployment behavior and effective protection during oblique collisions.
Implementation Method 1
The airbag device is a safety device activated in the event of an emergency such as a vehicle collision and inflated and deployed by gas pressure for receiving and protecting an occupant
Data Source
AI summary
An airbag device 100 restrains an occupant of a front passenger seat 104 from a front side of the vehicle. The airbag device 100 includes a housing 120 having an opening 132, and a cushion 108 including a main bag 112 inflated and deployed from the housing 120 toward a front side of the front passenger seat 104 and a support bag 114 inflated and deployed from the housing 120 toward a rear side of a center console 116. The main bag 112 and the support bag 114 each have a bag shape and are reduced in size and stored in the housing 120 in a stored form 130 such that the support bag 114 is placed on the main bag 112 on the side of the opening 132.