Airbag Packaging via Thermal Compression and Foam Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern motor vehicles face space constraints for airbag packaging, leading to the need for tightly packed airbags, which are often bulky and costly due to hard plastic covers used for retention and installation.
Innovation Solution
A method involving rolling and folding airbags, followed by simultaneous heating and pressing to reduce thickness, then placing them in a foam cavity for transport, allowing natural cooling and maintaining compression, thereby minimizing size and weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hard plastic covers are used to retain and facilitate installation of airbags, then reliability and ease of operation are improved, but weight, cost, and volume increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the hard plastic cover from the airbag packaging system, retaining only the essential airbag component. This eliminates the unnecessary protective covering while maintaining the core functionality of the airbag unit, thereby reducing weight, cost, and volume without compromising installation reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the expensive, heavy hard plastic cover with a simpler, lighter packaging solution that serves its purpose during transport and installation but does not need to be permanent or overly robust. The packaging is designed to be functional rather than durable, reducing overall system weight and cost.
2Reliability
If hard plastic covers are used to retain and facilitate installation of airbags, then reliability and ease of operation are improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the hard plastic cover from the airbag packaging system, retaining only the essential airbag component. This eliminates the unnecessary protective covering while maintaining the core functionality of the airbag unit, thereby reducing weight, cost, and volume without compromising installation reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the expensive, heavy hard plastic cover with a simpler, lighter packaging solution that serves its purpose during transport and installation but does not need to be permanent or overly robust. The packaging is designed to be functional rather than durable, reducing overall system weight and cost.
3Reliability
If hard plastic covers are used to retain and facilitate installation of airbags, then reliability and ease of operation are improved, but volume and bulk increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the hard plastic cover from the airbag packaging system, retaining only the essential airbag component. This eliminates the unnecessary protective covering while maintaining the core functionality of the airbag unit, thereby reducing weight, cost, and volume without compromising installation reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the expensive, heavy hard plastic cover with a simpler, lighter packaging solution that serves its purpose during transport and installation but does not need to be permanent or overly robust. The packaging is designed to be functional rather than durable, reducing overall system weight and cost.
4Volume of stationary object
If airbags are tightly packaged to reduce space in vehicles, then volume is reduced, but complexity of packaging process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies thermal and mechanical parameters (heat and pressure) to the airbag material to change its physical state from expanded to compressed. By heating the airbag above its glass transition temperature and applying pressure, the material becomes more pliable and can be compressed to a fraction of its original volume, creating a tightly packaged product without complex packaging structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes the phase transition of the airbag material at its glass transition temperature. By heating the material above this temperature, it transitions to a more flexible state that allows for compression and tight packaging. The material is then cooled and pressed to maintain the compressed state, achieving volume reduction through controlled phase transition.
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 method results in a compact, lightweight airbag package that reduces production costs and allows for more efficient vehicle design, while maintaining the airbag's compressed state during transport and installation.
Implementation Method 1
placing the compressed package in a transportable cavity formed within a resiliently deformable material and having a shape and size comparable to the shape and size of the compressed package such that the resilience of the material applies pressure to the compressed package within the cavity
Implementation Method 2
Conveniently, said cavity is formed in foam
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided a method of packaging an airbag for a motor vehicle safety device. The method comprises the steps of: providing an inflatable airbag formed of flexible sheet material; rolling and/or folding the airbag into an intermediate package having an initial cross-sectional thickness; simultaneously heating and pressing the intermediate package to form a compressed package having a reduced cross-sectional thickness relative to the intermediate package; subsequently placing the compressed package in a transportable cavity (14) having a shape and size comparable to the shape and size of the compressed package; and cooling the compressed package to ambient temperature whilst it is in said transportable cavity (14). Preferably, the transportable cavity (14) is provided within a transport unit having a plurality of said cavities (14) for the receipt of a plurality of airbags packaged in respective compressed packages. The or each airbag can be transported as a compressed package to a vehicle assembly plant, and allowed to cool to ambient temperature during transit.