Airbag Adaptive Vent Tether Closure Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing airbag modules with adaptive ventilation openings require complex designs and additional materials for closure flaps, making them cumbersome to assemble and inefficient in maintaining the ventilation opening closed during inflation.
Innovation Solution
A tether is placed inside the airbag, overlapping the adaptive ventilation opening and guided through a safety loop attached to the airbag fabric, allowing it to be securely connected to a vehicle-fixed part, preventing premature opening until intentionally released, and featuring a slit design with stop holes or seams to prevent tearing under pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a closure flap is used to close the adaptive ventilation opening, then the ventilation opening remains closed before inflation, but the design becomes complex and requires additional materials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the closure function from a separate closure flap and integrates it directly into the airbag structure through the tether system. The tether is firmly connected to the airbag at one end and releasably connected at the other, eliminating the need for a distinct closure flap component while maintaining the closing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether serves multiple functions: it acts as both the closing mechanism for the adaptive ventilation opening and the structural element that deploys the airbag. By firmly connecting one end to the airbag and releasably connecting the other, the tether simultaneously closes the opening before inflation and enables deployment when released.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a closure flap with tether is attached to the airbag, then the ventilation opening can be controlled, but the assembly becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the closure flap, tether, and holding device into an integrated tether system. The tether is directly firmly connected to the airbag structure, combining what were previously separate components into a unified assembly that is simpler to manufacture and assemble.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether system is segmented into two functional zones: a firmly connected region that provides structural integration with the airbag, and a releasably connected region that enables controlled release. This segmentation allows the tether to provide both permanent attachment and temporary closure functionality.
3Ease of operation
If the tether is arranged at an angle to the slot, then it can be installed flexibly, but transverse forces may cause premature opening of the ventilation opening
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different structural qualities to different parts of the tether system. The safety loop provides a localized guiding function that constrains the tether's path, ensuring it acts perpendicular to the slot at the critical point where it overlaps the opening, while still allowing flexible installation elsewhere in the system.
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 design simplifies the closure mechanism, reduces material requirements, and ensures the adaptive ventilation opening remains closed until necessary, preventing premature opening and ensuring reliable deployment control.
Implementation Method 1
when the airbag is inflated, before the release of the releasably attached one end of the tether, the tether stretched by the inflation pressure prevents the adaptive ventilation opening from opening
Implementation Method 2
the tether runs at right angles to the course of the slot, so that the occurrence of transverse forces or transverse force components in the case of a course of the tether that is otherwise set at an angle to the course of the slot is prevented
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 9~12
AI summary
An airbag module for installing in a motor vehicle, having an airbag formed from an airbag fabric and having an inflation device for the airbag which is folded up before being triggered, wherein the airbag has at least one adaptive ventilation opening which, in the folded state before inflation of the airbag, is held at least partially in a closed state, and wherein a catch strap, which is detachably retained with one end thereof on the airbag module or a part fixed to the vehicle and which is fixedly connected with the other end thereof, which extends over the adaptive ventilation opening, to the airbag, is provided in such a way that, when the airbag is inflated, before the detachably retained end of the catch strap is released, the catch strap which is tensioned by the inflation pressure prevents the adaptive ventilation opening from opening, wherein the adaptive ventilation opening (20) is formed by a slot (11) cut into the airbag fabric (10), at the two ends of which slot (11) is provided a respective formation (21) which prevents the slot (11) from tearing under pressure loading, and in such a way that the catch strap, which is arranged on the inner side of the airbag and which extends over the slot (11) as the adaptive ventilation opening (20), is guided through a securing loop (17) which is attached to the airbag fabric opposite the fastening point (15) of the one end (14) of said catch strap with respect to the slot (11), and said catch strap is subsequently guided onward to the point at which it is retained on the part fixed to the vehicle.