Ceiling Trim Airbag Assembly for Carriage-Style Occupant Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional airbag systems face challenges in protecting occupants in vehicles with carriage-style seating arrangements, where there are limited interior structures to support airbag deployment, and they occupy space and add weight, making it difficult to install and deploy effectively.
Innovation Solution
An occupant protection system featuring expandable curtains and bladders that deploy from a stowed state to a deployed state, supported by ceiling trim panels that deflect to create openings for expansion, using inflators to rapidly expand and provide a cushion between occupants and vehicle interiors, with deployment controlled by a deployment controller.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If airbags are deployed to protect occupants during collisions, then occupant safety is improved, but the complexity of the vehicle system increases due to additional sensors, control units, and deployment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the ceiling trim panel with airbag deployment functionality into a single integrated component. The airbag module is housed within the ceiling trim panel structure, merging the decorative/functional trim element with the safety deployment system, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining safety functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The ceiling trim panel serves multiple functions: it provides interior decoration, houses airbag deployment mechanisms, and acts as a structural mounting element. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby reducing system complexity while improving occupant safety through integrated airbag protection
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate components are used in the ceiling assembly, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the number of parts increases leading to higher assembly complexity and potential safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple previously separate components (ceiling trim panel, airbag module, mounting structures) into a single integrated ceiling assembly. This reduces the total number of parts while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through modular design approaches that allow for efficient production of the integrated unit
3Device complexity
If traditional ceiling trim panels are used without integrated safety features, then device complexity is reduced, but occupant protection during collisions is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the ceiling trim panel with airbag deployment functionality, integrating safety features directly into the trim structure. This allows the same component to serve both aesthetic/functional purposes and safety protection, improving occupant protection without significantly increasing overall device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated ceiling trim panel serves dual purposes: maintaining its traditional decorative and functional roles while simultaneously providing airbag deployment capability for occupant protection. This multi-functionality improves safety reliability without requiring a completely separate complex safety system
Data Source
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AI summary
An occupant protection system for a vehicle may include an expandable curtain and/or an expandable bladder configured to be expanded from a stowed state to a deployed state. The system may also include a transverse ceiling trim panel and one or more side ceiling trim panels configured to be coupled to a ceiling of the vehicle, with the transverse ceiling trim panel extending substantially transversely with respect to the one or more side ceiling trim panels. Portions of the ceiling trim panels may be configured to deflect and allow expansion of the expandable curtain and/or the expandable bladder to the deployed state. The system may also include a deployment controller and one or more inflators configured to cause deployment of the expandable curtain at a first time and deployment of the expandable bladder at a second time after the first time.