Glass-Ceramic Feedthrough Surface for Hermetic Airbag Igniters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing metal-fixing material feedthroughs for airbag igniters and belt pre-tensioners require surface grinding to ensure a smooth interface, which can damage the ignition bridge wire and is inefficient, whereas the current technologies fail to provide a hermetically sealed and long-lasting solution without surface roughness.
Innovation Solution
A metal-fixing material feedthrough with a main body and at least one metal pin fused into a vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material, where the surface is freely fused during the melting process, eliminating the need for grinding and ensuring a smooth, bubble-free interface that reduces the risk of damage to the bridge wire and enhances mechanical retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If surface grinding is performed to ensure a smooth interface, then surface roughness is reduced, but the bridge wire may be damaged and manufacturing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing material is prepared in advance with a smooth surface before the bridge wire is installed. By ensuring the surface is already smooth prior to wire placement, the need for post-installation grinding is eliminated, thus preventing wire damage while achieving the desired surface quality.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of grinding the surface after installing the bridge wire (conventional approach), the invention inverts the sequence by preparing the smooth surface first, then installing the wire on the already-smoothed surface. This reverses the traditional process order to avoid wire damage from grinding operations.
2Manufacturing precision
If surface grinding is performed to ensure a smooth interface, then surface roughness is reduced, but manufacturing time and efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
Surface smoothing is performed as a preliminary step before final assembly. By preparing the smooth surface in advance during the fixing material formation process, subsequent assembly operations can proceed without additional grinding steps, thereby improving overall manufacturing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The grinding operation is extracted from the manufacturing process entirely. By designing the fixing material to provide a smooth surface inherently through its formation process, the separate grinding step is eliminated, reducing manufacturing time and improving productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If a ground surface is used to ensure smooth interface, then surface roughness is reduced, but the hermetic seal and long-lasting connection are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a composite structure combining the fixing material with specific surface properties. The fixing material itself is designed to provide both mechanical retention and hermetic sealing through its inherent smooth surface, eliminating the need for separate grinding operations that could compromise seal integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The surface roughness parameter is controlled during the fixing material formation process itself, rather than being adjusted through post-processing grinding. By optimizing the formation parameters to produce a smooth surface directly, the hermetic seal quality is improved while avoiding the damaging effects of grinding.
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
The freely fused surface of the vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material provides a smoother interface with reduced roughness, minimizing the risk of bridge wire damage and achieving a hermetically sealed, long-lasting connection with improved mechanical retention and reduced risk of flaking, thus ensuring reliable operation of airbag igniters and belt pre-tensioners.
Implementation Method 1
a method for producing a metal-fixing material feedthrough having at least one metal pin that is fused into a through opening of a main body in a vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material
Implementation Method 2
at least one metal pin fused into the through opening in a vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material
Implementation Method 3
A surface of the vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material is a freely fused surface and lies in a same plane as an end face of the at least one metal pin
Data Source
AI summary
A metal-fixing material feedthrough for at least one of an airbag igniter or a belt pre-tensioner includes a main body having a through opening formed therein and at least one metal pin fused into the through opening in a vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material. A surface of the vitreous or glass ceramic fixing material is a freely fused surface and lies in a same plane as an end face of the at least one metal pin.