Grooved Wire Air Bag Filter for Particle Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle safety air bag mesh filters face challenges in maintaining hoop strength and preventing particle release due to explosive pressures, with knitted wire filters experiencing 'chips' and corrugated steel wire filters separating under tensile forces, leading to incomplete particle capture and potential cabin contamination.
Innovation Solution
A compressed wire mesh air bag filter with grooved wires, featuring a length of wire with grooves along its longitudinal length to capture particles during air bag expansion, where the wire has an outer diameter of 0.010 to 0.050 inches, grooves with depths of 0.001 to 0.005 inches, and spaced around the circumference with specific pitch and radii, enhancing particle capture without separating under pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If knitted wire mesh is used for filter manufacture, then the filter can be produced with continuous loops, but the cut edges create dangling half loops or chips that can fall off during inflation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the problematic knitted wire mesh structure and replaces it with a non-knitted wire construction. By extracting the knitted structure that creates dangling chips, the invention eliminates the source of particle contamination while maintaining filter functionality through an alternative wire configuration that does not produce loose ends.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using traditional knitted wire mesh that creates chips at cut edges, the invention inverts the approach by using a non-knitted wire structure. This reversal of the conventional wire construction method eliminates the chip formation problem inherent in knitted meshes while achieving the desired particle capture performance.
2Device complexity
If continuous length corrugated steel wires are used, then the filter structure is simplified, but the layers separate under tensile forces during air bag deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dimensional change by adding radial grooves to the wire structure. This groove feature creates interlocking surfaces between wire layers, preventing separation under tensile forces during air bag deployment while maintaining the simplified continuous wire construction approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite wire structure by combining the continuous corrugated steel wire with radial grooves. This composite construction integrates the simplicity of continuous wires with the structural strength needed to prevent layer separation, achieving both low device complexity and high structural integrity.
3Ease of manufacture
If standard smooth wires are used in the filter, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but particles are not effectively captured during air bag expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adding radial grooves to specific regions of the wire structure. These grooves are strategically positioned to enhance particle capture during air bag expansion while maintaining the overall simplicity of the wire manufacturing process. The grooves create localized particle trapping zones without complicating the entire wire production system.
Solution Approach 2:
The radial grooves in the wire structure create a porous-like effect that enhances particle capture. The grooves provide additional surface area and trapping zones for particles during air bag expansion, improving particle retention while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through a modified wire drawing process.
Data Source
AI summary
A filter for use in safety air bags as employed in vehicles and the like comprises one or more compressed grooved wires, wherein the wire or wires have an outer diameter of about 0.010 to 0.050 inches and the grooves have a depth in the range of 0.001 to about 0.005 inches. A plurality of grooves, preferable about 10-14, of about 0.018 diameter stainless steel wire, having a depth of about 0.001 inches to about 0.0025 inches, are equally spaced about the periphery of the wire, which is cylindrical. The pitch of the groove spacing may differ for different implementations. The wire outer surface between grooves may have a radius, preferably about 0.0025 inches in a wire of about 0.018 inches diameter. A stainless steel wire is preferred, but other wire metals may be used according to a given implementation.