Pedestrian Airbag Cushion Segmentation for Windshield Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pedestrian protection airbag devices face issues where the airbag cushion interferes with the windshield and surrounding components due to high internal pressure during deployment, and fail to deploy in time at the forward-most impact point, especially with expanding protected areas and earlier contact times.
Innovation Solution
The airbag cushion is divided into a front and rear expansion part by a temporary fastening mechanism, with the inflator discharging gas to prioritize the front expansion part's deployment, preventing high internal pressure and ensuring timely deployment at the forward impact point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the airbag cushion expands uniformly in all directions, then the rear expansion part deploys quickly to protect the windshield area, but the internal pressure becomes too high causing interference with the windshield and surrounding components
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag cushion is divided into two separate expansion chambers: a front expansion part and a rear expansion part. The rear expansion part is responsible for deploying near the windshield to provide protection, while the front expansion part expands at the upper hood area. This segmentation allows controlled expansion patterns that prevent excessive pressure buildup in the rear area, thereby avoiding interference with the windshield and surrounding components while maintaining adequate protection coverage.
2Reliability
If the airbag cushion deploys uniformly, then the rear area is protected, but the front expansion part cannot deploy quickly enough to protect the forward-most impact point in time
Solution Approach 1:
The inflator is positioned and configured to discharge gas preferentially toward the front expansion part first. This preliminary action ensures that the front expansion part deploys quickly to protect the forward-most impact point before the pedestrian's head collides with the vehicle. After the front part deploys, the gas then fills the rear expansion part to provide continued protection in the rear area, achieving timely deployment at both critical locations.
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 structure prevents interference with the windshield and surrounding parts while ensuring complete deployment before the pedestrian's head collides, mitigating damage and ensuring timely protection.
Implementation Method 1
when the airbag cushion is expanded with gas generated by igniting the inflator
Data Source
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AI summary
To provide a structure which suppresses strong interference of an airbag cushion with a windshield or peripheral parts and deploys the airbag in time for the required deployment time of the forwardmost impact point of a vehicle. To achieve this, the present disclosure provides a pedestrian protection airbag device (1) including an airbag cushion 10 that expands during a vehicle collision and deploys from a boundary part 106 between a hood 102 and a windshield 104 of the vehicle to protect pedestrians and the like. The pedestrian protection airbag device (1) includes: a temporary fastening part (14) that temporarily fastens a part of the airbag cushion (10) so as to divide a chamber (11) that forms an internal space of the airbag cushion (10) into a front expansion part (12) that deploys on an upper part of a hood (102) in the initial stage of expansion and deployment of the airbag cushion (10), and a rear expansion part (13) that deploys near a lower end part (104b) of a windshield (104); and an inflator (20) that discharges gas toward the front expansion part (12) so as to deploy the front expansion part (12) earlier than the rear expansion part (13).