Seat-Mounted Airbag Tether Layout for Early Abdomen Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat-mounted airbag systems face challenges in dimensioning and arranging the frontal life cell to effectively accommodate a range of occupant sizes, particularly in providing early coupling with the abdomen during impacts, which affects injury reduction.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a tether system that interconnects the vehicle seat and airbag, controlling the airbag's deployment over the head and ensuring early coupling with the occupant's mid-section, using tethers that extend from the upper region of the seat to the lower region of the airbag, allowing for controlled inflation and positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the frontal life cell is dimensioned to accommodate the head and provide early coupling with the abdomen for a range of occupant sizes, then the airbag can protect various occupant sizes, but the dimensioning and arranging becomes difficult to achieve effective early coupling
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag is divided into distinct regions: an upper region that extends over the head and a lower region that extends around the abdomen. This segmentation allows each region to be independently dimensioned and positioned to effectively protect different body parts across various occupant sizes without requiring complex overall dimensioning
Solution Approach 2:
The airbag is configured to extend in multiple spatial dimensions - laterally from side to side of the backrest, vertically from the squab toward the headrest, and depth-wise from the backrest toward the occupant. This multi-dimensional arrangement enables effective coupling with both the head and abdomen simultaneously for various occupant sizes
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the airbag is deployed to extend over the head and around the mid-section, then comprehensive protection is provided, but control over deployment positioning and timing becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The tether system is pre-configured to connect the upper region of the airbag to the upper position of the backrest before deployment. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when the airbag inflates, the upper region is already positioned correctly to extend over the head, providing immediate and controlled protection without requiring complex active control mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The tether system acts as an intermediary mechanism between the airbag and the seat structure. It mediates the deployment process by controlling the expansion and positioning of the airbag regions, ensuring the upper region extends over the head and the lower region couples with the mid-section at the appropriate time
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 solution enables controlled deployment of the airbag around the occupant, reducing injuries by ensuring precise positioning and early coupling with the mid-section, thereby enhancing protection during crashes.
Implementation Method 1
an airbag to receive inflating gas from an inflator to inflate the airbag from a deflated configuration to an inflated configuration
Implementation Method 2
a tether system interconnecting the seat at the second upper position of the seat, e.g. the backrest and/or headrest, and airbag to restrain in the longitudinal direction the lower region, e.g. it connects to the lower region, of the airbag
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat and an airbag system, the seat having a backrest and a squab, extending from the backrest in a longitudinal direction, the backrest extending in height from the squab at a first lower position to a second upper position arranged proximal to shoulders of an occupant in a seated position, the airbag system having an airbag to receive inflating gas from an inflator to inflate the airbag, in which the airbag includes an upper region that extends over a head of the occupant in the seated position and a lower region that extends between a first and second side of the backrest and around a mid-section of the seated occupant, the airbag system having a tether system interconnecting the seat at the second upper position of the backrest and airbag to restrain the lower region of the airbag in the inflated configuration in the longitudinal direction.