Vehicle Seat Back Airbag Integration for Reduced Rear Protrusion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The airbag module in a front vehicle seat protrudes rearward, making it difficult to ensure sufficient space between the front and rear seats.
Innovation Solution
The airbag module is housed within the seat back, covered by a skin member with a frangible portion that opens upon inflation, and supported by a bracket integrated into the seat back frame, which is positioned to minimize rearward protrusion and discomfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the airbag module is mounted on the rear face of the seat back, then the airbag can deploy rearward to protect rear seat occupants, but the airbag module protrudes rearward making it difficult to ensure sufficient space between front and rear seats
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag module is nested within a recess formed in the seat back, allowing the module to be housed inside the seat back structure rather than mounting it on the external rear face. This nesting approach reduces rearward protrusion while maintaining the airbag's ability to deploy rearward through a frangible portion of the seat back skin.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional mounting approach (mounting on the rear face surface) to a three-dimensional integration by creating a recess within the seat back structure. This dimensional change allows the airbag module to be positioned inside the seat back volume, reducing external protrusion while preserving deployment functionality.
2Length of moving object
If the airbag module is housed within the seat back, then rearward protrusion is reduced, but the skin member must be designed with a frangible portion to allow airbag deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The frangible portion is pre-designed and pre-positioned in the skin member at the location where the airbag needs to deploy. This preliminary preparation ensures that when deployment is needed, the airbag can automatically and reliably exit through the predetermined weak point without requiring complex active release mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The skin member is designed as a flexible covering that can be formed with a frangible portion. This flexible film approach allows the skin to maintain coverage over the airbag module while incorporating a controlled weakness that enables deployment when pressure is applied during airbag inflation.
3Ease of operation
If the bracket supporting the airbag module is positioned more rearward, then the headrest pillar position can be maintained, but the bracket may cause discomfort to the seated occupant
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket's bottom wall is designed with a specific inclined shape that creates a smooth, comfortable surface in the local area where it contacts the seat back. This localized quality adjustment ensures that while the bracket is positioned rearward to maintain headrest pillar position, the specific geometry of its bottom wall prevents discomfort to occupants by eliminating sharp edges or protruding features.
Data Source
AI summary
To reduce an amount of rear protrusion of a vehicle seat equipped with an airbag module configured to deploy rearward, in a vehicle seat provided with a seat cushion and a seat back, the seat back includes: a seat back frame including a pair of left and right side frames extending in a vertical direction and an upper frame connecting upper ends of the side frames to each other; an airbag module supported by an upper half of the seat back frame via a bracket; and a skin member covering the seat back frame, the bracket, and the airbag module from a rear side thereof, wherein a part of the skin member corresponding to the airbag module is provided with a frangible portion configured to open upon inflation of an airbag.