Seat Back Airbag Module Layout for Reduced Rear Protrusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
The airbag module in a front vehicle seat protrudes rearward, making it difficult to ensure a 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 with the seat back frame, allowing it to deploy rearward while minimizing protrusion.
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 space between front and rear seats
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag module is nested within a recess formed in the seat back frame, 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 in the skin member.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional mounting approach (mounting on the rear face surface) to a three-dimensional integration approach (embedding within the recess of the seat back frame). This dimensional change allows the airbag module to be positioned more compactly, reducing protrusion while preserving deployment functionality.
2Shape
If the airbag module is housed within the seat back, then rearward protrusion is reduced and aesthetic appeal is enhanced, but the skin member must be designed with a frangible portion to enable deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The skin member is designed with uniform coverage over the seat back frame, but with a localized frangible portion at the rear face where deployment is needed. This local differentiation allows the skin member to maintain aesthetic appearance in most areas while providing the necessary functional opening for airbag deployment in a specific location.
3Length of moving object
If the airbag module is positioned below the upper frame overlapping with side frames, then the amount of rearward protrusion is reduced, but the bracket must be positioned more rearward than the headrest pillar
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is designed with an inclined bottom wall that slopes rearward in the downward direction, creating a three-dimensional positioning solution. This angular configuration allows the bracket to extend rearward beyond the headrest pillar while the airbag module positioned above it maintains a compact profile that reduces overall rearward protrusion of the seat back.
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.