Vehicular Side Airbag Rapid Delay Chamber Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicular side airbag devices struggle to quickly and smoothly deploy into the gap between an occupant and the vehicle side section, particularly failing to instantly reach and restrain the wide shoulder and waist areas while providing inadequate protection for the skeletally weak chest.
Innovation Solution
The vehicular side airbag device features a partitioning member that divides the airbag into a rapid chamber for the shoulder and waist areas and a delay chamber for the chest, with the inflator gas first filling the rapid chamber to quickly inflate and deploy into the shoulder and waist regions, and then flowing into the delay chamber to provide adequate protection for the chest.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the side airbag inflates uniformly throughout, then the chest area receives adequate protection, but the shoulder and waist areas are not reached instantly
Solution Approach 1:
The side airbag is divided into multiple independent chambers (first chamber for shoulder/waist, second chamber for chest) that can inflate at different rates. The partition wall with controlled opening allows gas to flow from the first chamber to the second chamber, enabling sequential inflation that prioritizes the shoulder and waist areas while still providing protection for the chest.
2Reliability
If the airbag thickness is increased for chest protection, then the chest is better protected, but the deployment speed into the gap is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the side airbag are designed with different thickness characteristics. The first chamber (shoulder/waist region) is designed to deploy quickly with appropriate thickness for those areas, while the second chamber (chest region) is designed with greater thickness for enhanced protection. The partition wall with controlled opening ensures that the chest region inflates with sufficient material while the shoulder and waist regions achieve rapid deployment.
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 configuration allows the side airbag to quickly and smoothly deploy into the gap, providing effective restraint for the shoulder and waist while ensuring proper protection for the chest by adjusting the thickness of the airbag's regions to match the skeletal firmness of the occupant.
Implementation Method 1
introduction of an inflator gas from an inflator, deploys and inflates... high-pressure gas, jetted through an inflator
Implementation Method 2
a partitioning member that divides the airbag into a rapid chamber... and a delay chamber... with controlled opening... allowing the inflator gas to flow into the delay chamber
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a vehicular side airbag device having a side airbag that can slide quickly and smoothly into a gap between an occupant and a vehicle side section, and that allows restraining the occupant by reaching instantly the particularly wide shoulder and waist; at the same time, the side airbag can be inflated such that the thickness of the portion thereof that protects the peripheries of the skeletally firm shoulder and waist is small and the thickness of the portion that protects the periphery of the skeletally weak chest is large. Inside a side airbag, there are provided: a rapid chamber extending from a seat back region over a top region and a bottom region that taper gradually towards the vehicle front; a delay chamber that is positioned between the top region and bottom region, on the vehicle-front side of the seat back region; and a partitioning member that partitions the interior of the side airbag into the delay chamber and the rapid chamber. An inflator is provided inside the rapid chamber.