Side Airbag External Tether and Pleat Deployment Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Side airbags in vehicles face challenges in maintaining deployment posture, particularly on the far side where there is no support, leading to potential head and neck injuries due to tilting and delayed restraint of the occupant.
Innovation Solution
A side airbag device with an external tether that controls the vertical deployment length and a pleat on the opposite side, allowing the airbag to curve concavely along the occupant, combined with inner tethers to regulate width, ensuring stable and effective restraint without pressure concentrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the length of the airbag in the vertical direction is increased to protect the range from the waist to the head, then the protection coverage is improved, but the deployment posture stability deteriorates and the airbag tends to tilt away from the occupant
Solution Approach 1:
An external tether is introduced as an intermediary element to connect the upper part of the airbag to the seat frame. This tether acts as a stabilizing mediator that prevents the airbag from tilting away from the occupant while maintaining the extended vertical length needed for comprehensive protection from waist to head.
Solution Approach 2:
A pleat structure is pre-formed by folding the base material portion of the airbag on the side opposite to the occupant. This preliminary folding creates a predetermined curvature that guides the airbag to curve concavely toward the occupant during deployment, ensuring stable posture and proper orientation before the airbag fully inflates.
2Length of moving object
If the airbag deploys with extended vertical length to reach the head, then the head protection capability is improved, but the response time deteriorates due to delayed head restraint
Solution Approach 1:
The airbag is designed with a curved surface rather than a flat deployment pattern. The pleat structure creates a predetermined curvature that causes the airbag to curve concavely toward the occupant, with the upper part positioned closer to the head. This curved geometry enables the head restraint function to occur more quickly while maintaining the extended vertical length for comprehensive protection.
3Ease of operation
If the airbag is deployed without support structures, then the ease of deployment is improved, but the deployment shape control deteriorates causing the airbag to incline away from the occupant
Solution Approach 1:
The external tether serves as a mediator that connects the airbag system to the seat frame, providing necessary support without complicating the deployment mechanism. This tether maintains proper deployment shape by preventing excessive tilting while allowing the airbag to deploy automatically with minimal intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleat structure is pre-formed in the base material portion before deployment. This preliminary folding creates a predetermined curvature pattern that guides the airbag to assume the correct concave shape toward the occupant during deployment, ensuring proper shape control without requiring complex active control mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
[Problem] To provide a side airbag device that can quickly and reliably restrain the head of an occupant by appropriately controlling the deployment shape of an airbag. [Resolution Means] The present invention is a side airbag device equipped in a vehicle seat, including: an airbag that restrains an occupant by deploying from a side part of the seat; and an external tether that extends in a vertical direction of the airbag on an outer surface of the airbag on the occupant side. Furthermore, the external tether is configured so as to regulate the length of deployment in the vertical direction of the airbag. Furthermore, a pleat formed by folding a base material portion forming the airbag is provided on a surface of the base material portion on the side opposite from the occupant.