L-Shaped Mount Bracket for Waist Airbag Impact Absorption
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lumbar-restriction airbag devices face challenges in supporting impact from passengers due to inadequate mount bracket design, leading to reduced restriction performance and potential damage to the inflatable bag and passenger.
Innovation Solution
An airbag device with a mount bracket that includes a protruding region extending forward or backward from the inflatable bag, connected to the vehicle body, allowing for improved absorption of impact and easier installation by positioning the connecting points away from the load point, and featuring a deformable L-shaped design to absorb forces effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the strength of mount bracket and joint members is increased or the number of fixation points is increased, then the support capability for the inflatable bag is improved, but the stiffness of the device is increased and impact or pressure from the passenger cannot be absorbed, causing damage to the passenger's lumbar and the inflatable bag
Solution Approach 1:
The mount bracket utilizes elastic deformation of its body to change the mechanical parameters dynamically. During normal operation, the bracket maintains sufficient strength, but during impact, it deforms elastically to absorb energy, transforming the rigid support structure into a compliant energy-absorbing system
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic body of the mount bracket is designed in advance to absorb impact energy through controlled deformation. This beforehand cushioning mechanism protects both the inflatable bag and the passenger's lumbar by dissipating impact energy before it can cause damage
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the interior pressure of the inflatable bag is reduced to improve passenger comfort, then the restriction performance of the passenger is deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the pressure parameter of the inflatable bag based on operational conditions. The mount bracket's elastic deformation allows the bag to maintain lower pressure for comfort while still providing effective restriction when needed, as the bracket compensates for reduced internal pressure
3Device complexity
If a conventional mount bracket design is used, then the device structure is simple, but when larger pressure is applied from the passenger, it is difficult to support the inflatable bag, deteriorating restriction performance
Solution Approach 1:
The mount bracket's elastic body changes its stiffness parameter dynamically through elastic deformation. The L-shaped configuration allows the bracket to remain simple in structure while achieving variable stiffness - rigid during normal use but compliant under impact loads, thereby maintaining restriction performance without complex mechanisms
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
Enhances the reliability of the airbag's installation on the vehicle body and improves passenger restriction performance by effectively distributing and absorbing impact, reducing the risk of damage to both the airbag and passenger.
Implementation Method 1
an inflator which supplies an inflation gas to the inflatable bag when an accident occurs
Implementation Method 2
the stiffness of the device would be increased as whole, impact or pressure applied from the passenger to the inflatable bag is hardly absorbed
Implementation Method 3
said first protruding region comprises a pair of connecting regions, which extend forwardly or backwardly and are arranged at left and right sides with a predetermined space
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An airbag device for restraining the waist part of a user, in which the reliability of connection of an inflatable bag to a vehicle is enhanced, that can excellently absorb an impact to the inflatable bag, and that can be easily installed on the vehicle. The airbag device has the inflatable bag received under a seat cushion in a compressed state and inflatable and expandable in an emergency, an inflator for supplying inflation gas to the inflatable bag in an emergency, and a mount bracket disposed between the bottom face of the inflatable bag and the vehicle and secured to both the bottom face and the vehicle. The mount bracket is characterized by having a body area connected and fixed to the bottom face of the inflatable bag and also having a first projecting area extending from the body area to the outside, projecting forward or rearward of the vehicle from below the inflatable bag, and connected and fixed to the vehicle.