WO2009049695A1

WO2009049695A1 - Airbag fixing arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2009049695A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/005459
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ingo Kleipödssus; Helmut Maiwald
Original assignee: Delphi Technologies Inc
Current assignee: Delphi Technologies Inc
Priority date: 2007-10-16
Filing date: 2008-07-03
Publication date: 2009-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 2010-04-16
Also published as: ATE507114T1; DE502007007075D1; EP2050629B1; EP2050629A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an airbag arrangement for a motor vehicle. The airbag arrangement has an inflatable airbag (10) whose airbag envelope (12) in particular has a pocket (16) suitable for the reception of a positioning body (14) at the side which comes to lie at a vehicle body in the installed state of the airbag.

Description

Delphi Technologies, Inc. D 1043 IPWO - Cs/ Ur/ Ll

AIRBAG FIXING ARRANGEMENT

The present invention relates to an airbag arrangement which has an airbag envelope which is inflatable in the event of a crash and which serves to protect occupants of a motor vehicle from any impact injuries in the event of a crash.

In particular side airbags and head airbags are as a rule arranged between the interior trim of the passenger compartment and the body. On the activation of such an airbag, the unfolding airbag envelope exits the interior trim of the passenger compartment along a defined region to provide the desired protective function. This defined region can, for example, be a joint at which two adjacent interior trim parts of the passenger compartment are adjacent to one another so that the unfolding airbag envelope can emerge from the interior trim.

Since such an airbag can usually be fixed to the vehicle body, the airbag envelope is not in direct proximity to the interior trim so that there is a need to make provision that the airbag envelope unfolding in the event of a crash actually moves on the desired path into the passenger compartment.

It is therefore the underlying object of the invention to provide an airbag arrangement which allows an optimized positioning of its airbag envelope so that it can unfold without impediment in the event of a crash. This object is satisfied by an airbag arrangement having the features of claim 1.

The airbag arrangement in accordance with the invention has an airbag with an airbag envelope which in particular has a pocket suitable for the reception of a positioning body at the side which comes to lie at a vehicle body in the installed state of the airbag.

It is admittedly theoretically possible to provide such positioning bodies directly at the body in order thereby to move the airbag or its airbag envelope into an ideal position for its unfolding. However, such an attachment of positioning bodies at the body is frequently not desired due to the higher production costs associated therewith, particularly since such an approach is comparatively inflexible.

A possibility is therefore provided in accordance with the invention to be able to attach a positioning body directly at the airbag envelope in order to be able to move the airbag very directly into the respectively desired installation position. It in particular proves to be advantageous to attach such a positioning body, which serves in a certain manner as an unfolding aid and as a spacer for the spacing of the airbag envelope from the body, directly to the airbag envelope and not to the body with the aid of a suitable pocket such that the positioning of the airbag can be optimized with respect to the respective airbag type installed in the vehicle. If, for example, within the framework of a model upgrading of a motor vehicle, a different airbag to previously should be installed, it is therefore not necessary to place any positioning bodies located at the vehicle body differently or to make it different in its design; since the positioning body is received by a pocket located at the airbag envelope, it is rather the case that the position of the positioning body at the airbag can already be adapted to the changed situation by the supplier manufacturing the airbag arrangement so that no complex and/ or expensive modifications have to be carried out on the vehicle body itself.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention result from the subordinate claims, from the description and from the drawings.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the airbag arrangement has a body which is suitable for the positioning of the airbag with respect to a vehicle body and which is arranged in the already mentioned pocket. The positioning body is thus an integral part of the airbag arrangement and does not need to be installed as an independent component during the final assembly of the motor vehicle, which in particular proves to be advantageous in an economic production respect.

The positioning body can have any desired shape which is necessary to move the airbag into a desired position relative to the vehicle body and to the interior trim of the vehicle. In order, for example, to reduce the spacing between the interior trim and the body, the positioning body can have a substantially parallelepiped shape in accordance with a preferred embodiment to realize the desired spacing reduction.

Such a parallelepiped shape is in particular advantageous when the interior trim and the vehicle body extend substantially parallel to one another in the region of the airbag. If, however, the body and the interior vehicle trim do not extend parallel to one another, but at an angle, the positioning body can, for example, have a substantially wedge-shaped design to take the approaching of the body to the interior trim into account. Since the airbag envelope as a rule consists of a fabric material, the pocket suitable for the reception of the positioning body could, for example, be made as an integral component of the airbag envelope during the weaving process. Since such a manufacture is, however, comparatively complex and thus cost- in tensive, it is proposed in accordance with a preferred embodiment to design the pocket as a fabric flap which is placed onto the airbag envelope and which can, for example, be sewn onto the airbag envelope.

It can be advantageous in a technical production regard to sew the fabric flap forming the pocket onto the airbag envelope along and preferably with two mutually oppositely disposed seams of the airbag. Sewing processes are thus namely used which are usual in the production of an airbag envelope so that it is advantageous also to sew the fabric flap to the airbag envelope during this sewing process which is anyway necessary. It can, however, in particular prove to be advantageous not, for instance, to fasten the fabric flap to the airbag envelope using additional seams, but rather to fasten the fabric flap to the airbag envelope using the seams anyway already necessary which are required e.g. to sew together individual layer sections of the airbag envelope or to properly sew a material layer forming the airbag envelope.

In accordance with a further preferred embodiment, the positioning body can be body made from an elastic plastic material such as polyethylene (PE), preferably a foamed body. The manufacture of the positioning body from an elastic plastic material proves advantageous, on the one hand, in that the positioning body can be compressed thereby to be able to introduce it into the pocket formed at the airbag envelope without impediment. Such a compression of the positioning body can be necessary, for example, if it should be fixed in the pocket by friction locking, for which purpose its dimensions must substantially be matched to the design of the pocket. Since in this case, however, the positioning body cannot be introduced, or can only be introduced with difficulty, into the pocket in the non-compressed state, it proves to be advantageous to produce it from an elastic plastic material such as polyethylene (PE) in order to be able to compress it for the introduction process into the pocket.

The manufacture of the positioning body from a plastic material such as polyethylene, which is preferably foamed for the manufacture of the positioning body, furthermore proves to be advantageous in that a cost saving can be achieved with respect to a positioning body made of metal, for example, of approximately 50% and a weight saving of up to approximately 90% .

The positioning body can admittedly be received by the pocket formed at the airbag envelope in the manner described above with a friction lock. Alternatively or supplementary thereto, it can, however, also be desirable to secure the positioning body in the pocket in a shape matched manner. For this purpose, the pocket can have, in addition to an introduction opening for the introduction of the positioning body into the pocket, at least one further opening into which an engagement section formed at the introduced positioning body engages in a shape matched manner. This engagement section can, for example, be a projecting nose which is formed integrally with the positioning body and which is dimensioned and arranged such that it can project outwardly through the further opening formed in the pocket. In accordance with a further preferred embodiment, the airbag can be an airbag suitable for the protection of the head of a vehicle occupant which has a substantially elongated airbag envelope in the folded state. In this context, the airbag envelope has such a design that it can extend at the vehicle headlining between an A pillar and a C pillar of a vehicle body and/ or, optionally, beyond a B pillar. Since there is frequently a risk in the case of a crash that the C pillar, including the interior trim lining the C pillar, is pushed upwardly and the unimpeded unfolding of the airbag is thereby hindered, in this embodiment at least one positioning body is provided in a region of the airbag envelope which is located at one of the named pillars to space the airbag envelope away from the body. In this manner, the airbag envelope can be positioned close to the interior trim of the passenger compartment in the region of the named pillars so that the unfolding of the airbag is not impeded as a result of the upwardly moving A pillar, B pillar and/ or C pillar.

The invention will now be described purely by way of example in the following with reference to an exemplary embodiment and to the enclosed drawings in which

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of an airbag arrangement in accordance with the invention in a view from the rear;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective representation of the airbag arrangement in accordance with the invention of Fig. 1 in the region of the pocket; and

Fig. 3 shows a perspective representation of the airbag arrangement in accordance with the invention in the region of the pocket with a positioning body arranged in the pocket. Fig. 1 shows a rear view of the airbag arrangement in accordance with the invention with an airbag 10 which shows the airbag 10 viewed from a body to which it can be attached via fastening sections 26.

The airbag 10 includes an airbag envelope 12 which has an elongated design in the folded state shown to extend along the vehicle headlining between the A pillar and the C pillar of a vehicle body above the doors of the body. The airbag envelope 12 has a plurality of fastening sections 26 via which the airbag envelope 12 can be fastened to a body. The airbag arrangement furthermore includes a gas generator 24 which serves to introduce a gaseous medium into the airbag 12 in the case of a crash so that the airbag unfolds in the desired manner.

The airbag envelope 12 furthermore has a pocket 16 which is suitable for the reception of a positioning body 14 and which is located at that side of the airbag envelope 12 which comes to lie at the vehicle body in the installed state of the airbag 10.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the pocket 16 can be formed, for example, by a fabric flap 18 which is sewn onto the airbag envelope using two mutually oppositely disposed seams 28. A passage opening is hereby formed in accordance with the invention between the airbag envelope 12 and the fabric flap 18 which extends between the seams 28 and into which a positioning body 14 can be pushed. Only the engagement sections 22 of this positioning body 14 can be seen in the representation of Fig. 1 which are formed at the positioning body 14 and which project outwardly through corresponding openings in the pocket 16 to secure the positioning body 14 in the pocket 16 in a shape matched manner. As can be seen from Fig. 2, which shows the airbag 10 in the region of the pocket 16 in an enlarged representation, the positioning body 14 can, for example, have a substantially parallelepiped form with engagement sections 22 projecting therefrom. Fig. 2 shows a situation in which the positioning body 14 is still located outside the pocket 16 defined by the fabric flap 18. As can be seen from the representation of Fig. 2, the fabric flap 18 firmly sewn to the airbag envelope 12 by the seams 28 forms the already previously mentioned passage opening into which the positioning body 14 can be pushed in the direction of the arrow beginning from the starting position shown in Fig. 2.

So that the positioning body 14 is held securely in the pocket 16 after it has been pushed into it in the direction of the arrow (see Fig. 2), the positioning body 14 can have outer dimensions which slightly exceed the dimensions of the pocket 16. In order nevertheless to be able to introduce the positioning body 14 into the pocket 16, the positioning body 14 can be produced from an elastic plastic material such as polyethylene so that it can be compressed to be able to be pushed into the pocket 16. After the positioning body 14 has been introduced into the pocket 16 in this manner, it expands again due to its elastic material properties so that it is held in the pocket 16 by a friction lock.

To additionally secure the positioning body 14 in the pocket 16, the pocket 16 has, in addition to the passage opening, one or more openings (20) into which the engagement sections 22 formed at the positioning body 14 engage in a shape matched manner, as is shown in Fig. 3. The nose-like engagement sections 22 project out of the openings 20 of the pocket 16 and thus additionally prevent the positioning body 14 from being able to be displaced in the pocket 16. Finally, it should be mentioned that the positioning body 14, in contrast to the parallelepiped form shown here, can have any desired shape to bring the airbag 10 or the airbag envelope 12 into a desired position relative to the vehicle body and to the interior vehicle trim. The positioning body 14 can, for example, have a substantially wedge-shaped design if the vehicle body and the interior vehicle trim do not extend in parallel to one another, but at an angle.

It is thus possible with the help of the positioning body 14 to position the airbag envelope 12 directly at potentially critical points such that the unfolding o the airbag 10 in the case of a crash is not only not hindered, but rather an unhindered unfolding of the airbag envelope in the intended manner is assisted.

Reference numeral list

10 airbag 12 airbag envelope

14 positioning body

16 pocket

18 fabric flap

20 opening 22 engagement section

24 gas generator

26 fastening section

28 seam

Claims

1. An airbag arrangement for a motor vehicle with an inflatable airbag (10) whose inflatable airbag envelope (12) has at least one pocket (16) adapted for the reception of a positioning body (14) at the side which comes to lie at a vehicle body in the installed state of the airbag (10), the positioning body (14) being suitable to position the airbag (10) relative to the vehicle body.

2. An airbag arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the airbag (10) furthermore has a body (14) which is suitable for the positioning of the airbag (10) relative to a vehicle body and which is arranged in the pocket (16) or is designed for arrangement in the pocket (16).

3. An airbag arrangement in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the pocket (16) is formed by a fabric flap (18) which is placed onto the airbag envelope (12) and which is preferably sewn onto the airbag envelope (12).

4. An airbag arrangement in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the fabric flap (18) is sewn onto the airbag envelope (12), preferably with two oppositely disposed seams (28).

5. An airbag arrangement in accordance with at least one of the claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the positioning body (14) is a body made from an elastic plastic material, preferably from polyethylene.

6. An airbag arrangement in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pocket (16) has, in addition to an introduction opening for the introduction of the positioning body (14), at least one further opening (20) into which an engagement section (22) formed at the introduced positioning body (14) engages in a shape matched manner.

7. An airbag arrangement in accordance with at least one of the claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the airbag (10) is an airbag (10) suitable for the protection of the head of a vehicle occupant and has an elongated airbag envelope (12) in the folded state which is designed to extend at the vehicle headlining between an A pillar and a C pillar and, optionally, beyond a B pillar, with at least one positioning body (14) being arranged in a region of the airbag envelope (12) which comes to lie at one of the pillars to space the airbag envelope (12) apart from the body.