Title: Passenger-side airbag apparatus
Abstract: An airbag has the first bag expanding from an upper portion of an instrument panel toward a passenger, and the second bag disposed at a front part of the first bag. The first and second bags are respectively formed of two panels. The first bag has a length smaller than that of the second bag in the lateral width direction. When the second bag expands, the second bag abuts against a windshield or a ceiling of a passenger compartment, and contacts the upper body of the passenger for supporting.
Patent Number: 6,971,664 Issued on 12/06/2005 to Amamori
| Inventors:
|
Amamori; Ichiro (Hikone, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Takata Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
281164 |
| Filed:
|
October 28, 2002 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Nov 22, 2001[JP] | 2001-357914 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
280/729; 280/743.1 |
| Intern'l Class: |
B60R 021/24 |
| Field of Search: |
28/729,743.1
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3642303 | Feb., 1972 | Irish et al.
| |
| 5310214 | May., 1994 | Cuevas.
| |
| 5513877 | May., 1996 | Mac Brien et al.
| |
| 5529337 | Jun., 1996 | Takeda et al.
| |
| 5577765 | Nov., 1996 | Takeda et al.
| |
| 5697640 | Dec., 1997 | Lalonde.
| |
| 6308983 | Oct., 2001 | Sinnhuber.
| |
| 2002/0005633 | Jan., 2002 | Amamori.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 198 60 823 | Jul., 2000 | DE.
| |
| 1-150157 | Oct., 1989 | JP.
| |
| 4-193644 | Jul., 1992 | JP.
| |
| 6-344843 | Dec., 1994 | JP.
| |
| 8-80797 | Mar., 1996 | JP.
| |
| 2528555 | Dec., 1996 | JP.
| |
| 9-188216 | Jul., 1997 | JP.
| |
| 9-488 | Sep., 1997 | JP.
| |
| 10-1008 | Jan., 1998 | JP.
| |
| 2000-43663 | Feb., 2000 | JP.
| |
| 2000-85516 | Mar., 2000 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Culbreth; Eric
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kanesaka; Manabu
Claims
1. A passenger-side airbag apparatus for protecting a passenger in a vehicle, comprising:
an inflator for generating gas adapted to be attached to an upper portion of
an instrument panel,
a first bag having a first opening at a rear side thereof connected to the inflator
for receiving the gas from the inflator and a second opening at a front side and
opposite to the rear side, and
a second bag connected to the second opening of the first bag at the front side
thereof for receiving the gas through the first bag to expand upwardly from the
first bag, and having a maximum lateral width greater than that of the first bag,
said second bag having a lower portion connected to the front side of the first
bag so that the second bag extends upwardly from the front side of the first bag
and the front side of the first bag supports the passenger together with the second
bag when the first and second bags expand, and a size to abut against one of a
windshield and an inside ceiling of the vehicle when the first and second bags
fully expand so that the second bag receives an upper body of the passenger when
the first and second bags fully expand.
2. A passenger-side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first
bag is connected to the second bag through a plurality of openings.
3. A passenger-side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first
opening is formed at a lower portion of the first bag, and said second opening
is formed at an upper portion of the first bag opposite to the lower portion.
4. A passenger-side airbag apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said second
bag is attached to the first bag obliquely.
5. A passenger-side airbag apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said second
bag expands substantially upwardly relative to the first bag without expanding downwardly.
6. A passenger-side airbag apparatus for protecting a passenger in a vehicle, comprising:
an inflator for generating gas adapted to be attached to an upper portion of
an instrument panel,
a first bag connected to the inflator for receiving the gas from the inflator
to expand, said first bag having upper and lower portions, a first opening formed
in the lower portion at a rear side thereof and connected to the inflator, and
a second opening formed in the upper portion and at a front side opposite to the
rear side, and
a second bag connected to the second opening of the first bag for receiving the
gas through the first bag to expand, and having a maximum lateral width greater
than that of the first bag, said second bag being located at the front side of
the first bag so that the front side of the first bag supports the passenger together
with the second bag when the first and second bags expand and having a size to
abut against one of a windshield and an inside ceiling of the vehicle when the
first and second bags fully expand so that the second bag receives an upper body
of the passenger when the first and second bags fully expand, said second bag having
a lower portion connected to the front side of the first bag so that the second
bag extends upwardly from the front side of the first bag when the first and second
bags expand.
7. A passenger-side airbag apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each said
first and second bags is formed of two panels.
8. A passenger-side airbag apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first
bag is connected to the second bag through a plurality of openings.
9. A passenger-side airbag apparatus for protecting a passenger in a vehicle, comprising:
an inflator for generating gas adapted to be attached to an upper portion of
an instrument panel,
a first bag connected to the inflator for receiving the gas from the inflator
to expand, said first bag having upper and lower portions, a first opening formed
in the lower portion at a rear side thereof and connected to the inflator, and
a second opening formed in the upper portion and at a front side opposite to the
rear side, and
a second bag attached to the first bag obliquely and connected to the second
opening of the first bag for receiving the gas through the first bag to expand,
and having a maximum lateral width greater than that of the first bag, said second
bag being located at the front side of the first bag so that the front side of
the first bag supports the passenger together with the second bag when the first
and second bags expand and having a size to abut against one of a windshield and
an inside ceiling of the vehicle when the first and second bags fully expand so
that the second bag receives an upper body of the passenger when the first and
second bags fully expand, said second bag expanding substantially upwardly relative
to the first bag without expanding downwardly.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a passenger-side airbag apparatus installed
in an instrument panel of a vehicle. In an emergency such as a car crash, the passenger-side
airbag expands into a space between a windshield of the vehicle and a passenger
sitting in a front passenger seat of the vehicle so as to protect the passenger.
A passenger-side airbag apparatus is generally installed in an instrument panel
of a vehicle in a state such that a passenger-side airbag is housed in a container-shape
retainer and covered by a lid fixed to the retainer. The retainer has an inflator
therein for producing gas to inflate the airbag.
In an emergency such as a car crash, the passenger-side airbag is caused to inflate
by the gas flowing from the inflator, pushes the lid out, and expands into a passenger
compartment so as to receive a passenger who suddenly moves forward by an impact
of the car crash or the like.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a conventional passenger-side airbag apparatus
when a passenger-side airbag
100 expands.
A passenger-side airbag
100 has an approximate cone shape tapered toward
a rear side (shown in the left side in FIG. 8, and hereinafter, shown in the same
manner) in an expanded state. The passenger-side airbag
100 has a front
part (shown in the right side in FIG. 8, and hereinafter, shown in the same manner)
as a passenger surface
102, which faces the passenger and has a sufficient
area so as to receive the passenger when the airbag
100 expands in an emergency
such as a car crash. Also, when the airbag is expanded, the airbag
100 having
an upper part (shown in an upper side in FIG. 8, and hereinafter, shown in the
same manner) serves as a windshield surface
104 that faces a windshield
122 installed at a front portion of a car body.
The airbag
100 has an opening
106 at a rear part thereof, a periphery
of which is connected to a periphery of an opening disposed at a front part of
a container-shape retainer
110. The retainer
110 has an inflator
112 therein, and the gas ejected from the inflator
112 is introduced
into the airbag
100 through the opening. The airbag
100 is housed
in the retainer
110 in a folded state. Then, a lid
114 is fixed to
the opening of the retainer
110 and the retainer
110 is installed
in an instrument panel
120 of the vehicle.
In an emergency such as a car crash, the gas ejected from the actuated inflator
112 inflates the airbag
100 to push the lid
114 out and expands
in a passenger compartment.
The airbag
100 discharged into the passenger compartment expands into
the space between the windshield
122 and the passenger. The passenger surface
102 develops so as to face the passenger for receiving the passenger, and
the windshield surface
104 develops along the windshield
122 so as
to face the windshield
122. When the passenger hits the passenger surface
102 and strongly presses the airbag
100, the windshield surface
104
presses the windshield
122 and is thus securely supported by the windshield
so that the airbag
100 reliably receives the passenger.
The airbag
100 has a structure in which three or more panels forming the
windshield surface
104, the passenger surface
102, the lower surface
facing the instrument panel
120, and the right and left surfaces are three-dimensionally
sewed, so that the airbag
100 has an approximate cone shape and the upper
surface thereof faces the windshield
122 when it expands. Due to this complicated
structure, the airbag
100 can be considered as a relatively high-grade type.
On the other hand, an airbag
130 shown in FIG. 9 is formed of only two panels,
and has been in the market as a passenger-side airbag of a relatively low-grade type.
The airbag
130 has two panels, i.e. an upper panel
132 and a lower
panel
134 respectively as an upper half and a lower half of the airbag when
it expands, so as to form a bag shape by overlapping these panels with each other
and stitching their peripheries together. The lower panel
134 has an opening
136 at a rear part thereof for introducing the gas from the inflator
112
into the airbag
130.
The airbag
130 is connected to the retainer
110 by attaching a
periphery of the opening
136 formed at the rear part of the lower panel
134 to a periphery of the opening formed at the front part of the retainer
110. Since the other structural features of the airbag apparatus having
the airbag
130 are the same as those of the above-described airbag apparatus
shown in FIG. 8, the same components in FIG. 9 are identified by the same reference
numerals as in FIG. 8 and their description is omitted.
When the inflator
112 is activated upon a car crash, the gas is introduced
into the airbag
130 through the opening
136, and the airbag
130
pushes the lid
114 out. Then, the airbag
130 inflates into the passenger
compartment, and expands from the upper surface of the instrument panel
120
toward the passenger so as to be ready to receive the passenger, as shown in FIG. 9.
The above-described passenger-side airbag
100 is required to expand widely
so as to occupy the space among the passenger, the windshield
122, and the
instrument panel
120, and is also required to surely receive the passenger.
Therefore, the airbag must have a large volume. Various means have been implemented
so that an airbag having such a large volume can completely inflate immediately
after starting the inflation.
As one of the means, a capacity of the inflator
112 as a gas source for
inflating the airbag
100 is increased. However, such an inflator with a
large capacity is expensive. In addition, since the airbag and fixtures used for
fixing the inflator are subject to a large stress, these components are required
to have sufficient strength. Accordingly, this means is not preferable from the
viewpoints of a cost, a weight, and so forth.
Alternatively, the passenger surface
102 of the airbag
100
is connected to the periphery of the gas-flow opening
106 formed at the
rear part of the airbag fixed to the retainer with a strap or the like so that
the inflation of the passenger surface is constrained, thereby reducing the volume
of the airbag. Thus, the airbag can inflate completely right after the starting
of the inflation even with an inflator having a relatively small capacity.
However, when reducing the volume of the airbag by restricting its inflation,
for example, constraining the inflation of the passenger surface as described above,
a distance between the passenger surface of the completely expanded airbag and
the passenger becomes large.
Also, in the foregoing airbag
100, since three or more panels must be
sewed three-dimensionally in order to form the surfaces of the airbag
100,
it is quite troublesome and also costly to manufacture. Furthermore, the equipment
expenses for manufacturing the airbag
100 are likely to become large.
On the other hand, the foregoing airbag
130 is formed of only two panels,
and it can be manufactured by just overlapping the two panels with each other and
stitching the peripheries thereof two-dimensionally. As a result, it is very easy
to manufacture and the manufacturing cost including the equipment and so forth
is small.
However, in the airbag
130 formed of the two panels sewed two-dimensionally
together, an outer surface of the airbag
130 can not sufficiently face an
inner surface of the passenger compartment such as the windshield
122 when
the airbag expands. Therefore, the airbag
130 tends to move in an unstable
manner during and after its inflation.
Accordingly, the first object of the present invention is to provide
a passenger-side airbag apparatus without the above-described problems, which has
a sufficient shock absorption capability and quickly completes its inflation without
increasing the capacity of the inflator.
Also, the second object of the present invention is to provide a passenger-side
airbag apparatus moving in a stable manner during and after its inflation.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following
description of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a passenger-side airbag apparatus according to the present invention, the
passenger-side
airbag apparatus has an airbag expanding toward a passenger, wherein the airbag
includes the first bag and the second bag. When the airbag apparatus is actuated,
gas is introduced into the first bag to inflate the same from the upper portion
of an instrument panel of a vehicle toward the passenger. Then, the second bag
expands when the gas is introduced into the second bag through the first airbag.
The maximum lateral width of the second bag is greater than that of the first bag
in an expanded state. The second bag presses an upper portion of a windshield or
a ceiling of a passenger compartment of the vehicle when the first and second bags
expand. Further, the second bag expands toward the passenger further than the first
bag and faces the upper body of the passenger when the first bag and second bag
expand completely.
In the passenger-side airbag apparatus according to the present invention, when
an inflator is activated in an emergency such as a car crash and the gas from the
inflator inflates the first and second bags, only the second bag substantially
faces and receives the upper body of the passenger. Since the first bag does not
directly come to contact with the passenger, its lateral width can be made small.
Since the lateral width of the first bag is made small as described above,
the volume of the whole airbag becomes small, thereby allowing the airbag to quickly
complete its inflation without increasing the capacity of the inflator.
According to the present invention, the first bag may be formed such that
two panels as an upper half and a lower half of the expanded bag are stitched together
two-dimensionally, as shown in the conventional airbag 130. Further, a gas
inlet opening or a connecting portion to the retainer is disposed at a rear side
of a surface of the lower half. With this structure, the first bag can be manufactured
easily at a low cost, and, as a result, the whole airbag can be manufactured relatively
easily at a low cost. The conventional airbag 130 has a risk of moving in
an unstable manner while it is inflating and after the inflation is completed.
On the other hand, the expanded airbag according to the present invention moves
in a stable manner since the second bag, which inflates together with the first
bag, presses the upper portion of the windshield or the ceiling of the passenger compartment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a front portion of a vehicle in front of a front
passenger seat showing a configuration of a passenger-side airbag apparatus according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an expanded airbag viewed from a plane taken along
line 2—2 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front view of the expanded airbag viewed from a plane taken along
line 3—3 in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 4(
a) and 4(
b) are the airbag shown in FIG. 1, wherein
FIG. 4(
a) is a plan view in a flatly unfolded and unexpanded state and FIG.
4(
b) is a sectional view taken along line 4(
b)—4(
b)
in FIG. 4(
a);
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a front portion of a vehicle in front of a front
passenger seat showing a configuration of a passenger-side airbag apparatus according
to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the airbag in FIG. 5 in a flatly unfolded and
unexpanded state;
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing an airbag according to another
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a front portion of a vehicle in front of a front
passenger seat showing a configuration of a conventional passenger-side airbag apparatus;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a front portion of a vehicle in front of a front
passenger seat, for illustrating the configuration of another conventional passenger-side
airbag apparatus; and
FIG. 10 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 1, for schematically showing a
further embodiment of a passenger-side airbag apparatus according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereunder, embodiments of the present invention will be described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view in front of a front passenger seat of a vehicle showing
a configuration of a passenger-side airbag apparatus according to an embodiment
of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an expanded airbag viewed
from a plane taken along line
2—
2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a front
view of the expanded airbag viewed from a plane taken along line
3—
3
in FIG. 1. FIGS. 4(
a) and
4(
b) are the airbag shown in FIG.
1, wherein FIG. 4(
a) is a plan view in a flatly unfolded and unexpanded
state and FIG. 4(
b) is a sectional view taken along line
4(
b)—
4(
b)
in FIG. 4(
a). In the following description, a front part of the airbag represents
a part closer to a passenger, that is, the right side in FIG. 1, and a rear part
of the airbag represents a part closer to an instrument panel, that is, the left
side in FIG. 1.
The passenger-side airbag apparatus has an airbag
1 capable of expanding
toward the passenger, a container-shape retainer
2 having an opening in
an upper surface thereof to deploy the airbag, and an inflator
4 for inflating
the airbag
1. The retainer
2 is installed in an opening for the airbag
apparatus (not shown) formed in an upper portion of an instrument panel
6
in front of the front passenger seat (not shown) of the vehicle. The inflator
4
has a flange
4a projecting from a peripheral side surface thereof.
The inflator
4 penetrates the bottom of the retainer
2 and is disposed
thereto such that the flange
4a overlaps the bottom.
As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag
1 is connected to the retainer
2
at a rear portion thereof, and has a first bag
8 to expand from an upper
surface of the instrument panel
6 toward the passenger and a second bag
10 disposed at a front part of the first bag
8 to expand so as to
face the upper body of the passenger.
As shown in FIG. 4(
b), the first bag
8 has an upper panel
12
as an upper half thereof and a lower panel
14 as a lower half thereof when
the bag expands, so as to form a bag by overlapping these panels with each other
and connecting their peripheries by stitching or the like. Also, the second bag
10 has a passenger panel
16 facing the passenger and a rear panel
18 serving as a rear part thereof when it expands, so as to form a bag by
overlapping these panels with each other and connecting their peripheries by stitching
or the like. In FIGS. 4(
a) and
4(
b), reference numeral
20
represents an attaching or bonding line that bonds the upper panel
12 and
the lower panel
14, and reference numeral
22 represents an attaching
or bonding line that bonds the passenger panel
16 and the rear panel
18.
The lower panel
14 has an opening
24 at a rear part thereof for
introducing the gas from the inflator
4 into the first bag
8. Also,
the upper panel
12 has an opening
26 at a front part thereof for
allowing the gas introduced in the first bag to flow into the second bag
10.
The rear panel
18 has a gas-flow opening
28 at a lower portion thereof
corresponding to the opening
26.
By connecting or bonding the front part of the upper panel
12 and the
lower
portion of the rear panel
18 along the peripheries of these openings
26
and
28 by stitching or the like, the first bag
8 and the second bag
10 are connected to each other. Also, by connecting or bonding the peripheries
of the openings
26 and
28 with each other, a gas-flow port
30
for allowing the gas to flow between the first bag
8 and the second bag
10 is also formed. In FIG. 4(
b), reference numeral
32 represents
a bonding line, which is formed along the peripheries of the openings
26,
28 and bonds the upper panel
12 and the rear panel
18.
In the airbag
1, as shown in FIG. 4(
a), lengths of the upper panel
12 and the lower panel
14 of the first bag
8 in the lateral
width direction are smaller than those of the passenger panel
16 and the
rear panel
18 of the second bag
10 in the lateral width direction.
The passenger panel
16 and the rear panel
18 have lengths in the
vertical direction such that at least one of the upper portions thereof abuts against
a windshield
34 or a ceiling
36 (FIG. 10) of the passenger compartment
when the second bag
10 expands. Note that the lateral width direction of
the first bag
8 is shown as the vertical direction in FIG. 4(
a),
and the lateral width direction and the height direction of the second bag
10
are respectively shown as the vertical and horizontal directions in the figure.
The first bag
8 is connected to the retainer
2 such that the periphery
of the gas-inflow opening
24 of the lower panel
14 is clamped between
the flange
4a of the inflator
4 and the bottom of the retainer
2. These parts are integrally fixed by through-holes
36 (shown in
FIG. 4(
a)), formed for inserting bolts, rivets, or the like around the periphery
of the opening
24 of the lower panel
14, and fixtures (not shown)
such as bolts, rivets, or the like so as to pass through both the flange
4a
and the bottom of the retainer
2.
In the passenger-side airbag apparatus having the above-described structure,
in
a normal situation, the airbag
1 is housed in the retainer
2 in a
folded state and the opening disposed in the upper surface of the retainer
2
is closed by a lid
38 fixed to the retainer
2 so as to be substantially
flush with the upper surface of the instrument panel
6.
In an emergency such as a car crash, the inflator
4 is activated and the
gas is introduced from the inflator
4 into the airbag
1. The introduced
gas causes the airbag
1 to push the lid
38 out, to inflate into the
passenger compartment, and to expand into a space between the passenger and the
instrument panel
6.
Since the gas from the inflator
4 is first introduced into the first
bag
8 through the opening
24, firstly, the first bag
8 of
the airbag
1 expands from the upper surface of the instrument panel
6
toward the passenger. Then, the gas flows into the second bag
10 from the
gas-flow port
30 via the first bag
8, thus causing the second bag
10 to expand so as to face the upper body of the passenger.
In the airbag
1, since the lengths of the upper panel
12 and the
lower panel
14 of the first bag
8 in the lateral width direction
are made small, the volume of the first bag
8 becomes small and the whole
volume of the airbag
1 becomes small correspondingly. With this structure,
the airbag
1 quickly completes its inflation even when the inflator
4
does not have a very large capacity.
In the airbag
1, when the first bag
8 and the second bag
10
inflate, only the second bag
10 disposed at the front part of the first
bag
8 substantially faces and receives the upper body of the passenger,
thereby allowing the first bag
8 to have a small width.
In this embodiment, the first bag
8 has the upper panel
12 and
the
lower panel
14, which are two-dimensionally stitched together, and has a
structure in which the periphery of the gas-inflow opening
24 formed at
the rear part of the lower panel
14 is connected to the retainer
2.
The conventional airbag
130 described above has a risk of unstable movement
during and after its inflation. However, in the airbag
1, since the second
bag
10, which inflates following the inflation of the first bag
8,
abuts against the upper portion of the windshield
34 or the ceiling of the
passenger compartment so as to support the airbag, the fully expanded airbag
1
becomes stable and accordingly can securely receive the passenger.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a front portion of a vehicle in front of the front
passenger seat, illustrating a configuration of a passenger-side airbag apparatus,
having a completely expanded airbag, according to another embodiment of the present
invention. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the airbag flatly unfolded in a non-expanded state.
In an airbag
1A, as shown in FIG. 6, lower portions of a passenger panel
16A and a rear panel
18A of the second bag
10A extend downwardly
(in FIG. 6, the height direction of the second bag
10A is shown as the horizontal
direction and the downward direction corresponds to the right direction in the
figure) further than the passenger panel
16 and the rear panel
18
of the second bag
10 according to the previous embodiment. Thus, the second
bag
10A is designed to abut against legs of the passenger when it expands,
and the second bag
10A has an additional volume corresponding to the extended part.
On the other hand, an upper panel
12A and a lower panel
14A of
the
first bag
8A have lengths smaller than those of the upper panel
12
and the lower panel
14 of the first bag
8 according to the previous
embodiment in the lateral width direction (in FIG. 6, the lateral width direction
of the first bag
8A is shown as the vertical direction), thereby allowing
the first bag
8A to have a small volume.
In FIGS. 5 and 6, reference numeral
20A represents a connecting or bonding
line that bonds the upper panel
12A and the lower panel
14A, and
reference numeral
22A represents a connecting or bonding line that bonds
the passenger panel
16A and the rear panel
18A.
Since the other configuration of the airbag apparatus having the airbag
1A
is the same as that of the above-described airbag apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to
4, the same components in FIGS. 5 and 6 are represented by the same reference numerals
as those in FIGS. 1 to 4 and their description is omitted.
In this passenger-side airbag apparatus, even though the second bag
10A
has a relatively large volume, the first bag
8A has a small volume corresponding
thereto, thereby allowing the airbag
1A to have a small volume as a whole.
With this structure, the airbag
1A quickly completes its inflation even
when the inflator
4 does not have a very large capacity, in the same fashion
as the airbag
1 according to the previous embodiment.
Also, when the airbag
1A expands completely, the expanded airbag
1A
abuts against the thighs of the passenger at the lower portion thereof, and the
upper portion thereof abuts against the windshield
34 or the ceiling of
the passenger compartment. Therefore, a position of the air bag is securely stabilized.
In each of the passenger-side airbag apparatuses according to the present invention,
it is possible to control an inflating action of the second bag, if necessary,
by adjusting an amount of gas flowing into the second bag via the first bag or
a direction of gas-flow by varying an area or a shape of the gas-flow port disposed
between the first bag and the second bag.
For example, in an airbag
1B shown in FIG. 7, the first bag
8B
has two gas-flow openings
40 and
42 having relatively small diameters
at a front part thereof, and the second bag
10B has a gas-flow opening
44
having a size for encircling these openings
40 and
42 at a lower
portion of the rear surface thereof. The second bag
10B is bonded to the
front part of the first bag
8B along a bonding line
46 by stitching
or the like, such that the periphery of the opening
44 encircles the openings
40 and
42.
In the airbag
1B having such a structure, the gas flowing into the second
bag
10B via the first bag
8B is blocked by the relatively small openings
40 and
42, thereby allowing the airbag
1B to gently expand
toward the passenger as a whole. In addition, the gas flows into the second bag
10B in a divided manner by passing through these two openings
40
and
42, thereby allowing the second bag
10B to inflate very smoothly.
In each of the above-described embodiments, since each pair of the panels can
be stitched by a relatively simple two-dimensionally stitching machine, the airbag
can be manufactured relatively easily and also at a low cost. In addition, the
investment for equipment for manufacturing the airbags can be made relatively small.
As described above, the present invention provides a passenger-side airbag apparatus
having an airbag with a sufficient shock-absorbing performance when the airbag
expands, quickly completing its inflation without increasing a capacity of an inflator,
and operating stably during and after its inflation.
While the invention has been explained with reference to the specific embodiments
of the invention, the explanation is illustrative and the invention is limited
only by the appended claims.
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