Knee-protecting airbag device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016288757-A1
Application number	US-201615045306-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 17, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An airbag of a knee-protecting airbag device is mounted on a case together with an inflator with the aid of mounting means of the inflator. The airbag includes a vehicle body side panel, an occupant side panel, a mounting inflatable region which is located in a lower end region of the airbag as deployed and is secured to the case, and a knee-protecting region. The airbag further includes a tether which is joined to the occupant side panel in the mounting inflatable region of the airbag by the lower end inside the airbag for preventing a sagging movement of the vehicle body side panel in a region of the mounting inflatable region distant from the inflator in a left and right direction at airbag deployment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A knee-protecting airbag device mountable on a vehicle, comprising:
a case provided with an airbag emergence opening at a lower end region thereof; an inflatable airbag that is housed in and mounted on the case in a folded-up configuration, the airbag including:
a vehicle body side panel deployable towards a vehicle body structure;
an occupant side panel deployable towards a seat of the vehicle;
a mounting inflatable region that is located in a lower end region of the airbag as deployed and is secured to the case; and
a knee-protecting region that is deployable in such a manner as to extend rearwardly and upwardly from the mounting inflatable region for protecting knees of a vehicle occupant;
an inflator for feeding an inflation gas to the airbag, the inflator being generally cylindrical in outer contour and mounted on the case in such a manner as to extend generally along a left and right direction, the inflator including a mounting means for mounting the inflator and airbag on the case; and a tether that is joined to the occupant side panel in the mounting inflatable region of the airbag by a lower end of the tether inside the airbag for preventing a sagging movement of the vehicle body side panel in a region of the mounting inflatable region distant from the inflator in a left and right direction at airbag deployment.

2 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 1 , wherein an upper end region of the tether is supported by the inflator directly or indirectly at airbag deployment.

3 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 2 , wherein the upper end region of the tether is brought into contact with the inflator and supported by the inflator at airbag deployment.

4 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 3 , wherein the mounting means supports the upper end region of the tether at airbag deployment.

5 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 4 , wherein the tether is so disposed as to be deployable in front of the inflator.

6 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 4 , wherein the tether is so disposed as to be deployable at the rear of the inflator.

7 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 5 , wherein:
the tether is formed into a band deployable generally along a left and right direction; and a first end in a width direction of the tether is joined to the vehicle body side panel generally entirely while a second end in the width direction of the tether is joined to the occupant side panel generally entirely, such that the tether is disposed over a generally entire area in a left and right direction of the mounting inflatable region.

8 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 6 , wherein:
the tether is formed into a band deployable generally along a left and right direction; and a first end in a width direction of the tether is joined to the vehicle body side panel generally entirely while a second end in the width direction of the tether is joined to the occupant side panel generally entirely, such that the tether is disposed over a generally entire area in a left and right direction of the mounting inflatable region.

9 . The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the tether is formed into a band deployable generally along a left and right direction at the rear of the inflator; a first end in a width direction of the tether is joined to the vehicle body side panel generally entirely while a second end in the width direction of the tether is joined to the occupant side panel generally entirely, such that the tether is disposed over a generally entire area in a left and right direction of the mounting inflatable region; and a region of the airbag defined by the mounting inflatable region and the tether is inflatable into a rod shape extending generally in a left and right direction in an initial stage of airbag deployment.

Assignees

• Toyoda Gosei Kk

Inventors

• Ando Takeshi

Classifications

• B60R21/231

  characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration · CPC title

• B60R21/2338 Primary

  Tethers · CPC title

• B60R2021/23382

  Internal tether means · CPC title

• B60R21/206 Primary

  in the lower part of dashboards, e.g. for protecting the knees · CPC title

• B60R2021/23169

  specially adapted for knee protection · CPC title