Side bolster assembly having an airbag

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9545892-B2
Application number	US-201514982352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2015
Priority date	Feb 25, 2015
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

A side bolster assembly for mounting in a vehicle. The side bolster assembly may include a carrier that may have a pocket. The pocket may receive an airbag module that may have an inflatable airbag. A cushion may extend across the pocket. A guide member may guide the airbag around the cushion upon inflation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A side bolster assembly comprising:
a carrier having a first wall, a pocket that extends from the first wall, a second wall, and a step wall that extends from the first wall to the second wall;
a cushion that is supported by the first wall and extends across the pocket, wherein the cushion has a first cushion end surface that is disposed proximate the step wall;
an airbag module that is supported by the carrier and disposed in the pocket, the airbag module having an inflatable airbag;
a trim cover that covers at least a portion of the cushion, the trim cover having a deployment seam disposed opposite the first wall between the step wall and the pocket; and
a guide member for guiding the airbag around the cushion upon inflation, wherein the guide member extends from the airbag module toward the deployment seam such that the guide member is disposed between the first wall and the cushion.

2. The side bolster assembly of claim 1 wherein the first wall defines a pocket opening of the pocket and the cushion extends continuously across the pocket opening.

3. The side bolster assembly of claim 1 wherein the guide member extends between the cushion and the first wall and between the first cushion end surface and the step wall.

4. The side bolster assembly of claim 1 further comprising a cushion shield that extends across the pocket, wherein the guide member is disposed between the cushion shield and the first wall.

5. The side bolster assembly of claim 4 wherein the cushion has a second cushion end surface disposed opposite the first cushion end surface, wherein the cushion shield extends from the first cushion end surface across the pocket toward the second cushion end surface.

6. The side bolster assembly claim 1 wherein the guide member has a first panel and a second panel, wherein the first panel has a first end that is attached to the trim cover proximate the deployment seam and the second panel has a second end that is attached to the trim cover proximate the deployment seam, wherein the first panel engages the carrier but does not engage the cushion and the second panel engages the cushion.

7. The side bolster assembly of claim 1 wherein the trim cover is secured to the carrier.

8. The side bolster assembly of claim 1 wherein the carrier is fixedly disposed on the vehicle body.

9. The side bolster assembly of claim 8 wherein the carrier is positionable between the vehicle body and the airbag module when the side bolster assembly is mounted in the vehicle.

10. A side bolster assembly comprising:
a carrier having a first wall, a pocket that extends from the first wall, a second wall, and a step wall that extends from the first wall to the second wall;
a cushion that is supported by the first wall and extends across the pocket, wherein the cushion is spaced apart from and does not engage the second wall and has a first cushion end surface that is disposed proximate the step wall;
an airbag module that is supported by the carrier and disposed in the pocket, the airbag module having an inflatable airbag;
a trim cover that covers at least a portion of the cushion, wherein the trim cover has a deployment seam and engages the second wall; and
a guide member for guiding the airbag around the cushion upon inflation, wherein the guide member extends from the airbag module toward the deployment seam such that the guide member is disposed between the first wall and the cushion.

11. A side bolster assembly for mounting in a vehicle proximate a vehicle body, the side bolster assembly comprising:
a carrier having a pocket having a pocket opening and a first wall that defines the pocket opening, the pocket being at least partially defined by first and second pocket walls that extend from the first wall, wherein the carrier is configured to be fixedly positioned with respect to the vehicle body;
a cushion that is supported by the first wall and extends across the pocket opening;
an airbag module that is supported by the carrier and disposed in the pocket between the first pocket wall and the second pocket wall, the airbag module having an inflatable airbag;
a trim cover that covers at least a portion of the cushion, the trim cover having a deployment seam; and
a guide member for guiding the airbag around the cushion such that the airbag does not deploy through the cushion upon inflation, the guide member extending between the airbag module and the deployment seam such that the guide member is disposed between the first wall and the cushion.

12. The side bolster assembly of claim 11 wherein the carrier further comprises a third pocket wall that extends from the first pocket wall to the second pocket wall.

13. The side bolster assembly of claim 12 wherein the airbag module includes an inflator that provides an inflation gas to inflate the airbag, wherein the inflator is disposed on the third pocket wall.

14. The side bolster assembly of claim 12 wherein the pocket includes a pair of side pocket openings that are disposed at opposite ends of the pocket and are defined by the first pocket wall, second pocket wall, and third pocket wall.

15. The side bolster assembly of claim 11 further comprising an insert panel that is disposed on the first wall adjacent to a seat back, wherein the guide member extends between a first cushion end surface of the cushion and the insert panel.

16. The side bolster assembly of claim 15 wherein the carrier further comprises a second wall and a lateral step wall that extends from the first wall to the second wall, wherein the insert panel has a first insert panel end surface and engages the guide member and a second insert panel end surface that is disposed opposite the first insert panel end surface and engages the lateral step wall.

17. The side bolster assembly of claim 16 wherein the guide member has a first panel and a second panel, wherein the first panel has a first end that is attached to the trim cover proximate the deployment seam and the second panel has a second end that is attached to the trim cover proximate the deployment seam, wherein the first panel engages the cushion but does not engage the carrier or the insert panel and the second panel engages the carrier and the insert panel but does not engage the cushion.

18. The side bolster assembly of claim 17 wherein the first panel engages the first cushion end surface of the cushion and the second panel engages the first insert panel end surface.

19. The side bolster assembly of claim 11 further comprising an insert panel that extends from the first wall to the trim cover, wherein the guide member extends between a first cushion end surface of the cushion and the insert panel.

20. The side bolster assembly of claim 19 wherein the deployment seam is disposed opposite the first wall between the insert panel and the pocket.

Assignees

• Lear Corp

Inventors

• Zimmermann Matthias

Classifications

• B60R21/207 Primary

  in vehicle seats · CPC title

• B60N2/449

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60N2002/5808

  comprising opening zones for airbags · CPC title

• B60N2/58

  Seat coverings · CPC title

• B60R2021/2078

  in rear seats · CPC title