Protective structures for air sensors in a vehicle body structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9573544-B1
Application number	US-201514833902-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 24, 2015
Priority date	Aug 24, 2015
Publication date	Feb 21, 2017
Grant date	Feb 21, 2017

Abstract

A pair of vehicle door panels defines a cavity. An air sensor has an air inlet protruding into the cavity and senses an air pressure within the cavity. A shield covers the air inlet, has at least one side wall extending away from the air inlet, and defines a chamber configured to collapse in response to an increase in the air pressure to excite the air sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A door assembly comprising:
a pair of panels forming a cavity therebetween;
an air sensor having an air inlet protruding into the cavity and configured to sense a pressure within the cavity; and
a shield disposed over the air inlet, having at least one corrugated side wall extending away from the air inlet, and defining a chamber configured to fold to collapse in response to an increase in the pressure to excite the air sensor.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shield further includes a top defining a plurality of perforations and wherein each of the perforations is less than 1 mm across to facilitate a flow of air between the cavity and chamber.

3. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shield has a flat top cone shape.

4. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shield has a dome shape.

5. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shield has a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

6. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pair of panels are door panels.

7. A vehicle comprising:
a door assembly defining a cavity;
an air sensor configured to sense a pressure within the cavity;
a flexible shield covering the air sensor, including at least one corrugated side wall configured to fold when collapsing, defining a chamber within the cavity, and configured to collapse in response to an increase in the pressure; and
a controller configured to, in response to a signal from the air sensor indicating an increase in the pressure greater than a threshold, command deployment of an airbag.

8. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the at least one corrugated side wall further defines a plurality of perforations and wherein each of the perforations is less than 1 mm across to facilitate a flow of air between the cavity and chamber.

9. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the shield includes a top defining a plurality of perforations and wherein each of the perforations is less than 1 mm across to facilitate a flow of air between the cavity and chamber.

10. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the door assembly is a driver side door assembly, a passenger side door assembly, or a rear door assembly.

11. A door assembly comprising:
an inner panel joined with an exterior panel to form a cavity therebetween;
an air sensor supported by the inner panel and configured to sense an air pressure in the cavity; and
a shield covering the air sensor, including a corrugated side wall, defining a chamber within the cavity, and configured to fold to reduce a volume of the chamber in response to an increase in the air pressure.

12. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the corrugated side wall includes a plurality of perforations and wherein each of the perforations is less than 1 mm across to facilitate a flow of air between the cavity and chamber.

13. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the shield includes a top defining a plurality of perforations and wherein each of the perforations is less than 1 mm across to facilitate a flow of air between the cavity and chamber.

14. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the shield has a flat top cone shape.

15. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the shield has a dome shape.

16. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the shield has a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef
• Hammoud Jeffery
• Carremm Swadad A
• Conner Dana

Classifications

• G01L19/0636 Primary

  using particle filters · CPC title

• B60R21/0136 Primary

  responsive to actual contact with an obstacle {, e.g. to vehicle deformation, bumper displacement or bumper velocity relative to the vehicle (monitoring crash strength in combination with passenger seat detection B60R21/01558)} · CPC title

• B60R21/16

  Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags ({protective garments with automatically inflatable shock-absorbing means A41D13/018; } connection of valves to inflatable elastic bodies B60C29/00) · CPC title

• B60R21/013

  including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over · CPC title

• B60J5/04 Primary

  arranged at the vehicle sides {(panel mounted arm-rests B60N2/78; wall liners B60R13/02; door edge guards B60R13/043; padded linings associated with the side doors B60R21/0428)} · CPC title