Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Akira Yamashita

Yuji Sato

Masashi Hotta

Yoshiaki Goto

Kensaku Honda

Takashi Iida

Eiji Sato

Motoyuki Tanaka

Tsutomu Ishii

Shinichi Ishida

Masaaki Okuhara

Takuya Hiraiwa

Toshihito Yanagisawa

Yoshiteru Banno

Yoshio Ono

Yoshinari Takei

Brandon Streeter

Yoshihiko Hishiki

Kikuyo Izoe

John Ruddy

Yoshitomo Kato

Naoki Nimi

Toshihiro Hosoi

An airbag device includes an actuator of a configuration that causes a string-form coupling member extending from an airbag to be coupled, and controls an inflation aspect of the airbag by causing a state of coupling with the coupling member to be maintained or terminated. The actuator includes a gas generator that can eject a combustion gas and a holder portion that can hold the coupling member. The holder portion includes a holding wall portion, which can hold the wound coupling member on an outer peripheral face side, and a top wall portion that closes a leading end side of the holding wall portion, and a contact region in which the combustion gas can be brought into contact with the coupling member is disposed in a region of the holding wall portion. The actuator causes the coupling member to be severed by causing the combustion gas to come into contact with the coupling member in the contact region, whereby a state of the coupling member being held in the holder portion can be terminated.

Airbag device

An airbag is installed in a storage section of an instrument panel. The airbag includes a bag body, a part of which is constituted by a peripheral wall panel section. The peripheral wall panel section includes a pair of panels arranged in the vehicle width direction. At least one of the panels includes an assembled panel, in which adjacent fabric pieces are joined by a peripheral edge joint section. The assembled panel includes a support inflation section, which, when the bag body is deployed and inflated, projects outward of the bag body further than the other sections of the assembled panel so as to be in contact with the instrument panel. The support inflation section is constituted by a part of the peripheral edge joint section and a part of each of the two fabric pieces that are joined by the peripheral edge joint section.

Vehicle airbag apparatus

A steering wheel includes a metal core earthed to a body of a vehicle, an airbag device, an insulator, and a connector. The airbag device includes a bag holder supported by the metal core, wherein the bag holder forms part of a positive electric path connected to a horn device, an airbag coupled to the bag holder by a fastener, and an inflator including a circumferential portion that forms a flange, wherein the flange of the inflator is coupled by the fastener to the bag holder. The insulator insulates the bag holder from at least the flange and the fastener among elements of the airbag device. The connector electrically connects at least the flange, among the flange and the fastener, to the metal core.

Steering wheel

An airbag apparatus includes an airbag, a retainer secured to the airbag, and an elongated inflator attached to the retainer. The inflator discharges gas for inflating the airbag. The retainer includes an attaching protrusion, which protrudes in a direction intersecting an axis of the inflator and secures the retainer to a vehicle together with the airbag. The inflator includes an attaching protrusion, which protrudes in the direction intersecting the axis and secures the inflator to the vehicle together with the retainer.

Airbag apparatus and method for assembling the same

An airbag is manufactured as follows. In a first joining step, peripheral portions of structural fabric portions that are located closer to the main body fabric portions at the installation are joined to the main body fabric portions in a spread state. In a second joining step, a part that is not overlaid onto the structural fabric portions is joined to the main body fabric portions, and a part that is overlaid onto the structural fabric portions is joined only to the structural fabric portions. In a third joining step, peripheral portions of the structural fabric portions that are separated away from the main body fabric portions at the installation are joined to each other.

Method for manufacturing airbag

An airbag includes a high pressure expansion chamber, a low pressure expansion chamber, and a communication passage, which connects the high pressure expansion chamber and the low pressure expansion chamber to each other. A gas supply port, which supplies inflation gas into the airbag, is located inside the low pressure expansion chamber to discharge the inflation gas toward the inside of the communication passage. The communication passage extends from the edge of a communication port, which connects the high pressure expansion chamber and the low pressure expansion chamber, toward the inside of the high pressure expansion chamber. At deployment and inflation of the airbag, the communication passage is located between a seam formed at the outer periphery of the base fabric sheet of the airbag and the gas supply port.

Airbag apparatus

A lateral partition is formed by a pair of structural fabric portions, each of which has a first peripheral portion and a second peripheral portion. The first peripheral portions of the structural fabric portions are each joined to one of main body fabric portions. The second peripheral portions of the structural fabric portions are joined to each other by a joint portion provided along the second peripheral portions. An inner tube extends over the upper inflation chamber and the lower inflation chamber, while intersecting with the lateral partition. A rear peripheral portion of a part of the inner tube is joined to the main body fabric portions by a part of the peripheral joint portion, and a front peripheral portion of the part is joined to the structural fabric portions by the joint portion.

Side airbag apparatus

A gas generator includes an inflator and a retainer. The retainer includes a holding portion, which partially covers the inflator. The inflator has an attaching protrusion for determining the position relative to the retainer. The retainer includes an engagement base and a tongue piece. The tongue piece extends in an axial direction of the inflator and from a position separated from the engagement base in the circumferential direction of the holding portion. The engagement base and the tongue piece each have an engagement portion. The engagement portions face each other to form an engagement space therebetween, into which the attaching protrusion enters. The engagement space has an inlet the width of which is less than the size of the positioning protrusion. When the inflator causes the positioning protrusion to increase the width of the inlet, the tongue piece is elastically deformed about a basal end of the tongue piece.

Gas generator and airbag apparatus

A side airbag apparatus is provided in a side portion of a vehicle seat back located on the vehicle outer side. The side airbag apparatus includes an airbag unit elongated in the up-down direction and a plate fixed to the airbag unit. The airbag unit has an airbag and an inflator. The plate has a fixing portion and a rear wall portion. The inner side surface of the airbag unit is fixed to the fixing portion. The rear wall portion covers an upper half portion of the airbag unit. The rear wall portion also partly covers the rear surface of the lower half portion of the airbag unit. The plate is made of resin and has flexibility and elasticity.

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Kiyosu, Japan

Akira Yamashita