Nissan Motor Company Limited

Daisuke Masuda

Hideo Tobata

Kouichi Oota

Tetsuo Maki

Gousuke Wakana

To provide a passenger protective device and method that can achieve a stable protective performance even when deploying the airbag from the seat belt, thus allowing for appropriate restraint of the passenger's head. Passenger protective devicemakes the timing in which the internal pressure of thigh airbagpeaks slower than the timing in which the internal pressure of head airbagpeaks. In addition, it also makes the timing in which the capacity of thigh airbagreaches the maximum slower than the timing in which the capacity of head airbagreaches the maximum. In this manner, the passenger's head, which moves due to inertial force, is caught by head airbagand head airbagis supported by thigh airbag, which is softer than said airbag. Therefore, the passenger's head can be caught softly.

Passenger protective device and method

A vehicle occupant restraint system is provided with an air bag restraint device including a first deploying portion deploying between a vehicle occupant and a portion in a vehicle, and a second deploying portion deploying related to the first deploying portion. The second deploying portion providing a support for the first deploying portion to receive at least a part of a load acting on the first deploying portion from a head of the vehicle occupant.

Vehicle occupant restraint system and method

A vehicle occupant restraint system of the present invention has: a seat belt restraint device () including a shoulder belt () which restrains the body of a vehicle occupant (C) diagonally from one of the shoulders (Cs) to the chest (Cc), and a lap belt () which restrains the waist (Cw) of the vehicle occupant (C); an upper air bag () supported by an upper support point () provided on the shoulder belt (); a lower air bag () supported by a lower support point () provided on the lap belt () and coming into contact with the upper air bag () in a vertical direction when being inflated and extended; and an air bag movement inhibiting structure (H&#x2013;H). The air bag movement inhibiting structure (H&#x2013;H) applies, to at least one of the upper support point () and the lower support point (), a moment (M&#x2013;M) in a direction of canceling movements of contact surfaces of the upper and lower air bags () toward a side in the vehicle width direction, where a part of the shoulder belt () is located above the shoulder (Cs) of the vehicle occupant (C), when the upper air bag () and the lower air bag () receive inertial force of the vehicle occupant (C) toward a front of a vehicle.

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Zama, Japan

Daisuke Masuda