Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Kensaku Honda

Yuji Sato

Masashi Hotta

Yoshiaki Goto

Koji Shibayama

Akira Yamashita

Takashi Iida

Daisuke Yamamura

Michiyasu Ito

Hitoshi Kawabe

Hiroshi Kato

Atsushi Nagata

Masashi Aoki

Eiji Sato

Masao Kino

Akira Suzuki

Koji Kawamura

Yasushi Masuda

Yasushi Okada

Masakazu Hashimoto

Takuya Hiraiwa

Masaaki Okuhara

Akihiro Nukaya

Yoshinari Takei

Yoshihiko Hishiki

Kikuyo Izoe

Masahi Hotta

Naoki Nimi

Toshihiro Hosoi

An airbag apparatus includes a gas generator, and an airbag. The airbag includes a first fabric inner tube and a second fabric inner tube, both surrounding at least a gas injecting portion of the gas generator to have a double tubular shape. Common portions of the first inner tube and the second inner tube in a tubular circumferential direction are coupled to an airbag main body by a coupling portion extending in a tubular length direction, and other common portions which are separated from the common portions of the first inner tube and the second inner tube by a central angle (a central angle in a state where the airbag is only deployed and not inflated) of 70 to 180 degrees about the gas generator in the tubular circumferential direction are coupled to each other by a coupling portion extending in the tubular length direction.

Airbag apparatus

A side airbag device includes a folded-up airbag and a limitation member disposed around the airbag for constraining the airbag from protruding forward at airbag deployment. The limitation member is formed of a flexible sheet member into a band shape, and is joined to the folded-up airbag by the opposite end regions. The limitation member includes a loose region which is arranged around the folded-up airbag in such a manner as to be remote from the folded-up airbag. The loose region is disposed on a side of the folded-up airbag towards which the airbag protrudes. The loose region includes a tearable region in the region in a deployment direction of the airbag.

Side airbag device

A side airbag system includes: an airbag; and a wrapping material that is disposed around a folded-up airbag body into which the airbag is folded so as to prevent the collapse of neatly arranged folds of the folded-up airbag body, the folded-up airbag body being configured as an elongated body having an external shape that is disposed so that a longitudinal direction thereof substantially follows an up-to-down direction, wherein: the wrapping material is disposed so as to wrap around the folded-up airbag body, including a brake planned portion capable of breaking when the airbag inflates which is provided on a front surface side of the folded-up airbag body so as to substantially follow the up-to-down direction; and the break planned portion comprises a low-strength portion where a break strength thereof is set low and a high-strength portion where the break strength is set high.

Side airbag system

An airbag of a side airbag apparatus includes an upstream inflation portion, which inflates by inflation gas, and deploys frontward at a side of a vehicle seat. An opening is provided at a wall portion of the upstream inflation portion. A pressure regulator valve closes before an occupant is restrained by the upstream inflation portion, thereby restricting the inflation gas in the upstream inflation portion from flowing through the opening. Upon the occupant restraint, the pressure regulator valve cancels the restriction in response to a change in a tensed state of the dividing portion by an external force applied due to the restraint. A tear seam that connects valve body portions of the pressure regulator valve delays the opening time of the pressure regulator valve upon the occupant restraint by the upstream inflation portion relative to the opening time set only by the pressure regulator valve.

Side airbag apparatus

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 inflation portion of an airbag, which is inflated by inflation gas, is partitioned into an upstream inflation portion and a downstream inflation portion via a partition member. When being tensioned in a planar manner, the partition member has a length in a longitudinal direction that is longer than a length in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. A pressure regulating valve that is closed at an early stage of a supply period of the inflation gas to the inflation portion and is opened from the middle of the supply period includes a slit-like inner opening that is provided on the partition member and extends in the transverse direction and a pair of valve body portions that are provided around the inner opening and are selectively positioned close to and separated from each other.

An inflation portion of an airbag main body is divided into a first inflation chamber, a second inflation chamber in front of and adjacent to the first inflation chamber with a vertical partition in between, and a third inflation chamber below the first inflation chamber with a lateral partition in between. The vertical partition has a pressure regulator valve. Before the first inflation chamber restrains an occupant, the pressure regulator valve restricts flow of inflation gas from the first inflation chamber to the second inflation chamber. When the first inflation chamber restrains the occupant, the pressure regulator valve opens in response to a change in the tensed state of the vertical partition due to the applied external force generated by the restraint, thereby cancelling the restraint. The lateral partition has a check valve, which restricts flow of inflation gas from the third inflation chamber to the first inflation chamber.

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.

Inside of an airbag is partitioned by a partitioning member into an upstream inflation portion, which is inflated by a supply of gas, and a downstream inflation portion, which is inflated by inflow of the gas from the upstream inflation portion. The partitioning member includes a wide portion where an external force to be applied accompanying an occupant restraint by the airbag becomes largest. In the partitioning member, slits are formed at portions other than the wide portion. The slits cause the gas to flow into the downstream inflation portion from the upstream inflation portion upon the inflation of the airbag. The slits are opened by the force to increase the flow rate of the gas into the downstream inflation portion from the upstream inflation portion during the occupant restraint by the airbag compared to the gas flow rate before the occupant restraint by the airbag.

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.

An inflation portion of an airbag is divided by a partitioning member into an upstream inflation portion and a downstream inflation portion. Part of the partitioning member forms a pair of overlapping portions overlapped with each other in a band-like shape inside the upstream inflation portion. The overlapping portions are joined to each other by a joint portion located at a boundary between the overlapping portions and non-overlapping portions. The partitioning member includes an opening, which is formed by cancelling the joint between the overlapping portions by the joint portion, and a pressure regulating valve, which includes a pair of valve bodies, which sandwiches the opening. Stress relaxation portions are provided at the overlapping portions. The stress relaxation portions relax stress acting on parts of the joint portion that are adjacent to the opening as the pressure regulating valve is opened.

An airbag includes an airbag body and an inner tube. The inner tube includes a gas upstream section located in an upstream region of an inflation gas stream fed from a gas generator and a gas outlet section that opens toward an inflatable region of the airbag body and feeds an inflation gas to the inflatable region. The gas outlet section includes a check valve section. The check valve section has a flexible and a generally tubular shape extending and opening toward the inflatable region due to pressure of an inflation gas so as to stream the inflation gas into the inflatable region. After the gas generator has finished discharging the inflation gas, the check valve section folds back toward the gas upstream section due to an internal pressure of the inflatable region and closes off the gas outlet section.

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Kiyosu, Japan

Kensaku Honda