Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Koki Co., Ltd.

Honda R&d Co., Ltd.

Honda, Kiyoshi

Kiyoshi Honda

Seiichiroh Kobayashi

Motohiro Okada

Kazuo Matsuura

Yoshinobu Tada

Katsumi Oka

Junichi Kishimoto

Wolfgang Schwarz

Kouichi Suyama

Martin Klober

Eugen Feuerstake

Takashi Kojima

Karl-Heinz Schneider

Tsukasa Itoh

Gerd Kuscher

Klaus Schluter

An occupant holding-back device is provided which is capable of preventing unnecessary operations. When the amount of a webbing drawn from a retractor is any one of equal to and larger than a predetermined value and a tongue mounted on the webbing is coupled to a buckle, an ignition control member is brought into a stand-by state. If an acceleration sensor detects an acceleration which is any one of equal to and larger than a predetermined value, an inflator is ignited, causing a bag accommodated in the webbing to be expanded. When the occupant holding-back device is not being worn by an occupant, or when the occupant holding-back device is utilized for fixing a child seat, the ignition of the inflator is prohibited. Hence, unnecessary operations of the occupant holding-back device is prevented.

Inflatable seat belt control system

The inflator assembly comprises a cylindrical housing main body which is made by extrusion so that it is possible to achieve a desired cross section which optimizes the progress of combustion of the propellant while minimizing the size of the housing. In particular, by using a member clad or mounted with brazing material for an internal component of the assembly, such as the ignition pipe, a leg section for supporting the ignition pipe inside the housing, a wall section for defining a separate combustion chamber, at least one of the end plates for closing the axial ends of the housing main body, and a perforated plate member serving as the perforated section, it is possible to simplify the manufacturing process, and thereby reduce the manufacturing cost.

Inflator assembly for a vehicle air bag system

After the pressure of the gas in a first chamber reaches the maximum value, the cover for the air bag is broken up. The cover is broken at the pressure of the maximum value, and there is almost no waste of the gas energy. Thus, the cover can be broken up by the small amount of the gas energy and the heat losses are extremely reduced, so that the amount of the gas generating agents are made small. Also, the cover is broken by the burning of the first chamber and the air bag is inflated at the first stage by expansion and inertia of the gas. There is provided a mechanical timing for ignition delay, and then the bag is fully inflated by the burning of a second chamber. Therefore, the bag can be desirably inflated.

Multiple stage airbag gas generator

In a vehicle air bag system for restraining a vehicle occupant under a high deceleration situation, a retainer for retaining the air bag is provided with vent holes, and an inflator for inflating the air bag is initially placed over the vent holes. The inflator is attached to the retainer or to the air bag via a flexible member so that as the air bag is deployed, the inflator is lifted away from the vent holes, thereby allowing the gas inside the air bag to be expelled. Thus, the air bag is not required to be provided with an opening for deflating the air bag after restraining the vehicle occupant, and the produced gas can be efficiently used for inflating the air bag. Because the vent holes are formed in the fixed retainer, and its effective size remains fixed, as opposed to the case of forming a vent hole in the air bag itself, it is possible to control the time sequence of inflating and deflating the air bag in a highly accurate manner.

Vehicle air bag system

An inflator and an air bag are received in a plastic cover which comprises a pair of retainer sections which are connected to opposing edges of the cover by plastic hinges so that free ends of the retainer sections are jointly attached to a fixed part of the vehicle body. Preferably, the inflator is received in a gas-permeable and flexible retainer bag which is placed inside the air bag, and provided with a tubular section having a rod member passed through the tubular section along with holes provided in a fixed part of the vehicle body. The free ends of the retainer sections may be provided with tabs which can mutually interdigitate, and an inwardly concave semi-cylindrical profile positioned centrally of the cover adapted to be placed against the rod member. Thus, the inflator can be secured to the fixed part of the vehicle body in a reliable manner without requiring any mechanical fasteners. To securely join the air bag to the inflator, an open end of the air bag may be sewn or otherwise attached to a part of the retainer bag adjacent to the tubular section.

Vehicle air bag retaining arrangement

An airbag apparatus for a vehicle in which the installing work is simple, the weight is light and there is no fear of unnecessary gas leakage on inflation of the airbag is provided. In an airbag apparatus for a vehicle having an airbag inflated by a gas flowing out from an inflator when a deceleration of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value for protecting an occupant in the vehicle, the inflator is held in the airbag and fixed to an elongated member with at least one end fixed to an inner surface of the airbag.

Airbag apparatus for vehicle

Each of air bag devices includes an inflator mounted in a seat back, a first air bag which is connected to the inflator and developed into a space between an occupant and a side door, and a second air bag connected to the first air bag and developed into a space between the occupant and an instrument panel. When the internal pressure in the first air bag exceeds a predetermined value, the internal spaces in the first and second air bags are put into communication with each other through a pressure valve. When a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an obstacle, the first air bag is first inflated and developed by a high pressure gas generated by the inflator. When the first air bag has been developed, the pressure valve V is opened, causing the second air bag to be developed. Thus, not only upon a frontal collision and a side collision of the vehicle, but also upon an oblique collision of the vehicle, it is possible to reliably hold the occupant.

Method for developing air bag for vehicle

A passenger protection apparatus has plural kinds of passenger protectors, e.g., air bags and seat belt retractors, which are actuated when a scale of collision of a vehicle is above an actuation level. It has a memory for memorizing actuation levels which are set in advance for each kind of the passenger protectors. The apparatus has a corrector for correcting the actuation level, which is kept in the memory, of non-actuated kind of passenger protector to a lower level when at least one kind, out of the plural kinds, of passenger protectors is actuated. In case the passenger protection apparatus is made up of a gas-actuated air bag which is actuated by a plularity of gas generators, it has also a memory for memorizing actuation levels which are set in advance for each of the gas generators. An actuation level corrector corrects the actuation level, which is kept in the memory, of a non-actuated gas generator to a lower level when at least one of the plurality of gas generators is actuated.

Passenger protection apparatus

First and a second sealing layers are provided inside an inner periphery of a casing layer having a plurality of gas ejecting bores in its outer peripheral wall, and a gas-generating agent is mounted between the sealing layers, while a compressed gas is filled inside the second sealing layer. When the gas-generating agent is fired due to a collision of a vehicle, the first sealing layer is cleaved in a region of the gas ejecting bores by the pressure of a generated combustion gas and, then, the second sealing layer is cleaved likewise in a region of the gas ejecting bores by the pressure of the compressed gas, thereby permitting the compressed gas to be ejected uniformly from the plurality of gas ejecting bores into an air bag. In this case, a reduction in temperature of the compressed gas due to an adiabatic expansion thereof is compensated for by mixing of the compressed gas with the combustion gas, thereby enabling an efficient expansion of the air bag.

Gas generator for air bag system

Tip ends of hanging strings are connected to appropriate portions on an inner surface of an air bag having an opening portion mounted around an outer periphery of a gas generator, while base ends of the hanging strings are fixed to a retaining ring. The retaining ring is secured to a mounting base so as to clamp and fix the opening portion of the air bag between the retaining ring and the mounting base. When the air bag opening portion is to be fixed to another retaining ring, both the retaining rings for the hanging rings and the air bag opening portion are overlapped to each other and secured to the mounting base. This achieves a simplification in structure of an air bag system and in procedure of assembling the same.

Air bag system and process for producing the same

An automotive knee bolster for supporting a knee of a vehicle occupant in case of a frontal vehicle crash, comprising: a deformable, energy absorbing member adapted to be placed opposite to a knee of a vehicle occupant; and a substantially rigid, load spreading member attached thereto to spread an impact force applied thereto by the knee to a large area of the energy absorbing member. Since the impact load from the knee is spread over the entire energy absorbing member without producing any localized deformation which would give rise to buckling deformation, the energy absorbing member can absorb a maximum amount of energy at a controlled rate without applying excessive resistance to the knee.

Automotive knee bolster

A steering wheel assembly has a steering shaft, a wheel ring, a support supporting the wheel ring on the steering shaft, and an air bag device supported on the support means radially inwardly of the wheel ring. The wheel ring has an upper half and a lower half which are positioned above and below, respectively, a transverse line passing through the steering shaft when the steering wheel is in a neutral position thereof. The support has a first support member supporting the upper half of the wheel ring and a second support member supporting the lower half of the wheel ring, the first support member having a greater rigidity than that of the second support member.

Steering wheel assembly with air bag

A bag of an air bag assembly is fixed at a base portion thereof to a gas generator in such a manner as to enclose openings which are formed in the latter, the bag being inflated by gas which jets out through the openings perpendicularly to a direction intending toward an occupant. A self-sustained reinforcing member is mounted on the base portion of the bag and provided with a surface which faces the openings of the gas generator. Gas rushing out through the openings is intercepted and redirected toward the occupant by the surface of the reinforcing member. A space for heat insulation is defined between the outer periphery of the reinforcing member and the inner periphery of the bag.

Air bag assembly for restraining vehicle occupant

In an air bag unit for use in a motor vehicle, including a casing mounted onto a steering wheel assembly, a gas generator arranged in the casing, an inflatable air bag fixed to the casing and communicating with the gas generator and a cover adapted to cover the casing, the cover comprises a base portion fixedly mounted to the casing and a top portion connected to the base portion and having first and second weakened portions, the first and second weakened portions being broken upon inflation of the air bag, so that the top portion is divided into two cover pieces and that these cover pieces are open outwardly, a reinforcing member embedded in the cover except the first and second weakened portions, and one or a plurality of hooks arranged in the base portion, each hook being engaged with the reinforcing member and being fixed to the casing of the air bag unit. Each hook includes a base plate and a bent portion. The base plate is fixed to the casing, and the bent portion has a plurality of hook elements with which the reinforcing member is engaged.

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Saitama-ken, Japan

Kiyoshi Honda