Nissan Motor Company Limited

Makoto Hikone

Kouzo Maeda

Hideo Omura

Masanobu Yoshioka

Munemasa Shimamura

Motoharu Suzuki

An air-bag device includes an air-bag proper mounted to a center pad of a steering wheel, the air-bag proper having therein upper and lower portions with respect to a condition wherein the air-bag proper is practically expanded; an inflator having gas blow openings exposed to the interior of the air-bag proper, the inflator generating gases which are to be blown into the air-bag proper through the gas blow openings; a trimmed cover covering the air-bag proper in a folded up condition; an ignitor for actuating the inflator to generate the gases; and a unique structure for restricting a flowing of the gases toward the upper part of the air-bag proper.

Air-bag device

A safety arrangement for a driver's seat in an automotive vehicle having a steering column extending to the driver's seat. The safety arrangement is comprised of a column bracket to which the steering column is secured. The column bracket is slidably secured to a sliding block 5 fixed to vehicle body side. The column bracket is put into a slidable condition under the action of a solenoid when a driver is restrained by a seat belt, while into a fixed condition under the action of the solenoid when the driver is released from the seat belt. The column bracket is moved forward together with the steering column when an impact force is applied to a knee protector, thereby absorbing impact energy while withdrawing the steering column. Even under the fixed condition of the column bracket, an impact force applied to the steering column can be effectively absorbed by an energy absorbing mechanism provided between the steering column and the column bracket.

Vehicular safety arrangement for driver's seat

To effectively absorb shocks applied to both a rim and a cover pad of a steering wheel simultaneously or separately in spite of a simple construction, the steering wheel comprises a shock absorbing member disposed under the cover pad and sandwiched between upper and lower plates, and a spoke fixing plate for connecting radially inner ends of spokes to a middle peripheral surface of the shock absorbing member. A shock applied to the rim is mainly absorbed by the lower portion of the absorbing member by shearing deformation thereof and a shock applied to the cover pad is mainly absorbed by the upper portion of the absorbing member by compressive deformation thereof. Further, to uniformly absorb shocks applied to the cover pad at various points and in different directions, a support base having a projection is disposed under the lower plate (on which the shock absorbing member is arranged) to reduce the rigidity of the shock absorbing member. Furthermore, it is preferable to connect an additional W-shaped cross-section shock absorbing plate to a hollow cylindrical shock absorbing member via upper and lower plates for providing further uniform shock absorbing characteristics irrespective of points and directions at and in which a shock is applied.

Steering wheel with shock absorber

Herein disclosed is a steering wheel construction which comprises a circular rim; a hub adapted to connect to a steering shaft; at least one spoke connecting the circular rim and the hub; a center pad supported by the spoke and located at a generally center portion of the circular rim; and an energy absorbing structure positioned between the hub and the center pad, wherein the energy absorbing structure is so arranged as to be deformed when the spoke is subjected to deformation.

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Yokosuka, Japan

Makoto Hikone