Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Norio Mizuno

Yuta Okayama

Yuji Sato

Atsushi Nagata

Masashi Hotta

Eiji Sato

Takashi Iida

Takuya Hiraiwa

Shun Takeuchi

Norio Umemura

Jun Sato

Yoshiteru Banno

Norihisa Taya

Kazuhiro Terada

Hiroyuki Yamada

Naoki Tsukamoto

Takashi Ilda

A steering wheel includes a functional device and a control device, which is electrically connected to the functional device. The functional device includes a functional case, which constitutes a housing of the functional device. The control device includes a control case, which constitutes a housing of the control device. A first connector is partially exposed to an outside of the functional case. A second connector is partially exposed to an outside of the control case. The first connector is coupled to the second connector, so that the functional device is electrically connected to the control device without a harness between the functional case and the control case.

Steering wheel

A side airbag device includes: an airbag which is stored in a storage part provided on a side of an occupant sitting on a seat of a vehicle in a normal posture, and is deployed and inflated forward between the occupant and a side wall part by an inflation gas supplied from a gas generator in response to an impact applied from a side to the side wall part of the vehicle; an exhaust port configured to exhaust an inflation gas, the exhaust port being provided with the airbag and open toward a direction along a wall surface of the side wall part; and an opening varying mechanism configured to reduce an opening area of the exhaust port in a later stage of deployment and inflation of the airbag compared to an initial stage.

Side airbag device

An airbag main body is stored in a storage portion in a storage form and includes an elongated stacked portion. The stacked portion includes a first stacked section, which forms a lower part, and a second stacked section, which forms a part above the first stacked section and accommodates a gas generator. In the storage form, the first stacked section includes a plurality of bent sections arranged along a flowing direction of inflation gas. Among the bent sections, the bent section that is located at the most downstream position in the inflation gas flowing direction is a downstream bent section. Among the bent sections, at least the downstream bent section is arranged behind the second stacked section.

Side airbag apparatus

A lateral partition of a side airbag apparatus extends in a front-rear direction to divide the interior of an airbag into an upper inflation chamber and a lower inflation chamber. A vertical partition extends vertically and includes a communication portion. The vertical partition divides the upper inflation chamber into an upper-rear inflation chamber, to which inflation gas from a gas generator is supplied, and an upper-front inflation chamber, to which the inflation gas is supplied via the communication portion. An inner tube regulates the flow of the inflation gas to direct to the upper-rear inflation chamber and the lower inflation chamber. The rear ends of two first fabric portions of the vertical partition are joined to the upper parts of the front ends of two second fabric portions of the inner tube by a first vertical joint portion.

An airbag apparatus having an airbag, which is formed into a bag shape by sewing a base fabric, is disclosed. The airbag includes a seam having a first seam section and a second seam section, which is formed after the first seam section is formed. The second seam section has an extremity and an overlapped portion, which is a section between the extremity and an intersected portion. The first seam section has an end part, which includes an overlapping portion. The overlapping portion is located at a position inside of the overlapped portion of the second seam section and extends along the overlapped portion. The overlapping portion includes an intersecting portion, which intersects the intersected portion of the second seam section. The end part of the first seam section further includes an extension, which extends from the intersecting portion to a position that is outside of the second seam section.

Airbag apparatus

A pressure reducing portion is formed by joining two fabric portions at a position corresponding to an occupant's arm. The pressure reducing portion limits the thickness of the airbag in the widthwise direction of a vehicle and prevents the arm from being pressed inward in the widthwise direction. A support joint portion joins the fabric portions at a position below the lower end of the pressure reducing portion and behind the front end of the pressure reducing portion when the airbag is arranged in such a manner that a linear portion of the airbag extends vertically. The support joint portion projects toward the pressure reducing portion beyond the line including the lower end of the airbag and the lower end of the linear portion. The end of the support joint portion located close to the pressure reducing portion is located below the lower end of the pressure reducing portion.

Growing community of inventors

Kiyosu, Japan

Norio Mizuno