Davidson Textron Inc.

Scott E Rafferty

Bruce A Batchelder

Scott M Filion

Lawrence R Nichols

Claude E Bemis

Richard Combs

Steven Castrigno

Mary K Marshall

Mark Dupuis

An air bag cover door for a steering wheel mounted air bag module includes an inner cover, an outer cover, a horn actuator attached to the inside surface of the outer cover, and one or more protrusions extending between the inner and outer covers about the horn actuator. The protrusions prevent the inner cover from compressing the horn actuator under the pressure exerted by the stored material of the air bag. The outer cover, including its inside surface, is deformable upon hand pressure being exerted thereon and the horn actuator is responsive to such deformation to activate the vehicle horn. The horn actuator can be a transducer, such as a variable resistor, adhered to the inside surface. The inner cover is permanently secured to the base of the air bag module by, for example, rivets, while the outer cover section is removably secured to the base by, for example, screws. This construction permits removal of the outer cover section and access to the horn actuator without providing access to the contents of the air bag module.

Driver's side air bag cover door incorporating a horn actuator

A passenger vehicle has a dashboard having a decorative panel for covering an air bag assembly installation and enable deployment outwardly of the panel upon inflation. The panel comprises a thermoplastic inner support layer having discrete surfaces abutting each other along a predetermined H-shaped tear seam line partially framing the opening to define a door in the panel and a flexible vinyl outer skin layer presenting a smooth outer surface and having a weakened section on its inner surface forming the seam line. An intermediate resilient olefin foam layer or a polyurethane foam layer of equivalent strength having discrete surfaces abutting each other along the seam line completely fills the void between the inner and outer layers and is adhesively bonded to the inner and outer layers. The outer skin along the tear seam line is fractured by inflation of the air bag to break the loose to pivot open about a hinge line extending between the ends of the seam line to enable deployment of the air bag outwardly of the panel.

Decorative panel with invisible tear seam

An interior trim product has an opening therein formed to overlie an air bag restraint assembly including a canister for generating gas for inflating an air bag for deployment into the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The opening is closed by a door having a vinyl outer covering matching the aesthetic appearance of the outer surface of the interior trim product and including a soft foam backing formed by reaction injection molding foam between the vinyl skin and a first substrate having construction holes therein; a second substrate is connected to the first substrate to cover the holes and to reinforce the door to prevent foam and vinyl damage during air bag deployment and wherein the second substrate is adapted to define a hinged connection between the door and a releasable connection at the opposite end of the door for holding it in place within the opening against separation therefrom until an air bag is inflated and deployed into the passenger compartment.

Air bag door with plural substrates

A cover assembly for an airbag restraint has a smooth cover and a load bearing insert for concealing an airbag restraint system having a housing, an airbag and a gas generator which includes an inflatant for inflating the airbag for deploying the airbag through the smooth outer cover member. The outer cover member has weakened sections on the inboard surface and filler material is disposed against the cover member to prevent inward collapse of the outer cover member at the weakened sections. An insert is formed in situ of the filler material in an opening in a restraint member and the insert is engaged during initial inflation of the airbag to displace the filler material so as to stress the outer cover member at the weakened sections thereof for separating a hidden door segment from the cover member as the airbag is inflated and solely in response to such inflation prior to deployment of the airbag into the passenger compartment.

Instrument panel with invisible airbag deployment door

A releasable latch (50) is provided for a door assembly (14) having an outer skin member, a foam backing member, and an inner door member. The door assembly conceals an airbag restraint system having a housing, an airbag and a gas generator producing an inflatant for inflating the airbag for deploying the airbag through the door assembly. The releasable latch has a closed U-shaped end that is press fit in an open U-shaped end on a retainer member on the housing to hold the door assembly in a mating relationship to interior trim parts. The inner door member is engaged during initial inflation of the airbag to displace the door assembly so as to bend the inner door member at a hinge joint between the outer cover member and the interior trim part and the press fit between the closed U-shaped end and the open U-shaped end provides easy opening of the door assembly as the airbag is inflated.

Instrument panel with airbag deployment door

A cover assembly for an air cushion restraint has a smooth cover with a layer of foam connected between the cover and a load bearing insert for covering a housing for an airbag and a gas generator which generates an inflatant for the airbag for deploying the airbag; three cutters are pivotally connected to the insert member to cut an insert cover member from the insert and to pierce the smooth outer cover member during inflation of the airbag so as to form a self-piercing cover assembly which will be cut to form a three sided opening through the cover assembly through which the airbag is deployed; the cutters are actuated by an insert cover member support system which will operate the cutters as the airbag is inflated to cause cutting edges on the cutters to pierce the smooth outer cover member. The cutters are recessed within the cover assembly to avoid incidental contact with the cutting edges prior to deployment. The cutters are configured such that on deployment the cutting edges have only a limited entry into the passenger compartment of a vehicle. The cutters are arranged to self-retract following airbag deployment to shield the cutting edges from passenger contact during secondary impacts.

Multi-cutter self-piercing cover assembly for airbag

An instrument panel and associated inflatable restraint door, capable of producing a 'hinging effect' preferential opening of the door upon deployment of an air bag concealed in the instrument panel, has locating peripheral surfaces with a dielock angle which is flared five degrees along one edge and between fifteen and twenty degrees along the opposite edge to impove door release action.

Dielock angle variation within foam-in-place inflatable restraint door

A cover for an airbag unit includes first and second separate door members each having a polyvinyl chloride outer shell, a urethane foam pad and a yieldable thin metal back plate with a side flange connecting each of the first and second door members to an airbag housing to define a soft-feel horn hub within a steering wheel having a styling line thereacross; the two members are adhered to a rigid urethane foam member to prevent separation therebetween. The rigid urethane foam member fills between the door members and the airbag unit such that deployment of the airbag unit will immediately impact thereon to cause the thin metal back plates to hinge outwardly with respect to the housing to open the two separate door members for airbag deployment.

Cover assembly for an airbag unit

A method for forming finished coverstocks includes automatically heating and indexing slightly overlapped rough seams of coverstock segments with respect to a single thermoforming tool that automatically opens and closes to vacuum fold the rough seams interiorly of the tool and thereafter the folds are pinched to form a finished styling line on the class A surface of the coverstock. An apparatus is provided in which a single thermoforming tool has relatively moveable mold parts that shape the coverstock and include an expandable joint line configured to fold the rough seams and further including slide members responsive to closure of the mold parts to provide space to accommodate the fold for pinching it off with respect to the class A surface. The product of the invention includes multiple coverstocks with finished styling lines formed by pinched off folds on the hidden side of the coverstock.

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Dover, NH, United States of America

Scott E Rafferty