Martin Marietta Corporation

General Dynamics Armament Systems, Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Steven Joseph Brown

Neale Arthur Messina

Larry Stefan Ingram

John Mandzy

Robert A Pate

Keith James Schaefer

John Joseph Johnson

Crestus Lee Adams

Andrew Anthony Carlson

Marek Tarczynski

William Hugo Reitz, Jr

Fedor Olszanskyj

In an occupant restraint apparatus for installation in a vehicle, a smart airbag inflator is provided with a piston for regeneratively pumping liquid propellant from a reservoir into a combustion chamber for ignition and combustion to generate airbag inflation gases. To control the airbag inflation rate, the piston includes a piston head slidingly received in a damping chamber filled with a magneto-rheological fluid that is pumped through an orifice during the regenerative pumping stroke of the piston. An electromagnet is selectively energized to produce a varying magnetic field to adjust the viscosity of the magneto-rheological fluid flowing through the orifice and thus vary a damping force exerted on the piston stroke, thereby modulating the rate of liquid propellant combustion. Electromagnet current excitation is controlled in response to a particular accident scenario.

Inflator capable of modulation air bag inflation rate in a vehicle

To achieve a reduced inflation rate of an airbag in a vehicle occupant restraint apparatus, an airbag inflator is provided with a seal ring acting, in response to initial pressurization by a pyrotechnic initiator, to open injection ports, such that liquid propellant may be regeneratively pumped by a piston from a reservoir into a combustion chamber for combustion. The resulting combustion gases flow through a series of swirl chambers to increase residence time and through a plenum chamber where the combustion gases are cooled. The combustion gases exit the plenum chamber as an airbag inflation gas.

Airbag inflator for vehicle occupant restraint apparatus

A continuous flow-rate gas generator fueled by liquid mono-propellant includes a propellant storage tank, a motor-driven pump (or other pressurization technique) to force the propellant into a combustion chamber having an enclosed volume, an injector to effectively break up the incoming liquid propellant into droplets that facilitate ignition and sustain combustion, an igniter to initiate the combustion process, a nozzle to expand the exhaust gases in order to optimize the pressure and temperature of the working fluid, and exhaust ducting to direct the flow and handle the further heat transfer requirements. If desired, the output may be varied through two mechanisms: either by including an exit gas valve used to vary the exit gas flow to match delivery needs; or by having a plurality of continuous gas generators connected in parallel to a manifold assembly and relying on the combination of mixed flow-rates to match a required gas output.

Liquid monopropellant gas generator

To achieve programmed inflation of an airbag in a vehicle occupant restraint apparatus, movement of a piston, that separates a combustion chamber from a liquid propellant reservoir, is utilized to vary the opening size of an injection port through which liquid propellant is regeneratively pumped from the reservoir into the combustion chamber for combustion, such that the rate at which the bag inflation gas is generated during an inflation period may be controlled.

Vehicle occupant restraint apparatus

A booster stage is positioned down-bore from the breech of a gun to contain a charge of liquid propellant that is ignited by the combustion gases of a detonated breech propellant charge trailing the projectile down the gun bore. The detonated liquid propellant increases the bore gas pressure and thus accelerates the projectile to a higher muzzle velocity.

Gun equipped with down-bore liquid propellant booster stage to increase

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Pittsfield, MA, United States of America

Steven Joseph Brown