Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Tetsushi Hiramitsu

Satoshi Ono

Hiroshi Sugita

Atsuo Hirano

Satoshi Ohno

Tadashi Yamamoto

Hiroshi Ogawa

Zenzaburo Murase

Shuji Inui

Takanobu Ikeda

Koji Shiraki

Atsushi Nagata

Yuji Takahashi

Masumi Nishikawa

Katsunobu Sakane

Michio Inoue

Yasunori Iwai

Masanobu Ishikawa

Yoshiyuki Fujita

Takemasa Yasukawa

Toshinori Takahashi

Tooru Koyama

Chikahisa Hayashi

Osamu Hirose

Makoto Tamaki

Masakazu Tokuda

Junichi Mizutani

Mitsuhiro Kikuta

Ichizo Shiga

Takanori Kantoh

Yutaka Kondo

Kouji Nishida

Kazutoshi Hayashi

Katsumi Sakakida

Akihiko Sonobe

Toshinori Takahaski

Itizo Shiga

Kozi Sakurai

An air bag device comprises at the center a bag provided with a gas flowing orifice, a pad for receiving the bag in its folded state, an inflator arranged so as to permit gas to be jetted toward the gas flowing orifice of the bag and an inflator insertion hole into which a holding cylinder below the inflator can be inserted and further provided with a retainer for holding the inflator and the bag in their inner periphery and the pad in its outer periphery. The air bag device further includes a holding cloth surrounding the lower holding cylinder of the inflator and formed continuously below the gas flowing orifice of the bag, and a coupling is formed between the peripheral surface of the inflator and peripheral edge of the inflator insertion hole of the retainer.

Air bag device with air bag and inflation mounting structure

An air bag device includes a folded air bag, an inflator for supplying air to the air bag to inflate the bag, and a bag holder for holding the air bag and the inflator. Protrusions are formed on the outer surface of the inflator. The bag holder has a bottom wall with an insertion hole. The inflator is inserted into the insertion hole from the lower side of the bag holder. Pawls are upwardly extended from the circumferential edges of the insertion hole in the inward direction. The inflator is held by the bag holder in a state that the pawls retain the lower surface of the protrusions.

Air bag device

An air bag apparatus includes a pad provided with a mounting piece portion extending downwardly from a bottom surface of the pad and having mounting holes. The mounting piece portion is fixed to a side wall of a bag holder in a state in which the mounting piece portion is held between a backplate and the side wall of the bag holder by rivets inserted into the mounting holes of the mounting piece portion and into mounting holes of the side wall of the bag holder and mounting holes of the backplate. Engagement portions for regulating an upward movement of the mounting piece portion are formed at a lower end portion of the mounting piece portion and the backplate except at those portions below the mounting holes. The engagement portions are formed to be recesses and projections which are adapted to engage are another.

Air bag apparatus

In order to simplify the fabrication process, form a lightweight air bag device and increase safety by reliably preventing damage to an insert during the inflation of an air bag, a pad according to the present invention includes a pad body made of a soft synthetic resin, such as urethane, and an insert 14 formed of a synthetic resin plate material with a shape-retaining characteristic. The insert 14 includes a substantially square cylindrical base portion 16 and two opening portions 18A, 18B integrally connected to the base portion via hinge portions 17A, 17B. Arcuate, gradual shape-changing portions 23, 24 are formed at the boundary edge portions between the base portion 16 and the hinge portions 17A, 17B and at boundary edge portions between the opening portions 18A, 18B and the hinge portions 17A, 17B, respectively to distribute stresses and minimize breakage.

Pad mounting structure for air bag device

An air bag controlling apparatus for controlling inflation of an air bag for a motor vehicle and adapted to cooperate with (i) an inflator which provides said air bag with compressed gas when ignited by an igniter, and (ii) an acceleration sensor which generates an appropriate deceleration signal as a function of the vehicle's deceleration. The apparatus comprises a threshold value storage for storing a threshold value used in determining whether the inflator will be ignited and a calculator for calculating a displacement amount of the vehicle. A waveform evaluator evaluates the waveform of the deceleration signal to determine whether an initial period for which the deceleration has a positive value continues for a predetermined interval of time after a predetermined deceleration is detected. A threshold value corrector corrects the threshold value stored in the threshold value storage when the waveform evaluator determines that the initial period for which the deceleration has a positive value has continued for the predetermined interval of time. A discriminator determines whether the displacement amount calculated by the calculating means is greater than the corrected threshold value. Finally, a signal output generator outputs the ignition signal to the inflator so that the inflator is ignited and the air bag is inflated when the discriminator determines that the displacement amount calculated by the calculator is greater than the corrected threshold value.

Air bag controlling apparatus

A pad for an air bag apparatus is provided which assures that a part of the pad between a breakage portion and a side wall portion is not scattered away in pieces when the air bag expands. The pad includes an upper wall portion and side wall portions extending downward from the periphery of the upper wall portion. Cover portions adapted to be opened upon breakage of a breakage portion at the time of expansion of the air bag are formed over the upper wall portion. A predetermined number of vertically extending triangular plate-shaped ribs are integrally molded with the upper wall portion and the side wall portions along the periphery of the breakage portion and extend from the side wall portions to the breakage portion.

Air bag cover having reinforcing ribs

Disclosed is a steering wheel equipped with an air bag system. The steering wheel has a controller having a processor which outputs a trigger signal for actuating an air bag in accordance with the strength of an impact arising from a collision of a car, upon sensing the impact, and a memory which stores a process by this processor; an inflator which generates a gas in accordance with a signal outputted from the controller; and an air bag which is inflated with the gas supplied from the inflator. Between the opposite surfaces of a controller case and an inflator case, there is provided a heat-insulating layer. This heat-insulating layer serves to reduce heat passing from the inflator to the controller when the air bag is inflated. Consequently, contents stored in the memory mounted in the controller will never be destroyed by heat, and it is possible to analyze the process of operation of the processor after a collision of a car body.

Steering wheel equipped with an air bag system

An air bag device is provided on upper side of a boss portion. The air bag device comprises an air bag, an inflater supplying gas to the air bag, a backup plate holding the air bag and the inflater, and a pad in box shape for covering the air bag. A thin breaking portion is formed on an upper wall of the pad so as to break the upper wall in state of connecting the upper wall to the side wall when the air bag is expanded, and a plurality of membrane switches comprising a pair of electrodes in thin film shape are arranged at portions of the upper wall of the pad except for the breaking portion. A connector connected to a prescribed electric circuit at lower side of the boss portion and the membrane switches are electrically connected by lead wires arranged along a pad side wall portion in state of connecting the pad upper wall when the pad upper wall is broken.

Steering wheel

The present invention relates to horn switches provided on steering wheels of automobiles, having a base plate in a pad portion, a horn contact protrusion extending through the upper surface of a housing disposed on the base plate and operating in correspondence with the movement of a horn button on a pad portion, a contact member of the horn contact protruding from the base plate, a biasing member disposed between the base plate and the horn contact to urge the horn contact to be spaced apart from the base plate and being electrically connected to the contact member, one electrode portion disposed on the base plate and being electrically connected to the biasing member and the other electrode disposed on the base plate at a lower position than the electrode portion described above electrically connectible to the contact member by pressing the horn contact with a horn button.

Horn switch

A steering wheel comprising a pair of sun gears set facing each other, each sun gear comprising a wheel portion having an inner surface and a rim portion protruding along the outer circumference of the wheel portion, slip rings mounted on the inner surface of the wheel portions, and contact pins, that make sliding contact with the slip rings on the wheel portions, provided between the sun gears.

A wiper blade rubber provided with a surface layer containing more than 50% by volume of lubricative fine powder at least on the surface of a sliding portion thereof including a lip. The surface layer is integrally press-formed with the substrate of wiper blade rubber in one body so as to be vulcanized. The wiper blade rubber having such a surface layer is produced by a method according to the present invention which is characterized in that a starting article as the substrate of wiper blade rubber and a cavity provided in a separate mold used for this purpose has such a dimensional relationship therebetween that the thickness of the starting article at the center in the transverse section thereof is 0.9 to 1.0 times the thickness of the corresponding central portion of the cavity, where the lip of wiper blade rubber is defined. And the starting article has such a shape in the transverse section thereof that the central thin portion thereof is connected to the respective thick end portions thereof at an angle ranging from 20.degree. to 45.degree., which is defined by a line elongated along the central thin portion thereof and another line elongated along the connecting portion thereof. The wiper blade rubber according to the present invention has a small sliding resistance as well as excellent durability.

Wiper blade rubber

The present invention relates to printed wiring units to be used for horn switches and others, comprising an insulative base made of resin strong in corrosion resistance against an etching reagent to be used in pre-treatment for plating, a pattern base being shaped in substantially the same with the printed wiring pattern disposed on said insulative base and being made of resin weak in corrosion resistance against said etching reagent and a conductive plating layer formed on said pattern base. The present invention also relates to horn switches provided on steering wheels of automobiles, comprising a base plate in a pad portion a protruding horn contact extending through the upper surface of a housing disposed on said base plate and operating in correspondence with the movement of a horn button on a pad portion, a contact member of said horn contact protruded on the side of said base plate, a biasing member disposed between said base plate and said horn contact to urge said horn contact to be spaced apart from the base plate and being conductable to said contact member, one electrode portion disposed on said base plate and being conductive to said biasing member and the other electrode disposed on said base plate at a lower position than the electrode portion described above to be conductive upon contact with said contact member while not in constant contact with said biasing member.

Printed wiring unit for horn switch

A relay mechanism for a steering wheel comprising a plurality of slip rings disposed isolated from each other in a circular track having a steering shaft as its center, and sliders, one provided at each slip ring. It further includes an arcuate common line slip ring extending so as to have a predetermined central angle, and a common line slider sliding on the common line slip ring with the steering shaft as its center, the common line slider being positioned at the midpoint of the common slip ring when the steering wheel is at its straight travel position. When the steering wheel is turned over more than a predetermined angle from its travel position, the common line connecting the slip rings and a power source is rendered non-conductive thereby to disable the signal transmission between the slip rings and electric devices.

Relay mechanism for a steering wheel

The steering wheel comprises a column section, a steering shaft passing through the column section, a boss portion secured to the top of the steering shaft, a boss plate secured on the boss portion, a pad section, a plurality of sun gears of the helical gear type, a plurality of planetary shafts, a plurality of pairs of planetary gears of the helical gear type attached to either end portion each of the respective planetary shafts and gearing with the corresponding sun gears, and a resilient member for urging the planetary gears of a pair mounted on at least one of the plural planetary shafts. At least one of the paired planetary gears is attached movably in the longitudinal direction of the axis of that planetary shaft, so that these planetary gears approach mutually or separate from each other in the axial direction of the respective planetary shaft.

Herein disclosed is a steering wheel structure which has a stationary pad. On a steering shaft, there are mounted a boss plate of the steering wheel and column-side and pad-side sun gears. The boss plate is formed with at least one mounting recess which is opened to the outside. In this mounting recess, there is rotatably mounted through an intermediate member at least one planetary shaft which has column-side and pad-side planetary gears at its two ends. Upon assembly, the two planetary gears are brought into respectively meshing engagements with the two sun gears from the radially outer sides of the same.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi, Japan

Tetsushi Hiramitsu