Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Toshiya Sakai

Minoru Kanda

Akihiro Ikeya

Takeshi Kai

Toshihiko Okazaki

In an inflatable air bag system for restraining a vehicle occupant in case of a high acceleration situation such as a vehicle crash comprising a casing accommodating a folded air bag therein, the casing is adapted to be installed into an opening of an instrument panel facing the vehicle occupant. The casing is relatively securely attached to the vehicle body at its lower end, but is simply secured to the instrument panel at its upper end by means of a slot and projection engagement structure which is adapted to be engaged as a result of fully inserting the casing in the opening. Thus, the work involved in installing the air bag system is simplified, but the casing is secured in a sufficiently stable fashion because the slot and projection engagement structure is highly effective in restraining the rotating movement of the casing around its fixedly secured lower end. In use, this structure allows the casing to be securely supported against the reaction caused by the deployment of the air bag.

Inflatable air bag system

In a passive restraint system for a vehicle occupant using an inflatable air bag, an open base end of the air bag is clamped between an air bag housing for accommodating the air bag in its folded state and an inflator housing for receiving an inflator for producing the inflating gas therein. Thus, the base end of the air bag can be attached securely and tightly to the air bag system in a highly simple manner. The air bag housing diverges toward the opening for deploying the air bag, and the air bag can be therefore rapidly deployed without encountering any substantial resistance from the air bag housing. Also, the diverging shape of the air bag housing allows the air bag housing to be laterally deformed to absorb the energy of impact applied thereto.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama-ken, Japan

Toshiya Sakai