Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Tzu-Chen Weng

Zhibing Deng

Deepak Patel

Srinivas Reddy Malapati

Djamal Eddine Midoun

Krishnakanth E Aekbote

Sean Timothy Ryan

Erika Kristin Low

Kirk David Arthurs

Se Kyoon Shin

Roger J Chen

Alison Callaghan

An assembly for a vehicle includes a steering wheel. The assembly includes an airbag inflatable to an inflated position. The airbag has a main chamber supported by the steering wheel. The main chamber in the inflated position has a rear panel facing the steering wheel, an impact panel opposite the rear panel, and an outermost periphery between the impact panel and the rear panel. The airbag includes an extension having a first end and a terminal end. The extension extends from the first end to the terminal end adjacent the rear panel of the main chamber. The first end extends from the outermost periphery and the rear panel and the terminal end is connected to the rear panel. The airbag has an inflation chamber extending from the main chamber to the terminal end through the first end of the extension.

Driver airbag with extension adjacent rear panel

An airbag system includes an airbag and an inflator positioned in an instrument panel. The airbag includes a first chamber and a second chamber spaced from the instrument panel by the first chamber. A plurality of tethers is positioned within the second chamber. Each tether is coupled between a central area of a lower side and a central area of an upper side. A first and second lower extensions and a first and second upper extensions extend from the lower side and the upper side of the airbag, respectively.

Instrument panel mounted driver airbag

An airbag assembly includes an airbag having a knee chamber and an upper chamber. A wall fluidly isolates the knee chamber and the upper chamber. A sleeve extends from the knee chamber through the wall to the upper chamber and fluidly communicates the knee chamber and the upper chamber. A one-way vent is in the sleeve. The one-way vent allows for the knee chamber and the upper chamber to be maintained at different relative pressures.

Airbag having knee chamber and upper chamber

An assembly includes a seatback and an airbag. The airbag includes an upper panel and a lower panel spaced from each other and an intermediate panel disposed therebetween. The upper panel and the lower panel are each uninflatable and each supported by the seatback. The intermediate panel is supported by the seatback and inflatable to an inflated position. The intermediate panel in the inflated position includes a valley elongated in a direction from the lower panel towards the upper panel.

Seat airbag

A vehicle includes a system including an instrument panel, a knee airbag, and a front airbag assembly. The knee airbag is inflatable downwardly from the instrument panel. The front airbag assembly is inflatable upwardly from the instrument panel. The front airbag assembly may be spaced from a windshield of the vehicle when the front airbag assembly is in the inflated position such that the windshield does not act as a reaction surface for the front airbag assembly, and the front airbag assembly is designed to control the kinematics of the occupant without using the windshield as a reaction surface.

Front airbag restraint system for vehicle

Embodiments include a vehicle airbag assembly comprising an airbag including a first chamber and a second chamber, a first internal vent permitting gas entry into the first chamber, and a second internal vent permitting gas entry into the second chamber, where the first chamber has a greater volume than the second chamber in an inflated state of the airbag, and the first internal vent is configured for a larger gas flow than the second internal vent. Embodiments also include a vehicle airbag assembly comprising an airbag including a first chamber and a second chamber and at least one internal tether coupled to the second chamber for restricting an inflated depth of the second chamber, where the first chamber has an unrestricted depth and a volume that is larger than a volume of the second chamber in an inflated state of the airbag.

Dual chamber airbag with asymmetrically tunable parameters and method of manufacturing the same

A seat includes a seat back having a frame and a cover, an impact absorbing device, and an actuator in communication with the impact absorbing device. The impact absorbing device is movable from a stowed position to a deployed position. The impact absorbing device includes a base connected to the frame, a panel adjacent to the cover in the stowed position and spaced from the cover in the deployed position, and an intermediate portion connected to the base and the panel. The intermediate portion defines a chamber between the base and the panel. The intermediate portion has a portion thickness and the panel has a panel thickness greater than the portion thickness.

Vehicle impact energy absorber

A seat assembly including a seat pan that drops vertically in the event of a frontal impact event to help safeguard against the head of an unbelted seat occupant striking the headliner, windshield or other components of the vehicle. The seat assembly includes a seat pan attached to a seat track. The seat track further includes an attachment bracket. A swing linkage movably connects the seat pan with the seat track by a movable fastener. A slot is formed in the bracket through which at least a part of the movable fastener passes. A pyrotechnic fastener also attaches the swing linkage to the bracket. In a frontal impact event, the pyrotechnic fastener is caused to explode thus separating the pyrotechnic fastener into two parts and allowing the swing linkage and its attached seat pan to drop vertically relative to the seat track and lowering the unbelted occupant.

Pyrotechnic fastener seat arrangement for unbelted occupant protection

A motor vehicle airbag system comprises a dual chambered combined head, torso, and knee airbag having a head and torso chamber and a lower extremities chamber in fluid communication with the head and torso chamber. A multidirectional inflator substantially simultaneously inflates both of the head and torso chamber and the lower extremities chamber. The head and torso chamber in the inflated condition acts against a head and a torso of the motor vehicle occupant to generate a restraining force against the occupant to mitigate contact of the occupant head and torso with the upper portion of the instrument panel during the impact event. The lower extremities chamber in the inflated condition acts against the pair of knees of the occupant to mitigate contact of the knees of the occupant with the lower portion of the panel during the impact event.

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Troy, MI, United States of America

Tzu-Chen Weng