The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 08, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 26, 1999
Bryan W. Shirk, Mesa, AZ (US);
Jess A. Cuevas, Scottsdale, AZ (US);
Ahmad K. Al-Amin, Higley, AZ (US);
Timothy A. Swann, Mesa, AZ (US);
Roy D. Van Wynsberghe, Mesa, AZ (US);
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A safety apparatus (,) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle having a side structure (,) comprises an inflatable protection device (,) having an inflated condition disposed between the vehicle occupant and the side structure. The safety apparatus (,) also comprises an inflator assembly (,) for inflating the protection device (,) and for maintaining the protection device in the inflated condition for at least five seconds. The inflator assembly (,) includes at least one container (,) having gas (,) stored under pressure. In a preferred embodiment, the inflator assembly (,) comprises a primary outlet passage (,) connected with the container for releasing inflation fluid (,) from the inflator assembly at a relatively high rate over a relatively short period of time. The inflator assembly (,) also preferably has a secondary outlet passage (,) connected with the container for releasing inflation fluid from the inflator assembly at a relatively low rate for about five to ten seconds.