Occupant protective device located in the steering wheel of a motor vehicle

Abstract

Conventional airbag apparatuses have a very large volume for offering the greatest possible protection for the passenger, and therefore block the driver's view of the traffic situation and preclude further steering actions. Additionally, the passenger is endangered if he is in an atypical sitting position. Multi-stage airbag systems permit an adaptation of the degree of deployment to the size and/or position of the passenger, but are very complicated and slow. Proposed is a passenger-protection apparatus having a first airbag for a first stage of deployment, and a second airbag for a second stage of deployment, which occurs after and independently of the first, with the shape of the first airbag and the quantity of gas supplied to it being determined such that, when filled with this quantity of gas, the first airbag has a collision zone that corresponds to the diameter of the steering wheel, and has a short expansion length in the direction of the passenger, in relation to the distance between the collision zone and the passenger. A second airbag, which can be deployed independently, laterally surrounds the first airbag, partially or preferably completely, in the manner of a hose in the filled state, and compresses the first airbag, so the expansion length of the first airbag increases. Whereas the first airbag is deployed early and independently of the position of the passenger, the second airbag can be filled afterward with different quantities of gas when a second acceleration threshold is exceeded, as a function of the position and/or size of the passenger, by a controllable gas source, which can preferably be deployed in stages, thereby establishing the shape of the two airbags and the deformation of the first airbag.