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:
Oct. 17, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 11, 2002
Fumiharu Ochiai, Saitama, JP;
Takashi Aoki, Saitama, JP;
Hidetoshi Utsumi, Saitama, JP;
Naohiko Saita, Saitama, JP;
Yuichi Saito, Saitama, JP;
Fumiharu Ochiai, Saitama, JP;
Takashi Aoki, Saitama, JP;
Hidetoshi Utsumi, Saitama, JP;
Naohiko Saita, Saitama, JP;
Yuichi Saito, Saitama, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A vehicular occupant restraint system includes an airbag, an inflator, and a seat belt system including a shoulder belt and a pre-tensioner. The airbag is disposed in a folded state along an upper edge of a door opening of a vehicle body. When the vehicle is involved in a side collision, the airbag is inflated by a gas generated by the inflator so that it is deployed into a curtain shape along an inner face of a side of an occupant compartment. Unlike conventional pre-tensioner systems that only tension a seatbelt when the vehicle is involved in a front collision, the pre-tensioner of the present invention also applies a tension to the shoulder belt of the seat belt system when the vehicle is involved in a side collision. Since a tension is applied to the shoulder belt by operation of the pre-tensioner that normally operates only when the vehicle is involved in a front collision, it is possible to maintain a correct positional relationship between the shoulder belt and an occupant even in the case where there is interference between the shoulder belt and the airbag that is deploying downward from above along the inner face of the side of the occupant compartment.