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:
Feb. 05, 2013
Filed:
May. 28, 2010
Yutaka Okamoto, Wako, JP;
Eric Drake, Plain City, UT (US);
Bengt Pipkorn, Savedalen, SE;
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Autoliv ASP, Inc., Ogden, UT (US);
Abstract
In an airbag system, an airbag obtained by closing each of opposite end portions of a folded metal tube with an end cap is attached to an attachment surface of a front pillar, and the airbag is deployed along the front pillar with a gas produced by an inflator. Therefore, a pedestrian who collides with the front pillar can be protected by the airbag. Since the portion of the airbag, which is away from the end cap toward an intermediate part of the airbag in a longitudinal direction of the airbag by a predetermined distance, is connected to the attachment surface, which is located outside the end cap in the longitudinal direction of the airbag, with a stay being interposed in between, the difficulty in an inflation in a part of the airbag in the vicinity of each end cap, due to the end cap being pressed against the attachment surface when the airbag is inflating, is prevented. Accordingly, the airbag is allowed to inflate uniformly throughout the entire length of the airbag, and the intermediate part of the airbag in the longitudinal direction of the airbag is prevented from bending in a way that the intermediate part thereof moves away from the attachment surface of the front pillar; thus, a portion of the airbag which is located inward in the bending direction is prevented from being buckled. Accordingly, the deployed shape of the airbag can be stabilized, and thus the shock absorbing capability of the airbag is enhanced.