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. 13, 2015
Filed:
Jun. 09, 2014
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Brandon M. Aselage, White Lake, MI (US);
Sean B. West, Monroe, MI (US);
Stacey H. Raines, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
An active bolster mounts at an interior trim surface of a passenger compartment in an automotive vehicle. A plastic-molded front wall deploys in a deployment direction toward a passenger in the passenger compartment. A plastic-molded back wall is joined around a substantially sealed perimeter with the front wall to form an inflatable bladder. The back wall includes at least one substantially circumferential pleated baffle and a plurality of attachment towers projecting from a central region disposed within the baffle to join with a reaction surface. An inflator couples an inflation gas into the inflatable bladder in response to a crash event of the vehicle. At least one of the attachment towers includes an elongated notch sunk partially into a surface of the attachment tower to provide a thinned wall section configured to tear open at a predetermined pressure during inflation.