EP0447030A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Air bag module construction and assembly technique
Assignee: ZF Passive Safety Systems US Inc
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Filing: 1991-02-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-02-04
Abstract
Abstract An air bag module structure comprises a pair of subassemblies which are coupled together to form the module. The subassemblies comprise an air/bag cover subassembly (34) and an inflator/reaction device subassembly (36). The air bag cover (24) has an air bag cavity, a folded air bag (22) disposed within the cavity, and a rim (42) surrounding an access opening that communicates with the air bag cavity. The air bag has a gas inlet opening (49) surrounded by a border portion (48) of the air bag (22), which is adapted to be secured to the rim (92) of the cover. The inflator/reaction device subassembly (36) has an inflator housing (26) with gas dispensing nozzles, a gas generating composition within the housing, and an integral reaction device (28) extending outward of the inflator housing. The reaction device (28) is secured to the rim (42) of the cover (24), and couples the inflator/reaction device subassembly (36) with the air bag/cover subassembly (34). When the subassemblies are coupled together, the gas dispensing nozzles are in fluid communication with the air bag gas inlet opening.
Inventors
- 👤 James A. Augustitus
- 👤 Pongdet Wipasuramonton
- 👤 Mark T. Lecznar
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 19:44
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60R; B60R21/00; B60R21/02; B60R21/16; B60R21/20; B60R21/217; B60R21/2171
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
204 words
Apparatus comprising: an air bag/cover subassembly, and an inflator/reaction device subassembly which is adapted to be coupled to said air bag/cover subassembly to form an air bag module, said air bag/cover subassembly comprising a cover defining an air bag cavity in said cover and a folded air bag disposed within said air bag cavity, said cover having an access opening and a rim surrounding said access opening and said air bag having a gas inlet opening and a border portion surrounding said inlet opening, the border portion of said air bag being secured to the rim of said cover, said inflator/reaction device subassembly comprising an inflator housing having gas dispensing nozzles, means for producing gas disposed within said inflator housing, and a reaction device integral with and extending outwardly of said inflator housing, said reaction device being adapted to be coupled to said rim of said cover and the border portion of said air bag to couple said inflator/reaction device subassembly with said air bag/cover subassembly, and said inflator housing being adapted to be disposed with said gas dispensing nozzles in fluid communication with said gas inlet opening in said air bag when said inflator/reaction device subassembly is coupled with said air bag/cover subassembly.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
160 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of fasteners, said border portion of said air bag having a plurality of openings therein and said rim of said cover having corresponding openings therein, the openings in said border portion of said air bag adapted to be aligned with the openings in the rim of said cover, said fasteners extending through said aligned openings in said border portion of said air bag and said rim of said cover to connect said border portion of said air bag with said border rim of said cover, said reaction device having openings adapted to be aligned with at least some of the aligned openings in said rim of said cover and said border portion of said air bag to enable at least some of the fasteners connecting said rim of said cover with said border portion of said air bag to couple said inflator/reaction device subassembly with said air bag/cover subassembly.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
58 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said rim of said cover has an inside surface presented to said air bag cavity and an outside surface forming part of the outside of said cover, said border portion of said air bag being disposed against one of said inside and outside surfaces of said rim of said cover.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
57 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said border portion of said air bag is disposed against the outside surface of said rim of said cover, said reaction device being adapted to be coupled to said rim with said border portion of said air bag captured between said reaction device and said outside surface of said rim.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
96 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said border portion of said air bag is disposed against the inside surface of said rim of said cover, and a retaining ring is disposed against the border portion of said air bag in a manner which captures at least part of said border portion of said air bag between said retaining ring and said inside surface of said rim, said reaction device being adapted to be disposed directly against said outside surface of said rim when said reaction device is coupled with said rim of said cover.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
65 words
Apparatus as set forth in any of claims 1-5 wherein said air bag comprises a prefolded unit which has been folded outside of said air bag cavity and inserted as a folded unit into said air bag cavity, said cover having sufficient flexibility to enable the cover to be elastically flexed as said folded air bag unit is being inserted into said air bag cavity.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
40 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said inflator housing has a substantially cylindrical configuration, and said reaction device comprises a pair of substantially coplanar plate sections extending away from diametrically opposed portions of said substantially cylindrical inflator housing.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
40 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said inflator housing has a variable wall thickness, and each of said coplanar plate sections has a thickness at least as great as the thinnest wall thickness of said substantially cylindrical inflator housing.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said inflator housing and said reaction device are formed in one piece of cold formed aluminum.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said inflator housing and reaction device are formed in one piece of impact extruded aluminum.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
124 words
Apparatus comprising an air bag/cover subassembly which is adapted to be coupled to an inflator/reaction device subassembly to form an air bag module, said air bag/cover subassembly consisting essentially of (i) a cover defining an air bag cavity and having an access opening communicating with said air bag cavity and a rim surrounding said access opening, (ii) a folded air bag disposed in said air bag cavity, said air bag having a border portion defining a gas inlet opening, and (iii) means for connecting said portion of said folded air bag with said cover, said means for connecting said portion of said folded air bag with said cover being adapted to connect said portion of said air bag with said rim of said cover.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
57 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein said means for connecting said portion of said folded air bag with said cover comprises aligned openings in said border portion of said air bag and said rim of said cover and fasteners extending through said aligned openings in said border portion of said air bag and said rim.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
55 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 12 wherein said rim has an inside surface presented to said air bag cavity and an outside surface forming part of the outside of said cover, said border portion of said air bag being disposed against one of the inside and outside surfaces of said rim of said cover.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein said border portion of said air bag is disposed against said outside surface of said rim.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
126 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein said border portion of said air bag is disposed against said inside surface of said rim, and said means for connecting said border portion of said air bag with said cover comprises a retaining ring disposed inside of and against said border portion of said air bag so as to capture said border portion of said air bag between said retaining ring and said inside surface of said rim, said retaining ring having openings aligned with said aligned openings in said border portion of said air bag and in said rim of said cover; and said fasteners extending through the aligned openings in said retaining ring, said border portion of said air bag and said rim of said cover.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
46 words
Apparatus as defined in any of claims 11-15 wherein said air bag comprises a prefolded air bag unit and said cover has a flexibility which enables said cover to be elastically flexed to enable said prefolded air bag to be inserted into said air bag cavity.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
84 words
Apparatus comprising an inflator/reaction device subassembly which is adapted to be coupled to an air bag/cover subassembly to form an air bag module; said inflator/reaction device subassembly comprising an inflator housing having gas dispensing nozzles, means for producing gas disposed within said inflator housing, and a reaction device formed in one piece with and extending outwardly of said inflator housing; said reaction device being adapted to be coupled with the air bag/cover subassembly to couple said inflator/reaction device subassembly with said air bag/cover subassembly.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
38 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 17 wherein said inflator housing has a substantially cylindrical configuration, and said reaction device comprises a pair of substantially coplanar plate sections extending away from diametrically opposed portions of said inflator housing.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 18 wherein said inflator housing and said reaction device are formed in one piece of cold formed aluminum.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 19 wherein said inflator housing and reaction device are formed in one piece of impact extruded aluminum.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
38 words
Apparatus as set forth in any of claims 18-20 wherein said inflator housing has a variable wall thickness, and said reaction device has a thickness at least as great as the thinnest wall thickness of said inflator housing.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
156 words
An air bag module comprising an air bag/cover subassembly coupled to an inflator/reaction device subassembly, said air bag/cover subassembly consisting essentially of (i) a cover defining an air bag cavity and having an access opening communicating with said air bag cavity, (ii) a folded air bag disposed in said air bag cavity and a rim surrounding said access opening, said air bag having a portion defining a gas inlet opening, and (iii) means for connecting said portion of said folded air bag with said rim of said cover, said inflator/reaction device subassembly comprising an inflator housing having gas dispensing nozzles and a reaction device formed in one piece with said inflator housing, said inflator housing being disposed with said gas dispensing nozzles in fluid communication with said gas inlet opening of said air bag, and said reaction device being in direct contact with an outside portion of said air bag/cover subassembly and being fixedly connected thereto.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
129 words
An air bag module as defined in claim 22 wherein said rim has an inside surface presented to said air bag cavity and an outside surface forming part of the outside of the cover, said border portion of said air bag being disposed directly against the inside surface of said rim, and said means connecting said border portion of said air bag with said cover comprising (i) a retaining ring disposed on the inside of and against said border portion of said air bag so as to capture said border portion of said air bag between said retaining ring and said rim of said cover, and (ii) fasteners extending through aligned openings in said retaining ring, said border portion of said air bag, and said rim of said cover.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
94 words
An air bag module as defined in claim 23 wherein said border portion of said air bag is disposed against the outside surface of said rim, and said reaction device is in direct contact with said border portion of said air bag so as to capture said mouth of said air bag between said reaction device and said outside surface of said rim, said means for connecting said border portion of said air bag with said cover comprising fasteners extending through aligned openings in said border portion of said air bag and said rim.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
118 words
An air bag module as defined in either of claims 23 or 24 wherein said reaction device has a plurality of openings which are aligned with the aligned openings in the border portion of the air bag and the rim of the cover, said fasteners extending through said aligned openings in said cover, said border portion of said air bag and said reaction device, said fasteners being further adapted to connect said reaction device to a portion of a vehicle, whereby said fasteners fixedly connect said inflator/reaction device subassembly with said air bag/cover subassembly to form said air bag module and said fasteners are adapted to fixedly connect said air bag module with a portion of a vehicle.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
175 words
A method of forming an air bag module comprising the steps of: providing an air bag/cover subassembly consisting essentially of i) a cover defining an air bag cavity and having an access opening surrounded by a rim, said access opening communicating with said air bag cavity, ii) a folded air bag disposed in said air bag cavity, said air bag having a portion defining a gas inlet opening, and iii) fastening means connecting said portion of said air bag with said rim of said cover, providing an inflator/reaction device subassembly comprising an inflator housing and a reaction device formed in one piece with the inflator housing, said inflator housing having gas dispensing nozzles formed therein, and said inflator housing defining a cavity with a means for producing gas disposed therein, disposing said reaction device directly against a portion of said air bag/cover subassembly with said inflator housing disposed with said gas generating nozzles in fluid communication with said gas inlet opening, and coupling said inflator/reaction device subassembly with said portion of said air bag/cover subassembly.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
108 words
A method of forming an air bag/cover subassembly consisiting essentially of i) a cover having an air bag cavity and an access opening communicating with said air bag cavity, and ii) a folded air bag disposed in said air bag cavity, said air bag having a portion defining a gas inlet opening, said portion being connected with said cover, said method comprising the steps of: providing said cover, prefolding said air bag outside of said air bag cavity in said cover, inserting said prefolded air bag through said access opening and into said air bag cavity, and fastening said portion of said air bag directly to said cover.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
45 words
A structure for use in forming inflator/reaction device subassembly in one piece, said structure comprising a substantially cylindrical housing with a cavity defined therein and a reaction device formed in one piece with said substantially cylindrical housing and extending away from said substantially cylindrical housing.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
22 words
A structure as defined in claim 28 wherein said substantially cylindrical housing and said reaction device are a cold formed of aluminum.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
21 words
A structure as defined in claim 29 wherein said substantially cylindrical housing and said reaction device are impact extruded of aluminum.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
32 words
A structure as defined in any of claims 28-30 wherein said reaction device comprises a pair of substantially coplanar plate sections extending away from diametrically opposed portions of said substantially cylindrical housing.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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