EP0922616A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Air bag system for motor vehicle, and method of controlling the same
Assignee: Mitsubishi Motors Corp
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Filing: 1998-11-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2018-11-19
Abstract
Abstract An air bag is divided by a partition wall into an upper section and a lower section. When the vehicle occupant is wearing a seat belt, gas is supplied from an inflator only to the upper section, so that the air bag mainly restrains the head of the vehicle while applying a reduced restraining force of the chest of the occupant. When the vehicle occupant is not wearing the seat belt, gas is initially supplied from the inflator to the lower section, until the upper section and the lower section are brought into communication with each other as a result of expansion of the lower section, and then the gas is also led to the upper section, so that the air bag accurately and effectively restrains the head and chest of the vehicle occupant.
Inventors
- 👤 Toyoaki c/oMitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo K. K. Kato
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 13:02
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60R; B60R21/00; B60R21/02; B60R21/16; B60R21/23; B60R21/231; B60R21/233; B60R21/01; B60R21/015; B60R21/01512; B60R21/01544; B60R21/01546; B60R2021/23324; B60R21/26; B60R21/263; B60R2021/2633; B60R21/2334; B60R21/2342; B60R21/239
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
An air bag system for a motor vehicle, comprising: an inflator (8, 9) that is installed on the vehicle; a control device that causes said inflator (8, 9) to emit gas when an impact that is greater
than a predetermined level is applied to a vehicle body of the motor vehicle; an air bag (3) that deploys to fill space between a vehicle occupant and said inflator when
the gas emitted from the inflator (8, 9) is supplied to the air bag, said air bag (3) having a plurality
of sections (5, 6) that are formed independently of each other; and a sensor that detects whether the vehicle occupant wears a seat belt, said air bag system
being characterized in that: said control device changes an amount of the gas supplied from said inflator (8, 9) to each
of said plurality of sections, depending upon a result of detection of said sensor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
78 words
An air bag system according to claim 1, wherein an inner space of said air bag (3) is
divided by a partition wall (4) into an upper section (5) and a lower section (6), and wherein said control device controls said inflator so as to supply the gas to the upper section
(5) and the lower section (6) when the result of detection of said sensor indicates that the vehicle
occupant (12) fails to wear the seat belt.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
78 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein said control device controls said
inflator (8, 9) to reduce an amount of gas supplied to said lower section (6) when the result of
detection of said sensor indicates that the vehicle occupant (12) wears the seat belt, than an amount
of gas supplied to the lower section (6) when the result of detection of the sensor indicates that the
vehicle occupant (12) fails to wear the seat belt.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein supply of the gas to said upper section
(5) is delayed with respect to supply of the gas to said lower section (6).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
58 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein said partition wall (4) includes a relief
portion (7, 14) that allows said upper section (5) and said lower section (6) to communicate with
each other when a pressure in the lower section (6) becomes higher than that in the upper section
(5) by at least a predetermined value.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
An air bag system according to claim 5, wherein said relief portion (7) is provided at an
engaging portion between said partition wall and an inner surface of the air bag (3).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
98 words
An air bag system according to claim 6, wherein said partition wall (4) of the air bag that
has deployed includes an extended end portion (7) that faces the vehicle occupant (12), and two
side edges (13, 13) that extend from said inflator to said end portion, said extended end portion (7)
of the partition wall and the inner surface of the air bag (3) engaging with each other with a lower
binding strength than that of engagement between said two side edges (13, 13) of the partition wall
and the inner surface of the air bag (3).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
An air bag system according to claim 7, wherein said partition wall (4) is sewn to the
inner surface of the air bag (3).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
An air bag system according to claim 7, wherein said end portion of said partition wall
(4) on the side of the vehicle occupant (12) is bent upwards, and tentatively attached to the inner
surface of the air bag (3).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
39 words
An air bag system according to claim 9, wherein said end portion of said partition wall
(4) on the side of the vehicle occupant (12) is coupled to the inner surface of said air bag (3) with a
fastener.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
30 words
An air bag system according to claim 5, wherein said relief portion (14) comprises a
valve that restricts gas flow from said upper section (5) to said lower section (6).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
37 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein said inflator comprises an upper
inflator (8) that supplies gas to said upper section (5), and a lower inflator (9) that supplies gas to
said lower section (6).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
An air bag system according to claim 12, wherein said control device operates said
upper inflator (8) when the result of detection of said sensor indicates that the vehicle occupant
(12) wears the seat belt.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
An air bag system according to claim 13, wherein said control device operates said
upper inflator (8) and said lower inflator (9) when the result of detection of said sensor indicates
that the vehicle occupant (12) fails to wear the seat belt.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
An air bag system according to claim 14, wherein an operation of said upper inflator (8)
is delayed with respect to an operation of said lower inflator (9).
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein said lower section (6) has a smaller
capacity than said upper section (5).
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
32 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein said upper section (5) of the air bag is
located in front of a head of the vehicle occupant (12) during deployment thereof.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
32 words
An air bag system according to claim 2, wherein said lower section (6) of the air bag is
located in front of a chest of the vehicle occupant (12) during deployment thereof.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
171 words
A method of controlling an air bag system for a motor vehicle, said air bag system
including an inflator (8, 9) capable of emitting gas, and an air bag (3) that deploys to fill space
between said inflator (8, 9) and a vehicle occupant (12) when the gas emitted from the inflator (8,
9) is supplied to the air bag, said air bag (3) having a plurality of sections (5, 6), said method being
characterized by comprising: a step (S1) of detecting an impact force that is applied to a vehicle body of the motor
vehicle, to determine whether the impact force is greater than a predetermined value; a step (S2) of detecting whether the vehicle occupant wears a seat belt; and a step (S3, S4, S6) of changing an amount of gas supplied from the inflator to each of said
plurality of sections, depending upon whether the vehicle occupant wears the seat belt or not, when
the impact force greater than the predetermined value is applied to the vehicle body.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
75 words
A method according to claim 19, wherein an inner space of the air bag (3) is divided by
a partition wall (4) into an upper section (5) and a lower section (6), and wherein said step of changing an amount of gas comprises a step (S4, S6) of supplying the
gas to said upper section (5) and said lower section (6) when it is determined that the vehicle
occupant fails to wear the seat belt.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
101 words
A method according to claim 20, wherein said partition wall (4) includes a relief
portion (7, 14) that allows said upper section (5) and said lower section (6) to communicate with
each other when a pressure in the lower section (6) becomes higher than a pressure in the upper
section (5) by at least a predetermined value, and wherein said step of supplying the gas to said upper section (5) and said lower section (6)
comprises a step of delaying supply of the gas to the upper section (5) with respect to supply of the
gas to the lower section (6).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
69 words
A method according to claim 20, wherein said step of changing an amount of gas
comprises a step of reducing an amount of gas supplied to the lower section (6) when it is
determined that the vehicle occupant (12) fails to wear the seat belt, than an amount of gas supplied
to the lower section (6) when it is determined that the vehicle occupant (12) wears the seat belt.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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