Vehicle safety apparatus

Claim 2

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform fluid pressure throughout, said confinement having one portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means enabling said one portion of said confinement to apply a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second portion thereof.

Claim 3

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said restraining force applied to the mass by said one portion is one-fourth to three-fourths the restraining force applied to the mass by said second portion.

Claim 4

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said one portion of said confinement is defined when said confinement is in a collapsed condition by boundaries and said means enabling said one portion of the confinement to apply said lower restraining force comprises material defining said one portion and in excess of the area defined by said boundaries.

Claim 5

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein when said confinement is expanded said excess material provides a bulged portion of said confinement.

Claim 6

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means enabling said one portion of said confinement to apply a lower restraining force comprises a pleated portion of material defining said one portion of said confinement.

Claim 7

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means enabling said one portion of said confinement to apply a lower restraining force comprises material forming said one portion and being capable of carrying lower stress than the surrounding material.

Claim 8

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said first portion of said confinement is operable to apply a restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force which is one-fourth to three-fourths the restraining force applied to the given mass by said second portion of said confinement.

Claim 9

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout, said confinement having a first portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means operable to maintain the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement substantially lower than the membrane stress in said second portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded to thereby enable said first portion of said confinement to exert a lower restraining force on a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second portion thereof.

Claim 10

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout, said confinement having a first portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means operable to maintain the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement substantially lower than the membrane stress in said second portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded to thereby enable said first portion of said confinement to exert a lower restraining force on a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second portion thereof.

Claim 11

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout and a fiRst portion operable to restrain the head of an occupant and a second portion operable to restrain the torso of the occupant, said first portion being defined by peripheral boundaries and including material that extends between said boundaries, said material extending between said boundaries having a surface area that is larger than the area defined by said boundaries to provide an excess of material between said boundaries when said confinement is expanded, said excess material thereby reducing the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded to enable said first portion of said confinement to exert a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said portion thereof.

Claim 12

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout and a fiRst portion operable to restrain the head of an occupant and a second portion operable to restrain the torso of the occupant, said first portion being defined by peripheral boundaries and including material that extends between said boundaries, said material extending between said boundaries having a surface area that is larger than the area defined by said boundaries to provide an excess of material between said boundaries when said confinement is expanded, said excess material thereby reducing the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded to enable said first portion of said confinement to exert a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said portion thereof.

Claim 13

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout, said confinement having a first portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means operable to maintain the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement substantially lower than the membrane stress in said second portion of said confinement including pleated material defining said first portion of said confinement.

Claim 14

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout, said confinement having a first portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means operable to maintain the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement substantially lower than the membrane stress in said second portion of said confinement including pleated material defining said first portion of said confinement.

Claim 15

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout, said confinement having a first portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means operable to maintain the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement substantially lower than the membrane stress in said second portion of said confinement, said last-stated means comprising material forming said first portion and being capable of carrying lower stress than the surrounding material.

Claim 16

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout, said confinement having a first portion engageable with the head of the occupant and a second portion engageable with the torso of the occupant, and means operable to maintain the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement substantially lower than the membrane stress in said second portion of said confinement, said last-stated means comprising material forming said first portion and being capable of carrying lower stress than the surrounding material.

Claim 17

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout and a first portion operable to restrain the head of an occupant and a second portion operable to restrain the torso of the occupant, said first portion when the confinement is collapsed being defined by peripheral boundaries and including material that extends between said boundaries, said material extending between said boundaries having an area that is larger than the area defined by said boundaries to provide an excess of material between said boundaries, said excess material minimizing the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded wherein said first portion of said confinement is operable to apply a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second portion of said confinement.

Claim 18

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout and a first portion operable to restrain the head of an occupant and a second portion operable to restrain the torso of the occupant, said first portion when the confinement is collapsed being defined by peripheral boundaries and including material that extends between said boundaries, said material extending between said boundaries having an area that is larger than the area defined by said boundaries to provide an excess of material between said boundaries, said excess material minimizing the membrane stress in said first portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded wherein said first portion of said confinement is operable to apply a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second portion of said confinement.

Claim 19

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein said material is pleated to provide said excess material on said first portion of said confinement.

Claim 20

A vehicle safety apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein said confinement is made of a pair of side panels and said pleated material extends therebetween, said pleated material being folded to provide said pleats and secured to said side panels.

Claim 21

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an eXpanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout and a first surface portion operable to restrain the head of an occupant and a second surface portion operable to restrain the torso of the occupant, said first surface portion defined by peripheral boundaries and including material that extends between said boundaries, said material extending between said boundaries having a surface area greater than the area defined by said boundaries to provide an excess of confinement material between said boundaries, said excess material reducing the membrane stress in said first surface portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded whereby said first surface portion of said confinement is operable to apply a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second surface portion of said confinement.

Claim 22

A vehicle safety apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an eXpanded operative condition for restraining movement of an occupant during the occurrence of a collision, means for expanding said confinement by directing fluid therein, said confinement when expanded having a substantially uniform pressure throughout and a first surface portion operable to restrain the head of an occupant and a second surface portion operable to restrain the torso of the occupant, said first surface portion defined by peripheral boundaries and including material that extends between said boundaries, said material extending between said boundaries having a surface area greater than the area defined by said boundaries to provide an excess of confinement material between said boundaries, said excess material reducing the membrane stress in said first surface portion of said confinement when said confinement is expanded whereby said first surface portion of said confinement is operable to apply a lower restraining force to a given mass impacting said confinement with a given force than said second surface portion of said confinement.