INFLATABLE SAFETY RESTRAINT FOR VEHICLE OCCUPANT PROTECTION

摘要

An inflatable safety restraint arrangement is provided which is particularly helpful to protect vehicle occupants from transverse components of crash forces such as are experienced in side impacts. An inflatable cushion (8) in the deflated state is folded and mounted in a flexible pocket and is fixedly attached to the vehicle at at least two spaced positions. The flexible pocket comprises a line of weakness such as a tear seam along which the pocket opens when subjected to forces generated during inflating of the cushion and through which the inflating cushion deploys to a position between the vehicle occupant and the adjacent vehicle surface (e.g. door) in the event of a crash situation being detected. The flexible pocket is preferably fabric though it may be of a plastics material and the tear seam comprises a stitched seam the stitches of which either break or unravel when the airbag cushion is deployed. The airbag cushion (8) with or without the appropriate inflator (1) may be mounted either in the vehicle seat or in the roof or in a structural side beam such as the B pillar. In the case of mounting the cushion in the seat it is preferably enclosed within the seat cover so as to follow the contours of the seat and provide a comfortable, unobtrusive fitment. In this case the inflator may be advantageously mounted in a main seat tube. Since separate housings are not required either for the inflator or the airbag cushion, considerable savings in expense and assembly time are made. A manifold (4) for connecting the inflator (1) to the cushion (8) is described in which gas flow is directed onto an inside wall of the manifold so as to retain the manifold in the cushion and seal it. This protects the cushion mounting area from the direct effects of the hot gas from the inflator and allows a mounting angle between the inflator and the cushion of anything between 0 and 180 DEG . The outer manifold surface may be welded or stitched to a manifold mounting area of the cushion.