| 摘要 |
<p>TITLE: METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPEEDING THE RESPONSE OF AN AIR BAG INFLATOR AT LOW TEMPERATURES An air bag inflator for the passenger side of an automobile includes an elongated, tubular housing having a plurality of perforations in its cylindrical wall for discharging gas. Within the housing are a gas generant composition, an igniter and filtering screens. The perforations are normally sealed with 0.003 inch (0.0762 mm.) thick non-tempered aluminum foil which is easily ruptured by the gas pressure when the inflator is ignited. The foil, in addition to serving as a hermetic seal for protecting the gas generant and igniter from moisture and dust, insures that the gas pressure will reach a certain, threshold level before being discharged into an air bag. In very cold weather the inflator attains its peak pressure considerably more slowly than in warm weather. As a result, the air bag may be inflated either too slowly or insufficiently to perform its intended purpose. In order to preclude this from happening at least some of the perforations in the housing are covered with an additional or buttressing layer of thicker (0.006 inch; 0.1524 mm.) non-tempered aluminum foil, so that the threshold gas pressure necessary to rupture these seals is raised. This shortens the time for attaining peak gas pressure within the tubular housing and results in faster, more satisfactory inflation of the air bag when the ambient temperature is low.</p> |
