VEHICLE PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM

Abstract

A vehicle occupant restraint system comprises a vehicle seat (12) which includes a backrest (15) with a seat back surface (24), the seat back surface (24) being provided for a vehicle occupant (26) seated in the vehicle seat (12) to lean against the same, and comprising an airbag module (16) integrated in the vehicle seat (12) which includes an airbag (18) being U-shaped in a horizontal section plane, wherein the airbag (18) includes an L-shaped restraining portion (20) and an L-shaped supporting portion (22), wherein the L-shaped restraining portion (20) has a fillable cushioning portion (30) forming a first leg of the L which is positioned along a seat longitudinal direction (L) spaced apart from the seat back surface (24) and which includes a baffle (42) being directed toward the seat back surface (24) and being provided to cushion the vehicle occupant (26), if he/she is displaced forward along the seat longitudinal direction (L), and includes a fillable connecting portion (32) forming a second leg of the L which connects the cushioning portion (30) to the vehicle seat (12), wherein the L-shaped supporting portion (22) includes a fillable first bearing portion (34) forming a first leg of the L and being positioned along a seat longitudinal direction (L) behind the backrest (14) and a second bearing portion (36) forming a second leg of the L which connects the first bearing portion (34) to the vehicle seat (12), wherein the connecting portion (32) of the restraining portion (20) and the second bearing portion (36) of the supporting portion (22) form a transverse leg (40) of the U, wherein the supporting portion (22) includes a bearing surface (44) directed toward the backrest (14) and counteracts a load (F) being directed away from the seat back surface (24) and acting on the restraining portion (20), if the vehicle occupant (26) impacts the baffle (42), so as to stabilize the restraining portion (20) relative to the vehicle seat (12).

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A vehicle occupant restraint system comprising a vehicle seat (12) which includes a backrest (14) with a seat back surface (24), the seat back surface (24) being provided for a vehicle occupant (26) seated in the vehicle seat (12) to lean against the same, and comprising an airbag module (16) integrated in the vehicle seat (12) which includes an airbag (18) being U-shaped in a horizontal section plane, wherein the airbag (18) comprises an L-shaped restraining portion (20) and an L-shaped supporting portion (22), wherein the L-shaped restraining portion (20) includes a fillable cushioning portion (30) forming a first leg of the L which is positioned along a seat longitudinal direction (L) spaced apart from the seat back surface (24) and which has a baffle (42) directed toward the seat back surface (24), the baffle (42) being provided to cushion the vehicle occupant (26), if he/she is displaced forward along the seat longitudinal direction (L), and includes a fillable connecting portion (32) forming a second leg of the L which connects the cushioning portion (30) to the vehicle seat (12), wherein the L-shaped supporting portion (22) includes a fillable first bearing portion (34) forming a first leg of the L which is positioned along a seat longitudinal direction (L) behind the backrest (14), and a second bearing portion (36) forming a second leg of the L which connects the first bearing portion (34) to the vehicle seat (12), wherein the connecting portion (32) of the restraining portion (20) and the second bearing portion (36) of the supporting portion (22) form a transverse leg (40) of the U, wherein the supporting portion (22) includes a bearing surface (44) directed toward the backrest (14) and counteracts a load (F) being directed away from the seat back surface (24) and acting on the restraining portion (20), if the vehicle occupant (26) impacts the baffle (42), so as to stabilize the restraining portion (20) relative to the vehicle seat (12).

12. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 11, wherein the airbag comprises two separate main chambers (46, 48), specifically wherein a first main chamber (46) forms substantially the restraining portion (20) and a second main chamber (48) forms substantially the supporting portion (22).

13. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 12, wherein the main chamber (48) forming the supporting portion (22) is configured by an auxiliary airbag (50), the auxiliary airbag (50) being arranged specifically in the interior of the airbag (18).

14. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 12, wherein the main chamber (48) forming the supporting portion (22) or the auxiliary airbag (50) in a filled state has a higher internal pressure than the restraining portion (20) or the main chamber (46) forming the restraining portion (20).

15. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 11, wherein the airbag (18), specifically the restraining portion (20) and/or the supporting portion (22), comprises a stabilizing element (52).

16. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 15, wherein the stabilizing element (52) is formed by one or more tethers (54) extending in an interior of a fillable area (21, 23) of the restraining portion (20) and/or of the supporting portion (22).

17. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 15, wherein at least one tether (54) is provided which, when being flatly spread, is L-shaped corresponding to the L-shaped cross-section of the restraining portion (20) and the supporting portion (22), or in that at least one tether (54) is provided which, when being flatly spread, is U-shaped corresponding to the U-shaped cross-section of the airbag (18).

18. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 16, wherein the at least one tether (54) divides the restraining portion and/or the supporting portion into plural fillable sub-chambers (56, 58, 60, 62) superimposed perpendicularly to the seat longitudinal direction (L).

19. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 15, wherein at least one tether (64) is provided which is coupled, on the seat side, to a retraction mechanism (66) reducing the length of the tether (64) in the fillable area (21) of the restraining portion (20) during the situation of restraint.

20. The vehicle occupant restraint system according to claim 15, wherein the stabilizing element (52) is disposed on the outside of the airbag (18), specifically as a fabric sail (68) fixed to the cushioning portion (30) and to the connecting portion (32) in a transition (31) which is formed by the cushioning portion (30) and the connecting portion (32).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In the following, the invention shall be illustrated in detail by means of plural embodiments with reference to the attached Figures, wherein the drawings show in:

[0033] FIG. 1 a schematic top view onto a vehicle occupant restraint system according to the invention comprising a vehicle seat and an airbag in the completely filled state;

[0034] FIG. 2 a segment of the vehicle seat and a first embodiment of the airbag in a lateral view;

[0035] FIG. 3 the vehicle seat and the airbag of FIG. 2 in a rear view;

[0036] FIG. 4 the airbag of the vehicle occupant restraint system according to the invention of FIGS. 2 and 3 in a schematic perspective view;

[0037] FIG. 5 the airbag of the vehicle occupant restraint system according to the invention as set forth in a second embodiment in a schematic perspective view; and

[0038] FIG. 6 the vehicle occupant restraint system according to the invention as set forth in a third embodiment in a schematic perspective view.

DESCRIPTION

[0039] The Figures illustrate a vehicle occupant restraint system 10 comprising a vehicle seat 12 which includes an airbag module 16 integrated in a backrest 14.

[0040] Apart from the backrest 14, the vehicle seat 12 also includes a conventionally known seat portion 15, the backrest 14 and the seat portion 15 being arranged one behind the other in a seat longitudinal direction L. In a conventional vehicle in a normal driving situation, the seat longitudinal direction L coincides with a vehicle longitudinal direction. However, it is also conceivable to provide driving situations in which the vehicle seat 12 is disposed in a deviating position so that the seat longitudinal direction L deviates from the vehicle longitudinal direction or is even oriented against the latter.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows the vehicle occupant protection system 10 in general, while the further Figures illustrate details of preferred embodiments.

[0042] Before a situation of restraint occurs, an airbag 18 is accommodated in the airbag module 16 in a folded state. If a situation of restraint occurs, the airbag 18 is filled with filling gas via an inflator 38 and deploys out of the backrest 14 into the three-dimensional U-shaped form as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, for example. Specifically, a section across the airbag 18 along a horizontal section plane is U-shaped.

[0043] The airbag 18 is composed of a fillable L-shaped restraining portion 20 and an L-shaped supporting portion which, in typical embodiments, are in fluid communication with each other.

[0044] The restraining portion 20 is composed of a cushioning portion 30 and a connected fillable connecting portion 32, the cushioning portion 30 being in fluid communication with the connecting portion 32. The cushioning portion 30 and the connecting portion 32 are aligned approximately at right angles with each other, as can be seen from FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, for example, so that the cushioning portion 30 forms a first leg and the connecting portion 32 forms a second leg of the L. The restraining portion 20 extends from the inflation mouth 39 and the fastening of the airbag 18 on the vehicle seat 12 to the free end 80.

[0045] The supporting portion 22 is composed of a first bearing portion 34 and a connected second bearing portion 36, the first bearing portion 34 being in fluid communication with the second bearing portion 36. As is evident from FIG. 1, for example, in the deployed and filled state the first bearing portion 34 and the second bearing portion 36 are aligned approximately at right angles with each other and with a bearing surface 44 are adjacent substantially form-fittingly to a side and rear portion of the backrest 14 so that the first bearing portion 30 forms a first leg and the second bearing portion 32 forms a second leg of the L, the L being arranged to be mirrored with respect to the L of the restraining portion 20. The supporting portion 22 extends from the inflation mouth 39 and the fastening of the airbag 18 on the vehicle seat 12 to the free end 82.

[0046] As is evident from FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, the first bearing portion 34 and the second bearing portion 36 can be configured so that, in a filled state not mounted on the vehicle seat 12, they are aligned with each other at an angle of α≤90°, specifically at an angle in the range of 60°≤α≤90°. Such alignment of the first bearing portion 34 with the second bearing portion 36 at an angle of α≤90° helps additionally increase the stability and the inherent rigidity of the airbag 18.

[0047] As is further evident from FIG. 1, the connecting portion 32 and the second bearing portion 36 extend approximately along the seat longitudinal direction L and constitute the transverse leg of the U, while the cushioning portion 30 and the first bearing portion 34 extend approximately in a seat transverse direction Q extending perpendicularly to the seat longitudinal direction L and in this case form the longitudinal legs of the U. In the shown embodiment, the longitudinal leg of the U formed by the first bearing portion 34 has a smaller expansion in the seat transverse direction Q than the cushioning portion 30 and hence is shorter. As a matter of course, the first bearing portion 34 can also have approximately the same (see, e.g., FIG. 5) or a larger (not shown) expansion in the seat transverse direction Q than the cushioning portion 30.

[0048] The lengths of the cushioning portion 30 and of the first bearing portion 34 as well as of the connecting portion 2 and of the second bearing portion 34 in the seat transverse and seat longitudinal directions Q, L may be freely selected at the skilled person's discretion.

[0049] The connecting portion 32 and the second bearing portion 36 are tightly connected to the airbag module 16 in the backrest 14, whereas the cushioning portion 30 is located freely in the vehicle interior in front of a seat back surface 24 of the backrest 14 and the first bearing portion 32 is adjacent to the rear of the backrest 14 freely and form-fittingly behind the backrest 14.

[0050] The seat back surface 24 is the surface against which a vehicle occupant 26 leans when he/she has taken a seat in the vehicle seat 12 (see FIG. 2, for example).

[0051] On the side facing the seat back surface 24, the cushioning portion 30 includes a baffle 42 that is intended to cushion the vehicle occupant 26 if he/she is displaced forward along the seat longitudinal direction L. The baffle 42 is opposed to and spaced apart from the seat back surface 24 so that the cushioning portion 30 of the completely filled airbag 18 is disposed approximately above the thighs of the vehicle occupant 26.

[0052] In the filled state of the airbag 18, the baffle 42 is approximately in parallel to a seat vertical direction H and/or in parallel to the seat back surface 24.

[0053] Along the seat vertical direction, the airbag may have an approximately constant height h, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, for example.

[0054] In an alternative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the free end 80 cushioning portion 30 has a height h.sub.2 along the seat vertical direction H. The cushioning portion 30 has approximately the same height h.sub.2 also at a transition 31 to the connecting portion 32. In the extension of the connecting portion 32, the height thereof decreases to a height h.sub.1 which the airbag 18 adopts directly at the backrest 14. The airbag 18 shown in FIG. 6 equally has the height h.sub.1 in the extension of the second bearing portion 36 and of the first bearing portion. As a matter of course, the height h of the cushioning portion 30, the first bearing portion 34 and/or the second bearing portion 36 may also be provided (not shown) to decrease or increase in the respective extension. Such adaptation of the height h may be freely selected at the skilled person's discretion.

[0055] The jacket of the airbag 18 can be fabricated, for example, of plural individual cut parts which can be flatly spread each per se, wherein, for example, inner and outer surface parts 72, 74 are disposed in parallel to each other and are connected to the peripheral edges of two U-shaped lateral parts 76, 78. The free ends 80, 82 of the cushioning portion 30 and of the first bearing portion 34 can be formed by a separate edge part which may be formed, e.g., as a separate cut part or integrally with one or both of the lateral parts 76, 78.

[0056] The U-shaped lateral parts 76, 78 impart the U-shape three-dimensional in the filled state to the airbag 18.

[0057] As is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, the airbag 18 comprises two main chambers 46 and 48, a first main chamber 46 substantially forming the restraining portion 20 and a second main chamber substantially forming the supporting portion 22. Thus, the first and second main chambers 46, 48 and, consequently, also the restraining portion 20 and the supporting portion 22 are enabled to have different internal pressures in a filled state. In particular, the second main chamber 48 and, thus, the supporting portion 22, are provided to have a higher internal pressure so as to hereby increase the stability of the airbag 18.

[0058] In the area of the supporting portion 22, the airbag 18 can comprise an auxiliary airbag 50, wherein preferably the second main chamber 48 is formed by the auxiliary airbag 50. The auxiliary airbag 50 is formed by a separate airbag disposed inside the airbag 18. In the airbag 18 shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary airbag 50 protrudes approximately up to the transition area 21 of the restraining portion 20 into the connecting portion 32 of the restraining portion.

[0059] The jacket of the auxiliary airbag 50 has a structure similar to the jacket of the airbag 18, the auxiliary airbag including, instead of the U-shaped lateral parts 76, 78, L-shaped lateral parts which in the filled state impart the three-dimensional shape to the auxiliary airbag 50.

[0060] When the airbag 18 is filled by the inflator 38, at first the second main chamber 48 formed by the auxiliary airbag 50 can be filled, before the first main chamber 46 is filled via overflow openings and/or overflow valves which may be disposed in a main chamber partition 70, for example. As an alternative, the two main chambers 46 and 48 can also be filled at the same time, for example, such as via a suitable diffusor of the inflator 38, or a separate inflator 38 can be associated with each of the main chambers 46 and 48.

[0061] In order to stabilize the L-shape of the restraining portion 20 and/or the supporting portion 22, specifically the angle between the cushioning portion 30, more precisely the baffle 42, and the connecting portion 32, and/or the angle between the first bearing portion 34 and the second bearing portion 36 in a situation of restraint, if the vehicle occupant 26 impacts the baffle 42, and to reduce a movement of the cushioning portion 30 along the seat longitudinal direction L, the airbag may comprise one or more stabilizing elements 52.

[0062] In FIGS. 2 to 6, the stabilizing element 52 is illustrated in the form of one or more flat L-shaped (FIGS. 2 to 5) or U-shaped (FIG. 6) tethers 54.

[0063] FIGS. 2 to 4 show a variant in which the tethers 54 divide each of the two main chambers 46 and 48 in the seat vertical direction H into two superimposed sub-chambers 56 and 58 as well as 60 and 62.

[0064] It is also possible, however, that only the second main chamber 48 is divided by a flat tether 54 into two sub-chambers 60 and 62, as exemplified in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, already sufficient stability and inherent rigidity of the airbag 18 can be obtained, inter alia, by the auxiliary airbag 50 protruding into the restraining portion 20 and being filled with a higher internal pressure. In addition, in this embodiment, the stability and inherent rigidity of the airbag 18 is increased by the fact that the angle a between the first bearing portion 34 and the second bearing portion 36 is smaller than 90°, and that the second bearing portion 36 and the connecting portion 32 which form the transverse leg 40 of the U are aligned with each other at an angle smaller than 180°.

[0065] Furthermore, it is also possible, as shown in FIG. 6, to provide a plurality of superimposed flat tethers 56.

[0066] The flat tether 56 is, e.g., a fabric part whose shape corresponds to the upper or lower lateral part 76, 78 of the jacket and, thus, to the U-shaped cross-section of the airbag 18, or a fabric part whose shape corresponds to the L-shaped cross-section of the auxiliary airbag 50, the restraining portion 20 or the supporting portion 22. Preferably, the flat tether 56 is disposed approximately in parallel to the lateral parts 76, 78 in the interior of the airbag 18 or of the auxiliary airbag 50 and is attached to the jacket of the airbag 18 or the auxiliary airbag 50 along its circumference. It is possible to connect the flat tether 56 to the jacket of the airbag 18 along its whole circumference or at specific sections only. For example, the tether 54 located in the restraining portion 20 of the airbag 18 in FIG. 4 is connected on the edge side to the inner surface part 72, the outer surface part 74 and additionally, via a connecting seam 84, to the auxiliary airbag 50.

[0067] At the airbag 18 in FIG. 1 two further possible stabilizing elements 52 are shown. It is possible to provide the stabilizing elements 52 individually or in any combination on the airbag 18.

[0068] In one variant, the stabilizing element 52 can be formed by a tether 64 extending inside a fillable area 21 of the restraining portion 30 of the airbag 18 (in FIG. 1 shown by a dash two-dot line) which is connected to the backrest 14, in this example to a retraction mechanism 66, as well as an exterior of the jacket facing the baffle 42 on the cushioning portion 30. The fillable area 21 is the volume of the restraining portion 20 which is filled with filling gas by the inflator and which is constituted by the main chamber 46 in this case. The retraction mechanism 66 by which the tether 64 in this example is connected to the back rest 14 is designed to reduce a free length of the tether 64 during the situation of restraint. The retraction mechanism 66 is, e.g., a belt retractor or a belt tensioner (not shown in detail). The retraction mechanism 66 is activated, while or after the airbag 18 is filled or the vehicle occupant 26 impacts the baffle 42, to produce tensile force toward the seat back surface 24 which counteracts the load F applied by the vehicle occupant 26 to the cushioning portion 30 (see FIG. 2) and additionally stabilizes the cushioning portion 30 relative to the connecting portion 32.

[0069] In another variant, the stabilizing element 52 is formed by a flat fabric sail 68 (shown in FIG. 1 by a dash-dot line) which is attached to the outside of the airbag 18 outside the fillable area 21 at the transition 31 between the connecting portion 32 and the cushioning portion 30 in parallel to the upper lateral part 78 or in parallel to the lower lateral part 76 of the jacket of the airbag 18. In this case, the fabric sail 68 takes the shape of a right-angled triangle, the two legs of the triangle being fixed to the outer surface part 74, specifically to a connecting seam between the outer surface part 74 and the respective lateral part 76, 78. The hypotenuse of the triangle thus extends from the connecting portion 32 to the cushioning portion 30. The cushioning portion 30 can also be additionally stabilized relative to the connecting portion 32 by the fabric sail 68, if the vehicle occupant 26 impacts the baffle 42. Such fabric sail 68 can also be attached, as a matter of course, to the outside of the airbag 18 outside the fillable area 23 at the transition 33 between the second bearing portion 36 and the first bearing portion 34 in parallel to the upper lateral part 78 or in parallel to the lower lateral part 76 of the jacket of the airbag 18.

[0070] The above-described stabilizing elements 52 can be used at the skilled person's discretion together, alone or in any combination to further increase the stability and/or inherent rigidity of the airbag 18.