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`US00522276lA
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,222,761
`Jun. 29, 1993
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`Japan ‘
`8/1939 Japan .
`1-ll‘!95'l
`_
`_
`Primary Examiner—Kenneth R. Rice
`Attorney. Agent. or Firm—Foley & Lardner
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`
`An airbag restraint system for protecting a vehicle pas-
`senger in the event of a vehicle serious collision from
`the lateral side direction of the vehicle. The system
`°°“‘P"i5"5 3“ airbag which i-5 di5P°5°d 3‘ 33°11 07 50°“
`and a center console located at a center portion between
`right and left seats. An acceleration sensor is disposed at
`each of lateral sides of the vehicle to detect side direc-
`tional
`impact
`to the vehicle. When the vehicle is
`crashed at the one lateral side of the vehicle, the airbags
`at an impacted side and the center airbag are inflated.
`Similarly. when the vehicle is crashed at the the other
`]‘“°”] Side ‘ffthe "°hi.“1"" ""3 impacted Sid“ airbags “"51
`the °'='“=1' “"1338 3“? "*3-“Gt-‘~
`
`7 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
`
`IPR2016-01872
`IPR2016—01872
`AVS
`AVS
`Exhibit 2015
`Exhibit 2015
`
`_
`United States Patent
`Kaji et al.
`
`[191
`
`[54] “RB” REHMM SYSTEM
`IHVCRIOFSI MISID
`F.I.ltOS|1l
`Masayosh: Chthaya, all of
`Kanagawa, Japan
`
`[731 Assignee: Died! BIISSIIII C0-9 L‘-‘I1-. -‘W853, 581381‘!
`[21] Appl. No.: 765.209
`
`[22] Filed:
`
`Sen 5, 1991
`
`Foreign Application Priority Dita
`[30]
`Sep. 23. 1990 [JP]
`Japan ................................ .. 2-259511
`
`
`
`[56]
`
`B601! 21/22
`Int. CL5
`[51]
`LT.S. C]. ........................ .. 2.81}/73-IJ; 280/‘F32
`[52]
`[58] Field of Search .............. .. 280/728, 730, 743, 732
`.
`R°f°”"°°5 Cm”!
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`3,931,513 9/l9'l'6 Pulling ................................ 230/730
`4.966.333 I0/1990 Warner et al.
`.
`, 230/730
`
`5,033,236 7/I991 Szerdahelyi et al.
`. 280/T30
`5.072.966 l2/I991 Nishitake et al.
`................. .. 280/T30
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`June 29, 1993
`
`Sheet 1 of 3
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`5,222,761
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`FIG.‘l
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`

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`US. Patent
`
`June 29, 1993
`
`Sheet 2 of 3
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`5,222,761
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`June 29, 1993
`
`Sheet 3 of 3
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`5,222,761
`
`FIG.5
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`SOFF?
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`5,222,761
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`AIRBAG ncsrnnmr SYSTEM
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to improvements in an
`airbag restraint system for protecting a vehicle passen-
`ger in a vehicle serious collision, and more particularly
`to an airbag restraint system which is useful during a
`lateral directional collision, such as when the doors of
`the vehicle are impacted.
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`Hitherto. a variety of airbag restraint systems for
`automotive vehicles have been proposed and put into
`practical use in order to protect a vehicle passenger in
`the event of a vehicle serious collision or the like. Such
`an airbag restraint system includes an airbag installed on
`an instrument panel or steering wheel through a base
`plate. The airbag is momentarily inflated by gas fed
`from a gas generator in the event of the vehicle serious
`collision or the like. However, such an airbag restraint
`system is not effectively operated when the vehicle
`receives the impact from an right and left door sides. In
`order to overcome the above-mentioned drawback. an
`airbag restraint system has been proposed which is use-
`ful in the event that the collision occurs in the vehicle
`lateral direction. Such an airbag restraint system is dis-
`closed in Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publica-
`tion Nos. 1-ll'l'957 and 6i-95657. In such an airbag
`restraint system. an airbag is received in the armrest
`installed an each of the right and left doors. The other
`airbag restraint system has an airbag which is received
`in the console box disposed beside a driver‘s seat and
`which is inflated rearward for passengers seating which
`are seated on a rear seat.
`
`However. such a conventional airbag restraint system
`cannot prevent the vehicle passengers in the passenger
`compartment from impacting into each other.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`It is an object of the present invention to provide an
`improved airbag restraint system which prevents vehi-
`cle passengers who are seated side by side from impact-
`ing with each other in the event of a side direction
`vehicle crash.
`
`Another object of the present invention is to provide
`an improved airbag restraint system in which an airbag
`at an impacted side and a center airbag are operated in
`the event of the vehicle serious collision at a side surface
`of the vehicle body. The airbag restraint system lowers
`a rising of compartment air pressure and lowers an
`exchanging cost of the airbag restraint system.
`An airbag restraint system according to the present
`invention is applied to a vehicle which has first and
`second seats arranged side by side in the lateral direc-
`tion of the vehicle. The airbag restraint system com-
`prises a first airbag which is disposed at a first portion
`outside of the first seat relative to a vertical plane in-
`cluding a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. A second
`airbag is disposed at a second portion outside of the
`second seat relative to the vertical plane. A center air-
`bag is disposed between the first and second seats.
`With this arrangement, the passengers in the vehicle
`are protected from injury in the event that the vehicle
`experiences a crash from the side. Thus,
`the center
`airbag securely prevents the right side and left side
`passengers from impacting with each other.
`
`In the drawings, like reference numerals designate
`like elements and parts throughout
`the figures,
`in
`which:
`
`FIG. I is a top view of a vehicle compartment in
`which an airbag restraint system according to the pres-
`ent invention is installed;
`FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an airbag installed
`at right and left doors;
`FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a rear center airbag
`in a folded condition;
`FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rear center airbag in
`an inflated condition;
`FIG. 5 is an operation control circuit of the airbag
`restraint system according to the present invention; and
`FIG. 6 is a top view of a vehicle compartment in
`which a second embodiment of the airbag restraint
`system is applied and is in an inflated condition.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
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`25
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`Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 5, there is shown an
`embodiment of an airbag restraint system in accordance
`with the present invention. The airbag restraint system
`of this embodiment is for an automotive vehicle and
`comprises a first (front right) side airbag 41'-‘R and a
`second (front left) side airbag -I-FL which are installed in
`first (front right) and second (front left) armrests 3FR
`and 3F"L of first (from right) and second {front left)
`doors ZFR and ZFL, respectively. That is, the first and
`second airbags 4-FR and 4-FL are disposed opposite to
`each other relative to a vertical plane X including a
`longitudinal axis as shown in FIG. 1. and are located
`outside of front seats IFR and IF]. which are arranged
`side by side. A third (rear right) side airbag SRR and a
`fourth (rear left) side airbag SRL are installed in third
`(tear right) and fourth (rear left) armrests ’'.''RR and 7RL
`of third (rear right) and fourth (rear left) doors GRR and
`GRL. respectively so as to be disposed opposite to each
`other relative to the vertical plane X and are located
`outside of a rear right seat 5. A first center airbag II} is
`disposed at a back portion of a front center console 9
`between the front seats IFR and IFL. The second cen-
`ter air:-bag 11 is disposed at a center portion of the rear
`seat
`.
`Each of the first, second, third and fourth side airbags
`(FR, 41-‘L, SRR and SR1. includes a gas generator 13
`fixed to a base plate 12 by bolts and nuts (no numeral),
`as shown in FIG. 2. Gas generated by the gas generator
`13 is fed into an airbag body 15 through a gas inlet 14
`connected to the airbag body 15. The airbag body 15 is
`made of a cloth laminated by a plastic film. The base
`plate 12 has a pair of through holes 16 at a generally
`center portion thereof. The gas generator 13 is installed
`to the base plate 12 upon protruding forwardly through
`the through hole 16. Thus, a gas outlet portion of the
`gas generator 13 is inserted into the airbag body 15
`through the gas inlet 14.
`The second center airbag 11 is disposed at an upper
`portion of a rear center console 20 located at the center
`portion of the rear seat 5. The second center airbag 11
`includes a box-shaped base plate 22 which is secured to
`a rear seat frame section 21 through bolts and nuts (no
`numeral). The base plate 22 is provided at its cent;-at
`portion with a pair of through holes 26. A pair of gas
`generators 23 are fixed to the base plate 22 with bolts
`' and nuts (no numeral) so that the front end portion of
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`the gas generator protrudes forward through the
`through hole 26. The gas generated by the gas genera-
`tor 23 is fed into an airbag body 25 of the second center
`airbag 11 through a gas inlet 24 of the airbag body 25.
`Thus. the gas outlet 23:: of the gas generator 23 is in-
`serted into the airbag body 25 through the gas inlet 24.
`The base plate 22 is disposed to correspond its upper
`end with the front end surface of the rear center console
`20 which extend vertically. A breakable cover member
`27 is connected with the upper end portion 220 of the
`base plate 22 in order to cover the folded airbag body
`25. as shown in FIG. 3. The second center airbag 11 is
`inflated forward and downward thereof in order to
`prevent the seating passengers on the rear seat 5 from
`being violently hitting each other in the event of a vehi-
`cle serious collision or the like. The structure of the first
`center airbag 10 is similar to that of the second center
`airbag 11, except that the first center airbag 10 is hori-
`zontally disposed at the rear portion of the center con-
`sole 9.
`First and second acceleration sensors 3!)!-‘R and
`SIJFL, which detect a vehicle collision at a right side
`and a left side respectively. are disposed in the first and
`second side doors 21-“R and ZFL, respectively. The
`acceleration sensors 30FR and 3[}FL are electrically
`connected to the gas generators 13 and 23 for the side
`airbag IIFR. 4FI.., BRR, and SRL and the center airbags
`10 and II. as shown in FIG. 5. That is to say, the first
`and second acceleration sensors SOFR and 3DFL are
`connected in parallel to the positive electrode of a bat-
`tery 31 of the vehicle. When the first acceleration sen-
`sors 30FR detects the impact in the event of a vehicle
`serious collision, a switch included in the first accelera-
`tion sensor 3DFR is turned on. When the second accel-
`eration sensors 30FI.. detects the impact in the event of
`a vehicle serious collision. the switch included in the
`second acceleration sensor 3GFL is turned on. First and
`third igniters 32FR and 32RR, which act as a starter of
`the gas generators 13 for inflating the first and third
`airbags 4-FR and ERR. are serially connected to the
`acceleration sensor SOFR. Similarly, second and fourth
`igrtiters 321'-‘L and 32RL. which act as a starter of the
`gas generator 13 for inflating the second and fourth
`airbags 4F]. and 8RL. are serially connected to the
`acceleration sensor 30FL. Fifth and Sixth igniters 351'-'
`and 35R, which act as a starter of the gas generator 23
`for inflating the center airbags 10 and 11. are serially
`connected to the acceleration sensor 30FR through a
`diode 34R. and are serially connected to the accelera-
`tion sensor 30FL through a diode 3-4L. That is. the
`anode of the diode 34R is connected to the acceleration
`sensor 3-OFR, and the cathode of the diode 3-IR is con-
`nected to the igniter 35F. Similarly, the anode of the
`diode 34-L is connected to the acceleration sensor SOFL,
`and the cathode of the diode 341. is connected to the
`igniter 35F. A sensor 33. which avoids an erroneous
`operation of all of the airbags. is serially connected at its
`one end to each of the third. fourth, and sixth igniters
`3-ZRR. 35R, and 32RL. When the third sensor detects a
`condition that the airbags should not be operated. the
`sensor 33 turns off a switch included therein. The other
`end of the sensor 33 connected to the negative electrode
`of the battery 21.
`With this arrangement, the passengers in the vehicle
`are protected from injury in the event that the vehicle is
`crashed from its side direction by an object such as a
`vehicle, even if the vehicle is in a condition such that
`four passengers ride in the vehicle with one passenger
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`being positioned at each front seat IFR, IFL, and at the
`right side and left side of the rear seat 5. For example.
`when the vehicle is crashed into at its front left side
`door 2FL, the acceleration sensor 30Fl.. detects the
`impact and is turned on. Accordingly, direct current
`from the battery 31 is supplied to the ignitors 3217].. and
`32RL and is supplied to the ignitors 35F and 3511
`through the diode 34-L. Upon this operation. the gas
`generators 13 and 23 become operational so as to mo-
`mentarily inflate the airbag bodies 15 and 25 into a
`predetermined shape due to the gas being supplied from
`the gas generators 13 and 23. in order to protect the
`passengers from injury. In particular, the center airbags
`10 and I1 securely prevent the right side and left side
`passengers from impacting with each other. Further-
`more. in this condition. the airbags IIFR and SRR at the
`side opposite to the crashed side are not operated since
`the second acceleration sensor 30!‘-'R is not turned on.
`This operation suppresses a violent rising of the air
`pressure in a vehicle compartment and lowers a cost
`associated with exchanging the airbags.
`FIG. 6. shows a second embodiment of the airbag
`restraint system according to the present invention. The
`airbag restraint system is similar to that of the first em-
`bodiment except for center airbag bodies 25. The center
`airbag body 25 of the second embodiment has a T-shape
`at an inflated condition. as shown in FIG. 6. The T-
`shaped center airbag body 25 acts as an airbag for a
`frontal collision or the like so as to protect the passen-
`gers from the impact in the front and all directions. The
`airbag restraint system is arranged so that in the event of
`a vehicle serious collision, the center airbag body 25 is
`first inflated forward and then inflated in the lateral
`directions of the vehicle.
`While the embodiments of the present invention have
`been shown and described so that the airbags -I-FR, 4FL,
`SRR. and SRL are operated in response to the switching
`by two acceleration sensors 30FR and 30FL, it will be
`understood that four acceleration sensors may be ap-
`plied to the airbags -1-FR, -‘IFL. SRR, and SRL. respec-
`tively. With this arrangement, each airbag may be re-
`spectively operated i.n response to the four acceleration
`sensors.
`What is claimed is:
`1. An airbag restraint system for a vehicle, the vehicle
`having first and second seats arranged side by side in the
`lateral direction of the vehicle. said airbag restraint
`system comprising:
`a first airbag disposed at a first portion outside of the
`first seat relative to a vertical plane including a
`longitudinal axis of the vehicle:
`,
`a second airbag disposed at a second portion outside
`of the second seat relative to the vertical plane; and
`a center airbag disposed between the first and mot-ad
`seats. said center airbag including an airbag body
`which forms a shock absorbing space between the
`first and second seats when the airbag body is in-
`flated.
`
`2. An airbag restraint system as claimed in claim 1,
`further comprising:
`a first sensor installed at the first portion which de-
`tects an impact applied to the first portion, said first
`sensor outputting a signal representative of the
`impact applied to the first portion;
`a second sensor installed at the second portion which
`detects an impact applied to the second portion,
`said second sensor outputting a signal representa.
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`tive of the impact applied to the second portion;
`and
`
`selectively operating means for operating said first
`and center airbags in response to the signal from
`said first sensor and for operating said second and 5
`center airbags in response to the signal from the
`second sensor.
`
`15
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`30
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`cally connected to said center airbag, and being
`electrically connected to the
`second switch
`through a second diode so that an anode of the
`second diode is connected to the second switch and
`a cathode of the second diode is connected to said
`third ignitor;
`a third sensor electrically connected to said first,
`3. An airbag restraint system as claimed in claim 1,
`second and third ignitors. said third sensor turning
`wherein each of said first, second and center airbags is
`off a third switch included therein when the third
`secured to a vehicle body of the vehicle through a base 10
`sensor detects a condition that said first. second,
`plate, and said airbags are connected with a gas genera-
`and center airbags should not be operated; and
`tor secured to the base plate so as to be supplied with
`a battery having a positive electrode and a negative
`gas from the gas generator.
`electrode, said battery being connected at the posi-
`4. An airbag restraint system as claimed in claim 1,
`tive electrode to the first and second switches, and
`wherein said first and second airbags are installed in first
`being connected at the negative electrode to the
`third switch.
`and second armrests. respectively, said first armrest
`being attached to a first door disposed proximate the
`6. An airbag restraint system for a vehicle. the vehicle
`first portion, and said second armrest being disposed
`having first and second seats arranged side by side in the
`proximate to the second portion.
`lateral direction of the vehicle, said airbag restraint
`5. An airbag restraint system for a vehicle, the vehicle 20 system comprising:
`having first and second seats arranged side by side in the
`a first airbag disposed at a first portion outside of the
`lateral direction of‘ the vehicle, said airbag restraint
`first seat relative to a vertical plane including a
`system comprising:
`longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
`a first airbag disposed at a first portion outside of the
`a second airbag disposed at a second portion outside
`first seat relative to a vertical plane including a 25
`of the second seat relative to the vertical plane; and
`longitudinal axis of the vehicle:
`a center airbag disposed between the first and second
`a second airbag disposed at a second portion outside
`seats, said center airbag including an airbag body
`of the second seat relative to the vertical plane:
`which, at times when the vehicle is in a collision,
`a center airbag disposed between the first and second
`inflates to form a shock absorbing space between
`seats;
`the first and second seats such that at times when
`passengers are seated in said first and second seats,
`the passengers are prevented from impacting with
`each other.
`
`a first sensor installed at the first portion which de-
`tects impact applied to the first portion, said first
`sensor turning on a first switch included in the first
`sensor; and
`
`7. An airbag restraint system for a vehicle, the vehicle
`a second sensor installed at the second portion which 35 having first and second seats arranged side by side in the
`detects impact applied to the second portion, said
`lateral direction of the vehicle, said airbag restraint
`second sensor tun-ting on a second switch included
`system comprising:
`in the second sensor;
`a first airbag disposed at a first portion outside of the
`a first ignitor for operating said first airbag. the first
`first seat relative to a vertical plane including a
`ignitor being electrically connected to said first -to
`longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
`switch;
`a second airbag disposed at a second portion outside
`a second ignitor for operating said second airbag, the
`of the second seat relative to the vertical plane; and
`second ignitor being electrically connected to the
`a center airbag disposed between the first and second
`second switch;
`seats, said center airbag including an airbag body
`a third ignitor for operating said center airbag, the 45
`which forms a T-shape in an inflated condition to
`third ignitor being electrically connected to said
`form a shock absorbing space between the first and
`first switch through a first diode so that an anode of
`second seats, and in front of the first and second
`seats.
`the first diode is electrically connected to the first
`one-ire
`switch and a cathode of the first diode is electri-
`
`SO
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