Abstract:
The disclosed occupant protection device for a vehicle can comprising at least one airbag that protects a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision of the vehicle. The airbag can have an outflow opening through which the gas can exit the side airbag and/or has an overflow opening located inside the airbag. After the occupant protection device has been tripped, the side airbag can inflated and be positioned laterally next to the vehicle occupant in such a manner that the outflow opening and/or the overflow opening is closed, is throttled, or remains open according to the body size of the vehicle occupant.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation of PCT/DE2005/000086, which has an international filing date of Jan. 20, 2005; this International Application was not published in English, but was published in German as WO 2005/070729. 
     
    
       [0002]     The invention relates to an occupant side protection device, in particular for a motor vehicle, with at least one side airbag which protects a vehicle occupant in the event of a side collision of the vehicle.  
         [0003]     An occupant side protection device of this type is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,340 B2. To protect a vehicle occupant this previously known occupant side protection device has a gas generator which, in the event of an accident, inflates a side airbag of the occupant side protection device. In the deployed state, the side airbag covers a side wall section of the vehicle, thus preventing the vehicle occupant, such as the vehicle occupants head, from striking against the side wall section. In addition to its main chamber or working chamber covering the side wall section, the airbag has finger-like projections which are intended to be used for preventing the main chamber from bending away from the side wall.  
         [0004]     The present application is based on the object of describing a side protection device which provides a particularly high level of safety for the vehicle occupant to be protected.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0005]     The object of the present application can be achieved by making a provision for the side airbag to have an outflow opening from which gas can flow from the side airbag to the outside and/or to have an overflow opening located inside the airbag. According to one embodiment of the present invention, after the occupant side protection device has been triggered, the side airbag is inflated and positioned laterally next to the vehicle occupant in such a manner that the outflow opening and/or the overflow opening is closed, remains open, or is throttled as a function of body size, e.g., as a function of the size of the vehicle occupant or as a function of the size of predetermined body parts of the vehicle occupant.  
         [0006]     A substantial advantage of the occupant side protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention resides in the fact that the inflation behavior of the side airbag can be set individually to the vehicle occupant. As a result, optimum positioning of the side airbag and the best possible protective effect of the side airbag can be ensured.  
         [0007]     The side airbag can be preferably positioned between the vehicle occupant and an intruding side wall of the vehicle in such a manner that the side airbag immediately provides protection from the intruding side wall and/or a vehicle object connected to the intruding side wall. As an alternative or in addition, the side airbag can also provide protection from other hazards, for example from other objects integral to the vehicle, from objects external to the vehicle such as parts of another vehicle involved in the accident, from other occupants in the vehicle, or from occupants of another vehicle involved in the accident.  
         [0008]     In the case of vehicle occupants whose body size exceeds a predetermined minimum size, the outflow opening or the overflow opening can be completely or partially closed or throttled in the event of an accident. In the case of a vehicle occupant whose body size falls short of the predetermined minimum size, the outflow opening or the overflow opening preferably remains open in the event of an accident.  
         [0009]     For example, it can be established whether the vehicle occupant is larger or smaller than the predetermined minimum size with reference to the shoulder height of the vehicle occupant. A closing or throttling of the outflow opening or of the overflow opening may preferably take place by means of the shoulder region or the upper arm region of the vehicle occupant. The outflow opening or the overflow opening can be preferably arranged in such a manner that a closing or throttling of the opening can occur by the opening being pinched off or covered by the shoulder or the upper arm region of the vehicle occupant and the intruding side wall.  
         [0010]     A plurality of outflow openings can be arranged in the side airbag in order to achieve a multi-stage setting of the gas pressure of the side airbag as a function of the size of the occupant.  
         [0011]     An outflow passage can be preferably connected to the outflow opening and can deflect the gas emerging through the outflow opening away from the vehicle occupant. Injuries due to the hot gases that emerge from the airbag can be prevented by the outflow passage. The outflow passage can be formed, for example, by a covering element which is arranged between the vehicle occupant and the outflow opening.  
         [0012]     The outflow passage may be preferably assigned to all of the outflow openings of the side airbag in order to achieve a safe conducting away flow of all gas that emerges from the openings. As an alternative, all of the outflow openings of the side airbag can be respectively assigned an individual outflow passage which deflects the gas emerging from the particular outflow opening away from the vehicle occupant.  
         [0013]     In order to achieve protection of the upper body of the occupant, the side airbag preferably has a thorax chamber. The outflow opening can be arranged, for example, in the upper region of the thorax chamber.  
         [0014]     For particularly comprehensive protection of the occupant, the side airbag can preferably have a head chamber and a thorax chamber. The overflow opening can be arranged, for example, between the head chamber and the thorax chamber. The side airbag can be preferably designed in such a manner that, in the event of the side wall penetrating the thorax chamber of the side airbag, gas is passed over from the thorax chamber into the head chamber as long as the overflow opening is open.  
         [0015]     In addition to the head chamber and the thorax chamber, the side airbag can also have one or more further chambers in order further to improve the protection of the occupant.  
         [0016]     The side airbag can be arranged, for example, in the door region of the vehicle or in the region of a vehicle seat.  
         [0017]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed descriptions are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]     The features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, appended claims, and the accompanying exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, which are briefly described below.  
         [0019]     FIGS.  1  to  3  show an occupant protection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention with an outflow opening without a covering element,  
         [0020]     FIGS.  4  to  7  show an occupant protection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention with an outflow opening with a covering element,  
         [0021]     FIGS.  8  to  11  show an occupant protection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention with an overflow opening between two chambers of the side airbag. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0022]     Embodiments of the present invention is explained below with reference to the figures. In the figures, the same reference numbers are used for comparable or identical components.  
         [0023]     In  FIG. 1 , a side airbag  10  of an occupant protection device  20  (otherwise not further illustrated in detail) can be seen. The side airbag has already been inflated because of an accident. The occupant protection device  20  has a control device (not shown) which, in the event of an accident, ignites a gas generator (also not shown in  FIG. 1 ) with which the side airbag  10  is inflated.  
         [0024]     The side airbag  10  can be arranged, for example, between a vehicle occupant  30  and a vehicle wall  40 , such as a side wall or vehicle door. Alternatively, the side airbag  10  could also be arranged at another location.  
         [0025]      FIG. 1  illustrates two different body sizes for the vehicle occupant  30 : a small vehicle occupant  30 ′ is shown by solid lines and a large vehicle occupant  30 ″ illustrated by dashed lines.  
         [0026]     The large vehicle occupant  30 ″ has a body size or occupant size which lies above a predetermined minimum size. The small vehicle occupant  30 ′ has a body size or occupant size which is smaller than the predetermined minimum size.  
         [0027]     It can be seen in  FIG. 1  that the side airbag  10  has an outflow opening  50  through which the gas blown into the side airbag  10  by the gas generator can leave the side airbag  10 . In the state illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the vehicle occupant  30  is still far enough away from the vehicle wall  40  so that the outflow opening  50  is not yet covered by the vehicle occupant  30 . Gas can therefore emerge from the side airbag  10  through the outflow opening  50 .  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  illustrates the further course of the accident in which the vehicle occupant  30  and the vehicle wall  40  have moved closer to each other. The side airbag  10  is now jammed between the vehicle occupant  30  and the vehicle wall  40 .  
         [0029]     Now, the difference between a small vehicle occupant  30 ′ and a large vehicle occupant  30 ″ affects the deployment. As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the large vehicle occupant  30 ″ completely covers the outflow opening  50  of the side airbag  10  with his shoulder  55  so that gas can no longer leave the side airbag  10  through the outflow opening  50 . The side airbag  10  therefore can substantially retain its internal pressure, a result of which is a relatively large pushing-away or intercepting force exerted on the large vehicle occupant  30 ″.  
         [0030]     A complete covering of the outflow opening  50  by the large vehicle occupant  30 ″ occurs because his shoulder  55  has a shoulder height h″ which is greater than a limit height hg predetermined by the arrangement of the outflow opening  50 . Therefore, in the case of large vehicle occupants  30 ″: 
 
h″&gt;hg. 
 
         [0031]     In contrast, the small vehicle occupant  30 ′ does not cover the outflow opening  50  of the side airbag  10  because his shoulder  55  does not reach the outflow opening  50  so that, even at the time of the accident illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the outflow opening  50  remains uncovered. The gas can therefore continue to emerge from the side airbag  10  through the outflow opening  50  so that, in comparison to the large vehicle occupant  30 ″, a reduced pushing-away or intercepting force acts on the vehicle occupant  30 ′.  
         [0032]     Therefore, for the shoulder height h′ of the small vehicle occupant  30 ′: 
 
h′&lt;hg. 
 
         [0033]     In summary, it can therefore be established that, in the case of the occupant protection device according to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the side airbag  10  exerts a pushing-away or intercepting force which is dependent on the size of the occupant. Specifically, a greater pushing-away or intercepting force is exerted on a large vehicle occupant  30 ″ than on a small vehicle occupant  30 ′.  
         [0034]     The previously-mentioned “predetermined minimum size” is established by the arrangement of the outflow opening  50 . For example, the higher the outflow opening (as seen in the Z-direction of the vehicle) is arranged, the higher is also the minimum size of the vehicle occupant (for example, the shoulder height of the vehicle occupant) which has to be exceeded in order to achieve a closing of the outflow opening  50 , resulting in the increased side airbag internal pressure.  
         [0035]      FIG. 3  shows the side airbag  10  according to  FIGS. 1 and 2  in a side view. The outflow opening  50  through which the gas can flow out of the side airbag  10  can be seen. In addition, the shoulder region  55  of the large vehicle occupant  30 ″ is illustrated schematically by dashed lines and the shoulder region  55  of the small vehicle occupant  30 ′ is illustrated schematically by solid lines. It can be seen that the outflow opening  50  is covered by the shoulder  55  of the large vehicle occupant  30 ″ whereas it remains uncovered in the case of the small vehicle occupant  30 ′ because the shoulder height h′ of the vehicle occupant  30 ′ is not sufficient to close the outflow opening  50 .  
         [0036]     It can furthermore be seen in  FIG. 3  that the outflow opening  50  lies immediately opposite the vehicle occupant  30 ′ or  30 ″ with the result that the gas emerging from the side airbag  10  is directed immediately at the vehicle occupant  30 ′ or  30 ″. In the event of a “hot-gas” gas generator, which produces hot gases to inflate the side airbag  10 , a direct conducting away of the hot gases in the direction of the vehicle occupant  30 ′ or  30 ″ may lead to injuries.  
         [0037]     In order to avoid such injuries, in the second embodiment of an occupant protection device shown in FIGS.  4  to  7 , the side airbag  10  has a covering element  60  which covers the outflow opening  50  and deflects the gas stream emerging through the outflow opening  50  in such a manner that it flows off tangentially to the side airbag  10  and does not strike directly against the vehicle occupant.  
         [0038]     The conducting away of the gas stream flowing out of the outflow opening  50  is illustrated in  FIGS. 6 and 7  by means of three arrows with the reference number  70 .  
         [0039]      FIG. 7  shows a enlarged view of detail E of the configuration of the side airbag  10  illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The covering element  60  which forms an outflow passage  80  in the tangential direction to the surface of the side airbag  10  can be seen in detail in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0040]      FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate the interaction of the side airbag  10  with the vehicle occupant  30 . It can be seen that a large vehicle occupant  30 ″ presses the covering element  60  onto the outflow opening  50  with his shoulder  55  with the result of closing the outflow opening  50 . Thus, further exiting of gas is prevented and an “increased” pushing-away or intercepting force is therefore formed for a large vehicle occupant.  
         [0041]     In the case of a small vehicle occupant  30 ′, the covering element  60  remains unobstructed so that gas can continuously emerge from the outflow opening  50  and a reduced pushing-away or intercepting force is produced.  
         [0042]     In connection with the two embodiments of the occupant protection device according to FIGS.  1  to  7 , the covering of the outflow opening  50  has been explained by way of example with reference to the shoulder  55  of the vehicle occupant  30  with a differentiation having been made between large and small vehicle occupants with reference to their shoulder height h′ and h″, respectively. Of course, other body parts or body proportions or body dimensions can also be used in order to differentiate between large and small vehicle occupants. For example, the body width or torso width can be used as a measure with “broad” vehicle occupants being regarded and treated as “large” while “slender” vehicle occupants are regarded and treated as “small.” 
         [0043]     FIGS.  8  to  11  show a third embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 8 , a side airbag  10  with two chambers  100  and  110  can be seen. The upper chamber  100  is a head chamber which protects the vehicle occupant&#39;s head in the event of an accident. The lower chamber  110  is a thorax chamber which protects the upper and lower body of the occupant.  
         [0044]     In addition, an overflow opening  130  which permits a gas flow between the two chambers  100  and  110  can be seen. The cross section or diameter of the overflow opening is determined by the size and positioning of a tuck which is indicated by the reference number  140 .  
         [0045]     In the event of an accident, the side airbag  10  is inflated by means of a gas generator  150 . During inflation, the gas generator  150  fills both the head chamber  100  and the thorax chamber  110  as indicated by the arrows  160  in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0046]     FIGS.  9  to  11  show the functioning of the side airbag  10  of  FIG. 8  over the course of an accident. In  FIG. 9 , a side wall  40  is pressed in the direction of the occupant  30  in the event of a side impact accident. The side airbag  10  has already been inflated at the time shown in  FIG. 9  and the inflated head chamber  100  and the inflated thorax chamber  110  can be seen.  
         [0047]      FIG. 11  shows the accident situation at a later time than  FIG. 9  in which the side wall  40  has moved closer to the vehicle occupant  30  as a result of which the thorax chamber  110  is compressed. This compression causes the gas pressure in the thorax chamber to be increased with the result that gas flows out of the thorax chamber  110  into the head chamber  100 . The gas flow from the thorax chamber to the head chamber is indicated by arrows  170 . As a result, the vole of the head chamber  100  increases, thus increasing the protective effect for the occupant&#39;s head.  
         [0048]     As the course of the accident progresses, the side wall  40  continues to come closer to the vehicle occupant  30  as shown in  FIG. 11 . The intruding side wall  40  and the shoulder  55  of the vehicle occupant  30  cause the overflow opening  130  to now be compressed so that the gas throughflow in the direction of the head chamber  100  is throttled or choked. Under some circumstances, a complete closing of the overflow opening  130  can occur if the distance between the shoulder  55  and the side wall  40  becomes too small.  
         [0049]      FIG. 11  shows that the overflow opening  130  is pinched off only if the shoulder height h of the vehicle occupant  30  is of sufficient height. If the shoulder  55  were to lie below the overflow opening  130  as indicated by the shoulder height h of a small vehicle occupant shown in  FIG. 11 , no throttling or interruption of the gas flow through the overflow opening  130  would occur. The embodiment of the occupant side protection device according to FIGS.  8  to  11  therefore operates as a function of body size in which the overflow opening  130  can be throttled, can close or can remain open as a function of size.  
         [0050]     The novel “airbag deployment control” as a function of body size has been explained in conjunction with FIGS.  1  to  11  exclusively using the example of a side airbag. Of course, it is also possible for the control of the inflation behavior of an airbag as a function of body size, such as shoulder height to be used in all other types of airbags, such as front airbags, drivers&#39; airbags, passengers&#39; airbags, door-integrated airbag systems, head-thorax airbags, head side airbags, knee bags, pelvis bags, rear-impact airbags or other comparable airbags.  
         [0051]     The priority applications German Patent Application No. 10 2004 004 544.5, filed Jan. 23, 2004, and German Patent Application No. 10 2004 018 665.0, filed Apr. 13, 2004, including the specification, drawings, claims, and abstract, are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.  
         [0052]     Given the disclosure of the present invention, one versed in the art would appreciate that there may be other embodiments and modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, all modifications attainable by one versed in the art from the present disclosure within the scope and spirit of the present invention are to be included as further embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is to be defined as set forth in the following claims.