Patent ID: 12187232

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary and may be embodied in various forms. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details.

The present disclosure relates to a safety arrangement for a vehicle interior which allows a side airbag of a vehicle seat to deploy in case of an impact without getting hindered by a lid of a console box arranged adjacent/beside of the seat.

Referring now toFIG.1, a safety arrangement (100) for a vehicle interior is illustrated. The safety arrangement (100) includes one or more seats (200) with an airbag (300) configured to be deployed in the vehicle interior, in case of an impact, and a console box (110) with a lid (130) arranged adjacent/beside the one or more seats (200). The air bag (300) is arranged on a side part of the one or more seats (200) beside the console box (110). Particularly, the airbag (300) is deployed in a transverse and/or longitudinal direction of the vehicle interior.

The console box (110) has a storage compartment (120) for storing articles and the lid (130) for closing an opening of the storage compartment (120). The lid (130) is coupled to the console box (110), specifically hingeably or pivotally coupled to the console box (110). The lid (130) is moveable between a fully open position (100a) (FIG.9) and a closed position (100b) (FIG.7). The fully open position (100a) allows access to the storage compartment (120) and an occupant can dispose or place an article within the storage compartment (120) when the lid (130) is in the fully open position (100a). In the closed position (100b), the lid (130) closes the opening of the storage compartment (120). The lid (130) is adapted to latch with the console box (110) in the closed position (100b), preferably by a hook-slot system. In an embodiment, a knob is arranged on/in the console box (110) or lid (130) for latching/unlatching the lid (130) with/from the console box (110). In an embodiment, the lid (130) is an armrest of the console box (110).

Referring toFIGS.2and3, the lid (130) is coupled to the console box (110) by a hinge assembly (150). The hinge assembly (150) facilitates the lid (130) to move between the fully open position (100a) and the closed position (100b). The hinge assembly (150) biases the lid (130) in a first position (100c) to prevent the lid (130) from overlapping a deployment path of the airbag (300).

More particularly in an embodiment (as shown inFIG.7), the first position (100c) is the closed position (100b) (itself) where the lid (130) is latched with the console box (110). In yet another embodiment, the first position (100c) is the closed position (100b) where the lid (130) is unlatched with the console box (110). In yet another embodiment (as shown inFIG.8), the first position (100c) is an intermediate position between the fully open position (100a) and the closed position (100b). Specifically, the first position (100c) is the intermediate position (100c) that is a partially open position with less than 15 degrees of an opening angle (6) of the lid (130) with respect to the closed position (100b) of the lid (130).

The lid (130) includes a first hinge plate (140) and a second hinge plate (142) as shown inFIGS.2,3,4,5and6. The lid (130) is moveably connected to the console box (110). Specifically, the first hinge plate (140) of the lid (130) is moveably connected to the console box (110). The second hinge plate (142) is a fixed hinge plate which is attached to a portion of a body of the console box (110). The first hinge plate (140) covers the storage compartment (120) of the console box (110). The first hinge plate (140) is covered by a cushion which provides a cushioning effect such that an upper portion of the lid (130) can be used as an armrest for the occupant.

The first hinge plate (140) and the second hinge plate (142) are connected by a shaft (145). The hinge assembly (150) is arranged between the first hinge plate (140) and the second hinge plate (142) specifically on the shaft (145). The shaft (145) is connected across a portion of the console box (110). In an embodiment, a stopper (not shown) is arranged on each end of the shaft (145) to secure the hinge plates across the shaft (145).

In the present embodiment, the hinge assembly (150) includes a first biasing member (160) and a second biasing member (170) as shown inFIGS.2,3,4and5. The first biasing member (160) is adapted for biasing the lid (130) in a direction towards the closed position (100b) and the second biasing member (170) is adapted for biasing the lid (130) in a direction towards the fully open position (100a). The first biasing member (160) and the second biasing member (170) are arranged around the shaft (145) connected across a portion of the console box (110). The relationship between biasing forces of the first biasing member (160) and the second biasing members (170) biases the lid (130) to the first position (100c) to prevent overlapping of the lid (130) with the deployment path of the airbag (300) when the air bag (300) is inflated from the side portion of the seat (200).

Specifically, the lid (130) has a natural tendency to move towards the first position (100c). The lid (130) must be moved upward manually by the occupant.

The first biasing member (160) and the second biasing members (170) are coil springs in the present embodiment, and the stiffness of the second biasing member (170) is less than the stiffness of the first biasing member (160), preferably by adjusting the characterized feature(s) of the springs, like any one or combination of diameter, length, number of coil, material of the spring, etc. By way of non-limiting example, the change in ratio of the diameters between the first and the second biasing member is almost 20%. A person skilled in the art will understand how to increase or decrease the stiffness of the biasing members to increase the effectiveness of the hinge assembly (150). The second biasing member (170) has gravity assistance, and the first biasing member (160) acts against gravity. The coil helix of both the biasing members (160,170) are opposite to each other.

Further, in the closing direction, the lid (130) moves slowly so that the closing of the lid (130) does not cause any injury to the occupant if his/her hand or finger gets trapped in between the storage compartment (120) and the lid (130).

In an implementation, when the occupant desires to store some articles in the console box (110), he/she has to move the lid from the closed position to the open position manually, like by hand. However, upon releasing his/her hand from the lid (130), the lid (130) moves to the first position (100c) due to the hinge assembly (150). The first biasing member (160) provides force for closing the lid (130) from the maximum open position (˜95°) towards the closed (0°) position. The second biasing member (170) absorbs the force generated by the first biasing member (160) and reduces the speed of the lid (130) while closing the lid (130) (e.g., from 60° to 0°) and thus provides a damping effect.

One end (160a) of the first biasing member (160) is connected to the first hinge plate (140), and the other end (160b) of the first biasing member (160) is adapted to connect with the second hinge plate (142). The first biasing member (160) may be designed in such a way that the second end (160b) of the first biasing member (160) contacts the second hinge plate/fixed plate (142) only after opening the lid (130) to an angle of 70° as shown inFIG.5. Similarly, one end (170a) of the second biasing member (170) is connected to the first hinge plate (140) and other end (170b) of the second biasing member (170) is adapted to connect with the second hinge plate (142). The resting ends of the first biasing member (160) and the second biasing member (170) may be covered with TPE (NVH) material to avoid noise coming from movement with fixed second plate.

Therefore, an advantage of the disclosed safety arrangement inside a vehicle interior is that it allows a side airbag deployment without getting hindered by a lid of the centre console. The arrangement prevents injury to an occupant if his/her hand or finger gets trapped in between floor console and the lid. The safety arrangement is simple and is robust in construction.

Moreover, in interpreting the specification, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refer to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.

While the foregoing describes various embodiments, other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.