U.S. patent application number 09/132893 was filed with the patent office on 2001-08-09 for occupant protecting device, and process for folding-up air bag in occupant protecting device.
This patent application is currently assigned to HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA. Invention is credited to AOKI, TAKASHI, HONDA, TAKASHI, MAEDA, HIROYUKI, SEKI, KAZUHIRO.
Application Number | 20010011812 09/132893 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27331223 |
Filed Date | 2001-08-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010011812 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SEKI, KAZUHIRO ; et
al. |
August 9, 2001 |
OCCUPANT PROTECTING DEVICE, AND PROCESS FOR FOLDING-UP AIR BAG IN
OCCUPANT PROTECTING DEVICE
Abstract
An air bag, formed by sewing two basic fabrics at a sewing
portion, is accommodated within a module case in a state in which
the air bag has been fixed to a holder of an inflater at rear-side
base portions and folded up into a bellows-like shape at a
front-side foldable portions. The base portion of the left basic
fabric, which is remote from a center pillar and a front door of a
vehicle, has a section between two points b and c, which defines a
surplus section. When the foldable portions of the air bag are
expanded, the foldable portions can be moved toward an inner
surface of a side of the vehicle body by the surplus section b and
c and hence, the air bag can be deployed obliquely forwardly to
reliably penetrate into a space between the center pillar, as well
as the front door, and an occupant.
Inventors: |
SEKI, KAZUHIRO; (WAKO-SHI,
JP) ; AOKI, TAKASHI; (WAKO-SHI, JP) ; MAEDA,
HIROYUKI; (WAKO-SHI, JP) ; HONDA, TAKASHI;
(WAKO-SHI, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ARMSTRONG,WESTERMAN, HATTORI,
MCLELAND & NAUGHTON, LLP
1725 K STREET, NW, SUITE 1000
WASHINGTON
DC
20006
US
|
Assignee: |
HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKI
KAISHA
TOKYO
JP
|
Family ID: |
27331223 |
Appl. No.: |
09/132893 |
Filed: |
August 12, 1998 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
280/730.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60R 21/239 20130101;
B60R 21/23138 20130101; B60R 21/2176 20130101; B60R 21/237
20130101; B60R 21/207 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
280/730.2 |
International
Class: |
B60R 021/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 22, 1997 |
JP |
226787/97 |
Aug 22, 1997 |
JP |
226788/97 |
Sep 3, 1997 |
JP |
237960/97 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An occupant protecting device, comprising: an air bag
accommodated in a folded-up state within a seat back of a seat on
which an occupant sits down, wherein when said air bag is expanded
by a gas generated by an inflater, said air bag is deployed between
the occupant and an inner surface of a side of a vehicle body, said
air bag having a rear-side base portion fixed to a fixing member,
and a front-side foldable portion folded up in a longitudinal
direction, and said base portion having a surplus section provided
thereon at a location remote from said inner surface of said side
of said vehicle body for permitting movement of said foldable
portion toward said inner surface of said side of said vehicle
body.
2. An occupant protecting device, comprising: an air bag
accommodated in a folded-up state within a seat back of a seat on
which an occupant sits down, wherein when said air bag is expanded
by a gas generated by an inflater, said air bag is deployed into a
space between the occupant and an inner surface of a side of a
vehicle body, inner and outer portions of said air bag, as viewed
from inside of said vehicle body, being folded up to form pleats, a
number of said pleats on said inner portion being set smaller than
a number of said pleats on said outer portion.
3. A process for folding up an air bag in an occupant protecting
device which is designed so that when said air bag, accommodated in
a folded-up state within a seat back of a seat on which an occupant
sits down, is expanded by a gas generated by an inflater, said air
bag is deployed between the occupant and an inner surface of a side
of a vehicle body, said process comprising: a first step of folding
said air bag into a bellows-like shape in a longitudinal direction
of the vehicle body; and a second step of vertically folding at
least one of upper and lower portions of said air bag folded in
said bellows-like shape.
4. The process for folding up an air bag according to claim 3,
wherein a vertical dimension of said inflater and a vertical
dimension of said air bag folded at said second step are
substantially equal to each other.
5. An occupant protecting device comprising: an air bag which is
adapted to be expanded by a gas generated by an inflater upon
side-collision of a vehicle, whereby said air bag is deployed from
an inside of a seat back along an inner surface of a door in a
forward direction of a vehicle body, said air bag having vent holes
in a front surface thereof, and said air bag being formed by sewing
a single basic fabric at a location other than said front surface
of said air bag.
6. The occupant protecting device according to claim 5, wherein
said air bag is formed by folding a band-like basic fabric in half
at a folding line to form folded fabric portions, and sewing outer
peripheries of said folded fabric portions excluding said folding
line such that said vent holes are defined to lie on said folding
line.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an occupant protecting
device designed so that an air bag, accommodated within a seat
back, is deployed into a vehicle passenger compartment upon
collision of a vehicle to protect an occupant.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Such a system is known, for example, from Japanese Patent
Application Laid-open No. 3-108564. In general, an occupant
protecting device of such a type includes an air bag module which
has a folded air bag and an inflater.
[0005] FIGS. 12A to 12C show a prior art method for folding up an
air bag B. As shown in FIG. 12A, the air bag B in a deployed state
has a vertical dimension L.sub.2 larger than a vertical dimension
L.sub.1 of the inflater I, and a longitudinal dimension L.sub.3
substantially equal to the vertical dimension L.sub.2. To fold up
the air bag B, upper and lower portions of the air bag B are first
folded inwardly, as shown in FIG. 12B, so that the vertical
dimension L.sub.2 is near to the vertical dimension L.sub.1. Then,
the air bag B is longitudinally folded into a bellows-like shape,
as shown in FIG. 12C, thereby forming a module wherein the inflater
I is accommodated the inflater I within the air bag B.
[0006] The air bag B folded up in the above-described manner is
deployed in a straight forward direction of a vehicle body from a
side of a seat back 2, as shown in FIG. 14. For this reason, there
is a possibility that the air bag B cannot be smoothly deployed due
to interference with a side and an arm of an occupant. To avoid
such a problem, it is necessary to deploy the air bag B obliquely
forwardly toward a center pillar 4 and a front door in order to
permit the air bag 6 to properly penetrate into a space between the
center pillar 4 as well as the front door 5 and the occupant.
[0007] FIGS. 13A to 13C show a course of deployment of the air bag
B which has been folded up in the above-described prior art method.
The air bag B is first deployed longitudinally as shown in FIG.
13A, and then vertically as as shown in FIG. 13B to finally be in a
completely deployed state shown in FIG. 13C. If the vertical
deployment is performed behind the longitudinal deployment in the
above- described manner, there is a problem that the side of the
occupant cannot be held back at an initial stage of the deployment
over a vertical wide range.
[0008] Further, such an occupant protecting device is known from
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-225054 (hereinafter "JP
'054"), in which an air bag is formed by integrally sewing two left
and right main basic fabrics with a single side basic fabric to
connect outer peripheral edges of the two main basic fabrics to
each other, and vent holes are defined in the side basic fabric
corresponding to a front surface of the deployed air bag. By the
fact that the vent holes are defined in the front surface of the
air bag in the above described manner, the vent holes can be
prevented from being occluded by a door and/or an occupant upon
deployment of the air bag.
[0009] However, if the air bag is formed by sewing the three basic
fabrics together as in the above-described known occupant
protecting device of JP '054, the number of parts and the number of
manufacturing steps are increased. Therefore, it is conceived that
an air bag is formed from a single basic fabric. More specifically,
an air bag 03 shown in FIG. 15B can be formed by double-folding a
single basic fabric 01 cut into a substantially band-like shape at
a central folding line 02, as shown in FIG. 15A, and sewing outer
peripheral portions of the folded basic fabric 01 excluding the
folding line 02 together. In this case, there is a problem that it
is impossible to define vent holes 04, so that the vent holes 04
lie on a sewing portion 05. Therefore, the positions of the vent
holes are deviated laterally from a front surface of the air bag 03
and as a result, when the air bag 03 has been expanded, the vent
holes 04 are occluded by a door and/or an occupant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] Accordingly, it is a first object of the present invention
to ensure that an air bag provided within a seat back is deployed
obliquely forwardly, so that the air bag is permitted to reliably
penetrate into a space between an occupant and an inner surface of
a side of a vehicle body.
[0011] It is a second object of the present invention to provide an
occupant protecting device designed so that an air bag accommodated
within a seat back is deployed between an occupant and an inner
surface of a side of a vehicle body upon collision of a vehicle,
wherein the vertical deployment of the air bag is carried out
promptly.
[0012] It is a third object of the present invention to ensure that
an air bag functioning upon a side collision and including vent
holes in its front surface is formed with a smaller number of
parts.
[0013] To achieve the first object, according to a first aspect and
feature of the present invention, an occupant protecting device is
provided which comprises: an air bag accommodated in a folded-up
state within a seat back of a seat on which an occupant sits down,
wherein when the air bag is expanded by a gas generated by an
inflater, the air bag is deployed between the occupant and an inner
surface of a side of a vehicle body, the air bag having a rear-side
base portion fixed to a fixing member, and a front-side foldable
portion folded up in a longitudinal direction, and the base portion
having a surplus section provided thereon at a location remote from
the inner surface of the side of the vehicle body for permitting
the movement of the foldable portion toward the inner surface of
the side of the vehicle body.
[0014] With the above-described arrangement, when the foldable
portion of the air bag is expanded by the gas generated by the
inflater, the foldable portion can be moved toward the inner
surface of the side of the vehicle body by the surplus section
provided on the base portion of the air bag at the location remote
from the inner surface of the side of the vehicle body. Therefore,
the air bag can be deployed obliquely forwardly to reliably
penetrate into a space between the occupant and the inner surface
of the side of the vehicle body.
[0015] In addition, to achieve the above-described first object,
according to a second aspect and feature of the present invention,
an occupant protecting device is provided which comprises: an air
bag is accommodated in a folded-up state within a seat back of a
seat on which an occupant sits down, wherein when the air bag is
expanded by a gas generated by an inflater, the air bag is deployed
into a space between the occupant and an inner surface of a side of
a vehicle body, inner and outer (as viewed from inside of the
vehicle body) portions of the air bag being folded up to form
pleats, the number of the pleats on the inner portion being set
smaller than the number of the pleats on the outer portion.
[0016] With the above-described arrangement, when the foldable
portion of the air bag is expanded by the gas generated by the
inflater, the inner portion (as viewed from inside of the vehicle
body) of the air bag, having the smaller number of the pleats, is
expanded earlier than the outer portion, having the larger number
of the pleats. Hence, the inner portion (as viewed from inside of
the vehicle body), which is expanded earlier, urges the outer
portion in an outward direction of the vehicle body. As a result,
the air bag can be deployed obliquely forwardly to reliably
penetrate into the space between the occupant and the inner surface
of the side of the vehicle body.
[0017] To achieve the second object of the present invention,
according to a third aspect and feature of the present invention, a
process for folding up an air bag in an occupant protecting device
which is designed so that the air bag, accommodated in a folded-up
state within a seat back of a seat on which an occupant sits down,
is expanded by a gas generated by an inflater, whereby the air bag
is deployed between the occupant and an inner surface of a side of
a vehicle body, the process comprising: a first step of folding the
air bag into a bellows-like shape in a longitudinal direction of a
vehicle body; and a second step of vertically folding at least one
of upper and lower portions of the air bag folded in the
bellows-like shape.
[0018] With the above-described feature, when the air bag is
deployed by the gas generated by the inflater upon collision of a
vehicle, at least one of the upper and lower portions of the air
bag folded vertically at the second step is first deployed
vertically, and then, the air bag folded in the longitudinal
direction at the first step is deployed longitudinally. By
deploying the air bag vertically and then longitudinally in the
above manner, a side of an occupant can be held back at an initial
stage of the deployment over a vertical wide range.
[0019] In addition to the third feature, if the vertical dimension
of the inflater and the vertical dimension of the air bag folded at
the second step are substantially equal to each other, the
dimensions of the air bag in the folded-up state can be reduced to
provide a compactness of an air bag module, while increasing the
vertical dimension of the air bag to enable the side of the
occupant to be held back over the wide range.
[0020] To achieve the third object, according to a fourth aspect
and feature of the present invention, an occupant protecting device
comprises: an air bag which is adapted to be expanded by a gas
generated by an inflater upon side-collision of a vehicle, whereby
the air bag is deployed from the inside of a seat back along an
inner surface of a door in a forward direction of a vehicle body,
the air bag having vent holes in its front surface, and the air bag
being formed by sewing a single basic fabric at a location of the
front surface of the air bag.
[0021] With the above-described arrangement, the air bag is formed
by sewing the single basic fabric and therefore, the number of
parts and the number of manufacturing steps can be suppressed to
the minimum. In addition, the sewing portion lies at the location
of the front surface of the air bag. Therefore, the vent holes can
be provided in the front surface of the air bag without
interference with the sewing portion, whereby the vent holes can be
prevented from being occluded by a door and/or an occupant, when
the air bag is deployed.
[0022] In addition to the fourth feature, if the air bag is formed
by folding a band-like basic fabric in half at a folding line, and
sewing outer peripheries of the folded fabric portions excluding
the folding line, and the vent holes are defined to lie on the
folding line, the shape of the basic fabric can be simplified, and
the amount of the sewing operation can be suppressed to the
minimum.
[0023] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following
description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] FIGS. 1 to 10 show a first embodiment of the present
invention, wherein:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat provided with an air
bag device;
[0026] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line
2-2 of FIG. 1;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 3 of FIG.
2;
[0028] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of
FIG. 3;
[0029] FIGS. 5A to 7B are views for explaining the order of
folding-up of the air bag;
[0030] FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of an essential portion shown in
FIG. 5A;
[0031] FIGS. 9A to 9C are side views for explaining the operation
during deployment of the air bag; and
[0032] FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining the operation during
deployment of the air bag.
[0033] FIGS. 11A and 11B are illustrations showing steps of
manufacturing an air bag in an occupant protecting device according
to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0034] FIGS. 12A to 15B show a prior art occupant protecting
device, wherein:
[0035] FIGS. 12A to 12C are views for explaining a prior art
process for folding up an air bag;
[0036] FIGS. 13A to 13C are illustrations for explaining the
operation when the air bag is deployed;
[0037] FIG. 14 is a view for explaining the operation when the air
bag is deployed; and
[0038] FIGS. 15A and 15B are illustrations showing steps of
manufacturing the air bag.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0039] The present invention will now be described by way of
embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing figures.
[0040] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9C, a right front seat S in an
automobile comprises: a seat cushion 1 disposed substantially
horizontally; a seat back 2 extending rearwardly and upwardly from
a rear end of the seat cushion 1; and a head rest 3 mounted at an
upper end of the seat back 2. A center pillar 4 faces a right side
of the seat back 2, and a front door 5 is disposed in front of the
center pillar 4. An air bag module M is accommodated in the inside
of a right portion of the seat back 2. Upon operation of the air
bag module M, the air bag 6 breaks and forces a sewn portion of the
seat back 2 open, so that the air bag 6 is deployed laterally and
forwardly to block a right side of an occupant sitting on the seat
S and left sides of the center pillar 4 and the front door 5
therebetween.
[0041] Two things which can be seen from FIG. 2 are as follows: (1)
an air bag module mounting bracket 12 made of a metal and extending
forwardly of a vehicle body; and (2) a retainer 13 made of a metal
and extending inwardly of the vehicle body. Both the air bag
mounting module bracket 12 and the retainer 13 are fixed, by
welding, to a pipe frame 11 extending vertically along a right edge
of the seat back 2. The air bag module M is fixed to a right side
of the air bag module mounting bracket 12 by two bolts 14, 14 and
two nuts 15, 15. A shape retaining member 16 made of a coarse
blanket extends in a leftward direction of the vehicle body from a
front surface of the air bag module M through a thickness-wise
intermediate portion of the seat back 2, and is connected to a pipe
frame (not shown) at a left side of the vehicle body. A mesh-like
spring 17 is stretched on an inner periphery of the pipe frame 11,
and a pad 18, formed of a sponge, is mounted on a portion which is
surrounded by a front surface of the spring 17, a rear surface of
the shape retaining member 16, and a rear surface of the air bag
module mounting bracket 12. A pad 19, similarly formed of a sponge,
is mounted on a front surface of the shape retaining member 16.
[0042] A central portion of a front surface of the seat back 2 is
covered with a first covering member 20, and left and right
opposite sides and an upper portion of the first covering member 20
are covered with a second covering member 21. The left and right
opposite sides and an upper surface of the seat back 2 connected to
the second covering member 21 are covered with a third covering
member 22 and further, a rear surface of the seat back 2 is covered
with a fourth covering member 23. The first and second covering
members 20 and 21 are sewn together at a sewing portion 24, and the
second and third covering members 22 are also sewn together at a
sewing portion 25. A bead 26 is integrally formed at sewing portion
25 by sewing. A clip 28 is provided at a tip end of a tongue piece
27 extending from the sewing portion 24, so that the first and
second covering members 20 and 21 are retained in a predetermined
shape by bringing the clip 28 into engagement with the spring 17. A
clip 30 is also provided at a tip end of a tongue piece 29
extending from the sewing portion 25 at a rear end of the third
covering member 24, so that the third covering member 22 is fixed
by bringing the clip 30 into engagement with the retainer 13.
[0043] The structure of the air bag module M will be further
described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. A holder 31 made of a
metal includes a body portion 31.sub.1 having a J-shaped section,
and a pair of clamp portions 31.sub.2, 31.sub.2 extending from one
edge of the body portion 31.sub.1. A substantially cylindrical
inflater 32 filled with a propellant is supported at a circular
section defined by the body portion 31.sub.1 and the clamp portions
31.sub.2, 31.sub.2. The holder 31 and the inflater 32 are wrapped
in a rear portion of the folded-up air bag 6. The bolts 14, 14 are
passed through the clamp portions 31.sub.2, 31.sub.2 and the body
portion 31.sub.1 of the holder 31 and through side plates 33 and
tightened by nuts 34, 34, and are further passed through the air
bag module mounting bracket 12 and tightened by nuts 15, 15. A
plurality of gas ejection bores 32.sub.1 are defined at a lower
portion of the inflater 32 (see FIG. 3).
[0044] The holder 31, the side plate 33, the inflater 32 and the
folded-up air bag 6 are accommodated within a module case 35
integrally formed of a synthetic resin. The module case 35 includes
a tray-like body portion 35.sub.1 which opens toward the right side
of the vehicle body, and a lid portion 35.sub.3 connected to a rear
edge of the body portion 35.sub.1 through a hinge portion 35.sub.2.
The lid portion 35.sub.3 is fixed to cover an opening of the body
portion 35.sub.1 by bringing all of five locking claws 35.sub.4,
provided at an upper edge, a front edge, and a lower edge of the
body portion 35.sub.1 into engagement with five locking bores
35.sub.5, provided in an upper edge, a front edge, and a lower edge
of the lid portion 35.sub.3, respectively.
[0045] As shown in FIGS. 5A and 10, the shape of the deployed air
bag 6 is such that the longitudinal dimension A is largest; the
vertical dimension B is slightly smaller than the longitudinal
dimension A, and the lateral dimension C is remarkably smaller than
the longitudinal and vertical dimensions A and B. The vertical
dimension B of the air bag which has been deployed is substantially
twice as large as the vertical dimension D (see FIG. 7A) of the air
bag 6 which has been folded up.
[0046] The procedure for folding up the air bag 6 will be described
with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8.
[0047] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5A, the air bag 6 before being
folded up is formed into a flat pouch-like shape made by sewing two
basic fabrics 36 and 37 together at a sewing portion 38 provided
around an outer periphery, and the holder 31 and the inflater 32
are fixed so that they are wrapped in the base portions 36.sub.1
and 37.sub.1 (rear portions) of the basic fabrics. This will be
further described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 8. The base
portions 36.sub.1 and 37.sub.1 of the two basic fabrics 36 and 37
are tightened and fixed by the bolts 14, 14 passed there through in
states in which they are sandwiched between the body portion
31.sub.1 of the holder 31 and the side plate 33. The base portion
36.sub.1 of the basic fabric 36, located at an outer side in a
lateral direction of the vehicle body, extends forwardly to a point
a in a state in which it wraps the outer periphery of the inflater
32 over substantially 360.degree., and a foldable portion 36.sub.2,
located in front of the point a, is folded up in a manner which
will be described hereinafter. The base portion 37.sub.1 of the
basic fabric 37, located at an inner side in the lateral direction
of the vehicle body, extends rearwardly around a portion b at a
front end of the body portion 31.sub.1 of the holder 31; folded
back forwardly at a point c in front of the inflater 32 and then, a
foldable portion 37.sub.2 located in front of the point c is folded
up in a manner which will be described hereinafter.
[0048] The foldable portions 36.sub.2 and 37.sub.2 of the air bag 6
spread into a state shown in FIG. 5A are folded up into a
bellows-like shape from its front side toward its rear side, as
shown in FIGS. 5B and 6A. Then, laterally opposite halves of the
folded-up air bag 6 are crushed so that they fall down forwardly to
decrease the lateral width, as shown in FIG. 6B. Subsequently, the
upper and lower portions of the folded-up air bag 6 are folded back
into downwardly-turned and upwardly-turned attitudes, respectively,
to decrease the vertical height, as shown in FIG. 7A.
[0049] A protecting cover 39, made of a fabric piece wrapping the
folded-up air bag 6, is fixed at its opposite ends in a state in
which it is sandwiched between the body portion 31.sub.1 of the
holder 31 and the side plate 33, as shown in FIG. 7B. The air bag
6, after completion of the folding procedure, is wrapped by the
protecting cover 39 in a compact manner, so that it is prevented
from being broken up relative to all of the inflater 32, the holder
31 and the side cover 33. When the air bag 6 has been inflated, the
protecting cover 39 is easily broken and hence, the inflation of
the air bag 6 cannot be obstructed.
[0050] The operation of the first embodiment of the present
invention having the above-described arrangement will be described
below.
[0051] When the inflater 32 generates a gas upon collision of the
vehicle, the air bag 6 is expanded within the module case 35. When
the pressure of the expansion of the air bag 6 is applied to the
lid portion 35.sub.3 of the module case 35, the locking claws
35.sub.4 are disengaged from the locking bores 35.sub.5, permitting
the lid portion 35.sub.3 to be rotated about the hinge portion
35.sub.2 (see dashed lines in FIG. 4), whereby the body portion
35.sub.1 is opened. When the pressure of the opening of the lid
portion 35.sub.3 is transmitted to the third covering member 22 of
the seat back 2 in FIG. 2, the sewing portion 25 is broken to
separate the second and third covering members 21 and 22, and the
air bag 6, passed through a resulting clearance, is deployed
obliquely forwardly along the center pillar 4 and the front door 5
(see FIG. 10).
[0052] At the start of the expansion of the air bag 6, if the air
bag 6 is inflated laterally outwardly rather than straight
forwards, i.e., obliquely forwardly toward the center pillar 4 and
the front door 5, the opening of the module case 35 and the
breaking of the sewing portion 25 can be properly performed,
thereby accurately deploying the air bag 6 between an occupant and
the center pillar 4 as well as the front door 5.
[0053] For this purpose, a section from the point c to the point b,
in the base portion 37.sub.1 of the basic fabric 37 located at the
laterally inner side of the air bag 6, is disposed as a surplus
section b-c along the right side of the body portion 31.sub.1 of
the holder 31, as shown in FIG. 4. Therefore, when the air bag 6 is
inflated, the surplus section b-c of the laterally inner basic
fabric 37 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction about the
point b, whereby the air bag 6 can be freely moved rightwardly
(i.e., laterally outwardly). Thus, the air bag 6 can be smoothly
deployed obliquely and rightwardly without interfering with a right
side and a right arm of the occupant.
[0054] As can be seen from FIG. 4, bellows-like pleats are formed
on the folded-up air bag 6 at its inner and outer portions as
viewed from inside of the vehicle body. The number of the pleats on
the inner portion as viewed from inside of the vehicle body is six,
and the number of the pleats on the outer portion as viewed from
inside of the vehicle body is seven. Thus, the number of the pleats
on the inner portion as viewed from inside of the vehicle body is
set smaller than the number of the pleats on the outer portion as
viewed from inside of the vehicle body. The smaller the number of
the pleats, the more the folded-up air bag 6 can be inflated
smoothly and hence, the inner portion of the air bag having the
smaller number of the pleats is inflated earlier than the outer
portion of the air bag having the larger number of the pleats. As a
result, the outer portion pushed by the inner portion inflated
earlier is moved obliquely in the laterally outward direction of
the vehicle body, whereby the air bag 6 can be inflated smoothly
toward the inside of a vehicle compartment without interfering with
the right side of the right arm of the occupant.
[0055] As can be seen from FIGS. 9A to 9c, when the air bag 6 is
deployed while breaking the sewing portion 25 of the seat bag 2,
the air bag 6 is first deployed vertically as shown in FIG. 9A and
then forwardly as shown in FIG. 9B, and thus, finally reaches a
completely deployed state shown in FIG. 9C. By performing the
vertical deployment of the air bag preferentially to the
longitudinal deployment in the above- described manner, the side of
the occupant can be covered immediately over a wide vertical range,
whereby the occupant can be reliably held back. To realize this,
when the air bag 6 is to be folded up, the vertical folding of the
air bag 6 is first carried out (see FIGS. 5A and 6A) and then, the
longitudinal folding of the air bag 6 is carried out (see FIG. 7).
Thus, the air bag 6 is deployed first vertically and then
longitudinally. Therefore, the deployments in the above-described
order are possible.
[0056] A second embodiment of the present invention will be
described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B.
[0057] The second embodiment has a feature in the structure of an
air bag 6, and another arrangement is the same as in the
above-described first embodiment. More specifically, the air bag 6
is finished into a pouch-like shape by folding in half one basic
fabric 46 which has been cut into a substantially band-like shape
from a central folding line 47, by superimposing the resulting
folded fabric portions and by sewing outer peripheries of the
folded fabric portions excluding the folding line 47. At this time,
an inflater 32 is accommodated in an end of the air bag 6 opposite
from the folding line 47. Two vent holes 48, 48 are defined to lie
on the folding line 47 in the basic fabric 46 and located at
positions at a tip end (i.e., in a front surface) of the air bag 6
which is in its deployed state.
[0058] When the inflation of the air bag 6 is completed upon
collision of the vehicle, a surplus amount of a gas is discharged
through the vent holes 48, 48, but the vent holes 48, 48 cannot be
occluded by the door 5 (see FIG. 10) or an occupant, because they
are defined in the front surface of the air bag 6, whereby the
function of the vent holes 48, 48 can be reliably exhibited. In
addition, since the air bag 6 is formed by folding in half the
basic fabric 46 which has been cut into the band-like shape and
then by sewing the outer peripheries excluding the folding line 47,
the number of parts can be reduced, and the amount of the sewing
work can be kept to a minimum, as compared with the air bag formed
by sewing a plurality of basic fabrics together. Moreover, the
sewing portion is provided at a location out of the front surface
of the air bag 6 and hence, the vent holes 48, 48 can be provided
in the front surface of the air bag 6.
[0059] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been
described in detail, it will be understood that the present
invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and
various modifications in design may be made without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention defined in claims.
[0060] For example, the method, for folding the foldable portions
36.sub.2 and 37.sub.2 of the basic fabrics 36 and 37, respectively,
of the air bag 6, is not limited to the above-described method.
Although the inflater 32 has been accommodated within the air bag
6, to constitute the air bag module M in the embodiments, the
present invention is also applicable to an occupant protecting
device including an air bag 6 and inflater 32 which are disposed at
spaced-apart locations. In addition, both of the upper and lower
portions of the air bag 6 have been folded vertically in the second
step in the embodiment, but only one or the other of the upper and
lower portions of the air bag 6 may be folded.
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