Apparatus for aiding in the opening of an integral deployment door in a panel of an airbag assembly

US5630613A · kind A · utility

Assignees

• Morton International, Inc. · US
• Robert Bosch GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Timothy J. Leonard · Stuttgart, DE
• Joseph L. Ralston · North Ogden, US
• Donald J. Bolieau · Ogden, US
• Mark Rogers · Roy, US
• Daniel W. Anderson · South Weber, US
• Axel Kaiser · Neuss, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 23, 1995
• Grant date: May 20, 1997
• Expiry date: Oct 23, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B60R2021/21652
• WIPO field: Transport
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

An integral deployment door in a panel of an airbag assembly which covers and conceals an airbag module. The molded panel having a front surface layer, a foam core, and a rear surface substrate has notches therein in alignment with the proposed tear region or sides of the deployment door. Tabs are provided which extend upwardly into the foam core along the sides of said deployment door and in alignment with the notches. The notches and tab construction weaken the tear region and concentrates the stresses along the sides of the deployment door to reduce the force required to open the deployment door and to reduce the fragmentation of the foam core due to the separation of the door from the rest of the panel.