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JP-2026514249-A - Protective devices

JP2026514249AJP 2026514249 AJP2026514249 AJP 2026514249AJP-2026514249-A

Abstract

[Solution] The present invention provides a protective device (10) for protecting a part of the human body, wherein the protective device (10) A wearable (20) having a support surface (21), An airbag (30) having a protective portion (31) having an outer surface (32), wherein, at least in the deployed state of the protective portion (31), the outer surface (32) comprises a first portion (33) facing a support surface (21) and a second portion (34) facing away from the support surface (21), The present invention relates to a protective device comprising an airbag (30) and a mounting means (40) for securing the airbag (30) to a wearable device (20). In order to provide the protective device (10) with improved collision characteristics, it is proposed that the protective device (10) be provided with a displaceable means (50) having a displaceable state that allows for the displacement of at least one section of the protective portion (31), including a first portion (33) and a second portion (34) of the outer surface (32), relative to the support surface (21). [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

  • ヤン，ハッサン
  • ピプコーン，ベングト

Assignees

  • オートリブ ディベロップメント エービー

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20240521
Priority Date
20230524

Claims (10)

  1. A protective device (10) for protecting a part of the human body, wherein the protective device (10) A wearable (20) having a support surface (21), An airbag (30) having a protective portion (31) having an outer surface (32), wherein, at least in the deployed state of the protective portion (31), the outer surface (32) comprises a first portion (33) facing the support surface (21) and a second portion (34) facing away from the support surface (21), The device includes an attachment means (50) for fixing the airbag (30) to the wearable (20), The protective device (10) comprises a displaceable means (50) having a displaceable state that allows displacement of at least one section of the protective portion (31), and the protective portion is characterized in that the protective portion includes the first portion (33) and the second portion (34) of the outer surface (32) with respect to the support surface (21).
  2. The protective device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the direction of the displacement is essentially tangential to the section of the support surface (21) along which the section of the protective portion (31) extends.
  3. The protective device (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the section of the protective portion (31) has an initial first position and a second position of maximum displacement.
  4. The protective device (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that the distance between the first position and the second position is 5 to 40 mm, preferably 10 to 30 mm, and particularly 10 to 25 mm.
  5. The protective device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further characterized in that the displaceable means (50) includes a non-displaceable state that does not allow substantial displacement of the section of the expanded protective portion.
  6. The protective device (10) according to claim 3, 4, and 5, characterized in that the displaceable means (50) locks the section of the protective portion (31) in its first position until a force having a tangential portion is applied to the second portion (34) of the outer surface (32), and the tangential portion exceeds a predetermined threshold.
  7. The protective device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the mounting means (50) forms at least a portion of the displaceable means.
  8. A protective device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that at least one projection (53) extends from the protective portion (31) toward the support surface (21), and the at least one projection (53) deforms during the displacement such that the at least one projection (53) forms at least a portion of the displaceable means.
  9. The protective device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the displaceable means (50) allows for substantially the entire displacement of the protective portion (31) of the airbag (30).
  10. The protective device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the wearable (20) is a helmet.

Description

The present invention relates to a protective device for protecting a part of the human body as described in claim 1. Wearable protective devices designed to protect parts of the human body are constantly increasing in importance as safety awareness in society grows. A very common example of a wearable protective device is the helmet, which is well-developed, widely available, and significantly reduces the risk of head injury in impacts. Helmets are primarily used for human movement in exposed conditions, such as cycling or motorcycling, or for accident-prone sports activities such as skiing, skating, riding, and climbing. Recently, protective devices have become known that are wearable, namely a helmet, and an airbag positioned in the helmet that deploys from the helmet's support surface when triggered. The airbag comprises a protective portion having an outer surface, and at least in the deployed state of this protective portion, the outer surface comprises a first portion facing the support surface and a second portion facing away from the support surface. Furthermore, mounting means are provided for securing the airbag to the wearable. The airbag is designed and positioned so that, in the event of an accident, the second portion of the airbag's outer surface collides with an obstacle, such as a part of a vehicle or the road surface, rather than the support surface covered by the protective portion. This provides essentially two protective layers for the head—the helmet and the airbag—resulting in an improved level of protection and a reduced risk of serious injury. Starting from this prior art, the objective of the present invention is to improve common protective devices so that the risk of serious injury is further reduced. This objective is achieved by the protective device described in claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims, specification, and drawings. One primary application of the present invention is a protective device in which the wearable is a helmet; therefore, the present invention will be described first with this case in mind. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the present invention can also be applied in other cases, for example, to so-called protectors, such as a protector that protects the user's back. Conventional helmets typically have a hard, smooth outer surface, resulting in fairly good sliding ability even when hitting rough surfaces like road surfaces. This sliding ability can be reduced when the airbag inflating from the helmet first hits the rough surface, causing the protective device to stop abruptly upon impact with the rough surface. Under certain circumstances, this can result in undesirable and significant forces acting on parts of the user's body, particularly the user's head and neck, especially sudden head rotation. To compensate for this, the protective device includes a displaceable means having a displaceable state that allows for the displacement of at least one section of the protective portion, including a first and second portion of its outer surface, relative to the support surface. In other words, the present invention proposes providing limited sliding mobility for the protective portion of an airbag relative to a wearable (here, a helmet) to compensate for the potentially reduced sliding capacity of the entire protective device, thus enabling the protective device to cope with accident scenarios in which rotational forces may be applied to the human body portion protected by the protective device. This significantly limits the impact of a collision on the human body and greatly improves the protective effect of the protective device in certain situations. Furthermore, the protective device of the present invention can improve energy absorption and reduce rebound effects in some scenarios. When the wearable is a helmet, the displacement of at least one section of the protective portion relative to the support surface can, in particular, reduce head rotation of the head wearing the helmet. Since head rotation can result in severe brain injury, this reduction of head rotation is an important aspect of the present invention. In some situations, since the displacement is independent of the type of surface being impacted, head rotation can be reduced even compared to a conventional helmet (without an airbag). Examples of body parts that can be protected by protective devices include, among others, the human head, neck, limbs, upper body, lower body, hands, or feet. While primarily described with reference to helmets, the protective devices of the disclosed invention may generally refer to all other types of wearables, such as clothing and accessories, and are not limited to helmet embodiments. Wearable devices have a support surface on which the airbag is supported. The support surface is typically the outer surface of the wearable device, facing the environment and away from the body parts being protected. Therefore, in the ev