Technological Area:

The invention is about a safety cushion that can be used in the hoods and trunks of sedan or station or electric vehicles - defined as nosed - and enables both storing for objects and the safety for driver and passengers during a crash.

State of The Art:

One of the most important safety equipment of a vehicle in recent years is airbags and their importance is getting bigger and bigger. With determining the shock energy occurring in a crash, the high temperature and/or high pressure gas generated by the airbag inflator, instantly fills in the airbag and protects the driver and other passengers. But it's obvious that these airbags of vital importance fall short on protecting the driver and the passengers. Because in some heavy impact accidents, airbags sometimes do not inflate or sensors enabling inflation sometimes fail for some reason and this jeopardizes the life of the driver or passengers or sometimes they fall short on protecting them even though they inflate. Hence, there occurs a need to make some additional reinforcements to precautions provided by these airbags used in current vehicles. Producers and other person and organizations are continuously putting forth new studies in this direction.

One another problem experienced by driver and passengers in vehicles, is the equipment (especially fragile equipment) they want to carry in the trunk, having damage in sudden breaks, sudden accelerations or bends. In order to prevent these equipment having damage, the person puts other objects near these equipment and tries to stabilize them within the trunk. This, both causes waste of time for the driver and the passenger and the object put in near can directly damage the equipment to be protected from damage. And this also cause financial loss to the person. In the patent application numbered KR101724944B1, the "Vehicle airbag system" is described. The invention ensures all the passengers in the vehicle including the driver are not get injured with the airbag inflated during a crash. Moreover, in order to enable stability, it ensures the passengers to be protected in an effective way with the airbag.

In the patent application numbered US7108279B2, the "Airbag arrangement" is described. The invention has an airbag module placed between the vehicle control panel and the steering wheel. During an accident, the airbag takes action from between the steering wheel and the control panel and this way supports the steering wheel.

It's possible for the inventions mentioned above to protect the driver and the passengers during an accident but there's no solution to reduce the crash shock in case the airbag is not inflated or falls short and no structure to stabilize the objects in the trunk and in the hood during cruise and these can be considered as big disadvantages.

Definition of Invention:

This invention is a low-cost, safe new technology that can overcome the disadvantages mentioned above, suitable for mass production, has an effect of reducing the impact shock during an accident, can ensure the safety of objects carried in the trunk and in the hood, designed mainly for electric vehicles and does not need frequent maintenance.

Our invention is mainly for use in electric vehicles and because there is no engine equipment under the hood of electric vehicles like in traditional internal combustion vehicles, it can be integrated into the hood and the trunk of electric vehicles. Our invention can work automatically with the command given by the driver or the passenger or manually from the buttons it includes. The invention constitutes a structure that absorbs the crash force and ensures the life safety of the passengers in the vehicle during a front or back crash. In addition, these safety cushions functions as a stabilizer for the objects loaded in front or in back of the vehicle.

When the system subject to invention is operated, loss of life and injuries in accidents are minimalized. This system especially works under the empty part of the trunk or engine hood in electrical vehicles and aims to reduce the crash force incoming to the vehicle interior during an accident. Besides, it's one of the pros of the system that the object put in the front or back trunk are stabilized, kept that way and prevented to scatter around. For the sharp objects put under the hood or in the trunk, the system can be operated under driver or passenger control so there will be no risks of undesired puncture or blow-out of the safety balloon or safety cushion.

Thanks to the air compressors placed at the sides of the engine hood or trunk and structures considered as safety cushions connected to these compressors, our invention can get to work automatically. But this automation can be deactivated whenever desired and the system can be operated under driver control, from inside or from the buttons placed in the hood or in the trunk. In the system, there are as many divisions under the trunk and the hood as the number of working safety cushions. These divisions can be practically change place due to the flexible working principle. Object detecting sensors put under each division, detects the weight and the size of the object and makes it possible to sufficiently inflate the system's safety cushions or according to the size of the object put under a certain division, to jam the object only in the regarding division without inflating the cushion in that division. This system work automatically in general but it can be turned off from inside by the driver for unforeseen situations.

In the system subject to invention, there's a camera that monitors the situations of the air cushions in the hood and in the trunk. The images recorded by the camera can be viewed by the user via the display on the control panel. This way, the user can watch the air cushion he/she wishes to view from the display and manually inflate it by the control panel inside the vehicle.

In another arrangement of our invention, folded air cushion can be used instead of normal air cushion. The characteristic of this cushion is; being able to be kept inside the wrapping unit thanks to its' folded structure and resolves the space problem. Inflation method of the folded air cushion resembles the accordion. As the parts composing the invention is able to be fixed onto each other easily, the invention is installed easily, hence its' assembly time is short which makes the cost low. In addition, the invention has a solid structure.

Description of Figures:

The invention will be described with reference to the attached figures in order to enable the features of the invention to be more clearly understood and appreciated; however, it is not intended to limit the invention to these particular embodiments. On the contrary, it is aimed to include all the alternatives, modifications and equivalents in the scope of the invention as defined by the attached claims. It should be understood that the illustrated details are provided only for the purpose of describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention and of providing the most convenient and most easily understandable description of the structuring of the methods as well as the principles and conceptual features of the invention. In said drawings;

Figure 1 Top view of the system applied to the hood and the trunk.

Figure 2 Perspective view of the air cushions inside the hood.

Figure 3 Top view of the separator and detecting sensors.

Figure 4 Perspective view of the folded cushion.

Figure 5 Perspective view of the inflated folded cushion.

Figure 6 Perspective view of the inflated folded cushion, the camera and the wrapping unit.

Figure 7 Perspective view showing the connection between the folded cushion with the wrapping unit.

Figure 8 Perspective view of the wrapping unit.

Figure 9 Perspective view of the control panel inside the vehicle.

Figure 10 The view of a different arrangement of the folded cushion inside the hood.

Figure 11 The view of a different arrangement of the folded cushion inside the hood. Figure 12 The view of a different arrangement of the folded cushion inside the hood.

Figure 13 The view of a different arrangement of the folded cushion inside the hood.

The components in the figures to aid in an understanding of the present invention are assigned reference numerals as can be seen in the attached drawings and said reference numerals and the corresponding components are listed below.

Description of References:

1. Air cushion

2. Separator

3. Detecting sensor

4. Folded air cushion

5. Strap

6. Camera

7. Wrapping unit

7.1. Reel

7.2. Wrapping button

8. Control panel

O. Hood

A. Trunk

Detailed Description of Invention:

The invention has at least one air cushion (1) located within the hood (O) and the trunk (A) of the vehicle, at least one separator (2) placed between the air cushions (1) in a way to make at least one division in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A), at least one object detecting sensor (3) fixed under the division of each air cushion (1), a compressor that enables the valves to transfer air to the air cushions (1) sufficient enough to jam the object within the division upon the signal coming from the detecting sensor (3), a control panel (8) including, a software, a controller that controls the software and a battery and at least one camera (6) located to monitor the situation of the air cushions (1) in the hood (O) and the trunk (A).

The invention has a detecting sensor (3) that detects the weight and the sizes of the object on the division. The system subject to invention, has a compressor that enables air to be transferred to the air cushions (1). There's at least one valve that transfers the airflow from the compressor to the air cushions (1). The system subject to invention, includes a controller that enables the valves to be opened and closed upon the signal coming from the detecting sensor (3).

In the alternative arrangement of the invention, folded air cushion (4) can be used instead of the normal air cushion (1). The invention has a strap (5) located at the end of the folded air cushion (4). In the alternative arrangement of the invention, there's a wrapping unit (7) that provides containment for the folded air cushion (4) and enables it to be wrapped up back via the wrapping button (7.2). The wrapping unit (7) mentioned in the invention, includes a reel (7.1) that enables the wrapping of the folded air cushion (4) beginning from the strap (5) using the engine power.

The system subject to invention, has a control panel (8) that enables the manual or automatic inflation of the air cushions (1) or the folded air cushion (4). The control panel (8) in the invention is located inside the vehicle. The control panel (8) mentioned in the invention, is connected with the camera (6).

Basic parts composing the system subject to invention are; the air cushion (1), the separator (2), the detecting sensor (3), he folded air cushion (4), the strap (5), the camera (6), the wrapping unit (7) and the control panel (8). The air cushion (1), the separator (2) and the detecting sensors (3) are placed in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A) of the electric vehicle. Folded air cushion (4) can be used instead of the air cushion (1). The strap (5) is fixed at the end of the folded air cushion (4). Camera (6) is located in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A) of the vehicle in a way to clearly view all the air cushions (1) and the folded air cushion (4). The wrapping unit (7) is connected with the folded air cushion (4) and is placed in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A) of the vehicle. Control panel (8) is placed inside the vehicle. Hoses and valves are connected to the air cushions (1). The invention may include air discharge pipe, valve, tank or device for the discharge of the air inside the cushions.

The working principle of the system subject to invention is as follows; the compressor is fed by the electric generating batteries of the vehicle and automatically inflates the air cushions (1) placed in the hood (O) and the trunk (A) of the vehicle when the vehicle is started. In addition, in an alternative arrangement of the invention, the system can be operated manually with the command of the driver inside the vehicle. Compressor can send air to every air cushion (1) by means of the hoses. The inflated air cushion (1) an absorb the impact force that occurs in case of a crash accident from front or form back. This way, the crash effect on the driver inside the vehicle is minimized. In addition, when the driver or the passenger put their belongings to any division inside the trunk, the detecting sensor (3) detects the weight and size of the object loaded on it and enables air filling to air cushion (1) via the controller, in proportion with the weight and the size of the object. If there's no load on the other air cushions (1) around it, compressor fully fills them up with air and the inflated air cushions (1) wrap around the object and stabilize it. By this means, fragile objects are prevented from falling in sudden breaks, sudden takeoffs and bends. Additionally, it's also provided to be able to manually inflate the air cushions (1) in our invention. This method can be performed via the buttons placed in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A) of the vehicle or the buttons on the control panel (8). The person may be able to monitor the situation of the air cushions (1) in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A) with the help of the camera (6) and inflate the air cushion (1) he/she wishes to via the control panel (8). The control panel (8) may include one display and at least one button. Folded air cushion (4) can also be used instead of air cushion (1). Folded air cushion (4) is contained within the wrapping unit (7) and when desired to be used it's pulled by the end to release. When the folded air cushion (4) is inflated, it's enabled to take the shape of the hood (O) or the trunk (A) of the vehicle. After use, wrapping button (7.2) is pressed to pull back the folded air cushion (4). In an alternative arrangement of the invention, air cushions (1) can be manually inflated upon user's request, from outside of the vehicle, via the button connected in the hood (O) and in the trunk (A). The compressor and the air cushions (1) of the system can be turned off completely to save on energy especially in short-range or slow local drives or in situations of loading and unloading objects with frequent stop-and-go.

In another arrangement of the invention as seen in Figure- 10 and Figure- 11, folded air cushions (4) are located correspondingly on vehicle wheels or between the front side and the steering wheel of the vehicle in a way to be at the same height. Folded air cushions (4) are aligned this way to expose equal pressure correspondingly on objects placed in the hood (O) or in the trunk (A) and with this stabilization is achieved. What's seen in Figue-12 and Figure- 13 are the folded air cushions (4) correspondingly placed at least one for each side. In this arrangement, the space between the folded air cushions (4) will enable the small sized objects placed between them to be stabilized while the vehicle is in motion. Again in the same figure, as bigger sized objects in the remaining bigger area at the middle will contact the inflated folded air cushions (4), they will be automatically stabilized.

In an alternative arrangement of the invention, there's an acceleration sensor integrated into the system to detect sudden breaks and it's enabled for air cushions (1) to be automatically inflated in sudden breaks, sudden takeoffs and bends.