Gas generator for air bag for protecting motor vehicle occupants - has sprung steel liner inside combustion chamber which holds tablets of propellant charge steady when vehicle is in normal motion

摘要

The gas generator (1) has a combustion chamber (3) in which is stored a propellant charge in the form of loosely installed solid tablets (4) to inflate the air bag. The tablets are held together inside the combustion chamber using a vol. compensation device which includes at least one thin-walled spring plate (7) pushed into and matching the inner shape of the chamber. The plate separates the solid tablets from the corresp. inner wall of the chamber, and is pre-stressed such that it is in mechanical contact with two diametrically opposite edge areas of the chamber. In the intervening area, it is curved away from the inside of the wall of the chamber, and its spring characteristics are such that, in the event of compression loads being applied to the edge areas, it bends even further towards the centre of the chamber.