Vehicle safety apparatus having a retainer for clamping an inflator against a support plate
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to an inflatable vehicle occupant restraint. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for securing an air bag inflator to a support plate for mounting the air bag inflator on a vehicle steering wheel. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     It is common to use an air bag to protect an occupant of a vehicle upon the occurrence of sudden vehicle deceleration, such as occurs in a vehicle collision. An air bag for protecting the driver of a vehicle is typically mounted in the vehicle steering wheel. An inflator, when actuated, generates gas to inflate the air bag. The air bag and the inflator are secured to a support plate which is attached to the vehicle steering wheel. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,325,568 and 3,819,205 show typical structures for mounting an air bag and an air bag inflator on a vehicle steering wheel using threaded fasteners to secure the air bag and inflator to a support plate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,461 shows a structure in which a support plate is deformed radially inwardly to engage an annular retainer which maintains the air bag and air bag inflator in position. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a vehicle safety apparatus including an inflator for inflating a vehicle occupant restraint, a support plate for attaching the inflator to a portion of the vehicle, and a retainer for mounting the inflator on the support plate. The retainer has a fastening portion for fastening the retainer to the support plate, and a clamping portion for clamping the inflator to the support plate. 
     A portion of the inflator projects through an opening in the support plate. The inflator has a radially outwardly extending flange portion larger in diameter than the opening in the support plate. The clamping portion of the retainer clamps the flange portion of the inflator against the support plate. 
     At least one electrical lead wire extends from the inflator and terminates in a wire connector which connects with a wiring harness of the vehicle. The lead wire is located in part between the inflator and the retainer, and thus is protected from damage by the retainer. The retainer also supports the wire connector in position relative to the inflator. Thus, the retainer performs three functions, namely, it (i) clamps the inflator to the support plate, (ii) protects the electrical lead wire, and (iii) supports the wire connector. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the following description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a view with portions in section of a vehicle safety apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of another portion of FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a vehicle safety apparatus and particularly to a retainer for mounting an air bag inflator to a support plate to be mounted on a vehicle steering wheel. The present invention is applicable to various vehicle safety apparatus constructions. As representative of the present invention, FIG. 1 illustrates a retainer 10 which secures an air bag inflator 12 to a support plate 14. The support plate 14 is attached to a vehicle steering wheel (not shown) in a known manner. The inflator 12 generates gas for inflating an air bag 16 which is secured by a bag retaining ring 18 to the support plate 14. A plurality of fasteners such as rivets 20 and 22 clamp together the retainer 10, the inflator 12, the support plate 14, the air bag 16, and the bag retaining ring 18. 
     The support plate 14 is a generally flat metal plate having an upper major side surface 24 and a lower major side surface 26. A circular central opening 28 extends through the mounting plate 14. Eight rivet openings are spaced equally in a circle about the central opening 28. At four of the rivet openings designated 30, the material of the support plate 14 is depressed from the overall plane of the support plate 14 to form a circular riveting pad 32. At the other four openings, designated 34, the support plate is flat. 
     The inflator 12 includes a housing 40 having a central cylindrical portion 42 with a central axis 44. The housing 40 includes a diffuser cup 46 having flange 48 extending radially outwardly in a direction perpendicular to the axis 44. The housing 40 also includes a combustor cup 50 welded inside the diffuser cup 46. The combustor cup 50 has a flange 52 extending radially outwardly in a direction perpendicular to the central axis 44. The flange 52 of the combustor cup 50 partially overlies and is welded to the flange 48 of the diffuser cup 46. The housing 40 further includes a cover 54 that partially overlies and is welded to the flange 52 of the combustor cup 50. 
     A quantity of gas generating material (not shown) is located in the housing 40. The gas generating material is a known material which when ignited generates nitrogen gas for inflating the air bag. The inflator 12 also includes an igniter (not shown) which is actuatable to ignite the gas generating material in a known manner. 
     Electrical lead wires 62 extend from the inflator 12. The lead wires 62 terminate in a wire connector 64. The wire connector 64 connects to electric circuitry (not shown) of the vehicle. Upon the occurrence of sudden vehicle deceleration, the lead wires 62 receive an ignition signal from the vehicle circuitry. The lead wires 62 transmit the ignition signal to the igniter in the inflator 12 to energize the inflator 12. When the inflator 12 is energized, gas generated by the inflator 12 flows radially outwardly through a plurality of openings 76 in the inflator housing 40, into the air bag 16, to inflate the air bag 16 in a known manner. 
     The air bag 16 has a central opening 70 (FIG. 4) through which the central cylindrical portion 42 of the inflator 12 extends. A portion 74 of the air bag 16 extends radially outwardly from the central opening 70 and overlies the upper major side surface 24 of the support plate 14. This portion 74 of the air bag 16 has eight rivet openings 72 spaced in a circle and aligned with the openings 30 and 34 in the support plate 14. Radially outwardly from the rivets 20 and 22, the air bag 16 extends away from the support plate 14, and is folded around the inflator 44 in a known manner. 
     The retainer 10 in the preferred embodiment is an X-shaped metal stamping having four legs 80 (see FIG. 2). Each leg 80 includes an inner portion 82 (see FIG. 1) extending radially outwardly from a central area 84 of the retainer 10. A first angled portion 86 of the leg 80 extends radially outwardly and axially upwardly as viewed in FIG. 1 from the radially outer end of the inner portion 82. Each leg 80 also includes a clamping portion 88 which extends radially outwardly from the first angled portion 86 in a direction generally perpendicular to the central axis 44. The clamping portion 88 has a flat upper side surface 90 (FIG. 3). A second angled portion 92 extends radially outwardly and axially upwardly from the clamping portion 88. 
     Each leg 80 terminates in a mounting foot 94 (best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4) which extends radially outwardly of the second angled portion 92, in a direction generally perpendicular to the central axis 44. The mounting foot 94 has a flat upper side surface 96. A rivet opening 98 extends axially through the mounting foot 94. A reinforcing rib 99 (FIG. 2) is formed in each leg 80, to allow the weight of the retainer 10 to be reduced while maintaining its load-carrying capability. 
     The bag retaining ring 18 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is an annular piece of metal having a J-shaped cross sectional configuration. The bag retaining ring 18 includes an axially extending outer ring portion 100 and an axially extending inner ring portion 102 joined by a flat, radially extending bottom portion 104. Eight rivet openings 106 extend through the flat bottom portion 104 of the bag retaining ring 18. The rivet openings 106 are spaced in a circle and are aligned with the openings 72 in the air bag 16 and with the openings 30 and 34 in the support plate 14. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates in detail how the retainer 10 secures the inflator 12 to the support plate 14 at each of the four retainer mounting locations designated 108. The retainer 10, the support plate 14, the air bag 16, and the bag retaining ring 18 are positioned so that the rivet opening 98 in the retainer mounting foot 94, the rivet opening 34 in the support plate 14, the rivet opening 72 in the bag 16, and the rivet opening 106 in the bag retaining ring 18 are all aligned with each other. The upper side surface 90 of the retainer clamping portion 88 engages the combustor cup flange 52. The diffuser cup flange 48 engages the lower major side surface 26 of the support plate 14. 
     The rivet 20 extends axially through the aligned rivet openings. The rivet head 110 engages the mounting foot 94 of the retainer 10. The opposite end 112 of the rivet 20 is expanded to engage the upper surface of the bottom portion of the bag retaining ring 18. The rivet 20, through the bag retaining ring 18 and the bag 16, clamps the mounting foot 94 of the retainer 10 to the support plate 14. The retainer clamping portion 88 clamps the flanges 52 and 48 and thus the inflator 12 to the support plate 14. This is also the case at each of the other three retainer mounting locations 108 (FIG. 2). Thus, the inflator 12 is securely clamped around its circumference to the support plate 14. 
     As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the clamping portion 88 of each retainer leg 80 is offset axially from the mounting foot 94. The axial offset between these two parts may be defined as the distance between the upper side surface 90 of the clamping portion 88 and the upper side surface 96 of the mounting foot 94, as measured in the direction parallel to the axis 44. The axial offset between the clamping portion 88 and the mounting foot 94 of the retainer 10 is slightly less than the combined thickness of the diffuser cup flange 48 and of the combustor cup flange 52. If the offset between the clamping portion 88 and the mounting foot 94 were greater than the combined thickness of the diffuser cup flange 48 and of the combustor cup flange 52, the retainer 10 would not securely clamp the inflator 12 to the support plate 14. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates in detail how the bag retaining ring 18 secures the bag 16 to the support plate 14, at the four bag mounting locations designated 116. At each location 116, the rivet opening 106 in the bag retaining ring 18 is aligned with the rivet opening 72 in the bag 16 and with the rivet opening 30 in the support plate 14. The head 122 of the rivet 22 engages the riveting pad 32 of the support plate 14. The opposite end 124 of the rivet 22 is expanded to engage the upper surface of the bottom portion of the bag retaining ring 18. The axial clamping action of the rivet 22 clamps the bag retaining ring 18 and the bag 16 to the support plate 14. The circular riveting pad 32 of the support plate 14 is depressed from the overall plane of the support plate 14 by the same distance as the thickness of the material of the retainer 10. Therefore, a rivet 22 which is the same length as the rivet 20 can be used to clamp the bag retaining ring 18 to the support plate 14, even though the retainer 10 is not clamped at this location. 
     The retainer 10 includes a mounting tab 130 (FIG. 1). The mounting tab 130 may be a separate piece attached to the metal stamping which forms the body of the retainer 10, but is preferably part of the same one-piece metal stamping. An opening 132 (FIGS. 1 and 2) extends through the mounting tab 130. The wire connector 64 has a clip 134 which extends through the opening 132 in the mounting tab 130. The mounting tab 130 thus supports the wire connector 64 in position relative to the inflator 12. Accordingly, the retainer 10, besides securing the inflator 12 to the support plate 14, also serves as a mounting structure for the inflator lead wire connector 64. 
     The lead wires 62 are located in part between the inflator 12 and the retainer 10. The retainer 10 thus shields the lead wires 62 at the location where they exit the body of the inflator 12. The retainer 10 also protects the lead wires 62 in the event the assembled apparatus is, for example, accidentally dropped before it is mounted to the vehicle steering wheel. 
     The support plate 14 is preferably made of steel or aluminum, depending on the vehicle manufacturer&#39;s preference and the tradeoff between weight, cost and strength. The support plate 14 may alternatively be made of a composite material. The bag retaining ring 18 is preferably made of steel. The retainer 10 is preferably made of a high strength, low alloy steel. The air bag 16 may be made of any suitable known material. The rivets 20 and 22 are preferably blind rivets such as Cherry brand &#34;Q&#34; rivets. 
     It should be noted that the present invention is applicable to a retainer for mounting an inflator for a passenger side air bag as well as to a retainer for mounting on air bag inflator on a vehicle steering wheel. Also, it should be noted that the X-shaped configuration of the retainer 10 and the number of fasteners used (eight) are not limiting. A retainer in accordance with the present invention can have a different configuration and can be mounted using a different number of fasteners. Further, a retainer in accordance with the present invention can be used for mounting an inflator having a mounting flange spaced axially from the end of the inflator, as well as for mounting an inflator such as the inflator 12 in which the diffuser cup flange 48 and the combustor cup flange 52 are located at one axial end of the inflator 12. 
     From the above description of the invention, those skilled in the art will perceive improvements, changes and modifications in the invention. Such improvements, changes and modifications within the skill of the art are intended to be covered by the appended claims.