Apple may have canceled its Apple Car project, but the company is still being granted patents for vehicle-related technology. The latest is number US 12100970B1 for a restraint system.
About the patent
The patent relates to restraint systems and, in particular, deployable restraint systems. In the patent Apple notes that conventional passenger vehicles include airbags, which are inflatable restraints that deploy upon detection of impacts to and/or high acceleration of the passenger vehicle.
Apple notes that in conventional passenger vehicles, seats are oriented for the passengers to face forward. For example, in a two-row vehicle, both a front row of seats and a rear row of seats face forward with the seat backs of the front row of seats being arranged between those passengers in the front row and those passengers in the rear row.
The seat backs of the front row of seats may thereby function as a reaction surface for airbags intended to restrain passengers in the rear row of seats. In a three-row vehicle, each of front, middle, and rear rows of seats face forward with the seat backs of the front row and the middle row being arranged between those passengers in the front and middle rows and between those passengers of the middle and rear rows, respectively. Apple says that the seat backs of the front row of seats and the middle row of seats may function as reaction surfaces for airbags intended to restrain passengers in the middle and back rows of seats, respectively.
In new vehicles, alternative seating arrangements may include seats that are oriented for passengers to face both forward and rearward toward each other. For example, in a two-row vehicle, a front row of seats may face rearward, while a rear row of seats faces forward with a generally open volume between the front and rear passengers.
As a result, no seat structure (e.g., no seat back) or other vehicle structure may be arranged between those passengers in the front row and the back row to form a reaction surface. Apple’s patent involves a system to overcome such limitations.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A deployable restraint system including a panel, a tether coupled to the panel, and an actuator that moves the tether to deploy the panel. The panel and the tether are placed in tension between one of two sides of a compartment and a top of the compartment when the tether is moved by the actuator.”
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