JP2004249838A - Air bag device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag device for a vehicle capable of increasing the developing speed of an air bag and stabilizing the developing direction thereof. <P>SOLUTION: Mutually overlapped first turn-around part A and second turn-around part B are formed on the cabin inner R side of a folded part 11, the second turn-around part B is increased longer than the first turn-around part A, and the upper part of the second turn-around part B is allowed to go between the folded part 11 and a vehicle body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle airbag device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, an airbag that protects an occupant's head in the event of a side collision or rollover is housed in the upper part of the interior of a vehicle. The entire airbag is folded and stored in a roll shape or bellows shape with the upper end fixed to a side roof rail at the upper part of the vehicle body, and the inside of the vehicle compartment is covered with a headlining. Then, at the time of side collision or rollover of the automobile, the inflator expands due to gas, and while opening the lower end of the headlining toward the interior of the vehicle, deploys it in a curtain shape downward, thereby protecting the occupant's head. It has become.
[0003]
This type of airbag is provided with a folded portion between the vehicle body and the folded portion, and by inflating the folded portion first, the folded portion is pressed against the head lining side, and the head lining is pushed open by the folded portion. The structure is such that it is deployed in the vehicle interior (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 3329277 (FIG. 2)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, such a conventional technology has a structure in which the folded portion of the airbag itself is pressed against the head lining by inflating the folded portion first, and the head lining is pushed open. Has a large resistance when deployed, which is disadvantageous in terms of deployment speed, and tends to cause variations in the deployment direction.
[0006]
The present invention has been made by paying attention to such conventional technology, and provides an airbag device for a vehicle that can improve the deployment speed of the airbag and can stabilize the deployment direction. is there.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the airbag having the upper end fixed to the vehicle body in the front-rear direction is formed into a roll-shaped or bellows-shaped folded portion in the space between the upper part of the vehicle body and the interior material on the vehicle interior side. An airbag device for a vehicle which, when the abag is inflated by gas from an inflator, expands the interior material in a curtain shape downward while pushing and opening the interior material toward the interior of the vehicle, wherein an upper end of the airbag is provided. The first folded portion accommodated in the vehicle interior side of the folded portion and the second folded portion accommodated between the first folded portion and the folded portion are formed by folding back between the folded portion and the folded portion twice. In addition, the second folded portion is formed to be longer than the first folded portion, and an upper portion of the second folded portion is wrapped around between the folded portion and the vehicle body.
[0008]
The invention according to claim 2 is a structure in which the airbag has a plurality of inflation chambers arranged in the front-rear direction and a gas introduction path along the front-rear direction communicating with an inlet at an upper end of the inflation chamber. The folded portion includes at least an inlet of the expansion chamber.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the folding portion is in the form of an externally wound roll which is wound up from the lower end side to the side wall of the vehicle compartment to form a roll.
[0010]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the first folded portion and the second folded portion are provided on the vehicle interior side of the folded portion, the first folded portion and the second folded portion expand first, and the expanded first folded portion. The interior material can be pushed open toward the interior of the vehicle by the portion and the second folded portion. Therefore, the folded portion is not strongly pressed against the interior material, the resistance when the folded portion is deployed is reduced, the deployment speed is improved, and the deployment direction is stabilized. Further, since the upper portion of the second folded portion is wrapped between the folded portion and the vehicle body, the portion is inflated, so that a propulsive force is generated in the folded portion in the deployment direction, and the deployment speed of the airbag is increased. Is further improved.
[0011]
According to the second aspect of the invention, since the second folded portion includes at least the inlet of the expansion chamber, the gas flows from the inlet into the expansion chamber only after the second folded portion is expanded, that is, the folded portion. Is pushed out into a large space on the vehicle cabin side by the expansion of the second turn-back portion, so that the entrance is sufficiently opened and the gas can be smoothly introduced into the expansion chamber.
[0012]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the folded portion is in the form of an externally wound roll which is wound up from the lower end side to the side wall of the passenger compartment to form a roll, the folded portion is wound while leaning toward the vehicle body (window) side. When the airbag is returned and deployed, even when the gap between the occupant and the vehicle body is narrow, the airbag can be reliably deployed within the narrow gap.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a view of an upper portion of an automobile as viewed from a vehicle interior R side, and shows a state where an airbag 1 is deployed. 2 denotes a front pillar, 3 denotes a center pillar, and 4 denotes a rear pillar. A side roof rail (vehicle body) 5 having a closed cross-sectional structure is formed in the upper part of each of the pillars 2, 3, and 4 along the front-rear direction. The airbag 1 has a mounting piece 1a at the upper end fixed along the side roof rail 5, is stored and held in a case (not shown) in a folded state as shown in FIG. Material 6.
[0014]
This airbag 1 is formed with two sets of three inflation chambers 7 in front and back. An inlet 7a is formed at the upper end of each inflation chamber 7, and the inlet 7a communicates with a gas introduction passage 8 extending in the front-rear direction above the airbag 1. An inflator 9 is connected to the rear side of the gas introduction path 8, and the gas passes through the gas introduction path 8 and is introduced into each of the expansion chambers 7 from each of the inlets 7 a. A strap 10 is provided between the front end of the airbag 1 and the front pillar 2. When the airbag 1 is deployed downward, the strap 10 pulls the airbag 1 to the front side and helps the airbag 1 to deploy in the front-rear direction.
[0015]
Next, how to fold the airbag 1 will be described. First, the airbag 1 is formed into an outer winding roll shape, which is an outer winding roll shape that is wound up from the lower end side to the vehicle cabin side wall side to form the folded portion 11. That is, "outer winding" is a method of winding one after another from the lower end side to the vehicle cabin side wall side.
[0016]
Next, the portion between the roll-shaped folded portion 11 thus wound and the mounting piece 1a fixed to the side roof rail 5 is folded in two, and overlapped with each other on the R side of the folded portion 11 in the vehicle cabin. A first folded portion A and a second folded portion B which are in a state are formed. The first folded portion A is located on the vehicle cabin R side, and the second folded portion B is located between the first folded portion A and the folded portion 11.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 3, the length b of the second folded portion B is longer than the length a of the first folded portion A in the first folded portion A and the second folded portion B. (A> b). Therefore, the upper part of the second folded portion B is in a state of being turned around between the folded portion 11 and the side roof rail 5. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the first folded portion A is configured by an upper portion of the gas introduction passage 8, and the second folded portion B is configured by a lower portion of the gas introduction passage 8, an inlet 7 a, And the upper end of the expansion chamber 7.
[0018]
Then, when a gas is injected from the inflator 9 at the time of a side collision or rollover of the vehicle, the gas first enters the gas introduction path 8 to expand the first folded portion A and then to expand the second folded portion B. . As shown in FIG. 5, the first folded portion A and the second folded portion B expand to stretch between the head lining 6 and the side roof rail 5, so that the head lining 6 mainly includes the first folded portion A. And it is pushed open to the vehicle cabin R side by the second folded portion B.
[0019]
Therefore, the folded portion 11 is pushed out to the vehicle cabin R side without being particularly strongly pressed against the headlining 6 side, so that the resistance when the folded portion 11 is unfolded is reduced, and the unfolding speed is improved, and the unfolding direction is improved. Is also stable. Then, the head of the occupant can be reliably protected by the airbag deployed in a curtain shape toward the lower side.
[0020]
Further, since the upper portion of the second folded portion B is wrapped around between the folded portion 11 and the side roof rail 5, the portion expands, so that a propulsive force is generated in the folded portion 11 in the deployment direction, The deployment speed of the airbag 1 is further improved.
[0021]
Further, since the second folded portion B includes the inlet 7a of the expansion chamber 7, gas flows from the inlet 7a into the expansion chamber 7 only after the second folded portion B is expanded, that is, when the folded portion 11 Since it is after being pushed out into a large space on the vehicle cabin R side by the expansion of the two folded portions B, the inlet 7 a is sufficiently opened, and the gas can be smoothly introduced into the expansion chamber 7.
[0022]
In addition, since the folding portion 11 is in the form of an externally wound roll, the folding portion 11 is unwound and deployed while approaching a side window (not shown) located below the side roof rail 5, so that the occupant and the side are unfolded. Even when the vehicle rolls over so that the gap with a window (not shown) becomes narrow, the airbag 1 can be reliably inflated within the narrow gap to protect the occupant's head.
[0023]
In the above embodiment, the roll-shaped folded portion 11 is taken as an example, but a bellows-shaped folded portion may be used.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which an airbag according to an embodiment of the present invention is deployed downward in a curtain shape.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the airbag of FIG. 1 is folded and stored.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a folded state of the airbag of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the front of the airbag showing a range of a first folded portion and a second folded portion of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the first folded portion and the second folded portion of FIG. 2 are expanded and the folded portion is pushed out to the vehicle interior side.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 airbag 1a mounting piece (upper end)
5 Side roof rail (body)
6 Headlining (interior material)
7 Expansion chamber 7a Inlet 8 Gas introduction path 9 Inflator 11 Folded part A First folded part B Second folded part a Length of first folded part b Length of second folded part R Length of passenger compartment

Claims (3)

In the space between the upper part of the vehicle body and the interior material on the vehicle interior side, the airbag whose upper end is fixed to the vehicle body in the front-rear direction is stored in a roll-shaped or bellows-shaped folded part in the vertical direction, and the bag is moved from the inflator. An airbag device for a vehicle, which expands in a curtain shape toward the lower side while pushing and opening the interior material toward the interior of the vehicle when inflated by the gas,
A first folded portion that is folded twice between the upper end portion and the folded portion of the airbag and is stored inside the folded portion in the cabin, and a second folded portion that is housed between the first folded portion and the folded portion. While forming a folded part,
An airbag device for a vehicle, wherein the second folded portion is formed longer than the first folded portion, and an upper portion of the second folded portion is wrapped between the folded portion and the vehicle body. The vehicle airbag device according to claim 1,
The airbag has a structure having a plurality of inflation chambers arranged in the front-rear direction, and a gas introduction path along the front-rear direction communicating with an inlet at an upper end of the expansion chamber,
An airbag device for a vehicle, wherein the second folded portion includes at least an inlet of the inflation chamber. The vehicle airbag device according to claim 1 or 2,
The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the folded portion is in the form of an externally wound roll that is rolled up from the lower end side to the side wall of the vehicle cabin.

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