JP2006206049A5 - - Google Patents

Claims (8)

An airbag that inflates by inflating gas can protect the driver's knees . When deployment is complete, the airbag covers the steering column located on the front side of the driver and protrudes upward from the instrument panel. A knee protection airbag device configured to be arranged between the column cover and the driver's knee ,
The airbag is
Folded and stored in an airbag storage part disposed in the instrument panel below the steering column,
The bottom surface of the column cover is provided with a column cover side wall portion disposed on the column cover side and a driver side wall portion disposed on the driver side, and having a shape in which expansion gas is introduced to complete expansion and expansion. A substantially plate shape that can cover from the front side of the side to the vicinity of the rear end,
The left and right width dimensions of the column cover side wall portion and the driver side wall portion, which are flatly deployed, are configured to be wider than the width dimension in the left and right direction of the airbag storage portion,
The lower part at the time of expansion and expansion is configured as an upstream part of the expansion gas, and the upper part is configured as a downstream part of the expansion gas,
A gas flow restricting material for restricting the flow of the expansion gas is disposed so as to expand and expand the width dimension in the left and right direction of the upstream part in the left and right direction, and then complete the expansion of the downstream part. by setting the air bag device for knee protection, characterized by being configured. In the airbag, to regulate the thickness swell of the airbag, so as to expand from the front side of the lower surface side in a substantially plate shape which can cover up to the vicinity of the rear end of the column cover, the column cover The knee protecting airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a thickness regulating means for connecting the side wall portion and the driver side wall portion is provided . Claims wherein the thickness regulating means, and said downstream portion and the upstream portion as the tether arranged along the lateral direction so as to partition, characterized in that it is also used as the gas flow regulating member Item 3. The knee protection airbag device according to Item 2 . The tether that serves both as the thickness regulating means and the gas flow regulating material is arranged with gas flow holes for flowing the inflation gas from the upstream site to the downstream site on the left and right sides of the airbag. The knee protection airbag device according to claim 3, wherein the knee protection airbag device is provided. A tether that serves both as the thickness restricting means and the gas flow restricting material is disposed at a position where the tether is separated from the airbag accommodating part during deployment and in the vicinity of the airbag accommodating part. The knee protection airbag device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the knee protection airbag device is provided. A portion located at the front of the driver's shin, where the tether that serves both as the thickness restricting means and the gas flow restricting material is located below the portion that protects the driver's knee when the airbag is inflated. The knee protection airbag device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the knee protection airbag device is disposed on the knee protection device. The air bag is disposed along the left-right direction above the first tether, with the tether serving as both the thickness regulating means and the gas flow regulating material serving as a first tether. A second tether serving as a thickness regulating means for connecting the cover side wall portion and the driver side wall portion is disposed;
The first tether and the second tether are thinner at the front part of the shin below the driver's knee when the airbag is completely inflated than the part disposed in front of the knee. The airbag device for knee protection according to claim 6, wherein the airbag device is disposed so as to be restricted . The airbag is laterally folded by roll folding in which the upper end of the airbag is wound on the side of the column cover side wall so that the airbag protrudes from the airbag housing part and rises along the lower surface side of the column cover and can be expanded and inflated. and folding step, the longitudinal folding step is folded longitudinally so as to approach the left and right edges toward the center, of the two-folded by step, characterized in that it is housed in the airbag housing portion according to claim 1 wherein Item 9. The knee protection airbag device according to any one of Items 7 to 9 .