JP2008018804A - Rear airbag of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rear airbag for an automobile capable of deploying and inflating an airbag from the ceiling plate to behind a headrest at the rear seat back. <P>SOLUTION: An inflator 11 and an airbag body 12 are accommodated in an air bag accommodation part provided inside the tail part of the ceiling plate 3, and when the automobile encounters a rear-end collision, the airbag body opens the opening region of the ceiling plate 3 existing in the inflating region of the airbag body 12. The opening region is located over the headrest 9 at the rear seat back, while the airbag body 12 is located over the headrest so as to deploy and inflate to the area over the headrest front face 9a in such a condition as abutting to the rear window 4 continued in the rear to the opening region, and makes deployment and inflation between the upper part of the headrest front face 9a and the rear window 4 in rear-end collision. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, an inflator and an airbag main body are stored in an airbag storage portion provided inside a rear end portion of a ceiling plate, and the airbag main body is inflated by an operation of the inflator at the time of a rear collision. The present invention relates to a rear airbag of an automobile that expands and expands by opening an open area of a ceiling plate in the area.

According to Patent Document 1, a rear airbag is disclosed in which an airbag body folded inside a ceiling board is deployed and inflated along a rear window at the time of a rear collision. According to Patent Document 2, an airbag is disclosed in which an airbag body accommodated in a package tray behind a rear seat back inflates and deploys toward a passenger's head beyond the rear seat bag at the time of a rear collision. On the other hand, according to Patent Document 3, the mass damper is positioned at the rear portion of the roof panel, which serves as a storage area for the roof front header and the rear airbag, in order to suppress the noise caused by the resonance of the roof panel. It is well known that it is provided on the roof rear header.
JP 2005-104172 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-186870 JP-A-11-325170

  According to the airbag according to Patent Document 1, it is assumed that the airbag is deployed and inflated from the ceiling plate along the rear window, so that the distance between the rear seat and the seated person's head is maintained. For this reason, if the rear seat bag is provided with a sufficiently high headrest, the rear view is obstructed. According to Patent Document 2, on the contrary, the airbag main body is deployed and inflated directly on the head, and cannot be deployed from a close position with respect to the head, and the arrival time is delayed accordingly. Furthermore, when storing the airbag inside the ceiling panel, if the ceiling panel is simply folded and opened at the time of deployment and expansion, there is a problem in the smashing of the fracture or the stabilization of the deployment shape, and when the mass damper is provided on the roof panel, There is also a problem of trade-off with the location.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a rear airbag for an automobile in which an airbag is deployed and inflated on a headrest of a rear seat bag from a ceiling plate.

  In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention, an inflator and an airbag main body are accommodated in an airbag accommodating portion provided inside a rear end portion of a ceiling plate. In the rear airbag of an automobile that expands and inflates by opening the open area of the ceiling board in the inflating area of the airbag body by the operation of the inflator at the time of the collision, the open area of the ceiling board is projected from the rear seat back Positioned above the headrest and positioned above the headrest so that the airbag body housed in the airbag compartment expands and inflates between the front surface of the headrest in contact with the upper surface following the open area. It is characterized by being. As a result, the airbag body expands and inflates between the upper surface of the headrest front surface and the upper surface following the open area of the rear window, the back door and the like at the time of a rear collision.

  In order to stabilize the deployed and inflated shape of the airbag body, according to claim 2, an airbag door that is continuously provided in a separated state at the rear end of the ceiling board body to form an open area of the ceiling board is made of a metal plate. The retainer is supported by the retainer, and the retainer is attached to the roof panel side at the upper surface, and the rear surface of the airbag door is joined to the lower surface. It is formed in a folded shape. In order to further ensure stabilization, according to claim 3, the airbag door of claim 2 is provided with a front airbag door as a ceiling plate body in which an integral hinge formed on the ceiling plate in the vehicle width direction is interposed. By being continuously provided at the rear end in a separated state, it is configured as a double-open rear airbag door. To use the airbag as a mass damper, according to claim 4, the roof rear header is joined to the rear end portion of the roof panel at the front end flange portion and the rear end flange portion, respectively, and the front end flange portion and the rear end flange portion are joined. A recess as an airbag storage portion is formed between the portions, and the inflator stored in the recess is supported by a support member provided on the roof rear header so as to add its mass to the roof panel.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the airbag main body is inflated and deployed toward the headrest at a high speed from the upper close position at the time of a rear collision, the head is protected with high reliability from the rear window, the roof and the like together with the headrest. Is done. In addition, the height of the headrest can be set to a height that does not obstruct the line of sight from the driver's seat. In that case, according to the invention of claim 2, the position of the fulcrum of the airbag door is defined by the hinge of the metal retainer. Therefore, the airbag door is reliably opened without malfunction, and the developed shape is stabilized. The occurrence of sharp edges that affect the developed shape is also suppressed. According to the invention of claim 3, the reliability of operation and the developed shape can be easily improved by the double opening type. According to the invention of claim 4, the strength of the inflator is secured by the roof rear header bent so as to form the recess for the airbag housing portion between the front end flange portion and the rear end flange portion. Fulfill.

  A vehicle rear airbag according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a rear airbag of a passenger car in which a rear window 4 follows a roof panel 1, and a ceiling plate 3 laid on a base material 3 a with a skin 3 b is provided along the roof panel 1. The roof rear header 2 provided at the rear end portion of the roof panel 1 has a front-side convex portion 2b having a U-shaped cross-section projecting downward following the front end flange portion 2a joined to the roof panel 1 by adhesion, and spaced apart. A rear-side convex part 2d having a U-shaped cross-section and a rear-end flange part 2e following the rear-side convex part are also joined to the flange part 1a of the roof panel 1 by welding, and between the two front and rear convex parts. The concave portion 2c that is adhesively bonded to the roof panel 1 serves as an airbag storage portion that stores the inflator 11 and the airbag main body 12. The left and right ends of the roof rear header 2 are joined to the body panel portion behind the roof side rail to improve the rigidity of the rear portion of the roof panel 1.

  In the area to be opened of the ceiling plate 3 above the headrest 9 protruding from the upper end of the rear seat back 8 shown in FIG. 3, that is, in the opening area in the inflating area facing the front surface of the airbag body 12, The front airbag door 15 of the ceiling board main body with the hinge portion 14 interposed therebetween and supported by a retainer 20 at a plurality of locations in the vehicle width direction so as to be connected to the rear end of the airbag door, and the ceiling board 3 A rear airbag door 16 that functions as a garnish that closes the rear end opening is formed. The integral hinge portion 14 is formed in the vehicle width direction with the base material 3a being thin. The height position of the headrest 9 is set slightly lower than the height position of the standard line of sight from the driver's seat.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each retainer 20 folds a metal plate into a U shape to form an upper surface 21 and a lower surface 22, and beads 21 a and 22 a that protrude outward to secure bending strength. Is formed. A clamping surface 25 is formed on the upper surface 21 by cutting up, and a downward check claw 27 and an upward check claw 26 are formed in the opening and openings formed in the upper surface 21 on both sides of the clamping surface 25. Are formed respectively. The retainer 20 is held in a sandwiched state in which the check pawls 26 and 27 are caulked by engaging the gap between the upper surface 21 and the sandwiching surface 25 into the extended portion of the rear end flange portion 2e. Thus, the back surface of the rear airbag door 16 is bonded to the lower surface 22 so as to be connected to the front airbag door 15 in a separated state via the slit 16a. The U-shaped folded region of the retainer 20 supports the rear airbag door 16, and the hinge portion 23 whose strength is adjusted by the opening 23a so as to be surely expanded by the inflation pressure of the airbag body 12. It is formed as.

  The inflator 11 accommodated in the concave portion 2c is placed on the support plate 19 joined to the convex surface of the front convex portion 2b, thereby adding a mass of 600 to 800 g to the roof panel 1, and thus provided on the roof rear header. It serves as a substitute for a mass damper of about 200 to 400 g. At that time, the roof rear header 2 has a double U-shaped plate shape that sequentially forms a front convex portion 2b, a concave portion 2c, and a rear convex portion 2d between the front and rear flange portions 2a and 2e to be joined. , Fulfills its original function as a roof rear header.

  The front airbag door 15 and the rear airbag door 16 which is the rear portion of the ceiling plate, the inflator 11 which generates a gas by detecting the rear collision of the vehicle, and the gas are inflated. The rear airbag 10 is configured in the ceiling plate 3 by the airbag main body 12 and the like, and the airbag doors 15 and 16 occupy a position closer to the front than above the headrest 9, and a slit 16a between these doors is formed. Occupies a position near the front above the headrest. The airbag main body 12 is positioned closer to the front than above the headrest 9, and is stored obliquely toward the upper surface of the headrest 9 in the folded state and extends in the vehicle width direction. The shape of the airbag main body 12 is such that the airbag main body 12 is in pressure contact with the rear window 4 that is the upper surface following the open area formed by the airbag doors 15 and 16, above the front surface 9a of the headrest 9, that is, the rear surface of the head. It is set so as to be deployed and inflated from the rear, and the inflation and inflation direction is guided along the corner area of the front surface 2f of the rear convex portion 2d by the inflation, and the airbag doors 15 and 16 are both opened to project obliquely rearward. Inflated behind the headrest 9 and pressed against the rear window 4, the headrest 9 is deployed and inflated via the rear airbag door 16 above the front surface 9 a of the headrest 9.

  The operation of the thus configured rear airbag is as follows. Under normal conditions, the seat occupant of the rear seat can use the headrest 9 having a height that does not obstruct the line of sight, and the inflator 11 adds its mass to the roof panel 1 to generate a humming noise caused by the resonance. Suppress.

  When the inflator 11 is actuated by a rear impact with an impact exceeding a predetermined level, the front airbag door 15 and the rear airbag door 16 are caused to inflate by the inflation of the airbag body 12, and the former has the integral hinge portion 14 as a fulcrum, Further, the latter uses the hinge portion 23 of the retainer 20 as a fulcrum, and reliably opens both sides into a predetermined shape without being scattered due to cracks in the ceiling plate 3 or generating sharp edges. As a result, the airbag main body 12 is deployed behind the headrest 9 along the front corner portion of the rear convex portion 2d and the opened airbag doors 15 and 16, and the rear window 4 passes through the rear airbag door 16. The headrest 9 expands and expands in a stable shape from the upper side to the rear side of the front surface 9a. Therefore, the upper space of the headrest 9 is closed at high speed from a close position above the head at the time of a rear collision, and the head is reliably protected.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the airbag door is described as a double-opening type. However, in FIG. 1, the front airbag door 15 is eliminated, and the rear airbag door 16 is not caused to interfere with the head when opened. In consideration of the above, it can be configured as a single-opening type air bag door that is connected to the rear end of the ceiling plate main body in a separated state through a slit. Further, depending on the vehicle body structure, the airbag is deployed and inflated between the back doors that are the upper surface of the headrest.

It is sectional drawing of the rear airbag of the motor vehicle by embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the retainer which supports the airbag door of the rear airbag. It is sectional drawing which shows the expansion | deployment state of the rear airbag.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Roof panel 2 Roof rear header 2a Front flange part of roof rear header 2b Front convex part of roof rear header 2c Concave part of roof rear header 2d Rear convex part of roof rear header 2e Rear flange part of roof rear header 3 Ceiling plate 8 Rear seat back 9 Headrest 9a Front face of headrest 11 Inflator 12 Airbag body 14 Integral hinge 15 Front airbag door 16 Rear airbag door 20 Retainer 21 Upper surface of retainer 22 Lower surface of retainer

Claims (4)

The inflator and the airbag main body are stored in the airbag storage portion provided inside the rear end portion of the ceiling plate, and the airbag main body is in the inflated region of the airbag main body by the operation of the inflator at the time of rear collision. In the rear airbag of an automobile that expands and expands by opening the open area of the ceiling plate,
In the state where the open area of the ceiling plate is located above the headrest protruding from the rear seat back and the airbag main body stored in the airbag storage part is in contact with the upper surface following the open area A rear airbag for an automobile, wherein the rear airbag is positioned above the headrest so as to be deployed and inflated between the upper front surface of the headrest.   An airbag door that is connected to the rear end of the ceiling panel body in a separated state to form an open area of the ceiling panel is supported by a retainer made of a metal plate, and the retainer is attached to the roof panel side on the upper surface. The back surface of the said airbag door is joined to the lower surface, and it is formed in the folding shape so that it may be pressed and expanded by expansion | swelling of an airbag main body by making a folding area | region into a hinge part. Car rear airbag.   The airbag door according to claim 2 is continuously provided in a separated state at the rear end of the front airbag door as a ceiling plate body with an integral hinge formed in the vehicle width direction on the ceiling plate. A rear airbag for an automobile characterized by being configured as a double-opening rear airbag door. The roof rear header is joined to the rear end portion of the roof panel at the front end flange portion and the rear end flange portion, respectively, and a recess as an airbag storage portion is formed between the front end flange portion and the rear end flange portion. ,
The inflator housed in the recess is supported by a support member provided on the roof rear header so as to add its mass to the roof panel. Rear airbag.

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