JP3391406B2 - Automotive airbag equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile air bag device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many automobiles are equipped with an airbag device for inflating an airbag toward the interior of a vehicle at the time of a collision from the viewpoint of improving the safety of passengers due to the collision. Some of these airbag devices are deployed toward the inside of the vehicle body side wall, that is, a side airbag is provided between the vehicle body side wall and an occupant, as called a side airbag device, as a means for dealing with a side collision. Those that are designed to be deployed are proposed.

The deployment of the side airbag is started when a lateral collision occurs. As a side collision detection, the impact of the lateral collision exceeds a predetermined level, which is generally called a G sensor. A type of acceleration sensor that is sometimes activated is used. And it is necessary to provide this G sensor in the side sill or the side door.
No. 957, which is proposed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-84387.
It is also proposed in the publication that a G sensor is attached to an impact bar as a strength member arranged in the side door.

[0004]

By the way, at least a part of the side wall of the vehicle body is formed by a side door, and the impact when the side door is opened and closed is detected by the G sensor as an impact when a side collision occurs. It is possible to detect it by mistake. In order to avoid such a situation, it is conceivable that the sensitivity of the G sensor is lowered, but in this case, it is preferable to ensure the reliable deployment of the side airbag when a lateral collision actually occurs. There is no such thing.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and the side airbag can be surely deployed in the event of a side collision, and the side airbag is erroneously caused by the impact when the side door is opened and closed. An object of the present invention is to provide an airbag device for an automobile capable of preventing a situation where the airbag is deployed.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention (the invention according to claim 1), the members constituting the side wall of the vehicle body are provided side by side in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. Front side doors and rear side doors, side airbags respectively provided on the front side doors and the rear side doors, front side airbags deployed from the front side to the rear side, and front portions of the front side doors. And a collision predicting means which is respectively arranged at the rear part of the rear side door and predicts whether or not a lateral collision will occur, and a lateral collision is predicted and a lateral collision position is predicted based on each of the collision predicting means. Then, a deployment start means for selecting and deploying the side airbag according to the predicted collision position is provided, and the airbag device for an automobile is configured. A preferred aspect of the first aspect is as described in the second and subsequent aspects.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the side collision is generated by a method of predicting the side collision instead of detecting the side collision based on the impact when the collision actually occurs. Since it is determined whether or not the side airbag is accidentally deployed due to an impact when the side door is opened or closed, the side airbag is reliably deployed when a side collision is predicted. be able to. Further, since the collision predicting means are respectively arranged at the front part of the front side door and the rear part of the rear side door, it can be made preferable with respect to the selection of the side airbag or the like to be deployed and the deployment order thereof. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a lateral collision is predicted, the side airbag on the collision prediction side is expanded and the side airbag on the side opposite to the side airbag on the collision prediction side is developed. Since the bag is deployed later than the side airbag on the collision prediction side, at the time of a collision,
When the occupant moves to the side opposite to the collision prediction side, the occupant can be protected by deploying the side airbag on the side opposite to the side airbag on the collision prediction side.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, like the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the side airbag is inadvertently inflated due to an impact when the side door is opened and closed, while the side airbag is laterally disposed. Not only can the side airbag be reliably deployed when a collision is predicted, but even in the case of a side collision that causes a spin, it is accurately captured and the front airbag is also deployed. The occupant can be protected from a side collision that causes a spin.

According to the invention of claim 4, the side airbag can be deployed at an optimum time for protecting the occupant.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, A is a vehicle to which the present invention is applied, and B is a vehicle about to collide with the vehicle A from the right side thereof.

An automobile A has front and rear side doors 1 and 2 which form a vehicle body side wall member, and inside thereof, side air bag devices are provided, respectively, as shown by a chain line in case of a side collision. The side airbags 3 and 4 are deployed between the side doors 1 and 2 and an occupant (not shown) (the left side airbag is not shown). Since such a side airbag device itself is well known, its detailed description is omitted.

In order to predict whether or not a side collision will occur,
The side portions of the automobile A are equipped with a pair of front and rear prediction sensors 5 and 6, respectively. The prediction sensor 5 is arranged near the front part of the front side door 1, and the prediction sensor 6 is arranged near the rear part of the rear side door 3. This predictive sensor 5,
6 is configured as a kind of radar, and is provided with an output section for outputting a search signal to the side of the vehicle body and a receiving section for inputting the search signal reflected and returned. As the search signal, for example, an electromagnetic wave or an ultrasonic wave can be used, but it is sufficient if a relatively short range can be searched. As such predictive sensors 5 and 6, commercially available products for detecting obstacles called back sensors and corner sensors can be used.

The predictive sensors 5 and 6 can be arranged at appropriate positions such as inside the side sill, inside the side doors 1 and 2, and above the roof panel. In FIG. 1, the prediction sensors 5 and 6 are shown.
In order to clarify the existence of the above, it is drawn so as to project from the side surface of the vehicle body, but it may be disposed at a position flush with the outer surface of the vehicle body or retracted.

For the purpose of predicting a collision, the automobile A further includes a control unit U constituted by using a microcomputer as shown in FIG. Signals from the predictive sensors 5 and 6 are input to the control unit U, while the side airbags 3 and 4 (inflators for detonation) are input.
Is output to. The contents of control by the control unit U will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following description, S indicates a step, and in FIG. 3, a case of a side collision from the right side is shown as an example.

First, after the signals from the pre-sensors 5 and 6 are input in S1, the prediction as to whether or not a side collision occurs, that is, the possibility of a side collision is determined in S2. Specifically, the prediction of the side collision is performed based on the distance to the vehicle B approaching the right side of the vehicle A and the approaching speed of the vehicle B. That is, when the distance is shorter than the approaching speed, it is determined that the lateral collision cannot be avoided, and the lateral collision is predicted at this time.

In S3, it is judged whether or not the result of the collision prediction in S2 is an unavoidable side collision.
If the determination in S3 is NO, the side airbag 3,
Since it is not necessary to expand No. 4, it is returned to S1 as it is at this time.

When the determination in S3 is YES, in S4, the margin time t until the actual side collision actually occurs is calculated and predicted from the relationship between the approaching speed of the automobile B and the distance. Then, after waiting for the allowance time t to pass in S5, the inflator is actuated in S6 to deploy the side airbags 3 and 4.
For safety, it is preferable to deploy the side airbags 3 and 4 when a side collision is predicted based on one of the two predictive sensors 5 and 6 (OR logic). Adopted).

In the embodiment, since the side collision from the right side is assumed, the left side airbag is not deployed at all. However, in consideration of the situation in which the passenger is once thrown to the right and then shaken back to the left in a lateral collision from the right,
The left side airbag can also be deployed during this swingback (in the case of a lateral collision from the left, the right side airbag is deployed after the deployment of the left side airbag. ).

Here, the time delay from the explosion of the inflator to the completion of the deployment of the side airbags 3 and 4,
Considering the optimum time from the actual collision occurrence to the completion of deployment of the side airbags 3 and 4, the margin time t
The time to detonate the inflator can be determined based on

When the side door 1 or 2 is opened or closed, a considerable impact is generated on the vehicle body, but this impact does not cause any noise in the above-described collision prediction. Therefore,
The situation that the side airbags 3 and 4 are accidentally deployed due to the opening and closing of the side doors 1 and 2 is reliably prevented.

Although the embodiment has been described above, the number of collision predicting sensors 5 and 6 may be only one on each of the left and right sides, or may be three or more. When using three or more predictive sensors, it is possible to logically deploy the side airbag only when a lateral collision is predicted based on the two or more predictive sensors.

Further, it is possible to set the selection of the side airbag to be deployed and the order of deployment thereof by predicting the direction of the side collision and the collision position. In particular, knowing the site of a side collision makes it possible to distinguish between a collision in which the vehicle body is entirely moved to the side and a collision in which the vehicle body spins. In such a case, the airbag deployed during a frontal collision may be deployed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle to which the present invention is applied when another vehicle is about to collide from the right side.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a control example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A: Car (car that is about to be subjected to a side collision) B: Car (car trying to collide sideways) 1: Side door 2: Side door 3: Side airbag 4: Side airbag 5. Collision prediction sensor 6: Collision prediction sensor

Continuation of the front page (72) Minobu Nomura, No. 3 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-48-53438 (JP, A) JP-A-49-13839 (JP, A) Actual development 3-121155 (JP, U) Actual development 1-117957 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/32

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle body as a member constituting a vehicle body side wall
Front side door and rear side installed side by side in the rear direction
Provided on the door and the front side door and the rear side door respectively
Side airbags and front airbags that deploy from the front to the rear
And the front part of the front side door and the rear part of the rear side door.
Each is arranged to predict whether a side collision will occur
Collision prediction means, and predicts a lateral collision based on each of the collision prediction means
Predict the side collision position and
Deployment start means to select and deploy the airbag
An airbag device for an automobile, characterized by being provided . 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the expansion starting means is laterally based on each of the collision prediction means.
When a collision is predicted, the side air bag on the collision prediction side
The side air bag on the collision prediction side.
The side airbag on the opposite side of the
It is set to deploy later than Id airbag
The airbag device for an automobile characterized in that 3. The expansion start means according to claim 1, wherein the expansion start means is laterally moved based on the collision prediction means.
Predicts a collision and predicts a side collision position
Depending on the position, the front side together with the side airbag
An airbag device for an automobile , which is set to deploy an airbag for a vehicle. 4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a lateral collision is predicted by the collision prediction means.
When the side air bar
Deployment start time control means for controlling the deployment start time
Further equipped with an airbag for an automobile
apparatus.