JP3407678B2 - Airbag device for passenger seat - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a passenger seat airbag device arranged at a portion of an instrument panel in front of a passenger seat of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an airbag device for a passenger seat, when an airbag is deployed and inflated, inflation gas is introduced from a gas inlet port and protrudes from a portion of an instrument panel and is inclined forward and downward. It was expanding toward the rear of the vehicle along the windshield.

However, with respect to the inflation speed of the airbag, there has been a demand for reduction of the inflation speed of the airbag to the passenger seated in the passenger seat, that is, the inflation speed to the rear side of the vehicle.

In order to deal with this situation, inside the airbag, both sides of the vehicle in the left-right direction are closed, and the front and rear sides of the vehicle are opened so that a rectifying cloth is arranged so as to cover the gas inlet. Proposed (JP-A-9-263)
No. 203).

When such a rectifying cloth is arranged, the inflation gas flowing into the airbag when the airbag is deployed and inflated is branched by the rectifying cloth into a front portion and a rear portion. Deploys quickly in the front-back direction. Then, the front portion of the airbag projects rearward of the vehicle along the windshield. In addition, the rear portion of the airbag projects toward the rear side of the vehicle along the upper surface of the instrument panel.

Therefore, at the initial stage of deployment and inflation, the airbag is directed to the rear side of the vehicle at a wide angle in the vertical direction so as to close the space between the inner surface of the windshield and the upper surface of the instrument panel. Since the vehicle is inflated and moves to the rear side of the vehicle with the occupant side portion being a widened surface, the expansion rate to the vehicle rear side can be reduced.

When such a straightening cloth is provided, it is desirable that the flow rate of the inflation gas flowing into the inside of the airbag is larger than that of the rear side.

That is, if the inflowing amount of the inflation gas to the front portion of the airbag is increased, the front portion of the airbag is arranged upward along the windshield at the initial stage of deployment and inflation of the airbag. It becomes easier and the rear part of the airbag is placed along the upper side of the instrument panel,
The surface to the occupant side at the time of deployment and expansion can be arranged in the vertical direction to be inflated, and even if the occupant is restrained during deployment and expansion,
This is because the pressing force can be suppressed, which is preferable.

Regarding the adjustment of the flow rate of the inflating gas, the length of the leading edge side of the rectifying cloth is increased and the trailing edge side of the rectifying cloth is shortened so that the front opening provided inside the airbag by the rectifying cloth is It may be possible to deal with it by making it larger than the opening on the rear side.

However, in the case where the length of the leading edge side of the straightening cloth is increased and the trailing edge side of the straightening cloth is shortened so as to be arranged inside the airbag, a large amount of material for the straightening cloth is required. In addition, the length of the straightening cloth becomes long, which makes it difficult to perform the work of installing the straightening cloth such as stitching.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and suppresses an increase in the material of the flow regulating cloth, and makes the flow rate of the inflation gas from the front side opening by the flow regulating cloth easier than the flow rate of the rear side opening. It is an object of the present invention to provide an airbag device for a passenger seat that can secure a large number.

[0012]

In the airbag apparatus for a passenger seat according to the present invention, when an airbag folded and stored and fixed in a case is expanded and inflated, inflation gas is introduced from a gas inlet. , The door arranged on the instrument panel is opened to project, and it is configured to expand toward the rear side of the vehicle along the windshield . A top-mount type passenger airbag device in which a cover portion of a rectifying cloth is arranged so as to open both sides and cover the gas inflow port, wherein the cover portion of the rectifying cloth is the cover portion. From the opening on the front side of
The flow rate of the inflation gas flowing into the
It takes more secure capable flow of the rear side of the opening, the cover
-The front edge of the part is forward of the front edge of the gas inlet
Cover from the front edge of the gas inlet within the range
The distance to the front edge of the part is short and the rear edge of the gas inlet
To increase the distance from the side to the rear edge of the cover
In addition, the center is displaced from the center of the gas inlet to the rear side of the vehicle, and is arranged.

The airbag is folded so that the side of the ceiling wall facing the gas inlet is brought closer to the gas inlet and the front and rear edges are folded so as to be closer to the center. And a vertical fold in which both left and right edges are folded so as to approach the vicinity of the center, and when folded and stored in the case, the front part of the airbag is
At the time of horizontal folding, fold the bellows and fold the rear part of the airbag,
When laterally folding, it is desirable to fold the inner roll.

Further, the front portion of the airbag is folded back in two , with the front edge side folded back to the ceiling wall side .
Fold and fold the folded part on the part to be folded
While maintaining the state, repeat the valley fold and mountain fold in a zigzag manner.
It is desirable to fold the bellows so that it will come back .

[0015]

[0016]

In the passenger airbag device according to the present invention, the cover portion covering the gas inlet of the straightening cloth arranged inside the airbag has its center at the rear side of the vehicle from the center of the gas inlet. Since the distance from the leading edge of the gas inlet to the leading edge of the cover is short and the distance from the trailing edge of the gas inlet to the trailing edge of the cover is long, A large amount of the inflation gas that flows in from the inflow port flows into the airbag from the front edge side of the cover portion that has a low resistance when passing through.

As a result, it is possible to secure a larger flow rate of the expansion gas from the front opening by the flow regulating cloth than that of the rear opening.

Further, the cover portion of the rectifying cloth is simply arranged by shifting it from the center of the gas inlet to the rear side of the vehicle without increasing the length on the front edge side, and uses a large amount of material. Without having to deal with it easily,
Since the length of the cover portion can be shortened, installation work such as suturing becomes easy without being bulky.

Therefore, in the passenger side airbag device according to the present invention, the increase in the material of the flow regulating cloth is suppressed, and the flow rate of the inflation gas from the front side opening by the cover portion of the flow regulating cloth is adjusted to the rear side opening. It is possible to easily secure more than the flow rate.

[0020] The Contact, cover portion, within which the front edge of the cover portion is disposed on the front side from the front edge of the gas inlet,
The center of the cover part is shifted and arranged. This is because, when the airbag is deployed and inflated, if the front edge side of the cover portion is arranged behind the front edge of the gas inlet, the inflation gas will not interfere with the cover portion of the rectifying cloth and This is because there is no point in providing a straightening cloth when it flows into.

If the airbag is laterally folded as described in claim 2, when the airbag is deployed and inflated, the front portion of the airbag is bellows-folded and quickly deployed. On the contrary, the rear part of the airbag is an inner roll fold and has a large resistance to unwind the rolled state, and the deployment direction on the trailing edge side of the airbag is the downward direction opposite to the inflow direction of the inflation gas. Therefore, it is in a state of being deployed later and lower than the front portion along the instrument panel.

Therefore, the front portion of the airbag rapidly deploys rearward of the vehicle along the windshield, and the rear portion of the airbag deploys rearwardly of the vehicle along the instrument panel. Then, the ceiling wall portion of the airbag during the expansion and inflation is moved to the rear side of the vehicle in a state where it is a wide surface and is close to the vertical plane, and the occupant restraint performance during the expansion and inflation is It can be further improved.

When the front portion of the airbag is folded laterally, the front edge side is folded back to the ceiling wall side and overlapped, and if the bellows is folded, the front portion of the airbag is expanded and inflated. First, the folded folded portion and the folded portion where this folded portion is overlapped,
Although they expand together quickly to eliminate the bellows fold, the folding part moves away from the folding part with the fold part overlapped with the folding part as the center of rotation. Since it rotates forward so as to eliminate the eyes, all of the front portion of the airbag does not project to contact the windshield.

Therefore, in the case of the structure described in claim 3, the impact on the windshield can be suppressed as compared with the case where the front portion of the airbag is simply folded into a bellows. Also, on the front edge side of the airbag, the folded portion makes contact with the windshield only after rotating forward with the folded folded portion as the center of rotation, so the length of rubbing against the windshield becomes shorter. Also, since other parts of the airbag have a shorter length that rubs against the windshield than the front edge side when the front part of the airbag is simply accordion-folded, it is possible to contribute to suppressing damage to the airbag.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The passenger seat airbag apparatus M of the embodiment is
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is a top mount type that is arranged in a portion of an instrument panel (hereinafter abbreviated as an instrument panel) 2 below a windshield 1, and includes a case 7, an inflator 10, a diffuser 11, a retainer 12, The lid 14 and the airbag 17 are provided.

The case 7 is made of sheet metal and is composed of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main body 8 and a holding plate member 9 arranged around the upper portion of the main body 8. The main body 8 includes a lower chamber 8a for accommodating the inflator 10 and the folded airbag 1
And an upper chamber 8b for accommodating 7 therein.
The holding plate member 9 is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape so as to cover the lower portions of the step portions 8c arranged on both sides in the vehicle front-rear direction in the lower portion of the upper chamber 8b and to cover the peripheral wall 8e of the upper chamber 8b. . Step portion 8c and step portion 8 of the presser plate 9
Through holes 8d and 9a for inserting the respective bolts 12a of the retainer 12 are formed in the portion covering c.

Further, side walls 14d, which will be described later, of the lid 14 are locked to front and rear portions of the peripheral wall 8e of the upper chamber 8b so that the side walls 14d can be prevented from coming out upward.
A protrusion 8f is formed to be inserted into the plurality of locking holes 14e provided in the side wall 14d. Each protrusion 8f has
Insertion holes 8g for inserting the insertion piece 9 b provided on the pressing member 9 is formed.

The inflator 10 is housed and held in the lower chamber 8a of the case 7 as a column having a gas discharge port 10a for inflating gas for inflating the airbag 17.

The diffuser 11 is made of sheet metal and is a substantially rectangular plate whose peripheral edge is curved so as to be able to abut on the stepped portions 8c of the case body 8, and a gas flow hole 11a, through which the inflation gas can pass, at a predetermined position. 11a is provided. The diffuser 11 has a peripheral edge formed with a through hole 11b through which the bolts 12a of the retainer 12 can be inserted.

The retainer 12 is made of a curved square annular sheet metal, and is provided with a plurality of bolts 12a extending downward. This retainer 12 has bolts 12a
A mounting hole 19a of the airbag 17, a through hole 11b of the diffuser 11 and a through hole 8d of the case body 8 which will be described later.
-The bolts 12 are inserted through the through holes 9a of the pressing member 9 and
By screwing the nut 13 into a, the airbag 17 is fixed to the case 7 together with the diffuser 11, and the case 7 itself is assembled.

The lid 14 is formed of an olefin-based or styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer or the like, and has a ceiling wall portion 14a disposed in the rectangular opening 2a of the instrument panel 2 which is opened in a substantially vertical direction, and a ceiling wall portion. And a side wall portion 14d extending downward from the lower surface of 14a in the shape of a rectangular tube. On the ceiling wall portion 14a, on the lower surface of the outer peripheral edge,
A plurality of locking claws 1 for locking the ceiling wall 14a with the instrument panel 2 in order to lock the ceiling wall 14a with the instrument panel 2.
4b is formed. Further, two doors 15 that are opened inside the ceiling wall portion 14a inside the side wall portion 14d by rupturing the thin rupturable portion 14c when the airbag 17 is inflated are provided. The to-be-ruptured portion 14c is formed in an "H" shape when viewed from above in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The two doors 15 are arranged in front of and behind the vehicle, and when the airbag 17 is inflated, the door 15 (F) arranged on the front side opens to the front side and the door 15 (arranged on the rear side). B) is configured to open rearward.

Further, the side wall portion 14d is formed with a plurality of locking holes 14e whose peripheral edges are locked by the above-mentioned projections 8f formed on the peripheral wall 8e of the case body 8.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the airbag 17 has a bag shape having a gas inlet port 18, and is made of a flexible woven fabric such as polyamide yarn or polyester yarn. Two inflow side wall portions 20 and a ceiling wall portion 21 facing the gas inflow port 18 are prepared, and these peripheral edges are sewn together. The shape of the airbag 17 when inflated is a truncated truncated pyramid shape, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. The periphery of the gas inlet port 18 constitutes a mounting piece portion 19 mounted on the case 7, and the mounting piece portion 19 is provided with a mounting hole 19a through which each bolt 12a of the retainer 12 is inserted. Also, the mounting piece 1
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, two reinforcing cloths 28, 28 made of a woven fabric such as flexible polyamide thread or polyester thread are sewn to the thread 9 by using a suture thread 27. ing. In addition, 29 is a vent hole.

The airbag 17 is internally provided with
A straightening cloth 22 is provided so as to cover the gas inlet 18. The rectifying cloth 22 closes both left and right sides of the vehicle when mounted on the vehicle, and opens both front and rear sides of the vehicle when mounted on the vehicle.
It is arranged.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the rectifying cloth 22 of the embodiment has two sutures 27, which are two cloth materials 23 and 24 made of a woven cloth having flexibility such as polyamide thread and polyester thread.
(See FIG. 5), the attachment piece portion 19 is sewn to each other and further sewn to each other. Each cloth 23.2
Reference numeral 4 designates attachment base portions 23a and 24b having a substantially rectangular shape that are sewn to the attachment piece portion 19, and tip portions 2 that extend from the attachment base portions 23a and 24a and that are sewn to each other at stitched portions 23c and 24c.
3b and 24b, and the gas inflow port 18
Is covered with a cover portion 22a formed by stitching the tip portions 23b and 24b together. The cover 22a is arranged with its center X1 offset toward the rear side of the vehicle from the center X0 of the gas inlet 18. In the case of the embodiment, the offset amount e is about 40 mm.

Further, in the straightening cloth 22 of the embodiment, the stitching positions SL and SR on the left and right sides of the attachment base portions 23a and 24a of the cloth materials 23 and 24 on the tip end portions 23b and 24b side with respect to the inflow side wall portion 20 are shown in FIG. as shown, a tapered shape to the outer opening on the front side of the vehicle, and, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5, using the sewn portion 23c · 24c in mutually the tip 23b · 24b of the vehicle Since they are sewn to each other along the left-right direction, the cover portion 22a has the front edge 22b.
Is longer than the rear edge 22c of the cover 22a.

The manufacture of the airbag 17 of the embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG.
In the state where the gas is not provided, the reinforcing cloths 28, 28 and the attachment bases 23a, 2 of the cloth materials 23, 24 are arranged at the location of the gas inlet 18 on the inner peripheral surface side of the airbag 17 in the inflow side wall 20.
4a are arranged and sewn with a suture thread 27, and reinforcing cloths 30 (see FIG. 5) are arranged and sewn at the positions of the vent holes 29, 29 of the inflow side wall portion 20, respectively.
After that, as shown in FIG. 5, the gas inlet 18 and the mounting hole 1
9a: The vent hole 29 is formed by punching.

Next, the inflow side wall portion 20 and the ceiling wall portion 21 are aligned with each other on the outer peripheral surface side of the airbag 17, the peripheral edges are sewn together, and the seam allowance of the peripheral edge is not exposed on the outer surface side. Then, using the gas inlet 18, the inside is turned over, and the tips 23b and 24b of the cloth materials 23 and 24 are turned on.
5 is taken out from the gas inflow port 18, and as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5, the sewn portions 23c and 24c are sewn together to form a cover portion 22a, and the cover portion 22a is housed in the airbag 17. Then, the airbag 17 can be manufactured.

Next, the folding process of the airbag 17 of the embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG.
The ceiling wall portion 21 side facing the gas inflow port 18 is folded so as to approach the gas inflow port 18 side.

Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a lateral folding fold H0 is formed so that the front edge 31 of the airbag 17 approaches the vicinity of the central portion 21a of the ceiling wall portion 21. The front part 17a of the bag 17 is folded in two. At this time, the front portion 17a of the airbag 17 is composed of a folded portion 36 that is folded and a folded portion 37 that is formed by folding the folded portion 36.

For horizontal folding, the left and right folds H (H0
And a fold H1) which will be described later, and the fold H of the lateral fold is along the left-right direction of the vehicle when the airbag apparatus M is mounted on the vehicle.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the fold portion 39 and the trailing edge 32 which are the front edges generated at the fold H0.
A fold line H1 is provided so that and are close to the center O1, and the sheet is horizontally folded.

At the time of this lateral folding, in the case of the embodiment, the front side portion 17a of the airbag 17 is maintained while the folded portion 36 is folded over the folded portion 37.
Roll folding in which the rear side portion 17b is wound with the rear edge 32 side facing the gas inlet port 18 side and placed on the ceiling wall portion 21 as a bellows folding in which a valley fold and a mountain fold are repeated in a zigzag manner with a fold H1. That is, the inner roll is folded.

After that, as shown in FIG. 7D, the left and right edges 33 and 34 are vertically folded so as to approach the center O2. This vertical fold has a fold V in the front-rear direction, and the fold V in the vertical fold follows the front-rear direction of the vehicle when the airbag device M is mounted on the vehicle. In the case of the embodiment, the left and right edges 33, 34 are inner roll folds that are roll-folded toward the gas inflow port 18 side.

When folded as shown in FIGS. 7B, 7C and 7D, the bolts 12 are actually inserted from the mounting holes 19a.
This is performed with the retainer 12 housed in the airbag 17 while projecting a.

After the airbag 17 is folded in this way, in order to prevent the collapse, the sheet material 16 (see FIG. 1) such as a breakable non-woven fabric or a film is used with each bolt 12a protruding. Cover, then diffuser 1
1 and the inflator 10 are already arranged in the case main body 8, the bolts 12a of the retainer 12 are inserted into the through holes 11b.
The air bag 17 is stored while being inserted through 8d, and then the lid body 14 is covered on the main body 8 to lock the protrusions 8f of the peripheral wall 8e on the peripheral edges of the locking holes 14e of the side wall portion 14d. Insert the bolt 12a into each through hole 9a, and
The airbag device M can be assembled by disposing the pressing plate member 9 around the main body 8 from below so as to insert the insertion piece 9b into each insertion hole 8g and screwing the nut 13 onto each bolt 12a. it can. And then, the lid 1
4 is engaged with the opening peripheral edge 2b of the instrument panel 2 and a bracket (not shown) extending from the case 7 is fixedly connected to the frame of the vehicle, as shown in FIGS. Can be attached to a predetermined portion of the instrument panel 2.

When the inflation gas is discharged from the gas discharge port 10a of the inflator 10 after the airbag device M is mounted on the vehicle, the inflation gas G flows into the airbag 17 from the gas inlet 18. And the gas inlet 18
However, since it is covered with the ceiling wall portion 21 with the cover portion 22a of the rectifying cloth 22 interposed therebetween, first, the folded portion covering the vicinity of the central portion 21a of the ceiling wall portion 21 and the vicinity of the central portion 21a are The door 1 is moved upward so as to be separated from the gas inlet 18 to break the planned breaking portion 14c of the lid 14 and
When 5 and 15 are opened, the airbag 17 is expanded and inflated as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.

At this time, the airbag 17 of the embodiment projects from the opening 2a of the instrument panel 2 and first expands while deploying on both sides in the left-right direction so as to eliminate the vertical folding. Further, the inflating gas G flowing into the airbag 17 branches forward and backward by the cover portion 22a of the rectifying cloth 22 and flows, so that the airbag 17 tries to quickly deploy to both sides in the front-rear direction. .

The front portion 17a of the airbag 17
Then, first, the folded and folded portion 36 and the folded portion 37 in which the folded and folded portion 36 are overlapped are rapidly expanded together so as to eliminate the bellows fold.

Further, in the front portion 17a of the airbag 17, the folding portion 36 separates from the folding portion 37 with the folding portion 39 overlapped with the folding portion 37 as the center of rotation, and the fold H0 Rotate forward so that

Then, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 8, the folded portion 37 and the folded portion 36 developed along the windshield 1 are respectively folded horizontally H0. When the airbag 17 is further deployed so as to eliminate H1, the airbag 17 is in the inflated state.

In the airbag device M of the embodiment, when the inflating gas G flows into the airbag 17, the rectifying cloth 22 arranged inside the airbag 17 covers the gas inlet port 18 with the cover 22a. The center X1 of the gas inlet 18 is displaced from the center X0 of the gas inlet 18 toward the rear side of the vehicle, and the distance from the front edge 19b of the gas inlet 18 to the front edge 22b of the cover 22a is short. , Gas inlet 1
Since the distance from the trailing edge 19c side of 8 to the trailing edge 22c side of the cover portion 22a is long, the expansion gas G flowing from the gas inlet 18 is as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIGS. The front edge 2 of the cover portion 22a having a low resistance when passing through
A large amount will flow into the airbag 17 from the 2b side.

As a result, the flow rate of the expansion gas G from the front opening 25 by the cover portion 22a of the flow regulating cloth 22 can be secured to be larger than the flow rate of the rear opening 26.

Further, the cover portion 22a of the straightening cloth 22 is simply arranged so as to be shifted to the rear side of the vehicle from the center X0 of the gas inlet 18 without greatly increasing the length on the front edge 22b side. Therefore, it is possible to easily deal with it without using a lot of materials.

Therefore, in the passenger airbag apparatus M of the embodiment, the flow rate of the inflation gas G from the front opening 25 by the flow regulating cloth 22 is suppressed by suppressing the increase of the material of the flow regulating cloth 22. A larger amount than the flow rate of the opening 26 can be easily secured.

By the way, if the length of the cover portion 22a in the front-rear direction is the same as the conventional length, the rear edge 22c of the cover portion 22a extends rearward of the vehicle by the amount offset by the rear side. Will be done. In this case, the rear side opening 26 formed between the rear edge 22c of the cover portion 22a and the inflow side wall portion 20 is arranged on the rear side of the vehicle, and the expansion gas at the time of expansion and inflation. G flows along the instrument panel 2, and the rear side portion 17b of the airbag 17 is
The airbag 17 can be further deployed along the upper surface of the instrument panel 2, and the opening angle of the airbag 17 in the up-down direction at the time of deployment and inflation is further ensured to be large, so that the airbag 17 moves to the vehicle rear side on a wide surface. Therefore, it can contribute to improving the occupant restraint performance during the expansion.

The cover 22a is the same as the cover 22a.
Within the range in which the front edge 22b of the cover 22a is disposed on the front side of the front edge 19b of the gas inlet 18, the center X of the cover portion 22a is
1 is shifted and arranged. Because, when the airbag 17 is deployed and inflated, if the front edge 22b side of the cover portion 22a is disposed rearward of the front edge 19b of the gas inlet 18,
This is because the inflation gas G flows into the airbag 17 without interfering with the cover portion 22a of the rectifying cloth 22, which makes it meaningless to provide the rectifying cloth 22.

Further, in the embodiment, when the airbag 17 is deployed and inflated, the front side portion 17a of the airbag 17 is a bellows fold and is quickly deployed. On the contrary, the rear portion 17b of the airbag 17 is an inner roll fold and has a large resistance to unwind the rolled state, and the trailing edge 3 of the airbag 17 is large.
Since the expansion direction on the second side is the downward direction opposite to the inflow direction of the expansion gas G, the expansion direction is slower and lower than the front part along the instrument panel.

Therefore, the front portion 17 of the airbag 17 is
a rapidly deploys rearward of the vehicle along the windshield 1, and the rear portion 17b of the airbag 17 deploys rearwardly of the vehicle along the instrument panel 2 in a delayed state.
The ceiling wall portion 21 of the airbag 17 in the process of deployment and inflation moves to the rear side of the vehicle in a state where it is a wide surface and is close to the vertical plane. It can be further improved.

In particular, in the embodiment, the airbag 1
The front part 17a of No. 7 is bellows-folded in a state where the front edge 31 side is folded back and overlapped with the ceiling wall part 21 side during lateral folding.

Therefore, when the airbag 17 is deployed and inflated,
In the front side portion 17a of the airbag 17, first, the folding portion 36 and the folded portion 37 in which the folding portion 36 is overlapped are integrally developed so as to eliminate bellows folding together. , The folded portion 36,
The fold portion 39 overlapped with the folded portion 37 is the center of rotation, and the front portion of the airbag 17 is rotated because the fold portion 39 separates from the folded portion 37 and rotates forward so as to eliminate the fold H0. All of 17a do not project to contact the windshield 1.

Therefore, the impact on the windshield 1 can be suppressed as compared with the case where the front portion 17a of the airbag 17 is simply folded into a bellows. On the front edge 31 side of the airbag 17, the folded portion 36 comes into contact with the windshield 1 only after the folded portion 39 is rotated forward with the folded folded portion 39 as the center of rotation. Airbag 1
The other parts of No. 7 also have a shorter length that rubs against the windshield 1 than the front edge 31 side when the front part 17a of the airbag 17 is simply folded into a bellows.
It can also contribute to suppressing damage to the.

Of course, if such actions and effects are not taken into consideration, a valley fold mountain fold is made in a zigzag manner so that the front portion 17a of the airbag 17 is simply brought closer to the central portion 21a side of the ceiling wall portion 21. It may be repeated bellows folding.

When the airbag 17 is folded laterally, the rear portion 17b of the ceiling wall portion 2 is wound by winding the rear edge 32 side toward the central portion 21a of the ceiling wall portion 21 without folding the inner roll.
1 may be folded laterally by a folding method such as an outer roll folding method that is placed on the sheet 1, which has a large resistance when expanded and deployed. In this case, the deployment speed of the rear part 17b becomes slower than that of the front part 17a, so that it is possible to contribute to the vertical arrangement of the ceiling wall part 21 to some extent when the airbag 17 is deployed and inflated. Of course, the rear portion 17b may be bellows-folded if such actions and effects are not taken into consideration.

Further, in the embodiment, the case in which the inner roll is folded when the airbag 17 is vertically folded is shown. However, as shown in E of FIG. 5, the left and right edges 29 and 30 are folded toward the gas inflow port 18 side. After that, the deformed inner roll may be folded so that the folded portion is placed on the center side of the ceiling wall portion 21.

Incidentally, the airbag 1
When 7 is vertically folded, if the inner roll is folded or the inner roll is folded, the folding of the airbag 17 is performed as compared with the case of the bellows folding or the outer roll folding. At this time, the left and right edges 29, 30 are prevented from expanding toward the occupant side, and the ceiling wall portion 21 moves toward the occupant side in a state of a wide surface further spreading in the left-right direction, which is preferable.

Further, in the embodiment, the case where the airbag 17 is horizontally folded and vertically folded is shown. However, the airbag 17 is vertically folded and then horizontally folded, and at the time of this horizontal folding, the front portion 17a is bellows in a stacked state. You may fold it.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, first, the left and right edges 33 and 34 of the airbag 17 are vertically folded by outer roll folding or bellows folding so as to approach the center O2 side.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, a laterally folded fold H0 is provided so that the front edge 31 of the airbag 17 approaches the vicinity of the central portion 21a of the ceiling wall portion 21, and the airbag 17 is closed. The front part 17a is folded in two.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9D, the fold H0
The fold H1 is formed so that the fold portion 39 and the rear edge 32, which are the edges on the front side generated in step S1, come close to the center O1.
Fold it sideways. At the time of this lateral folding, the front side portion 17a of the folded airbag 17 is formed into a bellows-like folded back portion 1.
7b may be laterally folded by inner roll folding or the like.

Further, in the embodiment, the front edge 22b of the cover portion 22a is longer than the rear edge 22c with respect to the openings 25 and 26 in the vehicle front-rear direction inside the airbag 17 formed by the cover portion 22a of the rectifying portion 22. And the opening 25 on the front side has a larger opening area than the opening 26 on the rear side, so that the flow rate of the inflation gas G to the airbag front side portion 17a can be further secured, and at the time of deployment and inflation. It is easy to arrange the vicinity of the central portion 21a of the ceiling wall portion 21 in the vertical direction, and the occupant restraint performance during the expansion and expansion is improved. Therefore, regarding the control of the flow rate of the inflation gas G in the front-rear direction, the offset of the cover portion 22a toward the vehicle rear side and the length adjustment of the edges 22b and 22c may be used together as in the embodiment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a mode of use of an airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a cross-sectional view of a vehicle in a front-rear direction.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a mode of use of the airbag device of the same embodiment, showing a cross-sectional view of the vehicle in the left-right direction.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the airbag used in the same embodiment.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the middle of the manufacturing process of the airbag of the same embodiment, showing a state after performing a predetermined perforating process on the inlet side wall portion.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a midway of the manufacturing process of the airbag of the embodiment, and is a perspective view showing a cloth material and the like to be arranged on the inlet side wall portion.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a folding process of the airbag of the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an inflated state of the airbag of the same embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a folding process of an airbag according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Windshield, 2 ... (Instrument panel) Instrument panel, 7 ... Case, 15 ... Door, 17 ... Airbag, 17a ... front part, 17b ... rear part, 18 ... Gas inlet, 19b ... front side edge, 19c ... rear side edge, 21 ... Ceiling wall, 22 ... rectifying cloth, 22a ... cover part, 22b ... leading edge, 22c ... the trailing edge, 36 ... Folded portion, 37 ... Folded portion, X0 ... (gas inlet) center, X1 ... (Cover part) center, G ... expansion gas, M: Air bag device for passenger seat.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Kuriyama No. 1 Nagahata, Ochiai, Ojiai, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi (56) Reference JP-A-7-149199 (JP, A) JP HEI 9-263204 (JP, A) JP-A-6-255437 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21 / 16-21 / 32

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An airbag, which is folded and housed and fixed in a case, allows inflation gas to flow from a gas inlet when the airbag is deployed and inflated.
The doors on the instrument panel are opened to project and to inflate to the rear of the vehicle along the windshield. The top mount that has the cover part of the straightening cloth arranged so as to open the cover and cover the gas inlet.
A passenger seat airbag apparatus of a type, wherein the cover portion of the rectifying cloth is inside the airbag from an opening on a front side of the cover portion.
The flow rate of the inflation gas flowing into the
The front edge of the cover is more than the front edge of the gas inlet so that a larger flow rate than the rear opening can be secured.
From the front edge side of the gas inlet within the range arranged on the front side
The distance to the front edge of the cover of the
The distance from the rear edge of the mouth to the rear edge of the cover is long.
As described above, the airbag device for a passenger seat is characterized in that the center is displaced from the center of the gas inlet to the rear side of the vehicle. 2. A lateral fold in which the airbag is folded so that a ceiling wall side facing the gas inlet is brought closer to the gas inlet and both front and rear edges are made closer to the center. And a vertical fold that folds the left and right edges so that they approach the vicinity of the center, and is stored and fixed in the case. The front portion of the airbag is folded in a bellows when laterally folded, 2. The passenger seat air according to claim 1, wherein the rear side portion is an inner roll fold that is rolled up with the trailing edge side facing the gas inflow side and placed on the ceiling wall portion during lateral folding. Bag device. 3. A front portion of the airbag, when the cross-fold, and folded front edge folded in two on the ceiling wall side, the folding
Fold the folded part over the overlapped part and fold it
While maintaining the same, the valley fold and the mountain fold are repeated zigzag.
The airbag device for a passenger seat according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the airbag device is folded in a bellows manner.