JP5321484B2 - Curtain airbag device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a curtain airbag device for a vehicle capable of preventing or restraining unprepared deflection when an end part of a roof head lining is pushed from the indoor side, with a simple constitution. <P>SOLUTION: In the curtain airbag device 10, a bag protective part 24 of an edge protector 16 formed of a resin material, is arranged between an airbag 12 and a roof side rail 18. This edge protector 16 includes an extension part 36 extended to the lower side from an outside end part in the vehicle width direction of the bag protective part 24 and arranging a lower end part in abutment on or in close vicinity to a reverse surface of an end part 20A of the roof head lining 20. Thus, even when an end part 20B of the roof head lining 20 is pushed from the indoor side at ordinary time, the end part 20A can be supported by the extension part 36 of the edge protector 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a curtain airbag device for a vehicle.

  In the curtain air bag device for a vehicle shown in Patent Document 1 below, a protector made of resin is disposed between the folded airbag and the vehicle body, thereby preventing interference between the airbag and the vehicle body when the airbag is deployed. I try to stop it.

  On the other hand, in the vehicle airbag device (curtain airbag device) shown in Patent Document 2 below, the clip is provided on the cover body having a U-shaped cross section that accommodates the folded airbag, so that it is assembled to the vehicle body side. To make it easier.

JP 2006-069248 A JP 2009-090703 A

  By the way, in the case where the curtain airbag device is covered with the roof head lining, when the curtain airbag device is operated, the airbag is bent (pushing open) while the terminal portion of the roof head lining is bent downward by the inflation pressure. ) Inflate and deploy in the form of a curtain to the lower side of the roof side rail In the case of such a configuration, it is necessary to support the terminal portion of the roof head lining in a state allowing the bending deformation as described above, but on the other hand, when the terminal portion of the roof head lining is pushed from the indoor side It is also necessary to prevent inadvertent bending (brushing).

  In consideration of the above-described facts, the present invention provides a curtain airbag device for a vehicle that can prevent or suppress the terminal portion of the roof head lining from being carelessly bent when pushed from the indoor side with a simple configuration. The purpose is to get.

The curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention is disposed in a folded state between the roof side rail and the roof head lining of the vehicle, and is inflated by the pressure of the gas generated by the gas generator. An airbag that is deployed downward while bending the terminal portion of the roof head lining, a resin clip that is formed of a resin material and is fixed to the back surface of the terminal portion of the roof head lining, and more than the resin clip A bag protection portion formed of a soft resin material and disposed between the airbag and the roof side rail, and a back surface of the end portion of the roof head lining extending downward from the bag protection portion together they are arranged at right angles to, disposed in contact close to the rear surface of the terminal portion of the lower end the headliner Have a extension, the the lower end of the extension, the locking holes resin clip is locked plugged in engagement is formed, the terminal portion of the roof head lining is bent by the expansion pressure of the airbag And a protector through which the resin clip comes out of the locking hole .
The “right angle” according to claim 1 is most preferably 90 degrees, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a certain degree of error (for example, about ± 5 degrees) due to manufacturing or design requirements. Is acceptable.

  In the vehicle curtain airbag device according to the first aspect, the airbag is disposed in a folded state between the roof side rail and the roof head lining of the vehicle. The airbag is expanded downward by bending the terminal portion of the roof head lining by inflating with the pressure of the gas generated by the gas generator.

Here, in this invention, the bag protection part of the protector formed of the resin material is arrange | positioned between an airbag and a roof side rail. Therefore, when the airbag is inflated and deployed as described above, interference between the airbag and the roof side rail can be prevented by the bag protector of the protector. Moreover, the protector is extended to the lower side from the bag protective portion, the lower end portion has an extension which is arranged in contact close to the rear surface of the terminal portion of the roof head lining. Therefore, even when the terminal portion of the roof head lining is pushed from the indoor side during normal times, the terminal portion of the roof head lining can be supported by the extension portion of the protector. Thereby, it can prevent or suppress with a simple structure that the terminal part of a roof headlining is bent carelessly.

Further, in the vehicle curtain airbag device of this, the extension portion of the protector is arranged at right angles to the roof head lining terminal portion (extended portion is extended in a direction orthogonal to the terminal unit) for, The extension portion exhibits high rigidity against the pressing load from the indoor side to the roof head lining terminal portion. In addition, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, the direction of inflation and deployment of the airbag can be guided by this extension, so that the inflation pressure of the airbag can be efficiently (for example, perpendicular to the terminal portion of the roof head lining). To). Thereby, since the terminal part of a roof head lining can be bent quickly, the deployment time of an airbag can be shortened.

Furthermore, in the vehicle curtain airbag device of this, the resin clip is fixed to the back surface of the roof head lining terminal unit is locked plugged into engagement holes formed in the lower end portion of the extension portion of the protector. Thereby, inadvertent bending of the roof head lining terminal portion during normal time can be more effectively prevented or suppressed. On the other hand, when the end part of the roof head lining is bent by the inflation pressure of the airbag, the resin clip comes out of the locking hole of the extension part of the protector, but the protector is made of a softer resin material than the resin clip. Therefore, the resin clip can be prevented from being broken and scattered when the resin clip comes out of the locking hole of the extension portion. Moreover, since the metal clip for stopping the terminal portion of the roof head lining on the vehicle body side can be eliminated, it is possible to improve the assembly workability and reduce the cost.

A curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to a second aspect of the present invention is the curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to the first aspect , wherein the extension portion is cut from an inner periphery of the locking hole. It is characterized by being formed.

In the curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to claim 2 , since the cut portion cut from the inner periphery of the locking hole is formed in the extension portion of the protector, the width of the cut is appropriately changed. The load when the resin clip comes out of the locking hole can be easily adjusted.

A curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to a third aspect of the present invention is the curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to the first or second aspect , wherein the protector is a synthetic resin material comprising a resin material and a rubber material. It is characterized by being formed by.

In the vehicle curtain airbag device according to the third aspect , since the protector is formed by the synthetic resin material made of the resin material and the rubber material, the airbag can be elastically protected. Further, it is possible to tree fat clip is effectively prevented from cracking when exiting from the locking hole of the extension portion.

  As described above, in the curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention, with a simple configuration, the terminal portion of the roof head lining is bent inadvertently when pressed from the indoor side. It can be prevented or suppressed.

In the curtain air bag device for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention, the extension portion can exhibit high rigidity against the pressing load from the indoor side to the roof head lining terminal portion, and the air bag The deployment time of the bag can be shortened.

Furthermore, in the curtain air bag device for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention, inadvertent bending of the roof head lining terminal portion during normal time can be more effectively prevented or suppressed, and the resin clip is protected by the protector. It is possible to prevent cracking and scattering when coming out of the locking hole, and further to improve the assembly workability and reduce the cost.

In the curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily adjust the load when the resin clip comes out from the locking hole of the protector.

In the curtain airbag device for a vehicle according to the invention described in claim 3 , the airbag can be elastically protected.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle curtain airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a vehicle mounted state of the vehicle curtain airbag device shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to a cut surface along line 2-2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged perspective view showing a part of an edge protector and an airbag, which are components of the vehicle curtain airbag device shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows a part of extension part of the edge protector which is a structural member of the curtain airbag apparatus for vehicles shown by FIG. 1, a part of roof head lining, and the structure of a side clip. It is a figure for demonstrating the state to which the press load acted from the indoor side with respect to the terminal part of a roof headlining, (A) is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows embodiment of this invention, (B) And (C) is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a comparative example. FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a state in which a clip is detached from an extension portion of an edge protector by bending a terminal portion of a roof head lining due to an inflation pressure of an airbag. It is a figure for demonstrating the action direction of the inflation pressure of the airbag to a roof headlining, (A) is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows embodiment of this invention, (B) shows a comparative example. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view. It is a diagram showing a comparative example, (A) is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration in which a resin clip attached to the terminal portion of the roof head lining is locked to a metal clip attached to the roof side rail, (B) is a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to (A) showing a state in which the resin clip is broken and scattered when the airbag is inflated. It is a schematic side view for demonstrating the assembly | attachment state of the metal clip to the opening flange of a vehicle body. A part of extension part of an edge protector concerning an embodiment of the present invention is shown, (A) is a rough perspective view showing the case where the width of the cut formed in the extension part is wide, (B), It is a schematic perspective view which shows the case where the width | variety of the cut formed in the extension part is narrow.

  Next, a curtain airbag device 10 for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In each figure, the arrow FR indicates the vehicle front direction, the arrow UP indicates the vehicle upward direction, and the arrow IN indicates the vehicle width inside direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle curtain airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment includes an airbag 12, an inflator 14 (gas generator), and an edge protector 16 (protector). The airbag 12 is a so-called curtain airbag, and is disposed between the roof side rail 18 of the vehicle and the roof head lining 20 in a folded state as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, the airbag 12 is schematically shown for convenience of explanation). The airbag 12 is folded in a long shape, and extends between the A-pillar and the C-pillar of the vehicle in a state where the longitudinal direction is along the longitudinal direction of the roof side rail 18 (vehicle longitudinal direction). .

  On the other hand, the edge protector 16 is a thermoplastic plastic elastomer (so-called TPO) which is an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer in which ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM, EPM) is finely dispersed in a soft synthetic resin material (here, polypropylene (PP)). )), And extends between the A-pillar and the C-pillar of the vehicle in a state where the longitudinal direction is along the longitudinal direction (vehicle longitudinal direction) of the roof side rail 18. The edge protector 16 has a bag protection part 24 disposed between the inner panel 22 of the roof side rail 18 and the airbag 12. In this embodiment, the roof side rail 18 is formed by joining an inner panel 22, an outer panel 26, and a reinforcement 28 at both upper and lower ends, and a lower end portion (opening flange of a vehicle body) of the roof side rail 18 Is attached with a rubber opening trim 30.

  The bag protector 24 of the edge protector 16 is formed in a circular arc shape in the present embodiment (see FIGS. 2 and 3) and covers the upper half of the airbag 12. A plurality of tabs 32 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the bag protection part 24 at the upper end of the bag protection part 24. A metal plate 34 is attached to each of these tabs 32. Each metal plate 34 is fastened to the inner panel 22 of the roof side rail 18 with a plurality of attachment pieces (not shown) provided on the upper edge of the airbag 12 corresponding to the plurality of tabs 32, respectively. Yes. Thereby, the airbag 12 and the edge protector 16 are fixed to the roof side rail 18.

  Further, an extension portion 36 extends downward from the outer end of the bag protection portion 24 in the vehicle width direction. The extension portion 36 includes a plate-like extension portion main body 36A disposed at a right angle with respect to the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20 when viewed from the vehicle front-rear direction, and extends from the lower end of the extension portion main body 36A outward in the vehicle width direction. It has a plate-like facing portion 36B which is taken out and faces the back surface of the terminal portion 20A. The facing portion 36B extends in a direction along the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20, and is disposed close to the back surface of the terminal portion 20A. Further, a rib 38 is stretched between the facing portion 36B and the extension portion main body 36A. A plurality of the ribs 38 are provided at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction of the edge protector 16.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of locking holes 40 are formed in the facing portion 36 </ b> B at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction of the edge protector 16. These locking holes 40 are formed in a long rectangular shape along the vehicle longitudinal direction. Further, the extension 36 is formed with a cut 42 cut from the inner periphery of the locking hole 40 on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. The locking holes 40 and the notches 42 correspond to side clips 46 (resin clips) fixed to the back surface of the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20.

  The side clip 46 is formed of a resin material harder than the edge protector 16 and includes a plate-like fixing portion 46A fixed to the back surface of the terminal portion 20A as shown in FIGS. ing. The fixing portion 46A is fixed to the back surface of the terminal portion 20A by means such as an adhesive tape, adhesion, or welding, and is disposed in contact with or close to the facing portion 36B. Further, the side clip 46 includes a plate-like protrusion 46 </ b> B that protrudes at a right angle from the upper surface of the fixing portion 46 </ b> A and is inserted into the locking hole 40. At the tip of the projecting portion 46B, there are provided barbs 46C having a triangular cross section projecting to both sides in the plate thickness direction of the projecting portion 46B, and the barbs 46C interfere with the hole edge of the locking hole 40, Inadvertent withdrawal of the protrusion 46B from the locking hole 40 is prevented. Thereby, the terminal portion 20 </ b> A of the roof head lining 20 is locked to the edge protector 16. Note that a garnish locking portion 48 that locks the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish (not shown) is provided at the middle portion in the longitudinal direction of the bag protection portion 24.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical gas supply port 12 </ b> A extends from the longitudinal middle portion of the airbag 12. The gas supply port 12A is drawn to the upper side of the bag protection unit 24 through a notch 50 formed in the bag protection unit 24 of the edge protector 16, and an inflator 14 is provided at the tip of the gas supply port 12A. It is connected. The inflator 14 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and is fixed to the roof side rail 18 via a bracket (not shown).

  An air bag ECU (not shown) mounted on the vehicle is electrically connected to the inflator 14. A side collision detection sensor and a rollover sensor (not shown) mounted on the vehicle are electrically connected to the air bag ECU. It is connected to the. The airbag ECU activates the inflator 14 by energizing the inflator 14 when a side collision state or rollover state of the vehicle is detected by the side collision detection sensor and the rollover sensor. Accordingly, the inflator 14 ejects gas into the airbag 12 through the gas supply port 12A.

  Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  In the curtain airbag device 10 having the above-described configuration, the edge protector 16 has an extension portion 36 that extends downward from the vehicle width direction outer side end portion of the bag protection portion 24, and a lower end portion of the extension portion 36. The facing portion 36B provided on the abutting portion is in contact with the fixing portion 46A of the side clip 46 fixed to the back surface of the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20. Therefore, even when the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20 is pushed from the indoor side during normal times, the end portion 20A of the roof head lining can be supported by the extension portion 36 of the edge protector 16. Thereby, it can prevent by the simple structure that the terminal part 20A of the roof head lining 20 is bent carelessly.

  Moreover, since the extension part main body 36A of the extension part 36 extends in a direction orthogonal to the terminal part 20A of the roof head lining 20, the pressing load F from the indoor side to the terminal part 20A (FIG. 5 ( In contrast to A), the extension main body 36A exhibits the highest rigidity. That is, as in the comparative example shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, when the extension portion main body 36A is inclined with respect to the terminal portion 20A, the pressing load F causes the extension portion main body 36A to move toward the extension portion main body 36A. Although the bending load acts, in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 5A, since it is possible to prevent the bending load from acting on the extension body 36A, even when the thickness dimension of the extension body 36A is reduced, The rigidity of the extension main body 36A against the pressing load F can be ensured. Thereby, the weight of the edge protector 16 can be reduced, and inadvertent bending of the terminal portion 20A can be prevented (in FIGS. 5A to 5C, for convenience of explanation, the side clip 46 is prevented. Is omitted).

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the rib 38 is stretched between the extension portion main body 36A and the facing portion 36B, the extension portion main body 36A and the facing portion 36B can be effectively reinforced by the rib 38. The bending of the terminal portion 20A due to the deformation of the extension main body 36A and the facing portion 36B can be effectively prevented.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle collides or rolls over, the inflator 14 is actuated by the airbag ECU, and gas is ejected into the airbag 12 through the gas supply port 12A. As a result, the airbag 12 is inflated downward while receiving the reaction force from the bag protector 24 of the edge protector 16. At this time, the airbag 12 is attached to the roof side rail 18 by the bag protector 24 of the edge protector 16. Interference with the inner panel 22 is prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the airbag 12 from being damaged due to interference with the corners and burrs of the inner panel 22. Moreover, since the edge protector 16 is formed of a soft synthetic resin material (so-called TPO) mixed with a rubber material, the airbag 12 is moved downward while elastically protecting the airbag 12. It can be inflated well.

  When the airbag 12 is inflated downward, the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20 is pressed downward by the inflation pressure of the airbag 12. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 6, the protruding portion 46 </ b> B of the side clip 46 comes out of the locking hole 40 of the edge protector 16, and the locking of the terminal portion 20 </ b> A with respect to the edge protector 16 is released. Thus, the airbag 12 is deployed in a curtain shape on the lower side of the roof side rail 18 while bending (pressing down) the terminal portion 20A downward. As a result, the vehicle occupant can be well protected from side impact or rollover impact.

Here, in the present embodiment, when the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed as described above, the airbag 12 is guided in the inflating and deploying direction by the extension main body 36A of the edge protector 16, so that FIG. As shown, the inflation pressure P of the airbag 12 acts at right angles to the terminal portion 20 </ b> A of the roof head lining 20. As a result, the terminal portion 20A can be quickly bent downward (keep open), so that the deployment time of the airbag 12 can be shortened. That is, in the comparative example shown in FIG. 7 (B), since the air bag 12 strikes obliquely to the terminal unit 20A, terminal portions 20A and the parallel horizontal component P _H of the inflation pressure P of the air bag 12 However, in this embodiment, this can be avoided (the side clip 46 is not shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B for convenience of explanation). doing).

  Further, as described above, when the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20 receives the inflation pressure of the airbag 12 and bends downward, the protruding portion 46B of the side clip 46 comes out of the locking hole 40 of the edge protector 16. However, since the edge protector 16 is formed of a softer synthetic resin material (here, TPO) than the side clip 46, it can be prevented that the side clip 46 breaks and scatters when the side clip 46 comes out of the locking hole 40.

  That is, as in the comparative example shown in FIG. 8A, the protrusion 46 </ b> B of the side clip 46 fixed to the terminal portion 20 </ b> A of the roof head lining 20 is a hard member attached to the lower end of the roof side rail 18. In the case of the structure locked to the metal clip 100, when the terminal portion 20A receives the inflation pressure of the airbag 12 and bends downward, the protruding portion 46B is inclined from the metal clip 100 (the bending of the terminal portion 20A). Since it cannot come off (in the direction), as shown in FIG. 8B, the protrusion 46B may be broken and scattered. Further, when the scattered pieces of the protruding portion 46B hit the airbag 12, the airbag 12 may burst. In this regard, in the present embodiment, when the protruding portion 46B of the side clip 46 comes out of the locking hole 40, the edge protector 16 that is softer than the side clip 46 is deformed, so that the protruding portion 46B becomes the locking hole 40. Since it is allowed to slip off obliquely, the load acting on the protrusion 46B is reduced. Thereby, the protrusion 46B can be broken and scattered and the burst of the airbag 12 can be avoided.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of the metal clips 100 as described above are assembled to the opening flanges 104 and 106 of the vehicle body 102, so that the assembling work is complicated, but in this embodiment, Since such a metal clip 100 can be abolished, an improvement in assembling workability and a reduction in cost can be achieved.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the protrusion part 46B provided in the side clip 46 is inserted and locked in the locking hole 40 formed in the opposing part 36B of the edge protector 16, the side clip can be configured with a simple configuration. 46 can be locked to the edge protector 16. Moreover, since the extension 36 of the edge protector 16 is provided with a cut 42 cut from the inner periphery of the locking hole 40, the side clip 46 can be protruded by appropriately changing the width of the cut 42. The load when the portion 46B comes out of the locking hole 40 can be easily adjusted. That is, as shown in FIG. 10 (A), if the width of the notch 42 is increased, the load when the protruding portion 46B is pulled out of the locking hole 40 can be reduced, which is shown in FIG. 10 (B). Thus, if the width of the protruding portion 46B is reduced, the load when the protruding portion 46B comes out of the locking hole 40 can be increased. Therefore, the locking strength of the terminal portion 20A of the roof head lining 20 and the deployment performance of the airbag 12 can be balanced in an optimum state.

  In the above embodiment, the edge protector 16 is formed of so-called TPO (synthetic resin material made of a resin material and a rubber material). However, the invention according to claim 1 is not limited to this, and the edge protector 16 is not limited thereto. However, it may be configured by other types of resin materials.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although it was set as the structure by which the notch 42 was formed in the extension part 36 of the edge protector 16, the invention which concerns on Claim 1 may be made into the structure by which the notch 42 was abbreviate | omitted to this.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the airbag 12 was made into the structure folded by roll shape, this invention is not restricted to this, The structure which combined bellows folding, roll folding, and bellows folding may be sufficient. Furthermore, although the bag protector 24 of the edge protector 16 has a configuration in which the cross-sectional arc shape is formed, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shape of the bag protector is appropriately changed according to the cross-sectional shape of the airbag 12. Can do.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say, the scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

10 Vehicle Curtain Airbag Device 12 Airbag 14 Inflator (Gas Generator)
16 Edge protector (Protector)
18 roof side rail 20 roof head lining 20A terminal portion 24 bag protection portion 36 extension portion 40 locking hole 42 notch 46 side clip (resin clip)

Claims (3)

Folded between the roof side rail of the vehicle and the roof head lining, and expanded by the pressure of the gas generated by the gas generator, the terminal portion of the roof head lining is expanded downward while being bent. An airbag to
A resin clip formed of a resin material and fixed to the back surface of the terminal portion of the roof head lining;
A bag protection portion formed between a resin material softer than the resin clip and disposed between the airbag and the roof side rail; and the roof head lining extending downward from the bag protection portion. together are arranged at right angles to the rear surface of the terminal portion of the lower end portion have a extension which is disposed in contact close to the rear surface of the terminal portion of the roof head lining, the lower end of the extension, the A protector into which a resin clip is inserted and locked is formed, and when the terminal portion of the roof head lining is bent by the inflation pressure of the airbag, the protector from which the resin clip comes out of the lock hole ,
A curtain airbag device for a vehicle comprising:   The vehicular curtain airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the extension portion is formed with a cut formed from an inner periphery of the locking hole.   The curtain air bag device for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protector is made of a synthetic resin material made of a resin material and a rubber material.

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