JP7034315B2 - Airbag device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an airbag device mounted on a vehicle.

In recent years, many vehicles have been equipped with airbag devices for the purpose of protecting occupants in the event of a collision. The airbag device includes an airbag that is folded and stored at an appropriate position in the vehicle interior, and an inflator that operates in the event of a vehicle collision and injects gas into the inside of the airbag. The airbag expands and expands in the passenger compartment by the action of the injection gas of the inflator. The occupant is caught by the inflated airbag and protected from collisions with various parts of the vehicle interior.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose an airbag device in which an airbag storage portion is provided on the backrest of a seat on which an occupant sits. The airbag expands and expands forward from the side of the seat in the event of a vehicle collision, and protects the occupant from a side collision by intervening between the occupant seated in the seat and the side wall of the passenger compartment.

U.S. Pat. No. 2010/0251950 Special Table 2000-510070 Gazette

In the above-mentioned airbag device, in order to reliably protect the whole body of the occupant seated in the seat, particularly the head, a long airbag is used in the vertical direction, and the occupant's head is placed on the upper part of the airbag. The lower part catches the occupant's legs.

In Patent Documents 1 and 2, the airbag expands from the folded state in the storage portion, tears a seam provided on a part of the side panel of the backrest, and expands forward. Therefore, it takes time to obtain a desired deployment shape that is long in the vertical direction. For example, if a collision occurs when the occupant is not wearing a seatbelt, that is, in a so-called out-of-position state, the airbag There is a risk that the deployment of the upper and lower parts of the occupant will be delayed and the protection of the occupant's head and legs will be insufficient.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an airbag device capable of promptly deploying an airbag long in the vertical direction and enhancing the protective function of an occupant.

The airbag device according to the present disclosure is stored in a storage portion provided in the passenger compartment in a long vertical direction, and expands and expands on the side portion of an occupant seated in a seat installed in the passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle emergency. The airbag is provided with an inflator that injects an expansion gas into the inside of the airbag, and a cover member that covers the storage portion of the airbag and has a fissure portion extending in the vertical direction. Is provided with a low breaking portion in which the breaking strength at the time of cleavage is lower than the breaking strength of the intermediate portion located between the upper and lower parts.

In the present disclosure, the airbag expands due to the action of the injection gas of the inflator in the event of a vehicle emergency, breaks the split portion of the cover member, and deploys in the vehicle interior. Low breaking portions are provided above and below the opening portion, and the deployment of the airbag occurs from the low breaking portion as a starting point, and the expanded shape of the airbag that is long in the vertical direction can be quickly realized.

Further, the longitudinal direction of the airbag in the stored form is the same as the longitudinal direction of the cleavage portion.

Further, the low fracture portion includes an upper end portion and a lower end portion of the cracked portion, or a center of an upper half portion and a lower half portion of the cracked portion.

The deployment of the airbag occurs from the center of the upper, lower end, or the center of the upper half and the center of the lower half of the opening provided in the cover member, and quickly realizes the deployment shape of the airbag that is long in the vertical direction. be able to.

Further, the cover member is a cover plate made of resin, and the cleavage portion is a cleavage groove formed in the cover plate.

The fissure portion is a fissure groove formed in a cover plate made of resin, and the low fracture portion can be realized by changing the forming mode of the fissure groove.

Further, in the low fracture portion, the depth of the cleavage groove is deeper than that of the other portion, or the width of the cleavage groove is made larger than that of the other portion.

Low fractures can be achieved continuously or stepwise by varying one or both of the depth and width of the cleavage groove. By controlling the dimensions of the depth and width, the breaking strength of the low breaking portion can be set with high accuracy.

Further, it is a box-shaped housing fixed to a structural member of a vehicle.

The airbag expands and expands with the housing as a support. The housing is fixed to the structural members of the vehicle and the airbag can be reliably expanded and deployed under strong support.

Further, the airbag device is a side airbag device provided on the side of the rear seat of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction, or a side airbag device provided on the side of the driver's seat or passenger seat of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction. Is.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to quickly deploy a long airbag in the vertical direction and enhance the protection function of the occupant.

It is a front view which shows the periphery of the rear seat of the vehicle which comprises the airbag device which concerns on Embodiment 1. It is a side view which shows the periphery of the rear seat of the vehicle which comprises the airbag device which concerns on Embodiment 1. It is sectional drawing of the airbag apparatus by line III-III of FIG. It is a side view which shows the state which the airbag is deployed. It is explanatory drawing of the deployment start state of an airbag. It is explanatory drawing of the deployment start state of an airbag. It is explanatory drawing of the deployment start state of an airbag. It is a side view which shows the inside of the vehicle which includes the airbag device which concerns on Embodiment 2. It is sectional drawing of the airbag apparatus by line VII-VII of FIG. It is a side view which shows the state which the airbag is deployed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The "up", "down", and "up and down" directions of the vehicle used in the following explanation indicate the direction on the line connecting the center of the vehicle ceiling and the center of the floor, and the direction toward the ceiling. Is "up" and the direction toward the floor is "down". Further, the "front", "rear", and "front-back" directions of the vehicle are such that the forward direction of the vehicle is the "front" direction and the reverse direction of the vehicle is the "rear" direction. Further, the width direction of the vehicle is the direction in which ordinary seats are arranged side by side, and is the direction orthogonal to the "front-back" direction.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating the periphery of the rear seat of the vehicle provided with the airbag device according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a periphery of the rear seat of the vehicle equipped with the airbag device according to the first embodiment. It is a schematic side view. 1 and 2 show a rear seat 2 installed on the floor surface 10 of the passenger compartment 1 and an occupant 20 seated in the rear seat 2 facing forward. The rear seat 2 includes a seat portion 21 and a backrest 22 that rises upward from the rear side of the seat portion 21, and the occupant 20 sits on the seat portion 21 with a seatbelt 23 attached.

The airbag device 3 according to the first embodiment is arranged on the rear side of the side garnish 12 provided between the rear seat 2 and the side door 11 on one side of the rear seat 2. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the airbag device 3 taken along the line III-III of FIG. The upper and lower parts of this figure correspond to the front and rear of the vehicle.

The airbag device 3 includes an airbag 31 housed in a housing 30 and an inflator 32. The housing 30 as a storage portion for the airbag 31 is a box body having an open side, and is fixed to a vehicle structural member 6 located behind the side garnish 12, for example, a wheel house of a rear wheel by a fixing bolt 33. Has been done.

The airbag 31 is, for example, a cloth bag reinforced by weaving high-strength fibers such as nylon fibers, and is appropriately folded and stored inside the housing 30. The folded form of the airbag 31 is not limited to the illustrated form, and may be another form such as a bellows shape, a roll shape, or a combined form thereof. The inflator 32 is fixed to the bottom of the housing 30 and is connected to the inside of the airbag 31 so as to be able to inject an expansion gas.

The housing 30 has a forward opening on the rear side of the side garnish 12, and this opening is covered with a cover plate 34 flush with the front surface of the side garnish 12. The cover plate 34 is a plate made of resin having a lower strength than the housing 30, and a fissure groove 35 is formed on the inner surface of the cover plate 34 at a substantially central portion in the vehicle width direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the cover plate 34 has a rectangular shape long in the vertical direction, and the cleavage groove 35 is an edge portion on the rear seat 2 side on which the occupant 20 is seated, as shown by a broken line in FIG. It is formed in the vicinity over the entire length in the vertical direction. Although the cleavage groove 35 shown in FIG. 3 is formed on the inner surface of the cover plate 34, it may be formed on the outer surface of the cover plate 34. The cover plate 34 and the housing 30 are connected, for example, by hooking an engaging hook 38 provided in the housing 30 into a window hole provided in the cover plate 34 in the form of a hook and a window.

The inflator 32 operates in an emergency such as a vehicle collision and injects gas into the inside of the airbag 31. The airbag 31 explosively expands due to the action of the injection gas of the inflator 32. The expansion pressure of the airbag 31 acts on the cover plate 34 with the housing 30 as a support, and the airbag 31 breaks the cleavage groove 35 to push the cover plate 34 open and expands forward.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which the airbag is deployed. As shown in this figure, the airbag 31 expands and expands from the front surface of the side garnish 12 toward the front, and is interposed between the occupant 20 seated in the rear seat 2 and the side door 11 located on the front side of the figure. Protects the occupant 20 from side collisions. The airbag 31 has a long deployment shape in the vertical direction, and is configured to receive the head of the occupant 20 at the upper part and at least the waist of the occupant 20 at the lower part, respectively, so as to reliably protect the body of the occupant 20. Has been done. The developed shape shown in the figure can be realized by appropriately setting the shape of the panel constituting the airbag 31 and the number and arrangement of the shape-retaining members (internal tethers) erected in the airbag 31.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the deployment start state of the airbag 31. The top and bottom of this figure correspond to the top and bottom of the vehicle. FIG. 5A shows the cover plate 34 before the start of expansion of the airbag 31. The shape of the fissure groove 35 formed in the cover plate 34 as described above is different between the upper part, the lower part and the intermediate portion. Or the width is made larger than the middle part in the upper part and the lower part. FIG. 5A shows the difference in width of the cleavage groove 35. Due to this difference in shape, a low breaking portion 35a having a breaking strength lower than that of the intermediate portion located between the upper and lower portions including the upper and lower ends of the cleavage groove 35 is provided.

FIG. 5B shows the state immediately after the start of deployment of the airbag 31. Since the lower breaking portion 35a above and below the cleavage groove 35 has a lower breaking strength than the intermediate portion between them, the expanding airbag 31 is inside the upper and lower low breaking portions 35a as shown in FIG. 5B. The cleavage groove 35 is broken from the starting point, and expansion to the outside is started.

The fracture of the fissure groove 35 progresses from the upper and lower low fracture portions 35a to the intermediate portion, and the airbag 31 expands while expanding the cover plate 34 from the fissure groove 35 having the entire length fractured, as shown in FIG. 5C. Finally, the developed shape shown in FIG. 4 is realized. In the above deployment process, the injection gas of the inflator 32 is concentrated on the upper and lower parts of the airbag 31 that is first deployed to the outside, as shown by the white arrow in FIG. 5C. The lower part promptly starts unfolding upward and downward, respectively, and the unfolded shape shown in FIG. 4 can be surely realized.

Therefore, a collision occurs when the occupant 20 is in the out-of-position, such as when the occupant 20 on the rear seat 2 is not wearing the seatbelt 23 or is not seated in the proper position. However, by rapidly advancing the deployment of the upper and lower parts of the airbag 31 and relatively delaying the deployment near the middle part, the whole body of the occupant 20 in the out-of-position, particularly the head of the occupant 20, is damaged. Can be well protected without giving.

In the above embodiment, the depth and width of the cleavage groove 35 are changed, but one of the depth and the width may be changed to form the low fracture portion 35a. Further, the low fracture portion 35a may be formed by continuously lowering the fracture strength from the central portion toward the upward and downward directions, and the low fracture portion 35a may be formed in the center of each of the upper half portion and the lower half portion. It may be provided. The breaking strength of the low breaking portion 35a can be set with high accuracy by controlling the depth or width of the cleavage groove 35, and the airbag 31 can be reliably deployed in the above-described embodiment.

The airbag 31 expands and expands while being supported from the rear side by the housing 30. The housing 30 is fixed to the structural member 6 of the vehicle, and the airbag 31 can be expanded and deployed under strong support.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, the second embodiment relating to the airbag device installed in the front seat will be described. In the second embodiment, the description of the parts common to the first embodiment will be omitted. FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the inside of the vehicle provided with the airbag device according to the second embodiment. This figure shows a state in which the occupant 40 is seated with the seat belt 43 attached to the seat portion 41 of the front seat 4 installed on the floor surface 10 of the vehicle interior 1. The airbag device 5 according to the second embodiment is incorporated on one side of the backrest 42 of the front seat 4.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the airbag device 5 taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. The top and bottom of this figure correspond to the front and back of the vehicle. The airbag device 5 of the second embodiment includes an airbag 51 and an inflator 52 housed in the housing 50, similarly to the airbag device 3 of the first embodiment. The housing 50 is fixed to the skeleton frame 44 of the backrest 42 by stud bolts 56 and 56. The airbag 51 is appropriately folded and housed inside the housing 50, and the inflator 52 is fixed to the rear portion of the housing 50 and built in the airbag 51.

The housing 50 has an opening on the side surface of the backrest 42, and this opening is covered with a cover plate 54. A cleavage groove 55 is formed in the front portion of the cover plate 54 over the entire length in the vertical direction. The airbag 51 expands due to the action of the injection gas of the inflator 52 when the vehicle collides, breaks the cleavage groove 55, and expands toward the front.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a state in which the airbag is deployed. The airbag 51 expands and expands forward from the side of the backrest 42, and protects the occupant 40 seated in the front seat 4 from a side collision. Like the airbag 31 of the first embodiment, the airbag 51 of the second embodiment has a long deployment shape in the vertical direction, and is configured to reliably protect the whole body of the occupant 40, particularly the head. Has been done.

The cleavage groove 55 provided in the cover member 54 has the same low fracture portion as in the first embodiment, and the expansion and deployment of the airbag 51 occurs from the low fracture portion as a starting point. Therefore, the upper and lower parts of the airbag 51 quickly reach a predetermined deployment position, the deployment shape shown in FIG. 8 can be reliably realized, and the whole body of the occupant 40, particularly the head, can be well protected. It will be possible.

In the second embodiment, the cover plate 54 is exposed on the side surface of the backrest 42, but the outside of the cover plate 54 may be covered with the exterior material of the backrest 42. In this case, a breakable seam portion may be provided at a position corresponding to the fissure groove 55 of the exterior material, and the airbag 51 may be configured to further break the seam portion and expand to the outside.

Further, the cover plate 54 may be omitted, and the exterior material of the backrest 42 may be used as a cover member for covering the storage portion of the airbag 51. In this case, a fissure portion having a low fracture portion is provided in the exterior material, and the airbag 51 is configured to expand with the fracture of the fissure portion.

Further, in the second embodiment as described above, the housing 50 for accommodating the airbag 51 is provided, but the housing 50 is not used, and the recess provided on the side portion of the backrest 42 is used as the accommodating portion for the airbag 51. May be good. In this case, the airbag 51 is coupled to an inflator 52 that is fixedly supported at an appropriate position such as the skeleton frame 44.

It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed this time are exemplary in all respects and are not considered to be restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the scope of claims, not the above-mentioned meaning, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

1 Car room 2 Back seat (seat)
3 Airbag device 4 Front seat (seat)
5 Airbag device 6 Structural members 20, 40 Crew 30, 50 Housing (storage unit)
31, 51 Airbags 32, 52 Inflator 34, 54 Cover plate (cover member)
35, 55 Cleft groove (cracked part)
35a low fracture part

Claims (8)

An airbag that is stored in a storage section provided in the passenger compartment in a long vertical direction and expands and expands on the side of the occupant seated in the seat installed in the passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle emergency.
An inflator that injects expansion gas into the airbag,
A cover member that covers the storage portion of the airbag and has a fissure portion extending in the vertical direction is provided.
At the upper and lower portions of the cracked portion, low fracture portions having a fracture strength at the time of cleavage lower than the fracture strength of the intermediate portion located between the upper and lower portions are provided .
The low fracture portion is an airbag device formed so as to continuously reduce the fracture strength from the intermediate portion in the upward and downward directions . The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal direction of the airbag in the stored form extends in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the cleavage portion. The airbag device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the cover member is a cover plate made of resin, and the cleavage portion is a cleavage groove formed in the cover plate. The airbag device according to claim 3 , wherein the low fracture portion has a depth of the cleavage groove deeper than that of other portions. The airbag device according to claim 3 , wherein the low fracture portion has a width of the cleavage groove larger than that of the other portions. The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the storage portion is a box-shaped housing fixed to a structural member of a vehicle. The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the airbag device is a side airbag device provided on the side of the rear seat of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction. The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the airbag device is a side airbag device provided on the side of the driver's seat or the passenger seat of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction.

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