JP2007112183A - Airbag device for car exterior - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an airbag to be developed to cover a broad range without enlarging an occupation space of the airbag in a front cowl top part of a vehicle, allow a developed shape to be stabilized, and easily define a position of a top end part which is apart from a base part of the airbag. <P>SOLUTION: The airbag device is provided in an engine hood 3 which allows a vehicle rear end side 3a facing a front shield glass 4 to spring up when predicting collision of an object or when the vehicle collides with the object, and the airbag device 5 is sprung up in synchronization with the springing up of the engine hood 3 when the airbag 5b is inflated and developed, so that the airbag 5b is generally linearly extended to the front shield glass 4 side to be inflated and developed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, when a collision with an object existing outside the vehicle is predicted or when a collision with the object is detected, at least a part of the lower edge of the front shield glass is covered with the inflation gas ejected from the inflator. In particular, the present invention relates to an air bag device for an outside vehicle configured such that the air bag is inflated and deployed.

  Conventionally, when a vehicle collides with an object such as a road construction sign existing outside the vehicle, an air bag device for vehicle exterior is used so that the object does not directly collide with the vehicle body.

  Such an external airbag device is installed on the side of the vehicle body fixing part such as a cowl top between the vehicle rear end of the movable panel body such as an engine hood that covers the upper surface of the automobile engine compartment and the cowl top. When the collision detection means detects a collision prediction or collision of the object, the movable panel body jumping means causes the vehicle rear end of the movable panel body to jump up and the airbag is inflated and deployed toward the front shield glass. Thus, the secondary collision in which the object directly collides with the vehicle body side such as the front shield glass or the front pillar is prevented.

A protective device for pedestrians and the like as shown in FIG. 6 is known as this type of vehicle airbag device (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-123085 A.

  According to FIG. 6, when the airbag housing case d of the airbag device c is installed in advance on the cowl top b constituting the vehicle body, and the automobile detects a collision of an object existing outside the vehicle or detects a collision, the engine hood a The rear end of the vehicle is jumped up and the airbag f is inflated and deployed in the direction of the front shield glass g from the bag inflation opening e formed in the airbag housing case body d, and the object is directly applied to the front shield glass g and the front pillar. It is configured not to collide with the vehicle body (not shown).

  However, since the airbag device is installed on the fixed part side of the vehicle body such as the cowl top b, the bag inflation opening e is located inside the lower portion of the engine hood a, and the airbag f is inflated. Rather than directly inflating and deploying in the deployment direction (front shield glass g direction), the airbag f is first deployed downward and then deployed to the bag inflation opening e side, and then further in the front shield glass g direction. It will be expanded and deployed.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the airbag f has a deployment shape that is largely bent, and there is a possibility that the position on the distal end side of the inflation and deployment is unstable.

An airbag device that should be improved in this respect is known from Patent Document 2 and the like.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-306099.

  According to this, a vertically long cylindrical airbag is inflated and deployed upward from the vicinity of the lower end of the front pillar, and the inflated and deployed airbag is placed along the outer surface of the front pillar. A short strap is constructed so as to extend from the upper end to the lower end of the airbag so as to face the outer surface of the front pillar.

  With such a configuration, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, the airbag can be bent and curved by suppressing the inflation of the airbag with the strap. In addition, the strap faces the outer surface of the front pillar. By doing so, the airbag can be bent and bent so as to approach the outer surface of the front pillar.

  However, in order to inflate and deploy the airbag along the front pillar, it is necessary to store the airbag at the base portion of the front pillar in advance, and objects existing outside the vehicle such as road construction signs are equivalent to that. Since it has a size, in order to protect the front pillar from the collision of such an object, the volume of the airbag itself needs to be considerably increased.

  For this reason, the occupied space for storing the airbag of the cowl top existing around the base portion of the front pillar becomes large, and the installation place of various functional parts such as a wiper is sacrificed.

  As a result, it was very difficult to properly distribute the functions such as air intake used during normal vehicle operation in the cowl top and the function of receiving objects such as road construction signs in an emergency. .

  Therefore, in view of the above, the present invention can be deployed so that the airbag covers a wide range without increasing the space occupied by the airbag at the front cowl top portion of the vehicle, and the deployment shape is stable. And it aims at providing the airbag apparatus for vehicle exterior which can determine the position of the front-end | tip part away from the base part of the airbag easily.

  In order to achieve the above object, an air bag device for an outside vehicle according to the present invention is an inflating gas ejected from an inflator when a vehicle predicts a collision with an object existing outside the vehicle or detects a collision with the object. The airbag device is configured to be inflated and deployed so as to cover at least a part of the lower edge portion of the front shield glass by the airbag device, and the airbag device is used when the collision of the object is predicted or when the collision occurs. Installed on a movable panel configured so that the rear end side of the vehicle facing the front shield glass is flipped up, and the airbag device is also flipped up in synchronization with the jumping up of the movable panel body when the airbag is inflated and deployed. The airbag is configured to extend and expand and expand substantially linearly toward the front shield glass side. .

  With such a configuration, since the airbag device is installed on the movable panel side, the present invention can be configured to face the front shield glass side directly by the movable panel that jumps up the deployment direction of the airbag. The air bag itself can be expanded and deployed in a straight line toward the front shield glass without being bent, and the behavior can be determined by inflating and deploying. It is possible to reliably prevent objects existing outside the vehicle such as road construction signs coming into direct contact with the front shield glass, etc., and to secure a wide installation location for various functional parts such as wipers on the cowl top. Can do.

  Further, according to the present invention, a front pillar covering portion that covers the front pillar of the vehicle is formed integrally with the airbag according to claim 1, and the front pillar covering portion extends substantially linearly toward the front pillar side. The airbag device is installed on the movable panel so as to be inflated and deployed.

  With such a configuration, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, the front cover portion can quickly extend substantially linearly to the front pillar side to cover the front pillar.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, since the airbag device is installed on the movable panel side, the airbag device can be configured to face directly to the front shield glass side by the movable panel that jumps up the deployment direction of the airbag. It becomes possible, the airbag itself extends almost linearly to the front shield glass side without being bent and inflated and deployed, and the behavior is fixed, so that the front shield glass etc. can be covered quickly. It is possible to reliably prevent objects existing outside the vehicle, such as road construction signs that collide, from colliding directly with the front shield glass, front pillars, etc., and installing various functional parts such as wipers on the cowl top A wide space can be secured.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view depicting a front portion of an automobile during storage of an exterior airbag device employing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view in FIG. 3, in which a front portion of an automobile is drawn when the apparatus is inflated and deployed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an automobile J equipped with an airbag device 5 configured as an exterior airbag device has an engine hood 3 in which the upper surface of an engine compartment 2 provided at the front portion of the vehicle body 1 constitutes a movable panel. Covered by.

  The engine hood 3 has a vehicle rear end 3a pivoted by a hinge mechanism (not shown), and a vehicle front end 3b that can be opened and closed in the vertical direction around the hinge mechanism. A lock device (not shown) that locks the engine hood 3 in the closed position is provided on the front end 3b side.

  A front shield glass 4 rising from the vehicle body 1 is installed at the vehicle rear end 3a of the engine hood 3. The left and right end sides of the front shield glass 4 extend downward from the left and right sides of the roof panel 1a. The upper end side is connected to the front roof rail 1c of the roof panel 1a.

  A cowl top cover 1 d that connects the lower end portion of the front shield glass 4 is provided below the vehicle rear end portion 3 a of the engine hood 3.

  Therefore, the front shield glass 4 is fitted in the frame formed by the front pillar 1b, the front roof rail 1c, and the cowl top cover 1d.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an airbag device attachment portion 3c is formed inside the vehicle rear end portion 3a of the engine hood 3, and a plurality of locations are welded to the airbag device attachment portion 3c. A stop point 3d is formed, and the bag housing case body 5a of the airbag device 5 is mounted. The bag housing case body 5a houses the folded airbag 5b.

  Bounce-up means 6 are disposed on both sides of the rear end of the engine hood 3 separately from the hinges.

  The flip-up means 6 includes a piston (not shown) that slides in the cylinder 6a and a piston rod 6b that is attached to the lower end of the piston. The lower end of the cylinder 6a has explosives and the like. The gas generator 6c filled with is disposed.

  The gas generator 6c is activated together with an inflator (not shown) of the airbag device 5 when the automobile J predicts a collision of an object existing outside the vehicle by a sensor (not shown) or when the collision of the object is detected. Thus, the piston rod 6b is configured to be moved upward by an instantaneous force via the piston.

  The upper end side of the piston rod 6 b is attached to both side ends of the vehicle rear end portion 3 a of the engine hood 3.

  In the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, in the normal state of the automobile J, the engine hood 3 is opened / closed in the vertical direction by the hinge mechanism mounted on the vehicle rear end 3a. The engine chamber 2 is opened, and engine maintenance work and the like can be performed.

  From such a state, when the automobile J predicts the collision of an object existing outside the vehicle or detects the collision of the object, the automobile J is accommodated in the gas generator 6c together with the inflator on the airbag device 5 side. The explosives explode and suddenly raises the internal pressure in the cylinder 6a, and lifts the piston rod 6b instantaneously.

  As a result, the momentary upward movement of the piston rod 6b destroys the hinge mechanism, and the vehicle rear end 3a side of the engine hood 3 is also momentarily jumped up.

  The bag housing case body 5a moves upward as the engine hood 3 jumps up, and the bag discharge opening 5d (see FIG. 4) opened on the vehicle rear side of the bag housing case 5a is disposed on the front shield glass 4 side. When the airbag 5b accommodated in the bag accommodating case 5a is inflated and deployed by the operation of the inflator, the airbag 5b extends substantially linearly toward the front shield glass 4 without being bent. The front shield glass and the like can be covered quickly (see FIGS. 3 and 4), and an object existing outside the vehicle such as a road construction sign colliding with the front shield glass 4 etc. A direct collision can be reliably prevented.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the inflated and deployed shape of the airbag 5b may be a shape that covers the entire front shield glass 4. However, at least the folding shape of the airbag 5b is reduced and the efficiency of the protection area is taken into consideration. Then, a part of the front shield glass 4 (lower end side) can be covered, and the front pillar covering portion 5c is integrally formed on the left and right side portions of the airbag 5b. The front pillar 1b is formed so as to cover almost the whole.

  The front pillar covering portion 5c is bent when the vehicle discharge end portion 5a of the engine hood 3 is flipped up so that the bag discharge opening portion 5d of the airbag housing case body 5a faces directly to the front pillar 1b side. Without being stored in advance at the base of the front pillar as in the prior art, and a wiper on the cowl top, etc. Thus, it is possible to secure a wide installation place for the various functional parts.

  Further, since the airbag housing case body 5a is attached to the engine hood 3 in a state of traversing in the left-right direction of the automobile J by a plurality of stop points 3d by direct welding or the like, the skeleton of the engine hood 3 itself Even if the engine hood 3 receives a considerable load at the time when the engine hood 3 is flipped up by the flip-up mechanism 6, it can prevent undulations and swings. In the technology, since the airbag device is installed on the fixed side such as the cowl top, when the engine hood is flipped up, a turbulent phenomenon due to undulation occurs due to the inflation and deployment of the airbag).

  Next, another embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view depicting the front portion of the automobile when the airbag device is inflated and deployed.

  According to FIG. 5, the airbag storage case body 5a is divided into two in the left-right direction of the automobile J, and is installed in a state of being separated from the left and right ends of the engine hood 3, respectively. As you can see, it is installed on the rear side of the car J so as to be almost straight.

  When the flip-up means 6 is operated, the airbag storage case 5 swings so as to spread in the direction of the arrows, that is, on the left and right outer sides of the automobile J, with the bag discharge opening 5d facing the front pillar 1b, The front pillar covering portion 5c of the airbag 5b extends substantially linearly toward the front pillar 1b starting from the attachment side to the engine hood 3 and is inflated and deployed.

  At this time, the airbag 5b also covers the left and right sides of the lower end portion, which is a part of the front shield glass 4.

  As described above, since the airbag device is installed on the movable panel side, the present invention can be configured to face the front shield glass side directly by the movable panel that jumps up the deployment direction of the airbag. Therefore, the airbag itself extends almost linearly to the front shield glass side without being bent, and the behavior is determined by inflating and deploying. It is possible to reliably prevent objects existing outside the vehicle, such as road construction signs, from directly colliding with the front shield glass and front pillars, etc., and to install various functional parts such as wipers on the cowl top. Since it can be widely secured, it can detect when a vehicle collides with an object outside the vehicle or detects a collision with the object. When the air bag so as to cover at least a portion of the front windshield lower edge is suitable to configure the exterior airbag device such as inflated and deployed by the inflation gas ejected from the inflator.

It is the expansion perspective view which drawn the front part of the car at the time of storing of the air bag device for vehicles outside adopting one embodiment concerning the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing in FIG. It is the perspective view which similarly drawn the front part of the motor vehicle at the time of inflation deployment of an airbag apparatus. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of FIG. 3. It is the expansion perspective view which drawn the front part of the car at the time of inflation deployment of the air bag device for vehicles outside which adopted other embodiments concerning the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing in the motor vehicle front part which employ | adopted the conventional airbag apparatus for vehicles.

Explanation of symbols

1 Car body 1b Front pillar 3 Engine hood (movable panel)
4 Front Shield Glass 5 Airbag Device 5b Airbag 5c Front Pillar Covering Section 6 Bounce Mechanism J Automobile

Claims (2)

When the vehicle predicts a collision with an object existing outside the vehicle or when a collision with the object is detected, the air bag covers at least a part of the lower edge of the front shield glass with the inflation gas injected from the inflator. An automotive airbag device configured to be inflated and deployed,
The airbag device is installed on a movable panel configured so that the vehicle rear end side facing the front shield glass is flipped up at the time of collision prediction or collision of the object,
When the airbag is inflated and deployed, the airbag device is also flipped up in synchronization with the flip-up of the movable panel body so that the airbag extends substantially linearly and expands and deploys to the front shield glass side. An air bag device for an outside vehicle characterized by the above. A front pillar cover portion that covers the front pillar of the vehicle is formed integrally with the airbag, and the front pillar cover portion extends substantially linearly toward the front pillar side so as to be inflated and deployed. The air bag device for an outside vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the air bag device is installed on the movable panel.

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