JP2019137302A - Occupant protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve protection performance for an occupant who seats on a seat having a seat back which is tilted at an angle larger than that at the time of normal seating.SOLUTION: An occupant protection device comprises: a rail 13 which is so provided on a head lining 8 above a seat 9 of a vehicle 1 as to be extended in a vehicle longitudinal direction; an air bag unit 10 which is slidably located along the rail 13; a tilt angle sensor 28 which detects a tilt angle C of a seat back 9B of the seat 9; and a control unit 2 which moves the air bag unit 10 from an initial position to an operation position on a vehicle rear side when the tilt angle C detected by the tilt angle sensor 28 is a prescribed angle Cd, which is larger than an angle Co at the time of normal seating, or more.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device including an airbag device disposed on a headlining (ceiling surface) of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a roof airbag device housed in a vehicle ceiling is known as one of airbag devices mounted on a vehicle. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a roof airbag that is deployed so as to support a far side airbag that is deployed on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the occupant from the inner side in the vehicle width direction. The roof airbag case is disposed between the roof panel and the head lining, and is fixed to the roof panel via a bracket.

JP 2014-76702 A

  However, the occupant protection device described in Patent Document 1 described above is intended only for an occupant seated on a seat in a normal posture. For example, the occupant protection device of the occupant lying down with a significantly tilted seat back (reclining seat). It is difficult to increase the protection performance. Further, in an autonomous driving vehicle that is becoming popular in recent years, not only the passenger in the passenger seat but also the driver may greatly tilt the seat back during traveling.

  The occupant protection device of the present invention has been devised in view of such problems, and one of the purposes is to improve the protection performance of the occupant seated on the seat back seat that is inclined more than the angle at the time of regular seating. . The present invention is not limited to this purpose, and is a function and effect derived from each configuration shown in the embodiment for carrying out the invention described later, and has another function and effect that cannot be obtained by conventional techniques. is there.

  (1) An occupant protection device disclosed herein includes a rail that extends in a vehicle front-rear direction on a head lining above a seat of a vehicle, an airbag device that is slidably installed along the rail, An inclination angle sensor that detects an inclination angle of a seat bag, and the airbag device is moved from an initial position to the vehicle when the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle sensor is equal to or larger than a predetermined angle that is larger than an angle at the time of normal seating. And a control device that moves the actuator to a rear working position.

(2) It is preferable that the operating position is set to the rear of the vehicle as the tilt angle increases.
(3) It is preferable that the occupant protection device is provided with a groove that is recessed along the vehicle front-rear direction in the headlining and has a rectangular cross section in the vehicle width direction. In this case, it is preferable that a pair of U-shaped rails are arranged to face each other on the vertical wall portion of the groove portion.
(4) It is preferable that the initial position is set immediately after the sun visor housed above the front seat of the vehicle.

  According to the disclosed occupant protection device, the airbag device can be deployed at an appropriate operating position even when the occupant is lying on the seat back. For this reason, the protection performance of the passenger | crew who seated on the seat of the seat back inclined more largely than the angle at the time of regular seating can be improved.

1 is a block diagram of a vehicle including an occupant protection device according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3) when the front seat of the vehicle in FIG. 1 is viewed from the side. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 2) in which the vehicle in FIG. 1 is cut in the vehicle width direction behind the front seat. It is a typical perspective view which shows the principal part structure of the passenger | crew protection apparatus of FIG.

  An occupant protection device as an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example, and there is no intention of excluding various modifications and technical applications that are not explicitly described in the following embodiment. Each configuration of the present embodiment can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof. Further, they can be selected as necessary, or can be appropriately combined.

[1. Vehicle configuration]
The occupant protection device of this embodiment is applied to the vehicle 1 shown in FIG. The vehicle 1 has a function (automatic travel system) that can automatically travel regardless of a manual driving operation. The automatic traveling system causes the vehicle 1 to travel instead of a driver's manual operation by performing all of acceleration, steering and braking on the vehicle 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 of the present embodiment includes sensors 21 to 28 that detect information related to the vehicle 1, devices 5 to 7 that operate (accelerate, brake, and steer) the vehicle 1, A control device 2 for controlling the operating state, and a communication device 3 and a navigation system 4 for acquiring information other than the vehicle 1 are provided.

  The vehicle speed sensor 21 and the acceleration sensor 22 are for detecting the vehicle speed and acceleration of the vehicle 1, respectively. The steering angle sensor 23 is for detecting the steering angle of the steering. The brake sensor 24 and the accelerator sensor 25 detect the depression amounts of the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal. The front sensor 26 is, for example, a camera, a radar, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like, and acquires all information in front of the vehicle 1. The side sensor 27 is also a camera, a radar, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like, for example, and acquires all information on the side and rear of the vehicle 1.

  The inclination angle sensor 28 detects an inclination angle C of the seat back 9B with respect to the seat cushion 9A of the seat 9 of the vehicle 1. The inclination angle sensor 28 has a function of detecting the reclining state of the seat 9. Each of the sensors 21 to 28 transmits the detected information to the control device 2.

  The drive device 5 is a drive source (engine or electric motor) of the vehicle 1 or a transmission mechanism, and the brake device 6 is a brake device or a regenerative brake system that applies a braking force to the vehicle 1. The steering device 7 is an electric power steering device that assists the steering operation by the driver. Each operation state of these devices 5 to 7 is controlled by the control device 2.

  The communication device 3 is an electronic control device that transmits and receives information by communicating with a communicable target other than the vehicle 1. The communication device 3 communicates with, for example, GPS satellites, communication devices owned by the owner (for example, mobile phones, smartphones, wireless information terminals, etc.), roadside devices arranged on the road, external organizations and facilities, other vehicles Etc. The communication device 3 transmits the received information to the control device 2 and transmits information corresponding to a command from the control device 2 to each target. The navigation system 4 incorporates detailed map data, and uses the signal from the GPS satellite and map data received by the communication device 3 to detect (recognize) the current position of the vehicle 1 and Route guidance is performed.

  The control device 2 is an electronic control device that integrally controls various devices mounted on the vehicle 1. The control device 2 is configured as, for example, an LSI device or an embedded electronic device in which a microprocessor, ROM, RAM, and the like are integrated, and is connected to a communication line of an in-vehicle network provided in the vehicle 1. The control device 2 controls the devices 5 to 7 using various information transmitted from the communication device 3, the navigation system 4, and the sensors 21 to 27 when the vehicle 1 is driven by the automatic traveling system.

[2. Configuration of passenger protection device]
2-4 is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the passenger | crew protection apparatus of this embodiment. In the present embodiment, an occupant protection device that protects an occupant (not shown) seated in a front seat (driver seat and passenger seat) will be described. As shown in FIG. 2 with a two-dot chain line and a dot pattern, the occupant protection device is a device for protecting the occupant lying down with the seat back 9 </ b> B greatly down.

  The occupant protection device of the present embodiment includes a rail 13 that extends in the vehicle front-rear direction on the headlining 8 above the seat 9 in addition to the control device 2, the airbag device 10, and the inclination angle sensor 28 described above. The control device 2 is disposed on the headlining 8 of the vehicle 1 when the inclination angle C detected by the inclination angle sensor 28 is equal to or larger than a predetermined angle Cd that is larger than the angle at normal seating (normal angle Co). The position of the airbag apparatus 10 is changed according to the inclination angle C (that is, the posture of the occupant). Thereby, the airbag apparatus 10 can be disposed at an appropriate position in accordance with the posture of the occupant seated on the seat 9.

  The airbag device 10 includes an airbag 12 and an inflator (not shown) built in a thin rectangular parallelepiped case 11. The air bag device 10 is slidably installed along the rail 13 with respect to the head lining 8 as indicated by white arrows in FIG. The airbag device 10 is placed in the initial position when not in use, and is slid to the operating position when in use. The initial position is set, for example, immediately after the sun visor 20 stored above the front seat (that is, in front of the head of an occupant seated in a normal posture on the seat 9).

  Further, the operating position is set behind the initial position. For example, when the occupant lies on the seat back 9B inclined at a predetermined angle Cd or more, the operating position is set above the occupant's chest. In other words, the operating position of the present embodiment is set to the rear as the inclination angle C increases.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head lining 8 of the present embodiment is formed with a groove 15 that is recessed along the front-rear direction. The longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the groove portion 15 in the vehicle width direction is a horizontally long rectangular shape, and as shown in FIG. The rail 13 has a function as a guide for sliding the airbag device 10 between the initial position and the operating position. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the present embodiment, the pair of rails 13 are disposed to face the vertical wall portion of the groove portion 15. The rail 13 has a U-shape with the other rail 13 open, and has a uniform cross section.

  The case 11 of the airbag device 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having the smallest vertical dimension, and the shaft of the wheel portion 14 is fixed to a side surface portion extending in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction. The wheel unit 14 is rotatably supported along the rail 13 and is operated by an actuator (not shown).

  When the inclination angle C detected by the inclination angle sensor 28 is equal to or larger than the predetermined angle Cd, the control device 2 controls the actuator to move the airbag device 10 from the initial position to the operating position. At this time, the control device 2 sets the operation position to the rear as the inclination angle C increases. The control device 2 of the present embodiment stores in advance a map that defines the relationship between the tilt angle C and the operating position, and acquires the operating position by applying the tilt angle C detected by the tilt angle sensor 28 to the map. Then, the airbag device 10 is moved to the operating position.

  If the inclination angle C is less than the predetermined angle Cd, the airbag device 10 is left in the initial position. In this case, even if a collision of the vehicle 1 is detected, the inflator of the airbag device 10 does not operate. That is, the operating condition of the airbag device 10 (that is, the operating condition of the inflator) includes at least “the airbag device 10 is disposed at the operating position”.

[3. effect]
(1) According to the occupant protection device described above, even when the occupant lies on the seat back 9B, the airbag device 10 can be deployed at an appropriate operating position, so that the protection performance can be enhanced. . In particular, when the vehicle 1 is traveling automatically regardless of the driver's manual operation, there is a possibility that even the driver is in a lying posture. If it is a passenger | crew protection apparatus, a passenger | crew's protection performance can be improved.

(2) In the occupant protection device described above, the operating position of the airbag device 10 is set to the rear as the inclination angle C of the seat back 9B increases. That is, since the operating position of the airbag device 10 can be set in accordance with the posture of the occupant lying on the seat back 9B, the protection performance can be further enhanced.
(3) Further, the groove portion 15 is recessed in the head lining 8 described above, and the rail 13 is disposed on the vertical wall portion of the groove portion 15. For this reason, it can suppress that the airbag apparatus 10 arrange | positioned at the headlining 8 contacts a passenger | crew's head, and can improve appearance.

  (4) In the occupant protection device described above, the initial position of the airbag device 10 is set immediately after the sun visor 20 housed above the front seat. For this reason, when the occupant is seated on the seat 9 in a regular posture, the airbag device 10 can be made difficult to enter the field of view.

[4. Others]
The above passenger protection device is an example, and is not limited to the above. For example, the operating position of the airbag device 10 may be constant regardless of the inclination angle C, and the initial position of the airbag device 10 may be set to a position other than the above-described position. Further, the groove 15 of the headlining 8 may not be rectangular in cross section, and the groove 15 may be omitted.

  In addition, the shape of the case 11 of the airbag device 10 may not be a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the configuration for moving the airbag device 10 may be composed of other than the pair of U-shaped rails 13 and the wheel portions 14. Good. At least a rail extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is provided on the headlining 8, and an airbag device that is slidable along the rail is operated when the inclination angle C of the seat back 9B is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle Cd. Any configuration can be used as long as it moves to. In addition, the operating condition of the airbag apparatus 10 mentioned above is an example, Comprising: It does not restrict to what was mentioned above. Moreover, you may apply said passenger | crew protection apparatus to the vehicle which does not have an automatic traveling system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Control apparatus 8 Headlining 9 Seat 9B Seat back 10 Airbag apparatus 11 Case 12 Airbag 13 Rail 15 Groove part 28 Inclination angle sensor C Inclination angle Cd Predetermined angle

Claims (4)

Rails extending in the vehicle front-rear direction on a headlining above the seat of the vehicle;
An airbag device slidably installed along the rail;
An inclination angle sensor for detecting an inclination angle of a seat bag of the seat;
A control device that moves the airbag device from an initial position to an operating position behind the vehicle when the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle larger than the angle at the time of normal seating. An occupant protection device characterized by that. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the operating position is set to the rear of the vehicle as the tilt angle increases. The head lining is recessed along the vehicle front-rear direction, and the longitudinal section in the vehicle width direction includes a rectangular groove.
3. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein a pair of U-shaped rails are disposed opposite to each other on the vertical wall portion of the groove portion. 4. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the initial position is set immediately after a sun visor housed above a front seat of the vehicle.

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