JP2600019Y2 - Airbag device for pedestrian protection of automobiles - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device for protecting a pedestrian of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for preventing an injury of a pedestrian who collides with an automobile and is jumped up on a front hood, a capture frame housed in a front portion of a vehicle body when a pedestrian is jumped up on the front hood. A pedestrian that has been protruded and jumped up on the front hood has been developed between the front of the vehicle body and the capture frame that has been protruded to prevent the pedestrian from falling from the front hood to the ground. See JP-A-59-35256).

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional pedestrian protection means is effective in preventing a secondary injury caused by a dropped pedestrian falling on the ground.

[0004] However, as shown in FIG. 4, when the pedestrian is jumped up on the front hood 8, the head or the like of the pedestrian is, for example, a cowl top 4 near the lower part of the windshield.
(Composed of the cowl top inner panel 41 and the cowl top outer panel 42) and a place having high rigidity such as near the upper part of the strut tower 5, and may be hindered. This device cannot be used. If the rigidity near the lower part of the windshield or near the upper part of the strut tower is reduced, the above-mentioned injuries can be reduced. However, it is extremely difficult to reduce the rigidity of the above parts due to the structure of the automobile body.

An object of the present invention is to address the above-mentioned conventional problems.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a pedestrian protection system having an inflator and an airbag at three places, that is, a body member near a lower part of a windshield of a vehicle and upper parts of right and left strut towers. An airbag device is installed, and a contact sensor is provided at the front of the vehicle to sense a contact and emit a signal. When the contact sensor emits a sense signal at a vehicle speed equal to or higher than a set value, the above three air sensors are used. The bag device is activated , and each airbag is placed under the windshield.
On the member and on top of each of the left and right strut towers
And is configured to be expanded and deployed.

[0007]

According to the above, when a pedestrian collides with a vehicle running at a vehicle speed higher than a set value and is jumped up, three airbag devices are activated by a detection signal of a contact sensor, and are jumped up and dropped. By receiving the pedestrian who came in with the inflated and deployed airbag, the pedestrian jumps up without hitting directly into a highly rigid place such as the body member near the lower part of the windshield or the upper part of the left and right strut towers The shock applied to the pedestrian is alleviated to prevent or reduce injuries. In addition, if a pedestrian is dropped on the front hood, which has relatively low rigidity, the airbags on the left and right guard against falling to the ground, preventing secondary injury due to falling to the ground. Is done. Furthermore, the combination of inflator and airbag
The airbag device is installed in a location with high body rigidity.
The airbag device can be installed easily and securely
Can be.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an airbag device provided on a vehicle body member near a lower portion of a windshield, and reference numerals 2 and 2 denote left and right airbag devices provided on a vehicle body member near an upper portion of the left and right strut towers. Airbag device 1,
Reference numeral 2 denotes an inflator 11, an airbag 12, and a lid 13 made of, for example, a synthetic resin, which covers the folded upper portion of the airbag 12, as in a conventionally known occupant protection airbag device. When the vehicle travels, for example, when the contact sensor 3 provided on the front bumper detects a collision, the inflator 11 operates according to the signal to generate gas, and the generated gas causes the airbag 12 to cover the lid 1.
3 is configured to be pushed open to expand and protrude onto the body member.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1B, a cowl top inner panel 41 and a cowl top outer panel 4 are provided near the lower part of the windshield.
A cowl top outer panel is formed in the cowl top outer panel substantially at the center in the vehicle width direction of the cowl top 4 and is mounted in the cowl top outer panel so as to close the airbag device mounting hole of the cowl top outer panel. The lid 13 is mounted. As shown in FIG. 1 (C), an airbag device mounting portion 7 is formed so as to extend between a side wall (wheel apron) of the strut tower 5 and a front fender 6 outside the strut tower 5. The left and right airbag devices 2 are attached to the attachment portion 7, and the upper front fender 6
A notch is provided in the front hood 8 and a side edge portion of the front hood 8 opposed thereto, and the lid 13 is mounted so as to close the notch.

The contact sensor 3 is provided at the front of the vehicle, such as at the front of the vehicle, for example, at the front edge of the front bumper 9 or the front hood 8, or at both of them. (For example, an ON signal), and when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 10 is equal to or higher than a set value when the contact sensor 3 emits a sensing signal as shown in FIG. The energization circuit is closed and configured to operate the inflator 11.

In the above description, if the vehicle is running at a vehicle speed equal to or higher than the set value of the vehicle speed sensor 10 and collides with a pedestrian and the pedestrian is jumped up, the contact sensor 3 issues a sensing signal at the time of the collision. On the basis of this, the inflators 11 of the airbag devices 1, 2 and 2 operate to inflate the airbag 12, and the airbag 12 pushes and opens the lid 13 to inflate and protrude upward from the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. The pedestrian who has jumped up and falls is received by the deployed airbag 12, and the pedestrian's head and the like are placed on the cowl top 4.
(Or a windshield) or a place with high rigidity such as near the upper part of the strut tower 5 is prevented, and the impact applied to the pedestrian is reduced to prevent or reduce the injury. When the pedestrian is dropped on the front hood 8 having a relatively low rigidity, the airbags of the airbag devices 2 on both the left and right sides deploy the front hood 8.
Guarding pedestrians who fall on the road so that they will not fall down on the road surface beside the car, prevents secondary injuries due to side fall.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent or reduce the injury of a pedestrian when the pedestrian is jumped up without substantially changing the appearance of the automobile. It can improve safety, combined with the simple structure and relatively low cost,
This can bring a great effect in practical use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of a front portion of an automobile, FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.
(C) is a CC sectional view of (A).

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of an operation circuit of the airbag device shown in FIG.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views showing an operation state of the airbag apparatus shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 3A is an operation state of the airbag apparatus of FIG. 1B, and FIG. 3B is an airbag apparatus of FIG. Respectively indicate the operation states of

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a state in which a pedestrian is jumped up in a conventional automobile, wherein FIG. 4A is a side view when the pedestrian is jumped up, and FIG. FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a pedestrian who has jumped up attempts to collide with a vehicle body member near an upper portion of a strut tower.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Airbag device near the lower part of a windshield 2 Airbag device near the upper part of a strut tower 3 Contact sensor 4 Cowl top 5 Strut tower 6 Front fender 7 Airbag device attachment part 8 Front hood 9 Front bumper 10 Vehicle speed sensor 11 Inflator 12 Airbag 13 lid

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A vehicle body member in the vicinity of a lower part of a windshield of an automobile and the upper part of each of right and left strut towers.
A pedestrian protection airbag device equipped with an inflator and an airbag is installed at a location, and a contact sensor is provided at the front of the vehicle to detect contact and generate a signal. sensing sensor and an air bag device of the three locations is actuated when triggered by sensed signals, each air bag
On the body member under the windshield and on the left and right straps
An airbag device for protecting a pedestrian of an automobile, wherein the airbag device is configured to be inflated and deployed on each upper part of the tower .