JPH09164890A - Air bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag which can withstand against high temperature and pressure gas as strong adhesive force produced by thermal deposition between the same material qualities is maintained though cloths which are excellent in workability and relatively low in price are adopted for an air bag body cloth. SOLUTION: An air bag is bag-shapedly formed by joining the outer periphery 4 of a back cloth 3 composed of cloths where the circumferences of an inflater opening 6 drilledly provided at the about middle or of a vent opening 7 drilledly provided at the opening 6 and a proper position are joinedly reinforced by thermally depositing with reinforcing bodies 8, 9 to the outer periphery 4 of a surface cloth 2 composed of cloth being about the same in shape as the back cloth 3. In this case, a deposited film 8U is made to intervened between the surface and back of the back cloth 3, and many openings 3H are drilledly provided in the back cloth 3 located in a thermal deposition part B1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a driver seat, a passenger seat,
Regarding a vehicle airbag device installed on a side surface, a rear seat, etc., a structure of a joint portion of an airbag in which a plurality of reinforcing bodies are laminated and laminated by thermal welding on a peripheral edge of an inflator opening and a peripheral edge of a vent opening Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag used for protecting an occupant of a vehicle is usually installed as an example in a driver's seat.
A back cloth positioned on the vehicle body side such as a handle and a front cloth positioned on the occupant side are joined together at their outer peripheral portions by sewing or the like to form a bag. Then, an inflator for inflating and deploying the airbag is inserted and installed in an inflator opening formed substantially in the center of the back cloth. At that time, a reinforcing cloth laminated in layers to reinforce the inflator opening is joined to the periphery of the inflator opening.
Generally, these reinforcing cloths are joined to the airbag cloth by suturing with a suture thread.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 54450, there has been developed one in which a reinforcing cloth is joined to an airbag cloth with an adhesive in order to improve workability and productivity.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-199198, synthetic fibers are used because they are easy to manufacture with secure mechanical properties and air barrier properties and are excellent in safety. Opening 26 and vent opening 2 of the airbag 21 formed of the base cloth 23 in which the thermoplastic elastomer F is laminated on one surface of the cloth
Laminated body 2 of base cloth in which 7 is welded via an elastomer F
It is also proposed that the laminates 28 and 29 are reinforced with 8 and 29 and are joined to the base cloth 23 by high frequency welding.

[0004]

However, in this conventional example, when the reinforcing cloth is joined to the air bag cloth by the adhesive as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-154450, the adhesive is fixed at a predetermined level. There is a risk that the reinforcing cloth may adhere to the airbag cloth before it is set to the correct position, and it takes a lot of time to bond it to the correct position, which is extremely troublesome to handle and the adhesive may dry. Due to variations in the process, there is a difference in the adhesive force between the reinforcing cloth and the airbag cloth due to the adhesive, and there is a possibility that the reinforcing cloth may peel off due to the high temperature and high pressure gas during the operation of the airbag. Further, since such a general reinforcing cloth has air permeability, when the reinforcing cloth is used in the periphery of the opening for the inflator, the high temperature and high pressure gas intrudes from the reinforcing cloth and the airbag. There was also a risk of damaging the body cloth. Further, in the one disclosed in the above-mentioned JP-A-6-199198, the reinforcing cloth laminate 28 of cloth made of breathable synthetic fiber is laminated with a thermoplastic elastomer, so that high temperature and high pressure gas can prevent air bags Although the body cloth can now be protected,
As shown in FIG. 6 (B), which is a sectional view taken along line GG of (A), in a welded portion that is heat-welded by high-frequency welding,
Since the reinforcing cloth laminate 28, which is a cloth made of synthetic fibers, and the base cloth 23 are joined via the thermoplastic elastomer F, there is a possibility that sufficient adhesive strength due to heat welding between different materials cannot be ensured. . In addition, the base fabric for an airbag needs to be laminated with a thermoplastic elastomer on a fabric made of synthetic fibers, which leads to an increase in cost.

In view of the above, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the reinforcing body joint portion of the inflator opening and the vent opening or the outer peripheral joint portion of the airbag bag in the conventional airbag, and solves the problems. (EN) Provided is an air bag which can withstand high temperature and high pressure gas while securing strong adhesive force by heat welding between the same materials while adopting a relatively inexpensive fabric which is excellent in workability as a bag body cloth.

[0006]

Therefore, in the present invention, as means for solving the above-mentioned problems, an inflator opening formed substantially in the center or an opening for the inflator and a vent formed at an appropriate position. Air formed into a bag shape by joining an outer peripheral portion of a back cloth made of a woven fabric reinforced by heat welding around a periphery of an opening and an outer peripheral portion of a front cloth made of a woven fabric having substantially the same shape as the back fabric. In the bag, a welding film is provided on at least the front and back of the back cloth, and a large number of openings are formed in the back cloth located at least in the heat-welded portion. The present invention also provides
The outer peripheral joint between the front cloth and the back cloth made of the woven fabric and the upper surface thereof are also provided with a welding film, and a large number of openings are formed in these front and back cloths located in the heat-welding portion. It is a thing. Further, according to the present invention, a large number of openings formed at the heat-welded portion of the inflator opening or the reinforcing body laminated around the inflator opening and the vent opening are provided on adjacent reinforcing bodies and on the back side. The cloths are arranged so as not to overlap each other, and these are means for solving the problems.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the entire airbag device and its essential parts, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of its essential parts after thermal welding. FIG.
As shown in (A), the airbag 1 has a substantially circular nylon (nylon 6, nylon 66, etc.), polyester,
It is composed of a front cloth 2 and a back cloth 3 made of a woven fabric such as polyimide, and the outer peripheries thereof are joined by stitching or the like to form an outer peripheral joint 4 to form a bag shape. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, in the vicinity of the inflator opening 6 formed in the center of the back cloth 3 installed on the vehicle body side such as the handle and the vent opening 7 formed in an appropriate position, Similarly, each of the multi-layered laminates 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D of fabric (FIG.
The reinforcing bodies 8 and 9 ((C)) (the details of the reinforcing body 9 of the vent opening 7 are omitted because they are the same as the reinforcing body 8) are joined to the back cloth 3 by heat welding such as high frequency welding. Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, an inflator 5 for supplying high-pressure gas into the airbag 1 is inserted into the inflator opening 6, and the inflator 5 is fixed to a steering shaft (not shown) or the like. The back cloth 3 and the base plate 10 which are jointly reinforced by the reinforcing body 8 are attached to the base plate 10 by the mounting bolts 12 in such a manner as to be sandwiched between the retainer 11 and the flange of the inflator 5.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 (C), the periphery of the inflator opening 6 formed at the substantially center of the back cloth 3 made of a fabric such as nylon is joined and reinforced. In the reinforcing body 8 made of the multilayer laminates 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D also made of a fabric such as nylon, between the laminates 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D and on the uppermost surface (including the lowermost side in the drawing). A stretchable welding film 8U made of urethane-based, ester-based thermoplastic elastomer, amide-based thermoplastic elastomer, nylon film, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, or the like is interposed, and heat-welded portions B1 (inner peripheral side), B2 Each of the woven fabrics located on the (outer peripheral side), that is, 8
A, 8B, 8C, 8D and the back cloth 3 are provided with a large number of openings 8H and 3H. The heat-welded portion is the above B1,
Not limited to B2, an appropriate number may be provided. The diameter of the opening is selected to be about 0.1 to 20 mm, and in the present embodiment, it is preferably about 1 to 5 mm. This is because if the thickness is 0.1 mm or less, the strength cannot be sufficiently exerted, and if the thickness is 20 mm or more, the strength of the cloth itself is reduced, which is not practical. The shape of the opening is not limited to the circular shape shown in FIG.
It may be a slightly fan-shaped quadrilateral as in (B).

With the above structure, the welding film 8
Multilayer laminates 8A, 8B, 8C with U interposed respectively
When the anode and the cathode for high frequency welding, which are arranged above and below the backing fabric 3 in which 8D and 8D are polymerized (see FIG. 3), are brought close to each other and heat welding is performed, as shown in FIG. In B1, each reinforcement 8A, 8B made of each fabric
Adjacent welding films 8U which are interposed between and separated from each other in the vertical direction are welded to each other through a large number of openings 8H formed in each of the reinforcing bodies 8A and 8B. FIG. 2B is a plan sectional view showing a state in which the openings 8H are arranged in the heat-welded portion. As described above, in addition to the adhesion by heat welding between the reinforcing members 8A ... Made of woven fabric and the welding film 8U interposed therebetween, the strength between the same materials of the welding films 8U through the openings 8H is increased. Since it is possible to perform the adhesion by the heat welding, it is possible to secure a strong adhesive force by the heat welding between the same materials while adopting a relatively inexpensive woven fabric. Further, since the welding film 8U is installed on the upper surface of the laminated body 8A which is a reinforcing body, the airtight performance of the film 8U allows the high-temperature and high-pressure gas from the inflator during airbag operation to serve as a back cloth for the airbag body. There is no possibility of reaching 3 and an airbag having excellent heat resistance and gas resistance is provided. The back cloth 3 and the front cloth 2 made of a woven fabric such as nylon in the present embodiment are not uncoated woven fabrics, and may be coated or attached with a thermoplastic film such as urethane. Also,
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1C, the welding film is interposed between a large number of reinforcing bodies and the openings 8H are formed in those reinforcing bodies, but the welding film 8U is described.
It suffices that at least one sheet is provided only on the front and back sides of the back cloth 3, and at least only a large number of openings 3H are provided in the back cloth 3 located at the heat-welded portion B. Is. An example of this is shown in FIG.

In the present invention, not only is the reinforcement member 8 joined to the inflator opening 6 described above, but also the vent opening 7 is formed.
The same structure can be adopted for the joint portion formed by heat-welding the reinforcing body 9 in (1), but high-frequency welding is omitted, but the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 (A) is a sectional view before the heat welding and FIG. 3 (B) is a sectional view showing the state after the heat welding. . In the present embodiment, the outer peripheral joint 4 is joined by suturing or the like, whereas in the present embodiment, the front and back surfaces made of a woven fabric such as nylon coated or pasted with a thermoplastic film such as urethane. The cloths 2 and 3 are overlapped with each other at their outer peripheral joint portions 4 and are overlapped with each other, and are joined by heat welding such as high frequency welding at the outer peripheral joint portions 4 to form a bag shape.
A welding film 4U made of urethane or the like is also interposed on the outer peripheral joint 4 between the front cloth 2 and the back cloth 3 made of these woven fabrics and the upper surface thereof, and a large number of these front and back cloths 2 and 3 located in the heat-welded portion are provided. The openings 2H and 3H are provided.
As shown in FIG. 3 (A), in the portion located between the joint surfaces of the front and back cloths 2 and 3 in the outer peripheral joint portion 4, the center side of the airbag 1 (inward radial direction in the radial direction), that is, the airbag. Insulating layer 13 is sandwiched as an intermediate layer serving as a high-frequency welding insulating layer in a part of a predetermined range on the side where films 2 and 3 on the front and back are separated and peeled off when expanded. Here, the high-frequency welding insulating layer is paper, a Teflon film, an olefin resin film, or the like. Thus, the thermoplastic films 4U, 4U are arranged as facing materials as opposed to each other,
These are set between the positive electrode 14A and the negative electrode 14B, which are arranged substantially parallel to each other with an interval vertically, and then the positive electrode 14A and the negative electrode 14B are brought close to each other as shown by an arrow to heat by high-frequency welding or the like. Weld.

By the above, it becomes possible to bond the welding films 4U adjacent to each other through the openings 2H and 3H formed in the front and back cloths 2 and 3 by strong heat welding between the same materials, and also the high frequency insulating layer. Inner peripheral edges 4A, 4B of the welding film as an adhesion reinforcing layer in a range where 13 is sandwiched
The members at the outer peripheral joint portion 4 can be firmly joined except for non-welding between them. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), when the airbag having the outer peripheral joint portion 4 thermally welded is operatively inflated by the introduction of the high pressure gas from the inflator, the outer and outer joint portions 4 are joined by the front and back cloths 2 and 3 which are separated from each other. Even if the surfaces are peeled off, this is not allowed due to the strong welding between the welding films 4U and 4U as the adhesion reinforcing layer on the joint surface, and the inner peripheral edges 4A, 4B of the welding film in the range of the insulating layer are the front and back surfaces. 2H, 3 on the side of cloth 2 and 3
Strong proof strength in the shearing direction between the front cloth 2 and the welding film 4U and the back cloth 3 and the welding film 4U in which the peeling direction is changed to the shearing direction, and the peeling direction is changed to the shearing direction. As a result, the peeling strength between the welding films 4U and 4U as the bonding material which is the adhesion reinforcing layer also increases.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 (A) shows the state before heat welding, and FIG. 4 (B) shows FIG. 4 (A).
FIG. 7 is a plan cross-sectional view of the main portion EE of FIG. In the present embodiment, a back cloth 3 made of an uncoated woven fabric such as nylon is adopted, and a synthetic fiber woven cloth such as nylon is joined to the back cloth 3 around the inflator opening by heat welding such as high frequency welding. Different from the above-described respective embodiments, the reinforcing body 8 is formed by coating or pasting a thermoplastic film 8F such as urethane. In the example shown,
The coated reinforcing bodies 8 are joined to the front and back of the backing fabric 3 one by one, but may be laminated in multiple layers. A urethane-based or ester-based thermoplastic elastomer is provided between the laminate 8 and the backing fabric 3 and on the uppermost surface (including the lowermost side in the drawing).
A welding film 8U made of an amide-based thermoplastic elastomer, a nylon film, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, or the like is interposed, and in the present embodiment, a wide heat welding portion B is formed by so-called solid welding.
However, a large number of openings 3H and 8H are formed in the backing fabric 3 and the reinforcing body 8 of the uncoated woven fabric located in the heat-welded portion B. The shape of the opening is a slightly large fan-shaped 4 as shown in FIG.
It is formed into a rectangular shape.

With the above structure, the welding film 8
Reinforced body 8 coated with U interposed respectively
The thermoplastic film 8F of urethane or the like is strongly bonded to the welding film 8U made of the same material, and the adjacent welding films 8U are disposed above and below the reinforcing body 8 and the backing cloth 3 and are separated from each other. A large number of openings 8H and 3H formed in each of the reinforcing bodies 8 and the back cloth 3.
Since it is welded through the same material, it is possible to perform strong heat welding between the same materials of the welding films 8U, and while adopting a relatively inexpensive uncoated woven fabric with excellent workability for the airbag body fabric, A strong adhesive force can be secured by heat welding at. Further, since the welding film 8U is installed also on the upper surface of the reinforcing body, the film 8U
Due to the airtightness, the high temperature and high pressure gas from the inflator does not reach the back cloth 3 which is the main body of the airbag when the airbag is operated, and the airbag is excellent in heat resistance and gas resistance. In addition, when the back cloth 3 and the front cloth 2 made of the uncoated cloth of the present embodiment are adopted, as the front and back cloths, the uncoated cloths having a high frequency at the outer peripheral joint portion 4 as shown in FIG. 3 are used. Heat welding is performed.

FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the airbag device of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an arrangement example of openings in a woven fabric backing and a reinforcing member. What is shown in FIG. 5 (A) is a reinforcement body 8A to 8C laminated or arranged around the inflator opening or around the inflator opening and the vent opening.
Of the openings 8 located in the heat-welded portions B1 and B2 in FIG.
H and 3H are between the adjacent reinforcing bodies and the back cloth,
In this example, the back cloth 3 and the reinforcing body 8B are arranged so as not to overlap each other. As a result, FIG.
As can be seen from the plan sectional view on the right side of FIG. 3, when the backing fabric 3 (not shown, the reinforcing body 8B is the same) itself, the openings can be arranged at relatively close intervals, and the welding film A strong joint between the reinforcing body and the backing cloth 3 with 8U interposed is obtained. What is shown in FIG. 5 (B) is all the reinforcements located at the heat-welded portions B1 and B2 of the inflator openings or the reinforcements 8A to 8C laminated around the inflator opening and the vent opening. A large number of openings 8H and 3H formed in the body and the back cloth 3
However, the adjacent reinforcing bodies and the back cloth 3 are arranged so as not to overlap each other.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the shapes of the reinforcing members (the reinforcing members do not necessarily have to have the same shape and the same size), the number of the reinforcing members, the number of the reinforcing members, and the like within the scope of the gist of the present invention.
Materials and their combination, the shape of the cloth on the front and back (a shape adapted to the part to which the airbag is applied is adopted),
Material, method of heat welding, joining form of reinforcing body to airbag cloth, attachment form of airbag cloth to base plate, number, shape, area, shape of opening, number, area, arrangement (for example, plane It is needless to say that it is possible to appropriately adopt the above-described arrangement such as staggered arrangement on the circumference.

[0017]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in addition to the adhesion by heat welding between each reinforcing member made of a woven fabric or the like and the welding film interposed therebetween in addition to the above-mentioned constitution, Since it is possible to bond the welding films to each other through the opening formed in the heat welding portion of the woven fabric by strong heat welding between the same materials, a relatively inexpensive woven fabric with excellent workability can be used as the airbag body fabric. While adopting it, a strong adhesive force can be secured by heat welding between the same materials. In addition, when the reinforcing structure of the inflator opening and the main body cloth such as the backing cloth are made of only uncoated fabric, the uncoated fabric has a high gas permeability, so high-pressure gas from the inflator passes through the reinforcing fabric. However, it may reach the airbag body cloth and dissolve the body cloth. However, in the present invention, the presence of the welding film does not allow the permeation of high-temperature gas and does not damage the airbag body cloth.

Further, a welding film such as urethane is also interposed on the outer peripheral joint between the front and back cloths made of woven fabric and the upper surface thereof, and a large number of openings are formed in these front and back cloths located at the heat-welded portion. Is installed and at the part located between the joint surfaces of the front and back cloths in the outer peripheral joint portion, the high frequency is applied to a part of the predetermined range on the center side of the airbag, that is, the side on which the front and back films are separated and peeled off when the airbag is inflated. If an insulating layer is sandwiched as an intermediate layer to be a welding insulating layer and heat-welded, the outer and outer joints are separated from each other when the airbag is thermally inflated by the introduction of high-pressure gas from the inflator. Even if the joining surface is peeled off due to the strong welding between the joining surface and the welding film as the adhesion reinforcing layer, this is not allowed, and the welding film in the range of the insulating layer is not allowed. The inner peripheral edge strongly adheres to the cloth side of the front and back through the openings and behaves together, and the shearing direction between the front cloth and the welding film and the back cloth and the welding film whose peeling direction has been changed to the shearing direction. Due to the strong proof stress, the peel strength between the welding films as the bonding material, which is the adhesion reinforcing layer, is also increased, and even when the front and back cloths made of the woven fabric are bonded, the bonding by the strong heat welding becomes possible. Also,
The inflator opening in the backing cloth or a large number of openings perforated at the heat-welded portion of the reinforcing body laminated around the inflator opening and the vent opening are adjacent to each other and the backing cloth. If they are arranged so that they do not overlap with each other, the openings can be arranged at relatively close intervals when viewed from the backing cloth or the reinforcing body itself, and the reinforcing body and the backing cloth with the welding film interposed A strong bond of will be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a reinforcing body is joined to a peripheral edge of an inflator opening, and a main portion thereof.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the airbag of FIG. 1 after heat-welding a reinforcing body.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a second embodiment of the airbag device of the present invention and showing states before and after heat welding at the outer peripheral joint portion.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the airbag device of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an airbag system in which an uncoated fabric backing fabric and a coating reinforcement are adopted.

FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the airbag device of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view of the essential parts of the arrangement of openings in the backing fabric and the reinforcing body of the woven fabric.

FIG. 6 is an overall perspective view showing a partially cutaway view of an airbag according to a conventional reinforcing body welding method and a cross-sectional view of a main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air bag 2 Front cloth 2H opening 3 Back cloth 3H opening 4 Peripheral joining part 4U Welding film 5 Inflator 6 Inflator opening 7 Vent opening 8 Reinforcement body (inflator opening) 8A to 8D Reinforcement laminate 8F Thermoplastic film 8H Opening 8U Welding film 9 Reinforcing body (opening for venting) 10 Base plate 11 Retainer 12 Mounting bolt 13 Insulating layer 14 Electrode B Thermally welded part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A back cloth made of a woven fabric in which the opening for an inflator formed substantially in the center or the periphery of the opening for an inflator and a vent opening formed at an appropriate position are joined and reinforced by heat welding with a reinforcing body. In the airbag formed by joining the outer peripheral portion of the front cover and the outer peripheral portion of a front cloth made of a woven fabric having substantially the same shape as the back cloth into a bag-like shape, at least a heat-welding portion with a welding film interposed between the front and back of the back cloth. An air bag characterized in that a large number of openings are formed in a back cloth located at. 2. The outer peripheral joint between the front cloth and the back cloth made of the woven fabric and the upper surface thereof are also provided with a welding film, and a large number of openings are formed in these front and back cloths located in the heat-welding section. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A plurality of openings formed at the heat-welded portion of the inflator opening of the backing cloth or of the reinforcing body laminated around the inflator opening and the vent opening are provided adjacent to each other. The airbag according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the airbags are arranged so as not to overlap each other between the bodies and the back cloth.