CN112550206B

CN112550206B - Safety airbag structure

Info

Publication number: CN112550206B
Application number: CN202011460180.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 胡周晶; 汪洪清; 苗强; 薛佳卫; 金明; 谢鼎; 王超; 朱慧莹; 周斌
Original assignee: Shanghai Yanfeng Jinqiao Automotive Trim Systems Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Yanfeng Jinqiao Automotive Trim Systems Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-11
Filing date: 2020-12-11
Publication date: 2022-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-11
Also published as: CN112550206A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an airbag structure, comprising: the airbag door assembly is provided with a hinge, and a latch hook is arranged on the hinge; an airbag guide frame having an opening flange; and an airbag deployable through the firing channel; when the air bag is unfolded, the hinge moves linearly along the unfolding direction of the air bag until the locking hook is abutted against the opening flanging. According to the airbag structure, the hinge of the airbag door assembly moves linearly along the airbag unfolding direction until the latch hook is abutted against the opening flanging of the airbag guide frame, so that the part of the instrument panel body connected with the airbag door is prevented from flying out of the instrument panel body, and the structure is simple.

Description

Safety airbag structure

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a vehicle, and more particularly, to an airbag structure.

Background

An airbag module can be integrated in the dashboard of the vehicle on the passenger side. The airbag is usually disposed inside the instrument panel body, specifically, inside the airbag guide frame. Under the activation condition caused by vehicle collision, the safety airbag is rapidly inflated and expanded, and the instrument panel body is ejected out in the expansion process, so that the air bag of the safety airbag is ejected out of the instrument panel body, and the safety of passengers is protected by utilizing the buffering force.

A weakening line is generally provided along a circumferential direction of the ejected portion of the instrument panel body, and an air bag of the airbag is capable of tearing the ejected portion of the instrument panel body along the weakening line when inflated to facilitate ejection of the corresponding portion of the instrument panel body. In order to prevent the ejected portion of the instrument panel body from flying out during inflation of the airbag bag, causing damage to the driver, passengers, and vehicle, an airbag door assembly is typically provided to connect the ejected portion of the instrument panel body with other components in the instrument assembly.

Currently, most airbag door assemblies are made of elastic bodies, and generally include an airbag guide frame and an airbag door, which are integrally formed. The air bag door is fixedly connected with the instrument panel body. Generally, the portion of the instrument panel body fixedly connected to the airbag door is a portion that is easily ejected from the instrument panel body when the airbag is exploded, and is, for example, an instrument panel body surrounded by a weakened line. The air bag guide frame is fixed in the instrument assembly. When the airbag of the airbag inflates and expands rapidly, the airbag door can be partially torn from the airbag guide frame and overturned towards the outer side of the instrument panel body, and the airbag guide frame and the instrument panel body are connected through the airbag door, so that the situation that the part of the instrument panel body connected with the airbag door flies out of the instrument panel to damage a driver, passengers and a vehicle in the process of expanding the airbag of the airbag is avoided.

However, the structure of the existing airbag door assembly is complicated, and thus, it is urgently required to improve the structure of the existing airbag door assembly to simplify the structure of the airbag door assembly.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problem that the airbag door assembly in the prior art is complex in structure, the invention provides an airbag structure.

According to the airbag structure of the present invention, it includes: the airbag door assembly is provided with a hinge, and a latch hook is arranged on the hinge; an airbag guide frame having an opening flange; and an airbag deployable through the firing channel; when the air bag is unfolded, the hinge moves linearly along the unfolding direction of the air bag until the locking hook is abutted against the opening flanging.

Preferably, the opening flange of the airbag guide frame is located outside the firing channel.

Preferably, the airbag door assembly further comprises a base plate connected with the hinge, and the base plate is fixed with the airbag guide frame in a zero clearance mode. Preferably, the base plate is provided with a positioning pin, the air bag guide frame is provided with a positioning hole, and the positioning pin is inserted into the positioning hole to be matched with the positioning hole so as to realize the fixed connection of the base plate and the air bag guide frame.

Preferably, the base plate and the airbag guide frame cooperate to form a positioning structure to prevent the base plate from being damaged. Preferably, the base plate has a circular hole, and the airbag guide frame has a circular pin, which is inserted into the circular hole to be fitted to provide the positioning structure.

Preferably, the hinge extends linearly.

Preferably, the airbag guide frame has an end face facing the hinge and a recessed channel recessed inward from the end face, and the latch hook protrudes into the recessed channel to be fitted.

Preferably, the hidden channel is arranged to be located completely outside the transmission channel.

Preferably, the hidden channel has a bottom wall and side walls, wherein the side walls extend divergently from the bottom wall opposite to each other, and the opening flanges extend inwardly from the bottom wall and the side walls, respectively, toward the opening such that the hidden channel forms a semi-closed structure.

Preferably, the latch hook keeps the clearance of moving with the inner wall of hidden passageway to ensure that latch hook and the inner wall of hidden passageway keep the clearance all the time during the hinge motion.

Preferably, the shackle includes a protrusion and a vertical flange extending from a distal end of the protrusion, the protrusion and vertical flange forming an L-shaped profile of the shackle.

Preferably, the shackle further comprises a lateral flange extending from the vertical flange, the protrusion and the lateral flange forming a T-shaped profile of the shackle.

According to the airbag structure, the hinge of the airbag door assembly moves linearly along the airbag unfolding direction until the latch hook is abutted against the opening flanging of the airbag guide frame, so that the part of the instrument panel body connected with the airbag door is prevented from flying out of the instrument panel body, and the structure is simple. In particular, the latch hook is formed as a flexible connection between the airbag door assembly and the airbag guide frame that fits into a recessed channel located outside the firing channel of the airbag, thereby reducing the impact experienced to prevent the risk of cracking of the hinge. Furthermore, the latch hook controls the movement track of the air bag door through the lateral flanging and the vertical flanging, and the part of the instrument board body connected with the air bag door is prevented from flying away from the instrument board body.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an overall view of an airbag structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial schematic view of the airbag door assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view of the airbag guide frame of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of an airbag structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a partial transverse cross-sectional view of an airbag structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 1, the airbag structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an airbag door assembly 1, an airbag guide frame 2, an instrument panel body 3, and an airbag 4, wherein the airbag 4 includes an airbag 401 and an airbag housing 402 to which the airbag 401 is mounted and fixed, and a vertically projected contour area of the airbag housing 402 constitutes a launching channel 41 of the airbag 401. The airbag door assembly 1 and the airbag guide frame 2 are fixedly attached (e.g., welded) to the instrument panel body 3, respectively. In the case of activation caused by a vehicle collision, the airbag 401 is rapidly inflated, and the portions of the airbag door assembly 1 and the instrument panel body 3 located above the launching channel 41 are turned upward to form openings so that the airbag 401 is ejected, and the occupant is protected from the impact by the airbag 401. In particular, the airbag guide frame 2 is not provided with any structure within the firing channel 41.

As shown in fig. 2, the airbag door assembly 1 includes an airbag door 11, a hinge 12, and a base plate 13, wherein, referring to fig. 1, the airbag door 11 is located above the launching path 41 and fixedly attached below the instrument panel body 3, and the base plate 13 is located below the airbag guide frame 2 and fixedly attached to the airbag guide frame 2. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the base plate 13 has a plurality of positioning pins 131 and a plurality of circular holes 132, and as shown in fig. 3, the airbag guide frame 2 has a plurality of positioning holes 23 and a plurality of circular pins 24, wherein the positioning holes 23 are engaged with the positioning pins 131 (see fig. 2) of the base plate 13, and the circular pins 24 are engaged with the circular holes 132 (see fig. 2) of the base plate 13.

As shown in fig. 2, the hinge 12 is located between the airbag door 11 and the base plate 13 and is connected to the airbag door 11 and the base plate 13, respectively. The hinge 12 has at least one latch hook 121 on its outer wall that engages with the airbag guide frame 2. Accordingly, as shown in fig. 3, at least one recessed channel 22 is provided on the end face 21 of the airbag guide frame 2 facing the hinge 12, and the latch hook 121 protrudes into the recessed channel 22 to be engaged, as shown in fig. 1. In the present embodiment, four latch hooks 121 are uniformly provided on the hinge 12 of the airbag door assembly 1 in the lateral direction, and four hidden passages 22 are correspondingly provided on the airbag guide frame 2, as shown in fig. 6.

As shown in fig. 2, the latch hook 121 includes a projection 1211 protruding toward the airbag guide frame 2 (see fig. 1), the projection 1211 has a tip end extending toward the top to form a vertical flange 1212, and the vertical flange 1212 extends toward both sides to form lateral flanges 1213. As such, in the longitudinal cross-sectional view shown in fig. 4, the protrusion 1211 and the vertical turned edge 1212 of the hook latch 121 assume an approximately L-shape, and in the transverse cross-sectional view shown in fig. 5, the protrusion 1211 and the lateral turned edge 1213 of the hook latch 121 assume an approximately T-shape.

As shown in fig. 3, the hidden channel 22 has a bottom wall 221, side walls 222 and an opening flange 223, wherein the side walls 222 extend divergently upward from the bottom wall 221 opposite to each other to form a chamber with a large upper part and a small lower part (i.e., the upper opening is larger than the bottom wall), and the opening flange 223 extends upward from the bottom wall 221 and inward from the side walls 222 so that the hidden channel 22 forms a semi-closed structure with a large front opening chamber. As such, in the longitudinal sectional view shown in fig. 4, the protrusion 1211 of the latch hook 121 is disposed facing the opening flange 223, the vertical flange 1212 of the latch hook 121 is disposed facing the bottom wall 221, and the distance d1 between the vertical flange 1212 and the bottom wall 221 is greater than the distance d2 between the protrusion 1211 and the opening flange 223, so that when the hinge 12 is linearly moved in the vertical direction until the opening flange 223 interferes with the protrusion 1211 of the latch hook 121, there is still a space between the vertical flange 1212 and the bottom wall 221. In the transverse cross-sectional view shown in fig. 5, lateral flanges 1213 of shackle 121 are disposed facing sidewall 222. In particular, the latch hook 121 is integrally arranged to maintain a movement gap with the hidden channel 22, for example, during the linear movement of the hinge 12, the vertical flange 1212 and the lateral flange 1213 of the latch hook 121 always maintain a gap of 1-2 mm with the inner wall of the hidden channel 22, respectively, so as to ensure that the hinge maintains a linear movement hinge along the airbag deployment direction when the airbag deploys.

As shown in fig. 5, the lateral flange 1213 and the opening flange 223 form a lateral overlapping amount, that is, the latch hook 121 cannot be pulled out from the opening of the opening flange 223 after being inserted into the hidden channel 22 through the lateral flange 1213, so as to perform constraint control on the lateral movement of the hinge 12, and avoid that, in the later stage of inflation of the airbag 401, the final deployment posture of the airbag 401 is affected by the uncontrolled movement (lateral movement) of the hinge 12, so that the airbag door 11 does not move according to a predetermined trajectory, and thus uncontrollable collision and risk occur. Meanwhile, the lateral turned edge 1213 of the latch hook 121 may also restrain the transverse relative distance between the hinge 12 and the airbag guide frame 2 to be consistent during blasting, so that the contact time point of the protrusion 1211 of the latch hook 121 and the opening turned edge 223 is more stable and controllable, and the fracture risk of the hinge 12 is further reduced.

In the specific installation process of the airbag structure according to the present invention, the latch hook 121 of the hinge 12 of the airbag door assembly 1 is pre-aligned with the hidden channel 22 of the airbag guide frame 2 and slides vertically until the positioning pin 131 on the base plate 13 and the positioning hole 23 on the airbag guide frame 2 are sleeved in place, as shown in fig. 1, and the gap between the upper surface of the base plate 13 and the lower surface of the airbag guide frame 2 is zero. Then, the airbag door assembly 1 and the airbag guide frame 2 are connected with the instrument panel body 3 together in a welding device through a vibration friction welding process, wherein welding ribs between the airbag door assembly 1 and the instrument panel body 3 are welded integrally, and welding ribs between the airbag guide frame 2 and the instrument panel body 3 are welded integrally. In the present embodiment, the hidden channel 22 of the airbag guide frame 2 has high structural strength by virtue of a semi-closed structure, and can effectively transmit the downward pressure during welding; furthermore, no solder connection occurs between the substrate 13 and the airbag guide frame 2, ensuring that the substrate 13 is free from any structural damage. Moreover, with such a positioning structure that the circular pin 24 (see fig. 3) of the airbag guide frame 2 is inserted into the circular hole 132 (see fig. 2) of the substrate 13, the airbag guide frame 2 can ensure that the substrate 13 and the airbag guide frame 2 do not undergo lateral relative displacement in the vibration welding movement direction in the vibration friction welding process of the instrument panel body 3, thereby avoiding damage to the substrate 13, and therefore the welding rib 25 between the airbag guide frame 2 and the instrument panel body 3 can be arranged within the projection area of the substrate 13. In addition, the supporting ribs are uniformly distributed on the air bag guide frame 2, so that the base plate 13 is prevented from being crushed or damaged by the downward pressure during welding.

In the airbag activation state, the airbag door 11 of the airbag door assembly 1 is impacted by the inflated airbag 401, and the instrument panel body 3 welded to the airbag door 11 is separated from the rest of the instrument panel body 3 at the laser weakened portion in advance and turned upward. The base plate 13 of the airbag door assembly 1 is firmly fixed to the airbag guide frame 2 by the positioning pins 131. The hinge 12 is then stretched and deformed, and moves linearly in the hidden channel 22 of the airbag guide frame 2 until the protrusion 1211 of the latch hook 121 abuts against the opening flange 223 of the hidden channel 22. The linear movement mentioned here has significant advantages over the rotation that occurs with a bent hinge. In the unfolding process of the air bag 401, the linearly extending hinge 12 moves along a straight line, so that no structure intrudes into the range of the launching channel 41 to interfere the unfolding of the air bag 401 in the range of the launching channel 41, the air bag 401 is unfolded more smoothly, the extrusion of the air bag 401 on the hinge 12 is relatively reduced, the deformation of the hinge 12 is reduced, the risk of over-stretching and breaking of the hinge 12 is reduced, and the air bag door 11 is prevented from flying out.

The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and various changes may be made in the above embodiments of the present invention. All simple and equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and the content of the specification of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present patent application. The invention has not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the invention.

Claims

1. An airbag structure characterized by comprising:

the airbag door assembly is provided with a hinge, a lock hook is arranged on the hinge, the lock hook comprises a protruding part, a vertical flanging and a lateral flanging, the vertical flanging extends from the tail end of the protruding part and forms an L-shaped contour of the lock hook with the protruding part, and the lateral flanging extends from the vertical flanging and forms a T-shaped contour of the lock hook with the protruding part;

the air bag guide frame is provided with an end face facing the hinge and a hidden channel sunken inwards from the end face, the lock hook extends into the hidden channel to be matched, the hidden channel is provided with a bottom wall, side walls and opening flanges, the side walls oppositely and divergently extend from the bottom wall, and the opening flanges respectively extend inwards from the bottom wall and the side walls towards the opening so that the hidden channel forms a semi-closed structure; and

the airbag comprises an airbag and an airbag shell for installing and fixing the airbag, wherein a vertical projection outline area of the airbag shell forms a transmitting channel, and the airbag can be unfolded through the transmitting channel;

when the air bag is unfolded, the hinge moves linearly along the unfolding direction of the air bag until the protruding part of the locking hook is abutted against the opening flanging; in the process of linear movement of the hinge, a gap is always kept between the vertical flanging of the lock hook and the bottom wall of the hidden channel, and a gap is always kept between the lateral flanging of the lock hook and the side wall of the hidden channel; the locking hook is prevented from being disengaged from the opening of the opening flanging through the lateral flanging to restrain and control the transverse movement of the hinge.

2. The airbag structure of claim 1, wherein the airbag door assembly further comprises a base plate coupled to the hinge, the base plate being secured to the airbag guide frame with zero clearance.

3. The airbag structure of claim 2, wherein the base plate and the airbag guide frame cooperate to form a positioning structure to prevent damage to the base plate.

4. The airbag structure according to claim 1, wherein the hinge extends linearly.

5. The airbag structure according to claim 1, wherein the opening flange of the airbag guide frame is located outside the firing channel.

6. The airbag structure of claim 1, wherein the recessed channel is disposed entirely outside of the firing channel.