CN113226862B

CN113226862B - Vehicle airbag device

Info

Publication number: CN113226862B
Application number: CN201980085939.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柳万东; 郑永铉; 金东永
Original assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Current assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Priority date: 2018-12-06
Filing date: 2019-11-28
Publication date: 2023-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2039-11-28
Also published as: WO2020116855A1; KR102108039B1; CN113226862A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an airbag device for a vehicle, the airbag device comprising: a housing forming an outer shape; a plurality of inflators that are selectively ignited to generate gas when a vehicle collision occurs; and an airbag cushion accommodated in the case in a rolled or folded state and provided with a plurality of chambers inflated by receiving gas generated from each inflator and deployed toward a front side of a passenger in the event of a collision of a vehicle, wherein the plurality of chambers provided in the airbag cushion are selectively inflated and deployed according to a sitting posture of the passenger to compensate for a distance from the passenger, thereby safely protecting the passenger.

Description

Vehicle airbag device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an airbag device for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an airbag device for a vehicle that restrains and protects a passenger by inflating and deploying upon occurrence of a collision of the vehicle.

Background

Generally, a vehicle airbag device is an airbag device for protecting a passenger by injecting gas into an airbag according to a signal of a collision detection sensor and rapidly inflating the airbag when a vehicle collides.

Such an airbag device is installed in a steering wheel, a dashboard, a seat, a side wall, etc. provided in a vehicle, and protects a passenger by inflating toward the front side or the side of the passenger when the vehicle collides.

That is, the vehicle may be provided with a front airbag that deploys in front of the driver seat and the passenger seat, a curtain airbag and a side airbag that deploys from the passenger side to protect the passenger, a knee airbag for protecting the knees of the passenger, and so on.

Recently, autonomous vehicles that automatically move without being driven by a driver are being developed.

An autonomous vehicle detects a condition of each device provided in the vehicle and a condition around the vehicle by using a high-technology sensor and a high-performance graphic processing device for recognizing surroundings of the vehicle, and travels while controlling an operation of each device provided in the vehicle according to the detection result.

High technology sensors can measure distances between things such as humans and can detect hazards and help the vehicle look at all areas without blind areas. Further, the graphics processing device may capture the surroundings of the vehicle through several cameras and may analyze its images and assist in the safe travel of the vehicle.

For example, an autonomous vehicle may have LiDAR devices, acoustic devices, 3D cameras, radar devices, etc. installed therein.

Since the autonomous vehicle configured as described above does not require the driver to drive, all seats including the driver's seat can be freely rotated, and the angle of the backrest can be adjusted to be horizontal by the tilting operation.

The passenger can adjust the angle of the backrest in various ways, and can rotate the seat and can conduct a meeting facing the passenger on the rear seat.

Therefore, it is not possible to apply the ordinary airbag device designed with reference to the posture of the occupant seated in the seat facing the front of the autonomous vehicle.

Patent document 1 and patent document 2 presented below disclose a passenger protection system configuration for a vehicle.

Since a passenger seated in an autonomous vehicle does not directly drive, the passenger can attend a meeting by rotating the seat in a horizontal direction while traveling to a destination, or can rest by tilting the backrest backward.

Since the seat and the backrest are freely rotatable in the autonomous vehicle, the direction and posture of the passenger can be changed in various ways.

Therefore, there is a need for an airbag technology that safely protects a passenger regardless of the direction and posture of the passenger at the time of a collision of the vehicle.

Fig. 1 is a view showing the states of a passenger and an airbag when a vehicle collides.

As shown in fig. 1, the front airbag device 1 according to the related art has the following problems: when the vehicle collides forward with the backrest 2 tilted backward, the occupant may not be effectively restrained because the distance from the occupant increases (Δa) even if the airbag cushion 3 is inflated and deployed.

For this reason, the airbag device of the vehicle according to the related art may cause injury to the passenger in the event of a vehicle collision accident in the case that the passenger leans backward.

Accordingly, there is a need to develop a technique for safely protecting a passenger by adjusting the inflation volume of an airbag cushion according to the inclination angle of the passenger at the time of a collision of a vehicle.

[ cited references ]

(patent document 1) Korean patent registration No. 10-1655569 (published in 2016, 9, 8)

(patent document 2) Korean patent registration No. 10-1611087 (published on month 11 of 2016)

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

An object of the present disclosure is to solve the above-described problems, and to provide an airbag device for a vehicle that safely protects a passenger by adjusting an inflation volume of an airbag cushion according to an inclination angle of the passenger when the vehicle collides.

It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an airbag device for a vehicle that restrains a passenger by selectively operating a plurality of inflators and an airbag chamber according to an inclination angle of the passenger.

Solution to the problem

In order to achieve the above object, an airbag device for a vehicle according to the present disclosure includes: a housing forming an outer shape; a plurality of inflators that are selectively ignited to generate gas when a vehicle collision occurs; and an airbag cushion that is accommodated in a case in a rolled or folded state and is provided with a plurality of chambers that are inflated and deployed toward a front side of a passenger by receiving gas generated from each inflator at the time of a collision of a vehicle, and the plurality of chambers provided in the airbag cushion are selectively inflated and deployed according to a sitting posture of the passenger.

Advantageous effects of the invention

As described above, the airbag device for a vehicle according to the present disclosure achieves such effects that: a plurality of chambers provided in the airbag cushion are selectively inflated and deployed according to the sitting posture of the occupant.

Thus, according to the present disclosure, there are the following effects: when the passenger leans the backrest backward and is in a leaning posture, the passenger can be effectively restrained and safely protected by inflating and expanding all the multiple chambers to compensate for the distance from the passenger.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a view showing the states of a passenger and an airbag at the time of a collision of a vehicle;

fig. 2 is a configuration view of an airbag device for a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a view showing an operation state at the time of a collision of a vehicle to which the airbag device shown in fig. 2 is applied;

fig. 4 and 5 are exploded views of the first and second chambers of the airbag cushion, respectively; and is also provided with

Fig. 6 and 7 are views showing an operation state when the airbag cushion is inflated and deployed.

Best Mode for Carrying Out The Invention

Hereinafter, an airbag device for a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of the airbag device applied to the passenger seat of the autonomous vehicle will be described, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and it should be noted that the present disclosure may be applied to the passenger seat or the driver seat in the autonomous vehicle and the general vehicle.

Hereinafter, a direction from the passenger seat toward the front surface of the vehicle is referred to as a "forward direction", and a direction toward the rear surface of the vehicle is referred to as a "rearward direction". Together with these terms, terms indicating directions such as "left", "right", "upward direction", and "downward direction" are defined to indicate respective directions with respect to the above-described forward direction and backward direction.

Fig. 2 is a configuration view of an airbag device for a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 3 is a view showing an operation state when a vehicle to which the airbag device shown in fig. 2 is applied collides.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the airbag device 10 for a vehicle according to the present disclosure employs an airbag cushion 40 having a plurality of chambers, and a plurality of inflators 30 for supplying gas to each chamber, and selectively inflates and deploys the plurality of chambers toward the front side of the occupant according to the inclination angle of the seat back in which the occupant sits.

Accordingly, the present disclosure can safely protect a passenger by compensating for a distance from the passenger even when the passenger leans the seat back backward and leans against the back.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first chamber 50 and the second chamber 60 are provided in the airbag cushion 40, and the first inflator 31 and the second inflator 32 are provided in the respective chambers 50, 60 to supply gas, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. It should be noted that changes may be made to provide three or more chambers to the airbag cushion 40 and to apply three or more inflators 30 connected to the respective chambers.

As shown in fig. 2, an airbag device 10 for a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a housing 20 forming an outer shape; a plurality of inflators 30 that are selectively ignited to generate gas when a vehicle collision occurs; and an airbag cushion 40 that is accommodated in the case 20 in a rolled or folded state and is provided with a plurality of chambers that are inflated and deployed toward the front side of the occupant by receiving gas generated from each inflator 30 at the time of a collision of the vehicle.

In addition, the airbag device 10 for a vehicle according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure may further include: an angle detection sensor 13 for detecting an angle of the backrest 12 of the seat 11 in which the passenger sits; and a control unit 14 for generating a control signal for selectively igniting the plurality of inflators 30 based on the detection signal of the angle detection sensor 13 at the time of a collision of the vehicle.

The case 20 may be formed in a substantially hexahedral shape to provide a space for the inflator 30 and the airbag cushion 40 to be accommodated therein, and may be installed at a position corresponding to an instrument panel of the front side of the passenger.

Of course, when the airbag device is applied to the driver seat, the housing 20 may be installed in the steering wheel.

The housing 20 may be provided with a space to accommodate a plurality of inflators 30 and an airbag cushion 40 having a plurality of chambers disposed therein.

A plurality of inflators 30, i.e., a first inflator 31 and a second inflator 32, may be installed on a lower portion of the housing 20 in an upward direction, and may be connected to the first chamber 50 and the second chamber 60 of the airbag cushion 40 accommodated in the housing 20, respectively.

That is, the airbag cushion 40 may include the first chamber 50 and the second chamber 60, and the first chamber 50 and the second chamber 60 may be partially bonded to each other by a sewing scheme or the like so as to be deployed together with each other in the event of a collision of the vehicle.

When the passenger sits in a normal posture (hereinafter, referred to as "normal posture") in which the backrest 12 of the seat 11 is rotated by not more than a preset reference angle, the control unit 14 may generate a control signal to ignite only the first inflator 31.

In addition, when the passenger sits in a posture in which the passenger rotates the backrest 12 beyond a reference angle and then leans or lies on the backrest 12 (hereinafter, a "lean posture"), the control unit 14 may generate a control signal to ignite the first inflator 31 and the second inflator 32 together.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the airbag cushion will be described in detail with reference to fig. 4 to 7.

Fig. 4 and 5 are exploded views of the first chamber and the second chamber of the airbag cushion, respectively, and fig. 6 and 7 are views showing an operation state of the airbag cushion when inflated and deployed.

Fig. 6 is a view showing a state in which only the first chamber of the airbag cushion is inflated and deployed, and fig. 7 is a view showing a state in which both the first chamber and the second chamber are inflated and deployed.

The first chamber 50 is a portion that is inflated and deployed by receiving gas from the first inflator 31, and may be provided with a shape and volume corresponding to those of an ordinary passenger seat airbag cushion.

For example, as shown in fig. 4 and 6, the first chamber 50 may include a main wall portion 51 contacting the front side of the passenger, and a pair of side wall portions 52 forming both side surfaces of the main wall portion 51, such that the first chamber is inflated and expanded in a substantially spherical shape or a hexahedral shape, each corner being rounded.

When viewing fig. 4, the main wall portion 51 may be formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape to have a vertical side longer than a horizontal side.

The pair of side wall portions 52 may be formed in a substantially square plate shape having rounded vertices, and each side wall portion 52 may have a vent hole formed thereon to discharge high-pressure gas supplied to the first chamber 50.

As shown in fig. 5-7, the second chamber 60 is inflated and deployed by receiving gas from the second inflator 32 when the occupant is in a leaning position.

For example, the second chamber 60 may include an inflating portion 61 that inflates and deploys to compensate for the space between the first chamber 50 and the passenger, and a connecting portion 62 that connects with the second inflator 32 to deliver the gas generated from the second inflator 32 to the inflating portion 61.

As shown in fig. 5, the second chamber 60 may include an inner panel 63 contacting the passenger and an outer panel 64 contacting the first chamber 50 and symmetrical to the inner panel, and may be manufactured into a bag by overlapping the inner panel 63 and the outer panel 64 and bonding edges of the inner and outer panels, etc. by a sewing scheme.

The inflated portion 61 may have a shape and a volume set according to a result of measuring a space between the passenger and the first chamber 50 based on the rotation angle of the backrest 12 so as to compensate for the space between the first chamber 50 and the passenger.

That is, the thickness of the inflated portion 61 in the front-rear direction may be set to correspond to the distance between the first chamber 50 and the passenger.

The connection portion 62 is horizontally provided on one side of the first chamber 50, and the side wall portion 51 is provided on the left side of fig. 6 and 7 in the front-rear direction and serves as a passage for delivering the gas generated in the second inflator 32 to the inflation portion 61.

Preferably, the second chamber 60 is partially fixed to the rear surface of the first chamber 50 so as to be unfolded together with the first chamber 50 even when only the first chamber 50 is inflated and unfolded.

For example, the inflated portion 61 may have both side ends fixed to the rear side of the first chamber 50 by stitching or bonding scheme or the like, respectively, while being disposed on the rear surface of the first chamber 50.

That is, when viewing fig. 4, the first bonding portion 53 may be disposed at the left end of the side wall portion 52 disposed at the right side of the main wall portion 51 of the first chamber 50, and the second bonding portion 54 and the third bonding portion 55 may be disposed on both sides of the lower end of the main wall portion 51, respectively.

Further, when viewing fig. 5, a pair of fourth bonding portions 65 bonded to the first bonding portion 53 may be provided at upper ends of regions of the connecting portion 62 provided on the inner and outer panels 63 and 64 of the second chamber 60, respectively, and a pair of sixth bonding portions 67 bonded to the third bonding portion 55 may be provided at outer ends of each region of the inflating portion 61.

Further, the fifth bonding portion 66 bonded to the second bonding portion 54 may be provided at a portion where the inflating portion 61 and the connecting portion 62 provided at the outer panel 64 in contact with the first chamber 50 are connected to each other.

Accordingly, the second chamber 60 is fixed to the first chamber 50 by the combination of the first to sixth bonding portions 53 to 55, 65 to 67, and therefore, when the first chamber 50 is inflated and deployed, the second chamber 60 can be deployed together with the first chamber 50 even if the gas is not supplied from the second inflator 32.

Further, when gas is supplied from the second inflator 32, the second chamber 60 can be inflated and deployed between the first chamber 50 and the passenger, and the distance from the passenger can be compensated.

In this case, since only the outer panel 64 is fixed to the first chamber 50 by the fifth bonding portion 66 and the sixth bonding portion 67, the inner panel 63 of the second chamber 60 can be inflated and deployed by the gas supplied from the connection portion 62.

As described above, the present disclosure can selectively inflate and deploy a plurality of chambers provided in an airbag cushion according to the sitting posture of a passenger.

Accordingly, when the passenger leans back and leans against the backrest, the present invention can compensate for the distance from the passenger by inflating and deploying all of the plurality of chambers, thereby effectively restraining and safely protecting the passenger.

While the present invention made by the inventors of the present application has been specifically described in accordance with the above-described embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be modified in various ways within the scope of the technical spirit of the present disclosure.

That is, in the above-described embodiments, the configuration of the airbag device applied to the passenger seat of the autonomous vehicle has been described, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the present disclosure may be modified to be applicable to the passenger seat or the driver seat in the autonomous vehicle and the ordinary vehicle.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present disclosure is applied to a technology of an airbag device for a vehicle that protects a passenger by selectively inflating and deploying a plurality of chambers provided in an airbag cushion according to the sitting posture of the passenger, and compensating for the distance from the passenger.

Claims

1. An airbag device for a vehicle, the airbag device comprising:

a housing forming an outer shape;

a plurality of inflators that are selectively ignited to generate gas when a vehicle collision occurs; and

an airbag cushion that is housed in the case in a rolled or folded state and is provided with a plurality of chambers that are inflated and deployed toward the front side of the occupant by receiving gas generated from each inflator at the time of collision of the vehicle,

wherein the plurality of chambers provided in the airbag cushion are selectively inflated and deployed according to the sitting posture of the passenger,

wherein the inflator comprises a first inflator and a second inflator,

wherein the airbag cushion includes a first chamber and a second chamber inflated and deployed by receiving gas from the first inflator and the second inflator, and

wherein the second chamber is partially secured to the rear surface of the first chamber so as to be deployed with the first chamber even when only the first chamber is inflated and deployed,

wherein the first chamber includes a main wall portion that contacts the front side of the passenger, and a pair of side wall portions that form both side surfaces of the main wall portion, such that the first chamber is inflated and expanded in a spherical shape or a hexahedral shape, wherein each corner is rounded, wherein the second chamber includes an inflation portion that is inflated and expanded to compensate for a space between the first chamber and the passenger, and a connection portion that is connected to the second inflator to deliver gas generated from the second inflator to the inflation portion, and

wherein a thickness of the inflated portion in a front-rear direction is set to correspond to a distance between the first chamber and the passenger,

wherein the inflated portion of the second chamber is secured to the first chamber by an adhesive scheme.

2. The airbag device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an angle detection sensor for detecting an angle of a seatback on which the passenger sits; and

a control unit for generating a control signal based on a detection signal of the angle detection sensor to selectively ignite the plurality of inflators when the vehicle collides,

wherein when the angle of the backrest is not greater than a preset reference angle, the control unit controls ignition of only one of the inflators only, and

wherein the control unit controls to inflate and deploy all of the plurality of chambers provided in the airbag cushion to compensate for the distance from the occupant when the backrest rotates beyond the reference angle.

3. The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a first bonding portion is provided at the other end of the side wall of the first chamber provided at one side of the main wall portion, wherein a second bonding portion and a third bonding portion are provided on both sides of the lower end of the main wall portion, respectively,

wherein the second compartment comprises an inner panel in contact with the passenger and an outer panel in contact with the first compartment and symmetrical to the inner panel, wherein the second compartment is made into a bag by overlapping the inner and outer panels and bonding the edges of the inner and outer panels by a sewing scheme,

wherein a pair of fourth bonding portions bonded to the first bonding portion are provided at upper ends of regions of the connecting portion provided on the inner panel and the outer panel of the second chamber respectively,

wherein a pair of sixth bonding portions bonded to the third bonding portion are provided at the outer end of each inflated region, and

wherein a fifth bonding portion bonded to the second bonding portion is provided at a portion where the inflating portion and the connecting portion provided at the outer panel in contact with the first chamber are connected to each other.