CN117302097A

CN117302097A - Occupant protection device

Info

Publication number: CN117302097A
Application number: CN202310763340.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柿本宪志; 饭田崇; 山田真史; 酒井崇
Original assignee: Toyoda Gosei Co Ltd
Current assignee: Toyoda Gosei Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-06-27
Filing date: 2023-06-27
Publication date: 2023-12-29
Also published as: JP2024003650A

Abstract

Provided is an occupant protection device capable of suppressing lateral swing of a waist airbag during deployment and inflation. The occupant protection device (S) has a seat belt (7), a lumbar airbag device (SA), and a pair of side airbag devices (SB 1, SB 2). A lumbar airbag device (SA) has a lumbar airbag (25) disposed in the region of a waist belt (10) that restrains the waist of an occupant (MP), and the lumbar airbag (25) is inflated so as to protect the upper body of the occupant (MP). The side airbag devices (SB 1, SB 2) are provided with side airbags (71) on the left and right sides of the airbag main body (26) of the waist airbag (25), respectively, and the side airbags (71) are inflated so as to overlap with the inflated airbag main body (26) of the waist airbag (25) in a side view, and the side airbags (71) are brought into contact with the airbag main body (26) of the waist airbag (25) to restrict the swing of the waist airbag (25) in the left-right direction during inflation.

Description

Occupant protection device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a seat.

Background

Conventionally, there is a seat belt having a waist airbag disposed in a region of a lap belt that restrains a waist of an occupant when worn (for example, see patent literature 1). In this occupant protection device, during a frontal collision, the inflation gas generated in the inflator is introduced into the lumbar region airbag, and the lumbar region airbag is inflated upward and forward from the lap belt, thereby protecting the upper body of the occupant.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2020-66425

In the occupant protection device described in patent document 1, since the inflation gas generated in the inflator is introduced into the lumbar airbag (specifically, into the airbag main body that is inflated and deployed) from one side in the lateral direction of the seat (specifically, the left side of the seat), the airbag main body tends to swing in the lateral direction when inflated and deployed, and as a result, the airbag main body after inflation may deviate from the original position.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device capable of suppressing the lateral swing of a waist airbag at the time of deployment and inflation.

The occupant protection device according to the present invention is an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a seat, comprising:

a seat belt;

a lumbar airbag device that has a lumbar airbag disposed in a region of the seat belt that restrains a lumbar region of the occupant when worn, and that inflates the lumbar airbag so as to protect an upper body of the occupant; and

and a pair of swing restricting airbag devices including swing restricting airbags disposed on left and right sides of the waist airbag, the airbags being inflated so as to overlap with an airbag main body of the waist airbag inflated in a side view, and the swing in a left-right direction at the time of inflation of the waist airbag being restricted by contact of the airbags with the airbag main body of the waist airbag.

According to the occupant protection device of the present invention, even when the lumbar airbag swings to either one of the right and left directions at the time of deployment and inflation, the swing of the lumbar airbag can be suppressed by contact with the airbag for swing restriction provided to the side of the lumbar airbag.

Here, the swing restricting airbag device may be constituted by a side airbag device,

that is, the seat has a waist protecting portion capable of receiving the waist of the occupant seated in the seat and/or a chest protecting portion capable of receiving the chest of the occupant when the inflation is completed.

In the occupant protection device according to the present invention, the airbag of the side airbag device is configured to have a low-pressure expansion chamber and a high-pressure expansion chamber having an internal pressure higher than that of the low-pressure expansion chamber when the inflation is completed, and the portion where the high-pressure expansion chamber is formed can be brought into contact with the lumbar airbag.

This makes it possible to enhance the effect of restricting the swing by bringing the portion where the high-pressure expansion chamber is formed into contact with the lumbar balloon.

In the airbag of the side airbag device, an inflator is disposed so as to supply inflation gas to the high-pressure inflation chamber in priority, and,

the high-pressure expansion chamber and the low-pressure expansion chamber may be partitioned by a partition wall, and a communication passage extending in a tubular manner toward the high-pressure expansion chamber may be formed such that the communication passage is pressure-contacted with each other by receiving an internal pressure of the high-pressure expansion chamber at a peripheral wall portion, and the communication passage may function as a check valve for suppressing an outflow of the expansion gas from the high-pressure expansion chamber to the low-pressure expansion chamber.

This makes it possible to realize an airbag having a high-pressure expansion chamber and a low-pressure expansion chamber with a simple structure using one inflator.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an oblique view of a seat in which an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the seat of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the seat of fig. 1, showing a state in which the seat belt is worn.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a single body of a waist airbag used in the occupant protection device is inflated.

Fig. 5 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lumbar airbag of fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a base fabric constituting the waist airbag of fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a side airbag device including fig. 2, corresponding to the VII-VII portion of fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a front view of an airbag used in the side airbag device of fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the airbag of fig. 8 in a state where folds are deployed.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the seat in a state in which the inflation of the air bag is completed in the occupant protection device of the embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a side view of the seat in a state in which the inflation of the airbag is completed in the occupant protection device of the embodiment.

Detailed Description

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The occupant protection device S of the present embodiment is mounted on the seat 1 of the vehicle, and has a structure including: a seat belt 7; a waist airbag device SA; a pair of left and right side airbag devices SB1, SB2;

and a control device 6 that controls the waist airbag device SA and the side airbag devices SB1 and SB2. The seat 1 has a backrest 2 and a seat 3.

The seat belt 7 has a structure including: a seat belt main body 8 for restraining an occupant MP seated in the seat 1; a tongue plate 12 attached to the seat belt main body 8;

and a buckle 13 for connecting the tongue plate 12. The seat belt main body 8 is locked at one end to a winding shaft of a retractor (not shown) disposed in the backrest portion 2, and is locked at the other end to an anchor member 14 (see fig. 1 and 2) disposed on the left side of the rear end 3b of the seat portion 3 of the seat 1. Specifically, the seat belt main body 8 is disposed so as to be exposed to the outside from the upper end left edge side of the backrest 2, and in the present embodiment, in the non-sitting state of the occupant, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the lap belt 10 on which the lumbar airbag 25 is disposed is configured so as to be exposed to the front surface of the backrest 2. The seat belt main body 8 has a lap belt 10 and a shoulder belt 9 accommodated in the backrest 2, and is configured to restrain a lower body MD (waist portion) of the occupant MP by the lap belt 10 disposed substantially in the left-right direction between the anchor member 14 and the buckle 13 in a state in which the tongue plate 12 is coupled to the buckle 13 when the occupant sits, and to restrain an upper body MU (from the head MH and the shoulder to the chest MB) of the occupant MP by the shoulder belt 9 extending from the upper left edge side of the backrest 2 and disposed obliquely to the buckle 13 (see fig. 3). In addition, a retractor, not shown, disposed in the backrest 2 has a pretensioner mechanism with respect to the seat belt 7.

Next, the waist airbag apparatus SA is configured to have the waist airbag 25 and the inflator 17.

The inflator 17 is disposed below the seat surface 3a of the seat 1. As shown in fig. 2, the inflator 17 has: a substantially cylindrical inflator body 18 (not shown in detail) disposed on the rear surface side below the seat portion 3 so that the axial direction is substantially along the left-right direction; and a tube portion 19 extending from the inflator body 18 and supplying inflation gas to the airbag 25. The tube portion 19 is disposed so as to extend from the inflator main body 18 such that a distal end thereof is located near a boundary portion between the seat portion 3 and the backrest portion 2 on the left side of the seat 1, and is configured such that the distal end thereof is connected to a conduit portion 40 (described later) of the lumbar airbag 25 by a clamp 20 (see fig. 1 and 2).

In order to restrict the extraction of the seat belt body 8 of the seat belt 7 in accordance with the inflation of the lumbar airbag 25, the inflator 17 of the present embodiment is set so that the start of operation is delayed from the pretensioner mechanism of the seat belt 7. Specifically, the inflator 17 is set to operate after 5ms with respect to the operation of the pretensioner mechanism of the seat belt 7.

The waist airbag 25 is folded into a long shape, overlapped with the upper surface side of the lap belt 10 when the seat belt 7 is worn, and disposed in the area of the lap belt 10 (see fig. 3). That is, in the non-worn state shown in fig. 1, the waist airbag 25 is disposed on the back surface side (the backrest 2 side) of the waistband 10. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the waist airbag 25 and the waist belt 10 are integrated by being covered with a cover 22 that can be broken when the waist airbag 25 is deployed and inflated. That is, the gap between the waist belt 10 and the cover 22 constitutes a storage portion for storing the waist airbag 25.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the lumbar airbag 25 includes: an airbag main body 26; a duct portion 40 connected to the inflator 17 so that the inflation gas flows into the airbag main body 26; and a seat belt mounting portion 47 into which the belt 10 is inserted.

The airbag main body 26 has an outer shape when inflated, and is formed in a substantially triangular prism shape with its axial direction substantially along the left-right direction. Specifically, the airbag main body 26 is configured such that the inflated shape in a state seen from the left and right sides is formed into an approximately right triangle having a hypotenuse at the front side, and such that the inflated shape in a state seen from the front and rear direction sides is formed into an approximately rectangle having a large vertical width (see fig. 3). The airbag main body 26 has: a front wall portion 27 that is disposed on a front side away from the occupant MP when the inflation is completed; a rear upper wall portion 28 and a rear lower wall portion 29 that are disposed on the occupant MP side when the inflation is completed; and a left side wall portion 30 and a right side wall portion 31 which are disposed so as to face each other on the left-right direction side when the inflation is completed. The balloon main body 26 has a communication hole 33 communicating with the duct 40 on the lower surface side of the rear end 29a of the rear lower wall portion 29, and is connected to the duct 40 at a peripheral edge portion of the communication hole 33. In the present embodiment, 2 communication holes 33 are provided in parallel on the left-right direction side so as to be substantially laterally symmetrical across the center of the airbag main body 26 in the left-right direction, with a circular opening. Further, ventilation holes 34, 34 for discharging the remaining inflation gas are formed near the upper and lower centers of the left and right edges of the front wall 27. In the airbag main body 26 of the present embodiment, the rear lower wall portion 29 forms a leg contact surface 36 that can contact the upper surface of the leg portion (thigh portion) of the occupant MP when inflation is completed, and the rear upper wall portion 28 is disposed in front of the occupant MP when inflation is completed to form an upper body restraining surface 37 that can restrain the portion from the chest to the head of the occupant MP. In the case of the present embodiment, the outer shape of the airbag main body 26 in the inflated state of the rear upper wall portion 28 and the rear lower wall portion 29 is formed in an approximately rectangular shape along the longitudinal direction on the front-rear direction side or the up-down direction side, respectively, and is configured such that the width dimensions on the longitudinal direction side are uniform as shown in fig. 5. The rear upper wall portion 28 is configured such that the upper end 28a is positioned in front of the head MH of the occupant when the airbag main body is inflated (see fig. 11). The rear upper wall portion 28 and the rear lower wall portion 29 are disposed substantially perpendicularly to each other in a cross-sectional shape of the airbag main body 26 after inflation is completed (see fig. 5).

The conduit portion 40 is connected to the tube portion 19 of the inflator 17. As shown in fig. 4, the front end 40b side connected to the airbag main body 26 is closed so that the base portion 40a side is opened so as to be connectable to the tube portion 19, and is disposed in the left-right direction so as to be substantially along the waist belt 10 when the waist airbag 25 is completely inflated. As shown in fig. 4, the duct portion 40 is configured such that a region on the distal end 40b side is disposed on the lower surface side of the airbag main body 26 at the time of completion of inflation, and such that the region on the distal end 40b side has a large width, thereby forming a gas reservoir portion 41 that temporarily stores inflation gas flowing into the interior. As described above, the duct portion 40 connects the base portion 40a side with the tube portion 19 of the inflator 17 by the clamp 20. The gas reservoir 41 has a width that is about 2 times the width of the portion of the duct 40 on the base 40a side. The gas reservoir 41 is configured such that the width dimension in the lateral direction is substantially the same as the width dimension in the lateral direction of the rear lower edge side portion (the vicinity of the placement portion of the communication hole 33) of the airbag main body 26 (see fig. 4 and 6). The gas reservoir 41 is formed with an opening 41a corresponding to the communication hole 33 formed in the airbag main body 26. In the present embodiment, the duct 40 is formed in a tubular shape by joining the peripheral edges of the upper wall 43 and the lower wall 44 having the same outer shape, and the opening 41a is formed in the region of the upper wall 43. The opening 41a is formed such that the peripheral edge is joined (sewn) to the peripheral edge of the communication hole 33 over the entire circumference.

The seat belt attaching portion 47 is disposed on the lower surface side (lower wall portion 44 side) of the region of the gas storage portion 41 of the duct portion 40 so that the waist belt 10 can be inserted and the both end sides thereof can be opened in a nearly tubular shape to be sewn to the lower wall portion 44 (see fig. 4 and 5). The length of the seat belt mounting portion 47 is set to be slightly smaller than the width of the gas reservoir portion 41 on the left-right direction side. That is, the seat belt attaching portion 47 is set to have a large length dimension along the direction side of the lap belt 10 so that excessive lifting of the airbag main body 26 from the lap belt 10 at the time of deployment and inflation can be suppressed.

The waist airbag 25 of the present embodiment is formed by joining the peripheral edges of a base fabric having a predetermined shape to each other, and is configured by, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, the following components: 2 occupant side panels 50 and a front side panel 55 constituting the airbag main body 26; 2 duct section panels 57 and 58 constituting the duct section 40; and a webbing-attaching panel 60 that constitutes a webbing-attaching portion 47. The occupant side panel 50, the front side panel 55, the duct portion panels 57 and 58, and the seat belt attaching panel 60 are each formed of a flexible woven fabric made of polyester yarn, polyamide yarn, or the like.

In the occupant protection device S of the embodiment thus configured, if the inflator 17 of the waist airbag device SA is operated in a state of being mounted on the vehicle, the inflation gas discharged from the inflator 17 flows into the airbag main body 26 from the left side of the seat through the duct portion 40, and the cover 22 is broken to cause the airbag main body 26 to bulge upward and forward from the lap belt 10. Here, in the waist airbag device SA, the airbag main body 26 tends to swing in the left-right direction when deployed and inflated, and as a result, there is a possibility that the inflated airbag main body 26 may deviate from the original position.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, there are also a pair of left and right side airbag devices SB1, SB2 as a swing restricting airbag device that restricts the swing of the airbag main body 26 of the waist airbag 25. Here, the side airbag device SB1 is disposed on the left side of the waist airbag 25, and the side airbag device SB2 is disposed on the right side of the waist airbag 25. The pair of side airbag devices SB1 and SB2 are formed in substantially the same configuration, and the side airbag device SB1 will be mainly described below, and elements having the same functions as those of the side airbag device SB1 in the other side airbag device SB2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the side airbag device SB1, and description thereof will be omitted.

The side airbag device SB1 includes a side airbag 71 and an inflator 72, and as shown in fig. 7, the side airbag 71 is stored in a folded state in the backrest 2, and the inflator 72 for supplying inflation gas to the side airbag 71 is stored. The inflator 72 is fixed to the seat frame 4 that forms the skeleton of the backrest 2 together with the side air bag 71 in the folded state.

Further, if the side airbag (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as an airbag) 71 is supplied with inflation gas from the inflator 72, the folded airbag 71 starts to expand.

In fig. 7, 67 is a seat cushion, and 68 and 69 are covers made of a decorative cloth or the like. The left edge 67a of the seat cushion 67 in the drawing is covered from the front side to the left side with respect to the side airbag device SB 1. Further, the portion sandwiched between the front corner 67c of the seat cushion 67 and the slit 70 is a planned fracture portion 67d, and if the airbag 71 in a folded state starts to expand and expand by supplying the inflation gas from the inflator 72 to the airbag 71, the seat cushion 67 breaks at the planned fracture portion 67d, and the edge portion 67a is pressed by the airbag 71 when the airbag 71 expands, as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure, and is separated from the center portion 67b of the seat cushion 67.

As shown in fig. 10 and 11, the airbag 71 is deployed and inflated laterally of the lumbar airbag 25 (specifically, the airbag main body 26) and laterally of the occupant MP seated in the seat 1. At this time, the airbag 71 is covered from the side so as to protect the chest MB of the occupant MP to the vicinity of the waist, and is formed in a shape overlapping with the waist main body 26 of the inflated waist airbag 25 in the side view shown in fig. 11. The overlapping portion of the airbag 71 contacts the left side wall portion 30 of the airbag main body 26 of the lumbar airbag 25, and can restrict the left-right direction swing when the airbag main body 26 is inflated. In order to enhance the effect of the swing restriction, it is preferable to increase the overlapping length with the airbag main body 26. For example, in the side view shown in fig. 11, on the normal line of the front wall portion 27 passing from the rear end top portion 38 of the airbag main body 26, the overlapping length L1 with the airbag main body 26 is preferably greater than or equal to 1/3 of the airbag length L from the rear end top portion 38 of the airbag main body 26 to the front wall portion 27.

Next, a basic structure of the airbag 71 will be described. Fig. 8 shows a side structure of the airbag 71 before deployment and expansion, and fig. 9 shows a planar structure of the base fabric 76 forming the airbag 71. The airbag 71 of the side airbag device SB1 has the following structure: an airbag main body 73 into which inflation gas can flow; and a dividing wall 74 that divides the region within the airbag main body 73.

As shown in fig. 8 and 9, with respect to the airbag main body 73, one base cloth 76 is folded into two at a fold 76A so that outer edge portions of the base cloth 76 overlap each other in the thickness direction, and the outer edge portions are sewn together along a sewing trace 76B and joined to form a bag shape. In the present embodiment, a woven fabric made of a material having high strength and flexibility (for example, polyester yarn or polyamide yarn) is used as the base fabric 76.

The airbag main body 73 has a low-pressure expansion chamber 82 and a high-pressure expansion chamber 81 having an inner pressure higher than that of the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 when the inflation is completed. The high-pressure expansion chamber 81 is formed to have a large width in the front-rear direction on the lower end side of the airbag main body 73 for the swing restriction of the waist airbag 25. The high-pressure expansion chamber 81 is also configured to be capable of receiving a lumbar protection portion of the lumbar region of the occupant MP seated in the seat 1 when the expansion is completed. On the other hand, the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 is formed to extend in the up-down direction so as to cover a portion from the chest MB to the shoulder of the occupant MP on the upper side of the high-pressure expansion chamber 81, and when the expansion is completed, a chest protecting portion capable of receiving the chest of the occupant MP is formed.

A partition wall 74 that partitions a high-pressure expansion chamber 81 and a low-pressure expansion chamber 82 is provided inside the airbag main body 73. In the present embodiment, a woven fabric of the same material as the base fabric 76 is used as the partition wall 74.

The partition wall 74 is disposed so as to extend from the fold 76A of the base fabric 76 to an end portion (end portion on the left side in fig. 8) opposite to the fold 76A in a state where one piece of cloth is folded into two along the fold 76A of the base fabric 76 so that they overlap in the thickness direction. The edges of the partition wall 74 on the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 side (upper side in fig. 8 and 9) in the figure are not sewn to each other, and are sewn to the base fabric 76 along the sewn marks 74A, respectively. On the other hand, the edge portion of the partition wall 74 on the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 side (lower side in fig. 8 and 9) is not sewn to the base fabric 76 except for a part thereof, and most of the edge portion (more specifically, the portions of the stitching marks 74B, 74C, and 74D) are sewn to each other. The seam mark 74B in the portion of the partition wall 74 where the edges on the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 side are sewn together is formed in a shape that starts from the crease 76A of the base fabric 76 and extends in a straight line from the position on the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 side toward the inside of the high-pressure expansion chamber 81. On the other hand, the sewing trace 74C is formed in a shape that starts from an end (end on the left in fig. 8) of the base fabric 76 facing the crease 76A and extends in a direction substantially orthogonal to the crease 76A. On the other hand, the stitching trace 74D is formed in a shape that extends continuously from an end portion on the crease 76A side (right side in fig. 8) of the stitching trace 74C, and is in a shape that extends substantially parallel to the stitching trace 74B with a space therebetween.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing a state in which the base fabric 76 and the partition wall 74 are opened around the fold 76A by releasing the stitching along the stitching trace 76B of the base fabric 76 of the airbag 71 shown in fig. 8 and the stitching along the stitching traces 74B, 74C, and 74D of the partition wall 74. As shown in fig. 9, the edge portion on the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 side (upper side in fig. 9) of the partition wall 74 is sewn to the base fabric 76 along the sewing trace 74A. The base fabric 76 and the partition wall 74 are folded in two about the fold 76A so that the stitching marks 76B of the base fabric 76 overlap in the thickness direction and the stitching marks 74B, 74C, 74D of the partition wall 74 overlap in the thickness direction. The partition walls 74 in the overlapped state are sewn along the sewing marks 74B, 74C, and 74D, and the base fabric 76 in the overlapped state in the thickness direction is sewn along the sewing mark 76B. In the present embodiment, the side air bag 71 is formed by sewing the base cloth 76 and the partition wall 74 in this manner, and the partition wall 74 functions as a partition wall that divides the interior of the air bag 71 into the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 and the low-pressure expansion chamber 82.

The portions of the partition wall 74 where the stitching marks 74B and 74D are formed are configured to have two stitching marks 74B and 74D formed in a shape extending substantially parallel to the partition wall 74 in a state of being overlapped in the thickness direction, and thus function as a passage (communication passage 75) for communicating the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 with the low-pressure expansion chamber 82. The communication path 75 is formed in a tubular shape by inflow of the inflation gas at the time of deployment and inflation of the side airbag 71, and allows the inflation gas to pass therethrough. The communication path 75 is formed at a position near the crease 76A of the partition wall 74.

As shown in fig. 8, the inflator 72 is disposed in the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 at a position near the crease 76A, in other words, near the communication passage 75. Specifically, the inflator 72 is mounted such that the discharge direction of the inflation gas from the gas supply port 72A is directed to the inside of a communication port (in this embodiment, the opening of the communication passage 75 on the low-pressure inflation chamber 82 side) that communicates the high-pressure inflation chamber 81 with the low-pressure inflation chamber 82.

Since the inflator 72 is disposed in this manner, the expansion gas ejected from the inflator 72 generates a flow of the expansion gas flowing from the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 side toward the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 side in the communication path 75. The inflation gas discharged from the inflator 72 is thereby preferentially supplied to the high-pressure inflation chamber 81. A part of the inflation gas discharged from the inflator 72 is also supplied to the low-pressure inflation chamber 82. In the present embodiment, since the inflation gas is supplied to the inside of the side air bag 71, the internal pressure of the high-pressure inflation chamber 81 can be increased and the internal pressure of the low-pressure inflation chamber 82 can be reduced.

The device of the present embodiment is configured such that, when the side airbag 71 is deployed and inflated, if the high-pressure inflation chamber 81 is in a fully inflated state, the opposing portions (specifically, the portion where the sewing marks 74B and the portion where the sewing marks 74D are formed) of the partition wall 74 constituting the communication passage 75 approach each other. At this time, in order to reduce the passage cross-sectional area of the communication passage 75, the communication passage 75 is made to function as a check valve that suppresses the outflow of the expansion gas from the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 to the low-pressure expansion chamber 82. This makes it possible to supply the expansion gas to the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 while maintaining the internal pressure of the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 at a high pressure.

The inflator 17 of the waist airbag apparatus SA and the inflators 72, 72 of the side airbag apparatuses SB1, SB2 configured as described above are connected to the control device 6 (see fig. 2). The control device 6 operates the inflators 17, 72 based on a detection signal from an impact sensor, not shown, and supplies inflation gas to the lumbar airbag 25 and the side airbags 71, 71. The timing at which the operation of the side airbag devices SB1, SB2 is started may be set to be 15 to 30ms later than the waist airbag device SA, and the waist airbag 25 to be the subject of the swing restriction may be inflated first, and thereafter the airbag 71 for restricting the swing may be inflated.

In the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, if the inflator 17 of the lumbar airbag device SA is operated, the inflation gas discharged from the inflator 17 flows into the airbag main body 26 of the lumbar airbag 25 via the duct portion 40, the airbag main body 26 breaks the cover 22, protrudes upward and forward from the waist belt 10, and completes inflation as shown in fig. 10 and 11.

In the present embodiment, the side airbags 71 and 71 for restricting the swing, which are disposed on the left and right sides of the lumbar airbag 25, are inflated forward so as to sandwich the airbag main body 26 of the lumbar airbag 25, simultaneously with or slightly delayed from the lumbar airbag 25, so that the swing of the lumbar airbag 25 in the left-right direction can be suppressed, and the displacement of the lumbar airbag 25 due to the swing in the left-right direction can be avoided.

In the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, the lumbar airbag 25 (specifically, the airbag main body 26) is formed in a shape when inflated so as to have a substantially triangular prism shape in which the axial direction is substantially in the right-left direction, and the leg contact surface 36 is placed in contact with the upper surface of the leg MT and on the front side of the upper body MU of the occupant MP. Therefore, when the lumbar airbag 25 is inflated, even if the occupant MP moves greatly so that the upper body MU approaches the lower body MD, the leg contact surface 36 is supported by the leg MT in a large area, and therefore tilting and compression can be suppressed, and the upper body MU (from the chest MB to the head MH) of the occupant MP can be reliably restrained by the upper body restraining surface 37 arranged to face the front side of the upper body MU.

In addition, with respect to the left and right side airbags 71, after the inflation is completed, the portion different from the portion functioning as the swing restriction functions as the chest protection portion that covers the chest MB of the occupant MP and the waist protection portion that covers the side of the waist portion, so movement of the occupant MP in the left-right direction can be reliably restrained.

According to the occupant protection device S of the above embodiment, even when the lumbar airbag 25 swings in either the left-right direction at the time of deployment and inflation, the swing of the lumbar airbag 25 can be suppressed by contact with the side swing restricting airbags 71 and 71 disposed on the sides of the lumbar airbag 25, and misalignment of the lumbar airbag 25 due to the swing in the left-right direction can be avoided.

In the occupant protection device S according to the embodiment, the swing restricting airbag device is configured by the side airbag devices SB1, SB2 having the waist portion protection portion capable of receiving the waist portion of the occupant MP seated in the seat 1 and the chest portion protection portion capable of receiving the chest portion MB of the occupant MP when the inflation is completed, and therefore, the movement of the occupant MP in the left-right direction can be reliably restrained.

In the occupant protection device S according to the embodiment, the airbags 71 and 71 of the side airbag devices SB1 and SB2 are configured to have the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 and the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 when the inflation is completed, and the portion where the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 is formed is brought into contact with the lumbar airbag 25, so that the effect of restricting the swing of the lumbar airbag 25 can be improved.

In the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, the communication path 75 extending in a tubular manner toward the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 is formed in the partition wall 74 that partitions the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 and the low-pressure expansion chamber 82, and the peripheral wall portion of the communication path 75 is pressed against each other by the internal pressure of the high-pressure expansion chamber 81, and functions as a check valve that suppresses the outflow of the expansion gas from the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 to the low-pressure expansion chamber 82. This allows the airbag 71 having the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 and the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 to be realized by a simple structure using one inflator.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but this is merely an example. For example, in the above embodiment, the airbag for restricting the swing including the high-pressure expansion chamber 81 and the low-pressure expansion chamber 82 is used, but an airbag for restricting the swing including only 1 type of expansion chamber may be used. Further, an opening restriction member having high deformation resistance is provided in an area (an area 85 surrounded by a two-dot chain line in fig. 7) along the planned fracture portion 67d and the airbag housing space of the edge portion 67a of the seat cushion 67 shown in fig. 7, and the edge portion 67a can be prevented from being excessively expanded, thereby improving the swing suppressing effect of the airbag 71. In the above-described embodiment, the side airbag 71 housed in the backrest 2 is used as the airbag for restricting the swing, but the airbag housed in the seat portion 3a of the seat 1 may be formed to protrude substantially upward so as to be an airbag for restricting the swing, or the like, and the present invention may be implemented in a manner that various modifications are applied without departing from the gist thereof.

Description of the reference numerals

1 … seat, 7 … seat belt, 10 … lap belt, 25 … lumbar airbag, 71 … side airbag, 75 … communication passage, 81 … high pressure inflation chamber (lumbar protection portion), 82 … low pressure inflation chamber (chest protection portion), MP … occupant, S … occupant protection device, SA … lumbar airbag device, SB1, SB2 … side airbag device.

Claims

1. An occupant protection apparatus for protecting an occupant seated in a seat, wherein,

the occupant protection apparatus has:

a seat belt;

and a pair of swing restricting air bag devices including swing restricting air bags disposed on left and right sides of the waist air bag, the air bag being inflated so as to overlap with an air bag main body of the waist air bag inflated in a side view, and the swing in a left-right direction at the time of inflation of the waist air bag being restricted by contact of the air bag with the air bag main body of the waist air bag.

2. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein,

the swing restricting airbag apparatus is configured by a side airbag apparatus having a waist protecting portion capable of receiving a waist portion of an occupant seated in the seat and/or a chest protecting portion capable of receiving a chest portion of the occupant when inflation is completed.

3. The occupant protection device according to claim 2, wherein,

the side airbag device has a structure in which the airbag has a low-pressure expansion chamber and a high-pressure expansion chamber having an internal pressure higher than that of the low-pressure expansion chamber when the inflation is completed, and the portion where the high-pressure expansion chamber is formed is brought into contact with the waist airbag.

4. The occupant protection device according to claim 3, wherein,

in the airbag of the side airbag device, an inflator is arranged so as to supply inflation gas to the high-pressure inflation chamber in priority, and,

a communication path extending in a tubular manner toward the high-pressure expansion chamber is formed in a partition wall that partitions the high-pressure expansion chamber and the low-pressure expansion chamber, and the communication path functions as a check valve that suppresses outflow of expansion gas from the high-pressure expansion chamber to the low-pressure expansion chamber when the peripheral wall portion thereof is pressed against each other by the internal pressure of the high-pressure expansion chamber.