FR3082473A1 - PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE SEAT WITH INFLATABLE BAG PROTECTING THE ANTERIOR PART OF THE PASSENGER'S LEGS - Google Patents

Abstract

A protection device (1) equips a front part of a lower face (3) of a seat (4) of a seat (5), installed on a floor (6) of a vehicle (7) and in front which is defined a zone (12) for receiving feet (13). This device (1) comprises an inflatable bag (2), initially folded and associated with at least one pyrotechnic trigger (14) which, in the event of reception of a command following an impact and / or braking undergone by the vehicle ( 7), inflate this bag (2) This bag (2) deploys in the reception area (12) between the floor (6) and the feet (13) of a passenger (8) seated on the seat ( 4), during its inflation, by defining a central part (15) placed under these feet (13) and surrounded by a protective peripheral rim (16).

Description

PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE SEAT WITH INFLATABLE BAG PROTECTING THE ANTERIOR PART OF THE PASSENGER'S LEGS

The invention relates to vehicles which include a floor on which is installed at least one seat which can accommodate a passenger.

For many years, the protection of passengers in vehicles (in particular of the automobile type) has not stopped progressing thanks to the installation of airbag (or airbag) protection devices and pretensioners or seat belt pretensioners. However, this protection mainly concerns the upper part of the body, and in particular the head, neck and thorax.

Very few leg protection devices have been proposed, while many accidents cause damage to the legs which can be disabling and / or time consuming to treat. This is particularly the case for damage to the feet and ankles.

It has certainly been proposed, in particular in patent documents JP 2004/196025 and WO 2016/027543, to install an airbag protection device in the lower part of the dashboard, under the steering wheel or the glove box. However, this lower part of the dashboard, which is located in front of the apron (sheet separating the passenger compartment from the front compartment (where the engine is generally housed)), is often not very bulky and / or crowded, in particular by the passage of the pedal levers, which complicates the installation of the protection device or other equipment (s). In addition, these protective devices deploy in the direction of the legs, but not on the sides, and therefore do not protect the lower parts of the legs in the event of a side impact, and do not prevent the feet and ankles from colliding. Furthermore, these protective devices can prove to be ineffective, or even unsuitable, when the passenger is seated in a seat which he has moved backwards over a considerable distance and / or whose backrest has tilted sharply towards the rear (which caused the separation of his feet from the floor in the reception area of the feet (or "foot cellar") and therefore their approximation to the dashboard), as is notably possible in certain vehicles so-called automated (or autonomous) driving. The term “vehicle with automated (or autonomous) driving” is understood here to mean a vehicle which can be driven in a fully automated manner (without the intervention of their driver) during an automated driving phase under the control of a vehicle assistance device. driving (possibly ADAS ("Advanced Driver Assistance System")).

The invention therefore aims in particular to improve the situation.

It proposes in particular for this purpose a protection device, on the one hand, intended to equip a vehicle comprising a floor on which is installed at least one seat having a seat comprising a lower face spaced from the floor and in front of which is defined a zone reception of the feet of a passenger, and, on the other hand, comprising an airbag, initially folded and associated with at least one pyrotechnic trigger which, in the event of receipt of an order following an impact and / or braking suffered by the vehicle, inflates this bag.

This protection device is characterized by the fact:

- that it is intended to be installed on the underside of the seat in a front part oriented towards the reception area, and

- that his bag is arranged to deploy in said reception area between the floor and the feet of a passenger who is seated on the seat, during its inflation, by defining a central part placed under these feet and surrounded by a protective peripheral rim.

Thus, the bag being secured to the seat, it follows the seat in its translations and therefore is always well positioned relative to the passenger, which allows its peripheral edge to surround the feet of the passenger to protect them in case shock to the vehicle.

The protective device according to the invention may include other characteristics which can be taken separately or in combination, and in particular:

- its bag can be intended to have a curvilinear and concave shape in longitudinal and transverse directions of the vehicle, once deployed;

- The peripheral rim of the bag can be intended, once inflated, to be thicker in a front part located in front of the feet than on two lateral parts located on either side of the feet;

the peripheral rim may comprise two lateral parts respectively comprising two portions intended, once inflated, to be situated on either side of the feet, each extending in a vertical direction of the vehicle over a height of between 20 cm and 40 cm;

- Its bag can be arranged so that the portions of the lateral parts of the peripheral rim are inflated before the front part of the latter and after the central part;

- The central part may include a narrow central zone, intended to be placed parallel to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and defining, once inflated, a longitudinal and vertical protective partition separating the feet;

> the longitudinal partition may be intended to extend, once inflated, in a vertical direction of the vehicle over a height of between 15 cm and 45 cm.

The invention also provides a seat intended to be installed on a floor of a vehicle and comprising a seat comprising a lower face intended to be spaced from the floor and a protection device of the type presented above and installed on this face lower of the seat in a front part.

The invention also provides a vehicle, possibly of the automotive type, and comprising a floor on which is installed at least one seat of the type presented above.

For example, this vehicle can be automated driving (or autonomous).

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on examining the detailed description below, and the attached drawings (obtained for one of them in CAD / CAD (“Computer Aided Design / Assisted Drawing) by Computer ”), hence the apparently discontinuous nature of certain lines and meshes), on which:

- Figure 1 illustrates schematically and functionally, in a top view, an example of a motor vehicle according to the invention comprising two seats, one of them accommodating a passenger in a partially lying position and comprising an exemplary embodiment of a protective device according to the invention with its inflated bag,

FIG. 2 schematically and functionally illustrates, in a longitudinal section view, the motor vehicle of FIG. 1 with the bag of its protection device deployed, and

- Figure 3 schematically illustrates, in a perspective view from above, an embodiment of an inflated bag of a protective device according to the invention.

The object of the invention is in particular to propose a protective device 1 with an airbag 2, intended to equip a front part of a lower face 3 with a seat 4 of a seat 5, installed on a floor 6 of a vehicle 7, in order to protect a front part of the lower limbs (or legs) of a passenger 8 in the event of an impact.

In what follows, it is considered, by way of nonlimiting example, that the vehicle 7 is of the automobile type. It is for example a car comprising at least one row of front seats 5. But the invention is not limited to this type of vehicle. It in fact relates to any type of vehicle comprising a structure, delimiting a passenger compartment housing at least one reclining and / or translatable seat and which can accommodate a passenger. Therefore, the invention also relates to utility vehicles (including taxis and ambulances), trucks, buses, construction equipment and road vehicles, for example.

Furthermore, it is considered in what follows, by way of nonlimiting example, that the vehicle 7 is automated (or autonomous) driving, and therefore that it can be driven in a fully automated manner (without intervention of its driver) during an automated driving phase under the control of a driving assistance device (possibly of the ADAS type). But it is not compulsory. Indeed, it could be partially automated (or autonomous) driving, or only manual driving.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, direction X is the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle 7 which is parallel to the lateral sides comprising the side doors, direction Y is the transverse direction of the motor vehicle 7, which is perpendicular to the lateral sides and to the longitudinal direction X, and direction Z is the vertical direction of the motor vehicle 7, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal X and transverse Y directions.

There is schematically shown in Figures 1 and 2 an example of vehicle 7 (here a car) comprising a structure (or body) which delimits a passenger compartment 9 comprising a floor 6 on which is installed at least one seat 5 equipped with a device protection 1 with airbag 2 (or "airbag").

It will be noted that in the example illustrated without limitation in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle 1 comprises only one front row of seats 5, installed in a front part of the passenger compartment 9. However, it could include several rows of seats ( s) installed in a front part and a rear part of the passenger compartment 9. Similarly, in this example the front row comprises two seats 5, but it could comprise a single seat or even more than two seats (for example three).

The vehicle 7 is here driving on the left because its steering wheel 11 is installed on the left. Consequently, the left seat 5 is the driver's seat and the left passenger 8 is the driver of the vehicle 7.

Each seat 5 comprises a seat 4 which can (here) be translated backwards with respect to the floor 6 over a significant distance, and a backrest 10 which can be rotated backwards over a large angular sector. Furthermore, the seat 4 includes a lower face 3 which is spaced from the floor 6, and a zone 12 for receiving the feet 13 of a passenger 8 is defined in front of this seat 4 (and therefore in front of the seat 5). Reception area 12 is often called the "cellar on foot".

In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, only the left (or driver) seat 5 has been moved and tilted backwards so as to allow its passenger 8 to rest while the vehicle 7 is in an automated driving phase. .

Each seat 5 is here equipped with a protection device 1 according to the invention. More specifically, the protection device 1 is intended to be installed on the underside 3 of the seat 4 in a front part which is oriented towards the reception area 12. It will be understood that the underside 3 of the seat 4 is that which is oriented towards the floor 6 and which is opposite to the upper face on which a passenger 8 can sit.

It should be noted that a vehicle must include at least one reclining and / or translatable seat 5 and equipped with a protection device 1.

A protective device 1, according to the invention, comprises an inflatable bag 2, initially folded, and associated with at least one pyrotechnic trigger 14.

The airbag 2 of a protective device 1 can be initially folded inside a housing (not shown).

The (each) pyrotechnic trigger 14 of a protection device 1 is arranged, in the event of reception of a command following an impact and / or braking undergone by the vehicle 7, so as to inflate (immediately and very quickly) the bag (inflatable) 2 so that it deploys in the reception area 12 located in front of the associated seat 5, between the floor 6 and the feet 13 of the passenger 8 who sits on the seat 4, as is will explain later and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

It will be noted that the command which activates (each) pyrotechnic trip device 14 is generated by control means which can, for example, be installed in the possible housing, but which could, as a variant, be part of a remote computer and possibly ensuring at least one other function within the vehicle 7. These control means could also include a computer or a microprocessor. Consequently, the control means can be arranged in the form of a combination of electronic circuits (or "hardware") and software modules (or computer (or even "software")), or only software modules.

These control means are arranged so as to generate a command intended to activate the (each) pyrotechnic trigger 14 in the event of reception of an alert signal generated by a computer on board the vehicle 7 when it detects a sufficiently large shock. and / or braking sufficiently strong by analyzing information supplied by at least one on-board sensor (for example of position or acceleration or pressure). For example, the generation of this alert signal may result from the detection of a threshold crossing. Note that the alert signal can be analog or digital. Likewise, the command intended to activate the (each) pyrotechnic trip device 14 can be analog or digital.

As mentioned above, the bag 2 is arranged to deploy in the reception area 12 between the floor 6 and the feet 13 of the passenger 8 who sits on the seat 4, during its inflation, by defining a central part 15 placed under these feet 13 and surrounded by a protective peripheral edge 16 for at least the feet 13.

This requires that the bag 2 has a large surface with a small thickness in at least part of its central part 15, like a bag of the "curtain" type, but with a significantly greater thickness on at least part of the periphery of this central part 15.

The bag 2 being secured to the seat 4, it follows the seat 5 in its translations and therefore is always well positioned relative to the passenger 8. Furthermore, as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, the peripheral flange 16 surrounds the feet 13 of passenger 8 and therefore ensures their protection in the event of an impact to the vehicle 7.

It will be noted that the central part 15 deploying first and its thickness being reduced, it can easily pass under the feet 13 of the passenger 8, including when the latter (13) rest on the floor 6. In the latter situation, the deployment very fast from the central part 15 forward (and therefore towards the feet 13) will very slightly push the latter (13) forward and therefore very slightly rotate the front part of the legs in a natural direction. This pushing takes place very quickly and relatively gently because the bag 2 is intended to isolate, in particular, the feet 13 from any risk of direct contact with the elements of the passenger compartment at the end of the shock, and therefore does not need, a priori, to have a very significant internal pressure. The objective is indeed to soften any contacts or localized forces.

As illustrated without limitation in Figures 2 and 3, the bag 2 may, optionally but advantageously, be intended to have a curvilinear and concave shape in the longitudinal X and transverse directions Y of the vehicle 7, once deployed. This promotes passage under the feet 13 and the protective coating of the feet 13 and the ankles. In addition, this makes it possible to protect the feet 13 whatever their position relative to the floor 6 of the vehicle, and therefore, in particular, when they do not rest on the floor 6. This curvilinear and concave shape once inflated results from the initial conformation of the bag 2, for example due to the respective shapes of its different parts (or pockets) and / or the presence of seams in predefined locations. This shape can also result from the presence of at least one possible “tensioner” in the form of a strap tongue sewn on the upper or lower part (when the pressure increases inside the bag 2, the tensioner prevents this bag 2 from inflating further in its immediate vicinity - thus positioning in the center will induce swelling of the edges and therefore a formation of peripheral beads).

Also as shown without limitation in FIGS. 1 to 3, the peripheral rim 16 may, optionally but advantageously, be intended, once inflated, to be thicker in a front part 17, oriented towards the front of the vehicle 7 and located in front the feet 13 only on two lateral parts 18 which are situated on either side of the feet 13 (that is to say to the right and to the left of the latter (13)). This not only makes it possible to wedge the feet 13 in the event of a frontal impact suffered by the vehicle 7, but also to protect the top of the feet 13.

This greater thickness can, as illustrated without limitation in FIGS. 2 and 3, result in a curvilinear shape (of “banana” type) oriented towards the seat 4. Such a shape can, for example, be defined by means of 'an additional pocket extending the main pocket constituting the central part 15 in its front peripheral part.

Also as shown without limitation in FIGS. 2 and 3, the two lateral parts 18 of the peripheral rim 16 may, optionally but advantageously, comprise respectively two portions 19 which are intended, once inflated, to be located on either side of the feet 13 each extending in the vertical direction Z of the vehicle 7 over a height which is between 20 cm and 40 cm. This not only protects the external (or lateral) parts of the ankles, but also the front part of the legs of passenger 8 (especially on the sides).

Such portions (or vertical protuberances) 19 present in the lateral parts 18 of the peripheral rim 16 can, for example, be defined by means of two additional pockets locally extending the pocket defining the peripheral rim 16.

For example, the bag 2 can be arranged so that the portions 19 of the lateral parts 18 of its peripheral rim 16 are inflated before the front part 17 of the latter (16) and after the central part 15. This inflation in an orderly manner different parts of the bag 2 can be done by defining in the latter (2) internal conduits which can be in the form of flexible pipes provided with orifices at predefined locations or which can be defined by seams. It is also possible to provide in the bag 2 vents intended to control the speeds of circulation of the gas (delivered by the pyrotechnic trigger 14) in the different zones of the bag 2.

Also as shown without limitation in FIGS. 1 to 3, the central part 15 of the bag 2 can, optionally but advantageously, include a narrow central region 20, intended to be placed parallel to the longitudinal direction X of the vehicle 7, and defining a once inflated, a longitudinal (X) and vertical (Z) protective partition which separates the feet 13. This makes it possible to prevent the ankles from colliding with one another during an impact, in particular from the side.

This central zone (or protective partition) 20 present in the central part 15 of the bag 2 can, for example, be defined by means of an additional pocket locally extending the pocket defining this central part 15.

In the presence of the last option, the longitudinal partition 20 may be intended to extend, once inflated, in the vertical direction Z of the vehicle 7 over a height which is between 15 cm and 45 cm. This is to prevent the front parts of the legs from colliding with each other 5 in the event of an impact, particularly from the side.

The invention offers several advantages, including:

- it increases the level of safety regardless of the position of the passenger in their seat, including in the case of automated driving,

- it significantly reduces the damage caused to the anterior ίο parts of the legs in the event of an accident,

- it offers more freedom in the movement of the seats while maintaining maximum safety.

Claims (10)

1. Protection device (1) for a vehicle (7) comprising a floor (6) on which is installed at least one seat (5) having a seat (4) comprising a lower face (3) spaced from said floor (6) and in front of which is defined a zone (12) for receiving the feet (13) of a passenger (8), said device (1) comprising an inflatable bag (2), initially folded and associated with at least one pyrotechnic trigger ( 14) which, upon receipt of an order following an impact and / or braking undergone by said vehicle (7), inflates said bag (2), characterized in that it is intended to be installed on said face lower (3) of the seat (4) in a front part oriented towards said reception area (12), and in that said bag (2) is arranged to deploy in said reception area (12) between said floor (6) and feet (13) of a passenger (8) seated on said seat (4), during its inflation, by defining a central part (15) p laced under these feet (13) and surrounded by a protective peripheral rim (16). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said bag (2) is intended to have a curvilinear and concave shape in longitudinal and transverse directions of said vehicle (7), once deployed. 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said peripheral rim (16) is intended, once inflated, to be thicker in a front part (17) located in front of said feet (13) than on two lateral parts (18) located on either side of said feet (13). 4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said peripheral flange (16) comprises two lateral parts (18) respectively comprising two portions (19) intended, once inflated, to be located on the side and d 'other of said feet (13) each extending in a vertical direction of said vehicle (7) over a height between 20 cm and 40 cm. 5. Device according to the combination of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that said bag (2) is arranged so that said portions (19) of the lateral parts (18) of the peripheral rim (16) are inflated before said front part ( 17) of the latter (16) and after said central part (15). 6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said central part (15) comprises a narrow central region (20), intended to be placed parallel to a longitudinal direction of said vehicle (7), and defining, once inflated, a longitudinal and vertical protective partition separating said feet (13). 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said longitudinal partition (20) is intended to extend, once inflated, in a vertical direction of said vehicle (7) over a height between 15 cm and 45 cm. 8. Seat (5) intended to be installed on a floor (6) of a vehicle (7) and comprising a seat (4) comprising a lower face (3) intended to be spaced from said floor (6), characterized in that that it comprises a protection device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, installed on said lower face (3) of the seat (4) in a front part. 9. Vehicle (7) comprising a floor (6), characterized in that it comprises at least one seat (5) according to claim 8, installed on said floor (6). 10. Vehicle according to claim 9, characterized in that it is automated driving.