FR3084038A1 - PROTECTIVE ASSEMBLY FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE HAVING A CURTAIN TYPE AIR BAG ASSOCIATED WITH A DEFLECTOR - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a protective assembly comprising a curtain type airbag comprising a folded or rolled up bag (22) and being fixed along a side stretcher (3) of the body structure of a vehicle; said bag (22) comprising a main pocket intended to deploy from top to bottom so as to protect the head of the occupants of the front and rear lateral seats located on the side of said cushion (21), as well as an additional pocket in fluid communication with said main pocket and designed to deploy below at least a portion of the length of the latter so as to protect the chest area of an occupant seated on one of said side seats, said assembly further comprising an upper deflector (26) fixed to said side stretcher (3) at the deployment zone of said additional pocket and comprising a stop wall (26B) extending above said bag (22) so as to prevent its deployment upwards.

Description

Title of invention

Protective assembly for a motor vehicle provided with a curtain type airbag associated with a deflector

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a protective assembly for a motor vehicle comprising an airbag, commonly known by the English name "airbag".

Invention background

Such an airbag generally comprises a folded or rolled up airbag, as well as a gas generator for inflating said bag.

In the event of a violent impact, particularly during an accident, the bag is suddenly put under pressure by the gas generator and deploys in the passenger compartment of the vehicle to ensure the protection of the driver and / or passengers from effects of driving in the bodywork or moving another element of the vehicle, following this impact.

To ensure occupant safety, motor vehicles are equipped with several types of airbags. There are thus side cushions comprising in particular curtain type and thorax type cushions intended to protect the occupants during a side impact with for example another vehicle or an obstacle.

The curtain type airbags are generally installed along the side stretchers of the vehicle body structure above the front and rear side windows on each side of this vehicle.

When the bag of such a cushion is suddenly put under pressure by the gas generator, it deploys from top to bottom, covering practically all of the windows of the front and rear doors as well as the central pillar of the vehicle, so protect the head of the occupants of the front and rear side seats located on the side of this cushion.

The thorax type airbags are generally housed inside the cover of the side seat backs, on the external side of the latter.

The bag of this type of cushion deploys laterally, being positioned between the external side of this seat and the occupant who is seated in it to protect his chest area from deformation of the passenger compartment, pushed towards the interior of the vehicle during '' a collision where the impact occurs precisely on the sidewall of this vehicle.

For cost reasons, the side airbags of the thorax type are often installed only on the front seats of vehicles, so that the rear passengers and especially children are less well protected in the event of a side impact.

In order to improve the safety of passengers whose seat does not have a thorax-type airbag, American patent application US 2005/0189747 A1 provides a curtain-type airbag, the bag of which comprises, in addition to a main pocket provided to deploy from top to bottom so as to protect the head of the occupants of the front and rear lateral seats of the vehicle located on the side of this cushion, an additional pocket in fluid communication with the main pocket and designed to deploy below at least a portion of said main pocket so as to protect the chest area of at least one occupant seated on one of said side seats.

Unfortunately in use, the deployment of this additional portion is carried out with a slight delay relative to the main portion of the bag, which affects its effectiveness and therefore the protection of this occupant.

Subject and summary of the invention

The present invention therefore aims to improve the deployment speed of such an additional portion of a curtain type airbag.

To this end, it provides a protection assembly for a motor vehicle, said assembly comprising a curtain type airbag comprising a folded or rolled up airbag in the form of a rod and being fixed along a side stretcher of the body structure of said vehicle, as well as a gas generator for ensuring the inflation of said bag;

said bag comprising a main pocket intended to deploy from top to bottom so as to protect the head of the occupants of the front and rear lateral seats of said vehicle located on the side of said airbag, as well as at least one additional pocket in fluid communication with said main pocket and designed to deploy below at least a portion of the length of said main pocket so as to protect the chest area of at least one occupant seated on one of said side seats;

characterized in that said protective assembly includes an upper deflector fixed to said lateral stretcher at the deployment zone of said additional pocket of said bag, said upper deflector comprising a stop wall extending above said bag so as to prevent its deployment up.

The presence of such a deflector thus significantly reduces the deployment time of the additional pocket of the airbag in the event of an accident, so as to provide more effective protection for the occupant of the corresponding seat.

According to preferred characteristics of said protective assembly according to the invention, taken alone or in combination:

- Said upper deflector is in the form of an angle oriented longitudinally and comprising, in addition to said abutment wall, a fixing wall rigidly fixed by clipping and / or screwing to said side stretcher;

- Said abutment wall extends perpendicular to said fixing wall from and along its lower edge;

- Said upper deflector comprises a plurality of stiffening brackets extending along transverse vertical planes between said fixing wall and said abutment wall;

- Said upper deflector is molded in one piece from a thermoplastic polymer;

- Said thermoplastic polymer is reinforced with natural and / or synthetic fillers;

- Said assembly comprises at least one lower deflector fixed to said lateral stretcher at the level of a corresponding foot of said body structure, each at least said lower deflector comprising a ramp extending below said bag and being shaped to guide its deployment towards the bottom so as to prevent the latter from infiltrating under the upper lining of said foot; and or

- Said lower deflector and said lower deflector are made in one piece with a connecting wall sandwiched between said side stretcher and said bag.

The invention also relates in a second aspect, to a motor vehicle equipped with at least one such protection assembly.

According to an advantageous characteristic, said vehicle comprises a lateral reading lamp fixedly mounted above the abutment wall of said upper deflector.

Brief description of the drawings

The description of the invention will now be continued with the detailed description of two exemplary embodiments of the invention, given below by way of illustration but not limitation, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is an elevational view of an upper side part of the structure of a motor vehicle on which is mounted a protective assembly according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows an enlargement of detail 2 of Figure 1; and

- Figure 3 is a perspective cross-sectional view located at a rear side seat of the motor vehicle.

Detailed description of an embodiment

In FIG. 1 is partially shown a body structure 2 of a motor vehicle on which is mounted a protection assembly 20 comprising a curtain type airbag 21.

In the description which follows and by convention, the terms "lower", "upper", "longitudinal" "lateral" and "transverse" will be defined relative to the mounting position of the protection assembly on such a vehicle. The terms "external" and "internal" will be used to define the relative position of an element with reference to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The element closest to this axis will thus be qualified as internal as opposed to the other element more distant from this same axis which will in turn be qualified as external.

The airbag 21 conventionally comprises a folded or rolled up airbag 22 in the form of a substantially tubular rod, as well as a gas generator 23 comprising a rigid metal container of generally cylindrical shape in which are reagents allowing the generation of gas and an electrically controlled release.

The bag 22 and the gas generator 23 are fixed to a side stretcher 3 extending longitudinally between the front 4 and rear crosspieces (not visible in the figures) of the body structure 2, and along the upper parts of the frame 5 of the front side door, of the center leg 6, of the frame 7 of the rear side door and of the rear foot 8 of the body structure 2.

Component and inseparable from the body 2 of the motor vehicle, the side stretcher 3 ensures the transmission of forces and therefore the rigidity of this body structure 2 between the upper part of the middle leg 6 and the end of the front crosspieces 4 and rear of the same side.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the side stretcher 3 comprises a first element 3A and a second element 3B corresponding respectively to a roof lining 3A and to a quarter panel lining 3B each made from a sheet of cut sheet metal and pressed.

The linings 3A and 3B are joined so that the quarter panel lining 3B partially covers the roof lining 3A, the internal face of the latter thus being in contact with the external face of the quarter panel lining 3B.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the side stretcher 3 is not visible from the outside of the vehicle because it is concealed by a roof 9 and by a reinforcing core 10 skirting this stretcher 3 while being attached to it.

The side stretcher 3 is also hidden from inside the vehicle by a roof lining 11 covering it and to which it is fixed by clipping.

Moored to the side stretcher 3 by means of a plurality of fastening rings 13 spaced apart longitudinally, the bag 22 extends along the lower part of this side stretcher 3 below the two articulated grip handles 12 implanted on this stretcher 3 above the two door frames 5 and 7.

This bag 22 includes a main pocket intended to be deployed from top to bottom at the level of the middle leg 6 and of the windows of the two side doors (not shown in the figures) located on either side of this middle leg 6, so protect the head of the occupants of the front and rear side seats of the vehicle located on the side of the airbag 21.

The bag 22 also includes at least one additional pocket in fluid communication with this main pocket and designed to deploy below at least a portion of the length of the main pocket (this portion corresponding here to the rear part of the window of the rear side door), so as to protect the chest area of at least one occupant seated in one of these side seats (in this case, the occupant of the rear side seat).

The protective assembly 20 also includes two lower deflectors 24, 25 rigidly fixed by clipping and / or screwing, respectively on the roof lining 3A and on the quarter panel lining 3B of the side stretcher 3.

More precisely, the deflector 24 is located at the level of the middle leg 6, while the deflector 25 is located at the level of the rear leg 8.

Each of these lower deflectors 24, 25 comprises a guide ramp (that 25A of the deflector 25 being clearly visible in FIG. 3) projecting substantially transversely from the internal face of the stretcher 3 just below the bag 22 which rests there.

These guide rails 24A, 25A are shaped to guide the deployment downward of the bag 22 in order to prevent the latter from seeping under the upper lining 6A of the middle leg 6 and under the upper lining 8A of the rear leg 8 in exerting a violent thrust against the latter which can cause their ejection towards the interior of the passenger compartment.

According to the invention, the protective assembly 20 also includes an upper deflector 26 fixed to the quarter panel lining 3B of the side stretcher 3, at the level of the deployment zone of the additional pocket of the bag 22.

In the form of a longitudinally oriented angle iron, the deflector 26 comprises a fixing wall 26A rigidly fixed by clipping and / or screwing to the quarter panel lining 3B of the side stretcher 3; and a stop wall 26B extending perpendicular to the wall 26A from and along its lower edge, and above the bag 22 against which it rests.

When the airbag 21 is triggered in the event of an accident, this abutment wall 26B thus makes it possible to prevent the deployment of the bag 22 upwardly opposing the desired deployment direction, which has the effect of reducing the deployment time. from the additional pocket of the bag 22.

The upper deflector 26 as well as the lower deflectors 24 and 25 each have come from molding in one piece from a thermoplastic polymer such as polyamide (PA) or polypropylene (PP).

In order to improve their mechanical strength, this thermoplastic polymer is advantageously reinforced (preferably up to 10 to 35% by mass) with natural and / or synthetic fillers (for example, lamellar mineral fillers such as talc or micro-fibrils and mineral nanofibrils such as glass fibers, etc.).

The upper deflector 26 also includes a plurality of stiffening brackets 26C extending at regular intervals and along vertical transverse planes between the fixing wall 26A and the abutment wall 26B in order to further strengthen its mechanical strength.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lateral reading or reading lamp 14 is fixedly mounted on the fixing wall 26A of the upper deflector 26, above the stop wall 26B.

When the airbag 21 is triggered in the event of an accident, this abutment wall 26B thus also makes it possible to prevent the bag 22 from being able to exert, during its deployment, a violent thrust against this lamp 14 which can cause its ejection towards the interior of the passenger compartment.

According to variant embodiments not shown, the lower 25 and upper 26 deflectors are made in one piece with a connecting wall sandwiched between the side stretcher 3 and the bag 22 of the airbag 20.

According to other alternative embodiments not shown, the bag 22 includes a second additional pocket in fluid communication with the main pocket and designed to deploy below another portion of the length of this main pocket corresponding to the rear part of the window front side door, so as to protect the chest area of the occupant seated in the front side seat. In such a scenario, the protection assembly includes an additional deflector similar to the deflector 26 and fixed to the roof lining 3A of the side stretcher 3, at the level of the deployment zone of this second additional pocket of the bag 22.

In general, it will be recalled that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but that it encompasses all the variant embodiments within the reach of those skilled in the art.

Claims (10)

1. Protection assembly for a motor vehicle, said assembly comprising a curtain type airbag (21) comprising a folded or rolled up airbag (22) in the form of a rod and being fixed along a lateral stretcher (3) of the body structure (2) of said vehicle, as well as a gas generator (23) for ensuring the inflation of said bag (22); said bag (22) comprising a main pocket intended to deploy from top to bottom so as to protect the head of the occupants of the front and rear lateral seats of said vehicle located on the side of said airbag (21), as well as at least one pocket additional in fluid communication with said main pocket and designed to deploy below at least a portion of the length of said main pocket so as to protect the chest area of at least one occupant seated on one of said side seats; characterized in that said protective assembly comprises an upper deflector (26) fixed to said lateral stretcher (3) at the deployment zone of said additional pocket of said bag (22), said upper deflector (26) comprising a stop wall (26B) extending above said bag (22) so as to prevent its deployment upwards. 2. Protection assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said upper deflector (26) is in the form of an angle oriented longitudinally and comprising, in addition to said abutment wall (26B), a fixing wall (26A) rigidly fixed by clipping and / or screwing to said side stretcher (3). 3. Protection assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that said abutment wall (26B) extends perpendicular to said fixing wall (26A) from and along its lower edge. 4. Protection assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that said upper deflector (26) comprises a plurality of stiffening brackets (26C) extending in vertical transverse planes between said fixing wall (26A) and said wall stop (26B). 5. Protection assembly according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said upper deflector (26) came from molding in one piece from a thermoplastic polymer. 6. Protection assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that said thermoplastic polymer is reinforced with natural and / or synthetic fillers. 7. Protection assembly according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises at least one lower deflector (24, 25) fixed to said lateral stretcher (3) at a corresponding foot (6, 8 ) of said body structure (2), each at least said lower deflector (24, 25) comprising a guide ramp (24A, 25A) extending below said bag (22) and being shaped to guide its deployment towards the bottom so as to prevent the latter from infiltrating under the upper lining (6A, 6B) of said foot (6, 8). 8. Protection assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that said lower deflector (26) and said lower deflector (25) are made in one piece with a connecting wall sandwiched between said side stretcher (3) and said airbag bag (22) (21). 9. Motor vehicle equipped with at least one protection assembly according to one of claims 1 to 8. 10. Motor vehicle comprising a lateral reading lamp (14) fixedly mounted above the abutment wall (26B) of said upper deflector (26).