JP2000238596A - Air bag door - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag door with improved breaking performance by making a thickness of a breakable portion constant to stabilize a breaking force, even when concave-convex patterns are formed on a door surface. SOLUTION: An air bag door 10 is provided with a thin breakable portion 16, which breaks by expanding pressure of an air bag at a groove disposed on a door rear face. It is also provided with concave-convex patterns formed by projected portions 24 that are aligned in specific patterns on a door surface. The breakable portion 16 is defined by a continued recess 26 which is a trough portion extending between the projected portions 24 of the concave-convex patterns. A thickness of the breakable portion 16 is constant regardless of the concave-convex pattern provided on the door surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag door used in an airbag apparatus for protecting an occupant by inflating and deploying an airbag in a vehicle compartment at the time of a vehicle collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag door is provided with an airbag device on the rear side, and is pushed open by the inflation pressure of the airbag of the airbag device, and the airbag inflates into a vehicle compartment from an opening formed thereby. It is what is done. In order to exert such a function, the airbag door is formed with a thin-walled broken portion that is broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag by a groove formed on the back surface.

[0003] Such an airbag door is designed to face the interior of the vehicle when the airbag is not in use, thereby realizing an aesthetic appearance. However, since the airbag door is generally made of a synthetic resin injection molded body, molding irregularities may occur on the surface thereof. is there. Therefore, discontinuous leather-like patterns and fine grains are present on the surface of airbag doors that are currently in general use for the purpose of reducing such molding unevenness and improving the appearance when viewed from the vehicle interior. A discontinuous uneven pattern such as a transferred pattern is formed.

[0004]

However, when a discontinuous uneven pattern is formed on the door surface, the thickness of the thin broken portion formed by the groove on the back surface of the door becomes uneven, and as a result, the breakage occurs. The force at the time is not stable, and an undesired variation may occur in a fracture occurrence part and a fracture transmission path.

Therefore, the present invention provides an airbag door in which even when an irregular pattern is formed on the door surface, the thickness of the rupture portion is made uniform, the force at the time of rupture is stabilized, and the tearing performance is improved. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In the airbag door of the present invention, an airbag is arranged on the rear side and is pushed open by the inflation pressure of the airbag, and the airbag is opened into the vehicle compartment through an opening formed thereby. In the inflated airbag door, a groove provided on the back surface of the door forms a thin-walled rupture portion that is broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag, and a convex portion or a convex portion arranged in a predetermined pattern on the door surface. A pattern is formed by the concave portion, and the break portion is set as a continuous concave portion or a continuous convex portion continuous between the convex portions or the concave portions of the pattern.

[0007] In this airbag door, an uneven pattern is formed on the surface of the door by convexes or concaves arranged in a predetermined pattern, and its purpose is to improve the aesthetic appearance when viewed from the interior of the vehicle. . In addition, since the break portion is set in the continuous concave portion which is a valley portion extending between the convex portions in the concave-convex pattern, or the continuous convex portion which is a ridge portion extending between the concave portions, the fracture portion is formed regardless of the concave-convex pattern on the surface. Has a uniform thickness. For this reason, the force at the time of break is stabilized, elements causing undesired fluctuations in the break occurrence portion and the break transmission path are eliminated, and the break can be performed at the predetermined break portion. That is, the cleavage performance is improved. Further, since the thickness of the broken portion is uniform, the appearance of the door surface at the broken portion is improved.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an airbag door 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3 is an enlarged view of the door surface of the airbag door 10, FIG. 4 (a) is a line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 (b) is a view in FIG. It is each sectional drawing of the BB line of FIG.

An airbag door 10 according to the present embodiment is used for an airbag apparatus 1 for a passenger seat, and as shown in FIG.
And covers the opening on the upper surface of the airbag case 4 for storing the airbag. Therefore, the folded airbag 3 is disposed behind the airbag door 10.

The airbag door 10 is an injection-molded article of a thermoplastic elastomer, and has a mounting wall 12 extending downward on the back side thereof, and is mounted on the side surface of the case 4 with the mounting wall 12.

In the airbag door 10, a thin break 16 is formed by a groove 14 provided on the back surface side. The rupture portion 16 is ruptured by the inflation pressure of the airbag 3, and the airbag 3
Is swelled into the vehicle interior.

In the present embodiment, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, the break portion 16 includes a transverse break portion 18 extending substantially in the front-rear direction central portion of the door 10 in the vehicle width direction, and both end portions of the transverse break portion 18. And left and right vertical break portions 20 and 22 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction while slightly tilting outward in the vehicle width direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, a large number of projections 24 are arranged in a predetermined pattern on the door surface of the airbag door 10, thereby forming a geometric uneven pattern. In this embodiment, the protrusions 24 have a circular shape when viewed from the front, are arranged at equal pitches in the left-right direction in FIG. 1, and a geometric pattern is formed by arranging each row at equal pitches in the up-down direction in FIG. 1. Is formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the protruding portions 24 are alternately arranged between adjacent rows.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Are set to linear continuous concave portions 26 which are valley portions extending between the convex portions 24. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4, the thickness u of the fractured portion 16 is uniform irrespective of the uneven pattern on the surface. That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the broken portion is formed on a straight line passing through the convex portion 24,
Due to the thickness difference between the thickness t at the convex portion 24 and the thickness s at the continuous concave portion 26, the thickness of the broken portion is not uniform.
As shown in (b), since the thickness s is constant in the continuous recess 26, when the groove 14 is provided on the rear surface of the door to form the break portion 16 in this portion, the thickness u is constant.

As described above, since the thickness of the rupture portion 16 is uniform irrespective of the irregularity pattern on the door surface, the force at the time of rupture is stabilized, and an undesired portion is generated in the rupture portion and the rupture transmission path. Factors causing significant fluctuations are eliminated. Therefore, the tearing can be performed at the predetermined breaking portion 16, and the tearing performance is improved. In addition, since the thickness of the rupture portion 16 is uniform, the appearance of the door surface at the rupture portion 16 formed in a thin shape is improved.

[0017] Further, the unevenness formed on the door surface reduces irregularities in the molding and improves the aesthetic appearance when viewed from the vehicle interior.

In the above embodiment, the shape of the convex portion 24 is circular when viewed from the front. However, the shape of the convex portion 24 is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. Or any other shape can be selected. Further, it is also possible to arrange the convex portions 24 having different shapes in combination on the surface of one door.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the arrangement of the projections 24 provided on the door surface. In this example, the convex portions 24 having a circular shape in a front view are arranged at a constant pitch in the vertical direction in FIG.
They are also arranged in a matrix at equal pitches in the left-right direction, whereby a geometric pattern is formed.

Further, in this example, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 6, the breaking portion 16 has a transverse breaking portion 18 extending in the vehicle width direction so that the overall shape is substantially H-shaped when viewed from the front. It is formed by longitudinal break portions 20 and 22 which are connected to both ends of the transverse break portion 18 at right angles and extend in the vehicle front-rear direction.

The break portion 16 is formed similarly to the above-described embodiment.
It is set in a linear continuous recess 26 which is a valley extending between the protrusions 24, and the break 1
6 has a uniform thickness. Therefore, even in this arrangement example, even when an uneven pattern is formed on the door surface for the purpose of improving the appearance when viewed from the interior of the vehicle, the force at the time of breaking the airbag door 10 is stabilized. This eliminates factors that cause undesired fluctuations in the fracture occurrence part and the fracture transmission path. Therefore, the tearing can be performed at the predetermined breaking portion 16, and the tearing performance is improved. In addition, the break 16
Since the thickness of the broken portion 1 is uniform,
In 6, the appearance of the door surface is improved.

In each of the above embodiments, the convex portions 24 are arranged and arranged in a predetermined pattern on the door surface to form an uneven pattern. Instead of the convex portions 24, the concave portions are formed in a predetermined pattern. An uneven pattern may be formed on the door surface by arranging the doors.

For example, a concave portion having a circular shape in a front view may be formed at a position where the convex portion 24 shown in FIG. 1 is provided. In this case, the break portion 16 is set to a linear continuous convex portion which is a ridge extending between the concave portions.

Also in this case, the thickness of the break portion 16 can be made uniform, and the same operation and effect as described above can be realized.

[0025]

According to the airbag door of the present invention, even if a concave-convex pattern is formed on the door surface for the purpose of improving the appearance when viewed from the interior of the vehicle, this concave-convex pattern is
It is formed by convex portions or concave portions arranged in a predetermined pattern, and in a continuous concave portion which is a valley portion extending between convex portions in the concave and convex pattern, or a continuous convex portion which is a ridge portion extending between concave portions. Since the break portion is set, the thickness of the break portion is uniform regardless of the uneven pattern on the surface. Therefore, the force at the time of breaking is stabilized, and an element which causes an undesired variation in a breaking occurrence part and a breaking transmission path is eliminated.
It can be cleaved at a predetermined break. That is, the cleavage performance is improved. In addition, because the thickness of the broken part is uniform,
The appearance of the door surface at the broken portion is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an airbag door according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an airbag device including the airbag door.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a door surface of the airbag door.

4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a door surface showing a modified example of a concavo-convex pattern.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an airbag door showing a modified example of a concavo-convex pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Airbag apparatus 3 ... Airbag 10 ... Airbag door 14 ... Groove 16 ... Breaking part 24 ... Convex part 26 ... Continuous recess

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Motoaki Naruse 1-17-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D054 AA03 AA14 BB02 BB09 BB16 BB23 BB24 FF20

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An airbag door in which an airbag is arranged on the rear side, is pushed open by the inflation pressure of the airbag, and inflates the airbag into a vehicle interior from an opening formed by the airbag. By the groove thus formed, a thin-walled rupture portion that is ruptured by the inflation pressure of the airbag is formed, and a pattern is formed on the door surface by convex portions or concave portions arranged in a predetermined pattern, and the rupture portion is An airbag door, wherein the airbag door is set as a continuous recess or a continuous protrusion between the convex portions or the concave portions of the pattern.