JP2000335355A - Protective bag and protective device for head of occupant in automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a protective bag for a head of an occupant of an automobile which maintains the inflated condition for a long time and is small in recessing deformation when the head or a shoulder of the occupant hits, and a protective device for the head of the occupant of the automobile using the protective bag. SOLUTION: A bag 1 comprises an introduction chamber 7 and a small chamber 8 by overlapping an occupant side sheet on a vehicle body side sheet to couple these sheets. When an automobile is subjected to the side collision or rolls sideways, an inflator is operated, and a gas flows into the introduction chamber 7 from a gas inlet through a connection part 5. This gas flows into each small chamber 8 from the introduction chamber 7 through a non-return valve 13 to inflate each small chamber 8. The non-return valve 13 prevents the reverse flow of the gas from each small chamber 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protective bag for an occupant's head, and more particularly, to a bag that inflates along a window of a side door when a vehicle collides or rolls over. The present invention also relates to a device for protecting the head of an automobile occupant using the protective bag.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The protection bag for the head of an automobile occupant is WO96.
/ 26087. In this known bag, the vacant space includes a duct portion extending from the front end (front end) of the bag to the rear end (rear end) of the vehicle along the upper edge of the bag. , A plurality of cell parts connected to the duct part and extending downward.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a protective bag for a vehicle occupant's head in which the inflated state is maintained for a long time after the bag is inflated.

[0004] Further, the present invention provides a bag in which the occupant's body hits the inflated bag with less deformation of the bag.
An object of the present invention is to provide a protection device for a head of an automobile occupant using the bag.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A protective bag for a vehicle occupant head according to the present invention is disposed near a crossing corner between a ceiling portion and a side portion in a vehicle interior, and is provided along the side portion by gas introduced. In a protective bag for a vehicle occupant head which inflates downward, a plurality of small chambers are provided in the bag, and at least one of the small chambers is provided with a backflow prevention means for preventing a backflow of gas from the small chamber. It is characterized by the following.

[0006] In such a protective bag for the head of an automobile occupant, after the small chamber of the bag is inflated, the backflow of gas from the small chamber is prevented, so that the bag continues to be inflated for a long time.

When the head or shoulders of the occupant hit the inflated bag, the gas tends to flow out of the small chamber in the direction opposite to the inflow direction, but the backflow prevention means prevents the gas from flowing out. However, only the small chamber hit by the head is deformed. Since the volume of the small chamber is significantly smaller than the volume of the entire bag, the internal pressure of the small chamber increases in inverse proportion to the decrease in the volume of the small chamber, and the amount of dent deformation of the bag becomes small.

It is preferable that the backflow prevention means is a check valve. This check valve is preferably made of a sheet such as cloth.

In the present invention, the bag is preferably such that two sheets are superimposed on each other and the two chambers are joined along the outer edge so that a small chamber is arranged between the sheets. In one embodiment of the present invention, inside the bag, a gas introduction chamber extending along the top of the inflated bag, and a plurality of the small chambers whose top communicates with the introduction chamber are provided,
The backflow prevention means is provided to prevent backflow of gas from the upper part of the small chamber to the gas introduction chamber.

In another aspect of the present invention, a gas introduction chamber and a plurality of small chambers communicating with the gas introduction chamber and extending in the front-rear direction of the bag are provided inside the bag. The backflow preventing means is provided to prevent backflow of gas from the gas into the gas introduction chamber.

[0011] The protection device for the head of an automobile occupant of the present invention is provided with such a protection bag.

A protection device for a vehicle occupant's head according to the present invention covers a gas generator for supplying gas into the protection bag and the protection bag, and opens toward a vehicle compartment when the protection bag is inflated. Means are preferably provided.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a bag according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of the bag,
3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2, and FIG.
5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the bag, FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a part of the bag, and FIG. It is a front view of a valve. FIG.
Reference numerals 2 and 13 are sectional views of a protection device provided with the protection bag.

The bag 1 is constructed by superimposing two sheets of an occupant-side seat 2 and a vehicle-body-side seat 3 and sewing the peripheral portions of the sheets 2 and 3 with sewing threads 4.
An empty space is formed between the two sheets 2 and 3. It should be noted that instead of suturing with the sewing thread 4, a joining means such as adhesion or welding may be employed.

A connecting portion 5 for connecting the bag 1 to an inflator 10 installed on an A-pillar or the like of an automobile extends from a front portion of the bag 1. The connecting portion 5 extends along the A pillar, and a gas inlet 6 is provided at a front end thereof. The inflator 10 generates gas when a vehicle collides or rolls over.

The vacant space in the bag 1 includes an introduction chamber 7 extending along the upper side of the bag 1 and a plurality of small chambers 8 arranged in parallel below the introduction chamber 7.

In order to form the small chamber 8, the sheets 2, 3
The two are connected by a vertical linear connecting portion 12.
This connection may be made by suturing, bonding, welding or the like.

The small chamber 8 has both sides and a lower part sealed, and an upper part communicates with the introduction chamber 7 via a check valve 13. As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the check valve 13 has two rectangular cloth pieces 14, 14 overlapped with each other, and both side edges thereof are joined by sewing or the like. As shown in FIG.
The sheets 2 and 3 are sewn together by a horizontal linear connecting portion 15 in order to partition the small chamber 8 from the small chamber 8. A part of the lateral linear coupling portion 15 bites into the check valve 13.

In this bag 1, the connecting portion 5 is installed along the A-pillar of the automobile, and the main body composed of the introduction chamber 7 and the small room 8 is installed near the intersection of the ceiling and the side of the automobile. Is done.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 12, the main body is folded and accommodated in a case 20. The case 20 is formed of, for example, a long box-like body extending along the roof side member of the automobile. In this case 20, at least a part 21 of a surface facing the vehicle compartment is openable toward the vehicle compartment. When gas is supplied from the inflator 10 into the bag 1, the gas is pushed by the bag 1 that is about to inflate, so that a part 2
1 is opened, and the bag 1 expands into the vehicle interior.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 13, the bag 1 is folded elongated and arranged along the roof side member 22. The upper side portion of the bag 1 is attached to the roof side member 22 with fasteners 2 such as bolts and rivets.
3 fastened. This bag 1 is covered by an interior material 24 of a vehicle. When gas is supplied from the inflator 10 into the bag 1, the interior material 24 is pushed by the bag 1 to be inflated, and the interior material 24 is ruptured, so that the bag 1 expands into the vehicle interior.

When the inflator 10 generates gas,
Gas flows into the introduction chamber 7 from the gas introduction port 6 via the connection portion 5. This gas flows from the introduction chamber 7 into each of the small chambers 8 through the check valve 13 as shown in FIG. With the inflation of the bag 1, the bag cover member such as the case or the interior material covering the bag 1 is torn, and the bag body including the small chambers 8 quickly inflates along the vehicle window or door.

The gas that has entered each of the small chambers 8 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the backflow to the introduction chamber 7 is prevented by the check valve 13, so that each of the small chambers 8 keeps expanding for a long time. When the occupant's head H or shoulders hit the small chamber 8 of the inflated bag 1, the small chamber 8 is depressed and deformed.
As shown in (b), the outflow of gas from inside the small chamber 8 is prevented by the check valve 13, so that the pressure in the small chamber 8 increases in inverse proportion to the concave deformation (volume reduction) of the small chamber 8. Therefore,
Even if the occupant hits the small room 8, the depression of the small room 8 is extremely shallow.

In the above embodiment, the cloth piece 14 constituting the check valve 13 is rectangular, but as shown in FIG. 8B, a check valve 13a using a cloth piece 14a whose lower side is widened is used. May be.

As a check valve, as shown in FIG. 9A, a left and right side and a lower side of the cloth pieces 14 and 14 are sewn together, and a check valve 13b provided with a slit 16 in one cloth piece is used. Is also good. When gas is introduced into the check valve 13b from the introduction chamber 7 side, the slit 16 is opened and the gas flows into the small chamber 8 as shown in FIG. When the gas tries to flow backward from the inside of the small chamber 8 to the introduction chamber 7 side, the slit 16 is closed and the backflow is prevented. FIG. 10 is a front view of a part of the bag 1A employing the check valve 13b.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a protective bag 31 for the head of an automobile occupant according to another embodiment of the present invention. This bag 31 is also one in which two sheets of an occupant-side seat and a vehicle-body-side seat are overlapped, and the peripheral portions of these sheets are stitched with sewing threads 34 to form an empty space between the two sheets. It should be noted that instead of suturing with the sewing thread 34, a joining means such as adhesion or welding may be adopted.

A connecting portion 35 extending from the front of the bag 31 to connect the bag 31 to the inflator 10 installed on an A-pillar or the like of an automobile is extended. The connecting portion 35 extends along the A pillar, and a gas inlet 36 is provided at a front end thereof.

The vacant space in the bag 31 includes an introduction chamber 37 located at the front of the bag 31 and a plurality of small chambers 38 connected to the introduction chamber 37 and arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction (front-back direction) of the bag 31. Become.

In order to form the small chamber 38, the occupant side seat and the vehicle body side seat are connected to each other by a lateral linear connecting portion 42. This connection may be made by suturing, bonding, welding or the like.

The small chamber 38 has upper and lower sides and a rear portion sealed, and a front portion communicates with the introduction chamber 37 via the check valve 13. This non-return valve 13 is shown in FIG. 8 (a), (b) or FIG.
(A) and (b). The occupant-side seat and the vehicle-body-side seat are sewn together by a vertical linear connecting portion 45 to partition the introduction chamber 37 and the small chamber 38. A part of the vertical linear connection portion 45 bites into the check valve 13.

In this bag 31 as well, the connecting portion 35 is installed along the A-pillar of the vehicle, and the main body comprising the introduction chamber 37 and the small room 38 is installed near the intersection of the ceiling and the side of the vehicle. Is done.

When the inflator 10 generates gas,
Gas flows into the introduction chamber 37 from the gas introduction port 36 via the connection portion 35. This gas is supplied from the introduction chamber 37 to the check valve 13.
Flows into each of the small chambers 38 to inflate each of the small chambers 38. With the inflation of the bag 31, the bag cover member such as the case and the interior material covering the bag 31 is torn, and the bag body including the small chambers 38 is quickly inflated along the vehicle window or door.

The gas that has entered each of the small chambers 38 is prevented from flowing back to the introduction chamber 37 by the check valve 13, so that each of the small chambers 38 continues to be expanded for a long time. When the occupant's head, shoulders, or the like hits the small chamber 38 of the inflated bag 31, the small chamber 38 is depressed and deformed. The pressure in the small chamber 38 increases in inverse proportion to the concave deformation (reduction in volume) of. Therefore, even if an occupant hits the small chamber 38, the recess of the small chamber 38 becomes extremely shallow.

A plurality of ears 50 project from the upper side of the bag 31 at predetermined intervals. The ear portion 50 is provided with a small hole 51. By passing a fastener such as a bolt or a rivet through the small hole 51 and fastening the fastener to a roof side rail or the like, the bag 31 is connected to the vehicle body.

In this embodiment, the introduction chamber 7 is arranged at the front of the bag 31, but may be arranged at the rear of the bag 31.

[0036]

As described above, in the protection bag and protection device for the head of an automobile occupant according to the present invention, when gas is introduced from the inflator, the protection bag maintains the inflated state for a long time. In addition, when the occupant's head or shoulder hits the inflated bag, the amount of dent deformation of the bag is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a bag according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of the bag.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the bag of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a part of the bag of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a check valve.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a check valve.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a part of a bag using the check valve of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a front view of a protective bag for an automobile occupant head according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a protection device provided with the protection bag of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a protection device provided with the protection bag of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1A, 31 Bag 2, 3 Seat 7, 37 Gas introduction chamber 8, 38 Small chamber 10 Inflator 13, 13a, 13b Check valve

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A protective bag for a head of an automobile occupant, which is disposed near an intersection between a ceiling portion and a side portion in a vehicle interior and inflates downward along the side portion by introduced gas. A plurality of small chambers are provided inside,
A protection bag for a head of an automobile occupant, wherein at least one small chamber is provided with a backflow preventing means for preventing a backflow of gas from the small chamber. 2. The protection bag according to claim 1, wherein said check means is a check valve. 3. A protective bag for a vehicle occupant head according to claim 1, wherein said backflow preventing means is made of a sheet of cloth or the like. 4. The protective bag according to claim 1, wherein a gas introduction chamber extending along an upper portion of the inflated bag, and a plurality of gas introduction chambers having an upper portion communicating with the introduction chamber. A protection bag for an automobile occupant's head, comprising: the small chamber; and the backflow prevention means for preventing a backflow of gas from the small chamber to the gas introduction chamber. 5. The protective bag according to claim 1, wherein a gas introduction chamber and a plurality of small chambers communicating with the gas introduction chamber and extending in the front-rear direction of the bag are provided inside the protection bag. A protection bag for a head of an automobile occupant, wherein the backflow prevention means is provided so as to prevent backflow of gas from the small chamber to the gas introduction chamber. 6. The bag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the bag is formed by superimposing two sheets and joining the two sheets along an outer edge of the bag. A protective bag for a head of an automobile occupant, wherein the protective bag is provided. 7. An automobile occupant having a protective bag for a head of an automobile occupant, which is disposed near an intersection between a ceiling portion and a side portion in the interior of the vehicle and inflates downward along the side portion by introduced gas. 7. An apparatus for protecting a head of an automobile occupant, wherein the protection bag is one according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The protection device according to claim 7, wherein the protection device covers the protection bag and a gas generator that supplies gas into the protection bag, and opens toward a vehicle compartment when the protection bag is inflated. Means for protecting a vehicle occupant head.