JP2001114060A - Air bag for side air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag for side air bag devices, capable of exactly restraining the breast and the head of an occupant without enlarging the volume unnecessarily. SOLUTION: An air bag 17 is arranged on the rear side, and is provided with a base part 25 which is positioned in the upstream of inflating gas when the bag is unfolded-expanded, and a main body part 26 arranged on the front side of the base part. The main body part 26 is provided with a recessed part 32 which is dented backward at the time when the bag is unfolded-expanded, and lower and upper expansion parts 29, 28 which extend from the base part in a forked manner, supporting that the base part is an intersecting part, to be arranged beside the breast and the head of the occupant. On the inside of the base part, a belt-shaped tether 23 for connecting the room-inside face 25a and the room-outside face 25b, is arranged. The smallest opening area X of the upper side passage 29 on the tether upper edge 23a side is set to be smaller than the smallest opening area Y of the lower side passage 30 on the tether lower edge 23b side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag for a side airbag device which is folded and stored on a side surface of a seat back, and which protrudes so as to cover the sides of the occupant's chest and head when deployed and inflated. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an airbag of a side airbag device, as is known in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-188214, the airbag is disposed on the rear side and is located upstream of the inflation gas when deployed and inflated. It has been configured to include a base portion and a main body portion that is disposed on the front side of the base portion when the deployment and inflation is performed, and is disposed laterally from the chest to the head of the occupant.

[0003]

However, in the conventional airbag, the main body portion when deployed and inflated has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front side viewed from the side of the seat back.
The part arranged on the front edge side from the chest to the head of the occupant is substantially linear.

Therefore, when the main body is deployed and inflated, the inflated portion of the main body is arranged not only on the side of the occupant's chest and head but also on the side near the occupant's shoulder. The volume of the airbag was unnecessarily increased.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an airbag of a side airbag device capable of accurately restraining a chest and a head of an occupant without unnecessarily increasing the volume. With the goal.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An airbag according to the present invention is folded and housed on a side surface of a seat back, is arranged at a rear side, and has a base portion which is upstream of an inflation gas when deployed and inflated; An airbag for a side airbag device, comprising: a main body disposed on the front side of the base when inflated and disposed laterally from the chest to the head of the occupant; The main body at the time is provided with a concave portion that is recessed rearward at a position substantially corresponding to the vicinity of the shoulder of the occupant near the vertical center on the front edge side, and is disposed above and below the concave portion to intersect the base. A lower inflatable portion extending bifurcated from the base as a portion and disposed on the side of the occupant's chest, and an upper inflatable portion disposed on the side of the occupant's head; Near the middle of the front-back direction The tether is arranged in the direction, and a band-shaped tether that connects the inner side surface and the outer side surface of the vehicle is provided, and the tether is configured such that the upper edge of the tether and the inner peripheral surface of the upper edge of the base portion at the time of deployment and inflation are provided. The relationship between the minimum opening area X of the upper flow path formed between them and the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path formed between the lower edge of the tether and the lower inner peripheral surface of the base portion. , X <Y.

[0007] Further, the tether, when deployed and inflated,
The minimum opening area X, the minimum opening area Y, the minimum opening area Z of the front flow path formed between the tether and the front edge side inner peripheral surface of the base at the position where the concave portion is disposed,
In the relationship, it is desirable that X <Y ≦ Z be provided.

[0008]

In the airbag of the side airbag device according to the present invention, if the airbag is deployed and inflated, the lower inflatable portion of the main body portion is
It is arranged on the side of the occupant's chest, the upper inflatable part of the main body is arranged on the side of the occupant's head, and by the upper and lower inflatable parts,
The occupant's chest and head can be restrained accurately.

The main body has a concave portion that is recessed rearward from the front edge side at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the occupant's shoulder between the upper inflatable portion and the lower inflatable portion. That is, since the inflated portion is not arranged at a position located on the side near the occupant's shoulder, the volume of the airbag can be reduced as much as possible, and the inflation completion time can be shortened.

[0010] Further, in the airbag according to the present invention, a band-shaped tether that connects the inner side surface and the outer side surface of the airbag is disposed near the middle of the base portion in the front-rear direction, with the width direction being substantially vertical. The inflation gas flowing to the inflation portion passes through the upper flow path between the upper edge of the tether and the inner peripheral surface on the upper edge side of the base, and the inflation gas flowing to the lower inflation portion flows through the lower edge of the tether and the lower portion of the base. It passes through the lower channel between the inner peripheral surface on the edge side.

However, since the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path is set to be larger than the minimum opening area X of the upper flow path, when the airbag is deployed and inflated, the lower inflation portion is located ahead of the upper inflation portion. Is filled with a large amount of inflation gas, and even if the occupant's chest approaching the airbag from the occupant's head interferes before the inflation of the airbag is completed, the lower inflation section can accurately restrain the occupant's chest. Become.

When the head of the occupant tries to interfere with the airbag before the inflation is completed, the occupant's chest first interferes with the lower inflatable portion. Excess inflation gas flows into the upper inflation section via the front flow path between the tether and the inner peripheral surface on the front edge side of the base at the position of the recess. Therefore, the upper inflation portion is rapidly expanded by the inflation gas flowing through the upper channel and the front channel, so that the occupant head can be restrained accurately.

Therefore, in the airbag of the side airbag device according to the present invention, the occupant's chest and head can be accurately restrained without increasing the volume unnecessarily.
Further, even before the inflation is completed, the occupant's chest and head can be restrained accurately.

Further, the tether has a relation of X <Y ≦ Z in the relation of the minimum opening area X of the upper flow path, the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path, and the minimum opening area Z of the front flow path. As described above, the following operations and effects can be obtained by disposing.

That is, the minimum opening area Z of the front channel is
If the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path is equal to or more than the minimum opening area Y, when the occupant's chest interferes with the lower inflatable portion and the occupant's head interferes with the upper inflatable portion before the inflation of the airbag is completed, the lower portion interferes with the occupant's chest. The surplus inflation gas inside the inflation portion flows smoothly into the upper inflation portion via the front flow passage without causing such a behavior as flowing back to the lower flow passage. The occupant's head can be restrained more accurately by expanding more rapidly.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the airbag 17 of the embodiment is used for a side airbag device M disposed on the side of the seat 1 on the outside of the vehicle in the seat back 2.

The seat back 2 is provided with a frame 3 which is disposed substantially vertically and is provided with a side airbag device M.
Are fixed to the frame 3 by fixing bolts 11a and 13e of a base plate 11 and a retainer 13 described later with nuts 8.9. 2, reference numeral 4 denotes a cushion, reference numeral 5.6 denotes a skin made of a decorative cloth or the like, and reference numeral 7 denotes an airbag attached to the side of the seat back 2 on the vehicle exterior side. A cover that opens when the bag 17 is inflated.

The side airbag device M includes an airbag 1
7, a sheet metal case 10 that covers the folded airbag 17, an inflator 15 that supplies inflation gas to the airbag 17, and a sheet metal retainer 13 that holds the inflator 15. ing.

The case 10 is composed of a base plate 11 and a bag guide 12 fixed to each other.
The base plate 11 is formed in a substantially flat shape so as to cover the inside of the folded airbag 17, and has a plurality of (two in the embodiment) bolts 11 a fixed to the frame 3 with nuts 9. . Baggite 1
2 is formed in a substantially half-cylindrical shape so as to cover the rear of the folded airbag 17. The case 10 is formed with a through hole 10 a through which a bolt 13 e described later of the retainer 13 is inserted.

The retainer 13 is provided with a bracket 13a in which a plurality of (two in the embodiment) bolts 13e are arranged and extending in the vertical direction, and a substantially octagonal tubular holding body 13b for holding the inflator 15. ing. The holding body 13b is provided with a plurality of not-shown claw pieces for holding the inflator 15 at a predetermined portion by caulking so as to be plastically deformed. Further, as shown in FIG.
3c, the upper edge of the opening 13c is a cover 13d that covers a gas discharge port 15a of the inflator 15, which will be described later. The cover portion 13d is provided so that the inflation gas G discharged from the gas discharge port 15a can be separated in two directions, up and down.

The inflator 15 is of a cylinder type and has a plurality of gas discharge ports 15a arranged at the top.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the airbag 17 is disposed on the base 25 on the upstream side of the inflation gas and on the front side of the base 25 at the time of deployment and inflation. D) (which is a dummy) and a main body 26 disposed on the side from the chest B to the head H.

The retainer 13 holding the inflator 15 is disposed on the rear end side inside the base portion 25. Further, two through holes 25f for projecting the bolts 13e of the retainer 13 are formed in the vehicle inner side surface 25a on the rear end side of the base 25.

The main body 26 has a lower inflatable portion 28 disposed on the side of the occupant's chest B on the outside of the vehicle when deployed and inflated, and an occupant head H
And an upper inflatable portion 27 arranged on the side of the outside of the vehicle. The main body 26 has a recess 32 that is recessed rearward on the front edge side during deployment and inflation so as to separate the upper and lower inflation portions 27 and 28. Recess 32
Is located near the vertical center of the front edge of the main body 26 as a position corresponding to the vicinity of the shoulder S of the occupant D when the main body 26 is deployed and inflated. Therefore, at the time of deployment and inflation, the upper and lower inflation portions 27 and 28 are arranged so as to extend in a vertical bifurcated manner from the base 25 with the base 25 as an intersecting portion.

The base 25 and the main body 26 are connected to one
8 (see FIG. 6A) is formed by folding it in two and sewing the outer peripheral edge.

Further, a belt-shaped tether 23 for connecting the vehicle interior side surface 25a and the vehicle exterior side surface 25b is provided near the middle of the base portion 25 in the front-rear direction. The tether 23 has the width direction arranged vertically. In addition, the tether 23 includes an inner side surface 25a of the base 25 and an outer side surface 25a.
b, two belt cloths 22 with their ends sewn to
They are connected to each other.

The airbag 17 has an upper flow path 29 formed between the upper edge 23a of the tether 23 and the inner peripheral surface on the upper edge 25c side of the base 25 by the tether 23. Between the lower flow path 30 formed between the edge 23b and the inner peripheral surface on the lower edge 25d side of the base 25, and the inner peripheral surface on the front edge 25e side of the base 25 at the position where the tether 23 and the concave portion 32 are arranged. And the front-side flow path 31 to be formed. The upper flow path 29 supplies the inflation gas G to the upper inflation portion 27.
And the lower channel 30 is provided with a lower inflation portion 28.
The flow path for supplying the inflation gas G to the
Is a flow path that connects the upper inflation portion 27 and the lower inflation portion 28.

Further, the tether 23 can be
In the relationship between the minimum opening area X of the upper flow path 29, the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path 30, and the minimum opening area Z of the front flow path 31, X <Y ≦ Z (in the embodiment, X <Y ≦ Y <Z)
The width dimension and arrangement position are set so that

The base fabric 18 and the band fabric 22 are formed of a woven fabric such as polyamide or polyester. Further, the base fabric 18 is formed by sewing two woven fabrics on the rear side of the airbag 17 into a single sheet.

Further, one reinforcing cloth 19 is disposed on the inner peripheral surface on the rear side of the base 25 of the airbag 17, and two reinforcing cloths 20 are disposed near the rear edge of the recess 32. Further, the reinforcing cloth 21 is also provided at a portion where the belt cloths 22 forming the tether 23 are stitched to the vehicle inner side surface 25a and the vehicle inner side surface 25b. These reinforcing cloths 19, 20 and 2
1 is formed from a woven fabric such as polyamide or polyester.

The manufacture of the airbag 17 will be described. As shown in FIG.
8, the reinforcing cloths 19 and 20 are sewn using the suture thread 16 and the reinforcing cloth 21 is interposed, and
The belt cloths 22 are sewn, and the through holes 25f
f is formed by drilling. The base fabric 18 made of two woven fabrics is formed into a single sheet when the reinforcing cloth 19 is stitched.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The sutures 16 sew together and connect the tips 22a of the 22 to form the tether 23.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
The base cloth 18 is folded in two so as to enclose the suture 3, and the outer peripheral edges of the piled base cloths 18 are kept together except for a part of the trailing edge side.
6, the retainer 13 holding the inflator 15 is inserted into the airbag 17 from the unsewn portion, and each bolt 13e of the retainer 13 is inserted into the through hole 25f.
To protrude.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, while the lead wire 15b extending from the inflator 15 is inserted, the unsewn portion into which the retainer 13 has been inserted is connected to the suture 1
By suturing at step 6, the airbag 17 can be manufactured.

The assembly of the airbag device M using the airbag 17 manufactured as described above will be described. First, the airbag 17 is folded.

This folding step is performed as shown in FIG.
After the airbag 17 is unfolded flat so that the inner side surface 25a and the outer side surface 25b of the airbag 17 are in contact with each other, as shown in FIG. It is inserted between the tethers 23. In addition, at this time, the upper inflatable portion 27 is formed so as not to be crumpled and bulky.
Is inserted into the base front edge 25e without turning over.

Thereafter, as shown by CD in FIG. 8, roll folding is performed while forming a fold P so as to be wound on the inner side surface 25a.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8E, the folding operation of the airbag 17 can be completed by folding the upper and lower portions 17a and 17b of the folded airbag 17 to the center side.

After the airbag 17 has been folded, the airbag 17 is covered with a breakable wrapping sheet 34 (see FIG. 2) to prevent the airbag 17 from being folded and restored, thereby preventing the folding. By assembling the bolt 13e from the through hole 10a and storing the airbag 17 in the case 10, the assembling work of the airbag device M can be completed.

The assembled airbag apparatus M can be attached to the seat back 2 of the seat 1 by fastening the bolts 11a and 13e to the frame 3 with the nuts 8.9. After the airbag device M is attached to the seat 1, the seats 5, 6 and the cover 7 are attached, the assembly is completed, and the seat 1 is mounted on the vehicle. Also, sheet 1
When the vehicle is mounted on a vehicle, the lead wire 15b extending from the inflator 15 is connected to a predetermined airbag operation circuit of the vehicle.

After a predetermined signal is input to the inflator 15 via the lead wire 15b after the side airbag device M is mounted on the vehicle, the inflation gas G is discharged from the gas discharge port 15a of the inflator 15, and the air is discharged. Bag 17
However, while breaking the wrapping sheet 34, the cover 7 is pushed and opened, and as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS.
It will expand and expand greatly.

At that time, in the airbag 17 of the embodiment,
When deployed and inflated, the lower inflatable portion 28 of the main body 26
Is arranged on the side of the chest B, and the upper inflatable portion 27
Is disposed on the side of the head H of the occupant D, and the upper and lower inflatable portions 27 and 28 can accurately restrain the chest B and the head H of the occupant D.

The main body 26 has a concave portion 32 that is recessed rearward from the front edge side at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the shoulder S of the occupant D between the upper inflatable portion 27 and the lower inflatable portion 28. That is, since the inflated portion is not arranged at a position arranged on the side near the occupant shoulder S, the airbag 17
Can be reduced as much as possible, and the expansion completion time can be shortened.

Further, in the airbag 17 of the embodiment,
A belt-shaped tether 23 that connects the vehicle interior side surface 25a and the vehicle exterior side surface 25b with the width direction substantially in the vertical direction is disposed near the middle in the front-rear direction inside the base portion 25.
The inflation gas G1 (see FIG. 9) flowing to the
Through the upper flow path 29 on the side of the upper edge 23a,
The inflation gas G2 flowing to the lower side flows through the lower flow path 30 on the lower edge 23b side of the tether 23.

However, the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path 30
Is set to be larger than the minimum opening area X of the upper flow path 29, and at the initial stage of inflation of the airbag 17, as shown in FIGS.
First, a large amount of the inflation gas G2 is filled, and the lower inflation portion 28 completes the inflation. Then, as shown in FIGS. The inflation gas G3 flowing from the flow path 31 is added, and the upper inflation portion 27 completes inflation, so that the entire airbag 17 completes inflation.

Therefore, in the airbag 17 of the embodiment, before the inflation of the airbag 17 is completed, even if the occupant's chest B approaching the airbag 17 from the occupant's head H interferes with the lower inflation portion 28, , The occupant's chest B can be accurately restrained because it is inflated first.

When the occupant's head H attempts to interfere with the airbag before the inflation of the airbag 17 is completed, the occupant's chest B first interferes with the lower inflatable portion 28, and therefore, as shown in FIG. As described above, the lower inflation portion 28 that has interfered with the occupant chest B
The surplus inflation gas G4 flows into the upper inflation portion 27 via the front channel 31. Therefore, the inflating gas G1 and G4 flowing through the upper channel 29 and the front channel 31 causes the upper inflating portion 27 to expand rapidly, so that the occupant head H can be properly restrained. it can.

Therefore, in the airbag 17 of the side airbag device M of the embodiment, the chest B and the head H of the occupant D can be restrained accurately without increasing the volume unnecessarily. Even before the completion of the inflation, the chest B and the head H of the occupant D can be restrained accurately.

In the embodiment, the tether 23
Are the minimum opening area X of the upper flow path 29, the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path 30, and the minimum opening area Z of the front flow path 31,
Are arranged so as to satisfy X <Y <Z.

Therefore, the minimum opening area Z of the front channel 31
Is larger than the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path 30, so that the occupant chest B interferes with the lower inflatable portion 28 and the occupant head H interferes with the upper inflatable portion 27 before the inflation of the airbag 17 is completed. At this time, the surplus inflation gas G4 inside the lower inflation portion 28 that has interfered with the occupant's chest B smoothly and largely passes through the front passage 31 without causing the backflow to the lower passage 30. By flowing into the upper inflatable portion 27, the upper inflatable portion 27
The occupant's head B can be restrained more accurately by expanding more rapidly.

The minimum opening area Z of the front channel 31 is
The tether 23 may be provided so as to be equal to the minimum opening area Y of the lower channel 29. However, the minimum opening area Z
However, when the opening area is smaller than the minimum opening area Y, the surplus inflation gas G4 inside the lower inflation section 28 that has interfered with the occupant chest B
However, there is a possibility that a reverse flow to the lower flow path 30 may occur and the rapid expansion of the upper expansion portion 27 may be prevented.

Further, in the embodiment, since the tether 23 is arranged so as to connect the inner side surface 25a and the outer side surface 25b of the airbag 17, the airbag 17 can be restricted so as not to be thick. , Upper and lower inflation part 2
It is easy to stably secure the forwardly protruding distance to the side of the head H and the chest B of the occupant D at 7.28.

Further, in the embodiment, the inflator 1
The inflation gas G discharged from the nozzle 5 is configured to be branched and discharged in the up and down two directions by the retainer 13, but the cover 13 d is not provided on the holding body 13 b of the retainer 13 and the gas G is discharged from the gas discharge port 15 b. Expansion gas G
May be directly applied to the tether 23.

Further, in the embodiment, the case where the tether 23 is constituted by the two belts 22 is shown, but the tether 23 may be formed from one belt. However, when forming the tether 23 from the two strips 22 divided in the length direction of the tether 23 as in the embodiment, the strip 2
Although it is necessary to connect the two tips 22a to each other, the tether 23 is attached to the inner side surface 25a and the outer side surface 25b of the base 25.
Since the work of connecting both ends of the airbag 17 can be easily performed, the manufacture of the airbag 17 becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a use mode of an airbag device in which an airbag according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the airbag device of the embodiment, and corresponds to a II-II portion in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing the vicinity of an upper portion of a retainer holding an inflator in the airbag device of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing an inflated state of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line VV in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view for sequentially explaining a manufacturing process of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a view for sequentially explaining a manufacturing process of the airbag of the embodiment, and shows a process after the process in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a process of folding the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a view sequentially showing an inflated state of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a view sequentially showing an inflated state of the airbag of the embodiment, and shows a state after FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which the occupant's chest interferes during the inflation of the airbag of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... Seat back, 17 ... Airbag, 23 ... Tether, 23a ... Top edge (of tether), 23b ... Bottom edge (of tether), 25 ... Base, 25a ... Car interior surface, 25b ... Car exterior surface, 25c ... (Base) Upper edge, 25d lower edge (base), 25e front edge (base), 26 body part, 27 upper expansion part, 28 lower expansion part, 29 upper flow path, 30 lower side Flow path, 31: front side flow path, 32: recess, G (G1, G2, G3, G4): inflation gas, D: occupant, B: chest, H: head, S: shoulder, M: side air Bag device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A base which is folded and housed on a side surface of a seat back, is arranged on a rear side, and is located upstream of an inflation gas at the time of deployment and inflation, and is located at a front side of the base at the time of deployment and inflation. An airbag of a side airbag device comprising: a main body disposed laterally from the chest to the head of the occupant; wherein the main body at the time of deployment and inflation is near the shoulder of the occupant. As a position corresponding to, near the vertical center of the front edge side, provided with a concave portion that is recessed rearward, is disposed separately above and below the concave portion, and the base portion is a crossing portion and is bifurcated from the base portion. A lower inflatable portion that extends and is arranged on the side of the occupant's chest,
An upper inflatable portion arranged on the side of the occupant's head, and near the middle in the front-rear direction inside the base portion, arranged in the width direction substantially up and down, the inner side surface and the outer side surface. A band-shaped tether connecting the upper surface and the lower surface of the upper channel formed between the upper edge of the tether and the inner peripheral surface of the upper portion of the base when the tether is deployed and inflated. X
And the minimum opening area Y of the lower flow path formed between the lower edge of the tether and the inner peripheral surface on the lower edge side of the base portion, such that X <Y. An airbag for a side airbag device. 2. The tether, when unfolded and inflated, between the minimum opening area X, the minimum opening area Y, and the inner peripheral surface on the front edge side of the base at the position where the tether and the concave portion are arranged. 2. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein the airbag is provided so that X <Y ≦ Z in relation to a minimum opening area Z of the front passage formed. 3. .