JP2001138855A - Inflator for bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inflator, by which an air bag such as a curtain bag or the like is easily and very firmly fastened to the inflator and the bag is softly expanded. SOLUTION: A cylindrical gas jetting part 9 is projected from one end face of the inflator 8, and a cap 10 is screw-engaged thereon. The cap 10 has a stepped part 13 on the outer peripheral surface, and after a gas injection port of the curtain bag 2 is externally fitted to the cap 10, a fastening band 6 is mounted on a small-diameter part 11 adjacent to the stepped part 13. The tip face of the cap 10 is provided with plural gas nozzles 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inflator for inflating a bag for protecting an occupant of an automobile or the like, and more particularly to a rod-shaped inflator for ejecting gas from one end.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A side airbag device arranged on the side of a vehicle seat, an airbag device for protecting a head for inflating an airbag to the side of an occupant's head, and a webbing of a seat belt are incorporated. In an airbag device such as an airbag device for protecting a chest or a lumbar region (sometimes referred to as an air belt device), a rod-shaped inflator may be used.

[0003] As one type of the rod-shaped inflator, FIG. 5D and Fi
g. As shown in FIG. 10D, there is a rod-shaped inflator provided with a gas ejection port on an outer peripheral surface on one end side. Gas is ejected from this gas ejection port in the radial direction.

In such an inflator provided with a gas outlet on the outer peripheral surface at one end side, when connected to a bag such as a bag for protecting the occupant's head of an automobile, the flow of gas ejected in a radial direction is inflated. A member for changing in the longitudinal direction (axial direction) is required. Since the diameter of this member is larger than the diameter of the inflator, it is difficult to incorporate the member into an automobile.

Therefore, an inflator has been conceived in which gas is jetted from one end of a rod-shaped inflator in the axial direction. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a curtain bag (head protection bag for a vehicle occupant) system having such a rod-shaped inflator, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a connecting portion between the inflator and the bag in this system.

[0006] A curtain bag 2 is connected to one end of a rod-shaped inflator 1. The bag 2 is elongated and folded from the A pillar 3 of the car to the C along the roof side.
It is routed to the top of the pillar 5. Reference numeral 4 indicates a B pillar. The ear 2a of the bag 2 is fastened to the vehicle body by bolts or the like.

[0007] The bag 2 has a gas inlet fitted outside the tip of the inflator 1, and is fixed to the inflator 1 by a fastening band 6. When the inflator 1 blows out gas due to a side collision of an automobile or the like, the bag 2 expands as shown by a two-dot chain line 2 'in FIG. expand.

[0008]

As shown in FIG. 3, the gas inlet of the bag 2 is fitted to one end of the inflator 8,
In the structure fixed by the tightening band 6, the band 6 needs to be tightened tightly so that the bag 2 does not fall out of the inflator 1, and it takes time to fasten the bag 2.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflator which can easily and extremely securely fasten a gas inlet of a bag. Another object of the present invention is to provide an inflator in which a bag is softly inflated.

[0010]

A bag inflator according to the present invention comprises a rod-shaped main body containing a gas generating agent, and a cylindrical main body protruding from one end surface of the main body in the longitudinal direction of the main body. In a bag inflator having a gas ejecting portion, a cylindrical cap is attached to the gas ejecting portion,
The cap is characterized in that a gas outlet is provided on a tip end surface and a bag locking portion is provided on an outer peripheral surface.

In such a bag inflator,
The cap attached to the inflator is provided with a bag engaging portion, so that the gas inlet of the bag is externally fitted to one end of the inflator, and the bag is securely fastened to the inflator by tightening with a tightening band. be able to. In this case, since the fastening band is engaged with the cap, the bag can be securely fastened without tightening the fastening band so strongly. A step is preferable as the bag engaging portion.

In the present invention, a plurality of the gas outlets may be provided on the tip end surface of the cap. By providing a plurality of gas ejection ports in this manner, the gas ejected from the cap into the bag is dispersed and introduced into the bag, and the ejection speed of the gas into the bag is reduced,
The bag will inflate softly.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 (a) is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a connecting portion between a bag inflator and a curtain bag according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (b) shows a connection structure between the inflator and a cap. Perspective view, No.
FIG. 1 (c) is a front view of the cap. FIG. 1 (a) shows a cross section along the line AA in FIG. 1 (c).

The inflator 8 according to this embodiment has
It has a rod-like shape, and a cylindrical gas ejection portion 9 protrudes from one end face thereof in the axial direction. A male screw is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the gas ejection section 9. The main body of the inflator 8 is filled with a gas generating agent, and an igniter for igniting the agent is provided at the rear end of the inflator 8.

A cap 1 is provided at one end of the inflator 8.
0 is mounted coaxially with the inflator 8.
The cap 10 has a cylindrical shape having a small diameter portion 11 and a large diameter portion 12, and a step 13 is formed between the small diameter portion 11 and the large diameter portion 12.

On the inner peripheral surface of the inner hole 14 of the cap 10, on the side of the inflator 8, there is provided a female screw 15 which is screwed with a male screw of the gas jetting section 9.

A plurality of (three in this embodiment) gas outlets 16 are provided on the tip end surface of the cap 10. The outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion 11 of the cap 10 is provided with a flat surface portion 17 for applying a tool when screwing the cap 10 into the inflator 8.

The gas inlet of the bag 2 is externally fitted to the inflator 8 of the cap 11 configured as described above, and the tightening band 6 is attached to the outer peripheral side of the small diameter portion 11 of the cap 10 as in the conventional example. Be tightened. In this case, the tightening band 6 is arranged adjacent to the step 13. in this way,
By arranging the tightening band 6 adjacent to the step 13, when a force in the pull-out direction is applied to the bag 2, the tightening band 6 comes into contact with the step 13, and the bag is moved between the step 13 and the band 6. Since the bag 2 is strongly held, the bag 2 is reliably prevented from coming off. Therefore, the bag 2 can be firmly attached to the inflator 8 without making the band 6 tight.

Further, since the cap 10 is provided with a plurality of gas outlets 16, the gas ejected from the gas ejection portion 9 is dispersed from the plurality of gas outlets 16 and ejected into the bag 2. Therefore, the ejection speed of the gas decreases, and the bag 2 expands softly. The jet gas from the jet port 16 flows in the longitudinal direction of the inflator 8 and does not directly hit the bag 2, so that the heat resistance required for the bag 2 can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the gas ejection port 1
Although six are provided, two or four or more may be provided. In the above embodiment, the step 13
Is provided around the outer periphery of the cap 10, but the protrusion may be provided to project from the outer peripheral surface of the cap to lock the bag 2. However, as in the above embodiment, by providing the step 13 around the periphery, the bag 2 is strongly held between the band 6 and the step 13 over the entire outer periphery of the cap 10. , Bag 2
Has extremely high mounting strength.

In the above embodiment, the curtain bag 2 and the inflator 8 are connected. However, the present invention can be applied to an inflator for inflating various airbags such as a bag of an air belt device.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to extremely easily and very firmly fasten the bag to the inflator. Further, according to the present invention, the bag can be softly inflated, and the heat resistance required for the bag can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a)
The figure is a cross-sectional view of a connecting portion with the inflator bag, (b) is a perspective view showing a connecting structure between the inflator and the cap,
(C) is a front view of the cap.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the inside of an automobile showing a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a connecting portion between a conventional inflator and a bag.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inflator 2 Curtain bag 3 A pillar 6 Tightening band 8 Inflator 9 Gas ejection part 10 Cap 11 Small diameter part 12 Large diameter part 13 Step 16 Gas outlet

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rod-shaped main body containing a gas generating agent,
A bag inflator having a tubular gas ejection portion projecting from one end surface of the body portion in a longitudinal direction of the body portion, wherein a tubular cap is attached to the gas ejection portion; An inflator for a bag, wherein a gas ejection port is provided on a distal end surface, and a bag engaging portion is provided on an outer peripheral surface. 2. The inflator for a bag according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the gas ejection ports are provided on a tip end surface of the cap. 3. The inflator for a bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag locking portion comprises a step.