JP2001347912A - Air bag system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the arranging area of a door for covering an air bag in an air bag system using a disc-shaped inflator. SOLUTION: This air bag system is provided with an air bag 14, a disc- shaped inflator 50, a case 12 for holding the inflator, and a door 16 for covering the air bag and projecting the air bag in the specified projecting direction X by being opened by developing pressure. The inflator 50 is held in the case 12 in a state where its axial direction Y is inclined in relation to the projecting direction X of the air bag.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device which is a device for protecting a passenger in a vehicle or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, gas generators used in air bag devices include a cylindrical inflator and a disk inflator. As shown in FIG. 3, the disc-shaped inflator has a disc-shaped configuration including a flat cylindrical main body 52 and a plate-shaped mounting portion 54 protruding from a peripheral surface thereof. A plurality of gas outlets 56 are provided on the upper surface 52a of the main body 52 on the peripheral surface, whereby the disc-shaped inflator 50 is configured to blow gas G in a direction perpendicular to the axis.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional airbag apparatus 100 using such a disc-shaped inflator 50. As shown in FIG.
The airbag device 100 is a passenger airbag device disposed on the instrument panel 1. The airbag device 100 has a disk-type inflator 50 attached from below a base plate 101 serving as an inflator holding member, and covers an upper portion 52 a of the main body. Then, the airbag 102 is fixed to the upper surface of the base plate 101 with a bag retainer 103,
The folded airbag 102 is covered with a door 104.

[0004] The door 104 is provided with the folded airbag 10.
2 comprises a design surface portion 105 covering the upper surface, and a door wall 106 protruding from the back surface of the design surface portion 105. Design surface part 1
05 forms a part of the upper surface by closing the opening 2 provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1,
The airbag 102 is provided with a thin break line portion 107, which is opened when the break line portion 107 is broken by the deployment pressure of the airbag 102, and the airbag 102 is inflated into the vehicle compartment from this opening. The door wall 106 surrounds the side surface of the folded airbag 102, and is fixed to the side surface of the base plate 101 at the lower end.

[0005] The door wall 106 has the function of regulating the direction in which the airbag 102 protrudes.
The airbag 102 is a door wall 106 from the design surface 105.
Pop out along the direction of the protrusion. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the door wall 106 protrudes vertically from the design surface 105,
Therefore, the projecting direction X of the airbag 102 is perpendicular to the design surface portion 106, that is, substantially directly above. The inflator 50 is held on the base plate 101 such that the axial direction thereof coincides with the protruding direction X of the airbag 102.

In such a conventional airbag apparatus 100, the axial direction of the disc-shaped inflator 50 is
2 is set in the same direction as the protruding direction X, the minimum dimension of the door design surface portion 105 is defined by the radial dimension of the inflator 50, and the radial dimension of the disc-shaped inflator is large. There is a problem that the arrangement area cannot be made smaller than a certain value. This is particularly true in the passenger airbag device arranged on the upper surface of the instrument panel.
This is important because it is desired to reduce the size in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

Further, as in the case of the airbag device 110 shown in FIG. 5, the projecting direction X of the airbag 102 may be set obliquely upward instead of directly above. There is a problem that the arrangement area of the door 104 in the vehicle front-rear direction becomes large.

In the above-described airbag devices 100 and 110 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, since the blowing direction of the gas G from the inflator 50 is perpendicular to the popping direction X of the airbag 102, The exhausted gas G is blown out toward the door wall 106. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the door wall 106 with strength enough to withstand such a gas pressure, and accordingly, the thickness of the door wall 106 increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in an airbag device using a disc-shaped inflator, there is provided an airbag device capable of reducing an arrangement area of a door for covering the airbag. The purpose is to do.

[0010]

An airbag device according to the present invention comprises an airbag, a disc-shaped inflator for supplying gas to the airbag, a holding member for holding the inflator, and a folded airbag. A door for opening the airbag in a predetermined pop-out direction by opening the airbag by the deployment pressure, and holding the inflator to the holding member in a state where the axial direction thereof is inclined with respect to the pop-out direction of the airbag. It was made.

According to this airbag device, the axial direction of the disc-shaped inflator is not the same as the direction in which the airbag protrudes, but is inclined with respect to the direction in which the airbag protrudes. The arrangement area can be reduced. The reason is that the disc-shaped inflator has a small thickness in the radial direction, that is, the dimension perpendicular to the axis, that is, the dimension in the axial direction. This is because the large plane perpendicular to the axis is no longer perpendicular to the direction in which the airbag projects, and the projected area of the inflator on the door surface decreases accordingly.

In the airbag device according to the present invention, the door constitutes a part of an upper surface of the instrument panel of the vehicle, and the door protrudes from a design surface that is opened by an airbag deployment pressure and a back surface of the design surface. And a door wall that regulates the direction in which the airbag pops out, and wherein the axial direction of the inflator is in the direction in which the airbag pops out in a plane substantially perpendicular to the vehicle width direction. Preferably, it is inclined with respect to. In this case, since the axial direction of the inflator is inclined in the vehicle front-rear direction with respect to the airbag pop-out direction, the dimension of the door design surface portion in the vehicle front-rear direction is reduced, and the space saving of the airbag device in the vehicle front-rear direction is achieved. It is planned.

Further, in the airbag device of the present invention, the holding member is a case that opens upward, the door wall is attached to an opening edge of the case, and the inflator is connected to a bottom wall or a side wall of the case. It is preferred that it is fixed to. Since the disk-type inflator blows gas in a direction perpendicular to the axis, in this case, the gas blown from the inflator is blown toward the inner surface of the case or the door design surface, and is not blown toward the door wall. Therefore, the material cost can be reduced by reducing the thickness of the door wall.

Further, in the airbag device of the present invention, the holding member is a case that opens upward, the door wall is attached to an opening edge of the case, and the inflator is located on the front side of the case with respect to the vehicle. It is preferable that the inflator is fixed to a side wall, and the axial direction of the inflator is disposed substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the airbag projects.
In this case, since the gas blowing direction of the inflator is substantially parallel to the popping direction of the airbag, the gas from the gas blowing hole on the upper side of the inflator does not hit the door wall, but flows in the popping direction of the airbag. The air is supplied directly into the airbag. Therefore, it is advantageous in controlling the deployment behavior of the airbag, and the weight of the door wall can be reduced by reducing the thickness of the door wall.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an airbag device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This airbag device 10
Is an airbag device for a passenger seat disposed in an instrument panel 1 in front of a passenger seat of an automobile, and uses a disk-type inflator 50 shown in FIG. 3 as a gas generator.

The airbag device 10 includes a disc-shaped inflator 50, a metal case 12 as a holding member for holding the inflator 50, an airbag 14 housed in a folded state in the case 12, The airbag 14 covers the folded airbag 14 and is opened by the deployment pressure.
Resin door 1 that makes 4 protrude in a predetermined protruding direction
6

As shown in FIG. 3, the disc-shaped inflator 50 has a disc-like shape comprising a flat cylindrical main body 52 and a plate-like mounting portion 54 projecting from the peripheral surface thereof.
A plurality of gas discharge holes 56 are provided in the upper portion 52a of the second 2 so as to discharge gas G in a direction perpendicular to the axis. The mounting portion 54 is provided with a bolt insertion hole 58 for fixing the inflator 50 to the case 12, and a wiring 59 is drawn out from the lower surface of the main body 52.

The case 12 is a box-shaped container having a rectangular horizontal section and opening slightly upward toward the rear of the vehicle, and is disposed behind the upper surface of the instrument panel 1.

The door 16 includes a design surface portion 18 that covers the upper surface of the folded airbag 14, and a door wall 20 that protrudes from the back surface of the design surface portion 18. The design surface portion 18 forms a part of the upper surface by closing the opening 2 provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1. The airbag 14 is provided with a thin break line portion 22 extending in the vehicle width direction. The design surface portion 18 is opened by breaking the break line portion 22 by the deployment pressure of the airbag 14, and the airbag 14 is opened from this opening. It is designed to bulge into the vehicle compartment.

The door wall 20 projects in a frame shape from the back surface of the design surface 18 so as to surround the opening peripheral portion of the rectangular case 12, and a rivet or the like is fixed to the outer surface of the opening peripheral portion of the case 12. It is mounted and fixed by means 24. The door wall 20 projects downward and inclining toward the front of the vehicle, so that the protruding direction X of the airbag 14 is directed upward and toward the rear of the vehicle. For details,
Left and right door walls (not shown) facing in the vehicle width direction project substantially perpendicularly from the design surface portion 18, and the door wall 20 facing in the vehicle front-rear direction is inclined downward and forward as shown in FIG. . The airbag 14 protrudes into the vehicle compartment along the inclined front and rear door walls 20.

The case 1 attached to the door wall 20
The left and right side walls (not shown) of the second side wall are substantially vertical,
As shown in FIG. 1, the front and rear side walls are inclined similarly to the inclined front and rear door walls 20.

The inflator 50 is connected to the front wall 1 of the case 12.
2a. The front wall 12a is provided with a circular inflator mounting hole 26, into which the main body upper portion 52a of the inflator 50 is inserted from the front, and in this state, the mounting portion 54 is fixed to the case front wall 12a. . Specifically, the mouth portion of the airbag 14 is fixed to the case front wall 12 by the bolt and nut 30 using the retainer 28.
a is fixed around the inflator mounting hole 26,
The mounting portion 54 of the inflator 50 is also fixed to the case front wall 12a by the bolt and nut 30.

By fixing the inflator 50 to the case front wall 12a as described above, the inflator 50 is held in a state where its axial direction Y is inclined with respect to the protruding direction X of the airbag 14. Specifically, the axial direction Y of the inflator 50 forms a predetermined angle θ with the pop-out direction X of the airbag 14 in a plane perpendicular to the vehicle width direction, that is, in a vertical plane (the paper surface in FIG. 1) passing in the vehicle longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, θ = approximately 90 °, that is, the axial direction Y of the inflator 50 is arranged substantially perpendicular to the protruding direction X.

In the airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, when a predetermined impact is detected, the inflator 50 blows out the gas G substantially in parallel to the direction X in which the airbag 14 protrudes, and The internal pressure of the door 16 increases, and the breaking
The airbag 14 protrudes into the vehicle compartment from the opening in the X direction, and expands and inflates into a predetermined shape to receive the occupant.

In the airbag apparatus 10, the disc-shaped inflator 50 is disposed on the vehicle front side wall 12a of the case 12 so that the axial direction Y is perpendicular to the protruding direction X of the airbag 14. Therefore, the direction perpendicular to the axis having the larger dimension becomes parallel to the protruding direction X of the airbag 14, so that the front-rear dimension of the design surface portion 18 covering the protruding direction of the airbag 14 can be reduced, and the airbag device 10 Space can be saved by reducing the size in the front-rear direction.

The gas G blown out from the inflator 50 is blown out toward the bottom wall 12b, the left and right side walls, and the door design surface 16 of the case 12, and is not blown out toward the door wall 20. The thickness can be reduced, and the weight can be reduced.

Further, the gas G from the gas outlet 56 above the inflator 50 is supplied into the airbag 14 as it is in the direction X in which the airbag 14 protrudes. The flow can be controlled. Moreover, since the inflator 50 is disposed in front of the airbag 14 and the folded portion of the airbag 14 located above the inflator 50 is small, the inflator 50 is quickly deployed from the upper side of the airbag 14, which is advantageous for restraining the occupant. The deployment behavior of the airbag 14 can be realized.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an airbag device 40 according to another embodiment of the present invention. This airbag device 4
Reference numeral 0 denotes an airbag device for the passenger seat disposed in the instrument panel 1 in front of the passenger seat, similarly to the above-described embodiment, using the disk-type inflator 50 shown in FIG. 3 as a gas generator. is there. Hereinafter, only differences from the above-described embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, the direction in which the door wall 20 protrudes from the design surface portion 18 is substantially vertical, and therefore, the direction X in which the airbag 14 protrudes is set substantially right above. The bottom wall 12b of the case 12 is inclined upward toward the front of the vehicle, and the disc-shaped inflator 50 is fixed to the inclined bottom wall 12b. Thereby, the axial direction Y of the inflator 50 is perpendicular to the vehicle width direction (FIG. 2).
Are inclined at an angle θ of about 45 ° with respect to the pop-out direction X of the airbag 14.

Also in this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the projected area of the inflator 50 on the door design surface 18 by reducing the large radial direction of the disc-shaped inflator 50 from being perpendicular to the protruding direction X of the airbag 14. Therefore, the dimension of the design surface portion 18 in the front-rear direction can be reduced, and the space of the airbag device 40 in the vehicle front-rear direction can be reduced. The inclination angle θ of the inflator 50 in the axial direction Y with respect to the pop-out direction X of the airbag 14.
Is preferably set within a range of 45 ° to 90 °.

The gas G blown out of the inflator 50 is blown out toward the front wall 12a, the rear wall 12c and the left and right side walls of the case 12, and is not blown out toward the door wall 20, so that the plate The thickness can be reduced, and the weight can be reduced.

[0033]

According to the airbag apparatus of the present invention, the axial direction of the disc-shaped inflator is not the same as the direction in which the airbag protrudes, but is inclined with respect to the protruding direction. The area of the door that covers the door can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an airbag device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a disk-type inflator.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional airbag device.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of another conventional airbag device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 40 ... airbag device 12 ... case 12a ... side wall 12b on the vehicle front side ... bottom wall 14 ... airbag 16 ... door 18 ... design surface part 20 ... door wall 50 ... disk-shaped inflator X: The direction in which the airbag pops out Y: The axial direction of the inflator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinori Mihara 1-17-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hidehito Soki 1-17-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D054 AA03 AA14 BB09 BB10 BB11 DD11 FF20

Claims (4)

[Claims] An airbag, a disc-shaped inflator for supplying gas to the airbag, a holding member for holding the inflator, and a cover for covering the folded airbag and opening the airbag by the deployment pressure thereof to open the airbag. An airbag device, comprising: a door that projects in a predetermined pop-out direction; and wherein the inflator is held by the holding member in a state where the axial direction of the inflator is inclined with respect to the pop-out direction of the airbag. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the door forms a part of an upper surface portion of an instrument panel of the vehicle, and the door is formed by an airbag deployment pressure, and the door projects from a back surface of the design surface portion and is attached to the holding member. And a door wall that regulates the direction in which the airbag pops out, wherein the axial direction of the inflator is inclined with respect to the direction in which the airbag pops out in a plane substantially perpendicular to the vehicle width direction. The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A case in which the holding member is open upward, wherein the door wall is attached to an opening edge of the case, and the inflator is fixed to a bottom wall or a side wall of the case. The airbag device according to claim 2. 4. A case in which the holding member is open upward, the door wall is attached to an opening edge of the case, and the inflator is fixed to a side wall of the case on the front side of the vehicle. 3. The airbag device according to claim 2, wherein an axial direction of the airbag is arranged substantially perpendicular to a direction in which the airbag projects.