JP2002114124A - Mounting structure of pillar trim - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mounting structure of pillar trim for covering a curtain type air bag that excels in safety by ensuring a smooth movement of the air bag and preventing scattering of fragments during a tear. SOLUTION: A holding flange 21 formed at an end edge of front pillar trim 20 is superimposed on a joint flange 51 of a front pillar panel 50 and is fixedly held in a seal member 60. The front pillar trim 20 has a discontinuous low- rigidity portion such as slits 23 and a thin-walled portion inside the holding flange 21, to trigger a tear when an air bag 40 is operated and thus ensure a smooth inflation of the air bag 40. The front pillar trim 20 has an L-sectioned platelike rib 25 on the underside. A holding flange 26 at the point of the platelike rib 25, together with the joint flange 51 of the panel 50, is held in the seal member 60. The reinforcing rib 25 has a thin-walled portion 27 at the base to trigger a tear when the air bag 40 is operated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pillar trim mounting structure which is mounted on a vehicle body panel so as to cover a curtain type airbag disposed along a side edge of a roof. The present invention relates to a pillar trim mounting structure capable of performing a deployment operation smoothly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in order to protect passengers,
The airbags are built into the steering wheel and instrument panel.However, recently, the vehicle has been installed on the roof side of the vehicle so that the occupants can be sufficiently protected against the impact from the side of the vehicle. There are also curtain-type airbags installed along the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 7, a curtain-type airbag 1 is accommodated in a roof side garnish 2 provided on both sides of a roof trim and in a front pillar trim 3 adjacent to the roof side garnish 2 on the front side.

[0004] Conventionally, when the airbag 1 is inflated, for example, in the event of a side collision, the lower edge of the roof side garnish 2 is deformed by the deployment pressure of the airbag 1 so as to deform the airbag 1.
Bulges into the vehicle interior.

As shown in FIG. 8, the mounting structure of the front pillar trim 3 is such that a terminal flange 3a of the front pillar trim 3 is superimposed on a joining flange 4a of the front pillar panel 4 so that the front pillar trim 4 has a substantially U-shaped cross section. The front pillar trim 3 is attached to the indoor side of the front pillar panel 4 so as to cover the airbag 1 by sandwiching and fixing the sealing member 5.

[0006]

As described above, the front pillar trim 3 is mounted on the front side of the curtain-type airbag 1 so as to cover the airbag 1, but the terminal flange 3a of the front pillar trim 3 has the front flange 3a. For example, when the airbag 1 is deployed, the front pillar trim 3 hinders the deployment operation of the airbag 1, so that the smooth operation of the airbag 1 is achieved. The problem that operation cannot be expected is pointed out.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is a mounting structure of a front pillar trim for covering a front side of a curtain-type airbag disposed on a side portion of a roof. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pillar trim mounting structure in which a smooth deployment operation can be expected and a broken piece is not scattered when the pillar trim is broken.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pillar trim in which a curtain-type airbag is arranged along the indoor surface side of a pillar panel and is attached so as to cover the airbag. In the mounting structure of
A holding flange is formed at an edge along the longitudinal direction of the pillar trim, and a joining flange of the pillar panel and a holding flange of the pillar trim are overlapped and sandwiched by a seal member, and inside the holding flange of the pillar trim. Along with this, a stiffness-reducing portion serving as a base point of fracture is provided.

Here, the rigidity-reduced portion is a slit formed intermittently along the longitudinal direction or a thin-walled portion recessed along the longitudinal direction.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a pillar trim mounting structure in which a curtain-type airbag is disposed along the indoor surface side of a pillar panel and is mounted so as to cover the airbag, in the vicinity of a side edge of the pillar trim. A plate-shaped rib is formed on the back surface of the portion, a holding flange that overlaps with the joint flange of the pillar panel is formed at the tip of the plate-shaped rib, and the joining flange of the pillar panel and the holding flange of the pillar trim are overlapped to form a sealing member. And a thin portion serving as a base point of fracture is provided at the base of the plate-shaped rib.

As is apparent from the above configuration, according to the pillar trim mounting structure of the present invention, the rigidity reducing portion is formed inside the pillar trim holding flange, or the holding trim is joined to the panel joining flange. Since the thin portion is formed at the base of the plate-like rib having the flange for use, when the deployment pressure of the airbag is applied, such as during a side collision, the reduced rigidity portion or the portion near the holding flange in the pillar trim due to the thin portion Does not prevent the pillar trim from easily breaking from this portion as a base point, and prevent the airbag from deploying to the indoor side.

Further, since the broken portion is sandwiched by the seal member, the broken fragments do not scatter.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a pillar trim mounting structure according to the present invention is applied to a front pillar trim mounting structure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement of a curtain type airbag, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a mounting structure of a front pillar trim according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a mounting structure of the front pillar trim. FIG. 4 shows the operation of the front pillar trim, and is an explanatory view showing a state when the airbag is deployed.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention, and are a cross-sectional view and a side view showing a mounting structure of a front pillar trim.

Referring to FIG. 1, the structure of the roof portion of the vehicle will be described. The front pillar trim 20 adjacent to the front side of the roof side garnish 10 located on both side edges of the roof trim, and the substantially central portion of the roof side garnish 10 The center pillar trim 30 installed adjacent to the lower side of the vehicle and the rear pillar trim 31 provided adjacent to the rear side of the roof side garnish 10 are mounted on a roof side panel (not shown) and various pillar panels, respectively. The airbag 40 is
As shown in the drawing, the front pillar trim 20 is accommodated in the longitudinal direction of the roof side garnish 10 while being housed inside the front pillar trim 20.

In the present invention, particularly in the mounting structure of the front pillar trim 20, the deployment operation of the airbag 40 can be performed smoothly. As shown in FIGS. A holding flange 21 is provided on the front pillar trim 20 so as to be mounted on the indoor side of the front pillar panel 50 and overlap with the joining flange 51 of the front pillar panel 50, to increase the strength of the edge portion of the front pillar trim 20, The groove 22 is provided along the longitudinal direction so as to accommodate the leg of the seal member 60, and a slit 23 is intermittently formed on the bottom surface of the groove 22.

Reinforcing ribs 24 are formed on the outer wall surface of the groove 22 at predetermined intervals so that external stress is concentrated on the slit 23.

The front pillar trim 20
Is mounted so as to cover the curtain-type airbag 40 provided on the front pillar panel 50. As a fixing structure of the edge portion of the front pillar trim 20, a holding flange 21 of the edge portion of the front pillar trim 20 is provided.
Is overlapped with the joining flange 51 of the front pillar panel 50 and is sandwiched and fixed by a sealing member 60 having a substantially U-shaped cross section. The sealing lip 61 of the sealing member 60 fixes the groove 22 of the front pillar trim 20.
The openings are covered to enhance the appearance.

Furthermore, according to the mounting structure of the front pillar trim 20 according to the present invention, when the airbag 40 is deployed, for example, in the event of a side collision, an external force F is applied to the inner surface of the front pillar trim 20 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. However, this external force F is
Since the groove portion 22 of the front pillar trim 20 has reduced rigidity due to the slits 23 intermittently opened, the front pillar trim 20 is easily broken at the groove portion 22 as shown in FIG. By inflating, the occupant can be reliably protected.

In operation of the airbag 40,
Although the front pillar trim 20 breaks, the main body 2
Since the broken pieces 20b are held by the seal member 60 with respect to 0a, the broken pieces do not scatter, and in this respect, the safety is excellent.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the slit 23 is intermittently formed in the groove 22 along the longitudinal direction, but the groove 22 may be provided with a thin portion along the longitudinal direction.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the mounting structure of the front pillar trim 20 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the front pillar trim 20 is mounted.
The plate-like rib 25 is integrally formed on the back surface of the plate, and the tip of the plate-like rib 25 is bent by approximately 90 ° to provide a holding flange 26. The joining flange 51 of the center pillar panel 50 and the holding flange 26 are overlapped. Seal member 6
0, and the base portion of the plate-like rib 25 has a thin portion 27 for reducing rigidity.
Are formed.

Therefore, when the airbag 40 is operated, the thin portion 27 is easily broken by the deployment pressure from the airbag 40, and the front pillar trim 20 pivots in the direction of arrow P in FIG. The front pillar trim 20 does not hinder the inflation operation of the bag 40.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the front pillar trim 20 is provided with a plate-like rib 25 in which a holding flange 26 is integrated. By operating the slide core in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. There is an advantage that the set number of slide cores can be reduced, the molding die structure of the front pillar trim 20 can be simplified, and the die cost can be reduced.

[0026]

As described above, according to the pillar trim mounting structure of the present invention, the pillar trim is held by the sealing member with the holding flange overlapped with the joint flange of the pillar panel, and the inside of the holding flange is held inside. The front pillar trim is formed with intermittent slits and thin-walled portions along it.By setting the rigidity-reduced portion, the airbag operates to accelerate the breakage of the front pillar trim based on the rigidity-reduced portion. Thus, since the inflating operation of the airbag can be performed smoothly, there is an effect that the operability of deploying the airbag can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement configuration of a curtain type airbag.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a front pillar trim mounting structure to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a mounting structure of a front pillar trim shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state during operation of an airbag in the front pillar trim mounting structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of a front pillar trim mounting structure to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement configuration of a curtain type airbag.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional example of a front pillar trim covering a curtain-type airbag.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Roof side garnish 20 Front pillar trim 21 Holding flange 22 Groove 23 Slit 24 Reinforcement rib 25 Plate-shaped rib 26 Holding flange 27 Thin part 30 Center pillar trim 31 Rear pillar trim 40 Airbag (curtain type) 50 Front pillar panel 51 Joining flange 60 Seal member 61 Seal lip

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A mounting structure for a pillar trim (20) in which a curtain-type airbag (40) is provided along the indoor surface side of a pillar panel (50) and is mounted so as to cover the airbag (40). A holding flange (21) is formed at an edge along the longitudinal direction of the pillar trim (20), and a pillar panel (5) is formed.
The joining flange (51) of (0) and the holding flange (21) of the pillar trim (20) are overlapped and sandwiched by the sealing member (60), and the inside of the holding flange (21) of the pillar trim (20). A pillar trim mounting structure characterized by having a rigidity reduction portion which is a base point for fracture along the same. 2. A mounting structure for a pillar trim (20), wherein a curtain-type airbag (40) is provided along the indoor surface side of the pillar panel (50), and is mounted so as to cover the airbag (40). A plate-like rib (25) is formed on the back surface near the side edge of the pillar trim (20).
At the end of 5), the joining flange (5) of the pillar panel (50)
A holding flange (26) that overlaps with 1) is formed, and the joining flange (51) of the pillar panel (50) and the holding flange (26) of the pillar trim (20) are overlapped and sandwiched by the sealing member (60). A pillar trim mounting structure, wherein a thin portion (27) serving as a base point of break is provided at a base of the plate-shaped rib (25).