JP2002120680A - Occupant crash protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant crash protection device that can set the deceleration waveform of a cabin section nearer to an ideal. SOLUTION: The occupant crash protection device has a seat 4 supported for displacement in a cabin section (on a floor 2 in an embodiment) of a vehicle 1 and mounted with a seat belt 6 for restraining a sitting occupant 5, a torque takeoff means (sheave 12 with an electromagnetic clutch in the embodiment) disposed between an engine output shaft and a driving axle, a seat driving means (cable 13 in the embodiment) for displacing the seat in one direction with torque delivered from the torque takeoff means, a selecting means (deceleration sensor 17 in the embodiment) for validating the seat driving means only upon a collision, and a braking means (stopper 15 in the embodiment) integrated with the cabin section to brake the seat displaced by the seat driving means in the opposite direction to the direction of travel at the collision.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for minimizing the impact of an occupant during a collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to enhance the occupant protection effect in the event of an automobile collision, the deceleration of the occupant compartment of the vehicle body by appropriately setting the deformation mode in the collision of a portion other than the occupied room (crushable zone). Various vehicle body structures have been proposed in which the deformation is reduced and the deformation does not reach the living room (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-101354).

On the other hand, what greatly affects the degree of injury of the occupant at the time of collision is the maximum value of the deceleration acting on the occupant.
Therefore, in order to reduce the injury at the time of collision, it is necessary to reduce the deceleration acting on the occupant as much as possible. This occupant deceleration occurs when the forward movement of the occupant due to inertia is stopped by the seat belt. However, since the seat belt has a spring action, the seat belt that has received the occupant's inertial force extends, and the elongation occurs. When the vehicle seat belt reaches a maximum and the seat belt becomes substantially rigid, the occupant deceleration reaches a peak. It is said that the peak value of the occupant deceleration increases according to the magnitude of the occupant movement due to the inertial force, and is generally higher than the average deceleration of the vehicle body.

[0004] If the relationship between the room deceleration and the occupant deceleration is regarded as an input / output to / from a system composed of a spring (seat belt) and a mass (occupant mass), the maximum value of the extension of the spring, its time and Is governed by the waveform of the room deceleration (time change). Therefore, in order to lower the occupant deceleration in the event of a collision, it is necessary to not only lower the average deceleration of the living room but also adjust the waveform of the deceleration of the living room so that the overshoot of the spring (seat belt) becomes as small as possible. There is.

According to a simulation performed by the inventors of the present application, when the distance (dynamic stroke) required for stopping the living room portion is the same, compared to when stopping at a constant deceleration (rectangular wave). It is better to start the deceleration higher than the average deceleration steeply at the beginning of the collision, then generate a reverse deceleration (acceleration) for a short time, and then decelerate at the average constant deceleration. (See the solid line in FIG. 3), it has been confirmed that the occupant deceleration is further reduced.

[0006]

However, in a conventional vehicle body structure in which the deceleration of the living room is controlled by setting the deformation mode at the time of collision of the crushable zone, when a load is applied, a part having a low strength is necessarily provided. Since the deformation starts from the beginning and the deformation moves to the high-strength part, it is the best to approach the constant deceleration (rectangular wave), and a waveform in which the deceleration is inverted as shown in FIG. 3 is realized. It was virtually impossible to do.

[0007] The present invention has been devised to improve such problems of the prior art, and its main objects are as follows.
An object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device that can make a deceleration waveform of a living room portion more ideal.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an occupant (displaceably supported and seated in a living room (a floor 2 in the embodiment) of a vehicle (1)) is provided. 5) a seat (4) having a seat belt (6) for restraining the vehicle, and a rotational force extracting means (a sheave with an electromagnetic clutch 12 in the embodiment) provided between an output shaft of the engine and a drive axle; A sheet driving means (the cable 13 in the embodiment) for displacing the sheet to one side by the rotating force taken out from the rotating force extracting means, and a selecting means (in the embodiment) for enabling the sheet driving means only at the time of collision. Deceleration sensor 17), and braking means (a switch in the embodiment) integrated with the living room to brake the sheet displaced in the direction opposite to the traveling direction at the time of collision by the sheet driving means. It was to provide an occupant protection apparatus characterized by having Tsu path 15) and.

According to this, for example, when the front of the vehicle collides, in the initial stage of the collision, the seat is driven rearward by the engine or the like with respect to the living room. As a result, the seat deceleration is higher than the room deceleration,
The occupant hits the seat belt at a stage where the amount of forward movement due to its own inertia is small. In the middle stage of the collision, the seat is stopped from moving backward by the braking means installed in the living room that continues to move forward, and the relative speed difference between the seat and the living room becomes zero. As a result, the deceleration acting on the seat is reversed (acceleration acts). Thereafter, the decelerations of the room, the seat, and the occupant become equal to each other, and at the end of the collision, the constant deceleration set by the strength of the crushable zone at the front of the vehicle body acts on the room, the seat, and the occupant.

As described above, since the driving force for retreating the seat is obtained from the engine or the like, there is no need to add another driving means, so that the vehicle body structure provided with the occupant protection device does not need to be complicated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual side view of a vehicle to which an occupant protection device according to the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a seat 4 is provided on a floor 2 in a living room portion of a vehicle 1 via a seat rail 3 fixed on the floor 2 so as to be able to move rearward in a collision. Is provided. The seat 4 is provided with a seat belt 6 for restraining movement of the occupant 5 with respect to the seat 4. That is, the seat 4 is configured as a seat belt integrated type seat. The seat 4 is located at the forefront of the seat rail 3 in the initial state.

Between the living room 7 and the engine room 8, a dashboard 9 erected from the front end of the vehicle body on the floor 2.
It is divided by. Although not shown in the drawing, a front portion 10 of the vehicle body ahead of the dashboard 9 is used to absorb shocks to reduce the deceleration acting on the room in the event of a collision as much as possible and to prevent the deformation from reaching the room. It has a frame structure.

On the lower surface of the floor 2, there is provided a guide tube 11 which extends from the vicinity of the dashboard 9, turns back forward after reaching the rear of the seat 4, and is bent substantially in a J-shape as a whole. ing. This guide tube 11
Inside, a cable 13 whose one end is connected to a sheave 12 with an electromagnetic clutch provided on a drive axle, for example, and whose other end is connected to the rear end of the seat 4 is inserted.

A guide tube support 14 for supporting the rear end of the guide tube 11 is fixedly provided behind the seat 4 on the upper surface of the floor 2, and the support 14 moves the seat 4 backward. A stopper 15 for defining the limit is provided. The stopper 15 is provided with a buffer member 16 having, for example, a honeycomb structure.

Next, the operation of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, assuming that a vehicle collides head-on with a road-side structure.

When the vehicle 1 collides, the floor 2 (room 7) is stressed by the stress generated in the vehicle body front 10 at that moment.
Starts to decelerate. At this time, the electromagnetic clutch of the sheave with electromagnetic clutch 12 is connected by the output of the deceleration sensor 17 installed on the vehicle body front portion 10. This allows
The torque of the drive axle is transmitted to the sheave 12 and the cable 1
3, the seat 4 is moved rearward (see FIG. 2A).

As described above, since the seat 4 retreats with respect to the floor 2 which is continuing to move forward due to the compression deformation of the vehicle body front portion 10, the deceleration accompanying the retreat of the seat 4 becomes the room deceleration. As a result, the seatbelt-integrated seat 4 steeply rises and has a deceleration higher than that of the floor 2 (region a in FIG. 3). This allows
Since the occupant 5 hits the seat belt 6 at a stage where the amount of forward movement due to its own inertia is small, the deceleration of the occupant 5 occurs early. When the seat belt 6 receives the inertial force of the occupant 5, the seat belt 6 expands due to its elasticity.
The amount of extension at this time is balanced with the amount of forward movement of the occupant 5,
The retreat speed of the seat 4 may be determined so that the change in the posture of the occupant 5 is minimized.

In the middle stage of the collision, the vehicle body front portion 10
The floor 2 continues to move forward with the further compressive deformation, but the seat 4 pulled backward hits the stopper 15 (see FIG. 2B). Since the stopper 15 is moving forward with the floor 2, the seat 4 stops retreating at this point and turns forward with the floor 2. This is the same as when the deceleration is reversed and the forward acceleration acts on the seat 4 (region b in FIG. 3). At this time, the shock-absorbing member 16 provided on the stopper 15 is crushed and the shock at the time when the deceleration is reversed is reduced. The reversal timing is determined by the distance between the cushion member 16 and the sheet 4 and the size of the cushion member 1.
6 is appropriately adjusted in accordance with the shock absorbing characteristics of No. 6.

Thereafter, the acceleration acting on the seat 4 disappears, and the occupant 5 and the seat 4 substantially coincide with the deceleration of the floor 2, that is, the living room 7 (region c in FIG. 3). Then, at the end of the collision, the occupant 5, the seat 4, and the floor 2 are united with a constant deceleration determined by the stress of the vehicle body front portion 10 and continue to decelerate until the end of the collision (region d in FIG. 3, FIG.
b).

According to the vehicle body structure provided with the occupant protection device, as means for moving the seat 4 from the initial position to the rear side of the vehicle body, instead of combining frames having different rigidities or using a special actuator,
Since the rotational force of the engine or the driving axle is converted into the backward moving force of the seat 4 by using the cable 13, the degree of freedom of the maneuvering is high, and the structure can be made compact. The influence of the installation of the device on the occupant space in the living room can be minimized.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the occupant deceleration when the distance required for stopping the living room portion is the same can be further reduced as compared with the conventional vehicle body structure. A great effect can be achieved in reducing the occupant damage sometimes given. Moreover, since the driving force for retreating the seat is obtained from the engine, etc., the device can be made compact, and in combination with the large occupant protection effect obtained in a small crushable zone, it is particularly remarkable when applied to compact cars. Effects can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle to which an occupant protection device according to the present invention is applied.

2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing a vehicle body deformation process at the time of a collision, wherein FIG. 2A shows a state immediately after a collision, FIG. 2B shows a state of a mid-collision state, and FIG. Schematic side view of

FIG. 3 is a deceleration waveform diagram at the time of a collision.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Floor 4 Seat 5 Occupant 6 Seat belt 12 Sheave with electromagnetic clutch 13 Cable 15 Stopper 17 Deceleration sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A seat provided with a seat belt that is displaceably supported in a living room of a vehicle body and restrains a seated occupant; a rotational force extracting means provided between an output shaft of an engine and a drive axle; Sheet driving means for displacing the sheet to one side by the rotational force taken out from the rotational force extracting means; selecting means for validating the sheet driving means only at the time of collision; An occupant protection device, comprising: braking means integral with the living room to brake the seat displaced in the direction.