JP2002347550A - Automotive air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device allowing enhancing of the degree of freedom in a mounting piece angle without increasing the number of parts with regard to an automotive air bag device, in particular an air bag storage case to be stored at the rear side of a front passenger's seat side instrument panel. SOLUTION: The mounting pieces 17, 18 to attach the air bag storage case to the rear side of the instrument are formed at the backing member 13 of the storage case, thereby allowing freely setting of the mounting angle of the mounting pieces 17, 18 without increasing the number of parts.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device for an automobile, and more particularly to an airbag device for a passenger seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag module containing an airbag and an inflator is installed inside an instrument panel located below a front window panel. The lower part of the airbag module is fixed to a steering member arranged along the vehicle width direction inside the instrument panel, and the upper part is locked by a pair of front and rear mounting pieces integrally formed on the back surface of the instrument panel. ing.

[0003] An opening / closing door section defined on the instrument panel itself is provided between the pair of mounting pieces at a portion corresponding to the airbag of the instrument panel by a closed loop-shaped cleavage groove formed on the back surface. (Refer to JP-A-2001-39254 as a similar technique).

As described above, the formation of the opening / closing door portion on the instrument panel itself is better in appearance than the case where an opening is formed in the instrument panel and another opening / closing lid is provided therein. Because. On the back side of the door, an aluminum backing member is formed extending beyond the cleavage groove to the outside of the door. When the airbag is inflated, the opening / closing door portion separated from the instrument panel is opened outward as a hinge portion corresponding to the cleavage groove of the backing member, and the opening portion after the opening / closing door portion is removed. Therefore, the airbag can be deployed inside the vehicle.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional technique, the mounting piece for locking the upper part of the airbag module is formed integrally with the back surface of the instrument panel. The angle of the piece with respect to the instrument panel is restricted by the die-cutting angle when the instrument panel is formed by a mold, and the degree of freedom of the angle is greatly restricted.
This also affects the set angle of the airbag module, making the layout of the internal structure of the instrument panel difficult. Although the degree of freedom is increased by using a separate mounting piece, it is not preferable because doing so increases the number of parts.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides an airbag device for an automobile which can increase the degree of freedom of the angle of a mounting piece without increasing the number of parts. Is what you do.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
An airbag module containing an airbag and an inflator is installed on the back side of the instrument panel made of resin, and a closed loop-shaped cleavage groove is formed on the back side of the instrument panel corresponding to the airbag to partition the open / close door. A backing member larger than the opening / closing door portion is coupled to the inside and outside of the opening / closing door portion on the back side of the opening / closing door portion, and an airbag is provided at a portion outside the opening door portion of the backing member. A pair of front and rear mounting pieces for locking the upper part of the module are formed at a predetermined angle with respect to the backing member, and the backing member has at least one of a front side and a rear side of a cleavage groove of the backing member. A cutting section is formed around the hinge section corresponding to the opening section, which enables the opening and closing door section separated from the instrument panel by the inflation force of the airbag.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the mounting piece is formed on the backing member, the angle of the mounting piece can be freely set and the number of parts does not increase.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the backing member is formed of a soft resin.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the backing member is formed of a soft resin, it is easy to integrally form the mounting piece.
Because the connection with the instrument panel is also made of resin,
Easy.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the mounting piece is located at a position close to the cleavage groove.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the mounting piece is located at a position close to the cleavage groove, the movement of the mounting piece near the cleavage groove is suppressed, so that the inflation force of the airbag is reduced. To facilitate separation of the door from the instrument panel.

According to the invention of claim 4, the pair of front and rear mounting pieces are formed as front and rear facing surfaces of a tubular body formed outside the cleavage groove of the backing member.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the pair of front and rear mounting pieces are formed as front and rear opposing surfaces of the cylindrical body, the strength of the mounting pieces is increased, and the support strength of the airbag module is improved. The function of guiding the inflation direction of the airbag is also improved by the shape.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the cleavage groove is a cut groove formed after forming the instrument panel.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the cleavage groove is a cutting groove, the surface of the instrument panel does not have sink marks and uneven gloss.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the connection between the instrument panel and the backing member is made by ultrasonic horn welding.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the backing member is joined to the instrument panel by ultrasonic horn welding, the backing member is advantageous for multipoint joining, and the surface of the instrument panel has uneven gloss. Does not occur.

In the invention according to claim 7, the hinge portion of the backing member has a curved shape straddling the cleavage groove.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the hinge portion of the backing member has a curved shape straddling the cleavage groove, the hinge portion is prevented from being sharpened when the opening / closing door is opened, and the hinge portion is curved. With this, it comes into contact with the airbag.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes an instrument panel of an automobile, on which a front window panel 2 is located. The instrument panel 1 is a molded product made of a hard polypropylene resin, and its surface is subjected to a matte graining process for preventing reflection on the front window panel 2.

An airbag module 3 is installed inside the instrument panel 1. The airbag module 3 includes a reaction can 5 containing an inflator 4 fixed to a steering member 7 with a bracket 6, a case 8 fixed to a gas outlet 5 a of the reaction can 5, and an airbag 9 inside the case 8. Has been folded and stored. Hooks 10 are attached to the front and rear surfaces of the case 8.

The instrument panel 1 corresponding to the upper side of the airbag module 3 has a rectangular opening / closing door portion 11 formed therein. The opening / closing door portion 11 is defined by a rectangular cleavage groove 12 formed on the back surface of the instrument panel 1. This cleavage groove 12
Is a cutting groove which is post-processed by a rotary blade (such as a milling blade) after the instrument panel 1 is formed. Therefore, the surface of the instrument panel 1 does not have uneven gloss.

A backing member 13 made of a soft elastomer resin is connected to a portion of the back surface of the instrument panel 1 corresponding to the opening / closing door portion 11. The backing member 13 is larger in size than the door 11 and
A plurality of connection points 14 are set inside and outside.
This connection point 14 is provided with an ultrasonic welding horn 15 (see FIG. 5).
By immersing into the instrument panel 1 from the backing member 13 (see FIG. 4), the boundary surface is corrugated to increase the bonding force of the resins. Therefore, it does not affect the matte graining of the surface of the instrument panel 1. Moreover, since many connecting points 14 can be set at free positions of the backing member 13, the connecting force between the two can be sufficiently increased.

Each of the tubular members 16 is formed at a position close to the outside of the cleavage groove 12 in the backing member 13, and the front and rear opposing surfaces thereof form a pair of front and rear mounting pieces 17 and 18. . Since the backing member 13 is made of resin, it is easy to integrally form such mounting pieces 17 and 18. Each of the mounting pieces 17 and 18 has a mounting hole 19 in which the hook 10 of the airbag module 3 is locked.

The mounting pieces 17, 18 are formed at a predetermined angle θ1 with respect to the instrument panel 1. This angle θ1 is different from the mold release angle θ2 (about 25 degrees) when the instrument panel 1 is molded.
An optimal angle is set for holding the airbag module 3 and guiding the airbag 9 in the deployment direction.

The backing member 13 is an instrument panel 1
The angle θ1 of the mounting pieces 17 and 18 can be freely set irrespective of the die-cutting angle θ2 of the instrument panel 1. In addition, since the mounting pieces 17 and 18 are formed as front and rear facing surfaces of the tubular body 16, the mounting pieces 1
The strength of the airbag module 3 is improved by increasing the strength of the airbag module 3 and the function of guiding the inflation direction of the airbag 9 by the tubular body 16. Further, since the mounting pieces 17 and 18 are formed integrally with the backing member 13, the number of parts does not increase.

At a portion corresponding to the cleavage groove 12 of the backing member 13, a U-shaped cut portion 20 is formed except for a front side portion. The cut portion 20 is formed in a small width slit shape. A portion of the backing member 13 corresponding to the front side of the cleavage groove 12 is a curved hinge portion 21 straddling the cleavage groove 12.

Next, the actual deployment behavior of the airbag 9 will be described. When an automobile collides, gas is blown from the inflator 4 to the airbag 9. Airbag 9 is case 8
The backing member 13 and the door unit 11 are pushed upward by the expansion force F. At this time, the mounting piece 17,
18 is located close to the cleavage groove 12, the mounting piece 1
The upward movement of the proximity position of the cleavage groove 12 is suppressed at 7 and 18, and the inflation force F of the airbag 9 is concentrated on the cleavage groove 12. Therefore, the opening / closing door 11 is reliably cut, and the opening / closing door 11 is separated from the instrument panel 1.

The opening / closing door portion 11 separated from the instrument panel 1 is rotated rearward around the hinge portion 21 of the backing member 13 to open, and the air from the opening at the portion where the opening / closing door portion 11 is removed is removed. The bag 9 is deployed toward the vehicle interior to protect the occupant. At this time, since the hinge portion 21 of the backing member 13 has a curved shape, the hinge portion 21 is prevented from being sharpened when the door unit 11 is opened, and comes into contact with the airbag 9 in a curved state. , Airbag 9
Promote the smooth deployment of

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The backing member 22 of this embodiment includes an outer portion 23 and an inner portion 24 bordering the cleavage groove 12. The outer part 23 includes a tubular body 16 having mounting pieces 17 and 18 formed on the front and rear, and the inner part 24 includes an opening / closing door via a hinge part 26 on a connecting piece 25 overlapped with the front mounting piece 17. It includes a portion 22a that is connected only to the portion 11. Dividing the backing member 22 into two facilitates the molding of the backing member 22. Even if the backing member 22 is divided into two in this manner,
Since it is one part including 7 and 18, it can contribute to reduction of the number of parts.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a central groove 12a is formed at the center of the cleavage groove 12 to divide the opening / closing door portion 31 back and forth, and each of the mounting pieces 17, 18 of the backing member 27 is provided with a hinge 2
8 and 29 were formed, and a cut portion 30 was formed in a portion corresponding to the central groove 12a at the center of the backing member 27. With such a structure, the opening / closing door portion 31 can be a so-called “double door opening”.

[0034]

According to the present invention, since the mounting piece is formed on the backing member, the angle of the mounting piece can be freely set and the number of parts does not increase.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an instrument panel showing an airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially broken perspective view showing the structure of an opening / closing door and a backing member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of the opening / closing door and the backing member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially broken perspective view showing the structure of a connection point.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a tip of an ultrasonic welding horn.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the structure of an opening / closing door and a backing member according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a structure of an opening / closing door and a backing member according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a cleavage groove according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 3 Airbag module 4 Inflator 9 Airbag 11,31 Opening / closing door part 12 Cleaving groove 13,22,27 Backing member 16 Cylindrical body 17,18 Mounting piece 20,30 Cutting part 21,26,28, 29 Hinge part θ1 Mounting piece forming angle θ2 Die-cut angle of instrument panel

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Takahiro Suwa 218 Aoshima-cho, Fuji-shi, Shizuoka Japan F-term in Plast Corporation (reference) 3D054 AA03 AA14 BB09 BB10 BB23

Claims (7)

[Claims] An airbag module containing an airbag and an inflator is installed on the back side of an instrument panel made of resin, and a closed loop-shaped cleavage groove is formed on the back side of the instrument panel corresponding to the airbag to open and close. A door portion is defined, and a backing member larger than the opening and closing door portion is coupled to the inside and outside of the opening and closing door portion on the back side of the opening and closing door portion.
A pair of front and rear mounting pieces for locking the upper part of the airbag module are formed at a predetermined angle with respect to the backing member at a position outside the opening door portion of the backing member, and the backing member is provided with a backing member. A cutting portion is formed around the hinge portion corresponding to at least one of the front side and the rear side of the cleavage groove of the member, which allows the opening and closing of the opening / closing door portion separated from the instrument panel by the inflation force of the airbag. An airbag device for an automobile, characterized in that: 2. The vehicle airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the backing member is formed of a soft resin. 3. The airbag device for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the mounting piece is located at a position close to the cleavage groove. 4. The airbag device for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the pair of front and rear mounting pieces are formed outside the cleavage groove of the backing member. An airbag device for an automobile, wherein the airbag device is formed as a front-rear facing surface portion. 5. The vehicle airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the cleavage groove is a cutting groove processed after forming the instrument panel. Airbag device. 6. The airbag device for an automobile according to claim 2, wherein the connection between the instrument panel and the backing member is performed by ultrasonic horn welding. Car airbag device. 7. The vehicle airbag device according to claim 2, wherein the hinge portion of the backing member has a curved shape straddling the cleavage groove. Airbag equipment.