JP2003137059A - Air bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To expand an air bag in a predetermined shape, to eliminate complexity, and to facilitate manufacturing by preventing a wrinkle from occurring in a non-expansion part at the completion of expansion of the air bag with an expansible/contractive structure. SOLUTION: A plate-like base cloth is sewed at the periphery, the non- expansion part 3 forms a throttle part, and the air bag has a plurality of expansion chambers. The non-expansion part 3 has the expansible/contractive structure 4. When the air bag is expanded, the expansible/contractive structure 4 allows the non-expansion part 3 to expand.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag which is an apparatus for protecting an occupant of an automobile from impacts from various directions, for example, impacts at two or more places such as chest and head, chest and waist. In the above, the present invention relates to an airbag formed by expanding and contracting the non-inflatable portion so as to have a stable deployed shape when the airbag is inflated and deployed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the prior art, since a gouging portion 18 that branches from a gas introducing portion to a head and chest supporting portion is formed, the head supporting portion and the chest supporting portion are independent from each other when the airbag is deployed. Side airbag (JP-A-9-220)
No. 993), or by forming the sewn-off region 42 and
There is an airbag (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-164899) that protects the side surface. In addition, as another embodiment,
There is also an airbag in which the head protection bag 16 is stabilized with respect to the chest protection bag 14 by using the strap 44 in the shape when the airbag is deployed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since there is a sewn-off portion or an independent portion for each portion, the behavior of the airbag at the time of inflation and deployment becomes unstable, and the function of the airbag is perfect. In order to solve this problem, there is a method to use a strap etc., but since the non-inflatable part of the airbag is formed with a special woven fabric, the cost increases. However, there is a problem that the process is complicated because the strap is sewn.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a non-inflated portion of an airbag of the prior art in which the boundary line between the respective portions of the airbag for protecting two portions such as the chest and the waist does not inflate. It is an object of the present invention to provide an airbag that stabilizes the behavior of the bag when inflated and deployed by inserting an elastic structure such as a slit into the airbag.

[0005]

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and employs the following technical means. In the invention according to claim 1, the flat base fabric is sewn on the outer peripheral portion, and the narrowed portion is formed by the non-expandable portion,
In an airbag that forms a plurality of inflation chambers, a technical means is adopted in which an elastic structure is formed in the non-inflatable portion and the non-inflatable portion is expanded by the elastic structure when the airbag is inflated and deployed.

In the invention described in claim 2, claim 1
In addition to the above-described invention, a technical means of forming the elastic structure of the non-inflatable portion of the airbag with a slit is adopted.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first or second aspect of the invention, in the side airbag accommodated inside the seat in the vehicle, the chest support portion is formed by the non-inflatable portion. At the same time, a technical means of forming an elongated hole along the front-rear direction in the non-expandable portion is adopted.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, a conventional airbag will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is an example of a conventional airbag, which is a schematic side view of an airbag in which a non-inflated portion is not woven with elongated holes, slits, etc., and the airbag is inflated and deployed, and FIG. FIG. 5B is a side view showing the shape of the conventional airbag when flat, and FIG. 5B shows one example of the conventional airbag, which is used when the airbag is inflated and deployed without the elongated holes or slits of the non-inflatable portion being woven. It is a side view which shows a shape.

[0009] At present, in the airbag technology, in order to improve an injury value of an occupant of an automobile, a side airbag of a type that protects not only a conventional chest but also a waist has been developed. However, in the side airbag, the required internal pressure of the airbag waist 2 with respect to the chest 1 is generally required to have a difference of about twice or more due to the difference in bag survival clearance and the mass of the protective portion.

As a method of producing a pressure difference between such two parts, when two cloths are overlapped and sewn, the gas emitted from the inflator 5 is first applied to the waist as an area where the airbag abdomen 3 is not expanded. There is a structure that suppresses the inflow of gas to the chest.

In the case of this method, however, the airbag chest 1 is not inflated due to the pressure difference, as shown in FIG. 5B, from the difference in the base fabric length when the airbag is flat and when the airbag is inflated. The behavior of the bag was not stable due to the shape change that the airbag 3 was pulled up and the airbag waist 2 was lifted.

Therefore, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an airbag in which a long hole is formed in a non-inflatable portion and the airbag is inflated and deployed. FIG. 2A is a flat shape of the airbag in the first embodiment. 2 is a side view showing FIG.
FIG. 6B is a side view showing the shape of the airbag when inflated and deployed in the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the non-inflatable portion of the airbag abdomen 3 is fitted with a telescopic structure such as a long hole or a slit 4 so that the airbag in the airbag waist portion 2 is pulled up and moved. This is a structure that suppresses such behavior.

Further, the long holes, slits 4 and the like formed in the non-inflatable portion of the airbag abdomen 3 are formed in the front-rear direction, so that the waist support portion (lower inflatable portion) is not pulled upward during inflation and deployment, and is sure. In addition, the occupant's waist and chest can be supported.

FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment of the present invention.
A description will be given based on (a) and FIG. 3 (b). FIG. 3 (a) is a side view showing the shape of the airbag in the second embodiment of the present invention when flat, and FIG. 3 (b) is a side view showing the shape of the airbag in the expanded and deployed state in the second embodiment. Is.

In the second embodiment, instead of the slit 4, a mesh-shaped punch hole 6 is formed in the non-inflatable portion of the airbag abdomen 3.
The same effect can be obtained by opening the.

[0017]

As a result of adopting the above configuration, the present invention provides
The following effects can be obtained. (1) Due to the expansion and contraction structure, wrinkles do not occur in the non-inflated portion when the inflation and deployment of the airbag are completed, and thus the airbag is deployed in a predetermined shape. (2) The manufacturing process can be facilitated without complicated steps. (3) Since the long holes and slits are formed in the front-rear direction, the waist support portion (lower inflatable portion) is not pulled upward during deployment,
The waist and chest of the occupant can be reliably supported.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an airbag of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the airbag showing a flat state and an inflated and deployed state in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the airbag showing a flat state and an inflated and deployed state in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of an airbag showing a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state in a flat example and a state in which the conventional example is inflated and expanded.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Airbag chest 2 Airbag waist 3 Airbag abdomen (non-inflatable part) 4 Slit 5 Inflator 6 Punch hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In an airbag in which a flat base cloth is sewn on an outer peripheral portion and a narrowed portion is formed by a non-inflatable portion to form a plurality of inflation chambers, a stretchable structure is formed in the non-inflatable portion. Then, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, the non-inflatable portion can be extended by the elastic structure. 2. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein the elastic structure of the non-inflatable portion of the airbag is formed by a slit. 3. A side airbag housed inside a vehicle seat, wherein a non-inflatable portion forms a chest support portion and a lumbar support portion, and the non-inflatable portion has an elongated hole extending in the front-rear direction. The airbag according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.