JP2003220919A - Side air bag device and its developing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a side air bag device capable of certainly carrying out protection of the neighborhood of a waist part and protection of the neighborhood of a chest part without giving strong impact especially to the neighborhood of the chest part by making it possible to regulate developing pressure of two of upper and lower air bags with inflators namely a lower part air bag for protection of the neighborhood of the waist part and an upper part air bag for protection of the neighborhood of the chest part by correlating them with each other and making it possible to freely regulate developing timing of the two air bags. <P>SOLUTION: This side air bag device constitutes its characteristic feature of being furnished with a first air bag to develop in the neighborhood of the waist part, a second air bag independently provided from the first air bag and to develop in the neighborhood of the chest part, a first inflator to supply blowout gas to the first air bag, a second inflator to supply blowout gas to the second air bag and an air bag working control device to develop the second air bag by actuating the second inflator after developing the first air bag by actuating the first inflator at the time when a collision detection signal is input. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle such as an automobile, in which the airbag is deployed between a passenger in a vehicle compartment and a side portion of a vehicle body by a gas ejected from an inflator when the vehicle collides. The present invention relates to a side airbag device configured to protect a vehicle from an impact.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a conventional example of a side airbag device for an automobile. In the figure, 12
Is a passenger compartment, 11 is an occupant, 10 is a seat back, and 01 is a low strength diaphragm 04 inside the two chambers 01a and 01a.
Air bag (side air bag) partitioned into b, 03
Is an inflator. The inflator 03 and the airbag 01 are built in the seat back 10,
Upon collision of the vehicle with a side part, a collision detection signal from a collision sensor (not shown) is received to eject gas from the gas ejection port of the inflator 03 into the lower chamber 01a of the airbag 01, thereby lowering the lower chamber. 01a is deployed, and when the pressure in the lower chamber 01a exceeds a certain pressure, the diaphragm 04 is ruptured and the upper chamber 01b is deployed, so that the airbag 01 and the passenger 11 in the vehicle compartment 12 or the door or the center. It is deployed between the side of the vehicle body such as the pillar and the occupant 11
Is designed to protect the vehicle from impacts.

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-136595 is deployed in the vicinity of the occupant's head independently of the chest airbag deployed in the vicinity of the occupant's chest and the upper portion of the chest airbag. A head airbag is connected to the head airbag via a connecting sheet, and an inflator for ejecting gas is provided in each of the chest airbag and the head airbag, and the head after being expanded by the connecting sheet. The airbag is held immovably outside the vehicle.

[0004]

In the prior art shown in FIG. 4, first, gas is ejected from the inflator 03 to the lower chamber 01a to expand the lower chamber 01a, and then the lower chamber 01a is expanded. When the pressure of 01a exceeds a certain pressure, the diaphragm 04 is broken and the upper chamber 01b is deployed. Therefore, the deployment pressure of the upper chamber 01b to be deployed later is determined by the deployment pressure of the lower chamber 01a. Therefore, it is difficult to individually and individually adjust the deployment pressure of the upper chamber 01b, which requires relatively delicate adjustment of the deployment pressure while protecting the relatively soft chest.

Further, in such a conventional technique, since the intermediate diaphragm 04 is broken from the lower chamber 01a and spreads to the upper chamber 01b, the door trim existing between the lower chamber 01a and the upper chamber 01b. The airbag interferes with the armrests and the armrests, and the deployment performance of the airbag, particularly the deployment performance of the upper chamber 01b is affected by the interference, and it is difficult to obtain the required deployment performance.

In the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-136595, since the lower airbag and the upper airbag are connected to each other by interposing a connecting sheet between them. Since the upper head airbag is also affected by the chest airbag due to the existence of the connecting sheet when the lower chest airbag is deployed, the chest airbag and the head airbag are Must be deployed at the same time, it is substantially impossible to adjust the deployment timing of the two airbags, and there is no function of adjusting the deployment pressures of the two airbags in a correlated manner.

Further, according to the technique described in this publication, the head airbag and the chest airbag having a larger volume than the head airbag are deployed at the same time. It is difficult to protect the chest safely because it hits the relatively soft chest and the first strong impact is applied to the chest. There are problems such as.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art.
It is possible to adjust the deployment pressures of the upper and lower inflator-equipped airbags for protecting the vicinity of the lower back and the lower airbag for protecting the vicinity of the chest by correlating them.
A side air bag device and a side air bag device capable of freely adjusting the deployment timings of the two air bags and reliably protecting the vicinity of the waist and the vicinity of the chest at the time of a collision without giving a strong impact especially to the vicinity of the chest. The purpose is to provide a deployment method.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an invention as set forth in claim 1, in which a gas ejected from an inflator is used to blow an air bag into an occupant in a passenger compartment and a vehicle body side when a vehicle collides. A side airbag device configured to be deployed between a passenger compartment and a passenger compartment to protect an occupant from an impact, wherein the airbag is independent of a first airbag and a first airbag that are deployed in the vicinity of the occupant's waist. And a second airbag that is provided near the chest of the occupant, and the inflator supplies the first airbag with the gas to be ejected to the first airbag and the second airbag. A first inflator for operating a first inflator when a collision detection signal from a collision sensor for detecting a collision of the vehicle is input. Wherein after deploying the airbag second inflation - it proposes a side air bag device characterized by having an air bag operation control device for deploying the second airbag to operate the motor.

In claim 1, preferably, as in claim 2, the first inflator or the second inflator.
The gas jet outlet is provided so that the jetting direction line divides the volume of the first airbag or the second airbag into two substantially equal parts.

A third aspect of the present invention relates to a method for deploying the side airbag device in the vicinity of the occupant's waist and chest, wherein the first air is inflated in the vicinity of the occupant's waist by the gas ejected from the first inflator. The first airbag and the second airbag are provided independently of each other and are deployed in the vicinity of the occupant's chest by the gas ejected from the second inflator. In a method of deploying a side airbag device configured to deploy an airbag between an occupant in a vehicle compartment and a side portion of a vehicle body to protect the occupant from impact, a collision detection signal for detecting a collision of the vehicle is provided. In response to this, the first inflator is operated at a predetermined adjustable pressure to deploy the first airbag, and the second inflator is operated at a predetermined adjustable pressure with an adjustable predetermined time lag. Characterized in that deploying the second airbag Te.

According to this invention, when a collision sensor detects a vehicle collision and the collision detection signal is input to the airbag operation control device, the airbag operation control device first detects the collision of the vehicle. Is operated with a high pressure to deploy the first airbag near the waist of the occupant to receive the initial impact of the collision with the first airbag to protect the vicinity of the waist, and then preset in the airbag operation control device. The second inflator to the first with a predetermined time difference.
The second airbag is deployed by operating at a pressure lower than that of the inflator, and the second airbag receives the secondary impact after the impact relaxation by the first airbag to protect the vicinity of the chest.

Therefore, according to this invention, the deployment pressures of the first airbag protecting the vicinity of the waist and the second airbag protecting the vicinity of the chest can be adjusted in association with each other, and the first airbag can be adjusted. It is possible to freely adjust the time difference between the deployment of the air bag and the second airbag.

Thus, at the time of a collision, first, the first airbag is deployed near the waist with a high deployment pressure, and the initial impact of the collision is received near the strong waist of the skeleton via the first airbag, thereby the vicinity of the waist. The second airbag is deployed near the chest at a low deployment pressure with a predetermined time lag, and the secondary impact force, which has been cushioned by the first airbag, is passed through the second airbag. By receiving the skeleton near the chest where the skeleton is relatively weak, it is possible to avoid applying an excessive impact force near the chest. As described above, it is possible to safely protect the vicinity of the chest, which has a relatively weak skeleton, without giving an excessive impact force.

Further, the first air bag with the first inflator and the second air bag with the second inflator are independently provided and modularized, so that the lower waist region for protecting the lower waist can be protected. The deployment directivity of the first airbag can be concentrated in the lower portion, and the stability of airbag deployment is improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the gas from the first inflator or the second inflator is the first inflator.
Since the air bag or the second air bag is ejected almost at the center, the second air bag having a relatively large volume can be deployed independently without the need for guiding a support member or the like.
The support member and the like are not required, and the structure of the airbag is simplified.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, and other relative arrangements of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention thereto, unless there is a specific description, and are merely illustrative examples. Not too much.

FIG. 1 is a control operation block diagram of an automobile side airbag apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of a side configuration. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the construction of another embodiment of the airbag.

In FIG. 2 showing a side airbag device for an automobile according to an embodiment of the present invention, 12 is a passenger compartment, 11 is an occupant, and 10 is a seat back. 1 is the first airbag,
Reference numeral 2 is a second airbag, 3 is a first inflator for supplying the ejected gas to the first airbag 1, 4 is a second inflator for supplying the ejected gas to the second airbag 2,
The first airbag 1 and the first inflator 3 and the second airbag 2 and the second inflator 4 are provided independently without any connecting means. Also, the first
The air bag 1 and the first inflator 3, and the second air bag 2 and the second inflator 4 are normally built in the seat back 10, and as shown in FIG. When a collision detection signal is received from a collision sensor 6 installed in a door or a center pillar at the time of a collision (hereinafter referred to as a side collision), the airbag operation control device 5 performs an operation to be described later, so that the passenger 11 and the door or the center. The occupant 11 is deployed between the pillars and the side of the vehicle body to protect the occupant 11 from an impact.

Next, at the time of a side collision of an automobile, when the side collision of the vehicle is detected by the collision sensor 6, the collision detection signal is input to the airbag operation control device 5. In the airbag operation control device 5, the operating pressure of the first inflator 3, that is, the deployment pressure of the first airbag 1, the operating pressure of the second inflator 4, that is, the deployment pressure of the second airbag 2, and the The operating time difference between the first inflator 3 and the second inflator 4 is set in an adjustable (changeable) state. Normally, the deployment pressure of the first airbag 1 is set to be higher than the deployment pressure of the second airbag 2, but it is also possible to set the pressure relationship opposite to the above.

When the collision detection signal is input,
The airbag actuation control device 5 first detects the first inflator 3
Is operated at a high working pressure to supply working gas at a high pressure to the first airbag 1, so that the first airbag 1 is operated at a high deployment pressure between the vicinity of the waist of the occupant 11 and the side of the vehicle body such as a door or a center pillar. It is deployed in the middle to protect the occupant's 11 waist area. Next, the airbag operation control device 5 operates the second inflator 4 at a lower operating pressure than the first inflator 3 with a preset operating time difference as described above, and operates the operating gas at a low pressure. 2 Supply the airbag 2. As a result, the second airbag 2 is deployed between the occupant 11 and the side portion of the vehicle body with a low deployment pressure. Therefore, the second airbag that deploys at a lower deployment pressure than the first airbag 1 receives the secondary impact after the primary airbag on the high pressure side receives a strong initial impact and the impact is mitigated. By protecting the vicinity of the chest, the impact of the occupant 11 on the vicinity of the chest is reduced.

According to this embodiment, the deployment pressures of the first airbag 1 for protecting the vicinity of the waist of the occupant 11 and the second airbag 2 for protecting the vicinity of the chest of the occupant 11 are correlated with each other by the airbag operation control device 5. In addition to being adjustable, it is possible to freely adjust the deployment time difference between the first airbag 1 and the second airbag 2.

Thus, at the time of a side collision, first, the first airbag 1 is deployed near the waist of the occupant 11 with a high deployment pressure preset in the airbag operation control device 5, so that the initial impact of the collision is generated by the first airbag. The vicinity of the waist of the skeleton, which is strong through the skeleton, is received through the bag 1 to protect the vicinity of the waist, and then the second airbag is operated with a predetermined time difference preset by the airbag operation control device 5. The impact was alleviated by the first airbag 1 by causing the controller 5 to deploy it near the chest with a low deployment pressure preset.
By receiving the secondary impact force in the vicinity of the chest where the skeleton is relatively soft via the second airbag 2, it is possible to avoid applying an excessive impact force in the vicinity of the chest. In addition, the first airbag 1 is first deployed to the vicinity of the waist by a high deployment pressure to move the body of the occupant 11 inward of the vehicle, and then the second airbag 2 is installed to the first airbag 1 more than the first airbag 1. Also, by deploying in the vicinity of the chest with a low deployment pressure, it is possible to avoid applying an excessive impact force in the vicinity of the chest.

According to this embodiment, the first airbag 1 having the first inflator 3 and the second inflator are provided.
Since the second airbag 2 provided with the airbag 4 is independently provided and modularized, the deployment directivity of the first airbag 1 for protecting the lower lumbar region located below can be concentrated in the lower portion. , The stability of airbag deployment is improved.

In another embodiment of the second airbag 2 shown in FIG. 3, the gas ejection port 41 of the second inflator 4 has its ejection direction line A substantially equal to the volume of the second airbag 2.
It is provided so as to be equally divided (2A, 2B). According to this structure, the gas from the second inflator 4 becomes the second gas.
Since the second airbag 2 having a relatively large volume is ejected almost to the center of the airbag 2, the second airbag 2 can be independently deployed without the need for guiding the supporting member, and the supporting member is not necessary. The structure is simplified. In addition, as in the above, the gas ejection direction line A from the first inflator 3 is the first line.
The airbag volume may be divided into two substantially equal parts.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the deployment pressures of the first airbag protecting the vicinity of the waist of the occupant and the second airbag protecting the vicinity of the chest can be adjusted in association with each other. Together with the first airbag and the second
It is possible to freely adjust the difference in deployment time with the airbag.

Thus, at the time of a collision, the first airbag is first deployed near the waist with a high deployment pressure, and the initial impact of the collision is received near the strong waist of the skeleton through the first airbag, and the vicinity of the waist is obtained. The second airbag is deployed near the chest at a low deployment pressure with a predetermined time lag, and the secondary impact force, which has been cushioned by the first airbag, is passed through the second airbag. By receiving the skeleton near the chest where the skeleton is relatively weak, it is possible to avoid applying an excessive impact force near the chest. As described above, it is possible to safely protect the vicinity of the chest, which has a relatively weak skeleton, without giving an excessive impact force.

Further, the first air bag with the first inflator and the second air bag with the second inflator are independently provided and modularized, so that the lower waist portion for protecting the vicinity of the waist is protected. The deployment directivity of the first airbag can be concentrated in the lower portion, and the stability of airbag deployment is improved.

According to the second aspect, the gas from the first inflator or the second inflator is the first inflator.
Since the air bag or the second air bag is ejected almost at the center, the second air bag having a relatively large volume can be independently deployed without the guide of the support member, and the support member is unnecessary. The structure of the airbag is simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control operation block diagram of a side airbag device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the construction of another embodiment of the airbag.

FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1st airbag 2 second airbag 3 First Inflator 4 Second Inflator 5 Airbag operation control device 6 collision sensor 10 seat back 11 crew 12 passenger compartment

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A side airbag configured to deploy an airbag between a passenger in a vehicle compartment and a side portion of a vehicle body by a gas ejected from an inflator to protect the passenger from a shock when a vehicle collides. In the device, the airbag includes a first airbag that is deployed near the waist of the occupant and a second airbag that is provided independently of the first airbag and that is deployed near the chest of the occupant. -
The collision sensor includes a first inflator for supplying the ejection gas to the first airbag and a second inflator for supplying the ejection gas to the second airbag, and a collision sensor for detecting a collision of the vehicle. When a collision detection signal from the vehicle is input, the first inflator is operated to deploy the first airbag, and then the second inflator is activated to deploy the second airbag. A side airbag device having a device. 2. The first inflator or the second inflator is provided with a gas ejection port such that its ejection direction line divides the volume of the first airbag or the second airbag into two substantially equal parts. The side airbag device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A first airbag that is deployed near the waist of the occupant by the gas ejected from the first inflator and the first airbag are provided independently of each other, and the occupant is ejected by the gas ejected from the second inflator. And a second airbag that is deployed near the chest of the vehicle, and when the vehicle collides, the first and second airbags are deployed between the occupant in the vehicle compartment and the side of the vehicle body to protect the occupant from the impact. In the method for deploying a side airbag device configured as described above, a collision of the vehicle is detected, and the first inflator is operated at a predetermined adjustable pressure in response to the collision detection signal to deploy the first airbag. Let
A method for deploying a side airbag device, comprising operating the second inflator at an adjustable predetermined pressure with an adjustable predetermined time difference to deploy the second airbag.