JP2004142530A - Air bag device for automobile side collision - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag device for automobile side collision capable of surely inflating an air bag to the inside of a car room without forming a guide wall in a garnish. <P>SOLUTION: In a position corresponding to the upper end part of the garnish 8 in the air bag 1, a small bag part 18 expanding in a space S between the upper end part of the garnish 8 and a center pillar 3 is formed in a condition of being communicated with an inner space of the air bag 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a side collision airbag device for an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A side roof rail is arranged at a position higher than the occupant head in the body of the automobile, and an airbag for protecting the occupant in the event of a side collision is provided along the side roof rail. The airbag has a front-rear length extending in the front-rear direction beyond the center pillar, and has an upper end fixed to the side rail in a state of being folded up and down.
[0003]
Then, at the time of a side collision of the automobile, the gas of the inflator is injected into the airbag, so that the airbag expands downward in a curtain shape while pushing and opening the lower end of the headlining toward the interior of the vehicle interior, and the occupant's It is designed to protect the head.
[0004]
However, a garnish is installed as an interior material on the interior side of the center pillar, and this garnish is pushed out into the interior of the vehicle when a side collision of the automobile occurs, and a gap with the center pillar is widened. There is a possibility that the garnish and the center pillar may enter the gap without being deployed to the indoor side. Therefore, conventionally, a guide wall for preventing entry of the airbag into the gap is formed at the upper end of the garnish, and the guide wall guides the deployment direction of the airbag toward the vehicle interior (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 3125729 (FIGS. 5 and 6)
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional technique, a guide wall is formed at the upper end of the garnish in order to prevent the airbag from entering the gap between the upper end of the garnish and the center pillar. The structure of the garnish is complicated, the molding of the garnish becomes difficult, and the formation of the guide wall causes sink marks and distortion on the surface of the garnish, which has a bad influence on the appearance quality of the garnish as an interior material.
[0007]
The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a conventional technology, and a side collision air of an automobile which can reliably deploy an airbag into a vehicle interior without forming a guide wall in a garnish. A bag device is provided.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that an airbag having a front-rear length extending in the front-rear direction beyond the center pillar is provided vertically on an upper part of the vehicle body in which an upper end portion of a center pillar having a garnish attached to a vehicle interior side is connected. The airbag is stored in a state of being folded in the direction, and the airbag deploys in a curtain shape downward while opening and lowering the lower end of the head lining into the vehicle compartment side at the time of a side collision of the vehicle. A small bag portion that expands in a gap between the upper end of the garnish and the center pillar is formed at a position corresponding to the upper end of the garnish of the airbag in communication with the internal space of the airbag. .
[0009]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the small bag portion inflates and closes the gap between the upper end portion of the garnish and the center pillar, so that the airbag does not enter the gap and is securely inserted into the vehicle interior. Guided and deployed. In addition, in the initial stage of deployment, the airbag itself is pushed into the vehicle cabin by the inflation of the small bag portion, so that the subsequent deployment of the airbag can be reliably performed in an open space as far as possible from the garnish.
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the airbag has two inflation chambers at the front and rear, and upper portions of the two inflation chambers are connected to each other by a cylindrical communication part, and the small bag part is formed near the communication part. It is characterized by being done.
[0011]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the small bag portion is formed in the vicinity of the communicating portion that first inflates in the airbag, the small bag portion is inflated early to close the gap, and the airbag is deployed. It can be reliably guided to the vehicle interior side.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the small bag portion is positioned in a gap between the upper end portion of the garnish and the center pillar in a state where the airbag is folded and stored.
[0013]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the small bag portion is positioned in the gap in advance, the small bag portion can be reliably inflated in the gap.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a view of the upper part of an automobile viewed from the interior side of a vehicle, and shows a state in which an airbag 1 is deployed. 2 denotes a front pillar, 3 denotes a center pillar, and 4 denotes a rear pillar. Side roof rails 5 are formed on the upper portions of the pillars 2, 3, and 4 along the front-rear direction.
[0015]
An airbag 1 having a length extending in the front-rear direction beyond the center pillar 3 along the side roof rail 5 is attached in a state of being vertically folded as shown in FIG. The attached airbag 1 is covered by the left and right ends of the head lining 6 so as to be invisible from the vehicle interior side. The portion corresponding to the center pillar 3 of the folded airbag 1 is provided with an L-shaped holding bracket 7. The holding bracket 7 is for restricting upward expansion of the airbag 1. A garnish 8 as an interior material is mounted on the vehicle interior side of the center pillar 3.
[0016]
The airbag 1 is in the form of a bag in which two base cloths are sewn together, and is fixed to the side roof rail 5 via brackets 9 at several upper end portions. Of the two base cloths constituting the airbag 1, the base cloth on the outside of the vehicle has substantially the same width in the front-rear direction, but only the base cloth on the inside of the vehicle compartment is cut, and the front seat inflatable portion corresponding to the front passenger. 10 and a rear seat inflatable portion 11 corresponding to a rear seat occupant are formed.
[0017]
The upper and lower seal portions 12 are formed in the rear seat inflatable portion 11 and divide the rear seat inflatable portion 11 into three spaces in the vertical direction. Two front and rear seal portions 13 are formed in the front seat expansion portion 10, and the front seat expansion portion 10 is divided into three spaces in the front and rear direction.
[0018]
A cylindrical gas inlet 14 is formed at the upper rear end of the rear inflatable portion 11 so that gas blown from an inflator 15 fixed to the rear pillar 4 therefrom can be stored in the rear inflatable portion 11. Has become. In addition, between the rear seat inflatable portion 11 and the front seat inflatable portion 10, a cylindrical shape connecting the upper portions of the rear seat inflatable portion 11 and the front seat inflatable portion 10 in a continuous state from the gas inlet 14. A communication portion 16 is provided.
[0019]
The center pillar 3 is located near the front end of the communication portion 16, and a small bag portion 18 that communicates with the airbag 1 via the gas hole 17 is formed on the outer side surface of the airbag 1 corresponding to the center pillar 3. Have been. The small bag portion 18 is formed of a base cloth different from the airbag 1 and has a structure attached to the airbag 1 by sewing (alternatively, it may be formed integrally with the airbag 1 from the beginning). .
[0020]
The small bag portion 18 is attached at a height corresponding to the upper end of the garnish 8, and the gas hole 17 is formed in the communication portion 16. The small bag portion 18 is set so as to be located in the gap S between the upper end portion of the garnish 8 and the center pillar 3 in the folded and stored state.
[0021]
A strap 19 having one end sewn to the airbag 1 and the other end attached to the front pillar 2 is provided in a surplus base cloth portion on the front side of the front seat inflatable portion 10 of the airbag 1. When the airbag 1 is deployed downward, the strap 19 pulls the airbag 1 to the front side to assist deployment in the front-rear direction.
[0022]
Next, the deployed state of the airbag 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. When the vehicle causes a side collision, a signal is sent from a sensor (not shown) to the inflator 15, and the inflator 15 operates to inject gas from the gas inlet 14 to the upper portion of the rear seat inflatable portion 11. In addition, the head of the occupant M is instantaneously displaced to the outside of the vehicle by the impact of the side collision (moved from a broken line to a solid line in FIG. 4). The gas injected into the rear seat expansion section 11 is guided to the communication section 16.
[0023]
As described above, the gas of the inflator 15 is first guided to the communication portion 16 on the upper portion of the airbag 1, and the airbag 1 starts to expand from the communication portion 16. Therefore, the small bag portion 18 communicating via the gas hole 17 formed in the communication portion 16 inflates early and closes the gap S between the upper end portion of the garnish 8 and the center pillar 3. Next, the rear inflatable portion 11 before reaching the communication portion 16 and the front inflatable portion 10 after passing through the communication portion 16 expand, so that the upper end portion of the garnish 8 is pushed out to the vehicle interior, and the gap S As the small bag portion 18 expands following the inflation of the airbag 1, the gap S can be completely closed by the small bag portion 18 (see FIG. 4).
[0024]
Therefore, the inflated and deployed airbag 1 does not enter the gap between the upper end portion of the garnish 8 and the center pillar 3, and is reliably guided to the interior of the vehicle and deployed (see FIGS. 4 and 5). In addition, in the initial stage of deployment, the airbag 1 itself is pushed into the vehicle interior due to the inflation of the small bag portion 18 and the deployment of the airbag 1 is performed in an open space as far away from the garnish 8 as possible. For example, even if a seat belt adjuster or the like is formed, the seat belt adjuster is reliably deployed downward without interference.
[0025]
In the above-described embodiment, the small bag portion 18 is positioned in the gap S in advance in the folded and stored state of the airbag 1, but it is not always necessary to position the small bag portion 18 from the beginning. In short, since the small bag portion 18 only needs to be inflated in the gap S, the small bag portion 18 can be expanded by devising the “how to fold” the airbag 1 and the “structure / shape” of the small bag portion 18. In the process, it may enter the gap S and expand there.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the small bag portion expands in the gap between the upper end portion of the garnish and the center pillar to close the gap, so that the airbag is reliably guided into the vehicle compartment and deployed without entering the gap. . Moreover, in the initial stage of deployment, the airbag itself is pushed into the vehicle interior by the inflation of the small bag portion, so that the subsequent deployment of the airbag can be performed reliably in an open space as far away from the garnish as possible.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a vehicle interior perspective view showing a state in which an airbag according to an embodiment of the present invention is deployed downward.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the airbag in which the small bag portion is formed as viewed from the outside of the vehicle.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before inflation of the airbag taken along a line SA-SA shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3, showing a state of an inflation process of the airbag.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3, showing a state after inflation of the airbag.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Airbag 3 Center pillar 8 Garnish 16 Communication part 18 Small bag part S Clearance M Occupant head

Claims (3)

An airbag having a front-rear length extending in the front-rear direction beyond the center pillar is stored in an upper part of a vehicle body to which an upper end portion of a center pillar having a garnish attached to a vehicle interior side is folded in a vertical direction. ,
An airbag device for a side collision of an automobile, wherein the airbag is deployed in a curtain shape downward while opening and lowering a lower end portion of a head lining into a vehicle interior at the time of a side collision of the automobile,
A small bag portion that expands in a gap between the garnish upper end portion and the center pillar is formed in a position corresponding to the garnish upper end portion of the airbag in communication with the internal space of the airbag. Airbag device for collision. It is a side collision airbag apparatus of the motor vehicle of Claim 1, Comprising:
The airbag has two inflation chambers at the front and back and upper portions of both inflation chambers are connected by a cylindrical communication portion,
The side bag airbag device for an automobile, wherein the small bag portion is formed near the communication portion. An automobile side collision airbag device according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The airbag device for a side collision of an automobile, wherein the small bag portion is positioned in a gap between an upper end portion of a garnish and a center pillar in a state where the airbag is folded and stored.

Images