JP2004338590A - Passenger protecting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the constraining performance for the lower limbs of a passenger by a lower limb constraining means for various kinds of sitting postures of the passenger who sits on a passenger seat. <P>SOLUTION: The lower limb constraining section 30 of an active knee bolster 24 is constituted of an area of an instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20 (specified region), and the width of the lower limb constraining section 30 is made larger than the width of the passenger seat 20. Also, a glove box 34 is arranged in the lower limb constraining section 30 of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat 20. When a motor 62 which constitutes the actuator 32 of the active knee bolster 24 operates, a sector gear 46 rotates on a sector shaft 50 through a gear box 64, and the lower limb constraining section 30 of the instrument panel 18 rotates on a shaft 40 and moves to a lower limb constraining position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant protection device, and more particularly to a vehicle occupant protection device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle occupant protection device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, when a deceleration of a vehicle exceeds a predetermined value, a first protector (also referred to as an active knee bolster) movably supported on a vehicle body side is used. A two protector (also referred to as an active knee bolster) is actuated by a first actuator and a second actuator to restrain a lower leg of an occupant seated in a seat from the front of the vehicle, and a front portion of a seat cushion is separated from a rear portion of the vehicle so that a front portion of the vehicle body is separated. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 2679405 (FIGS. 1 and 7)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the seating posture of the occupant seated in the passenger seat is generally more diverse than the seating posture of the occupant seated in the driver seat. As a result, in the configuration as described in Patent Document 1, in order to reliably support the lower limb of the occupant seated in the passenger seat from the front of the vehicle, the occupant seated in the passenger seat must be considerably large unless the first actuator is considerably large. It is not possible to cope with the sitting posture.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object to provide a vehicle occupant protection device that can improve the restraint performance of a lower limb portion by lower limb restraining means for a wide variety of sitting postures of a passenger seated in a passenger seat. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention according to claim 1, a collision determination unit that performs at least one of a vehicle collision detection and a collision prediction,
Lower limb restraint means for moving the lower limb restraint portion in response to the output signal of the collision determination means, and preventing the leg of the target occupant from jumping up by the lower limb restraint portion;
Wherein the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means is a predetermined area of an instrument panel facing a passenger seat on which the target occupant sits.
[0007]
Therefore, the lower limb restraining means moves the lower limb restraining part in response to the output signal of the collision judging means, and prevents the leg of the target occupant from jumping up by the lower limb restraining part. At this time, the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means is constituted by a predetermined area of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat on which the target occupant sits. As a result, the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means can be set large in the seat width direction and the seat vertical direction. For this reason, the occupant's lower limb restraint performance by the lower limb restraint means can be improved with respect to a wide variety of sitting postures of the occupant sitting on the passenger seat.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first aspect, a glove box is provided in a predetermined area of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat, and reinforcing means is provided around the glove box. Features.
[0009]
Therefore, in addition to the contents described in claim 1, by reinforcing the existing glove box and the periphery of the glove box with the reinforcing means, the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means can be easily configured.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A first embodiment of a vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0011]
In the drawings, an arrow FR indicates a forward direction of the vehicle body, an arrow UP indicates an upward direction of the vehicle body, and an arrow IN indicates an inward direction of the vehicle width.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle occupant protection device of the present embodiment includes an acceleration sensor 12 as collision detection means for detecting deceleration of the vehicle and detecting collision of the vehicle. The acceleration sensors 12 are provided on the left and right front side members, respectively, and are connected to a control circuit 14 as a control unit having a microcomputer.
[0013]
On the instrument panel 18 of the vehicle body 10, an active knee bolster 24 as a lower limb restraining means is disposed at a position in front of the passenger seat 20. The active knee bolster 24 includes a lower limb restraining portion 30 that restrains the left and right lower limbs (particularly, knees) 28A of the occupant 28 seated on the passenger seat 20 from a diagonally upper front side of the vehicle, and And an actuator 32 that moves to the 28A side.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 4, the lower limb restraint 30 of the active knee bolster 24 is a portion (predetermined area) of the instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20 (see FIG. 1), that is, the lower limb restraint of the active knee bolster 24. Reference numeral 30 denotes a portion of the instrument panel 18 which is located in front of the passenger seat 20 (see FIG. 1) in the vehicle body. The width (length in the vehicle width direction) W of the lower limb restraining portion 30 is the width of the passenger seat 20 , Or wider than the width of the passenger seat 20.
[0015]
Note that a glove box 34 is provided in the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 3, the glove box 34 is rotatably supported at a lower end rear portion 34B of the left and right side wall portions 34A by a shaft 40 extending along the vehicle width direction from the vehicle body side. The lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is also rotatably supported by a shaft 40 at a bearing portion 42 formed at a lower end portion.
[0017]
Brackets 44 are fixed to upper portions on both sides in the vehicle width direction of the rear surface (front side surface of the vehicle body) 18B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel. A lower end portion 46A of the sector gear 46 is rotatably supported by each bracket 44 by a pin 48 disposed along the vehicle width direction. The sector shaft 50 is rotatably supported by a rear end 52A of a mounting bracket 52 disposed along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and a front end 52B of the mounting bracket 52 is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement 54. The mounting bracket 56 is fixed to a rear end portion 56 </ b> A by a bolt 58 and a nut 60.
[0018]
A motor 62 constituting the actuator 32 and a gear box 64 connected to the motor 62 are fixed to one of the left and right mounting brackets 52, and the other mounting bracket 52 has a motor 62. A gear box 68 connected by a torque cable 66 is fixed. The left and right sector gears 46 mesh with the gears of the gear box 64 and the gear box 68, respectively.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 2, in the normal use state, the sector gear 46 is at a position along the vehicle body vertical direction, and in this state, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 moves forward with respect to the vehicle body around the shaft 40 as the rotation center. I'm moving. An upper wall 18C is formed at the upper end of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 toward the front of the vehicle body. Is housed below.
[0020]
On the other hand, when the motor 62 operates, the sector gear 46 rotates downward (in the direction of arrow A) about the sector shaft 50 via the gear 64A of the gear box 64, so that the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 It rotates rearward (in the direction of arrow B) to the center and moves to the lower limb restraining position shown in FIG.
[0021]
Even when the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 moves to the lower limb restraining position, the front end of the upper wall portion 18C is arranged to overlap below the upper portion 18A of the instrument panel 18, so that the glove box 34 is provided. It is designed so that the stored items do not protrude into the cabin.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 1, an airbag device 52 for a passenger seat is disposed on an upper portion 18A of the instrument panel 18, and an airbag body 54 of the airbag device 52 is seated on the passenger seat 20. The occupant 28 is inflated and deployed toward the upper body 28B. The inflator 56 of the airbag device 52 is connected to the control circuit 14.
[0023]
Note that reference numeral 56 in FIG. 1 indicates a seat belt.
[0024]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
[0025]
In the present embodiment, when the control circuit 14 determines that the deceleration of the vehicle body detected by the acceleration sensor 12 is equal to or more than a predetermined value and the vehicle body 10 has collided, the control circuit 14 operates the airbag 52 for the passenger seat. At the same time, the motor 62 constituting the actuator 32 of the active knee bolster 24 is operated. As a result, the sector gear 46 rotates downward (in the direction of arrow A) about the sector shaft 50 via the gear 64A of the gear box 64, so that the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 moves rearward about the axis 40 (arrow). (B direction) and move to the lower limb restraint position shown in FIG. As a result, the active knee bolster 24 can prevent the passenger's leg from jumping up.
[0026]
At this time, in the present embodiment, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the active knee bolster 24 abutting on the lower limb portion 28A of the occupant 28 is constituted by a predetermined area of the instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20 on which the occupant 28 sits. I have. As a result, the width W of the lower limb restraint portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 can be increased, and the height H (see FIG. 2) can be increased. For this reason, the lower limb portion 28A of the occupant 28 can be restrained by the lower limb restraining portion 30 with respect to a wide variety of sitting postures of the occupant 28 sitting on the passenger seat 20, and the performance of restraining the occupant lower limb by the active knee bolster 24 can be improved. .
[0027]
Next, a second embodiment of the vehicle occupant protection device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0028]
The same members as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the entire area of the back surface (the front side surface of the vehicle body) 18 </ b> B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18, that is, the area including the glove box 34, the periphery of the glove box 34, the hinge part, and the like. In addition, a base cloth 70 as reinforcing means is disposed by integral molding or the like. The weave direction of the fibers such as the resin fibers constituting the base cloth 70 may be up, down, left and right directions, or may be inclined.
[0030]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
[0031]
In the present embodiment, in addition to the functions and effects of the first embodiment, the base cloth 70 is disposed on the entire back surface (the front side surface of the vehicle body) 18B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18. As a result, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the active knee bolster 24 can be easily formed by reinforcing the existing glove box 34 and the periphery of the glove box 34 in the instrument panel 18 with the base cloth 70 over the entire area.
[0032]
Further, by disposing the base cloth 70, the surface rigidity of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 made of resin is increased. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 from being damaged when the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 contacts the lower limb portion 28A of the occupant 28.
[0033]
In the present embodiment, the base cloth 70 is provided on the entire lower surface (front side surface of the vehicle body) 18B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18. However, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is replaced with this. The base cloth 70 may be provided only in an area of the back surface 18B in which the base 28 is considered to be in contact with the lower leg 28A of the occupant 28. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, on the back surface 18B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18, a base cloth 70 is disposed in a belt shape along the vehicle width direction at a predetermined interval in the vehicle body vertical direction. Alternatively, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 may be partially reinforced.
[0034]
Further, the reinforcing means is not limited to the base cloth 70, and the characteristics of the resin constituting the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 may be changed. For example, by using a resin having a high elongation characteristic, the configuration may be such that the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is reinforced and the energy absorption characteristics when the occupant 28 comes into contact with the lower limb portion 28A are improved.
[0035]
In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to a specific embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. Some will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the acceleration sensor 12 is used as the collision determination unit. However, instead of this, a collision determination unit such as a camera and a ledder indicated by reference numeral 80 in FIG. The configuration may be such that the collision is sensed, that is, the collision is predicted, and the active knee bolster 24 is operated.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a collision determination unit that performs at least one of vehicle collision detection and collision prediction, and a lower limb restraint unit that receives an output signal of the collision determination unit and moves the lower limb restraint unit, Lower limb restraining means for preventing the occupant's leg from jumping up, and the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means is a predetermined area of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat on which the target occupant sits. There is an excellent effect that the restraint performance of the lower limb of the occupant by the lower limb restraining means can be improved with respect to various sitting postures of the seated occupant.
[0037]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first aspect, a glove box is provided in a predetermined area of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat, and reinforcing means is provided around the glove box. In addition to the effects described above, there is an excellent effect that the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means can be easily configured.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a front part of a vehicle compartment to which a vehicle occupant protection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a main part of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely from the front outer side of the vehicle.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the instrument panel to which the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied, as viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a main part of a vehicle occupant protection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel to which a vehicle occupant protection device according to a modified example of the second embodiment of the present invention is applied, as viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a main part of a vehicle occupant protection device according to a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
12 acceleration sensor (collision determination means)
14 control circuit (collision determination means)
18 Instrument panel 20 Passenger's seat 24 Active knee bolster (lower limb restraining means)
28 occupant 28A occupant lower limb 30 instrument panel lower limb restraint 32 actuator of active knee bolster 34 glove box 70 base cloth (reinforcing means)
80 Collision determination means

Claims (2)

Collision determination means for performing at least one of vehicle collision detection and collision prediction,
Lower limb restraint means for moving the lower limb restraint portion in response to the output signal of the collision determination means, and preventing the leg of the target occupant from jumping up by the lower limb restraint portion;
And a lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means is a predetermined area of an instrument panel facing a passenger seat on which the target occupant sits. The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein a glove box is provided in a predetermined area of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat, and reinforcing means is provided around the glove box.

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