JP2005335586A - Occupant protection device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant protection device capable of enhancing the safety of the occupant at the time of collision accident by making it in a seat direction capable of improving protection effect of the occupant at the time of collision. <P>SOLUTION: The occupant protection device is equipped with a collision prediction means 2 for predicting a collision, a seat drive means 5 rotating and driving the seat 4, and a control means controlling the seat drive means 5 based on the output from the collision prediction means 2. The control means detects the collision prediction direction based on the output from the collision prediction means 2 and controls the seat drive means 5 so as to rotate the seat in the direction responding to the collision prediction direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle equipped with a collision prediction means for predicting a collision, a sheet drive means for rotationally driving a seat, and a control means for controlling the seat drive means based on an output from the collision prediction means. The present invention relates to an occupant protection device.

In recent years, in order to improve safety against vehicle collision accidents, etc., equipped with safety equipment such as airbags, predicting collisions by means of collision prediction such as millimeter wave radar, safety equipment, seats, side windows, etc. Control techniques have been proposed.
For example, the technology for ensuring the safety of passengers in a collision accident is to predict the state of the vehicle at the time of the collision accident by detecting the behavior of the collision vehicle and predicting the state of the passenger at the time of the collision accident by the passenger sensor. Based on the above, there is an occupant protection device that raises a predetermined portion of the seat cushion (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Control of seat belts and airbags is also performed.

JP 2002-264747 A

  At the time of a vehicle collision accident, in a conventional vehicle, for example, when a collision vehicle collides from an oblique direction, an occupant of the collided vehicle receives an impact from an oblique direction while facing the front. Here, the headrest of the seat that receives the head of the occupant can best receive the head of the occupant when subjected to an impact from substantially the front. It is considered that the function may not be sufficiently performed when subjected to an impact due to. In order to increase the safety of passengers, a technology that can make the functions of safety equipment and seats more effective is desired.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to improve the occupant's safety at the time of a collision accident by adopting a seat direction that can enhance the occupant's protection effect during a collision. It is in providing an occupant protection device.

To achieve this object, the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention is characterized by a collision predicting means for predicting a collision, a seat driving means for rotationally driving a seat, and an output from the collision predicting means. Control means for controlling the seat drive means based on the output, the control means detects a collision prediction direction based on an output from the collision prediction means, and the sheet is moved in a direction corresponding to the collision prediction direction. The sheet driving means is controlled to rotate.
That is, according to the above-described characteristic configuration, when the collision is predicted and it is determined that the collision cannot be avoided, the seat is rotated according to the collision prediction direction, so that the collision from various directions can be effectively dealt with. It is possible to prevent the occupant from taking complicated damage and to improve the safety for the occupant in the event of a collision.

Another characteristic configuration of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention is that the direction according to the collision prediction direction is a direction in which the front-rear direction of the seat is brought closer to the collision prediction direction.
Since the headrest of the vehicle seat, particularly the seat that receives the occupant's head, can best receive the front-rear impact of the vehicle, the front-rear direction of the seat is set to the collision prediction direction as described above. By rotating the seat so that it approaches, the headrest can fully exhibit its function. Therefore, by configuring as in the above characteristic configuration, it is possible to prevent the occupant from receiving complicated damage to the body, the neck, the head, and the like at the time of the collision accident, and to improve the safety for the occupant at the time of the collision accident.

Furthermore, another characteristic configuration is that the direction according to the collision prediction direction is a direction in which the rear side of the seat is away from the collision prediction direction.
That is, according to the above characteristic configuration, the rear side of the seat is moved away from the collision prediction direction. This is particularly the case when the collision vehicle is damaged by the collision vehicle and the side door is deformed to the inside of the vehicle, that is, the passenger side. However, the passenger's head can be retracted from the deformed member or the like. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the occupant's head from being damaged by the member deformed by the collision, and to improve the safety for the occupant at the time of the collision accident.

Another feature is that the control means rotates the plurality of sheets in the same direction.
That is, according to the above-described characteristic configuration, for example, seats arranged side by side such as a driver seat and a passenger seat can be rotated in the same direction. It is possible to prevent the heads from touching each other, particularly from being damaged by each other, and to improve the safety for the passengers in the event of a collision.

An embodiment of a vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention (hereinafter, abbreviated as “the present device” as appropriate) will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a vehicle 1 to which a vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the present invention device. The apparatus of the present invention includes a collision prediction means 2 for predicting a collision, a sheet drive means 5 for rotationally driving the seat 4, and a control means for controlling the sheet drive means 5 based on the output from the collision prediction means 2 ( 3). The collision prediction means 2 here detects all objects that collide with the vehicle 1. In the present embodiment, the control at the time of a collision accident caused by the collision vehicle 6 will be described in particular.

As shown in FIG. 2, the collision prediction means 2 includes sensors 2a to 2f that detect obstacles such as the collision vehicle 6, and a collision prediction ECU 2g that determines the possibility of collision based on outputs from the sensors 2a to 2f. It has.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the sensors 2a to 2f emit a millimeter wave radar and measure the time until the bounce and the direction of the bounce, as shown in FIG. 1A. The right front sensor 2a, the left front sensor 2b, the right side sensor 2c, the left side sensor 2d, the right rear sensor 2e, and the left rear sensor 2f are installed at six locations of the vehicle 1. Note that the number and location of sensors installed are set appropriately so that a collision can be detected in all directions around the vehicle 1.
The collision prediction ECU 2g detects the collision prediction direction, the collision prediction time, etc. of the collision vehicle 6 from the measurement results of the sensors 2a to 2f, determines the possibility of the collision, and determines that the collision can not be avoided. (Hereinafter abbreviated as PCS signal).

  In the present embodiment, the seat driving means 5 is provided in each of the driver seat 4a and the passenger seat 4b among the plurality of seats 4 provided in the vehicle 1, and the driver seat 4a (passenger seat 4b) is arranged on the vertical axis. A motor 5a (5b) that rotates and rotates a rotating device that is rotatably supported around is configured. Further, although not shown, the seat driving means 5 includes a lock mechanism for restricting the rotation of the rotation device and a stopper for limiting the rotation range of the rotation device in each of the driver seat 4a and the passenger seat 4b. The lock mechanism fixes the driver seat 4a (passenger seat 4b) after the seat driving means 5 rotates the driver seat 4a (passenger seat 4b) to a predetermined angle by the motor 5a (5b). In the present embodiment, the stopper limits the rotation range of the seat 4 to 45 degrees both clockwise and counterclockwise with respect to the front-rear direction.

  The control means (3) is constructed in the seat control ECU 3 (Electronic Control Unit), and controls the seat drive means 5 based on the output from the collision prediction means 2. In the present embodiment, the amount of rotation of the motors 5a and 5b provided in the driver seat 4a and the passenger seat 4b and the operation of the lock mechanism are controlled. More specifically, when the PCS signal is detected, information such as the collision prediction direction and the collision prediction time is acquired from the collision prediction means 2, and the rotation direction and the rotation amount of each seat 4 are set according to the collision prediction direction. Subsequently, the motor 5a installed in the driver's seat 4a is driven to rotate the driver's seat 4a in the set rotation direction and rotation amount. When the rotational driving is completed, the lock mechanism is controlled to fix the driver's seat 4a. Similarly, in synchronization with the rotation operation of the driver seat 4a, the motor 5b installed in the passenger seat 4b is driven to rotate the passenger seat 4b, and when the rotation drive is completed, the lock mechanism is controlled to control the passenger seat 4b. To fix.

  Further, in this embodiment, the seat control ECU 3 is set to rotate the plurality of seats 4, that is, the driver's seat 4a and the passenger seat 4b in the same direction. Since it is rotated in the same direction, the headrest and the seat back block between the heads of the occupants seated in the seat 4 arranged side by side, and the heads of the occupants contact each other due to the impact of the collision. Injuries and the like can be prevented, and in particular in the case of a collision from the side, the safety for the occupant in the event of a collision can be improved.

  Next, the rotation operation of the sheet 4 by the control means (3) will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the periphery of the vehicle 1 is divided into four regions A to D, and control is performed according to which region the collision prediction direction belongs to.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the rotation operation of the seat 4 when the collision prediction direction of the collision vehicle 6 belongs to the left diagonal front of the vehicle 1 and the region A. When the collision vehicle 6 is detected by the sensor 2b and a PCS signal is output from the collision predicting means 2, the seat control ECU 3 moves the front and rear of the seat 4 so that the impact of the collision of the seat 4 can be received substantially from the front. The seat 4 is rotated so that the direction approaches the collision prediction direction. Since the collision prediction direction here is diagonally left forward, the rotation is performed so that the front of each seat 4 faces diagonally left forward. In this case, since the occupant on the seat 4 receives an impact from substantially the front, the occupant on the seat 4 is seated on the seat 4 when the occupant rebounds after moving forward. The headrest can satisfactorily receive the occupant's head, and the occupant's safety can be improved. It is desirable that the front-rear direction of the seat 4 and the collision prediction direction coincide with each other. However, in consideration of the arrangement of the seat 4 in the vehicle 1, the limitation on the rotation angle, the time until the collision, and the like, the direction is appropriate. Make it work.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the rotation operation of the seat 4 when the collision prediction direction of the collision vehicle 6 belongs to the region 1 and the diagonally left rear of the vehicle 1. When the collision vehicle 6 is detected by the sensor 2f and the PCS signal is output from the collision prediction means 2, the seat control ECU 3 allows the seat 4 to receive the impact caused by the collision from substantially behind. The seat 4 is rotated so that the front-rear direction approaches the collision prediction direction. Since the collision prediction direction here is diagonally left rearward, it is rotated so that the rear of each seat 4 faces diagonally left rearward. In this case, since the occupant on the seat 4 receives an impact from substantially behind, the headrest can satisfactorily receive the head of the occupant seated on the seat 4 and improve the safety of the occupant. It can be done.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the rotation operation of the seat 4 when the collision prediction direction of the collision vehicle 6 belongs to the left side of the vehicle 1 and the region D. When the collision vehicle 6 is detected by the sensor 2d and a PCS signal is output from the collision prediction means 2, the seat control ECU 3 rotates the seat 4 so that the rear of each seat 4 is away from the collision prediction direction. Since the collision prediction direction here is on the left side, it is rotated so that the rear of each seat 4 moves to the right. In this case, in particular, since the head of the occupant is moved away from the collision prediction direction, even if a collision occurs and the side of the vehicle 1 is damaged and deformed inward, the side of the deformed vehicle 1 is It is possible to increase the safety of the occupant by keeping the occupant's head away.

  Similarly, although not shown, when the collision prediction direction of the collision vehicle 6 belongs to the right side of the vehicle 1 and the region C, the seat control ECU 3 rotates so that the rear of each seat 4 moves to the left side. The rear of each seat 4 is moved away from the collision prediction direction. Thus, the device of the present invention can cope with a collision from the side well.

  Although the collision prediction means 2 of the present embodiment is configured to use a millimeter wave radar, other sensors such as a laser radar may be used.

Schematic diagram of a vehicle to which a vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention is applied. Configuration diagram of vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention The schematic diagram which shows one embodiment of the passenger | crew protection device of the vehicle which concerns on this invention The schematic diagram which shows one embodiment of the passenger | crew protection device of the vehicle which concerns on this invention The schematic diagram which shows one embodiment of the passenger | crew protection device of the vehicle which concerns on this invention

Explanation of symbols

1 Vehicle 2 Collision prediction means 3 ECU
4 Seat 5 Motor

Claims (4)

A collision prediction means for predicting a collision, a sheet drive means for rotationally driving a sheet, and a control means for controlling the sheet drive means based on an output from the collision prediction means,
The control means detects a collision prediction direction based on an output from the collision prediction means, and controls the seat driving means to rotate the seat in a direction corresponding to the collision prediction direction. apparatus.   The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the direction according to the collision prediction direction is a direction in which a front-rear direction of the seat is brought closer to the collision prediction direction.   The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the direction corresponding to the collision prediction direction is a direction in which a rear side of the seat is moved away from the collision prediction direction. The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the control means rotates the plurality of seats in the same direction.