JP2005343316A - Vehicular occupant restraint system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular occupant restraint system capable of increasing the restraint force of the entire chest, and the restraint force of an upper body of an occupant by changing the contact stress by an inflation unit according to a portion of the chest. <P>SOLUTION: The internal pressure of an inflation unit 16 is increased without large load on a lower portion Mcb of a chest with relatively low strength, and the restraint force of the entire chest of an occupant M can be increased by providing a chest stress changing means 20 in which the contact stress to an upper portion Mcu of the chest is set to be higher than the contact stress to the lower portion Mcb of the chest when the inflation unit 16 is inflated on the inflation unit 16 of a shoulder belt 11 to be inflated in an emergency. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant restraint device having a function of expanding a shoulder belt in an emergency.

In a conventional vehicle occupant restraint device using a seat belt, high-pressure gas generated by an inflator is introduced into an inflating portion provided in the shoulder belt at the time of a vehicle collision, and the inflating portion is inflated to generate tension in the shoulder belt. An inflated portion that is inflated is in close contact with the occupant to increase the restraint of the occupant upper body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-294111 (page 4, FIG. 2)

  However, in the conventional vehicle occupant restraint device, when the upper part of the occupant is restrained by the inflated inflating part, the inflating part is formed by one chamber having a substantially uniform cross section over the whole. The contact stress on the occupant chest of the part is substantially equal throughout.

  For this reason, it is necessary to determine the inflating force of the inflating part, that is, the contact stress on the occupant chest, corresponding to the lower chest part of the occupant chest, resulting in the entire occupant chest by the inflating part. Therefore, it is difficult to make the restraint force of the occupant upper body by the shoulder belt ideal according to the occupant's body shape.

  Therefore, the present invention changes the contact stress by the inflating part according to the chest part, and can approach the ideal thing which raises the restraining force of the whole chest, and consequently the restraining force of the occupant upper body, and can be approached. Is to provide.

The present invention includes a shoulder belt that obliquely restrains the upper body of an occupant seated on a seat from one shoulder to the other waist, and in the vehicle occupant restraint device in which the shoulder belt expands in an emergency,
The most important feature is that the inflating portion of the shoulder belt is provided with chest stress changing means for making the contact stress on the upper chest portion higher than the contact stress on the lower chest portion when the inflating portion is inflated.

  According to the present invention, the chest stress changing means is provided in the inflatable portion of the shoulder belt, and when the inflatable portion is inflated in an emergency, contact stress to the upper portion of the chest that is relatively strong among the occupant chest is relatively strong. Since the contact stress with respect to the lower chest part is made higher, the internal pressure of the inflatable part can be increased without imposing a large burden on the chest lower part, and the restraining force of the entire chest of the occupant can be increased.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 4 show a first embodiment of a vehicle occupant restraint device according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front perspective view showing a normal state of the vehicle occupant restraint device, and FIG. 2 is a normal state of the vehicle occupant restraint device. FIG. 3 is a front perspective view showing an inflated state of the inflating portion, and FIG. 4 is a front view showing an inflating state of the inflating portion.

  The vehicle occupant restraint device 1 of the first embodiment includes a three-point seat belt (hereinafter referred to as a seat belt) 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the seat belt 10 is seated on a seat S. A shoulder belt 11 that restrains the upper body Mu of the occupant M diagonally from one shoulder Ms to the other waist Mw, and a lap belt 12 that restrains the thigh Mt of the occupant M across the left and right sides. Thus, the occupant D is restrained to the seat S.

  The upper end portion of the shoulder belt 11 is inserted through a shoulder through ring 13 provided at the upper end portion of the vehicle body (center pillar) and folded downward, and the lower end portion thereof is wound around a retractor provided at the lower portion of the vehicle body.

  The shoulder belt 11 and the lap belt 12 are continuously inserted, and a tongue 14 is inserted between them, and the end opposite to the tongue 14 of the lap belt 12 is directly coupled to the lower part of the seat S or the vehicle body, or a retractor is mounted. The tongue 14 is detachably attached to an inner buckle 15 coupled to the vehicle body.

  The shoulder through ring 13 at the upper end portion of the shoulder belt 11 is disposed outside the vehicle compartment with respect to the seat S, and the tongue 14 and the inner buckle 15 at the lower end portion of the shoulder belt 11 are disposed in the vehicle interior with respect to the seat S. The

  The shoulder belt 11 is provided with an inflatable portion 16 formed in a bag shape located on the chest of the occupant M as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As in Japanese Patent No. 294111, a high-pressure gas as a pressure fluid generated by the operation of an inflator provided in the inner buckle 15 is introduced and expands, and this inflator is input from the front of the vehicle in an emergency such as a frontal collision. Operates by detecting impact.

  Here, in this embodiment, when the inflating portion 16 of the shoulder belt 11 is inflated, the chest stress change in which the contact stress with respect to the chest upper portion Mcu of the upper body Mu is higher than the contact stress with respect to the chest lower portion Mcb. Means 20 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the chest stress changing means 20 includes an inflating portion upper chamber 22 corresponding to an upper chest portion Mcu that defines the inflating portion 16 with a diaphragm 21, and an inflating portion lower chamber 23 corresponding to a chest lower portion Mcb. And the internal pressure of the expansion part upper chamber 22 is higher than the internal pressure of the expansion part lower chamber 23 during expansion.

  The expansion part upper chamber 22 and the expansion part lower chamber 23 are each independently provided with supply paths 24 and 25 for the pressure fluid supplied to the expansion part upper chamber 22, and the high pressure side supply path 24 connected to the expansion part upper chamber 22 is relatively While a high-pressure high-pressure gas is supplied, a relatively low-pressure high-pressure gas is supplied to a low-pressure side supply path 25 connected to the expansion unit lower chamber 23.

  That is, the high-pressure gas supplied to the expansion portion 16 is generated by a reflector incorporated in the inner buckle 15, and the high-pressure gas generated by the reflector expands through a gas passage formed in the tongue 14. Supplied to the unit 16.

  The high-pressure side supply path 24 forms a tube routed in the expansion part lower chamber 23 and communicates the gas passage of the tongue 14 and the expansion part upper chamber 22, while the low-pressure side supply path 25 is The gas passage of the tongue 14 is directly communicated with the expansion portion lower chamber 23.

  Then, by changing the ratio of the amount of gas supplied from the inflator between the high-pressure side supply path 24 and the low-pressure side supply path 25 and increasing the gas supply amount of the high-pressure side supply path 24, the low-pressure side supply path 25 Also, the internal pressure of the high-pressure side supply path 24 can be increased.

  With the above configuration, according to the present embodiment, the chest stress changing means 20 is provided in the inflatable portion 16 of the shoulder belt 11, so that when the inflator incorporated in the inner buckle 15 is activated in an emergency such as a frontal collision, the inflator generates The high-pressure gas is supplied to the expansion unit upper chamber 22 via the high-pressure side supply path 24 and is supplied to the expansion unit lower chamber 23 via the low-pressure side supply path 25 to expand both the chambers 22 and 23. A large tension can be generated in the shoulder belt 11.

  At this time, in the upper body Mu, the internal pressure of the inflating portion upper chamber 22 corresponding to the relatively high strength chest upper portion Mcu is the internal pressure of the inflating portion lower chamber 23 corresponding to the relatively low strength chest lower portion Mcb. Since the internal pressure of the inflating portion lower chamber 23 is set in advance according to the strength of the chest lower portion Mcb, the restraining force of the entire chest portion is not imposed on the chest lower portion Mcb. As a result, the restraint of the upper body Mu of the occupant M can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, the chest stress changing means 20 is composed of two chambers, an expansion chamber upper chamber 22 and an expansion chamber lower chamber 23 defined by a diaphragm 21, and the expansion chamber upper chamber 22 corresponds to the chest upper section Mcu. In addition, the chest lower part Mcb is made to correspond to the chest lower part Mcb, and the internal pressure of the inflating part upper chamber 22 is made higher than the internal pressure of the inflating part lower chamber 23 during inflation. The contact stress of the part Mcu can be increased, and the contact stress of the chest lower part Mcb can be decreased.

  Further, since the expansion part upper chamber 22 and the expansion part lower chamber 23 are independently provided with supply paths 24 and 25 for the pressure fluid supplied thereto, the high pressure gas supplied from the inflator is supplied to each supply path. The internal pressures of the expansion part upper chamber 22 and the expansion part lower chamber 23 can be determined with high accuracy by a simple method of distributing the liquid 24 and 25 at an appropriate ratio.

  5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description is omitted, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a main part inside the expansion part.

  The vehicle occupant restraint device 1A of the second embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and the chest stress changing means 20 of the inflatable portion 16 provided on the shoulder belt 11 is a chest portion defined by a diaphragm 21. The inflatable portion upper chamber 22 corresponding to the upper portion Mcu and the inflatable portion lower chamber 23 corresponding to the lower chest portion Mcb are provided.

  In the present embodiment, the supply path 24a for the high pressure gas of the inflator as the pressure fluid is provided only in the expansion unit upper chamber 22, and the communication for supplying the pressure fluid from the expansion unit upper chamber 22 to the expansion unit lower chamber 23 to the diaphragm 21. A hole 26 is formed.

  Even in the present embodiment, the supply path 24 a is formed in a tube shape, and is routed in the inflating portion lower chamber 23 to connect the inflator and the inflating portion upper chamber 22, and is formed in the diaphragm 21. The communicating hole 26 is set to have a hole diameter capable of exhibiting a predetermined orifice effect, so that a pressure difference can be generated between the expansion portion upper chamber 22 and the expansion portion lower chamber 23 during expansion.

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the high-pressure gas generated in the inflator in an emergency flows into the expansion unit upper chamber 22 via the supply path 24a, expands the expansion unit upper chamber 22, and expands the expansion unit upper chamber. While expanding 22, the internal gas pressure is supplied from the communication hole 26 of the diaphragm 21 to the expansion portion lower chamber 23, and the expansion portion lower chamber 23 is expanded.

  At this time, the expansion section lower chamber 23 has an internal pressure lower than the expansion section upper chamber 22 due to the orifice effect of the communication hole 26, and makes the internal pressure of the expansion section upper chamber 22 higher than the internal pressure of the expansion section lower chamber 23. As in the first embodiment, the restraining force of the entire chest can be increased without imposing a large burden on the chest lower part Mcb.

  In the present embodiment, the pressure difference between the expansion portion upper chamber 22 and the expansion portion lower chamber 23 can be easily and accurately set according to the size of the communication hole 26 of the diaphragm 21.

  FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description is omitted, and FIG. 7 shows the expanded state of the expansion portion. It is a front view.

The vehicle occupant restraint device 1B of the third embodiment is basically the same as that of the second embodiment, and the chest stress changing means 20 includes an inflating portion upper chamber 22 and an inflating portion lower chamber 23 defined by a diaphragm 21. And a high-pressure gas supply path 24a for the inflator is provided only in the expansion unit upper chamber 22, and a communication hole 26 for supplying pressure fluid from the expansion unit upper chamber 22 to the expansion unit lower chamber 23 is formed in the diaphragm 21. In this embodiment, a discharge hole 27 for discharging the pressure in the expansion portion lower chamber 23 outward is formed in the expansion portion lower chamber 23.

  The discharge hole 27 is provided with a predetermined outflow resistance with an orifice function to discharge the pressure in the expansion portion lower chamber 23.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the high-pressure gas generated in the inflator in an emergency flows into the expansion chamber upper chamber 22 via the supply path 24 a and expands, and then expands through the communication hole 26 of the diaphragm 21. It flows into the direction chamber 23 and expands it.

  The gas pressure supplied to the expansion portion lower chamber 23 is discharged outward from the discharge hole 27. The discharge hole 27 has an orifice effect, so that While maintaining a predetermined pressure, the internal pressure of the inflating portion lower chamber 23 can be set lower than the internal pressure of the inflating portion upper chamber 22, and, similarly to the first embodiment, without giving a large burden to the chest lower portion Mcb. The restraint force of the entire chest can be increased.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the discharge hole 27 is formed in the expansion portion lower chamber 23, the internal pressure of the expansion portion lower chamber 23 can be positively reduced. Therefore, the expansion portion upper chamber 22, the expansion portion lower chamber 23, The pressure difference can be easily set.

  8 and 9 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description is omitted, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a front view showing the state, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines AA and BB in FIG.

  The vehicle occupant restraint device 1C according to the fourth embodiment basically includes a seat belt 10 having a shoulder belt 11 and a lap belt 12 as in the above embodiments, and the shoulder belt 11 is provided with an inflating portion 16. In the present embodiment, the entire expansion portion 16 is formed as a continuous chamber without providing the diaphragm 21.

  Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the width of the contact portion W with the occupant M is gradually increased from above to below when the inflatable portion 16 is inflated.

  That is, the upper contact portion width W corresponding to the upper chest portion Mcu of the inflatable portion 16 is Wa as shown in FIG. 9A, and the lower contact portion width W corresponding to the lower chest portion Mcb is FIG. ), When Wb, the contact part width W of the inflating part 16 is gradually changed so that Wa <Wb.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the contact width W of the inflating portion 16 is gradually increased downward, so that the contact width b of the lower chest portion Mcb having a relatively low strength among the upper bodies Mu is compared in strength. Since the contact width a of the upper chest upper part Mcu is larger than that of the upper chest part Mcu, the contact input applied from the shoulder belt 11 can be dispersed in a wider area in the lower chest part Mcb. The contact stress of Mcu can be increased and the contact stress of the lower chest part Mcb can be decreased.

  In addition, as shown in the first to third embodiments, this embodiment is applicable even when the inflating portion 16 is defined by the diaphragm 21 into the inflating portion upper chamber 22 and the inflating portion lower chamber 23. Can do.

  10 and 11 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as those in the fourth embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description is omitted, and FIG. FIG. 11 is a side view showing the state, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines CC and DD in FIG. 10, respectively, (a) and (b).

  The vehicle occupant restraint device 1D according to the fifth embodiment is basically the same as the fourth embodiment, and the contact portion width W when the inflating portion 16 is inflated is gradually increased from above to below. is there.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the expanding portion 16 of the shoulder belt 11 gradually increases the entire thickness T from the lower side to the upper side during the expansion.

  That is, the thickness T means the height of the inflating portion 16 protruding forward from the occupant M, and the upper thickness T corresponding to the upper chest portion Mcu of the inflating portion 16 is Ta as shown in FIG. When the thickness T of the lower part corresponding to the lower chest part Mcb is Tb as shown in FIG. 11B, the contact part width W of the inflating part 16 is gradually and continuously changed so that Ta <Tb. is there.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, even when the contact portion width W of the inflating portion 16 is gradually increased from above to below, the inflating thickness T of the inflating portion 16 is increased from below. As a result, the circumferential length of the upper portion of the inflating portion 16 can be increased as compared with the fourth embodiment. As a result, the shoulder belt 11 in the longitudinal direction can be enlarged. The amount of shrinkage can be earned and the pretensioner effect can be increased.

  By the way, the vehicle occupant restraint device of the present invention has been described by taking the first to fifth embodiments as examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various other embodiments can be used without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the present invention can be applied to a so-called belt-in seat in which the entire seat belt 10 is attached to the seat S.

1 is a front perspective view showing a normal state of a vehicle occupant restraint device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the normal state of the passenger | crew restraint apparatus for vehicles in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front perspective view which shows the expansion state of the expansion part in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the expansion | swelling state of the expansion part in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the expansion | swelling state of the expansion part in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the principal part inside the expansion part in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the expansion | swelling state of the expansion part in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the expansion | swelling state of the expansion part in 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the cross section along the AA line and BB line in FIG. 8 to (a) and (b), respectively. It is a side view which shows the expansion | swelling state of the expansion part in 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the cross section along CC line and DD line in FIG. 10 to (a) and (b), respectively.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D Vehicle occupant restraint device 10 Seat belt 11 Shoulder belt 16 Inflating portion 20 Chest stress changing means 21 Diaphragm 22 Inflating portion upper chamber 23 Inflating portion lower chamber 24, 24a, 25 Supply path 26 Communication hole 27 Exhaust Hole S Seat M Crew Mu Upper Body Ms Shoulder Mw Lumbar Mcu Chest Upper Part Mcb Chest Lower Part

Claims (8)

In a vehicle occupant restraint device that includes a shoulder belt that restrains the upper body of an occupant seated in a seat obliquely from one shoulder to the other waist, and the shoulder belt expands in an emergency,
An occupant restraint device for a vehicle, wherein the inflatable portion of the shoulder belt is provided with chest stress changing means for making a contact stress with respect to an upper chest portion higher than a contact stress with respect to a chest lower portion when the inflatable portion is inflated.   The chest stress changing means includes two chambers, an inflating portion upper chamber corresponding to the upper chest portion and an inflating portion lower chamber corresponding to the lower chest portion, in which the inflating portion is defined by a diaphragm. The vehicle occupant restraint device according to claim 1, wherein the internal pressure is higher than the internal pressure of the lower chamber of the expansion portion.   The vehicle occupant restraint device according to claim 2, wherein the inflating portion upper chamber and the inflating portion lower chamber are each independently provided with a supply path for the pressure fluid supplied thereto.   3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein a pressure fluid supply path is provided only in the upper chamber of the expansion section, and a communication hole for supplying pressure fluid from the upper chamber of the expansion section to the lower chamber of the expansion section is formed in the diaphragm. Crew restraint device.   The vehicle occupant restraint device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a discharge hole for discharging the pressure in the expansion portion lower chamber outward is formed in the expansion portion lower chamber.   The vehicular occupant restraint device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the inflatable portion of the shoulder belt gradually increases the width of the contact portion with the occupant from above to below when inflated.   The vehicular occupant restraint device according to claim 6, wherein the inflatable portion of the shoulder belt gradually increases in overall thickness from below to above during expansion. A shoulder belt that obliquely restrains the upper body of the occupant seated on the seat from the shoulder to the waist is provided with an inflating section upper chamber, an inflating section lower chamber, and chest stress changing means for adjusting the pressure in each chamber of the inflating section. An occupant restraint device for a vehicle characterized in that the contact stress for the upper part of the chest is made higher than the contact stress for the lower part of the chest in an emergency.

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