JP2006044283A - Structure of airbag door - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure of an airbag door capable of securing the safety of a driver etc. by preventing its hinge part from rupturing when an airbag is inflated and also securing easy opening. <P>SOLUTION: The structure 1 of the airbag door has a groove 5a for opening of the airbag door formed in order for the airbag 2 to swell out and hinge grooves 5d and 5e arranged to serve as the hinge part when the airbag door is opened, and is equipped with a planned part 5 for opening formed in an instrument panel 4 so that the groove 5a and the hinge grooves 5d and 5e confront each other, reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b provided along the rear surface of the opening planned part 5 (the surface on the airbag 2 side) for reinforcing the part 5, joined only with the rear surface of the part 5, and able to open together with the part 5, and a frame 7 having stoppers 7a and 7b to engage the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b in the specified position so as not to move and put in tight attachment at the periphery of the rear surface of the part 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of an airbag door serving as an opening of an airbag device attached to the back side of an instrument panel of an automobile.

Conventionally, airbag doors have been known. For example, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. Patent Document 1 discloses an airbag case that is disposed on the back side of an interior panel provided in an interior of an automobile and stores the airbag inflated and deployed by gas from an inflator in a folded state, and the airbag A breaking opening portion formed by forming a breaking groove for determining an opening shape for airbag deployment on the back surface of the interior panel opposite to the opening of the bag case; and a reinforcing plate member for reinforcing the breaking opening portion. An automobile airbag device comprising a frame body that is in close contact with a rear surface at a position corresponding to a peripheral region of the fracture opening portion, wherein at least one of the frame body and the reinforcing plate member is made of an olefin-based elastomer or the like. It is formed of a low-elasticity thermoplastic resin material and has high elasticity in which at least the other of the frame and the reinforcing plate member is mixed with a reinforcing material such as glass fiber. That is formed of a thermoplastic resin material, an air bag device for an automobile, characterized in that the said frame body and said reinforcing plate member so as to secure the vibration welding to the rear surface of each of the interior panel.
JP 2004-001677 A

  When the thing of patent document 1 is demonstrated easily using the schematic of the operation | movement process shown to Fig.7 (a)-(c), as for the airbag door 71, the whole reinforcement board member 73 will be on the back surface of the instrument panel 72. FIG. When the airbag 74 is inflated (see FIGS. 7A and 7B), the hinge portion 75 provided in the middle of the reinforcing plate 73 has a hinge groove 76 as a center. After rotating up to 180 degrees from the position, it is stretched and cleaved (see FIG. 7C), but the hinge part 75 is broken and cut off too much, and there is a possibility of causing harm to the passenger. Further, since the hinge portion 75 has to be bent and further extended, the airbag door portion is difficult to open.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure of an airbag door that prevents a hinge portion from being broken to ensure the safety of a passenger and easily opens when the airbag is inflated.

Means and effects for solving the problems

The present invention has an opening groove formed for inflating an airbag and a hinge groove formed so as to become a hinge portion when the airbag is opened, and is a first opening that is one of the opening grooves. A pre-opening portion formed in the instrument panel so that the groove for use and the hinge groove face each other, and a back surface of the pre-opening portion for reinforcing the pre-opening portion, together with the pre-opening portion An airbag door structure comprising a reinforcing plate member that can be freely opened and a frame that is in close contact with the periphery of the back surface of the planned opening portion, wherein the reinforcing plate member is joined only to the back surface of the planned opening portion. The frame extends from the first opening groove in the hinge groove direction, and the frame body is more than a certain level when the reinforcing plate member is opened together with the planned opening portion by the expansion of the airbag. By suppressing the opening In so that those with a stopper for locking the movement of the opening portion to be side opposite ends of the reinforcing plate member.
With the above configuration, when the airbag is inflated, the hinge portion can be prevented from being broken to ensure the safety of the occupant and to provide an airbag door that is easy to open.

The airbag door of the present invention further includes an opening in which the reinforcing plate member is provided along an end opposite to the end on the first opening groove side, and the frame body is the stopper. It is preferable that an attachment portion for joining the frame body and the instrument panel to the outside of the frame body via the opening is further provided.
According to the above configuration, when the airbag is inflated, even if the hinge portion of the planned opening portion is damaged, the opening portion of the reinforcing plate member is caught by the mounting portion, so that the airbag door is prevented from scattering to the passenger. it can.

In the airbag door of the present invention, the end of the reinforcing plate member on the side opposite to the first opening groove side has a gap of a predetermined distance between the back side of the instrument panel. It is preferable that the cross section of the reinforcing plate member is formed in a staircase shape. In addition, it is preferable that the clearance gap of a predetermined space | interval is 0.5 mm or more.
With the above configuration, the end of the reinforcing plate member opposite to the end of the first opening groove is disposed at a predetermined interval so as not to contact the back surface of the instrument panel. Can be prevented. Further, when the reinforcing plate member and the planned opening portion are coupled by vibration welding, the end of the reinforcing plate member opposite to the first opening groove side is prevented from being coupled to the back side of the instrument panel. Thus, it is possible to reliably connect only the surface of the portion of the reinforcing plate member that faces the planned opening portion on the first opening groove side to the back surface of the planned opening portion.

In the airbag door of the present invention, it is preferable that the surface of the portion of the reinforcing plate member that faces the back surface of the planned opening portion is joined to the planned opening portion via a member having a predetermined thickness. In addition, it is preferable that the predetermined thickness of a member is 0.5 mm or more.
With the above configuration, the end of the reinforcing plate member opposite to the end of the first opening groove is disposed at a predetermined interval so as not to contact the back surface of the instrument panel. Can be prevented. Further, when the reinforcing plate member and the planned opening portion are coupled by vibration welding, the end of the reinforcing plate member opposite to the first opening groove side is prevented from being coupled to the back side of the instrument panel. Thus, it is possible to reliably connect only the surface of the portion of the reinforcing plate member that faces the planned opening portion on the first opening groove side to the back surface of the planned opening portion.

In the airbag door of the present invention, a hole is provided in the attachment portion of the frame body, and a convex portion is provided on the back surface of the instrument panel so as to coincide with the position of the hole. It is preferable that the instrument panel and the frame body are joined by inserting a convex portion and performing crimping by at least one method of heating, vibration, or ultrasonic wave.
By the said structure, the joint strength of an instrument panel and a frame can be improved, and it can be set as a safer airbag door.

It is preferable that the airbag door of the present invention further includes a rib joined to the attachment portion of the frame body and the stopper.
With the above configuration, the bonding strength between the attachment portion and the stopper can be improved, and a safer airbag door can be obtained.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an airbag apparatus having the structure of an airbag door according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow (a)-(a) of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is (b)-(b) of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view taken along arrows (c)-(c) of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. 2. 4A is a diagram showing a positional relationship before the operation of the right stopper, rib and reinforcing plate member in FIG. 3C, and FIG. 4B is a right stopper and rib in FIG. 3C. FIG. 4C is a diagram showing the positional relationship after the operation of the stopper, rib and reinforcing plate member on the right side in FIG. 3C. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the structure of the airbag door of FIG.

  The airbag device 10 includes an airbag door structure 1 according to the first embodiment and an airbag module cover 3 (hereinafter referred to as a cover 3) that forms an airbag module having an airbag 2.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the structure 1 of the airbag door is formed when the opening groove 5a (first opening groove), the opening grooves 5b and 5c formed to inflate the airbag 2 are opened. There are hinge grooves 5d and 5e formed so as to be hinge portions, and an opening planned portion 5 formed on the instrument panel 4 so that the opening groove 5a and the hinge grooves 5d and 5e are opposed to each other, and an opening plan In order to reinforce the portion 5, the reinforcing plate members 6 a and 6 b that are provided along the back surface (surface on the airbag 2 side) of the planned opening portion 5 and are openable together with the planned opening portion 5, and the back surface of the planned opening portion 5 And a frame body 7 closely attached at the periphery.

  Although not shown, the instrument panel 4 has a three-layer structure in which a foam layer is interposed between the skin material and the core material. In addition, the instrument panel 6 may have a two-layer structure including only a skin agent and a core material without interposing a foam layer between the skin material and the core material.

  The planned opening portion 5 is partitioned by the thinned opening grooves 5a, 5b and 5c and the hinge grooves 5d and 5e so as to be able to open both sides. The opening grooves 5a, 5b, and 5c and the hinge grooves 5d and 5e are formed by cut cleavage grooves. Note that the opening grooves 5 a, 5 b, and 5 c may be formed by a row of laser holes reaching the skin material of the instrument panel 4.

  The reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b are joined only to the back surface of the planned opening portion 5 via a square member 8 having a predetermined thickness (preferably 5 mm or more), and the hinge groove from the opening groove 5a. It extends in the 5d and 5e directions, respectively. In addition, the shape and size of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b on the opening groove 5a side (portion joined to the planned opening portion 5) can be opened together with the planned opening portion 5. The shape is similar or slightly reduced. Further, the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b have a step-like cross section as shown in FIG. 3B, and are arranged at a predetermined distance across the opening groove 5a. At this time, the distance P shown in FIG. 3A is preferably 5 mm or more. Further, the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b respectively have a plurality of openings 6c and 6d provided along the end opposite to the end on the opening groove 5a side. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4C, the opening 6c is formed so as to have a gap of a predetermined distance Q from the rib 9a. The same applies to the opening 6d.

  When the reinforcing plate members 6 a and 6 b are opened together with the planned opening portion 5 due to the expansion of the airbag 2, the frame body 7 can prevent the opening of the reinforcing plate members 6 a and 6 b from being opened more than a certain amount. It has stoppers 7a and 7b that lock the movement of the end opposite to the side. Each of the stoppers 7a and 7b has a plurality of openings 7g and 7h for hooking hooks 11a and 11b provided on the cover 3 in the vicinity of the end portion on the airbag 2 side. Further, attachment portions 7c and 7d for firmly joining the stoppers 7a and 7b to the instrument panel 4 are provided perpendicular to the stoppers 7a and 7b, respectively. The mounting portions 7c and 7d are provided with holes 7e and 7f, respectively, and convex portions 12a and 12b (see FIG. 3A) provided inside the instrument panel 4 are inserted into the holes 7e and 7f. Then, it is preferable that the instrument panel 4 and the frame 7 are joined by performing caulking by at least one method of heating, vibration, or ultrasonic waves.

  The cover 3 has a support member (not shown) that fixes and supports the cover 3 provided at the lower portion of the cover 3, and the support member is attached to a member (not shown) fixed to the vehicle body of the automobile. A screw (not shown) is detachably fixed and supported. Further, the cover 3 is positioned and disposed in the vicinity of the end on the opening planned portion 5 side so that the hooks 11 a and 11 b enter and engage with the openings 7 g and 7 h provided in the frame body 7. The hooks 11a and 11b can prevent the entire instrument panel 4 from jumping out to the passenger side when the airbag 2 is inflated.

Next, the operation of the airbag device 10 when the airbag 2 is inflated will be described with reference to the diagram showing the positional relationship of the members during the operation of FIG. 4 and the operation schematic diagram of FIG. The operation will be mainly described.
When the airbag 2 is actuated and inflated by receiving an impact such as a collision of an automobile, the airbag 2 bulges from the cover 3 and reaches the back surfaces of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b joined to the planned opening portion 5. (See FIG. 6 (a)). Thereafter, in the planned opening portion 5, the opening grooves 5 a, 5 b, and 5 c are broken by the pressing force of the airbag 2, and are opened together with the reinforcing plate members 6 a and 6 b (see FIG. 6B). 5b and 5c are not shown). At this time, since the ends of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b opposite to the planned opening portion 5 side are not joined to the instrument panel 4, the hinge grooves 5d and 5e have less resistance, and the hinge grooves 5d and 5e are reduced. Will fully function as a hinge. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C (before (a) rotating operation, (b) during rotating operation, (c) after rotating operation), the opening 6c does not contact the rib 9a. . Although not shown, the same applies to the opening 6d. Therefore, the planned opening portion 5 is in a double-open state while smoothly rotating around the hinge grooves 5d and 5e until the state shown in FIG. And if the reinforcement board members 6a and 6b move to the state of FIG.6 (c), the movement will be stopped by the stoppers 7a and 7b. Thereafter, the portions near the hinge grooves 5d and 5e of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b are bent by the pressing force of the further expanded airbag 2 (see FIG. 6D). And the airbag 2 which protrude | jumped out from the opening scheduled part 5 continues expansion | swelling to the maximum magnitude | size, and prevents that a passenger | crew's head etc. collide with the instrument panel 4. FIG.

  With the above configuration, according to the present embodiment, when the airbag 2 is inflated, the hinge grooves 5d and 5e are prevented from being broken to ensure the safety of the passenger, and the airbag door structure 1 is easy to open. Can provide.

  Further, even if the hinge grooves 5d and 5e are damaged when the airbag 2 is inflated, the openings 7g and 7h of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b joined to the planned opening portion 5 are hooked on the mounting portion. An airbag door in which the scheduled opening portion 5 is not scattered can be provided to a person.

  Furthermore, since the end of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b opposite to the end on the opening groove 5a side is arranged at a predetermined interval so as not to contact the back surface of the instrument panel 4, abnormal noise is generated due to rubbing. Can be prevented. Further, when the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b and the planned opening portion 5 are coupled by vibration welding, the end portion of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b opposite to the opening groove 5a side is connected to the instrument panel 4. By preventing the coupling with the back side, only the end of the reinforcing plate members 6a, 6b on the opening groove 5a side can be reliably coupled to the back surface of the planned opening portion 5.

  Further, holes 7e and 7f are provided in the attachment portions 7c and 7d of the frame body 7, respectively, and convex portions 12a and 12b are provided on the back surface of the instrument panel 4 so as to coincide with the positions of the holes 7e and 7f. The projections 12a and 12b are inserted into the holes 7e and 7f, and caulking is performed by at least one method of heating, vibration, or ultrasonic wave, and the instrument panel and the frame body are joined. It is preferable. A convex portion is provided inside the instrument panel, and a hole is provided in the attachment portion of the frame body. At least one of heating, vibration, or ultrasonic waves is provided in the hole. Since the instrument panel and the frame body are joined by caulking with a method, the joint strength between the instrument panel 4 and the frame body 7 can be improved, and a safer airbag door Structure 1 can be obtained.

  Further, since the ribs 9a and 9b are respectively joined to the attachment portions 7c and 7d of the frame body 7 and the stoppers 7a and 7b, the joining strength between the attachment portions 7c and 7d and the stoppers 7a and 7b is improved. Therefore, a safer airbag door structure 1 can be obtained.

  In addition, as a modification of the structure 1 of an airbag door, although not shown in figure, the opening opening part 5 has a one-side opening thing. For example, instead of the planned opening portion 5 of the airbag door structure 1, the opening groove 5a of the airbag door structure 1 is eliminated, and instead the hinge groove 5e can be used as the first opening groove so that it can be opened one by one. The planned opening portion is formed in the instrument panel 4. Next, instead of the reinforcing plate members 6a and 6b, as a single reinforcing plate member having an opening 6c similar to the reinforcing plate member 6a, the structure 1 of the airbag door is provided on the back surface of the planned opening portion that can be opened one by one. In the same manner as in the above case, bonding is performed via a plurality of corner members 8. Other parts may be the same as the structure of the structure 1 of the airbag door. By comprising in this way, the structure of a one-sided airbag door can be formed. According to the structure of the airbag door of this modification, the same operation and effect as the structure 1 of the airbag door of the above embodiment can be obtained.

  The present invention can be changed in design without departing from the scope of the claims, and is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications.

It is a figure which shows the airbag apparatus provided with the structure of the airbag door which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. (A) is the (a)-(a) arrow sectional drawing of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. 2, (b) is the (b)-(b) arrow sectional view of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. FIGS. 2C and 2C are cross-sectional views taken along arrows (c)-(c) of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. (A) is a figure which shows the positional relationship before operation | movement of the right side stopper, rib, and reinforcement board member in FIG.3 (c), (b) is the right side stopper, rib, and reinforcement board member in FIG.3 (c). The figure which shows the positional relationship at the time of this operation | movement, (c) is a figure which shows the positional relationship after the operation | movement of the stopper on the right side, a rib, and a reinforcement board member in FIG.3 (c). It is a disassembled perspective view of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the structure of the airbag door of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the structure of the conventional airbag door.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,71 Structure of airbag door 2,74 Airbag 3 Airbag module cover 4 Instrument panel 5 Planned opening part 5a (First) Opening groove 5b, 5c Opening groove 5d, 5e, 76 Hinge groove 6, 71 Instrument panel 6a, 6b, 73 Reinforcing plate member 6c, 6d, 7g, 7h Opening portion 7 Frame body 7a, 7b Stopper 7e, 7f Hole 7c, 7d Mounting portion 8 Square member 9a Rib 10 Airbag device 75 Hinge portion

Claims (6)

An opening groove formed to inflate the airbag and a hinge groove formed so as to become a hinge portion when the airbag is opened, the first opening groove being one of the opening grooves; An opening planned portion formed in the instrument panel so that the hinge groove faces,
A reinforcing plate member provided along the back surface of the planned opening to reinforce the planned opening, and capable of opening together with the planned opening;
A structure of an airbag door provided with a frame closely attached to the periphery of the back surface of the planned opening portion,
The reinforcing plate member is bonded only to the back surface of the planned opening portion, and extends from the first opening groove in the hinge groove direction,
When the reinforcing plate member is opened together with the planned opening portion due to the expansion of the airbag, the frame body can be prevented from opening more than a certain amount. The structure of the airbag door which has a stopper which latches the movement of an edge part.   The reinforcing plate member further has an opening provided along an end opposite to the end on the first opening groove side, and the frame is outside the frame of the stopper. The structure of the airbag door of Claim 1 further provided with the attaching part which joins a body and the said instrument panel through the said opening part.   The cross section of the reinforcing plate member has a stepped shape so that the end of the reinforcing plate member on the side opposite to the end on the first opening groove side has a gap of a predetermined distance from the back side of the instrument panel. The structure of the air bag door according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air bag door is formed.   The airbag door according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a surface of a portion of the reinforcing plate member facing a back surface of the planned opening portion is joined to the planned opening portion via a member having a predetermined thickness. Structure.   A hole is provided in the attachment portion of the frame body, and a convex portion is provided on the back surface of the instrument panel so as to coincide with the position of the hole, and the convex portion is inserted into the hole and heated. The structure of the airbag door according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the instrument panel and the frame body are joined by performing caulking processing by at least one method of vibration or ultrasonic waves.   The structure of the airbag door in any one of Claims 2-5 further provided with the rib joined to the said attaching part and the said stopper of the said frame.

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