JP2006076448A - Airbag device for protecting pedestrian etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an airbag device for protecting a pedestrian etc. including an air bag structured simply and managing with a small capacity. <P>SOLUTION: According to the airbag device of this invention, a large capacity is not required of its airbag 15 which lifts a hood 2 from the left and the right side, because the pedestrian etc. is received for protection by the hood 2 lifted by the airbag 15 inflated. This allows reducing the weight of the vehicle body. Also the structure may remain simple and installation to the vehicle body can be facilitated because the airbag 15 is installed continued in the direction fore and aft in the folded-up condition from the parts of the hood 2 below the left and right side ends to the left and the right front pillar 9. Because the first airbag 15a located on the hood 2 side nearer an inflator 7 is inflated preceding to the second air bag 15b located on the side of the front pillar 9, it is possible to generate an inflating behavior to meet the actual colliding timing of the pedestrian etc. to the vehicle body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a protective airbag device for pedestrians and the like.

  In order to prevent pedestrians, bicycles and other occupants (hereinafter referred to as pedestrians) from colliding directly with the front window panels and front pillars when the automobile collides with pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, etc. A protective airbag for a pedestrian or the like is housed in a folded state below the rear end of the hood.

This type of airbag has a first airbag that deploys forward from the rear end of the hood so as to cover the entire upper surface of the hood, and a second airbag that deploys backward from the lower end of the front pillar so as to cover the entire front pillar. A bag is provided, and at the time of a collision with a pedestrian or the like, both the first airbag and the second airbag are inflated simultaneously by the gas from the inflator (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-7-108903

  However, in such a conventional technique, since two types of airbags, the first airbag and the second airbag, are arranged, the structure is complicated and the assembly to the vehicle body is troublesome. In addition, since the first airbag is large enough to cover the entire upper surface of the hood, the capacity of the first airbag is large and a large amount of gas is required to inflate it. For this reason, a large inflator is required, which increases the weight of the vehicle body.

  The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides a protective airbag device for a pedestrian or the like that has a simple structure and a small capacity.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hood that is supported so as to be movable upward, and is arranged in a state of being folded in the front-rear direction in a folded state from at least a lower part of the left and right side ends of the hood to the left and right front pillars, and when hood is inflated And an airbag that covers the front pillar, and an inflator that supplies gas to the airbag when a collision with a pedestrian or the like is detected or when a state immediately before the collision is detected. .

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that the inflator is connected to the front end portion of the airbag.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the airbag is partitioned into a first inflatable portion corresponding to the hood and a second inflatable portion corresponding to the front pillar via a gas communication path narrower than the width of the airbag. It is characterized by that.

  The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the second inflating portion of the airbag is housed in a cover that covers the surface of the front pillar, and expands while pushing up the cover to cover the front pillar.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the airbag is provided with a protrusion along the rear end of the hood.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the entire hood is not covered with the airbag, but the entire hood is lifted from the left and right ends by the inflated airbag and moved upward, and a pedestrian or the like is received by the moved hood. Therefore, there is no need for a large capacity airbag. Therefore, a small inflator is sufficient and the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced. In addition, since the airbag is arranged in a folded state from the lower part of the left and right side ends of the hood to the left and right front pillars in a folded state, the structure is simple and the assembly to the vehicle body is easy.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the inflator is connected to the front end portion of the airbag, the hood-side airbag close to the inflator can be inflated ahead of the front pillar-side airbag. As for the collision timing of a pedestrian or the like, since the hood is ahead of the front pillar, it is possible to obtain the inflation behavior of the airbag in accordance with the actual collision timing.

  According to invention of Claim 3, since the airbag is divided into the 1st expansion part corresponding to a hood, and the 2nd expansion part corresponding to a front pillar, a 1st expansion part is made into a 2nd expansion part. On the other hand, it can be expanded more reliably in advance.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the airbag is normally hidden by the cover, the appearance is good.

  According to the invention of claim 5, since the rear end of the hood is lifted not only by the left and right ends of the hood but also by the protruding portion, the hood moves upward in a stable state.

  For the purpose of providing an air bag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like that has a simple air bag structure and a small capacity, a hood that is supported so as to be movable upward, and at least left and right lower portions of the left and right ends of the hood. Folded over each front pillar and arranged in a continuous state in the front-rear direction, and when inflated, the left and right ends of the hood are moved upward and the airbag covering the front pillar and a pedestrian, etc. are detected when a collision is detected or immediately before the collision is detected. This was realized by providing an inflator that sometimes supplies gas to the airbag. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1-6 is a figure which shows the Example of this invention. An engine room E is formed on the front side of the front window panel 1. The upper part of the engine room E is covered with a hood 2. The hood 2 is capable of opening upward as a whole around support shafts 3 (see FIG. 6) set on the left and right sides of the rear end. The support shaft 3 is set at one end of the rotation link 4. The other end of the rotation link 4 is pivotally supported via a rotation shaft 6 at the tip of a fixed link 5 fixed to the vehicle body. The rotation of the rotation shaft 6 is normally restricted by a stopper mechanism (not shown), and the rotation link 4 does not rotate. When the inflator 7 to be described later operates, the restriction is released, and the rotation link 4 can be rotated about the rotation shaft 6.

  As shown in FIG. 2, there are hood ridges 8 on the left and right sides of the engine room E at the lower portions of the left and right ends of the hood 2, and a front pillar 9 is continuously formed behind the hood ridge 8. ing. The hood ridge 8 and the front pillar 9 each have a rail portion 10 continuously recessed in the front-rear direction. A plurality of work holes 11 are formed at the bottom of the rail portion 10. A corresponding working hole 12 is also formed on the vehicle interior side of the front pillar 9 (see FIG. 4).

  A retainer 13 having a length substantially corresponding to the rail portion 10 is welded to the rail portion 10. The retainer 13 is formed with a fixing hole 14 corresponding to the work hole 11 of the rail portion 10. The airbag 15 and the inflator 7 are assembled to the retainer 13.

  The airbag 15 has a bag shape having a length substantially corresponding to the retainer 13 and is folded in the width direction. The left and right outer ends of the airbag 15 are attached to the fixing holes 14 of the retainer 13 by bolts 16, and nuts 18 are fastened to the bolts 16 penetrating the fixing holes 14 by tools 17 inserted from the work holes 11 and 12. (FIG. 4 shows the front pillar 9 as a representative).

  At a position corresponding to the boundary between the hood ridge 8 and the front pillar 9 in the airbag 15, a protruding portion 19 is formed that extends inward in the left and right directions when inflated. The center of the protruding portion 19 is joined by a sewing portion 20, and narrow gas communication paths 21 are formed on both sides thereof. Through the two gas communication passages 21 narrower than the width of the airbag 15 (protruding portion 19), the airbag 15 is substantially connected to the first airbag 15a on the front side and the second airbag 15b on the rear side. It is partitioned.

  The inflator 7 is connected to the front end of the airbag 15 through a pipe 22 and a band 23. The inflator 7 is held by a holding piece 24 formed at the front end of the retainer 13 and is integrated with the retainer 13. Thus, since the airbag 15 is arranged in a folded state from the lower part of the left and right side ends of the hood 2 to the front pillars 9 on the left and right sides, the structure is simple and can be assembled to the vehicle body. Easy.

  A cover 25 is provided on the front side of the front pillar 9. The cover 25 has a curved shape on the front side, and houses the airbag 15 in a folded state between the cover 25 and the retainer 13. The outer end of the cover 25 is pressed by a weather strip 26, and the inner end of the cover 25 is pressed by moldings 27 at both ends of the front window panel 1.

  The cover 25 is formed with three engagement pieces 28 along the longitudinal direction. The engagement piece 28 is inserted into a projection 29 formed on the outer side of the retainer 13 through an engagement hole 30 formed at the tip of the projection 29. The distal end of the engagement piece 28 is separated from the engagement hole 30 by a predetermined distance S while being inserted into the convex portion 29, and a hook 31 that engages the engagement hole 30 from the inside is formed at the distal end. ing. In the front pillar 9, since the airbag 15 is hidden by the cover 25, there is no problem in appearance. The air bag 15 on the hood 2 side is also protected by a cover (not shown) that is easy to tear.

  Next, the operation will be described. Gas is supplied from the inflator 4 into the airbag 5 when a collision with a pedestrian or the like is detected or a state immediately before the collision is detected. In the airbag 15, the first airbag 15 a close to the inflator 7 is inflated first, and then the second airbag 15 b is inflated. The fact that the first airbag 15a and the second airbag 15b are partitioned through the narrow gas communication path 21 also ensures the preceding inflation of the first airbag 15a.

  The first airbag 15a that has been inflated in advance pushes up the left and right ends of the hood 2 from below. Further, the protruding portion 19 between the first airbag 15a and the second airbag 15b pushes up the rear end portion of the hood 2 from below. Simultaneously with the operation of the inflator 7, the restriction of the rotation link 4 is also released, so that the hood 2 moves upward while rotating the rotation link 4. The upward movement amount of the hood 2 is regulated by the length of the rotation link 4 and does not jump up more than necessary. Further, since the left and right ends and the rear end of the hood 2 are pushed up, the hood 2 moves upward in a stable state without being exposed.

  Since the hood 2 moved upward by the airbag 15 has cushioning properties, it is possible to receive and protect a pedestrian or the like that has fallen due to a collision. Unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to cover the entire top surface of the hood 2 with an air bag, and the capacity of the air bag 15 is small. Therefore, the inflator 7 is also small, and the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced.

  When the second airbag 15b is inflated following the first airbag 15a, the cover 25 is pushed by the inflated second airbag 15b to disengage the weather strip 26 and the molding 27 from each other. Then, the cover 25 pops out to the front side and allows the second airbag 15b to be completely inflated. The protrusion of the cover 25 to the front side is restricted to a dimension corresponding to the predetermined interval S when the hook 31 of the engagement piece 28 engages with the engagement hole 30 formed in the convex portion 29 of the retainer 13. The cover 25 is prevented from being scattered by the engagement between the hook 31 and the engagement hole 30.

  Since the front window panel 1 can be covered with the airbag 15 that is inflated by pushing up the cover 25, it is possible to prevent a pedestrian or the like who falls to the automobile side from directly colliding with the front pillar 9. Moreover, since a part of the airbag 15 is also deployed on the front window panel 1 side from between the cover 25 and the molding 27, it is possible to prevent direct collision between the left and right ends of the front window panel 1 and pedestrians and the like. Can do.

  As explained above, inflating the first airbag 15a on the hood 2 side ahead of the second airbag 15b on the front pillar 9 side means that the hood 2 is inflated at the collision timing of an actual pedestrian or the like. Since it is ahead of the front pillar 9, optimal protection performance for pedestrians and the like can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the airbag 15 continuous in the front-rear direction is arranged from the lower part of the left and right side ends of the hood 2 to the left and right front pillars 9 is shown. However, the airbag 15 is further extended rearward. It may be covered up to the roof side, or it may be extended forward to cover the vicinity of the headlamp.

The perspective view of the front part of a car showing the state where the air bag concerning the example of the present invention was developed. The disassembled perspective view of FIG. 1 which shows the arrangement | positioning state of an airbag. The disassembled perspective view which shows the state which unfolded the airbag and inflator shown in FIG. Sectional drawing equivalent to FIG. 5 which shows the state before airbag expansion. Sectional drawing which follows the arrow SA-SA line in FIG. Sectional drawing which follows the arrow SB-SB line in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2 Hood 7 Inflator 9 Front Pillar 15 Airbag 15a First Airbag 15b Second Airbag 19 Projection Part 21 Gas Communication Path 25 Cover E Engine Room

Claims (5)

A hood supported so as to be movable upward;
An airbag that is arranged in a folded state from the lower part of the left and right side ends of the hood to the left and right front pillars and is continuously extended in the front-rear direction, and moves the left and right side ends of the hood upward when inflated and covers the front pillars;
An inflator that supplies gas to the airbag when a collision with a pedestrian or the like is detected or a state immediately before the collision is detected;
An air bag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like characterized by comprising: The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like according to claim 1,
An airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like, wherein the inflator is connected to a front end portion of the airbag. The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like according to claim 2,
A pedestrian or the like, wherein the airbag is partitioned into a first inflatable portion corresponding to the hood and a second inflatable portion corresponding to the front pillar via a gas communication path narrower than the width of the airbag. Protective airbag device. The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like according to claim 3,
The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like, wherein the second inflating portion of the airbag is housed in a cover that covers the surface of the front pillar, and inflates while covering the front pillar while pushing up the cover. The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An airbag device for protecting a pedestrian or the like, characterized in that a protrusion along the rear end of the hood is formed on the airbag.

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