JP2006123806A - Vehicular air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag device capable of relieving impact to the vicinity of a body part upper side surface of an occupant nearest to a door or a side wall on the cabin inside, by further quickly unfolding an air bag in a side collision and overturning, without attaining high output and an enlargement of an inflator. <P>SOLUTION: The air bag 5 is divided into a lower inflation part 5a positioned in the vicinity of a body part side surface of the occupant A in unfolding and an upper inflation part 5b positioned in the vicinity of a head part side surface of the occupant A in the unfolding by a partition wall part 5c. Gas blown off from the inflator 6 in the lower inflation part 5a, is jetted to the upper inflation part 5b via an opening formed in the partition wall part 5c in the side collision and the overturning, and the lower inflation part 5a of the air bag 5 is quickly unfolded more than the upper inflation part 5b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a vehicle airbag device for protecting a torso side surface and a head side surface of an occupant during a vehicle body side collision or rollover.

  Recent automobiles are equipped with an airbag device that deploys front-facing airbags near the steering wheel on the driver's side and the dashboard on the passenger's side for the purpose of mitigating the impact on passengers during a frontal collision. There are many things. Furthermore, in recent years, an airbag device provided on a door or side wall of an automobile has been put into practical use so that an airbag can be deployed at the time of a side collision or rollover to alleviate the impact on an occupant (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

The airbag device in Patent Document 1 is normally stored in a folded state in the armrest of the door, and the airbag is deployed toward the upper side and the side of the armrest at the time of a side collision, etc. The impact on the side of the torso and the side of the head is mitigated.
JP-A-5-16760 (paragraph number [0012], FIGS. 1 and 2)

  By the way, due to the structure of the car, the distance between the side of the occupant sitting on the seat (the side of the head and the side of the torso) and the inside of the door is small. (Near part)) The distance between the vicinity and the inside of the door is smaller (several centimeters to several tens of centimeters). Therefore, in an automobile equipped with an airbag device installed in an armrest as in Patent Document 1, the airbag is quickly deployed at the time of a side collision, rollover, etc. It is necessary to mitigate the impact on the side of the part. For this reason, in the past, the inflator was increased in output or increased in size so that the gas for deploying the airbag was ejected more quickly.However, the higher output and increased size of the inflator increased the cost, and There was a problem that a large installation space was required.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a vehicle airbag device provided on a door or side wall of a vehicle, and without causing an increase in the output and size of the inflator, the airbag can be more quickly deployed at the time of a side collision or rollover, It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle airbag device that can alleviate the impact on the side surface of the occupant and the side of the head including the vicinity of the upper side surface (near the shoulder and arm) of the occupant. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is directed to an inflator, a side of an occupant in a vehicle compartment, a door or a side wall by gas released from the inflator when a predetermined impact is applied to a side surface of the vehicle The airbag is stored in a state where the airbag is folded in a deployable direction toward the upper surface of the armrest in an armrest provided on the vehicle interior side of the door or side wall of the vehicle. In a vehicle airbag device,
The airbag has a first inflatable portion positioned near the occupant side surface of the occupant when deployed, and a first inflated portion positioned above the first inflated portion and positioned near the occupant head side surface when deployed. The partition part has an opening communicating between the first inflating part and the second inflating part, and the inflator is connected to the first inflating part. The gas discharged from the inflator is ejected from the first inflating part side to the second inflating part side through the opening.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined impact or more is applied to the side surface of the vehicle body (for example, at the time of a side collision or rollover with another vehicle), the gas released from the inflator is the first expansion. By jetting to the second inflating part side from the part side through the opening formed in the partition part, the second inflating part located near the head side surface of the occupant at the time of deployment is closer to the side surface of the torso Since the first inflatable portion that is positioned can be deployed more quickly, it is possible to satisfactorily mitigate the impact on the side surface of the occupant that is closest to the inside of the door (near the shoulder or arm). .

  Further, in the present invention according to claim 2, a guide member is disposed between the interior side of the airbag and the interior of the armrest, and the inner door panel of the door is positioned outside the interior of the airbag. Furthermore, the lower part of the airbag is fixed on the bottom plate of the airbag mounting member.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the air bag is enclosed in the armrest when the air bag is deployed by surrounding the air bag interior side and the vehicle interior side with the guide member and the inner door panel, respectively. It is possible to prevent the airbag from expanding downward by restraining the airbag from expanding in the width direction, and further by fixing the lower portion of the airbag on the bottom plate of the airbag mounting member. It can be surely deployed. In addition, by fixing the lower part of the airbag on the bottom plate of the airbag mounting member, the bottom plate of the airbag mounting member receives the force to deploy downward and directs the reaction force upward when the airbag is deployed. Therefore, the deployment speed of the airbag upward can be further increased.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the first inflatable portion of the airbag located near the side of the trunk portion of the occupant can be deployed more quickly when deployed, the occupant closest to the inside of the door It is possible to satisfactorily mitigate the impact on the side of the torso (in the vicinity of the shoulder and arm), and when the impact on the side of the torso of the occupant is absorbed by the first inflating part, the first inflating When the gas in the part flows into the second inflating part through the opening of the partition part, the internal pressure of the first inflating part is slightly reduced, and the occupant's torso side surface can be suitably restrained.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the airbag is deployed, the guide member and the inner door panel restrict the airbag from deploying in the vehicle width direction, and the lower portion of the airbag is the bottom plate of the airbag mounting member. Since the airbag can be prevented from being expanded downward by being fixed on the upper side, the airbag can be reliably deployed upward of the armrest.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments.
<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the vicinity of a door of an automobile provided with a vehicle airbag apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle airbag apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an airbag apparatus) 1 according to the present embodiment deploys an airbag at the time of a side impact such as a side collision or a rollover to the trunk of the occupant A It is intended to alleviate impacts near the side and near the side of the head, and is installed in a horizontally elongated armrest (armrest) 4 formed integrally with the inner door panel 3 of the door 2 of the automobile. Although FIG. 1 shows a passenger side door of a car, a door attached to various automobiles such as a door on the driver's side, a door on both sides of a 4-door type, a sliding door of a minivan type, and the like. The same applies to.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the airbag device 1 includes an airbag 5 made of a sheet material having airtightness such as a synthetic resin or cloth folded so as to be deployable toward the upper surface of the armrest 4, and the airbag 5. It has an inflator 6 for releasing gas for deployment, and the lower part of the airbag 5 is fixed on the bottom plate 8a of the airbag mounting member 8 provided in the installation space 7 between the armrest 4 and the inner door panel 3. Has been. The armrest upper surface portion 4a of the armrest 4 is formed to be openable upward (inner door panel 3 side) by a hinge portion 4b provided in an edge portion on the inner door panel 3 side in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction of the vehicle body). The armrest upper surface portion 4a is normally closed.

  The side plate 8b of the airbag mounting member 8 is located on the side surface of the airbag 5 on the vehicle interior side (armrest 4 side), and the inner door panel 3 is disposed on the side surface of the airbag 5 on the vehicle exterior side (door 2 side). They are close to each other, and the airbag 5 is prevented from expanding in the vehicle width direction and is regulated to be surely expanded upward.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the airbag 5 includes a lower inflatable portion 5a that protects the vicinity of the side of the trunk of the occupant and an upper inflatable that protects the vicinity of the side of the head of the occupant A when deployed. The part 5b is integrally formed so as to be divided vertically by the partition part 5c. The airbag 5 of the present embodiment has a shape close to a rectangular parallelepiped shape when inflated and deployed. The partition wall portion 5c connects the upper surface of the lower inflatable portion 5a and the lower surface of the upper inflatable portion 5b in an airtight state by sewing, and divides the airbag 5 into two vertically. An opening 5d is formed in the central portion of the partition wall portion 5c so as to communicate the lower expansion portion 5a and the upper expansion portion 5b. As described above, since the airbag 5 is divided into the lower inflatable portion 5a and the upper inflatable portion 5b by the partition wall portion 5c having the opening 5d formed in the central portion, when the airbag 5 is deployed, the airbag The outer peripheral surface where the 5 partition walls 5c are located is slightly recessed inward, so that a non-expanded portion does not occur in the lower expanding portion 5a and the upper expanding portion 5b.

  The size of the lower inflatable portion 5a and the upper inflatable portion 5b is substantially the same, and the inflator 6 is installed in the lower inflatable portion 5a. The inflator 6 has a gas generating agent (not shown) that is ignited based on a signal when an impact on the side surface of the vehicle body is detected by a collision detection sensor (not shown) provided on the side surface of the vehicle body. The opening 5d of the partition wall portion 5c is for adjusting (restricting) the gas ejected from the inflator 6 from the lower inflating portion 5a to the upper inflating portion 5b when the airbag 5 is deployed. By adjusting the inflow of gas by 5d, the lower inflatable portion 5a of the airbag 5 can be fully deployed slightly earlier than the upper inflatable portion 5b. The size of the opening 5d of the partition wall portion 5c is appropriately set in advance according to the size of the airbag (lower inflatable portion 5a, upper inflatable portion 5b) 5, the gas release performance of the inflator 6, and the like.

  The airbag device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, and when an impact of a predetermined level or more is applied to the side surface of the vehicle body on which the airbag device 1 is mounted (for example, with other vehicles) At the time of a side collision or rollover, a gas generating agent (not shown) of the inflator 6 is ignited based on an impact detection signal from a collision detection sensor (not shown) provided on the side of the vehicle body.

  Due to this ignition, as shown in FIG. 4, a large amount of gas is instantaneously released upward from the inflator 6 into the airbag 5, so that the internal pressure in the airbag 5 increases instantaneously and expands, The armrest upper surface portion 4a is pushed upward with the hinge portion 4b as the center of rotation. The airbag 5 is started to be deployed above the armrest 4, and is quickly and completely deployed between the interior of the door 2 and the side surface of the occupant A (the head side surface and the body side surface). The impact on the side of the trunk and the side of the head on the door 2 side of the occupant A is mitigated.

  At this time, the airbag 5 is restrained from being developed in the vehicle width direction by the side plate 8b and the inner door panel 3, and further is restrained from being developed downward by the bottom plate 8a of the airbag mounting member 8, so that the airbag 5 is surely directed upward. And expand. Further, since the lower portion of the airbag 5 is fixed on the bottom plate 8a of the airbag mounting member 8, the bottom plate 8a receives the force for deploying downward when the airbag 5 is deployed and directs the reaction force upward. Therefore, the upward deployment speed of the airbag 5 can be further increased. The deployed airbag 5 (lower inflatable portion 5a, upper inflatable portion 5b) 5 is configured such that the gas immediately escapes and becomes deflated.

  When the airbag 5 is deployed, the airbag 5 is divided into the lower inflatable portion 5a and the upper inflatable portion 5b by the partition wall portion 5c formed in the substantially intermediate portion by sewing as described above. As shown in (a) and (b), the gas released upward from the inflator 6 flows into the upper expansion portion 5b through the opening 5d of the partition wall portion 5c while expanding the lower expansion portion 5a. The upper expansion part 5b is expanded. Therefore, after the lower inflating portion 5a of the airbag 5 is fully deployed earlier than the upper inflating portion 5b, the upper inflating portion 5b is completely deployed with a slight delay that cannot be confirmed with the naked eye.

  As described above, in the airbag device 1 according to the present embodiment, the divided lower inflation portion 5a of the airbag 5 is quickly and completely completed before the upper inflation portion 5b without increasing the output or the size of the inflator 6. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily mitigate the impact on the side surface (near the shoulder or arm) of the occupant A that is closest to the inside of the door 2. In addition, since the upper inflatable portion 5b of the airbag 5 is completely deployed with a slight delay that cannot be confirmed with the naked eye, the impact on the side of the head of the occupant A can be well mitigated.

  Immediately after absorbing the impact on the side of the torso of the occupant by the lower inflatable portion 5a, the gas pushed out by the deformation due to the impact absorption of the lower inflatable portion 5a at this time is expanded downward through the opening 5d of the partition wall portion 5c. By flowing from the portion 5a into the upper inflatable portion 5b, the internal pressure of the lower inflatable portion 5a is slightly reduced, and the side surface of the occupant's torso can be appropriately restrained.

  In the present embodiment, when the airbag 5 is deployed from within the armrest 4, the armrest upper surface portion 4a is rotated and opened toward the inner door panel 3 with the hinge portion 4b as the rotation center. 4a does not contact the passenger.

  In the present embodiment, the side plate 8b of the airbag mounting member 8 is positioned on the side of the airbag 5 on the vehicle interior side (armrest 4 side), and the inner side of the airbag 5 on the side of the vehicle exterior (door 2 side). Although the door panel 3 is positioned, a plurality of side plates as guide members are provided on the airbag mounting member 8 so as to surround the airbag 5 so that the airbag 5 is reliably deployed upward. It may be.

<Embodiment 2>
5A and 5B are a cross-sectional view as seen from the front and a cross-sectional view as seen from the side, showing a state in which the airbag of the airbag apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention is deployed. The configuration of the airbag device other than the airbag is the same as that of the first embodiment, and in this embodiment, only the configuration of the airbag will be described.

  In the present embodiment, a partition wall portion 9c is integrally provided by a thin plate-like sheet material at a substantially central portion in an air bag 9 made of an airtight sheet material such as a synthetic resin or cloth, and the inside of the air bag 9 is formed. The lower inflating part 5a and the upper inflating part 5b are divided into upper and lower parts. An opening 9d is formed at the center of the partition wall 9c so as to communicate the lower expansion portion 9a and the upper expansion portion 9b.

  The size of the lower expansion part 9a and the upper expansion part 9b is substantially the same size, and the inflator 10 is installed in the lower expansion part 9a. Similarly to the first embodiment, the opening 9d of the partition wall 9c is adjusted (restricted) so that the gas ejected from the inflator 6 from the lower inflating portion 9a to the upper inflating portion 9b side does not flow at a time when the airbag 9 is deployed. Therefore, by adjusting the inflow of gas through the opening 9d, the lower inflatable portion 5a of the airbag 9 can be completely deployed slightly earlier than the upper inflatable portion 9b. The size of the opening 9d of the partition wall portion 9c is appropriately set in advance according to the size of the airbag (lower inflating portion 9a, upper inflating portion 9b) 9, the gas discharge performance of the inflator 10, and the like. The airbag 9 according to the present embodiment described above is also installed in the armrest in a state where the airbag 9 is folded so as to be unfoldable in the upper surface direction in the same manner as the first embodiment shown in FIGS.

  The airbag apparatus having the airbag 9 according to the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment in the upward direction from the inflator 10 as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B when the airbag 9 is deployed. The gas released toward the bottom flows into the upper expansion portion 9b through the opening 9d of the partition wall portion 9c while expanding the lower expansion portion 9a, and expands the upper expansion portion 9b. Therefore, after the lower inflating portion 9a of the airbag 9 is completely deployed earlier than the upper inflating portion 9b, the upper inflating portion 9b is completely deployed with a slight delay that cannot be confirmed with the naked eye.

  Thus, also in the airbag apparatus having the airbag 9 according to the present embodiment, the divided lower inflating portion 9a of the airbag 9 is made more than the upper inflating portion 9b without increasing the output or the size of the inflator 10. Since it can be quickly and completely deployed first, the impact on the side of the trunk of the occupant closest to the inside of the door (near the shoulder and arm) can be well mitigated. In addition, since the upper inflatable portion 9b of the airbag 9 is completely deployed with a slight delay that cannot be confirmed with the naked eye, the impact on the side surface of the occupant's head can be well mitigated.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the airbag device is configured to be installed in the armrest provided inside the door, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a minivan type automobile or the like may be used. The present invention can be similarly applied to an airbag apparatus installed in an armrest provided on a side wall on the vehicle interior side that is not provided.

The schematic sectional drawing which shows the door vicinity of the motor vehicle provided with the airbag apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The schematic sectional drawing which shows the armrest vicinity which installed the airbag apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. (A) is sectional drawing seen from the front which shows the state which the airbag of the airbag apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention expand | deployed, (b) is sectional drawing seen from the side. The schematic sectional drawing which shows the state which the airbag of the airbag apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention expand | deployed from the inside of an armrest. (A) is sectional drawing seen from the front which shows the state which the airbag of the airbag apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention expand | deployed, (b) is sectional drawing seen from the side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Airbag apparatus 2 Door 3 Inner door panel 4 Armrest 4a Armrest upper surface part 5, 9 Airbag 5a, 9a Lower expansion part (1st expansion part)
5b, 9b Upper inflating part (second inflating part)
5c, 9c Partition 5d, 9d Open 6, 10 Inflator 8 Airbag mounting member 8a Bottom plate 8b Side plate (guide member)

Claims (2)

An inflator and an airbag that is deployed between a side of a passenger in the vehicle interior and a door or a side wall by a gas released from the inflator when a predetermined impact is applied to a side surface of the vehicle; Alternatively, in the vehicle airbag device stored in the armrest provided on the side of the vehicle interior of the side wall in a state where the airbag is folded in a deployable manner toward the top surface of the armrest,
The airbag has a first inflatable portion positioned near the occupant side surface of the occupant when deployed, and a first inflated portion positioned above the first inflated portion and positioned near the occupant head side surface when deployed. And the partition wall portion has an opening communicating between the first expansion portion and the second expansion portion,
Providing the inflator on the first inflatable portion side, and ejecting the gas released from the inflator from the first inflatable portion side to the second inflatable portion side through the opening;
An air bag device for a vehicle characterized by the above. A guide member is disposed between the interior side of the airbag and the inside of the armrest, the inner door panel of the door is positioned outside the interior of the airbag, and the lower part of the airbag is attached to the airbag Fixed on the bottom plate of the member,
The vehicle airbag device according to claim 1.

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