JP2006315594A - Vehicular airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular airbag device which can be efficiently arranged even in a part of a small space in the thickness direction. <P>SOLUTION: In the vehicular airbag device in which an airbag body 23 is provided on an instrument panel 1 in a cabin, and the airbag body 23 is swollen inward of the cabin when a vehicle is collided, the airbag body 23 is constituted by coupling circumferential edges 19a, 25a of a pair of flexible resin-made plate members 19, 25 with each other via a rib 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle airbag device, and more particularly to a thin vehicle airbag device in which peripheral portions of a pair of resin plate members are coupled to each other.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for disposing a knee airbag device at a lower portion of an instrument panel provided in a vehicle compartment of an automobile is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In this knee airbag device, a storage case is provided along the outer periphery of the opening for the glove box, and the bag body is stored in a folded state in the storage case. And when gas blows in a bag main body from an inflator, a bag main body is comprised so that it may expand | swell and expand | deploy from the lower part of an instrument panel.
JP 2000-21458 A

  However, the knee airbag device according to the conventional example has a configuration in which the folded bag body is accommodated in the storage case, and thus it is very difficult to dispose the knee airbag device in a portion where the space in the thickness direction is small. there were.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle airbag device that can be efficiently disposed in a small space in the thickness direction.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle airbag apparatus in which an airbag body is inflated in the event of a vehicle collision, wherein the airbag body is made up of a pair of flexible resin plate members. It is characterized by having comprised these peripheral parts couple | bonding together in the state which faced.

  The vehicle airbag device according to the present invention can be efficiently accommodated in a small space limited in the thickness direction in the vehicle compartment, for example, the surface portion of the instrument panel. As described above, the vehicle airbag device according to the present invention can be suitably arranged also in a portion where only a small space can be secured due to the arrangement of other components and the like. Further, in the normal state, since the space in the thickness direction is accommodated in a small state, the space in the vehicle compartment is not reduced.

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

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle front portion in which a vehicle airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is disposed.

  An instrument panel 1 is disposed along the vehicle width direction at the front of the vehicle compartment, and a front window 3 is disposed on the front side of the instrument panel 1. In FIG. 1, the right side of the vehicle is set as a driver's seat, and a steering wheel 7 is provided so as to protrude rearward through the steering column 5.

  And the airbag apparatus 9, 11, 13 for vehicles by 1st Embodiment of this invention is the lower part of the instrument panel 1 by the side of a driver's seat, the lower surface of the cover of the steering column 5, and the instrument panel 1 by the side of a passenger seat. Arranged at the bottom.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view in which a portion A in FIG. 1 is cut out, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view in which a part of the vehicle airbag device in FIG. 2 is cut out. The upper resin plate in FIG. 3 is arranged on the instrument panel surface side (rear side of the vehicle) in FIG. 2, and the lower resin plate in FIG. 3 is rear side of the instrument panel in FIG. It is arranged on the front side.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lower surface of the instrument panel 1 on the passenger seat side is formed with a concave portion 15 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view that is recessed forward of the vehicle, and is disposed along the peripheral portion of the concave portion 15. A rib 17 is erected toward the rear of the vehicle (the seated occupant side). A flexible resin plate member 19 having a rectangular shape is joined to the tip of the rib 17, and the resin plate member 19 of the vehicle airbag device 13 is attached to the surface of the instrument panel 1. Are formed on substantially the same plane. An inflator 21 is housed and arranged inside the instrument panel 1, and the tip of the inflator 21 is inserted into the airbag body 23. As described above, the vehicle airbag device 13 according to the present embodiment has the airbag main body 23 in which the inside is formed in a sealed state by joining the two resin plate members 19 and 25 via the ribs 17; An inflator 21 for introducing gas into the airbag body 23 is provided.

  4 is an enlarged perspective view of portion B in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of portion C in FIG.

  A notch (groove) serving as a fragile portion is formed at the base portion on the vehicle front side of the rib 17 that connects the resin plate member 19 disposed on the front surface side of the instrument panel 1 and the resin plate 25 disposed on the back surface side. 27) is formed. As shown in FIG. 5, the notch 27 is set to be small in the straight line portion 29 that is a general part, but in the corner portion 31 where the straight line portions 29, 29 intersect each other, the notch 27 of the straight line portion 29. It is formed larger than.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the tips of the ribs 17 are joined to the resin plate member 19 on the surface side of the instrument panel 1, and by this joining, the tips of the ribs 17 and the resin plate member 19 are joined. A joint portion 33 is formed at the abutting portion with the back surface side.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle airbag device in a normal state.

  During normal travel, the airbag body 23 is contracted, and a resin plate member 19 disposed on the surface side of the instrument panel 1 and a resin plate 25 disposed on the vehicle front side of the resin plate member 19. Are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval, and are arranged substantially parallel in cross section.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle airbag device in which gas is sealed in the airbag body, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of the rib when the airbag body is expanded.

  When the vehicle detects a collision, the gas G blows out from the tip of the inflator 21 (see FIG. 2), and the gas G flows into the airbag main body 23 and expands.

  Here, when the airbag body 23 is inflated, as shown in FIG. 8, the crossing angle between the resin plates 19 and 25 on the front surface side and the back surface side gradually increases. However, since the rib 17 is formed with a notch 27 that is a fragile portion, the airbag body 23 is easily inflated. In particular, as shown in FIG. 5, the corner 31 of the airbag body 23 is a portion where the resin plates 19 and 25 are less likely to bend than the other straight portions 29. If the length is larger than the notch 27 of the straight line portion 29, the corner portion 31 of the airbag body 23 can be efficiently inflated.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 9, the airbag device 13 disposed facing the knee of the passenger P on the passenger seat side of the instrument panel 1 can be efficiently inflated and deployed.

  Below, the effect by 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  In the vehicle airbag device in which the airbag main body 23 is inflated indoors at the time of a vehicle collision, the airbag main body 23 is connected to the peripheral portions 19a of a pair of flexible resin plate members 19, 25. , 25a are connected to form a hermetically sealed interior.

  For this reason, an airbag apparatus can be suitably arrange | positioned also in the site | part which can ensure only a small space in the thickness direction, for example, the surface side of the instrument panel 1 grade | etc.,. Moreover, even if the airbag device is provided, the space in the vehicle compartment is not reduced.

  The resin plate member 19 on one side and the resin plate member 25 on the other side constituting the airbag body 23 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the thickness direction, and the peripheral edges of these resin plate members 19 and 25 The parts 19a and 25a are connected to each other through a rib 17 and a notch 27 (fragile part, groove part) that facilitates bending deformation of the rib 17 is formed in the rib 17.

  For this reason, when the gas G is sealed inside the airbag main body 23, the resin plate members 19 and 25 expand, and the rib 17 easily elastically deforms and bends. Therefore, the airbag main body 23 is efficiently expanded. be able to. Moreover, since the airbag main body 23 is shape | molded with resin, the freedom degree of the shape of the airbag 13 can be made high. The tip of the rib 17 is joined to the resin plate member 19 on the surface side, but since the notch 27 is formed in the rib 17, stress concentration at the joint 33 is caused when the airbag body 23 is inflated. The joint portion 33 does not peel off.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an airbag main body of a vehicle airbag apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the airbag main body 37 constituting the vehicle airbag device 35 according to the present embodiment has a base material at a substantially central portion of the airbag main body 37 and a center portion of the plate thickness T in a plan view. A sheet material 39 having non-affinity with the resin is insert-molded. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the central portion where the sheet material 39 is interposed is a state in which the two resin plate members 41 and 43 are laminated in the plate thickness direction with the sheet material 39 interposed therebetween. The peripheral portion 37a where the sheet material 39 is not interposed is in a state where two resin plate members 41 and 43 are integrally formed and connected. The resin plate 43 disposed on the inner side of the instrument panel 1 is provided with a gas inflow hole 45, and an inflator (not shown) is inserted into the gas inflow hole 45.

  Next, a procedure for creating the airbag body according to the present embodiment will be briefly described.

  First, the sheet material 39 having non-affinity (peelability) with respect to the resin is disposed in the cavity of the mold, and in this state, the molten resin is caused to flow into the cavity.

  Then, the periphery of the sheet material 39 is cast with molten resin. And when molten resin cools and solidifies within a metal mold | die, the airbag main body 37 by which the sheet | seat material 39 was insert-molded inside can be shape | molded.

  In the airbag main body 37, two resin plates 41 and 43 are integrally coupled to each other at a peripheral edge portion 37a where the sheet material 39 is not disposed. Moreover, in the center part in which the sheet | seat material 39 is arrange | positioned, in order to peel easily, the two resin plate members 41 and 43 are not couple | bonded, as shown in FIG. When the gas G is sealed inside, the two resin plate members 41 and 43 in the central portion are easily separated and expanded.

  Below, the effect by 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated.

  The entire airbag main body 37 is integrally formed by insert molding in which the periphery of the sheet material 39 is cast with resin in a state where the sheet material 39 having non-affinity with respect to the resin is disposed in the cavity of the mold. Forming. For this reason, since the airbag main body 37 can be molded in one step, the molding operation of the airbag main body 37 becomes very efficient. Moreover, since the peripheral part 37a of the airbag main body 37 is shape | molded integrally, the binding force of the peripheral part 37a of resin-made plate members 41 and 43 becomes large.

[Third embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a back surface side of a vehicle airbag device according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing the vehicle airbag device in a state where air is sealed therein.

  The airbag main body 51 according to the present embodiment is obtained by adding exhaust parts 53, 61, and 69 to the airbag main body 37 of the second embodiment described above.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the air bag main body 37 has an exhaust portion 53 formed of a concave portion formed at a thickness t1 thinner than the thickness t0 of the other general part at the portion where the sheet material 39 is interposed. Is formed. The recess of the exhaust part 53 is formed in a truncated cone, and the top of the truncated cone is formed in the thin part 55.

  When the gas G is introduced into the airbag main body 51 from the gas inflow hole 45, the airbag main body 51 is gradually expanded and pressure is applied to the inner surface of the airbag main body 51. When the internal pressure gradually increases and reaches a predetermined value, the thin portion 55 of the exhaust portion 53 is broken and the gas G in the airbag body 51 is discharged to the outside as shown in FIG. Thereby, the pressure in the airbag main body 51 can be appropriately maintained.

  A modification of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.

  FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the exhaust part formed in two stages of thickness, and FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the exhaust part provided with a slit.

  The exhaust part 61 shown in FIG. 16 is formed in a double circle shape in plan view. The first thin-walled portion 63 as the central portion has the thinnest plate thickness t1 (for example, about 1/4 of the plate thickness t0 of the general portion) and is formed in a disk shape having a diameter d in plan view. Further, the second thin portion on the outer peripheral side of the central portion has an intermediate plate thickness t2 between the central portion and the general portion (for example, about 1/2 of the plate thickness t0 of the general portion), and has an outer diameter in plan view. It is formed in an annular shape with D and inner diameter d.

  Therefore, when the internal pressure of the airbag main body 65 gradually increases, first, the central portion of the first stage is broken to open the first exhaust hole (diameter: d), and when the internal pressure further increases, the second stage also It tears and the 2nd exhaust hole (diameter: D) opens.

  Moreover, the exhaust part shown in FIG. 17 has a plurality of slits formed in the exhaust part shown in FIG. The slit 67 is composed of three straight slits 67 that pass through the center of the exhaust portion 69, and a triangular piece 71 that is separated from each other is provided between the slit 67 and the slit 67.

  Therefore, when the internal pressure of the airbag body 73 increases, first, the tip portion of the triangular piece 71 is elastically deformed to open the first exhaust hole (diameter: d), and when the internal pressure further increases, the triangular piece 71. Is substantially elastically deformed to open the second exhaust hole (diameter: D).

  Below, the effect by 3rd Embodiment is demonstrated.

  Since the resin plate members 43 of the airbag bodies 51, 65, 73 are provided with exhaust portions 53, 61, 69 that open when the internal pressure of the airbag body 51 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the structure is simple. The reaction force characteristic of the airbag device can be freely adjusted.

  Further, the exhaust portion 53 is configured such that the size of the opening changes in multiple stages according to the internal pressure of the airbag body 51. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, the thin portions t 1 and t 2 with the plate thickness changed in two stages are used as the exhaust part 61, and the first stage according to the pressure of the gas G introduced into the airbag body 65. The thin-walled portion 63 can be broken into a first exhaust hole, or the second-tier thin-walled portion 64 can be broken into a second exhaust hole. Thereby, the internal pressure in the airbag main body 65 can be appropriately adjusted with a simple structure.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, a cut portion (slit 67) is cut into a thin portion where the thickness of the plate is changed in two stages to form an exhaust portion 69, which corresponds to the pressure of the gas G introduced into the airbag body 73. Thus, since the size of the opening of the exhaust part 69 including the slit 67 is changed, the discharge amount of the gas G from the exhaust part 69 can be changed smoothly in a stepwise manner.

1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle front portion in which a vehicle airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is disposed. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the A section of FIG. It is the perspective view which notched a part which shows the airbag apparatus for vehicles of FIG. It is the perspective view which expanded the B section of FIG. It is the perspective view which expanded the C section of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the airbag apparatus for vehicles in a normal state. It is sectional drawing of the airbag apparatus for vehicles which act | operated and sealed gas inside. It is a perspective view which shows the rib vicinity part at the time of inflating the airbag for vehicles. FIG. 3 is a side view of the front part of the vehicle cabin showing a state where the vehicle airbag device on the passenger seat side is inflated. It is a perspective view which shows the airbag main body of the airbag apparatus for vehicles by 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing by CC line of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the airbag apparatus for vehicles which enclosed gas inside. It is a perspective view which shows the back surface side of the airbag apparatus for vehicles by 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the airbag apparatus for vehicles of the state which enclosed gas inside. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the pressure in a vehicle airbag rose and the exhaust part opened. It is sectional drawing of the exhaust part formed in plate | board thickness of two steps. It is a perspective view of the exhaust part provided with the slit.

Explanation of symbols

9, 11, 13, 35 ... Vehicle airbag device 13 ... Airbag 17 ... Rib 19,25,41,43 ... Resin plate member 19a, 25a, 37a ... Rim edge 23,37,51,65,73 ... Airbag body 27 ... Notch (fragile part)
53, 61, 69 ... exhaust part

Claims (5)

In the vehicle airbag device in which the airbag body is inflated at the time of a vehicle collision,
An air bag device for a vehicle, wherein the air bag body is configured by joining peripheral portions of a pair of resin plate members having flexibility facing each other.   2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein peripheral portions of the pair of resin plate members are circumferentially coupled to each other via a rib, and a fragile portion that facilitates bending deformation is formed on the rib. Air bag device.   The airbag main body is integrally molded by insert molding in which a sheet material having non-affinity with respect to the resin is disposed in the mold cavity and cast around the sheet material with the resin. The airbag apparatus for vehicles of Claim 1.   The exhaust plate that opens when the internal pressure in the airbag body becomes a predetermined value or more is provided in the resin plate member of the airbag body. The airbag apparatus for vehicles as described. 5. The vehicle airbag device according to claim 4, wherein the exhaust portion is configured such that the opening increases as the internal pressure in the airbag body increases.

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