JP2007022319A - Head protection airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head protection airbag device capable of surely preventing a lower end thereof from getting caught on projections formed inside a cabin during inflation thereof. <P>SOLUTION: An expansion regulating bag 46 is sewed in a lower end section 44 located underneath a front inflation chamber 28 and a rear inflation chamber 32 in an airbag 16, and is secured to a roof side rail inner panel 64 with a bolt 60 and a welding nut 62, to cover the inside of the airbag 16 which is horizontally folded by an intermediate section 46C of the regulating bag 46, with the airbag mounted on the vehicle. A perforated line 58 is horizontally formed on a fitting part 50 of the regulating bag 46, and is formed to break only when the lower end section 44 of the airbag 16 is moved inward and upward (rotated upward) relative to the vehicle after inflation of an initial inflation section 76, thereby inflating the airbag 16 without getting caught in the projections formed inside the cabin. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a head protecting airbag device that deploys an airbag toward a vehicle lower side on a side portion on the vehicle interior side at the time of a side collision or rollover of the vehicle, and more particularly to a vehicle interior protrusion on a lower terminal of the airbag. The present invention relates to a head protection airbag device capable of suppressing catching on an object.

  In recent years, a head protection airbag device that deploys an airbag in a curtain shape below a roof side rail portion at the time of a side collision or rollover has been mounted as an occupant protection auxiliary device.

Here, Patent Document 1 below discloses this type of head protection airbag device. Briefly, in this head protection airbag device, the upper part of the airbag is folded in a bellows, the lower part is folded back toward the upper passenger compartment, and the lower terminal is folded in the center of the upper surface. Accordingly, when the airbag is deployed, the folded lower portion is inflated so as to be pushed out toward the vehicle interior side, and the catch on the vehicle interior projection such as a slip joint is suppressed.
Japanese Patent No. 3353722 Japanese Patent No. 3107072

  However, in the case of the head protection airbag device disclosed in Patent Document 1, depending on how the airbag is initially inflated, the entire airbag rotates to the outside of the passenger compartment and is folded back to the inner side of the passenger compartment. There is also a possibility that the lower part is also taken outside the passenger compartment. In other words, when the airbag is deployed, gas flows in from the upper side of the bellows-folded upper portion and inflates, but at this time, the remaining bellows portion (the portion that has not yet inflated) is moved to the vehicle lower side by the initial inflation. As a result, the entire airbag receives a rotational moment toward the outside of the passenger compartment around the bolt fastening point on the upper end side and tends to rotate outward of the passenger compartment. Along with this, the lower part bent toward the passenger compartment is also dragged upward and moved to the outer side of the passenger compartment. From the above, it is conceivable that when the airbag is deployed, the position of the terminal at the bottom of the airbag is not stable, and the effect of suppressing the catch on the vehicle interior projection, which is the initial purpose, is not sufficiently exhibited.

  In consideration of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a head protection airbag device that can reliably suppress the lower end of the airbag from being caught by a projection in the vehicle interior when the airbag is deployed.

  A head protection airbag device according to a first aspect of the present invention is disposed at a predetermined position of a vehicle, and is connected to the inflator which is operated at the time of a side collision or rollover of the vehicle and ejects gas. And an inflatable portion that protects the head of the occupant, and is stored along the roof side rail portion of the vehicle in a folded state in the vehicle vertical direction, and the upper end portion is fixed to the roof side rail portion. A head protection airbag device having an airbag inflated by supply of gas from an inflator and deploying toward a vehicle lower side on a side portion on the vehicle interior side, below the inflating portion in the airbag One end is fixed to the lower terminal portion located at the other end and the other end is fixed to the roof side rail portion, and a portion between the one end and the other end is The middle part of the airbag covers the part of the folded airbag that is on the vehicle interior side, and at the other end of the middle part, it does not break when the airbag starts to be inflated. And a deployment direction restricting means provided with a weak portion allowing the airbag to be deployed.

  A head protection airbag device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the head protection airbag device according to the first aspect, wherein the deployment direction restricting means is made of a flexible material, and the weakened portion is made of a perforation. It is characterized by being.

  A head protection airbag device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the head protection airbag device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the other end of the deployment direction restricting means is together with the upper end of the airbag. It is characterized by being fastened together with a roof side rail part or a member attached to the roof side rail part.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the air bag is stored in a state where the inflator is actuated and folded in the vehicle vertical direction along the roof side rail portion of the vehicle when a side collision or rollover of the vehicle occurs. Gas is supplied into the expansion part. For this reason, the airbag is deployed toward the vehicle lower side on the side portion on the vehicle interior side. Thereby, a passenger | crew's head is protected by the said expansion | swelling part.

  Here, in the present invention, one end is fixed to the lower terminal portion located on the lower side of the inflating portion in the airbag, and the other end is fixed to the roof side rail portion. A deployment direction restricting means is provided for covering a portion of the folded airbag in the interior of the vehicle compartment at an intermediate portion that forms a portion between the other end portion, and is further vulnerable to the other end portion side of the intermediate portion. Is provided. Since the fragile portion is not broken when the airbag starts to be inflated, when the gas is supplied from the upper side and inflated into the folded airbag, the lower end of the airbag is expanded by the deployment direction restricting means as the diameter of the inflation increases. The part is pulled to the vehicle interior side. That is, the deployment direction of the airbag is regulated in a direction away from the vehicle interior projection, and the airbag is moved away from the vehicle interior projection. Thereafter, when the inflation pressure acting on the fragile portion reaches a predetermined value, the fragile portion is broken and the airbag is allowed to deploy.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the development direction restricting means is made of a flexible material, and the fragile portion is made of a perforation. By changing the pitch and the length of the slit, the deployment direction of the airbag can be easily changed.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the other end portion of the deployment direction restricting means is fastened together with the upper end portion of the airbag to the roof side rail portion or a member attached to the roof side rail portion. The dedicated fixing means for fixing the deployment direction restricting means to the roof side rail portion or the member attached to the roof side rail portion is unnecessary.

  As described above, the head protection airbag device according to the first aspect of the present invention is inflated by the supply of gas from the inflator at the time of a side collision or rollover of the vehicle, and is mounted on the vehicle interior side. One end is fixed to the lower terminal portion located on the lower side of the inflating portion in the airbag that is deployed toward the lower side, and the other end is fixed to the roof side rail portion. Cover the portion of the folded airbag in the interior of the vehicle compartment at the intermediate portion that forms the portion between it and the other end, and break the airbag at the other end side of the intermediate portion at the start of inflation. Since there is a deployment direction restricting means provided with a fragile portion that breaks when the inflation pressure reaches a predetermined value and allows deployment of the airbag, the lower end of the airbag when the fragile portion does not break when the airbag starts to inflate Part Can be pivoted into the vehicle interior side, it has an excellent effect that under the terminal of the air bag when the air bag deployment can be reliably prevented from being caught in the vehicle interior projections.

  A head protection airbag device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the head protection airbag device according to the first aspect, wherein the deployment direction restricting means is made of a flexible material, and the fragile portion is made of a perforation. Therefore, the deployment direction of the airbag can be easily changed by changing the material of the deployment direction regulating means, the slit pitch of the perforation, and the length of the slit, and as a result, the airbag is moved to the vehicle interior side. It has an excellent effect that it can suppress or prevent the headrest from being over-deployed.

  A head protection airbag device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the head protection airbag device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the other end portion of the deployment direction regulating means is the roof side rail together with the upper end portion of the airbag. Since it is fastened together with the member attached to the roof side rail part or the roof side rail part, a dedicated fixing means for fixing the deployment direction restricting means to the roof side rail part or the member attached to the roof side rail part becomes unnecessary. As a result, there is an excellent effect that the cost of the head protection airbag device can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a head protection airbag device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In these drawings, an arrow FR appropriately shown indicates the vehicle front side, an arrow UP indicates the vehicle upper side, and an arrow IN indicates the vehicle width direction inner side.

  FIG. 1 shows a state in which the head protection airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment is activated and the airbag 16 is deployed in a side view. As shown in this figure, the head protection airbag device 10 is connected to a columnar inflator 12 that ejects gas when activated, and a gas ejection part of the inflator 12, and usually in the vertical direction of the vehicle. And an airbag 16 that is folded and is elongated in the vehicle front-rear direction and is stored along the roof side rail portion 14.

  The inflator 12 is used when a side collision state is detected by a side collision sensor (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position on the side of the vehicle body and when the vehicle is rolled over by a rollover sensor (not shown) arranged near the center of the vehicle body. Is detected, an airbag ECU (not shown) is operated.

  Fixing points 18 (fastening points of bolts 60 to be described later) are set at predetermined intervals on the outer peripheral upper edge of the airbag 16, and the airbag 16 has a front pillar (A pillar) 20 at the fixing point 18. The body side components such as the roof side rail portion 14 and the quarter pillar (C pillar) 22 are supported.

  The airbag 16 includes a front-side inflatable portion (front-seat inflatable portion) 28 that protects the occupant's head seated on the front seat 26 and a rear-side inflatable portion that protects the occupant's head seated on the rear seat 30. (Rear seat inflatable portion) 32, a rectangular flat non-inflatable portion 34 disposed between the front side inflatable portion 28 and the rear side inflatable portion 32, and the vehicle front and rear along the lower end portion of the non-inflatable portion 34 A lower end side inflating portion 36 that extends in the direction and communicates the front side inflating portion 28 and the rear side inflating portion 32 at the lower end side, and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction along the upper end portion of the non-inflating portion 34 to the front side. It is comprised by the upper end side expansion part 37 which connects the expansion part 28 and the back side expansion part 32 on the upper end side. The front side expansion part 28 and the rear side expansion part 32 are configured by arranging a plurality of cylindrical cells 38 that are long in the vehicle vertical direction and adjacent to each other in the vehicle front-rear direction.

  Further, a gas introduction part 40 connected to the gas ejection part of the inflator 12 is provided in the middle part in the front-rear direction of the upper end side inflating part 37 of the airbag 16. The gas introduction part 40 is fixed to the vehicle body side by a pair of mounting brackets 42 in a state where the gas ejection part of the inflator 12 is inserted. That is, in the head protection airbag device 10 of this embodiment, an inflator center arrangement type in which the inflator 12 is disposed near the upper edge side center portion of the airbag 16 is employed.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the outer peripheral portion of the airbag 16 described above is configured as a non-inflatable portion, and is positioned below the front-side inflatable portion 28, the rear-side inflatable portion 32, and the lower-end-side inflatable portion 36. The lower terminal portion 44 is attached with a deployment direction regulating cloth 46 as a deployment direction regulating means corresponding to each of the front side inflation portion 28 and the rear side inflation portion 32.

  More specifically, the pair of front and rear deployment direction restricting cloths 46 are configured separately from the airbag 16. Further, each deployment direction regulating cloth 46 is formed (cut) in a rectangular shape when viewed from the side of the vehicle, and the same cloth as the base cloth constituting the airbag 16 is used. However, different materials can be used. An upper end portion 46A, which is one end portion of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46, is sewn to the lower terminal portion 44 of the airbag 16 (hereinafter, the sewn portion is referred to as a “sewing portion 48”). Further, a tongue-like attachment portion 50 is integrally formed at the center of the lower end portion 46B, which is the other end portion of the deployment direction regulating cloth 46. The attachment portion 50 has the same rectangular shape as the attachment piece 54 that fixes the airbag 16 to the vehicle body side, and a bolt insertion hole 56 is formed in the center portion. Furthermore, a perforation 58 as a fragile portion is formed at the base of the attachment portion 50 (a position on the lower edge of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46) along the vehicle front-rear direction. Therefore, the deployment direction regulating cloth 46 is reduced in strength at the position where the perforation 58 is formed. That is, the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 is easily broken along the perforation 58.

  FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1) in a state where the above-described airbag 16 is folded in a bellows fold in the vehicle vertical direction and mounted on the vehicle. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the head protection airbag device 10 is activated and the airbag 16 starts to be deployed.

  As shown in these drawings, the intermediate portion 46C (the portion between the upper end portion 46A and the lower end portion 46B) of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 covers the portion of the folded airbag 16 on the vehicle interior side. Are arranged. In this state, the mounting portion 50 of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 is superposed on the mounting piece 54 of the airbag 16, and the bolt 60 is inserted from the vehicle interior side to be fixed to the outer surface of the roof side rail inner panel 64 in advance. The lower end portion 46 </ b> B side, which is the other end portion of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46, is fixed to the roof side rail inner panel 64 by being screwed to the weld nut 62. That is, the attachment portion 50 of the deployment direction regulating cloth 46 is overlapped with the attachment piece 54 of the airbag 16 and fastened to the roof side rail inner panel 64 together.

  The roof side rail 66 includes a roof side rail inner panel 64 disposed on the vehicle interior side, a roof side rail outer panel 68 disposed on the vehicle exterior side and forming a closed cross section with the roof side rail inner panel 64, It is constituted by. In addition, a terminal portion 70A in the vehicle width direction of the roof head lining 70 is arranged at a predetermined distance on the vehicle interior side of the roof side rail inner panel 64. A predetermined gap 72 is formed between the terminal portion 70 </ b> A of the roof head lining 70 and the roof side rail inner panel 64, and the airbag 16 is stored in the gap 72. An opening weather strip 74 is elastically fitted to the lower flange portion of the roof side rail 66.

  Further, the breaking load of the perforation 58 formed on the mounting portion 50 of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 described above is such that the initial inflation pressures of the front-side inflation portion 28 and the rear-side inflation portion 32 of the airbag 16 have reached predetermined values. At the time, that is, when the airbag 16 starts to be inflated, the initial inflated portion 76 of the airbag 16 folded in bellows is inflated as shown in FIG. 4, and the lower end portion 44 of the airbag 16 is inflated in the direction of deployment. 46, the airbag 16 is lifted while being pulled toward the vehicle interior side and the vehicle upper side (in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 4), and the airbag 16 in the middle of deployment rotates to a predetermined angle around the fixed point (bolt 60) toward the vehicle interior side. The load is set to break when the airbag 16 is released (that is, when the regulation of the deployment direction of the airbag 16 is completed).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the perforation 58 is disposed at the center of the upper surface portion of the airbag 16 that is accordion-folded in a vehicle-mounted state. However, the arrangement position of the perforation 58 is not limited to the upper surface portion of the airbag 16, and may be arranged on the side surface of the airbag 16. Or the said perforation 58 does not necessarily need to be set to the base of the attaching part 50, and may be formed over the full length of the lower end part 46B of the expansion | deployment direction control cloth 46, or intermittently.

(Action / Effect)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  When the side collision or rollover of the vehicle occurs, the state is detected by the side collision sensor or rollover sensor and input to the airbag ECU. When the airbag ECU determines that a side collision or rollover has occurred, the inflator 12 is activated and gas is supplied into the airbag 16 stored in a folded state along the roof side rail portion 14 of the vehicle.

  Specifically, the gas is supplied from the gas introduction part 40 of the airbag 16 to inflate the front side inflating part 28, the upper end side inflating part 37, the rear side inflating part 32, and the lower end side inflating part 36. The bag 16 is deployed in a curtain shape toward the vehicle lower side on the side of the vehicle interior side. As a result, the head of the occupant seated on the front seat 26 is protected by the front side expansion portion 28, and the head of the occupant sitting on the rear seat 30 is protected by the rear side expansion portion 32.

  Here, in the head protection airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment, the upper end of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 is placed on the lower terminal portion 44 located on the lower side of the front side inflation portion 28 and the rear side inflation portion 32 in the airbag 16. The portion 46A is sewn, the lower end portion 46B is bent to the upper roof side rail inner panel 64 side, the attachment portion 50 is fixed by the bolt 60, and the portion of the airbag 16 in the folded state at the intermediate portion 46C is the vehicle interior side. In addition, the perforation 58 set to the breaking load described above is inserted in the vicinity of the bolt fastening point in the intermediate portion 46C, so that the deployment direction of the airbag 16 is restricted to an appropriate direction not caught by the projection in the vehicle interior. can do.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the airbag 16 starts to inflate, the perforation 58 provided in the attachment portion 50 of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 does not break, and gas is introduced into the folded airbag 16 from above. As the initial inflation portion 76 is inflated and the diameter of the inflation of the initial inflation portion 76 is increased, the lower end portion 44 of the airbag 16 is placed on the vehicle interior side and the vehicle upper side (see FIG. When the airbag 16 in the middle of deployment is lifted while being pulled in the direction of the arrow P and rotates to the vehicle interior side at a predetermined angle around the fixed point (bolt 60) (that is, regulation of the deployment direction of the airbag 16). The inflation pressure acting on the perforation 58 reaches the inflation pressure required for breaking, and the perforation 58 breaks to allow the remaining portion of the airbag 16 to be inflated and deployed. As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reliably suppress the lower terminal portion 44 of the airbag 16 from being caught by the vehicle interior projection when the airbag 16 is deployed.

  Further, in the head protection airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment, the deployment direction regulating means 46 is provided with the mounting portion 50 of the deployment direction regulating cloth 46 made of a flexible material (the same material as the base fabric of the airbag 16). Since the perforation 58 is set, the deployment direction of the airbag 16 can be easily changed by changing the slit pitch or the slit length of the perforation 58. As a result, it is possible to suppress or prevent the airbag 16 from being excessively deployed toward the vehicle interior and riding on the headrest. In addition to changing the slit pitch and the slit length of the perforation 58, the same effect can be obtained by changing the material of the development direction regulating cloth.

  Further, in the head protection airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment, the mounting portion 50 of the deployment direction regulating cloth 46 is attached to the roof side rail inner panel 64 together with the mounting piece 54 of the airbag 16 by the bolt 60 and the weld nut 62. Since the joint fastening structure is adopted, a dedicated fixing means for fixing the deployment direction regulating cloth 46 to the roof side rail 66 is unnecessary. As a result, the cost of the head protection airbag device can be reduced.

[Supplementary explanation of this embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a two-row seat vehicle including the front seat 26 and the rear seat 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to a three-row seat vehicle. Also good.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, although the structure which inserts and fixes the gas ejection part of the inflator 12 directly to the gas introduction part 40 of the airbag 16 was taken, it is not restricted to this, It is via a diffuser (pipe) etc. You may take the structure which connects the gas introduction part 40 and the inflator 12. FIG. Further supplementally, in the present embodiment, an inflator center arrangement type in which the inflator 12 is arranged in the vicinity of the middle portion in the front-rear direction on the upper edge side of the airbag 16 is adopted. However, the inflator 12 is a quarter pillar 22 and / or a front pillar. The structure arrange | positioned in 20 may be taken.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment mentioned above, although the perforation 48 was set to the base end part of the attaching part 50 of the expansion | deployment direction control cloth 46, it is not restricted to this, What is necessary is just a weak part which can be fractured | ruptured by a predetermined breaking load. . For example, notches such as a wedge shape may be made on both side edges of the mounting portion, or an opening having an elliptical shape or the like may be provided instead of the perforation 48 at the center of the formation position of the perforation 48. Good. Note that these cuts and openings are conceptually meat defect portions. Precisely, since the perforation 48 is also formed with a fine slit, it can be grasped as a meat defect portion.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, although the upper end part 46A of the expansion | deployment direction control cloth 46 was sewn on the lower terminal part 44 of the airbag 16, and the sewing part 48 was provided, not only this but another fixation Means may be used.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the deployment direction regulating cloth 46 is configured separately from the airbag 16 and integrated by sewing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the deployment direction regulating cloth is cut out of the airbag. Sometimes, a configuration in which they are integrally provided may be adopted.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, although the airbag 16 was folded by bellows folding, you may fold not only this but roll folding.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment described above, the mounting portion 50 of the deployment direction restricting cloth 46 is fastened together with the bolts 60 to the roof side rail inner panel 64 together with the mounting pieces 54 of the airbag 16. The present invention described in 2 includes a configuration in which the attachment portion and the attachment piece are separately and independently fixed to the body.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, the structure which fastens the attachment part 50 of the deployment direction control cloth 46 with the volt | bolt 60 to the roof side rail inner panel 64 (roof side rail part) with the attachment piece 54 of the airbag 16 together. Although not limited to this, a member attached to the roof side rail portion (for example, a metal jump stand (jump bracket) for regulating the deployment direction of the airbag 16 or a U-shaped cross section and a roof) A configuration may be adopted in which the side rail inner panel is attached by caulking with a rivet or the like to a metal member or the like for airbag storage and deployment direction regulation disposed over substantially the entire length of the side rail inner panel.

It is a side view which shows the state which the head protection airbag apparatus which concerns on this embodiment act | operates, and the airbag expand | deployed. It is the side view of the airbag which extracted the airbag shown by FIG. 1, and was drawn in the single item state. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line 3-3 in FIG. 1 showing a state where the deployment direction regulating cloth is disposed in a vehicle mounted state. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 which shows the state which the head protection airbag apparatus act | operated and the airbag started to expand | deploy.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Head protection airbag apparatus 12 Inflator 14 Roof side rail part 16 Air bag 28 Front side expansion part 32 Back side expansion part 44 Lower terminal part 46 Deployment direction control cloth (deployment direction control means)
46A Upper end (one end)
46B Lower end (the other end)
46C Intermediate part 50 Mounting part 58 Perforation (fragile part)
60 bolt 62 weld nut 76 initial expansion part

Claims (3)

An inflator disposed at a predetermined position of the vehicle, and operating at a side collision or rollover of the vehicle to eject gas;
An inflatable portion that is connected to the inflator and protects the head of the occupant is provided, and is stored along the roof side rail portion of the vehicle in a folded state in the vehicle vertical direction, and the upper end portion is the roof side rail. An airbag that is fixed to the vehicle and further inflated by supply of gas from the inflator and deployed toward the vehicle lower side on the side of the vehicle interior;
A head protection airbag device comprising:
One end is fixed to the lower terminal portion located on the lower side of the inflating portion in the airbag, and the other end is fixed to the roof side rail portion, and the one end and the other end The intermediate portion that forms the middle portion covers the portion of the airbag in the folded state inside the vehicle compartment, and the inflation pressure is kept at the predetermined value without breaking when the airbag starts to be inflated on the other end side of the intermediate portion. A head protection airbag device comprising deployment direction regulating means provided with a weak portion that breaks when allowed to reach and allows deployment of the airbag. The deployment direction regulating means is made of a flexible material,
Furthermore, the fragile part is constituted by perforations,
The head protecting airbag device according to claim 1. The other end portion of the deployment direction restricting means is fastened together with a roof side rail portion or a member attached to the roof side rail portion together with the upper end portion of the airbag.
The head protection airbag device according to claim 1 or 2,

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