JP2007168599A - Occupant crash protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant crash protection device which has an airbag expanding in a sitting area of an occupant in the case of a collision of a vehicle and can prevent the airbag in expanding from being moved. <P>SOLUTION: The airbag device 20 is equipped with the airbag which is stored in a seat part 2 of a vehicle seat 1 and expands at least in the sitting area of the seat part 2 in the case of the collision of the vehicle. The airbag 22 has a plurality of expansion parts 24 and the plurality of expansion parts 24 are connected with each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device that protects an occupant of a vehicle when a vehicle such as an automobile collides.

  Conventionally, when a vehicle receives an impact from the front, it is known that a phenomenon (submarine phenomenon) may occur in which a passenger's body slides forward so as to pass under a seat belt.

Therefore, in order to prevent the occupant from slipping forward, a part of the cushion body is raised and the cushion body is pressed against the occupant's thigh to prevent the occupant sitting on the cushion body from sliding forward. A vehicle seat provided with an airbag as a prevention means has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). In the vehicle seat described in Patent Document 1, two airbags that are inflated independently are used, and one or two airbags are inflated depending on whether or not a seat belt is used.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-239872

  By the way, in the vehicle seat of Patent Document 1, when the occupant slides forward and the inflated airbag is pressed forward, the airbag may move forward. If it demonstrates in detail, the lower surface side of the airbag of patent document 1 is supported by the vehicle seat, and the shape of the airbag at the time of expansion | swelling is a substantially bowl shape. For this reason, when the occupant slides forward and the inflated airbag is pressed forward, until the reaction force from the place where the pressing point is supported (until the cloth between the supporting position and the pressing point is stretched) ), The airbag may be greatly deformed, and the pressed portion may move largely forward. For this reason, an occupant may move forward.

  This invention is made paying attention to the problem which exists in such a prior art, and is equipped with the bag which expand | swells in a passenger | crew's seating area at the time of a vehicle collision, and suppresses the bag at the time of expansion | swelling moving An object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is housed in a seat portion of a vehicle seat, and expands at least in a seating region of the seat portion when a vehicle collides to press the cushion body upward. An occupant protection device including a bag is characterized in that the bag has a plurality of inflatable portions that inflat when a vehicle collides, and the inflatable portions are connected to each other.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if a load is applied to the inflating part, the movement of the inflating part is suppressed by the connecting part, so that the shape of the bag itself does not change greatly. For this reason, a passenger | crew's movement can be suppressed.

The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that, in the invention according to claim 1, at least two of the plurality of inflating portions are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle when inflated.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the inflating portion disposed on the rear side can receive a repulsive force from the inflating portion disposed on the front side and suppress the occupant from moving forward.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the expansion portion disposed on the rear side of the vehicle among the plurality of expansion portions is compared with the expansion portion disposed on the front side of the vehicle. The gist is its large capacity.

According to the invention described in claim 3, the occupant surely presses the inflatable portion disposed on the rear side, and the bag can stably receive the load received from the occupant.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the inflatable portion disposed on the front side of the vehicle among the plurality of inflatable portions is a vehicle seat. The gist is to be fixed.

  According to invention of Claim 4, the expansion part arrange | positioned at the front side can receive the load received from the expansion part arrange | positioned at a back side.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can suppress that the bag expanded by the passenger | crew's seating area at the time of a vehicle collision moves.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following explanation, the forward direction of the vehicle is described as the front, and the front, rear, top, bottom, left, and right are defined on the basis of the forward direction. In addition, front, rear, upper, lower, left, and right are defined corresponding to each direction of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle seat (hereinafter simply referred to as a seat) 1 disposed in a vehicle (not shown) can be reclined with a seat portion 2 that supports a thigh from the buttocks of an occupant P. The backrest part 3 comprised, the headrest 4 which supports the passenger | crew's P head, and the seatbelt 5 are provided.

  The seat belt 5 is a three-point fixed seat belt provided to restrain an occupant P seated on the seat 1. The lap belt portion 5a of the seat belt 5 is stretched from one side of the waist portion K of the occupant P to the other side in the horizontal direction via the front of the waist portion K when the occupant is seated. The shoulder belt portion 5b of the seat belt 5 is bridged to the side of the waist K through the front of the chest diagonally from the shoulder when the occupant is seated.

  The seat 2 includes a frame 11 and a cushion body 12 disposed on the frame 11. The frame 11 includes a pair of left and right support plates 13 as shown in FIG. The support plate 13 extends in the front-rear direction, and a front rod 14 and a back rod 15 that extend in the vehicle width direction are installed between the pair of left and right support plates 13. A plurality of S-shaped springs (hereinafter simply referred to as “S springs”) 16 that support the cushion body 12 are stretched between the front rod 14 and the back rod 15.

  And between the front parts of the support plate 13, the seat pan 17 as shown to Fig.1 (a) is constructed. The seat pan 17 is provided with a storage recess 17a that extends in the vehicle width direction. The airbag device 20 is stored in the storage recess 17a. The seat 2 is covered with a cover 18 made of cloth or leather.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the airbag device 20 stored in the storage recess 17a includes an inflator 21 as a gas generation source and an inflatable cloth airbag 22. The inflator 21 is a columnar member that extends substantially parallel to the width direction of the vehicle. The inflator 21 is housed in a housing tube 30 having a hexagonal cross section, and the inflator 21 housed in the housing tube 30 is disposed so as to be wrapped in a bag-like airbag 22. Further, the airbag device 20 is provided with a screw portion 25 that protrudes from the inflator 21 at the lower portion, and the airbag device 20 is fixed to the bottom of the storage recess 17a via the screw portion 25. It becomes.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the airbag 22 is formed so as to spread over a wide area in the seating area D when inflated. The seating region D is a region of the seat part 2 that is in contact with the portion from the thigh to the buttocks behind the occupant P's knee back when the occupant P is seated. In other words, when the airbag 22 is inflated, the airbag 22 extends from the storage recess 17a to the rear side of the vehicle. Further, the airbag 22 is configured to expand between the cushion body 12 and the frame 11 (more specifically, the S spring 16) when inflated.

  The airbag 22 when inflated has a plurality (two in this embodiment) of inflating portions 24. More specifically, the cloth on the upper surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation (the cloth on the side in contact with the cushion body 12) is sewn to the cloth on the lower surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation (the cloth on the side in contact with the frame 11). The seam 23 (seam) is provided along the width direction (left-right direction) of the vehicle as shown in FIG. The seam 23 divides the airbag 22 into two regions, the front side and the rear side of the vehicle. That is, at the time of inflation, the airbag 22 is provided with two inflatable portions 24 with the seam 23 as a boundary. And these two expansion | swelling parts 24 are arranged side by side in the front-back direction of a vehicle, and are mutually connected. As a result, the airbag 22 is constricted at the seam 23 when viewed from the side.

  Further, the seam 23 is not provided up to both ends (both in the left-right direction) of the airbag 22 in the vehicle width direction, and one inflating portion 24 is in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction) of the other inflating portion 24. Gas is allowed to flow in and out from the inflow portions 26 at both ends. In the present embodiment, the inflatable portion 24b disposed on the rear side is larger than the inflatable portion 24a disposed on the front side (so that the volume (volume) into which the gas enters is increased). 23 is provided. Specifically, the inflatable portion 24b disposed on the rear side is increased in a ratio of 4: 6 (the inflatable portion 24b disposed on the rear side is 6).

  Further, the inflating portion 24 a arranged on the vehicle front side is fixed to the vehicle (seat pan) via the inflator 21. And the expansion part 24b arrange | positioned at the vehicle rear side expand | swells toward the back side from the storage recessed part 17a, when expanding.

  Further, when the airbag 22 is stored in the storage recess 17a (that is, before inflating), the airbag 22 is folded so as to be inflatable (expandable) instantaneously. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the portion above the inflator 21 (the portion that expands to the rear of the vehicle when inflated) is folded into a bellows so that it can be widely deployed rearward during expansion. Is stored. As a result, the airbag 22 has a more compact shape (smaller shape) than before inflation.

Next, the operation of the airbag device 20 will be described.
When a collision detection unit (not shown) (for example, an abnormal acceleration detection unit) detects a collision (abnormal acceleration), a control unit (not shown) operates the inflator 21 and high pressure gas is sent from the inflator 21 to the airbag 22. Thereby, the fold of the airbag 22 starts to expand and starts to inflate.

  When the airbag 22 is inflated, the cushion body 12 is lifted upward (occupant P side), and the occupant seating region D of the seat portion 2 is lifted upward over a wide range. Accordingly, a wide part of the region from the thigh to the buttocks behind the occupant P's knees is pressed, and the waist K of the occupant P is lifted upward. When the waist portion K of the occupant P is lifted upward, the occupant P is pressed against the lap belt portion 5a, and the restraining force of the lap belt portion 5a is increased.

  At this time, when the occupant P presses the airbag 22 forward via the cushion body 12, the inflatable portion 24b disposed on the rear side receives a load from the occupant P that moves forward. Here, in the present embodiment, the fabric on the upper surface side and the fabric on the lower surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation are stitched together by the seam 23, and the airbag 22 has two inflatable portions 24 connected to each other. Since it is a shape, even if it receives a load from the passenger | crew P, it can suppress that the shape of airbag 22 itself changes a lot. For this reason, it can suppress that the passenger | crew P receives the load from the passenger | crew P and the shape of the airbag 22 itself changes a lot, and the passenger | crew P moves ahead. Further, since the two inflating parts 24 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction, even if the inflating part 24b arranged on the rear side receives a load from the occupant P and moves forward, it is arranged on the front side. A repulsive force (stress) is received from the inflating portion 24a, and forward movement is suppressed. In addition, since the expansion part 24a arrange | positioned at the front side is being fixed to the vehicle seat 1 via the inflator 21, even if it is pressed from the expansion part 24b arrange | positioned at the back side, it cannot move ahead. Can be suppressed.

  This prevents a phenomenon (submarine phenomenon) in which the occupant's body slides forward so as to pass under the seat belt 5. At the same time, a wide range of the region from the thigh to the buttocks behind the knee back of the occupant P is pressed to disperse the impact, so that the impact caused by the inflation of the airbag 22 is partially applied to the thigh. Can be prevented from being added.

As described above in detail, the present embodiment has the following effects.
(1) The airbag 22 includes a plurality of inflatable portions 24 and is connected to each other. For this reason, even if a load is applied to the inflating portion 24, the movement of the inflating portion 24 is suppressed by the connecting portion (the seam 23), so that the shape of the airbag 22 itself does not change greatly. For this reason, it can suppress that the expansion part 24 to which the load was added moves forward, and can suppress that the passenger | crew P moves forward.

  (2) Further, when the airbag 22 is completely inflated, the airbag 22 is widely deployed in the horizontal direction so as to spread over a wide range in the occupant seating region D of the seat 2. For this reason, a wide range part is lifted upwards among the passenger | crew seating area | regions D of the seat part 2, and a wide range part is pressed among the area | regions from the back thigh of the passenger | crew P to the buttocks. Thus, when the passenger | crew P is pressed upwards, the passenger | crew P is pressed against the lap belt part 5a, and the restraining force of the lap belt part 5a increases. Thereby, the phenomenon (submarine phenomenon) where the passenger | crew's P body slips forward so that it may pass under the seatbelt 5 can be prevented. Further, since the airbag 22 applies a load to the entire portion corresponding to a wide range of the occupant seating region D, the impact generated when the airbag 22 is inflated is dispersed and acts on a certain position of the occupant P. Can be prevented.

  (3) The expansion part 24a disposed on the front side is fixed to the vehicle. For this reason, the load received from the inflating part 24b arranged on the rear side can be received, and the airbag 22 can be prevented from moving forward. Moreover, since the expansion part 24b arrange | positioned at the back side is not being fixed to the vehicle seat 1, the airbag 22 can be folded and accommodated in the accommodation recessed part 17a.

  (4) The seam 23 is formed along the vehicle width direction, and the airbag 22 is formed so as to be symmetrical. For this reason, it is possible to reliably receive the load from the occupant P at any position where the occupant P is seated, and the occupant P does not slide and move in the left-right direction.

  (5) By providing the seam 23 in one bag-like airbag 22, the inflatable portion 24 is provided, and the inflatable portions 24 are provided with the seam 23 so that gas can flow in and out. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide an inflator for each inflatable portion 24. Therefore, the airbag apparatus 20 can be made into a compact shape. Moreover, since the airbag 22 is stitched together and the two inflatable portions 24 are provided, the structure of the airbag device 20 can be simplified, and the labor and cost of assembly can be reduced.

  (6) The expansion part 24b arranged on the rear side is formed larger than the expansion part 24a arranged on the front side. For this reason, since the passenger | crew P presses the expansion part 24b arrange | positioned reliably at the back side, the airbag 22 can receive the load received from the passenger | crew P stably, and can suppress that the passenger | crew P moves ahead.

  (7) Since the inflating part 24 is arranged side by side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, the inflating part 24b arranged on the rear side is inflated on the front side even if it receives a load from the occupant P forward. Repulsive force is received from the part 24a. For this reason, the movement to the front direction of the expansion part 24 can be suppressed reliably.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. Since each member configuration of the vehicle seat 1 in the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, the description regarding each member configuration is omitted by giving the same reference numerals, and the first description is omitted. Only the parts different from the embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the airbag 22 at the time of inflation in the second embodiment has a plurality of (three in this embodiment) inflation portions 34. More specifically, the fabric on the upper surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation (the fabric on the side in contact with the cushion body 12) is sewn on the fabric on the lower surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation (the fabric on the side in contact with the frame 11). As shown in FIG. 4A, two seams 33 (seams) are provided along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The airbag 22 is divided into three regions, that is, the left side, the center, and the right side of the vehicle by the two seams 33, and the airbag 22 is provided with three inflating portions 34 with the seam 33 as a boundary during inflation. That is, the three inflating portions 34 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction of the vehicle and connected to each other.

  Further, the seam 33 is not provided to both ends in the front-rear direction of the airbag 22 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and one inflating portion 34a-c is provided at each end of the other inflating portion 34a-c in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. It is configured so that gas can flow in and out from the inflow portion 36. Further, in the present embodiment, the expansion part 34a disposed on the right side, the expansion part 34b disposed in the center, and the expansion part 34c disposed on the left side are all substantially the same size (capacity is the same). A seam 33 is provided.

  Next, a case where the occupant P presses the airbag 22 inflated via the cushion body 12 forward will be described. When the occupant P presses the airbag 22 forward via the cushion body 12, each inflatable portion 34 receives a load from the occupant P that moves forward. Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the fabric on the upper surface side and the fabric on the lower surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation are stitched together by the seam 33. Since the two inflatable portions 34 are connected to each other, even if a load is applied from the occupant P, the shape of the airbag 22 itself can be prevented from changing greatly. For this reason, it can suppress that the passenger | crew P receives the load from the passenger | crew P and the shape of the airbag 22 itself changes a lot, and the passenger | crew P moves ahead. In addition, since the front of each inflatable part 34 is being fixed to the vehicle seat 1 via the inflator 21, even if it is pressed from the back of the inflatable part 34, the airbag 22 can be restrained from moving forward.

As described above in detail, this embodiment has the same effects as (1) to (5) of the first embodiment.
(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described. Since each member configuration of the vehicle seat 1 in the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, the description regarding each member configuration is omitted by giving the same reference numerals, and the first description is omitted. Only the portions different from the embodiment are described.

  The airbag 22 at the time of inflation in the third embodiment has a plurality of (three in this embodiment) inflation portions 44 as shown in FIG. More specifically, the fabric on the upper surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation (the fabric on the side in contact with the cushion body 12) is sewn on the fabric on the lower surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation (the fabric on the side in contact with the frame 11). As shown in FIG. 5A, two seams 43 (seams) are provided along the width direction (left-right direction) of the vehicle. The airbag 22 is divided into three regions by the two seams 43, and three inflatable portions 44 with the seam 43 as a boundary are provided in the airbag 22 during inflation. That is, the three inflatable portions 44 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and connected to each other.

  Further, the seam 43 is not provided at both ends of the airbag 22 in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and one inflating portion 44a-c is in the width direction (left-right) of the other inflating portions 44a-c. Direction) Gas is allowed to flow in and out from the inflow portions 46 at both ends. In the present embodiment, the inflatable portion 44c arranged on the rear side is larger than the other two inflatable portions 44a and 44b arranged on the front side (so that the capacity is increased). 43 is provided. Specifically, the inflatable portion 44c arranged on the rear side becomes larger at a ratio of 2: 2: 6 (the inflatable portion 44c arranged on the rear side is 6).

  Next, a case where the occupant P presses the airbag 22 inflated via the cushion body 12 forward will be described. When the occupant P presses the airbag 22 forward via the cushion body 12, each inflatable portion 44 receives a load from the occupant P that moves forward. Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, the fabric on the upper surface side and the fabric on the lower surface side of the airbag 22 at the time of inflation are stitched together by the seam 43, and the airbag 22 is 3 Since the two inflatable portions 44 are connected to each other, even if a load is applied from the occupant P, the shape of the airbag 22 itself can be prevented from changing greatly. For this reason, it can suppress that the passenger | crew P receives the load from the passenger | crew P and the shape of the airbag 22 itself changes a lot, and the passenger | crew P moves ahead. In addition, since the three inflating portions 44 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction, even if the inflating portion 44c arranged on the rear side receives a load from the occupant P and moves forward, it is arranged on the front side. Repulsive force (stress) is received from the inflating portions 44a and 44b, and forward movement is suppressed. Since the foremost inflatable portion 44a is fixed to the vehicle seat 1 via the inflator 21, even when pressed from the inflatable portion 44c disposed on the rear side, the airbag 22 is prevented from moving forward. can do.

As described above in detail, this embodiment has the same effects as (1) to (7) of the first embodiment.
In addition, the said embodiment can be embodied in another embodiment (another example) as follows.

  In the above embodiment, the airbag 22 may be deployed throughout the occupant seating region D when inflated. Thus, if it expand | deploys to the passenger | crew seating area D whole area | region, the impact added to the passenger | crew P can be disperse | distributed further.

  In the above embodiment, the upper surface side cloth and the lower surface side cloth of the airbag 22 are sewn together to provide an inflatable portion that is connected to each other. However, a separate airbag may be sewn with a string or thread. It may be configured. Moreover, you may connect a separate airbag with an adhesive agent.

-The number of the expansion parts 24 of the said embodiment may be changed arbitrarily. For example, four may be used.
In the above-described embodiment, the airbag device 20 is disposed at the front portion of the seat 1, but the airbag device 22 may be configured to be deployed forward by being disposed at the rear portion.

In the above embodiment, the seam 23 is provided in a straight line along the left-right direction or the front-rear direction of the vehicle, but may be provided in a curved line.
In the first embodiment, the size of the expansion portion 24b disposed on the rear side is 4: 6 (the expansion portion 24b disposed on the rear side compared to the size of the expansion portion 24a disposed on the front side). However, the ratio of the sizes may be arbitrarily changed. In addition, the range of 5: 5 to 3: 7 (the size of the expansion part 24b arranged on the rear side is 7) is a suitable range.

(A) is a sectional side view of a vehicle seat, (b) is an enlarged side sectional view of an airbag device. The perspective view of a flame | frame. (A) is a top view of the airbag at the time of inflation, (b) is a sectional side view of the vehicle seat when the airbag is inflated. (A) is a top view of the airbag at the time of inflation, (b) is a sectional side view of the vehicle seat when the airbag is inflated. (A) is a top view of the airbag at the time of inflation, (b) is a sectional side view of the vehicle seat when the airbag is inflated.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle seat, 2 ... Seat part, 5 ... Seat belt, 11 ... Frame, 12 ... Cushion body, 20 ... Air bag apparatus, 21 ... Inflator, 22 ... Air bag, 23, 33, 43 ... Seam, 24, 34, 44 ... expansion parts.

Claims (4)

In an occupant protection device including a bag that is stored in a seat portion of a vehicle seat and inflates at least in a seating region of the seat portion and presses a cushion body upward at the time of a vehicle collision,
The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the bag includes a plurality of inflating portions that inflates when a vehicle collides, and the inflating portions are connected to each other.   2. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of inflatable portions are arranged side by side in a vehicle front-rear direction when inflated.   3. The occupant protection device according to claim 2, wherein the capacity of the inflatable portion disposed on the rear side of the vehicle among the plurality of inflatable portions is larger than that of the inflatable portion disposed on the front side of the vehicle. .   The occupant according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an inflatable portion disposed on a front side of the vehicle among the plurality of inflatable portions is fixed to a vehicle seat. Protective device.

Images