JP2007320543A - Seat cushion airbag device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seat cushion airbag device for a vehicle capable of improving loins part constraining performance of an occupant without deteriorating riding comfort. <P>SOLUTION: This seat cushion airbag device for the vehicle is furnished with an inflator bag 3 provided on the lower side of a seat cushion 1 and on a front part of the seat cushion in front of an elastic member to elastically support the seat cushion and an auxiliary plate 4 provided on a side to make contact with a thigh part of an occupant of the inflator bag. The auxiliary plate has a front part 4a integrally provided on the inflator bag and a rear part 4b projected to the rear from the inflator bag. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle seat cushion airbag device having a waist restraining function that restrains an occupant by being restrained by a seat in the event of a collision, for example.

When the vehicle collides with a preceding vehicle, the occupant tries to move forward due to inertia. If the occupant is wearing a seat belt, the forward movement of the occupant is prevented by the restraining action of the shoulder belt and the waist belt of the seat belt. In recent years, there is also an example in which an airbag is disposed under the seat cushion for the purpose of more reliably preventing the occupant from moving forward (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). In this device, an inflator bag that is deployed and inflated with high-pressure gas from the inflator is built in the front portion of the seat cushion. When an impact due to a collision acts, high-pressure gas is introduced from the inflator into the inflator bag, and the front portion of the seat cushion rises, thereby preventing the occupant's waist position from moving forward, thereby preventing the occupant from moving forward. Suppress.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-229378 JP-A-10-217818

  However, in the conventional waist restraint device, if there is a slight delay in the deployment timing of the inflator bag, the occupant rides on the top of the inflator bag and may not be able to obtain a sufficient restraining force. In addition, the structure of the lower part of the seat cushion limits the placement of the inflator bag, so there are restrictions on the degree of freedom in design, and it is difficult to immediately restrain the passenger, and the function of the seat cushion (riding comfort) There was a risk of worsening.

  The present invention was devised in view of the above-described conventional problems, and provides a vehicle seat cushion airbag device capable of improving the occupant's waist restraining performance without deteriorating the ride comfort. Objective.

  The vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention includes an inflator bag provided on a lower side of the seat cushion and in front of an elastic member that elastically supports the seat cushion, the front portion of the seat cushion, and the inflator bag And an auxiliary plate provided on the side in contact with the occupant's thigh.

  The auxiliary plate preferably has a front portion integrally provided on the inflator bag and a rear portion protruding rearward from the inflator bag.

  Further, a vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention includes an inflator bag provided at a front portion of the seat cushion on the lower side of the seat cushion and in front of an elastic member that elastically supports the seat cushion. The inflator bag has an upper convex portion and a lower convex portion that maintain a constant interval during contraction and deployment, and a front concave portion and a rear concave portion that maintain a constant interval during contraction and deployment. The four convex portions and the concave portion are diagonally provided with a quadrangular portion that is folded along a diagonal line between the upper convex portion and the lower convex portion, and the inflator bag faces the occupant's thigh A region between the upper convex portion and the rear concave portion is configured to expand and expand obliquely from the front upper side to the rear lower side.

  The inflator bag is composed of a hollow cylindrical bag body and a pair of left and right side plates that respectively close the left and right openings of the bag body, and the four convex portions and the concave portions are formed on these side plates. To. It is desirable to provide an intermediate plate having the same shape as the side plate inside the inflator bag. Any of the inflator bags is preferably made of metal.

  In the vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention, the occupant's waist restraint performance can be improved without deteriorating the ride comfort.

  Preferred embodiments of a vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The vehicular seat cushion airbag device according to the first embodiment is basically located below the seat cushion 1 and in front of the elastic member 2 that elastically supports the seat cushion 1, as shown in FIGS. The inflator bag 3 provided in the front portion of the seat cushion 1 and the auxiliary plate 4 provided on the side of the inflator bag 3 that contacts the occupant's thigh.

  The seat cushion 1 is attached to the seat frame 5. The seat frame 5 is formed in a rectangular frame shape from a pair of left and right side frame members 6 and a pair of front and rear frame members 7 and 8. A pair of left and right seat cushion springs 9 are provided inside the seat frame 5 as an elastic member 2 that elastically supports the seat cushion 1.

  These seat cushion springs 9 are brought into contact with the lower surface of the seat cushion 1. Both of these seat cushion springs 9 are provided so as to be stretched between a retainer 10 which is brought close to the front side of the seat frame 5 and spanned between the side frame members 6 and a rear frame member 8 having a round bar shape. Specifically, the seat cushion spring 9 is formed by processing a metal linear member having an appropriate diameter into, for example, a continuous substantially rectangular wave shape, and then folding back at a folding portion 9 a set at the position of the rear frame member 8. It is formed. The folded portion 9a is curved so as to surround the outer periphery of the rear frame member 8 so as to be rotatably held with respect to the rear frame member 8 having a round bar shape. A pair of front ends of each seat cushion spring 9 is held by a pair of spring holding portions 10a of the retainer 10, respectively.

  The seat cushion spring 9 is formed such that the surface formed by the linear member is a curved surface that is slightly convex downward in an unloaded state. Between the pair of left and right seat cushion springs 9, a reinforcing member 11 is provided which is stretched over these and a linear member is formed in a substantially rectangular shape. The seat cushion spring 9 is bent so that the entire surface formed by the linear member is convex downward when the seat cushion 1 is deformed by the weight of the occupant and a load is applied from above. The restoring force that pushes back is generated.

  The inflator bag 3 is positioned in front of the seat cushion spring 9 and attached to the upper part of the front frame member 7 or the rear part as shown. A front portion of the seat cushion 1 is located above the inflator bag 3. The inflator bag 3 is made of metal, and includes a hollow cylindrical bag body 3a having openings on the left and right sides along the left-right direction of the seat cushion 1, and a pair of left and right side plates 3b that respectively close the openings of the bag body 3a. It is composed of a box-like sealed structure. The inflator bag 3 may be made of resin. The inflator bag 3 is attached to the seat frame 5 in a folded and contracted state. When the high pressure gas is supplied from the inflator 12, the inflator bag 3 is expanded and inflated so that the upper surface portion 3c forms a convex curved surface along the front-rear direction of the seat cushion 1, as shown in FIG. Thereby, the surface of the seat cushion 1 is raised.

  The bag body 3 a of the inflator bag 3 is provided with an auxiliary plate 4 on the side in contact with the occupant's thigh on the seat cushion 1. The auxiliary plate 4 is integrally joined to the rear portion of the upper surface portion 3c of the bag body 3a, and the rear portion 4b covers the periphery of the retainer 10 behind the inflator bag 3 and the front end periphery of the seat cushion spring 9 from above. It protrudes rearward from the bag body 3a. The rear end of the auxiliary plate 4 is curved downward in consideration of safety at the time of contact with the thigh. In the example of illustration, although the width dimension of the auxiliary | assistant board 4 is formed substantially the same as the bag main body 3a, you may set suitably. Further, the auxiliary plate 4 may be integrally formed with the bag body 3a by resin molding or mold molding. The auxiliary plate 4 is formed of the same material as the bag body 3a or a material harder than that.

  The operation of the vehicle seat cushion airbag apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. When an impact occurs, such as when the vehicle collides forward, high pressure gas is supplied from the inflator 12 into the inflator bag 3. The supplied high-pressure gas expands and inflates the inflator bag 3 in the front portion of the seat cushion 1. The inflator bag 3 expands and inflates so that the upper surface portion 3c forms an upwardly convex curved surface, and pushes the front portion of the seat cushion 1 to rise. When the seat cushion 1 is raised, the auxiliary plate 4 provided at the rear portion of the upper surface portion 3c of the bag body 3a is arranged so that the front portion 4a is high and the rear portion 4b is low according to the expanded and inflated configuration of the inflator bag 3. The front part of 1 is pushed up and abuts on the thigh of the passenger. This restrains the occupant's waist and prevents the thigh from moving forward, thereby preventing the occupant from moving forward.

  In the vehicle seat cushion airbag device of the first embodiment described above, the auxiliary plate 4 for restraining the waist is provided on the inflator bag 3 so as to be in contact with the occupant's thigh. When the inflator bag 3 is installed under the seat cushion 1, which can guarantee performance and has many restrictions during installation, it is not necessary to change the arrangement of the inflator bag 3 itself, and can be applied to various types of vehicles. Further, since the rear portion 4b of the auxiliary plate 4 protrudes rearward from the bag body 3a, the auxiliary plate 4 can include the partial expansion region of the inflator bag 3 including the partial region of the seat cushion spring 9. Since the expansion range can be expanded by the auxiliary plate 4, the length of the seat cushion spring 9 can be secured long in front of the seat cushion 1, and the cushion performance of the seat cushion 1 can be improved. And ensuring a comfortable ride can be achieved at the same time.

  FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of a vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention. The vehicle seat cushion airbag apparatus according to the second embodiment is basically provided on the lower side of the seat cushion 1 and at the front portion of the seat cushion 1 in front of the elastic member 2 that elastically supports the seat cushion 1. The inflator bag 13 includes an upper convex portion 14 and a lower convex portion 15 that maintain a constant interval (between a and b in the figure) when contracted and deployed, and when contracted And a front concave portion 16 and a rear concave portion 17 that maintain a constant interval (between cd in the figure) at the time of deployment, and the four convex portions 14 and 15 and the concave portions 16 and 17 are diagonally arranged on the upper side. A quadrangular portion R that is folded along a diagonal line S between the convex portion 14 and the lower convex portion 15 is provided, and the inflator bag 13 is provided between the upper convex portion 14 facing the occupant's thigh and the rear concave portion 17. Region is a form of expanded and inflated obliquely from the front top to the rear bottom.

  FIG. 4 shows a form of the left side plate 13b that expands and inflates the left side of the hollow tubular bag body 13a of the inflator bag 13 when expanded. Similar to the first embodiment, the inflator bag 13 is positioned in front of the seat cushion spring 9 and attached to the upper part of the front frame member 7 or the rear part as shown. A front portion of the seat cushion 1 is located above the inflator bag 3. In the side plate 13b of the metal inflator bag 13, the upper convex portion 14 and the lower convex portion 15 in the vertical direction of the seat cushion 1 occupy diagonal positions, and the front concave portion 16 and the rear side in the front and rear direction of the seat cushion 1 It is formed with a substantially quadrangular portion R having a concave portion 17 occupying a diagonal position as a nucleus. The side plate 13b of the inflator bag 13 is folded by folding the rectangular portion R with the diagonal line S connecting the upper convex portion 14 and the lower convex portion 15 as a fold line.

  The upper convex portion 14 and the lower convex portion 15 are located diagonally to the quadrangular portion R, and both maintain a constant dimensional interval (ab) at the time of contraction when folded and when expanded. Further, the front concave portion 16 and the rear concave portion 17 are also located on the other diagonal line T of the quadrangular portion R, and both are located diagonally, and have a constant dimensional interval (cd) during contraction and deployment. To maintain. Accordingly, the diagonal lines S and T of the quadrangular portion R defined by the four convex portions 14 and 15 and the concave portions 16 and 17 maintain a dimensional interval that does not change during contraction and expansion, and during expansion and expansion. It becomes a core that defines the deployed form of the inflator bag 13.

  On the other hand, the area other than the quadrangular portion R is set to an appropriate size that is expanded and developed into a different shape different from the folded contraction. A space between the lower convex portion 15 and the front concave portion 16 is a fixing region Y that is attached and fixed to the front frame member 7, and a space between the upper convex portion 14 and the rear concave portion 17 is developed backward as shown in the figure. The extension part X is used. The rear deployment extension X projects from the upper part of the retainer 10 behind the seat cushion 1 and the front end of the seat cushion spring 9 so as to cover the upper part, and faces the occupant's thigh from the upper front where the upper convex part 14 is located. The dimensions are set so as to expand and incline obliquely downward and downward.

  The operation of the vehicle seat cushion airbag apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described. The inflator bag 13 is expanded and inflated with the high-pressure gas supplied from the inflator 12. The pair of left and right side plates 13b of the inflator bag 13 is defined between the upper convex portion 14 and the lower convex portion 15 that maintain a constant size during contraction and deployment, and between the front concave portion 16 and the rear concave portion 17 to form a core. With the quadrangular portion R as a main body, the rear deployment / expansion portion X expands and expands upward and rearward from the fixed region Y fixed to the front frame member 7, thereby expanding and inflating the entire inflator bag 13.

  The rear expansion part X pushes up and raises the front part of the seat cushion 1 with the upper convex part 14 as a top part. When the seat cushion 1 is raised, the inflator bag 13 pushes up the front portion of the seat cushion 1 so that the front portion is high and the rear portion is low, and abuts against the thigh of the occupant. . This restrains the occupant's waist and prevents the thigh from moving forward, thereby preventing the occupant from moving forward.

  Even in the vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the second embodiment, the rear deploying expansion portion X of the inflator bag 13 can guarantee reliable occupant restraint performance, and the inflator under the seat cushion 1 that has many restrictions during installation. When installing the bag 13, it is not necessary to change the arrangement of the inflator bag 13 itself, and the bag 13 can be applied and installed in various types of vehicles. The quadrilateral portion R defined by the four convex portions 14 and 15 and the concave portions 16 and 17 can stabilize the form of the inflator bag 13 when it is deployed and inflated, and ensures that the rear deployment extension X is in a desired form. Can be expanded and inflated, and the waist restraint performance of the occupant can be improved.

  Further, the rear deployment extension portion X can expand and inflate the inflator bag 13 including a partial region of the seat cushion spring 9, so that the length of the seat cushion spring 9 is ensured to be long in front of the seat cushion 1. Thus, the cushioning performance of the seat cushion 1 can be improved, and the securing of excellent restraint performance by the inflator bag 13 and the securing of a comfortable riding comfort can be both achieved.

  FIG. 5 shows a modification of the second embodiment. In this modification, an intermediate plate 18 having the same shape as the pair of left and right side plates 13 b is provided inside the inflator bag 13. Thereby, the form at the time of expansion | deployment expansion | swelling of the inflator bag 13 whole containing the back expansion | deployment expansion part X etc. can be stabilized further.

It is a bottom view showing a seat cushion structure to which a vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention is applied. 1 is a schematic side view showing a first embodiment of a vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the unfolded state before folding of the inflator bag of the vehicle seat cushion airbag apparatus shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows the unfolded state before folding of the inflator bag of 2nd Embodiment of the vehicle seat cushion airbag apparatus concerning this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the unfolded state before folding of the inflator bag which shows the modification of 2nd Embodiment of the vehicle seat cushion airbag apparatus concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Seat cushion 2 Elastic member 3,13 Inflator bag 3a, 13a Bag main body 3b, 13b Side plate 4 Auxiliary plate 4a Front part of auxiliary plate 4b Back part of auxiliary plate 14 Upper convex part 15 Lower convex part 16 Front concave part 17 Rear side Recess 18 Intermediate plate R Quadrilateral part S, T Diagonal line of quadrilateral part X Backward expansion extension part

Claims (6)

An inflator bag provided on a front portion of the seat cushion below the seat cushion and in front of an elastic member that elastically supports the seat cushion;
A vehicular seat cushion airbag device comprising: an auxiliary plate provided on a side of the inflator bag in contact with an occupant's thigh.   The vehicular seat cushion airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a front portion of the auxiliary plate is provided integrally with the inflator bag, and a rear portion protrudes rearward from the inflator bag. An inflator bag provided at a front portion of the seat cushion on the lower side of the seat cushion and in front of an elastic member that elastically supports the seat cushion;
The inflator bag has an upper convex portion and a lower convex portion that maintain a constant interval during contraction and deployment, and a front concave portion and a rear concave portion that maintain a constant interval during contraction and deployment. The four convex portions and the concave portion are diagonally provided with a quadrangular portion that is folded along a diagonal line between the upper convex portion and the lower convex portion,
Further, the inflator bag is a vehicle seat characterized in that a region between the upper convex portion facing the occupant's thigh and the rear concave portion is expanded and inflated obliquely from the front upper side to the rear lower side. Cushion airbag device.   The inflator bag is composed of a hollow cylindrical bag main body and a pair of left and right side plates that respectively close the left and right openings of the bag main body, and the four convex portions and the concave portions are formed on these side plates. The vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to claim 3.   The vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to claim 4, wherein an intermediate plate having the same shape as the side plate is provided inside the inflator bag.   The vehicle seat cushion airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the inflator bag is made of metal.

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