JP2008143277A - Occupant crash protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant crash protection device capable of enhancing the input mitigation of an impact in an occupant in a rear-end collision of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The occupant crash protection device comprises a backward slide mechanism 8 capable of allowing a seat installed in a vehicle to slide backward of the vehicle, a collision detection means for detecting a rear-end collision of the vehicle, and a controller 9 capable of allowing the seat to slide backward of the vehicle by operating the backward slide mechanism 8 when the rear-end collision is detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device, and more particularly to a technique for mitigating impact input to an occupant at the time of a collision from the rear of a vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an occupant protection device is known in which a headrest is moved forward in the event of a collision from the rear of a vehicle to reduce impact input to the occupant's head (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .
JP 2004-203252 A

  However, in the above prior art, only the input to the passenger's head can be relaxed, and further impact input has been desired.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the conventional problems as described above, and aims to improve the input relaxation of the impact on the occupant at the time of a rear collision of the vehicle.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a rear slide means capable of sliding a seat installed in a vehicle toward the rear of the vehicle, a collision detection means for detecting a rear collision of the vehicle, and a rear collision detection. In some cases, the occupant protection device is provided with control means for operating the rear slide means to slide the seat to the rear of the vehicle.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the occupant protection device according to the first aspect, a seat belt device that restrains an occupant seated on the seat and a webbing of the seat belt device are tensioned, thereby Pretensioner means for strengthening the occupant, wherein the control means tensions the pretensioner means immediately before execution of the slide operation of the rear slide means.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the occupant protection device according to the first or second aspect, the control means determines the degree of collision by the collision degree determining means when a collision is detected, and the collision is set in advance. When it is determined that the light collision is lighter than the degree, the slide operation and the tension operation are not executed, and the slide operation and the tension operation are executed only in the case of a collision larger than the set collision degree. The characteristic occupant protection device was adopted.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the occupant protection device according to the third aspect, the collision detection means is means for detecting a rear collision based on an output of an acceleration sensor that detects vehicle longitudinal acceleration. The occupant protection device is characterized in that the collision degree determination means determines based on an integrated value of the vehicle longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

In the occupant protection device of the present invention, when detecting a rear collision of the vehicle, the control means operates the rear slide means to move the seat to the rear of the vehicle with respect to the vehicle body.
As a result, the inertial force to the rear of the vehicle acting on the occupant due to the rear collision is reduced by the amount of rearward movement of the seat, and the impact input to the occupant is reduced accordingly.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the rear collision is detected, the control means tensions the pretensioner means immediately before actuating the rear slide means to increase the occupant restraining force on the seat.
Accordingly, when the seat is moved rearward by the rear slide means, the occupant can be moved together with the seat, and the reduction of the inertial force acting on the occupant to the rear of the vehicle can be reliably achieved.

  In addition, in the invention according to claim 3, when the rear collision is detected, the control means executes the slide operation of the rear slide means and the tension operation of the pretensioner means at the time of a light collision determination that is lighter than a preset collision degree. do not do.

For this reason, it is possible to prevent the rear slide means and the pretensioner means from being reactivated by performing the slide operation and the tension operation at the time of a light collision with a small impact input to the occupant.
In the invention according to claim 4, since the rear collision detection and the collision degree determination are performed based on the output of the acceleration sensor that detects the vehicle longitudinal acceleration, the number of necessary sensors can be reduced and the existing number of sensors can be reduced. It is easy to use the sensor, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The occupant protection device of this embodiment includes a rear slide means (8) capable of sliding a seat S installed in a vehicle to the rear of the vehicle, a collision detection means (9, 91) for detecting a rear collision of the vehicle, and a rear And a control means (9) for operating the rear slide means (8) to slide the seat (S) to the rear of the vehicle when a collision is detected.

  Below, based on FIGS. 1-6, the passenger | crew protection apparatus A of Example 1 of the best embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2, the occupant protection device A of the first embodiment is applied to a seat S installed in a passenger compartment RM of the automobile MB.
The seat S includes a seat cushion 1, a seat back 2, and a headrest 3, and the seat cushion 1 is arranged in the vehicle front-rear direction (arrow FR direction) with respect to the floor FL of the vehicle body BD via the slide rail 4. It is slidably supported.

The occupant protection device A according to the first embodiment includes a seat belt device 5 that restrains the occupant PE (see FIG. 6) seated on the seat S to the seat S.
The seat belt device 5 includes a belt-shaped webbing 51, a winding mechanism 52, an upper mounting tool 53, a tongue 54, a lower mounting tool 55, and a buckle 56.

  The winding mechanism 52 is housed in the lower part of the center pillar CP of the vehicle body BD, is configured to be able to pull out the webbing 51, and to be wound up by the urging force that the webbing 51 has pulled out, and In addition, a lock mechanism for restricting high-speed drawing of the webbing 51 is incorporated.

  The upper fixture 53 is attached to the roof side rail RS of the vehicle body BD, and is formed so that its length can be adjusted.

  The tongue 54 is movably attached along the webbing 51 in the middle of the webbing 51, and is detachably attached to a buckle 56 attached to the floor FL.

  The lower attachment 55 is rotatably attached to the lower part of the center pillar CP of the vehicle body BD, and is engaged with the leading end of the webbing 51 on the drawer side.

Further, the winding mechanism 52 is provided with a pretensioner mechanism 6.
The pretensioner mechanism 6 is schematically shown in FIG. 1, and includes a drive piston 61, a cylinder 62, and a first gas supply device 63.
The drive piston 61 is slidably supported by the cylinder 62, and the rod portion 61a is a rack that meshes with a pinion 52b provided on the outer periphery of a take-up shaft 52a on which the webbing 51 is taken up by the take-up mechanism 52. 61b is provided.

The first gas supply device 63 supplies a gas such as compressed air or high-pressure gas to the cylinder chamber 62a of the cylinder 62 through the supply pipe 63a. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the first gas supply device 63 is one that supplies high-pressure gas by detonation explosion.
Therefore, in the pretensioner mechanism 6, during the tension operation, the gas supply device 63 supplies high-pressure gas to the cylinder chamber 62 a, the drive piston 61 slides, and the winding shaft 52 a rotates in the direction of winding the webbing 51, Thereby, the webbing 51 performs an operation of strengthening the restraint of the occupant PE on the seat S.

Next, a structure for sliding the sheet S will be described with reference to FIGS.
The slide rail 4 includes a lower rail 41 and an upper rail 42.
The lower rail 41 is fixed to the floor FL in a state of extending in the vehicle front-rear direction (arrow FR direction), and has a substantially inverted U-shaped engagement receiving piece 41a on both sides in the vehicle width direction (arrow W direction). 41a.

  The upper rail 42 is supported so as to be slidable in the vehicle front-rear direction along the lower rail 41, is formed in a substantially hat cross-sectional shape as shown in the figure, and is an engagement receiving piece for the lower rail 41 at both ends in the vehicle width direction. Engagement slide pieces 42a and 42a are provided which are inserted into 41a from below and restrict movement in the vehicle vertical direction, which is the vehicle width direction and the arrow UD direction.

  In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted between both rails 41 and 42, in the preset maximum front slide position and maximum rear slide position, the further forward slide and forward slide of a vehicle are controlled. A slide lock is provided.

An auto-slide mechanism 7 that slides the seat S in the vehicle front-rear direction is provided between the seat S and the floor FL in parallel with the slide rail 4.
The automatic slide mechanism 7 includes a rack 71 provided in parallel with the slide rail 4, a pinion 72 that rolls on the rack 71 while meshing with the rack 71, a motor 73 that drives the pinion 72, A speed reduction mechanism 74 that reduces and transmits the rotation, and the motor 73 and the speed reduction mechanism 74 are fixed to the seat cushion 1.

  Further, the motor 73 is provided with an electromagnetic clutch 75 that can be switched between a release state in which the drive shaft (not shown) can be rotated and a fastening state in which the drive shaft is fixed to the casing and cannot be rotated.

  Therefore, in the auto slide mechanism 7, when the electromagnetic clutch 75 is released and the motor 73 is driven, the pinion 72 rotates and moves along the rack 71, and accordingly, the seat S moves along the slide rail 4. Slide in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

  And if the sheet | seat S is arrange | positioned in the desired position, the drive of the motor 73 will be stopped, and it can be set as the locked state which fixed the sheet | seat S to the position by making the electromagnetic clutch 75 into a fastening state.

Further, a rear slide mechanism (rear slide means) 8 schematically shown in FIG. 1 is provided between the seat S and the floor FL.
The rear slide mechanism 8 slides the seat S to the rear of the vehicle by the high pressure gas supplied from the second gas supply device 81 via the second supply pipe 81a, and is fixed to the floor FL side in the vehicle front-rear direction. An extended cylinder 82 and a piston 83 that slides in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle along the cylinder 82 are provided. A piston rod 83 a coupled to the piston 83 is fixed to the seat cushion 1.

The cylinder 82 and the piston 83 are configured so as to be able to stroke slightly beyond the maximum stroke amount of the seat cushion 1 in the vehicle front-rear direction by the auto-sliding mechanism 7, and the piston 83 communicates with the cylinder chamber 82 a and the outside. An orifice 83b is provided.
The orifice 83b allows the air flow corresponding to the volume change when the cylinder 82 and the piston 83 slide slowly by the auto-sliding mechanism 7 and changes the volume of the cylinder chamber 82a. Therefore, when the high-pressure gas is supplied at a high speed in a very short time, it is formed to have a diameter that restricts the high-pressure gas from flowing.

  Driving of the first gas supply device 63, the second gas supply device 81, and the electromagnetic clutch 75 described above is controlled by a controller (control means) 9 to which a signal is input from an acceleration sensor 91 for collision detection of the automobile MB. The acceleration sensor 91 is an existing sensor that is installed as a detection unit of the pretensioner mechanism 6.

Based on the flowchart of FIG. 5, the control at the time of the back collision by the controller 9 is demonstrated.
In step S1, the acceleration G detected by the acceleration sensor 91 is read, and in the subsequent step S2, it is determined whether or not the detected acceleration G is larger than a preset calculation start trigger threshold Gt. If greater than Gt, the process proceeds to the next step S3, and if the acceleration G is equal to or less than the calculation start trigger threshold Gt, the process returns to step S1.

The calculation start trigger threshold Gt is set to a value that does not occur during normal traveling and can be determined that the possibility of a collision from the rear of the automobile MB is high. Note that whether the vehicle has a rear collision or a front collision is determined based on the plus or minus sign of the acceleration G, and the magnitude determination in step S2 is a determination based on an absolute value.
That is, in the acceleration sensor 91 and the controller 9, the part that performs the process of step S2 corresponds to a collision detection unit that detects a rear collision of the vehicle.

In step S3, acceleration G integration, that is, speed calculation is started. In subsequent step S4, it is determined whether or not the acceleration integrated value 積分 G is larger than the light collision determination reference value V0. If it is larger than the light collision determination reference value V0, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if the acceleration integral value ∫G is equal to or smaller than the light collision determination reference value V0, the process returns to step S1.
In this step S4, the degree of collision is determined, and the light collision determination reference value V0 is larger than the value generated at the time of light collision based on the actual measurement value, and is generated at the time of medium / large collision. Is set to a value smaller than the value to be Therefore, in the acceleration sensor 91 and the controller 9, the part that performs the processes of steps S3 and S4 corresponds to a collision degree determination unit that determines the degree of collision.

  In step S5, the first gas supply device 63 is driven, and in the next step S6, the electromagnetic clutch 75 is switched to the released state slightly after the start of driving of the gas supply device 63, and in step S7, the second gas is supplied. The supply device 81 is driven.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
When an impact is input from the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 6 during the rear collision of the automobile MB, an inertial force directed toward the rear of the vehicle acts on the occupant PE as indicated by the arrow F1.
Here, when the acceleration G generated in the vehicle MB due to the collision is larger than the trigger threshold Gt, the controller 9 detects the flow in steps S1 → S2 → S3 → S4 in the flowchart of FIG. The obtained acceleration G is integrated, and it is determined whether or not the obtained integrated value ∫G (velocity forward of the vehicle) is larger than the light collision determination reference value V0.

Here, in the case of a collision in which the degree of the rear collision is larger than that in the light collision, that is, in a collision in which the integrated value 加速度 G of the acceleration G is larger than the light collision determination reference value V0, the flow is step S4 → S5 → S6 → S7. First, the first gas supply device 63 is driven.
As a result, the pretensioner mechanism 6 operates, the drive piston 61 slides, the webbing 51 is wound up by a predetermined amount, and the occupant PE is restrained by the seat S.

  Further, the electromagnetic clutch 75 is driven to open slightly after the operation of the pretensioner mechanism 6, and further, the second gas supply device 81 of the rear slide mechanism 8 is driven. Thereby, in a state where the occupant PE is restrained by the seat S, the seat S moves along the slide rail 4 toward the rear of the vehicle (in the direction of the arrow RR).

  By the movement of the seat S toward the rear of the vehicle, an inertia force F2 directed toward the front of the vehicle acts on the occupant PE.

  Therefore, the inertial force acting on the occupant PE is a force obtained by subtracting the inertial force F2 generated by the movement of the seat S from the inertial force F1 acting due to the collision, and the impact acting on the occupant PE can be reduced.

  It should be noted that the first gas supply device 63 and the second gas supply device 81 need to be returned to a drivable state by replacing a detonator or the like not shown after driving.

On the other hand, at the time of light collision, that is, at the time of collision where the integral value ∫G of acceleration G is smaller than the light collision determination reference value V0, the processing after step S5 is not performed, and the pretensioner mechanism 6 and the rear slide mechanism 8 are not performed. No operation is performed.
Thus, at the time of a light collision with a small impact acting on the occupant PE, the pretensioner mechanism 6 and the rear slide mechanism 8 are not operated, and the first gas supply device 63 and the second gas supply device 81 are Next, it is kept in a drivable state until a collision larger than a light collision occurs.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, in the event of a rearward collision of the vehicle, the seat S itself is moved backward, so that the impact input to the occupant PE is mitigated as compared to moving only the headrest backward. be able to.

  Moreover, since the pretensioner mechanism 6 is actuated to increase the restraint force of the occupant PE on the seat S immediately before the seat S is slid rearward in the rearward collision of the vehicle, the occupant PE is securely attached to the vehicle together with the seat S. By moving backward, the above-mentioned impact mitigating effect can be obtained with certainty.

Further, when the seat S is slid rearward at the time of the rear collision as described above, the slide rail 4 and the auto slide mechanism 7 of the existing seat S are used to slide along the existing slide rail 4 and the auto slide. The mechanism 7 is unlocked. In addition, the detection of the vehicle rear collision and the determination of the degree thereof use a signal from the acceleration sensor 91 used for controlling the pretensioner mechanism 6.
For this reason, compared with newly providing a slide rail and a sensor, manufacturing cost can be held down low.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the degree of the collision is determined based on the integral value ∫G of the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 91, and the pretensioner mechanism 6 and the rear slide mechanism 8 are not driven during a light collision. . For this reason, it is possible to prevent the pretensioner mechanism 6 and the rear slide mechanism 8 from being unnecessarily generated.
That is, once the first gas supply device 63 and the second gas supply device 81 are driven, it is necessary to replace the used detonator etc. with a new one. Until this replacement, the pretensioner mechanism 6 and the rear slide mechanism are required. 8 cannot be driven.
Therefore, by preventing these from being driven at the time of a light collision as described above, it is possible to prevent the pretensioner mechanism 6 and the rear slide mechanism 8 from being unusable.

  Next, an occupant protection device according to Example 2 of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the second embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, only the difference will be described, and the description of the same configuration and operational effects as the first embodiment will be omitted.

  The occupant protection device according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the contents of processing by the auto slide mechanism 207 and the controller 9.

The automatic slide mechanism 207 used in the second embodiment includes a gear drive mechanism 271, a screw shaft 272, and a nut member 273.
The screw shaft 272 is supported by the upper rail 42 so as to be rotatable forward and backward along the upper rail 42.
The gear drive mechanism 271 is attached to the upper rail 42 and incorporates a gear mechanism that rotates the screw shaft 272 forward and backward by driving a motor (not shown).
The nut member 273 is attached to the outer periphery of the screw shaft 272 while being engaged with a gear formed on the outer periphery of the screw shaft 272, and is fixed to the lower rail 41.

  Therefore, in the automatic slide mechanism 207, when the gear drive mechanism 271 is driven, the screw shaft 272 rotates, and the position engaging with the nut member 273 is relatively moved in the axial direction of the screw shaft 272, whereby the lower rail 41 And the upper rail 42 move relative to each other in the axial direction, so that the seat S moves in the vehicle front-rear direction.

  In the second embodiment, when the seat S is slid in the automatic slide mechanism 207, the slide restriction at the position is performed by the meshing of the gear between the screw shaft 272 and the nut member 273.

  Therefore, when the seat S is slid rearward in the rear collision, the rear slide mechanism 8 gives the seat S a driving force that exceeds the regulation force due to the meshing of the gear, and destroys the meshing portion of the gear. I am doing so.

Therefore, in the process at the time of the rear collision by the controller 9, the process of step S6 of the first embodiment is deleted as shown in FIG. Also, the driving of the second gas supply device 81 in step S7 is performed slightly behind the driving of the first gas supply device 63 in step S5, as in the first embodiment. Since other processes are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.
The operational effects are also the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  As mentioned above, although Embodiment and Example 1 of this invention were explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the concrete structure is not restricted to this Embodiment and Example 1, and does not deviate from the summary of this invention. A degree of design change is included in the present invention.

For example, in the first embodiment, the seat S provided with the automatic slide mechanisms 7 and 207 has been described. In this case, the slide rail 4 similar to that of the first embodiment is provided with a lock means for switching between a locked state in which the relative movement between the lower rail 41 and the upper rail 42 is regulated by a manual operation of the occupant PE and an unlocked state in which the relative movement is allowed.
Therefore, when the driving force in the rearward direction of the vehicle input to the seat S by the rear slide mechanism 8 is set to be larger than the slide regulating force by the lock means, and the rear slide mechanism 8 is activated, the lock means is destroyed. Then the seat S is slid rearward of the vehicle.

Further, as a structure in which the rear slide means can adjust the rearward movement amount of the seat S, the rear slide amount may be changed according to the degree of the collision at the time of the rear collision of the vehicle.
In this case, as the rear slide means, means for sliding the seat with the driving force of the motor, or means for adjusting the supply amount of the second gas supply device 81 in a plurality of stages can be used. In the latter case, as shown in FIG. 9, a switching valve 401 for releasing the gas to the atmosphere is provided in the middle of the second supply pipe 81a.
When the controller 409 determines that the acceleration integrated value ∫G is a large collision larger than the middle collision determination reference value V1 that is larger than the light collision determination reference value V0, the controller 409 maintains the switching valve 401 in the air-side closed state shown in the figure. However, when the acceleration integral value ∫G is determined to be a middle collision when V0 ≦ ∫G ≦ V1, the switching valve 401 is driven to the atmosphere release side for a predetermined time to suppress the gas supply amount to the cylinder chamber 82a, and The amount of movement can be suppressed.

It is composition explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the passenger | crew protection apparatus A of Example 1 of the best mode of this invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of an occupant protection device A according to a first embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the slide rail 4 used for the passenger | crew protection apparatus A of Example 1. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the auto slide mechanism 7 used for the passenger | crew protection apparatus A of Example 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a controller 9 used in the occupant protection device A according to the first embodiment. It is an operation explanatory view showing an operation of occupant protection device A of Example 1. It is sectional drawing which shows the auto slide mechanism 207 used for the passenger | crew protection apparatus of Example 2. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of control in the controller 9 of the passenger | crew protection device of the other Example of embodiment. It is composition explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the passenger | crew protection apparatus of the other Example of embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

4 Slide rail 5 Seat belt device 6 Pretensioner mechanism (pretensioner means)
8 Back slide mechanism (back slide means)
9 Controller (control means, collision detection means, collision degree judgment means)
51 Webbing 91 Acceleration sensor (collision detection means, collision degree judgment means)
409 controller (control means, collision detection means, collision degree judgment means)
A occupant protection device BD of embodiment 1 body FL floor PE occupant S seat

Claims (4)

A rear slide means capable of sliding a seat installed in the vehicle to the rear of the vehicle;
A collision detection means for detecting a rear collision of the vehicle;
Control means for operating the rear slide means to slide the seat to the rear of the vehicle when a rear collision is detected;
An occupant protection device comprising: A seat belt device for restraining an occupant seated on the seat;
Pretensioner means for tensioning the webbing of the seat belt device to increase the occupant restraining force;
With
The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the control means causes the pretensioner means to perform a tension operation immediately before execution of the slide operation of the rear slide means.   When the collision is detected, the control means determines the degree of the collision by the collision degree determination means, and when it is determined that the light collision is lighter than the preset collision degree, the slide operation and the tension operation are not executed. The occupant protection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the slide operation and the tension operation are executed only in the case of a collision larger than the set degree of collision. The collision detection means is means for detecting a rear collision based on an output of an acceleration sensor that detects vehicle longitudinal acceleration.
The occupant protection device according to claim 3, wherein the collision degree determination means determines based on an integrated value of vehicle longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

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