JP2008195215A - Airbag and airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an airbag easy in manufacture, and capable of reducing manufacturing cost; and an airbag device using this airbag. <P>SOLUTION: This airbag 1 constitutes an outer shell by sewing up a left panel 2 positioned in front of the left of an occupant and a right panel 3 positioned in front of the right of the occupant. The left panel 2 and a rear tether 5 are integrated, and the right panel 3 and a front tether 4 are integrated. The respective panels 2 and 3 are superposed by adjusting the outer periphery except for the rear tether 4 and the front tether 5, and are sewn up along the outer periphery. The front edge side and the rear edge side of the panels 2 and 3 are approached, and the front edger side and the rear edge side of the panels 2 and 3 are folded back along a fold line in the longitudinal direction, and the mutual tips of the rear tether 4 and the front tether 5 are sewn up. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag that is inflated forward of a vehicle occupant and restrains the occupant, and more specifically, a concave strip that extends vertically on the occupant facing surface by pulling the occupant facing surface with a tether when the airbag is inflated. The present invention relates to an airbag configured to be formed. Moreover, this invention relates to the airbag apparatus which has this airbag.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-103670 discloses an airbag in which an occupant-facing surface of an airbag that is inflated in front of the occupant is pulled by a tether to form a vertically extending recess on the occupant-facing surface of the inflated upper surface. 10-21.
JP 2006-103670 A

  For example, as shown in FIG. 13 of the same publication, the airbag of the above-mentioned JP-A-2006-103670 uses three main panels, that is, the left and right panels (base fabric) and the bottom panel. Furthermore, these panels use tethers that are separate from each other, and it takes considerable effort to sew the panels together and sew the panels to the tether.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an airbag that can be easily manufactured and can reduce the manufacturing cost, and an airbag device using the airbag.

  The airbag according to claim 1 is an airbag that inflates in front of an occupant, the occupant facing surface facing the occupant, an upper surface, a lower surface, a left side surface, and a right side surface respectively connected to the occupant facing surface, and the occupant facing surface. An air bag having a tether that is connected to the opposite side of the occupant-facing surface, a left panel that constitutes the left half of each of the occupant-facing surface, the upper surface and the lower surface, and the left side surface, the occupant-facing surface, A right panel that constitutes the right half of each of the upper surface and the lower surface and the right side surface, and the outer peripheral edges of the left panel and the right panel are sewn together, and the tether is attached to the left panel or the right panel. It is characterized by being one continuous panel.

  The airbag according to claim 2 is the airbag according to claim 1, wherein the tether is formed by stitching a front tether connected to one front part of the left panel and the right panel and a rear tether connected to the other rear part. It is what.

  The airbag according to claim 3 is the airbag according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an opening for an inflator is provided at a rear portion of the airbag, and the tether is continuous with the opening for the inflator. is there.

  The airbag according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in claim 1 or 2, an inflator opening is provided at a rear portion of the airbag, and the tether is connected to a lower position than the inflator opening. is there.

  The airbag according to claim 5 is the airbag according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an inflator opening is provided at a rear portion of the airbag, and the tether is connected to both the upper side and the lower side of the inflator opening. It is what.

  An airbag apparatus according to a sixth aspect includes the airbag according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, and an inflator for inflating the airbag.

  The airbag according to the present invention has an outer shell formed by stitching the outer peripheries of two panels, a left panel and a right panel, and is easy to manufacture because there is little time and effort for stitching.

  When a front tether is provided on one of the left and right panels and a rear tether is provided on the other, and the front tether and rear tether are sewn together, the front tether and rear tether can be stitched together very easily. It can be carried out.

  A mode in which the tether is arranged higher than the inflator opening at the rear portion of the airbag is suitable for denting the vicinity of the center in the vertical direction of the occupant-facing surface.

  A mode in which the tether is arranged lower than the inflator opening at the rear portion of the airbag is suitable for denting the relatively upper side of the occupant-facing surface.

  According to the aspect in which the tether is connected to the upper side and the lower side of the inflator opening, the recess on the rear side of the airbag can be increased and the volume of the airbag can be reduced. By reducing the volume of the airbag, it is possible to adopt a low output inflator correspondingly.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of an airbag and an airbag device according to an embodiment when the airbag is inflated, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a right panel, FIG. Is a plan view of the left panel, FIG. 5 is a plan view when the left panel and the right panel are overlapped, FIG. 6 is a plan view when the front tether and the rear tether are stitched, and FIG. 7 is for the inflator It is a perspective view near opening.

  The airbag 1 is configured by stitching a left panel 2 positioned on the left front of the occupant and a right panel 3 positioned on the right front of the occupant to form an outer shell. The left panel 2 and the rear tether 5 are integrated, and the right panel 3 and the front tether 4 are integrated. By cutting one sheet of raw fabric with a laser cutter or the like, the left panel 2 with the rear tether 4 integrated is formed. Similarly, by cutting the original fabric, the series is integrated. A right panel 3 with a front tether 5 is formed.

  The left panel 2 and the right panel 3 have shapes that are approximately circular.

  The front tether 5 extends forward from the front edge of the right panel 3, and the rear tether 4 extends rearward from the rear edge of the left panel 2.

  Projecting pieces 6 and 7 for forming inflator openings 9 (FIG. 1) are provided at the lower part of the rear edges of the panels 2 and 3. Each panel 2, 3 is provided with a short notch 8 in the vicinity of the base of the protruding pieces 6, 7.

  The left panel 2 and the right panel 3 have the same shape and the same size except for the rear tether 4 and the front tether 5. Therefore, when the panels 2 and 3 are overlapped, the outer peripheries of the panels 2 and 3 are matched except that the rear tether 4 and the front tether 5 protrude.

  The front edge 2f of the left panel 2 is convexly curved in a substantially arc shape, and the curvature radius thereof is smaller than the curvature radius of the rear edge 3r of the right panel 3.

  To construct the airbag 1, the panels 2 and 3 are overlapped so that the outer peripheries other than the rear tether 4 and the front tether 5 are matched, and are sewn along the outer perimeter as shown in FIG. The front edge where the front tether 5 is present is sewn along the outer periphery of the left panel 2. The rear edge where the rear tether 4 is present is sewn along the outer periphery of the right panel 3. The projecting pieces 6 and 7 are not sewn. Reference numeral 10 denotes a stitch for this stitching.

  In FIGS. 5 and 6, dots are added to the right panel 3 for the sake of clarity.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the front edge side and the rear edge side of the panels 2 and 3 are folded back along the vertical fold line so that the front edge side and the rear edge side of the panels 2 and 3 are brought close to each other. The tips of 5 are stitched together. Reference numeral 11 denotes a stitch for this stitching.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the projecting piece 6 of the left panel 2 is overlaid on the lower side of the right panel 3, the projecting piece 7 of the right panel 3 is overlaid on the upper side of the left panel 2, and the patch cloth 12 is overlapped with them. Is applied, and the outer periphery of the patch cloth 12 is stitched to the panels 2 and 3, and then the inflator opening 9 is cut out. At this time, a bolt insertion hole (not shown) for connecting the airbag 1 to a retainer (not shown) or the like is also cut out.

  Thereafter, the panels 1 and 2 are inverted through the inflator opening 9 to obtain the airbag 1 having the structure shown in FIGS.

  An inflator is disposed in the airbag 1 or near the outside of the inflator opening 9.

  In the airbag 1, the front edge and the rear edge are connected by a tether 13 including a connecting body of a rear tether 4 and a front tether 5, and the length of the tether 13 is the longitudinal length of each panel 2, 3. It is shorter than that.

  Therefore, when the airbag 1 is inflated by the gas from the inflator, a concave strip 14 extending in the vertical direction is formed on the surface of the airbag 1 facing the occupant. The upper side and the lower side of the concave strip 14 protrude from the concave strip 14 toward the occupant side.

  In this embodiment, since the radius of curvature of the front edge side of each panel 2, 3 is smaller than the rear edge side, when the airbag 1 is inflated, the front edge side is pulled deeper into the airbag 1 than the rear edge side, As shown in FIG. 2, the ridges 14 on the occupant-facing surface are deeper than the ridges 15 on the opposite side.

<Another embodiment>
In the above embodiment, the rear tether 4 of the left panel 2 extends from the upper side of the inflator opening 9 and the tether 13 is connected to the upper side of the inflator opening 9, but the airbag 1A shown in FIG. In this manner, the tether 13A may be connected to the lower side and the front side of the inflator opening 9. In this case, it is preferable that the front portion of the tether 13A is connected to a relatively upper portion of the occupant-facing surface of the airbag 1A. It is formed.

  In the present invention, like the airbag 1B of FIG. 9, the tether 13B may be connected to both the upper side and the lower side of the inflator opening 9. When the airbag 1B is inflated, concave lines are formed at two locations above and below the inflator opening 9, so that the volume of the airbag 1B is reduced, and even if an inflator with a smaller output is used, the airbag 1B Swells early enough. In FIG. 9, the front portion of the tether 13B is connected to the vicinity of the center in the vertical direction of the occupant-facing surface. However, as shown in FIG. It may be configured to occur.

  In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the airbag 1 </ b> C may be configured using a left panel 20 and a right panel 30 each having a front tether 4 and a rear tether 5. Each front tether 4 and each rear tether 5 are stitched together by a common seam 11 at their tips. Other configurations of the airbag 1C shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 are the same as those of the airbag 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, and the same reference numerals denote the same parts. FIG. 11 shows the same cross section as FIG.

  Each of the above embodiments is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may take forms other than those shown in the drawings.

It is a perspective view at the time of inflation of an air bag and an air bag device concerning an embodiment. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of a right panel. It is a top view of a left panel. It is a top view at the time of stitching | suture of a left panel and a right panel. It is a top view of a panel when a front tether and a rear tether are stitched together. It is a perspective view near the opening for inflators. It is a perspective view at the time of expansion | swelling of the airbag which concerns on another embodiment. It is a perspective view at the time of expansion | swelling of the airbag which concerns on another embodiment. It is a top view of the panel used for different embodiment. It is sectional drawing at the time of expansion | swelling of the airbag using the panel of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1,1A, 1B, 1C Airbag 2,20 Left panel 3,30 Right panel 4 Rear tether 5 Front tether 6,7 Projection piece 9 Inflator opening 10,11 Stitch 12 Patch cross 13,13A, 13B Tether 14,14A , 14B

Claims (6)

An airbag that inflates in front of an occupant,
An occupant facing surface facing the occupant,
An upper surface, a lower surface, a left side surface and a right side surface respectively connected to the occupant facing surface;
In an airbag having a tether connecting the occupant facing surface to the opposite side of the occupant facing surface,
A left panel that forms the left half of each of the occupant-facing surface, the upper surface, and the lower surface and the left side surface;
A right panel that constitutes the right half of each of the occupant-facing surface, the upper surface, and the lower surface, and the right side surface;
With
The outer peripheral edges of the left panel and the right panel are stitched together,
The airbag is characterized in that the tether is a single panel continuous with the left panel or the right panel.   2. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein the tether is formed by stitching a front tether connected to one front part of the left panel and the right panel and a rear tether connected to the other rear part.   3. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein an inflator opening is provided in a rear portion of the airbag, and the tether is arranged higher than the inflator opening.   3. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein an inflator opening is provided at a rear portion of the airbag, and the tether is connected to a lower position than the inflator opening.   3. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein an inflator opening is provided at a rear portion of the airbag, and the tether is connected to both an upper side and a lower side of the inflator opening.   An airbag device comprising the airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and an inflator for inflating the airbag.

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