JP2010149802A - Vehicular side airbag control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular side airbag control device capable of controlling deployment of an airbag in response to a seating posture of an occupant changing by a state of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: This vehicular side airbag control device includes a side airbag control means 25 for deploying the airbag between the occupant seated on a seat of the vehicle and a vehicle body sidewall arranged in close vicinity to the seat. The side airbag control means 25 changes a deploying threshold value of the airbag when detecting that a sideslip of the vehicle is caused and the sideslip direction is in an approaching direction sideslip occurrence state being the direction for approaching the occupant of the seat to the vehicle body sidewall arranged in close vicinity by a sideslip detecting means 22 for detecting the sideslip of the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle side airbag control device.

As a side airbag control device for a vehicle, there is one that prohibits the operation of an airbag when a dwarf seated on a passenger seat is in a sleeping posture leaning on a door side and detected by a sensor provided on the seat ( For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 11-334451 A JP 2000-85524 A

  By the way, since the situation of the vehicle at the time of running is different, and the seating posture of the occupant on the seat may change accordingly, the deployment of the airbag of the side airbag control device also depends on the situation of the vehicle. There is a demand for control in accordance with the changing seating posture of the occupant.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle side airbag control device capable of controlling the deployment of an airbag in accordance with the seating posture of an occupant that changes depending on the vehicle condition.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to an occupant seated on a seat (e.g., a seat 12 in the embodiment) of a vehicle (e.g., the vehicle 11 in the embodiment) and a vehicle body side wall (e.g., close to the seat). Vehicle side airbag control device (for example, SRS unit 25 in the embodiment) including side airbag control means (for example, SRS unit 25 in the embodiment) that deploys an airbag (for example, the airbag 16 in the embodiment) between the door lining 14 in the embodiment) For example, in the vehicle side airbag control apparatus 20) according to the embodiment, the side airbag control means generates a side slip of the vehicle by a side slip detection means (for example, the yaw rate acceleration sensor 22 in the embodiment) that detects the side slip of the vehicle. And the direction of the side slip causes the seat occupant to approach the Upon detecting that a proximally skid occurrence is a direction closer to the location has been the vehicle body side wall, and wherein altering the deployment threshold of the airbag.

  The invention according to claim 2 is occupant determination means for determining whether or not the occupant seated on the seat is smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape in the invention according to claim 1 (for example, the SRS unit 25, occupant in the embodiment). When the side airbag control means determines that the occupant seated on the seat is smaller than a predetermined body shape by the occupant determination means, the side slip detection state is generated by the side slip detection means. When it is detected that the air bag is in the position, the deployment threshold value of the airbag is changed to be high.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising occupant posture determination means (for example, the SRS unit 25 and the occupant posture detection sensor 30 in the embodiment) for determining the posture of the occupant seated on the seat. Even if the side airbag control means detects that the side-slip occurrence state is in the proximity direction by the side-slip detection means, the seating posture of the occupant biased toward the side wall of the vehicle body disposed in the proximity by the occupant attitude determination means When the air bag is not detected, the airbag deployment threshold value is not changed.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the side airbag control means causes the side slip of the vehicle to be generated by the side slip detection means for detecting the side slip of the vehicle, and the direction of the side slip is on the side wall of the vehicle body in which the seat occupant is disposed closely. When it is detected that the side-slip occurrence state in the proximity direction, which is the approaching direction, is detected, the deployment threshold of the airbag is changed, so that the deployment of the airbag can be controlled from the presence or absence of the side-slip. In other words, when the side skid occurs in the proximity direction, the seat occupant may approach the side wall of the vehicle body that is disposed in close proximity and may enter the airbag deployment range. Thus, the deployment of the airbag under such circumstances can be regulated.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the side airbag control means determines that the occupant seated on the seat is smaller than the predetermined body shape by the occupant determination means, the side slip detection means is in a state of occurrence of side slip in the proximity direction. If this is detected, changing the airbag deployment threshold to a higher value regulates the deployment of airbags for small people who are particularly susceptible to side-slip in the sitting posture and are likely to enter the airbag deployment range. can do.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, even if the side airbag control means detects that the side-slip detection means is in the proximity-direction side-slip occurrence state, the side-airbag control means is biased toward the side wall of the vehicle body that is disposed close by the occupant posture determination means. When the sitting posture of the occupant is not detected, the airbag can be deployed as usual without changing the airbag deployment threshold.

  A vehicle side airbag control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the vehicle 11, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the left side portion in the traveling direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle 11 as viewed from the front. In the following description, the left side in the traveling direction (passenger seat side) in the passenger compartment of the vehicle 11 having the handle 10 on the right side shown in FIG. 1 will be described as an example. The same applies to the right side of the traveling direction, and the left and right in the following description may be read.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a door lining (vehicle body side wall) 14 on the left side of the vehicle is disposed close to the left side in the traveling direction of the seat 12, and the left end edge of the seat back 15 of the seat 12, that is, the end on the door lining 14 side. An airbag 16 that is deployed between the occupant seated on the seat 12 and the door lining 14 by being bulged forward is disposed at the edge.

  In addition, the seat back 15 has an occupant detection sensor (occupant determination means) that detects the seat height of the occupant with a capacitance type in order to detect the size of the seated occupant, that is, whether or not it is smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape. ) 18 is buried. The occupant detection sensor 18 includes a plurality of antenna electrodes 18a to 18d arranged in the vertical direction at the center of the seat back 16 in the left-right direction. As the occupant detection sensor 18, a sensor that detects the occupant's seat height from an image or detects the size of the occupant based on the weight of the occupant seated on the seat 12 may be used in addition to the capacitance type sensor.

  FIG. 3 shows the vehicle side airbag control device 20 according to the first embodiment and the actuator 21 for deploying the airbag 16 controlled by the vehicle side airbag control device 20.

  The vehicle side airbag control device 20 includes the above-described occupant detection sensor 18 and a yaw rate acceleration sensor (side-slip detection means) 22 also shown in FIG. A side collision detection sensor 23 that detects a side collision on the left side of the vehicle, and an SRS unit (side airbag control means, occupant determination) that controls the driving of the actuator 21 for the airbag 16, that is, the deployment of the airbag 16, by these signals. Means, occupant posture determination means) 25. Here, the SRS unit 25 drives the actuator 21 to deploy the airbag 16 when the side collision detection sensor 23 detects a side collision load equal to or greater than the airbag deployment threshold, for example.

  The SRS unit 25 repeats the process shown in FIG. 4 at every predetermined timing. That is, the SRS unit 25 determines whether or not the occupant seated on the seat 12 is smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape based on a signal from the occupant detection sensor 18 (that is, whether the occupant can be regarded as an adult or a dwarf). Occupant determination is performed (step SA1). If the occupant seated on the seat 12 is equal to or greater than the predetermined body shape as a reference, the airbag deployment threshold is set as the reference airbag deployment threshold (step SA2), and the process is terminated. Thereby, when the occupant seated on the seat 12 is equal to or more than the predetermined body shape as a reference (when the occupant can be regarded as an adult), when the side impact detection sensor 23 detects a side impact load that is equal to or greater than the reference airbag deployment threshold, The SRS unit 25 drives the actuator 21 to deploy the airbag 16.

  In step SA1, if the occupant seated on the seat 12 is smaller than the predetermined predetermined body shape, the SRS unit 25 determines the presence or absence of a side slip exceeding the predetermined value of the vehicle 11 and the direction of the side slip from the signal of the yaw rate acceleration sensor 22. Judgment of occurrence of side slip in the close direction is performed (step SA3). In a case other than the case where the side slip of the vehicle 11 exceeds the predetermined value and the direction of the side slip is a direction in which the occupant of the seat 12 is brought close to the door lining 14 that is disposed in proximity, the SRS unit 25 If not, the airbag deployment threshold is set as the reference airbag deployment threshold (step SA2), and the process is terminated. As a result, even if the occupant can be regarded as a dwarf, a state other than the side slip occurrence state in the proximity direction, that is, a side slip exceeding a predetermined value has not occurred, and a side slip exceeding a predetermined value has occurred. However, when the side-slip direction is not the direction in which the occupant of the seat 12 is brought close to the door lining 14 that is disposed in proximity, when the side-impact detection sensor 23 detects a side-impact load that exceeds the reference airbag deployment threshold, the SRS unit 25 will drive the actuator 21 to deploy the airbag 16. For example, when the vehicle 11 indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1 goes straight, even if the occupant A can be regarded as a dwarf, there is no influence of skidding, and the airbag 16 enters the deployment range as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the side impact detection sensor 23 detects a side impact load equal to or greater than the reference airbag deployment threshold, the airbag 16 is deployed.

  On the other hand, in step SA3, when a side slip of a predetermined value or more occurs in the vehicle 11 and the side slip direction is a direction in which the side of the seat 12 is brought close to the door lining 14 disposed in the proximity direction, The SRS unit 25 changes the airbag deployment threshold for driving the actuator 21 to be higher than the reference airbag deployment threshold (step SA4). Specifically, the airbag deployment threshold value is changed to a high value that cannot be generated. As a result, the SRS unit 25 does not drive the actuator 21 even if the side collision detection sensor 23 detects a side collision load when the occupant can be regarded as a small person and the side collision detection state is detected. The deployment of the airbag 16 will be restricted. For example, when it can be considered that the occupant is a dwarf, as shown in FIG. 6, if the vehicle 11 is in a state of side slippage when the vehicle 11 turns to the right, As shown in FIG. 7, the occupant A leans on the door lining 14 as shown in FIG. 7 and is determined to be within the deployment range of the airbag 16 and restricts the deployment of the airbag 16.

  As described above, the SRS unit 25 does not directly detect the presence or absence of stagnation of the occupant toward the door lining 14 (regardless of the presence or absence of stagnation) when the side skid occurs. Change higher than the bag deployment threshold.

  According to the vehicle side airbag control device 20 according to the first embodiment described above, the SRS unit 25 detects a side slip exceeding a predetermined value of the vehicle 11 by the yaw rate acceleration sensor 22 that detects the side slip of the vehicle, and When the side-slip direction is a state in which the occupant of the seat 12 approaches the door lining 14 that is disposed in the proximity direction, the side-slip occurrence state is changed, the deployment threshold value of the airbag 16 is changed. It can be controlled from the presence or absence. That is, when the side skid occurs in the proximity direction, the occupant of the seat 16 may approach the door lining 14 that is disposed in close proximity and may enter the deployment range of the airbag 16 due to the skidding. By changing, the deployment of the airbag 16 under such circumstances is regulated.

  In addition, when the SRS unit 25 determines that the occupant seated on the seat 12 is smaller than the predetermined body shape by the occupant detection sensor 18, when the yaw rate acceleration sensor 22 detects that the side skid has occurred, the airbag 16 Since the deployment threshold value of the airbag 16 is changed to a high value, the deployment of the airbag 16 may be restricted for a small person who is particularly easily affected by the skidding of the sitting posture and is likely to enter the deployment range of the airbag 16. it can.

  Next, a vehicle side airbag control apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below mainly with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12 and mainly different from the first embodiment.

  In the vehicle side airbag control device 20 according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, an occupant posture detection sensor (occupant posture determination means) for determining the posture of the occupant seated on the seat 12. 30 is provided. The occupant posture detection sensor 30 includes an antenna electrode disposed closer to the door lining 14 than the occupant detection sensor 18 in the seat back 15, and a door in which an occupant smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape is disposed close to the seat 12. It is detected whether or not the lining 14 is biased to be seated.

  Then, the SRS unit 25 of the second embodiment drives the actuator 21 for the airbag 16, that is, the airbag 16 by the signals of the occupant detection sensor 18, the yaw rate acceleration sensor 22, the side collision detection sensor 23, and the occupant posture detection sensor 30. Control deployment.

  The SRS unit 25 of the second embodiment repeatedly performs the process shown in FIG. 10 at every predetermined timing. That is, the SRS unit 25 determines whether or not the occupant seated on the seat 12 is smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape based on a signal from the occupant detection sensor 18 (that is, whether the occupant can be regarded as an adult or a dwarf). Occupant determination is performed (step SA1). If the occupant seated on the seat 12 is equal to or greater than the predetermined body shape as a reference, the airbag deployment threshold is set as the reference airbag deployment threshold (step SA2), and the process is terminated. Thereby, when the occupant seated on the seat 12 is equal to or more than the predetermined body shape as a reference (when the occupant can be regarded as an adult), when the side impact detection sensor 23 detects a side impact load that is equal to or greater than the reference airbag deployment threshold, The SRS unit 25 drives the actuator 21 to deploy the airbag 16.

  In step SA1, if the occupant seated on the seat 12 is smaller than the predetermined predetermined body shape, the SRS unit 25 determines the presence or absence of a side slip exceeding the predetermined value of the vehicle 11 and the direction of the side slip from the signal of the yaw rate acceleration sensor 22. Judgment of occurrence of side slip in the close direction is performed (step SA3). In a case other than the case where the side slip of the vehicle 11 exceeds the predetermined value and the direction of the side slip is a direction in which the occupant of the seat 12 is brought close to the door lining 14 that is disposed in proximity, the SRS unit 25 If not, the airbag deployment threshold is set as the reference airbag deployment threshold (step SA2), and the process is terminated. As a result, even if the occupant can be regarded as a dwarf, a state other than the side slip occurrence state in the proximity direction, that is, a side slip exceeding a predetermined value has not occurred, and a side slip exceeding a predetermined value has occurred. However, when the side-slip direction is not the direction in which the occupant of the seat 12 is brought close to the door lining 14 that is disposed in proximity, when the side-impact detection sensor 23 detects a side-impact load that exceeds the reference airbag deployment threshold, the SRS unit 25 will drive the actuator 21 to deploy the airbag 16. For example, when the vehicle 11 indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1 goes straight, even if the occupant A can be regarded as a dwarf, there is no influence of skidding, and the airbag 16 enters the deployment range as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the side impact detection sensor 23 detects a side impact load equal to or greater than the reference airbag deployment threshold, the airbag 16 is deployed.

  On the other hand, in step SA3, when a side slip of a predetermined value or more occurs in the vehicle 11 and the side slip direction is a direction in which the side of the seat 12 is brought close to the door lining 14 disposed in the proximity direction, The SRS unit 25 determines from the signal of the occupant posture detection sensor 30 whether or not the occupant is smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape and is in a drooping posture in which the occupant is seated biased toward the door lining 14 disposed close to the seat 12. (Step SB). When it is detected that an occupant smaller than the reference predetermined body shape is not in a drooping posture in which the occupant is biased and seated toward the door lining 14 disposed close to the seat 12, the airbag deployment threshold is set as the reference airbag deployment threshold. (Step SA2), the process ends. As a result, even when the occupant can be regarded as a dwarf and in the state of occurrence of side slip, the seating posture of the occupant biased toward the door lining 14 disposed close to the seat 12 is not detected. In this case, the SRS unit 25 drives the actuator 21 when the side impact detection sensor 23 detects a side impact load equal to or higher than the reference airbag deployment threshold without changing the airbag deployment threshold value as the reference airbag deployment threshold. Thus, the airbag 16 is deployed.

  On the other hand, in step SB, it is detected from the signal of the occupant posture detection sensor 30 that the occupant is smaller in size than the predetermined predetermined body shape and is in a drooping posture in which the occupant is seated biased toward the door lining 14 disposed close to the seat 12. Then, the SRS unit 25 changes the airbag deployment threshold for driving the actuator 21 to be higher than the reference airbag deployment threshold (step SA4). Specifically, the airbag deployment threshold value is changed to a high value that cannot be generated. As a result, the SRS unit 25 is in a drooping posture in which the occupant can be regarded as a dwarf, is in a state of occurrence of side slip in the proximity direction, and the occupant is seated biased toward the door lining 14 disposed close to the seat 12. When it is detected that the side collision detection sensor 23 detects a side collision load, the actuator 21 is not driven, and the deployment of the airbag 16 is restricted. For example, when it can be assumed that the occupant is a small person, as shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle 11 turns rightward when the vehicle 11 turns to the right, there is an occupant A smaller than a predetermined body shape as shown in FIG. 12. If it is in a posture to be seated biased toward the door lining 14 arranged close to the seat 12, even if a side impact load is detected, it is determined that the occupant A exists in the deployment range of the airbag 16, and the airbag 16 Regulate deployment.

According to the vehicle side airbag control device 20 according to the second embodiment described above, the occupant's seat in which the SRS unit 25 is biased from the signal of the occupant posture detection sensor 30 toward the door lining 14 disposed in the vicinity. When the seating posture at 12 is not detected, the airbag 16 can be deployed as usual without changing the deployment threshold of the airbag 16 even in the state of occurrence of side slip in the proximity direction.
In the vehicle side airbag control device 20 according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the airbag is deployed when the occupant is a dwarf by the occupant determination means and a side skid occurs in the proximity direction. Although the threshold value is changed, the present invention is not limited to this, and the airbag deployment threshold value may be changed when a side slip occurs in the proximity direction without providing an occupant determination unit. Even in some cases, the airbag deployment threshold value may be changed when a side slip occurs in the proximity direction.

1 is a schematic plan view of a vehicle. It is the schematic which looked at the left direction part of the advancing direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle to which the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention was applied from the front. It is a block diagram which shows the vehicle side airbag control apparatus etc. which concern on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control content of the side airbag control apparatus for vehicles which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is the schematic which looked at the left direction part of the advancing direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle to which the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention was applied, and shows the state of the passenger | crew at the time of straight running is there. It is a schematic plan view which shows the state at the time of the vehicle turning right. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is the schematic which looked at the left direction part of the advancing direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle to which the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention was applied, and shows the state of the passenger | crew at the time of a right turn It is. It is the schematic which looked at the left side part of the advancing direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle to which the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention was applied from the front. It is a block diagram which shows the vehicle side airbag control apparatus etc. which concern on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control content of the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which looked at the left side part of the advancing direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle to which the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention was applied from the front, and shows the state of the passenger | crew at the time of straight running is there. It is the schematic which looked at the left direction part of the advancing direction in the vehicle interior of the vehicle to which the vehicle side airbag control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention was applied, and shows the state of the passenger | crew at the time of a right turn It is.

Explanation of symbols

11 Vehicle 12 Seat 14 Door lining (Body side wall)
16 airbag 18 occupant detection sensor (occupant determination means)
20 vehicle side airbag control device 22 yaw rate acceleration sensor (side slip detection means)
25 SRS unit (side airbag control means, occupant determination means, occupant posture determination means)
30 Occupant posture detection sensor (occupant posture determination means)

Claims (3)

In a vehicle side airbag control device comprising side airbag control means for deploying an airbag between an occupant seated on a vehicle seat and a vehicle body side wall disposed in proximity to the seat,
The side airbag control means includes a side slip detection means for detecting a side slip of the vehicle, and a side slip of the vehicle is generated, and a direction of the side slip is a direction in which the occupant of the seat is brought closer to the vehicle body side wall disposed in the vicinity. A vehicle side airbag control device that changes a deployment threshold value of the airbag when it is detected that a direction skidding has occurred. Occupant determination means for determining whether or not the occupant seated on the seat is smaller than a predetermined predetermined body shape;
When the side airbag control means determines that the occupant seated on the seat is smaller than a predetermined body shape by the occupant determination means and detects that the side slip detection state is in the proximity direction side slip occurrence state by the side slip detection means, The vehicle side airbag control device according to claim 1, wherein a deployment threshold value of the airbag is changed to be high. Occupant posture determination means for determining the posture of the occupant seated on the seat,
Even if the side airbag control means detects that the side-slip occurrence state in the approach direction is detected by the side-slip detection means, the seating posture of the occupant biased toward the side wall of the vehicle body disposed close by the occupant posture determination means 3. The vehicle side airbag control device according to claim 1, wherein if not detected, the deployment threshold value of the airbag is not changed. 4.

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