JP2011235813A5 - - Google Patents

Description

Air bag device

The present invention relates to an airbag device in which both ends tubular airbag which is closed by closure member the opening of the folded metal plate and expand with gas Lee Nfureta occurs to absorb the impact.

  A fabric air bag folded inside the pillar garnish covering the front of the front pillar of a car is stored, and gas generated by the inflator at the time of a collision with a pedestrian is supplied to the air bag, so that a gap where the pillar garnish breaks A pedestrian protection airbag device is known from Patent Document 1 below that deploys an airbag along the front of a front pillar to protect a pedestrian.

  Further, by supporting the pillar garnish covering the front surface of the front pillar of the vehicle to the pillar frame member via a link type pillar drive mechanism, the pillar drive mechanism lifts the pillar garnish from the pillar frame member by the pillar drive mechanism when colliding with a pedestrian. An impact-absorbing structure for pedestrian protection that allows the pillar garnish to stroke and absorbs collision energy is known from Patent Document 2 below.

JP, 2002-283939, A JP, 2006-282105, A

  However, according to the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to maintain the deployed state for a long time because the air bag is made of cloth, and depending on the timing at which the pedestrian collides with the front pillar, sufficient impact can be obtained. There was a possibility that the absorption effect could not be exhibited.

  Further, the invention described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that the structure of the link type pillar drive mechanism for movably supporting the pillar garnish to the pillar frame member is complicated and the number of parts increases to cause the cost increase. was there.

  Therefore, the present applicant places a metal air bag folded in a zigzag between the front window glass and the front pillar, and develops the air bag into a tube shape along the front pillar at the time of a collision with a pedestrian. Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-224380 has already proposed.

  However, in the case proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-224380, since both ends of the folded airbag are press-fitted and fixed in the opening of the thick and rigid box-like end cap, the airbag can Both ends of the air bag are restrained by the end cap and can not expand freely, and the rigidity of both ends of the air bag may remain high and the shock absorbing performance may be deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof to reliably deploy both end portions of the metallic-made airbag.

To achieve the above object, according to the invention described in claim 1, both ends tubular air bag opening was closed by closure member by folding the metal plate Lee Nfureta gas in deployment to occur An air bag device for absorbing an impact, wherein both ends of the folded air bag are bendably welded to the closing member is proposed.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the constitution of claim 1, an end face of the opening of the air bag is abutted against the closing member and welded. Is proposed.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, an air bag device is proposed in which the closing member is bent in a zigzag manner.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the configuration of claim 3, the closing member is a closing portion welded to the end face of the opening, and a side surface of the airbag from the closing portion. An air bag device is proposed, which is formed in a U-shape including a pair of side wall portions that are bent to cover.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the configuration of claim 1, the closing member is a closing portion to be abutted against the end face of the opening, and the airbag from the periphery of the closing portion. It is formed into a cap shape with a cylindrical portion which is bent so as to cover the entire circumference of the side surface and welded to the side surface, and the cylindrical portion is deformable by the pressure of the deployed airbag. An airbag device is proposed.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to the configuration of claim 5, an air bag device is proposed in which the cylindrical portion is provided with a slit that can be expanded.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the closing member is characterized in that it is fixed to the vehicle body via a deformable stay. An airbag device is proposed.

According to the first aspect, without collapsible and metallic steel airbag once deployed, because it absorbs the shock by plastic deformation of the metal, reducing the weight and cost by employing the small inflator capacity it not only makes it possible to exhibit a stable impact absorption performance regardless shift of timing of collision. Further, since both ends of the folded air bag are bendably welded to the closing member, by bending the both ends of the air bag outward in the radial direction at the time of deployment, the both ends are sufficiently developed to provide impact absorption performance. It can be enhanced.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, the end face of the opening of the air bag is butt-welded to the closing member and welded, so the air bag is easily bent radially outward at the butt-welded portion to ensure expansion can do.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the closing member is bent in a zigzag manner, both ends of the airbag can be expanded more reliably by extending the closing member in a planar manner when the air bag is deployed.

  According to the configuration of the fourth aspect, the closing member includes a closing portion welded to the end face of the opening, and a pair of side wall portions bent so as to cover the side surface of the airbag from the closing portion. Thus, it is possible to seal the gas leaking from between the opening of the air bag and the closing portion of the closing member at the side wall.

  Further, according to the configuration of the fifth aspect, the closing member is bent so as to cover the entire circumference of the side surface of the airbag from the periphery of the closing portion and the closing portion abutted to the end face of the opening and welded to the side surface Since it is formed in the shape of a cap including a cylindrical portion to be deformed, by deforming the cylindrical portion of the closing member by the pressure of the deployed airbag, both ends of the airbag can be easily bent radially outward It can be deployed reliably.

  Further, according to the configuration of the sixth aspect, since the cylindrical portion is provided with the slit that can be expanded, the slits of the side wall portion are expanded by the pressure of the expanding airbag, so that both ends of the airbag can be radially outward Can be more easily bent and deployed reliably.

  Further, according to the configuration of claim 7, the closing member is fixed to the vehicle body via the deformable stay, so that the stay is deformed when the air bag is deployed, and the closing member moves in a direction away from the vehicle body. Both ends of the airbag can be deployed more reliably.

The top view of the vehicle body front part of a motor vehicle. First Embodiment 2-2 line expanded sectional view of FIG. First Embodiment FIG. First Embodiment The 4 parts expansion disassembled perspective view of FIG. First Embodiment The 5 parts enlarged perspective view of FIG. First Embodiment The six-direction enlarged view of FIG. First Embodiment Operation | movement explanatory drawing at the time of the airbag deployment corresponding to FIG. First Embodiment The figure corresponding to the said FIG. Second Embodiment The perspective view of the closure member. Third Embodiment The perspective view of the closure member. Fourth Embodiment The figure corresponding to the said FIG. Fifth Embodiment The figure corresponding to the said FIG. Sixth Embodiment

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automobile is provided with a front window glass 12 behind the hood hood 11, and between the left and right edges 12 a and 12 a of the front window glass 12 and the door glasses 14 and 14 of the front doors 13 and 13. The front pillars 15 are arranged so as to be sandwiched.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front pillar 15 is formed in a closed cross section by joining an outer panel 16 located on the outer side of the vehicle body and an inner panel 17 located on the inner side of the vehicle body. A metal air bag 18 which doubles as a garnish is provided in a folded state. The edge 12 a of the front window glass 12 is superimposed on the front surface of the joint portions 16 c and 17 a of the outer panel 16 and the inner panel 17 via the dam rubber 20 and is bonded with an adhesive 21.

  The airbag 18, which is formed of a folded metal tube, includes a garnish portion 18a, a window glass side folding portion 18b, an outer panel side folding portion 18c, and an inflator supporting portion 18d. The garnish portion 18a smoothly continues from the side surface 16b of the outer panel 16 of the front pillar 15 toward the front window glass 12, and functions as a pillar garnish disposed between the outer panel 16 and the front window glass 12 There is.

  The window glass side folding portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c are folded in a zigzag (zig-zag folding) manner on the back surface side (rear side) of the garnish portion 18a in order to secure an expansion margin when the air bag 18 expands. . At this time, the folding width W2 of the outer panel folding portion 18c is set larger than the folding width W1 of the window glass folding portion 18b.

  As is apparent from FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, both ends of the folded air bag 18 are thinly press-formed, and the flat-plate-like closing portions 24a, 24a of the closing members 24, 24 are abutted there Both ends of the air bag 18 are closed by welding. If it is possible to secure a space for arranging both ends of the airbag 18 on the vehicle body side, it is not necessary to thin and press both ends. Each closing member 24 is provided with an attachment portion 24b connected to the closing portion 24a, and by screwing a nut 27 to a bolt 26 penetrating the bolt hole 24c of the attachment portion 24b and the vehicle body panel 25, the air bag 18 is front It is fixed along the pillars 15.

  Among the longitudinally opposite end portions of the folded airbag 18, the garnish portion 18a and the inflator supporting portion 18d which are not folded are butted against the closing portion 24a of the closing member 24 over the entire width and fillet welding Only the tip of the peak portion of the window glass side folding portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c which are folded and folded is butt against the closing portion 24a, and fillet welding w2 is performed.

  As is clear from FIGS. 2 to 4, the gas for expanding the air bag 18 at the lower end portion of the inflator supporting portion 18 d opposed to the garnish portion 18 a with the window glass side folding portion 18 b and the outer panel side folding portion 18 c interposed therebetween. An inflator 19 is attached to generate the The cylindrical inflator 19 is fixed to the inner surface of a mounting bracket 28 having a U-shaped cross section by two fasteners 29, 29. An opening 18e is formed in the inflator supporting portion 18d of the airbag 18 by the mounting bracket 28. And fixed by bolts 30... And nuts 31.

  As apparent from FIG. 2, the outer panel side lip 32 is provided at the boundary between the garnish portion 18 a of the airbag 18 and the outer panel side folding portion 18 c, and the outer panel side lip 32 is the front surface 16 a of the outer panel 16. Abut on. Further, a window glass side lip 33 is provided at the boundary between the window glass side folding portion 18 b and the inflator supporting portion 18 d of the airbag 18, and the window glass side lip 33 is in contact with the front surface of the edge 12 a of the front window glass 12. Contact. The outer panel side lip 32 and the window glass side lip 33 can prevent rainwater and the like from entering the side of the inflator support portion 18 d of the airbag 18, thereby protecting the inflator 19.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

  Since the garnish portion 18a of the air bag 18 smoothly connects to the side surface 16b of the outer panel 16 of the front pillar 15 to exhibit the function of the pillar garnish under normal conditions when the air bag 18 does not deploy, a dedicated pillar garnish is eliminated The number of parts can be reduced. Moreover, since the airbag 18 is compactly disposed between the front pillar 15 and the front window glass 12 by replacing the conventional pillar garnish, the front pillar is eliminated while the case and the cover for housing the folded airbag 18 are unnecessary. The appearance around 15 can be maintained well.

  When it is detected that the vehicle has collided with a pedestrian, the inflator 19 is activated, and the gas generated by the inflator 19 increases the internal pressure of the air bag 18. As a result of the increase in the internal pressure, as shown in FIG. 7, the outer panel of the front pillar 15 is formed after the window glass side folded portion 18b and the outer panel side folded portion 18c of the air bag 18 are first expanded toward the vehicle exterior. It is developed in the left-right direction so as to cover the front 16a and the side 16b of the sixteen.

  At this time, the airbag 18 is provided with the window glass side folding portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c, thereby securing a large circumferential length of the airbag 18 after deployment and covering a wide area of the front pillar 15 to absorb impact. Performance can be enhanced. Further, the front pillar 15 is harder than the front window glass 12, and therefore the impact given to the pedestrian becomes large. However, the folding width W2 of the outer panel side folding portion 18c is set larger than the folding width W1 of the window glass side folding portion 18b. By doing this, the extension margin (extension amount) at the time of deployment of the outer panel side folding part 18c is increased, and the airbag 18 is deployed so as to wrap around the side surface 16b of the outer panel 16 to further enhance the shock absorbing performance. it can.

  In addition, the airbag apparatus for pedestrians has a characteristic that a relatively large difference is easily generated in the time until the pedestrian collides with the front pillar 15 according to the physique of the pedestrian and the vehicle speed at the time of collision. Therefore, the conventional cloth air bag has a problem that a large capacity inflator that continuously generates gas is required to maintain the deployed state for a predetermined time. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, by employing the metal airbag 18, the airbag 18 once deployed is maintained in the unfolded state even after the supply of gas is stopped, and the plastic deformation thereof causes the pedestrian to Since the impact of the collision is absorbed, it is possible to exert an effective shock absorbing performance regardless of the timing at which the pedestrian collides with the front pillar 15 while reducing the capacity of the inflator 19.

  By the way, when the airbag 18 is deployed, both longitudinal end portions thereof are connected to the closing members 24 and 24 in a folded state, so deployment is more difficult than in the longitudinal central portion. As a result, the longitudinally central portion of the air bag 18 is developed into a substantially circular cross section, while both longitudinal end portions are developed into a shape having irregularities because the folding is not completely released, and the irregularities function as reinforcing ribs By doing this, the rigidity when the occupant collides may be too high to exhibit effective shock absorbing performance.

  However, according to the present embodiment, since the longitudinal direction both end portions of the airbag 18 are butted to the closing members 24 and 24 and the fillet welds w1 and w2 are bendable, portions of the fillet welds w1 and w2 The longitudinal edges of the air bag 18 can be sufficiently deployed by deforming the edge of the air bag 18 so as to bend radially outward. As a result, the rigidity of both longitudinal end portions of the deployed air bag 18 can be reduced to be equal to the rigidity of the longitudinal middle portion, and uniform impact absorption performance can be exhibited over the entire length of the air bag 18 .

  The window glass side folding portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c of the airbag 18 are fillet-welded w2 to the closing member 24 only at the tips of the ridges, and therefore, they are unfolded with the closing members 24 and 24 when deployed. Although the gas leaks from the gap of the connection portion, the gap exerts the same function as the vent hole and does not disturb the deployment of the airbag 18.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG.

  In the second embodiment, the closed portion 24a of the closing member 24 and the attachment portion 24b are connected by a bendable stay 24d, so that the attachment portion 24b and the stay 24d overlap each other when the air bag 18 is not deployed. It is bent to

  When the air bag 18 is deployed, the stay 24 d stands up with respect to the mounting portion 24 b by a reaction force received from the vehicle body panel 25, whereby the air bag 18 can move in a direction away from the vehicle body panel 25. As a result, both longitudinal end portions of the airbag 18 can be freely deployed without interfering with the vehicle body panel 25, and the deployment performance of the longitudinal end portions of the airbag 18 is further improved.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG.

  In the third embodiment, the closing portion 24a of the closing member 24 is folded in a zigzag manner, and expansion of the longitudinal ends of the airbag 18 is achieved by extension of the folding of the closing portion 24a when the air bag 18 deploys. Performance is further improved.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG.

  The fourth embodiment is a modification of the third embodiment, in which the window glass side folding portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c of the airbag 18 are viewed from both side edges of the closing portion 24a of the closing member 24 which is folded in a zigzag manner. A pair of side walls 24e and 24e are integrally formed so as to cover them.

  According to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the function and effect of the third embodiment, the window glass side folding portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c in which only the front end of the peak portion is fillet welded w2 The effect of suppressing gas leakage from the end by the side walls 24e and 24e can be achieved.

  Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG.

  The closing member 24 of the fifth embodiment is constituted by a cap-like member whose one surface is released. That is, the closing member 24 welded to the L-shaped bracket 34 fixed to the vehicle body panel 25 by the bolt 26 and the nut 27 is a flat closing portion 24a with which the openings at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the airbag 18 abut. And a cylindrical portion 24f extending from the periphery of the closed portion 24a toward the air bag 18, and is formed thin so that the tip end portion of the cylindrical portion 24f has low strength. The entire cylindrical portion 24f may have a low strength.

  The flat garnish portion 18a and the inflator supporting portion 18d among the longitudinal end portions of the airbag 18 inserted into the cylindrical portion 24f of the closing member 24 are fillet welded w1 over the entire length, and the window glass side is folded In the portion 18b and the outer panel side folding portion 18c, only the tip of the peak portion is fillet-welded w2.

  According to the present embodiment, when the air bag 18 is deployed, the thin portion of the cylindrical portion 24 f of the closing member 24 is deformed so as to expand radially outward with the air bag 18, whereby the longitudinal direction of the air bag 18 is obtained. Both ends of the direction can be bent together with the thin-walled part to be sufficiently developed. As a result, the rigidity of both longitudinal end portions of the deployed air bag 18 can be reduced to be equal to the rigidity of the longitudinal middle portion, and uniform impact absorption performance can be exhibited over the entire length of the air bag 18 .

  Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG.

  The sixth embodiment is a modification of the fifth embodiment, in which slits 24g which can be expanded are formed at four corners of the cylindrical portion 24f of the cap-like closing member 24. As shown in FIG.

  According to the present embodiment, when the air bag 18 unfolds, the cylindrical portion 24 f of the closing member 24 is easily opened by the slits 24 g. Can.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention can perform various design changes in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

  For example, the method of folding the air bag 18 is not limited to the embodiment.

15 front pillar 18 air bag 19 inflator 24 closure member 24a closure portion 24d stay 24e side wall portion 24f cylindrical portion 24g slit w1 welding w2 welding

Claims (7)

There the air bag device of the opening portions at both ends by folding the metal plate closure member (24) occluded tubular air bag (18) and Lee Nfureta (19) is and expand with gas generated by absorbing the impact ,
An airbag apparatus characterized in that both ends of the folded airbag (18) are bendably welded (w1, w2) to the closing member (24).   The airbag device according to claim 1, characterized in that the end face of the opening of the airbag (18) is abutted against the closing member (24) and welded (w1, w2).   The airbag device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the closing member (24) is folded in a zigzag manner.   The closing member (24) is bent so as to cover the side surface of the airbag (18) from the closing portion (24a) welded to the end face of the opening (w1, w2) and the closing portion (24a) 4. The airbag device according to claim 3, wherein the airbag device is formed in a U-shape including a pair of side wall portions (24e).   The closing member (24) is bent so as to cover the entire circumference of the side face of the air bag (18) from the closing part (24a) which abuts against the end face of the opening and the circumference of the closing part (24a) A tubular portion (24f) to be welded (w1, w2) to the side surface and formed in a cap shape, and the tubular portion (24f) is deformable by the pressure of the airbag (18) to be deployed The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that   The airbag device according to claim 5, characterized in that the tubular portion (24f) comprises an expandable slit (24g).   The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the closing member (24) is fixed to the vehicle body via a deformable stay (24d).