JP2012071723A - Side airbag system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support a neck of a passenger seated on a seat, and to restrain an inflated and deployed airbag from deviating with respect to the passenger in a front-back direction of a vehicle.SOLUTION: The airbag 4 which is in an inflated and deployed state by having supply of gas is positioned on a side of the passenger P seated on the seat and between the passenger P and a body-side part of the vehicle. Then, the protrusion 22 of the airbag 4 projects to the seat side at the part corresponding to the neck PN of the passenger P, by which the neck PN is supported by the protrusion 22. In the meantime, the recess 20 of the airbag 4 positioned on the upper side of the protrusion 22 is positioned to correspond to the head PH of the passenger P, and the recess 21 positioned on the lower side of the protrusion 22 is positioned to correspond to a shoulder PS etc. of the passenger P. Consequently, the head PH of the passenger P becomes while being enfolded by the recess 20 on the upper side, and the shoulder PS etc. of the passenger P becomes while being enfolded by the recess 21 on the lower side.

Description

  The present invention relates to a side airbag device.

  2. Description of the Related Art In vehicles such as automobiles, there is known a vehicle provided with a side airbag device as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, for the purpose of protecting an occupant seated on a seat from an impact such as a side collision of the vehicle. . Such a side airbag device includes an airbag that is provided independently for each vehicle seat, and is located on the side of an occupant seated on the seat by supplying gas to the airbag. The airbag is inflated and deployed between the two parts.

JP 2000-280853 A (paragraphs [0001] to [0003] and FIG. 12)

  However, in the side airbag device, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, it is difficult to support the neck of the occupant seated on the seat with the airbag. This is because the portion of the passenger's neck near the airbag is located closer to the center in the width direction of the vehicle than the portion of the head and shoulders near the airbag, as seen from the airbag side. This is because the head and shoulders are dented.

  Further, in the above-described side airbag device, when the airbag is inflated and deployed and comes into contact with an occupant seated on the seat, the airbag may be displaced from the proper position with respect to the occupant in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. If the airbag inflated and deployed in this manner is displaced in the front-rear direction with respect to the occupant, the occupant may not be properly protected from the impact such as a side collision.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to support an occupant's neck seated on a seat, and an inflated airbag is in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle with respect to the occupant. It is in providing the side airbag apparatus which can suppress shifting.

In the following, means for achieving the above object and its effects are described.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an airbag provided independently for each seat of a vehicle, and the side of the occupant seated on the seat by supplying gas to the airbag. In the side airbag device in which the airbag is inflated and deployed between the passenger and the vehicle body side portion, the airbag in an inflated and deployed state corresponds between a seat back and a headrest in the seat. The gist is that a convex portion protruding to the sheet side is formed at the portion, and a concave portion extending in the vertical direction is formed on at least one of the upper side and the lower side of the convex portion.

  According to the above configuration, the airbag inflated and deployed upon receiving the gas is located on the side of the occupant seated on the seat and between the occupant and the vehicle body side portion. At this time, the convex portion of the airbag protrudes toward the seat at a portion corresponding to the occupant's neck, whereby the occupant's neck is supported by the convex portion. On the other hand, at this time, the recessed portion of the airbag is positioned corresponding to at least one of the head and shoulders of the occupant. For this reason, these heads and shoulders are in a state of being wrapped by the recesses, thereby preventing the airbag from shifting from an appropriate position for the occupant in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the recessed portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state is formed so as to extend from the upper end of the airbag to the upper end of the occupant's neck, and the airbag. The gist of the present invention is that it extends from the lower end of the vehicle to the lower end of the occupant's neck.

  According to the above configuration, in a state where the airbag is inflated and deployed, the concave portion located above the convex portion in the airbag is located corresponding to the head of the occupant and the concave portion located below the convex portion. Is located corresponding to the shoulder of the occupant. Accordingly, at this time, the occupant's head is encased in the upper recess, and the occupant's shoulders are encased in the lower recess, thereby allowing the airbag to move from an appropriate position relative to the occupant. It is more reliably suppressed that the vehicle is displaced in the front-rear direction.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the convex portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state is thickest in the width direction of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the airbag. It was made a summary.

  According to the above configuration, in the airbag in an inflated and deployed state, the thickness of the convex portion in the vehicle width direction is the largest in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the airbag. The neck portion can be accurately supported by the convex portion.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the airbag in an inflated and deployed state includes a first cloth portion located on the seat side, a second cloth portion located on the body side, A partition portion that connects the cloth portions and extends in the vertical direction and divides the airbag into two chambers that communicate with each other. The recessed portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state is the same as the partition portion. The convex portion of the airbag that is formed on the airbag and is inflated and deployed is formed by a portion that is on the upper side or the lower side of the partition portion and does not exist in the airbag. It was made a summary.

  According to the above configuration, when the airbag is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, a recess is formed by the partition portion that connects the first fabric portion located on the seat side and the second fabric portion located on the body side in the airbag. Is done. In this manner, the concave portion can be formed by the partition portion in the airbag in which the first fabric portion and the second fabric portion are about to be separated at a portion other than a portion corresponding to the partition portion (corresponding to the recess portion) through gas supply. On the other hand, in the part corresponding to the partition part, the separation between the first cloth part and the second cloth part is regulated by the partition part. On the other hand, when the airbag is inflated and deployed by the supply of gas, a convex portion is formed on the upper side or the lower side of the partition portion in the airbag where the partition portion does not exist, in other words, a portion that is not a recess. It is formed. In the airbag, the convex portion can be formed in this way when the first fabric portion and the second fabric portion are separated from each other through the supply of gas thereto. However, the separation between the first cloth part and the second cloth part is regulated by the partition part, whereas the first cloth part and the second cloth part are separated from each other in the part where the partition part does not exist. This is because it is acceptable. As can be seen from the above, when the airbag is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, the recessed portion and the projected portion can be easily formed by the partition portion of the airbag.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the gist of the invention according to claim 4, wherein the partition portion is formed by a tether provided so as to connect the first fabric portion and the second fabric portion. did.

  According to the above configuration, when the airbag is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, the tether provided to connect the first fabric portion and the second fabric portion functions as a partition portion in the airbag. A recess is formed in the portion where the tether exists. In this case, in the portion of the airbag where the recess is formed, the first fabric portion and the second fabric portion can be separated from each other by the amount of the tether, so that sufficient gas exists in that portion. Is possible. Therefore, it is possible to effectively absorb the impact on the occupant due to a side collision or the like at the portion of the airbag where the recess is formed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the passenger | crew's neck seated on the seat can be supported, and the inflated and deployed airbag can be prevented from shifting in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

The side view which shows the vehicle seat equipped with the side airbag apparatus of this embodiment with a passenger | crew and an airbag. The partial cross-sectional view which shows the airbag and inflator incorporated in the seat back of the vehicle seat with a body side part. FIG. 3 is a partial plan cross-sectional view showing a state in which the airbag protrudes from the seat back and is inflated and deployed from the state of FIG. The front sectional view which shows the positional relationship of a vehicle seat and a body side part with a passenger | crew and an airbag. FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view showing the positional relationship between the vehicle seat and the body side part together with the occupant and the airbag. (A) is a top view which shows the base fabric for forming an airbag, (b) is a side view which shows the airbag formed with the base fabric. (A) And (b) is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between an inflated airbag and an occupant, and (c) to (e) show the airbag and the occupant of (a) and (b) with an arrow C, respectively. Schematic which shows the state seen from -C direction, arrow DD direction, and arrow EE direction. Schematic which shows the other example of an airbag. Schematic which shows the other example of an airbag. Schematic which shows the other example of an airbag.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a side airbag device for an automobile will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a side airbag device 1 includes an airbag 4 (broken line) provided in a state of being folded on a seat back 2 a of a seat 2 for a passenger P to sit in an automobile, and the airbag 4. An inflator 5 for supplying gas to the vehicle and a control device 6 for controlling the supply of gas to the airbag 4 by the inflator 5 are provided. The control device 6 is connected to an impact sensor 7 formed of an acceleration sensor or the like provided on the body side portion of the automobile, and the impact sensor 7 detects an impact applied to the body side portion of the automobile. Then, the control device operates the inflator 5 based on the detection signal from the impact sensor 7 to supply gas to the airbag 4.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan sectional view showing a structure around the airbag 4 of the seat back 2a. As shown in the figure, the airbag 4 is stored in a folded state in a portion near the body side portion 8 of the automobile inside the seat back 2a, and gas is supplied to the airbag 4. The inflator 5 is housed. The inflator 5 is fixed to the frame 9 forming the skeleton of the seat back 2a together with the airbag 4 in the folded state. When the gas from the inflator 5 is supplied to the airbag 4, the folded airbag 4 is inflated and deployed to leave a portion near the inflator 5 in the seat back 2 a as shown in FIG. 3. However, it is in a state of jumping out from the seat back 2a.

  The airbag 4 inflated and deployed in response to the supply of gas from the inflator 5 in this manner is on the side of the occupant P seated on the seat 2 as shown in FIGS. It is located between the automatic body side portion 8. In other words, the airbag 4 that has been supplied with gas from the inflator 5 is inflated and deployed between the occupant P and the body side portion 8 of the vehicle on the side of the occupant P seated on the seat 2. It becomes like this. As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, the inflated airbag 4 is provided on the body PT (including the waist and chest), shoulder PS, neck PN, and head PH of the occupant P seated on the seat 2. The vehicle extends in the vertical direction, and extends in the front-rear direction of the automobile over the entire front-rear direction of each part of the occupant.

  Next, the detailed structure of the airbag 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 6A is a plan view showing the base fabric 11 for forming the airbag 4, and FIG. 6B is a side view showing the airbag 4 formed by the base fabric 11.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the base fabric 11 has a line-symmetric shape centered on the straight line L1, and the first cloth portion 12 located on one side of the straight line L1 and the straight line L1. On the other hand, the 2nd cloth part 13 located in the one side opposite to the 1st cloth part 12 is provided. On the back surface of the first cloth portion 12 in the figure, the entire side in the width direction of the first band cloth 14 is sewn linearly. Moreover, the whole side of the width direction in the 2nd band cloth 15 is sewn on the back surface in the figure in the 2nd cloth part 13 at linear form. The first band cloth 14 and the second band cloth 15 are positioned so as to be line symmetric with respect to the straight line L1.

  When the airbag 4 shown in FIG. 6 (b) is formed by the base cloth 11 shown in FIG. 6 (a), the base cloth 11 is first folded in a straight line L1 and the first cloth portion 12 and Two cloth parts 13 are overlapped with each other. And in the state which piled up the 1st band cloth 14 and the 2nd band cloth 15 which are located between the 1st cloth part 12 and the 2nd cloth part 13 which were piled up mutually in the thickness direction, FIG. By sewing together at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line L2 in (a), the tether 16 (FIG. 6 (b)) composed of the first band cloth 14 and the second band cloth 15 becomes the first cloth portion 12 and the second cloth cloth. It is provided so as to connect the cloth part 13. Further, by sewing the outer edge portions of the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 overlapped with each other as described above as shown by a two-dot chain line L3 in FIG. 6A, FIG. The bag-like airbag 4 shown in FIG.

  In the airbag 4 formed in a bag shape in this way, an opening 4 a for inserting the inflator 5 is formed inside the airbag 4. The interior of the airbag 4 is partitioned into two chambers, a front chamber 17 and a back chamber 18, by the tether 16 that functions as a partition section. The first band cloth 14 and the second band cloth 15 that form the tether 16 are not sewn together over their entire length direction, but are stitched together at the middle part of the length direction and slightly above. There is a portion that is not (hereinafter referred to as slit 19). And in the part corresponding to the said slit 19 in the tether 16, since the front chamber 17 and the back chamber 18 will be in the mutually connected state, the said part is called a part (part which does not have a partition part) which does not function as a partition part. It will be.

  Therefore, when gas is supplied from the inflator 5 into the airbag 4, the gas flows into the front chamber 17 of the airbag 4, and then passes through the slit 19 and flows into the back chamber 18. Due to the gas flow in the airbag 4, the folded airbag 4 is inflated and deployed. When the airbag 4 attached to the vehicle is inflated and deployed as described above, the airbag 4 is shown by a two-dot chain line L4 in the figure with respect to the passenger P seated on the seat 2 as shown in FIG. Located as shown.

  As indicated by a two-dot chain line L4 in the figure, in this state, in the tether 16 of the airbag 4, the slit 19 is located at a portion corresponding to the seat 2 between the seat back 2a and the headrest 2b. That is, when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed (two-dot chain line L4), the formation position and size of the slit 19 in FIG. 6B are determined so that the slit 19 exists at the position described above.

  Further, when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed (two-dot chain line L4 in FIG. 1), a portion other than the slit 19 in the tether 16 of the airbag 4 that is located above the slit 19 is the airbag. 4 is located so as to extend from the upper end of 4 to the upper end of the neck PN of the occupant P. On the other hand, the portion located below the slit 19 in the tether 16 at this time is located so as to extend from the lower end of the airbag 4 to the lower end of the neck PN of the occupant P. That is, when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed (two-dot chain line L4), in the tether 16 in FIG. 6B, the upper part and the lower part of the tether 16 are present at the positions described above. The formation position and length of the upper part and the lower part of the slit 19 are determined.

Next, the shape of the airbag 4 in a state where the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
7A schematically shows the positional relationship between the occupant P in FIG. 1 and the airbag 4 inflated and deployed as indicated by a two-dot chain line L4, and FIG. 7B shows the occupant of FIG. The state which looked at P and the airbag 4 from the vehicle front side (right side of Fig.7 (a)) is shown typically. In the airbag 4 inflated and deployed, the first fabric portion 12 is positioned on the passenger P side (seat 2 side) in FIG. 7B, while the second fabric portion 13 is on the left side (body body) in FIG. Located on the side portion 8 side). 7, (c) schematically shows a cross section of the airbag 4 of (a) and (b) as viewed from the direction of the arrow CC, and (d) shows the airbag 4 with the arrow D. The cross section seen from -D direction is shown typically, (e) has shown typically the cross section which looked at the said airbag 4 from the arrow EE direction.

  In the airbag 4 above the slit 19 in the tether 16, a portion where the slit 19 does not exist, that is, a portion that does not function as a partition portion (portion where the partition portion does not exist) is shown in FIG. ), The recess 20 is formed so as to extend in the up-down direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in the drawing). This is because when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by the supply of gas, the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 are likely to be separated at portions other than the portion corresponding to the tether 16, whereas the tether 16 This is because the separation between the first cloth portion 12 and the second cloth portion 13 is regulated by the tether 16 at a portion corresponding to (more precisely, a portion functioning as a partition portion).

  Further, in the airbag 4 in FIG. 7A, the portion below the slit 19 in the tether 16, that is, the portion where the slit 19 does not exist, that is, the portion that does not function as the partition portion (the portion where the partition portion does not exist). ), The recess 21 is formed so as to extend in the vertical direction (direction orthogonal to the paper surface in the drawing) as shown in FIG. The reason why the recess 21 is formed in this manner is the same as described above. That is, when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by the supply of gas, the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 are likely to be separated at portions other than the portion corresponding to the tether 16, whereas the tether 16 ( This is because the tether 16 regulates the separation between the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 in a portion corresponding to a portion that functions as a partitioning portion.

  Further, in the airbag 4 of FIG. 7A, the portion corresponding to the slit 19 of the tether 16, that is, the portion corresponding to the seat back 2a and the headrest 2b of the seat 2 (see FIG. 1) is provided on the seat 2 side (see FIG. 7 (e) is formed with a protrusion 22 projecting toward the neck PN side of the occupant P. This is because when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, when the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 are about to be separated through the gas supply, the portion corresponding to the slit 19 in the tether 16 ( This is because the first cloth part 12 and the second cloth part 13 are allowed to be separated from each other at a portion that does not function as a partition part. The convex portion 22 formed in this manner has a thickness in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 7 (e)) in the front-rear direction of the vehicle in the airbag 4 (up-down direction in FIG. 7 (e)). Made the thickest.

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The airbag 4 that is inflated and deployed in response to the supply of gas is located on the side of the occupant P seated on the seat 2 and between the occupant P and the body side portion 8 of the vehicle. At this time, the convex portion 22 of the airbag 4 protrudes toward the seat 2 at a portion corresponding to the neck portion PN of the occupant P, whereby the neck portion PN of the occupant P is supported by the convex portion 22. On the other hand, at this time, the concave portion 20 located above the convex portion 22 in the airbag 4 is located corresponding to the head PH of the occupant P, and the concave portion 21 located below the convex portion 22 is located on the occupant P. It is located corresponding to the shoulder PS and the like. Accordingly, at this time, the head PH of the occupant P is encased by the upper recess 20 and the shoulder PS of the occupant P is encased by the lower recess 21, thereby the airbag. It is suppressed that 4 shifts | deviates from the appropriate position with respect to the passenger | crew P to the front-back direction of a vehicle.

  (2) In the airbag 4 in an inflated and deployed state, the thickness of the convex portion 22 in the width direction of the vehicle is the largest in the front-rear direction of the vehicle in the airbag 4, so that the passenger seated in the seat 2 The neck PN of P can be accurately supported by the convex portion 22.

  (3) When the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, the first fabric portion 12 located on the seat 2 side and the second fabric portion 13 located on the body side portion 8 side in the airbag 4 are connected. The recesses 20 and 21 are formed by the tether 16 as a part. On the other hand, when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, the portion of the airbag 4 that is above or below the tether 16 and does not function as a partitioning portion of the tether 16 (corresponding to the slit 19), in other words, In other words, a convex portion 22 is formed in a portion other than the concave portions 20 and 21. As described above, when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, the recesses 20 and 21 and the protrusion 22 can be easily formed by the tether 16 (including the slit 19) of the airbag 4.

  (4) When the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed by supplying gas, the tether 16 provided to connect the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 functions as a partition portion in the airbag 4. Therefore, the recesses 20 and 21 are formed in the portion where the tether 16 exists. In this case, in the portion of the airbag 4 where the recesses 20 and 21 are formed, the first fabric portion 12 and the second fabric portion 13 can be separated from each other by the amount of the tether 16. Sufficient gas can be present. Therefore, the impact on the occupant P due to a side collision or the like can be effectively absorbed at the portion of the airbag 4 where the recesses 20 and 21 are formed.

In addition, the said embodiment can also be changed as follows, for example.
As shown in FIG. 8, in the airbag 4, a portion below the slit 19 in the tether 16 is shortened in the vertical direction, and a recess formed by the portion wraps only around the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P. You may do it.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in the airbag 4, a portion below the slit 19 in the tether 16 may be omitted. In this case, in the airbag 4, a convex portion that supports the neck PN of the occupant P is formed in a portion corresponding to the slit 19 in the tether 16, and a concave portion is formed only in a portion above the slit 19 in the tether 16. The concave portion wraps around the head PH of the occupant P.

  As shown in FIG. 10, a portion of the airbag 4 above the slit 19 in the tether 16 may be omitted. In this case, in the airbag 4, a convex portion that supports the neck PN of the occupant P is formed at a portion corresponding to the slit 19 in the tether 16, and a concave portion is formed only in a portion below the slit 19 in the tether 16. Then, the concave portion wraps around the shoulder portion PS and the trunk portion PT of the occupant P.

  -While omitting the tether 16, the part corresponding to the part where the first band cloth 14 is sewn in the first cloth part 12, and the part corresponding to the part where the second band cloth 15 is sewn in the second cloth part 13 May be formed by directly sewing together. In this case, the portion corresponding to the slit 19 in the tether 16 is not subjected to the above-described direct stitching, and thereby the portion that is not directly stitched when the airbag 4 is inflated and deployed (formation of the partition portion). The convex portion 22 is formed on the portion that is not.

  The airbag 4 and the inflator 5 in the side airbag device 1 may be provided on the body side portion 8 located on the side of the seat 2 in the vehicle width direction.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Side airbag apparatus, 2 ... Seat, 2a ... Seat back, 2b ... Headrest, 4 ... Air bag, 4a ... Opening part, 5 ... Inflator, 6 ... Control apparatus, 7 ... Impact sensor, 8 ... Body side part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Frame, 11 ... Base cloth, 12 ... 1st cloth part, 13 ... 2nd cloth part, 14 ... 1st belt cloth, 15 ... 2nd belt cloth, 16 ... Tether, 17 ... Front room, 18 ... Back room , 19 ... slit, 20, 21 ... concave portion, 22 ... convex portion.

Claims (5)

An airbag provided independently for each seat of the vehicle; the side of an occupant seated on the seat by supplying gas to the airbag; and between the occupant and the body side portion of the vehicle In a side airbag device for inflating and deploying an airbag,
In the inflated and deployed state, the airbag has a convex portion that protrudes toward the seat at a portion corresponding to a portion between the seat back and the headrest of the seat, and an upper side and a lower side of the convex portion. A side airbag device characterized in that a recess extending in the vertical direction is formed in at least one of the side airbag devices. The recessed portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state is formed to extend from the upper end of the airbag to the upper end of the occupant's neck, and is formed to extend from the lower end of the airbag to the lower end of the occupant's neck. Item 10. The side airbag device according to Item 1. The side airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the convex portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state has a thickness in a width direction of the vehicle that is thickest in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the airbag. The airbag in an inflated and deployed state has a first cloth portion located on the seat side, a second cloth portion located on the body side, and connects the cloth portions and extends in the up-down direction to pass through the inside of the airbag. A partition section that partitions into two chambers in a state of communicating with each other;
The recessed portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state is formed in the airbag by the partition portion,
2. The side air according to claim 1, wherein the convex portion of the airbag in an inflated and deployed state is formed by a portion on the upper side or the lower side of the partition portion in the airbag and in which the partition portion does not exist. Bag device. The side airbag device according to claim 4, wherein the partition portion is formed by a tether provided so as to connect the first fabric portion and the second fabric portion.

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