JP2013095361A - Airbag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an airbag with which a crew member can be protected appropriately regardless of design of an instrument panel part.SOLUTION: In an air bag body part 15, a horizontal expansion part 41 is mounted to the side of a driver D, the horizontal expansion part 41 being configured to be deployed along a car width direction between an abdominal region A of the driver D and an instrument panel part 13 by introducing expansion gas. A vertical expansion part 42 adjacent to the horizontal expansion part 41 is deployed, above the horizontal expansion part 41, to a position confronted with an upper body B of the driver D by introducing expansion gas.

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag that inflates and deploys between a vehicle occupant and an instrument panel portion.

  Conventionally, efforts have been made to improve the restraining performance of airbags mounted on automobiles or motorcycles. For example, in an airbag device for a passenger in a passenger seat of an automobile, a planned door portion provided on an occupant-facing portion of an instrument panel portion, which is a structure, or an upper portion of an instrument panel is usually used as an inflation pressure of the airbag. It opens to the front of the occupant by opening the door, so that the impact on the occupant is mitigated.

  The positional relationship between the seating position of the passenger in the passenger seat and the mounting position of the airbag device is naturally determined for steering operation, such as the positional relationship between the sitting position of the driver and the mounting position of the airbag device. There is no relationship, and the distance from the mounting position to the restraint surface generally tends to be longer than that of the driver airbag device.

  The passenger seat is positioned so that the occupant does not get too close to the instrument panel and feels pressure, or when a storage device such as a glove box provided at the occupant facing part of the instrument panel is opened. In order to prevent the box portion from hitting the passenger's occupant's knee, the seat is laid out at a distance from the instrument panel. Therefore, the passenger seat airbag is generally required to have a large front-rear dimension and a large capacity compared to the driver seat airbag.

  In addition, the interior design of the vehicle greatly affects the passenger comfort. A feeling that the passenger is properly wrapped in the passenger compartment, that is, a moderate feeling of wrapping is preferable, but if it is excessive, it becomes a feeling of being trapped and has the opposite effect.

  On the other hand, indoor designs with good visibility may be preferred. Such an indoor design leads to a feeling of openness, exhilaration, and a feeling of spaciousness (a feeling of spaciousness) of the passenger compartment, and can contribute to an improvement in comfort.

  Therefore, various attempts are made with the aim of open interior design while balancing each part. One technique for this is to increase the forward field of view.

  Car seats, including passenger seats, are positive with some exceptions. Therefore, by enlarging the forward field of view, the effect of increasing the feeling of opening is great, and there is also a favorable effect in terms of running safety.

  On the other hand, considering the aerodynamic performance and the parking situation in urban areas, the ceiling of the vehicle body cannot be made excessively high.

  Therefore, the design which makes the height of an instrument panel part relatively low may be adopted.

  However, if the height of the instrument panel portion is formed low, when the airbag is provided in the instrument panel portion, the bulging base point of the airbag is lowered. If the bulging base point of the airbag is lowered in this way, it is necessary to review the conventional method of deploying obliquely upward and contacting the occupant's chest and head with a soft feel. That is, when the height of the instrument panel is low, the occupant's chest and head face each other in the conventional launch deployment direction, and when the airbag is deployed at a higher angle, the protective part of the airbag's abdomen is removed. It is required to expand downward and more quickly. In addition, the volume of the instrument panel is reduced by reducing the height, and it is not easy to secure the installation space for the airbag device, so the airbag device can be downsized while securing a large capacity of the airbag device. I need it.

  Therefore, a lower inflating portion that protrudes from the upper part of the instrument panel portion toward the occupant's chest, and an upper inflating portion that is continuous with the upper portion of the lower inflating portion and faces the occupant's head, etc. A so-called two-chamber airbag main body portion provided is known to have a downsized airbag device while ensuring the capacity of the airbag main body portion (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-160016 A (page 3-5, FIG. 1)

  However, in the case of the airbag device described above, the lower inflation portion of the airbag main body is not located between the abdomen of the occupant and the instrument panel, so that the occupant's waist moves forward. The counter-occupant side of the lower inflatable part is far away from the reaction force surface for applying a reaction force to the counter-occupant side of the lower inflatable part. There is a problem that it is not easy to improve power.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an airbag that can suitably protect an occupant regardless of the design of a structure.

  The airbag according to claim 1 is a bag-like shape in which inflation gas is introduced from a state in which the airbag is folded and is inflated between the occupant and a structure positioned in front of the occupant facing the occupant of the vehicle. The airbag main body portion is attached to the side of the occupant, and the vehicle width direction is introduced between the abdomen of the occupant and the structure by introducing inflation gas. A first air chamber extending along the first air chamber, and a position adjacent to the first air chamber and facing the upper body of the occupant by introduction of inflation gas, to a position above the first air chamber. And a second air chamber that expands.

  The airbag according to claim 2 is the airbag according to claim 1, wherein the first air chamber is set to have a larger internal pressure than the second air chamber.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the airbag according to the first or second aspect, the airbag main body portion is provided on a wall portion that divides the first air chamber and the second air chamber, and on the wall portion. And a vent hole that guides the expansion gas in the first air chamber to the second air chamber.

  According to the airbag of the first aspect, the upper part of the occupant falls down forward by restraining the abdomen of the occupant by the first air chamber supported by the structure in front of the occupant. Since it abuts on the second air chamber developed above the chamber, the second air chamber can be supported on the upper side of the structure even if the height of the structure is low, for example. The upper body of the passenger can be restrained. Therefore, the passenger can be suitably protected regardless of the design of the structure.

  According to the airbag of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the airbag of the first aspect, the internal pressure of the first air chamber is made larger than the internal pressure of the second air chamber to Since the first air chamber can be restrained more reliably, the upper body of the occupant can be more reliably fallen into the second air chamber.

  According to the airbag according to claim 3, in addition to the effect of the airbag according to claim 1 or 2, the expansion of the first air chamber is performed on the wall portion that divides the first air chamber and the second air chamber. By providing a vent hole that guides the gas to the second air chamber, the second air chamber can be developed following the first air chamber, and the number and shape of the air holes are appropriately set. Thus, it is possible to easily control the internal pressure and the deployment time of each of the first air chamber and the second air chamber.

It is a side view which shows typically the deployment state of the airbag main-body part of one embodiment of the airbag of the present invention. It is a top view which shows typically the expansion | deployment state of an airbag main-body part same as the above. It is a front view which shows typically the expansion | deployment state of an airbag main-body part same as the above. It is sectional drawing which shows the accommodation state of an airbag main-body part same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows a part of vehicle compartment provided with other embodiment of the airbag of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an airbag according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 4, reference numeral 10 denotes an airbag device. The airbag device 10 is a structure located in front of an occupant D of a passenger seat of an automobile 11 as a vehicle, that is, a passenger seat 12 as an object to be protected. Arranged inside an instrument panel 13 is an airbag device 10 for a passenger on the passenger seat. Hereinafter, the front-rear direction, the both-side direction, and the up-down direction will be described based on the straight traveling direction of the automobile 11 with the airbag device 10 attached to the automobile. Moreover, in each figure, the passenger | crew D is shown with the dummy.

  The airbag device 10 can also be referred to as an airbag module, and includes an airbag 16 having an airbag body portion 15 that is a bag-like outer shell portion formed of a base fabric, an airbag body portion 15 and the like. An inflator 17 that supplies gas to the case, a case body 18 to which the airbag 16 and the inflator 17 are attached, a retainer 19, a cover body 20 that covers the airbag 16 before deployment, and a control (not shown) that controls the operation of the inflator 17 Means are provided. Furthermore, the airbag device 10 is attached to the inside of a door 21 that opens and closes the side of the passenger seat 12 of the automobile 11, for example, and is electrically connected to a control device including a sensor and the like.

  The case body 18 is formed in a substantially box shape, and within the installation portion 23 that is a space portion formed inside the door 21, below the side glass 24 inside the door 21, that is, closer to the upper side inside the door 21. One side portion that is housed in the position and toward the occupant D side is a rectangular projecting opening 25 that is an opening, and the inside is an airbag housing portion that houses the folded airbag body 15 (airbag 16). ing. An attachment hole 26 for attaching the inflator 17 is formed at the bottom of the case body 18. And this protrusion 25 is covered with the cover body 20 at normal time.

  The inflator 17 includes a main body portion 31 having a disk shape, for example, and a flange portion 32 is provided around the main body portion 31, and a through hole is formed in the flange portion 32. A plurality of gas injection ports 33 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 31. The igniter and the medicine are accommodated inside the main body 31, and the igniter burns the medicine by an electric signal transmitted from a control means (not shown) connected to the bottom, and the gas injection port The expansion gas is supplied from 33 rapidly. The inflator 17 is attached to the bottom of the case body 18 in a state where the main body 31 provided with the gas injection port 33 is inserted inside the airbag main body 15. The inflator 17 has various shapes. For example, a configuration in which a columnar main body is disposed inside the airbag main body 15 can be employed.

  The retainer 19 is formed in a frame shape, and is provided with an attachment bolt 35 for attaching the inflator 17 together with the airbag body 15 (airbag 16).

  Further, the cover body 20 is formed of resin so as to be integrated with or separate from the instrument panel portion 13, and a tear line 37 that is thinner than other portions and easily breaks is formed in a substantially plane H shape or the like. .

  The airbag main body 15 is formed into a bag shape as a whole by joining a single or a plurality of base fabrics in combination by sewing, bonding, welding, etc., and is positioned relatively lower in the deployed state. A horizontal expansion portion 41 that is a first air chamber (chamber) and a vertical expansion portion 42 that is a second air chamber (chamber) that is continuous above the horizontal expansion portion 41 in an unfolded state; It has a so-called two-chamber structure. Further, the horizontal expansion portion 41 and the vertical expansion portion 42 are vertically separated by a wall portion 43 and are adjacent to each other, and communicate with each other through a vent hole 44 provided in the wall portion 43.

  The horizontal inflating portion 41 can also be called a lower chamber. The inflating gas introduced from the inflator 17 opposes the abdominal portion A of the occupant D and is positioned between the abdominal portion A and the instrument panel portion 13. expand. That is, the horizontal inflating portion 41 is attached to the side of the occupant D, that is, one side of the door 21 located on one side in the vehicle width direction with respect to the occupant D, and expands along the horizontal direction along the vehicle width direction. It is configured as follows. Therefore, one side attached to the case body 18 inside the door 21 is a gas introduction part 46, and the other side facing the gas introduction part 46 is a first side surface extending in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction. The lower side surface portion 47 is a portion. Further, the rear portion of the deployed horizontal inflating portion 41 facing the abdomen A of the occupant D is an occupant abdomen restraint surface 48 which is a first occupant restraint surface extending in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction. Further, the front portion on the side opposite to the occupant D of the horizontal inflating portion 41 in the deployed state is a first reaction force surface portion as a first support portion that is an end portion on the occupant D side of the instrument panel portion 13. A lower facing surface portion 49 is a first facing surface portion facing the end portion 13a and extending in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction. Therefore, the lower facing surface portion 49 is supported by being in contact with and supported by the rear end portion 13a of the instrument panel portion 13, so that the horizontal inflating portion 41 is fixed in the front-rear direction, and the occupant abdomen restraining surface portion 48 moves forward. A reaction force is applied to the abdomen A of the occupant D, and the abdomen A of the occupant D is restrained (suppressing the movement of the lumbar D of the occupant D forward). Further, the portion that continues between the lower portion of the passenger abdomen restraint surface portion 48 and the lower portion of the lower facing surface portion 49 of the horizontally inflated portion 41 in the deployed state extends in the vehicle width direction and the front-rear direction, and extends below the airbag body portion 15. A lower surface portion 50 is defined. The lower surface portion 50 is located above the leg portion (knee portion) L of the occupant D so as to face the leg portion L.

  The vertical inflating part 42 can also be called an upper chamber, and the upper body B of the occupant D, that is, the chest part C and the head part H, etc. by the inflation gas introduced from the horizontal inflating part 41 through the vent hole 44. The upper portion of the instrument panel portion 13 is developed at a position opposite to the portion including the portion, and is opposed to the inclined portion 13b which is the second reaction surface portion as the second support portion that gradually inclines forward to the upper side. And it is located behind the windshield 53 which is a windshield. Accordingly, the rear portion of the vertically expanded portion 42 in the deployed state that faces the upper body B of the occupant D is an occupant upper body restraint surface portion 54 that is a second restraint surface portion that extends in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction. An upper portion of the occupant upper body restraint surface portion 54 that faces the occupant's head H is an inclined restraint surface portion 54a that gradually inclines forward. Further, the front portion on the side opposite to the occupant D of the vertically expanded portion 42 in the deployed state is a second facing surface portion that extends in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction so as to face the position of the inclined portion 13b of the instrument panel portion 13. It is an upper facing surface portion 55. Therefore, the upper facing surface portion 55 abuts and is supported by the inclined portion 13b of the instrument panel portion 13, so that the longitudinally expanding portion 42 is fixed in the front-rear direction, and the occupant upper body restraining surface portion 54 falls forward. The upper body B of the occupant D is constrained by applying a reaction force to the upper body B of D. Further, the portion of the vertically inflated portion 42 in the deployed state that is continuous between the occupant body restraint surface portion 54 and the upper facing surface portion 55 extends in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction, and defines the upper surface of the airbag main body portion 15. It is part 56. The upper surface portion 56 is formed so as to incline upward toward the rear in the deployed state of the longitudinal expansion portion 42, and is located above the instrument panel portion 13 and on the occupant D side of the windshield 53, that is, at the rear position. The front glass 53 is spaced apart and faced. In addition, both side portions of the vertically expanded portion 42 in the deployed state are upper side surface portions 57 that are second side surface portions extending along the front-rear direction and the vertical direction, respectively. The upper side surface 57 is formed with a vent hole 58 that allows the inflation gas to be discharged at a position closer to the front lower portion. These vent holes 58 appropriately set the internal pressure of the airbag main body 15 by discharging excess inflation gas when the vertical inflation portion 42 is deployed.

  The wall portion 43 is a horizontal surface portion extending in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction in the deployed state of the airbag body portion 15, and the base fabric forming the inflatable portions 41, 42, or the inflatable portions 41, 42 It is formed of a base fabric different from the constituent base fabric.

  Further, the vent hole 44 allows passage of the inflation gas from the horizontal expansion portion 41 to the vertical expansion portion 42, and one or a plurality of ventilation holes 44 are provided in the wall portion 43. Then, by controlling the number or shape (opening size) of the vent holes 44, in the present embodiment, the internal pressure of the horizontal expansion portion 41 is set to be larger than the internal pressure of the vertical expansion portion 42. Yes.

  Next, the deployment behavior of the airbag device 10 will be described.

  As an outline of the operation of the airbag device 10, when the control device operates the inflator 17 and injects inflation gas from the inflator 17 in the event of a collision with the automobile 11, the airbag device 10 is stored in the airbag storage portion in a folded state. The air bag main body portion 15 is inflated and deployed as the inflation gas flows in from the gas introduction portion 46, breaks the tear line 37 of the cover body 20 and projects from the projection opening 25, the instrument panel portion 13 and the windshield 53 Deploy to the occupant D side at a position behind.

  That is, in the airbag main body 15, the horizontal inflating portion 41 first protrudes in the horizontal direction with respect to the door 21 by the inflating gas flowing from the gas introducing portion 46, and the abdominal portion A of the occupant D and the instrument panel portion 13 Rapid deployment between the rear end 13a.

  Next, when the inflation gas flowing into the horizontal inflation portion 41 passes through the vent hole 44, the vertical inflation portion 42 protrudes upward from the horizontal inflation portion 41, and the upper body B and the instrument panel of the occupant D It quickly deploys between the inclined portion 13b of the portion 13 and faces the rear of the windshield 53.

  In this state, the occupant abdomen restraint surface portion 48 of the horizontal inflatable portion 41 is positioned so as to protrude rearward from the occupant upper body restraint surface portion 54 of the vertical inflatable portion 42, that is, toward the occupant D side.

  Therefore, when the abdomen A of the occupant D who wants to move forward comes into contact with the occupant abdomen restraint surface 48 of the horizontal inflating part 41, the lower facing surface part 49 of the horizontal inflating part 41 becomes the rear end 13a of the instrument panel part 13. By being supported, the horizontal inflating portion 41 is fixed in the front-rear direction, a reaction force is applied to the abdomen A of the occupant D, and the abdomen A of the occupant D is restrained. For this reason, the occupant D is restrained from moving the waist W forward, and the upper body B falls forward and bows with the abdomen A as a fulcrum, so that the occupant D contacts the occupant upper body restraint surface 54 of the longitudinally expanding portion 42. Touch. And the vertical expansion part 42 is fixed to the front-back direction because the upper opposing surface part 55 of the vertical expansion part 42 is supported by the inclination part 13b of the instrument panel part 13, and reaction force is applied with respect to the upper body B of the passenger | crew D Given, the upper body B of the occupant D is restrained.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the upper part B of the occupant D is moved forward by restraining the abdomen A of the occupant D by the horizontal inflating part 41 supported by the rear end part 13a of the instrument panel part 13. The vertical inflating portion 42 that expands above the horizontal inflating portion 41 while falling down, for example, even if the height of the instrument panel portion 13 is low, the vertical inflating portion 42 of the instrument panel portion 13 It can be supported by the upper inclined portion 13b, and the upper body B of the occupant D can be restrained by the longitudinally expanding portion. Therefore, regardless of the design of the instrument panel portion 13 such as the height, the occupant D can be suitably and stably protected.

  Therefore, the height of the instrument panel section 13 can be made relatively low, and the interior design of the automobile 11 can be made to have a good view with an enlarged front view. From the viewpoint of sex. Even if the volume of the instrument panel 13 is reduced by reducing its height, the installation space for the airbag device 10 can be secured inside the door 21, so the airbag device 10 is smaller than necessary. It does not become.

  Since the windshield 53 is not used as the reaction surface portion of the longitudinally inflating portion 42, the versatility of the airbag 16 is good. For example, the design can be shared between different types of automobiles 11.

  Further, since the abdomen A of the occupant D can be more reliably restrained by the horizontal expansion part 41 by making the internal pressure of the horizontal expansion part 41 larger than the internal pressure of the vertical expansion part 42, the upper body B of the occupant D can be It is possible to fall down to 42 more reliably.

  Further, by providing a vent hole 44 that guides the expansion gas of the horizontal expansion portion 41 to the vertical expansion portion 42 in the wall portion 43 that partitions the horizontal expansion portion 41 and the vertical expansion portion 42, the horizontal expansion portion 41 is followed. The vertical expansion portion 42 can be expanded, and the internal pressure and expansion time of the horizontal expansion portion 41 and the vertical expansion portion 42 can be easily controlled by appropriately setting the number and shape of the vent holes 44.

  Accordingly, since the horizontal inflating portion 41 can be deployed relatively earlier than the longitudinal inflating portion 42, the abdomen A of the occupant D can be more reliably restrained by the horizontally inflating portion 41 that has been deployed earlier, and this restraint leads to the front. The upper body of the occupant D who falls down can be more reliably protected by the vertical inflating portion 42 that is deployed following the horizontal inflating portion 41.

  In the above embodiment, the airbag device 10 may be provided in the passenger compartment 61 with a dedicated support structure, or the support structure may be provided in the interior part. As this interior product, for example, as in another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a center console 63 as an installation portion disposed between the passenger seat 12 and the driver seat 62, an armrest 64 as an installation portion, or the like Can be used. In FIG. 5, for the sake of clarity, the left-hand drive (LHD) specification automobile 11 is shown, and the steering wheel, that is, the steering wheel is omitted.

  In the airbag 16 of each of the above embodiments, the horizontal inflating portion 41 and the vertical inflating portion 42 are partitioned by the wall portion 43, and the horizontal inflating portion 41 and the vertical inflating portion 42 are formed by the gas passing through the vent holes 44. However, regardless of the vent hole 44, for example, the interior of the retainer 19 is divided into two compartments, and one inflator is provided independently for each of the two compartments. 41 and the vertical expansion part 42 may be connected. In this case, the vertical expansion portion 42 is provided with a duct portion toward the installation portion such as the door 21, the center console 63, or the armrest 64 along the upper surface of the horizontal expansion portion 41, so that the horizontal expansion portion 41 and the vertical expansion portion 42 are provided. Are supplied with the inflation gas from the corresponding inflator.

  Furthermore, an air bag similar to this bag shape is used, the gas supply port of the air bag is connected to a retainer 19 having a single compartment and a built-in inflator, the horizontal inflating portion 41 is normally open, and the duct portion It is good also as a form which installed the shut-off valve. When the gas supply from the inflator is started, the duct portion is closed by the shielding valve, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, the shut-off valve is opened so that the inflation gas can be supplied to the duct portion.

  Further, the pressure of the horizontal inflating portion 41 and the vertical inflating portion 42 is set so that the horizontal inflating portion 41 has a higher pressure than the longitudinal inflating portion 42 to restrain the occupant D's waist W. When the position closest to the instrument panel section 13 (front most position) or before that position, the pressure increase of the horizontal expansion section 41 is suppressed and the pressure of the vertical expansion section 42 is increased. The pressure control may be performed. The vertical expansion section 42 that supplies gas from the duct section is suitable for such control, and the horizontal expansion section 41 and the vertical expansion section 42 have almost the same internal pressure, or the vertical expansion section 42 has a slightly high pressure. You may do it.

  Further, the airbag device 10 may be arranged not only for the front seat but also for the rear seat. In this case, instead of the instrument panel portion 13, the occupant D can be suitably protected regardless of the design of the rear portion of the front seat, which is a structure positioned in front of the occupant D, for example.

  The present invention can be suitably used, for example, as an airbag for a passenger in a passenger seat of an automobile.

11 Vehicles as vehicles
13 Instrument panel, which is a structure
15 Airbag body
16 airbag
41 Horizontal expansion part as the first air chamber
42 Longitudinal inflatable part, the second air chamber
43 Wall
44 Vents A Abdomen B Upper body D Crew

Claims (3)

Air having a bag-like airbag main body portion that is inflated and deployed between the occupant and a structure positioned in front of the occupant in a state where the inflated gas is introduced from the folded and stored state. A bag,
The airbag body is
A first air chamber attached to the side of the occupant and deployed along the vehicle width direction between the abdomen of the occupant and the structure by introducing inflation gas;
A second air chamber that is adjacent to the first air chamber and expands to a position opposite to the occupant's upper body by introduction of inflation gas at a position above the first air chamber; An air bag characterized by The airbag according to claim 1, wherein the first air chamber is set to have an internal pressure larger than that of the second air chamber. The airbag body is
A wall section that divides the first air chamber and the second air chamber;
The airbag according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a vent hole provided in the wall portion for guiding the inflation gas in the first air chamber to the second air chamber.

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