JP2013208978A - Head protective airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve quick and excellent expansion by avoiding interference with an interior material when a curtain airbag is inflated and expanded.SOLUTION: A side airbag is configured such that an airbag 10A is folded into a roll shape from the front to the rear in a vehicle cabin and fixed and accommodated at a predetermined position in order to be inflated and expanded in a curtain shape along the inner surface on the vehicle cabin side in a case such as when a collision is detected. A notch part 15 is provided at a predetermined position of an upper edge of a roll-shaped part 10b of the airbag 10A. The airbag is fixed and held at a part of a vehicle body after changing the folded shape thereof such that the folded-back shape of folded-back parts 10d, 10e provided at end edges of the folded airbag 10A is formed into a substantially Z-shape and a substantially V-shape with the notch part 15 as the boundary. As a result, the expansion direction of the airbag 10A expanded with the initial inflation of the folded-back parts 10d, 10e can be switched with the notch part 15 as the boundary. Consequently, interference with a specific interior material can be partially avoided, thereby achieving quick expansion of the airbag.

Description

  The present invention relates to a head protection airbag device, and in particular, in the form of a curtain between an occupant and each pillar and door window from the front to the rear of the side of the vehicle body, for example, at the time of a vehicle side collision or rollover. The present invention relates to a head protecting airbag device that is inflated and deployed.

  As one of the head protection airbag devices, an elongate curtain shape that is folded and stored along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in a cover molding disposed at the upper part of the side of the passenger compartment in the range from the front to the rear of the passenger compartment. There is a device in which a side airbag is inflated and deployed. In an automobile equipped with this head protection airbag device, when the vehicle receives a side collision or when an accident occurrence is predicted by the operation of a collision prediction sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as “prediction time”), this side air bag is used. The bag expands from the front pillar A located in the front of the vehicle compartment to the front seat window, the center pillar B, the rear seat window, and the rear pillar C, and expands in the form of a curtain downward with the occupant. Restrains movement of the head in the lateral direction.

  In this technical field, when a curtain-like side airbag device is deployed, it is necessary to avoid interference with interior materials such as pillars and trims, and to inflate and deploy to an appropriate shape. In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed an airbag device in which an auxiliary inflating body (blader) is added to the airbag device (Patent Document 1).

  The bladder as the auxiliary inflating body disclosed in Patent Document 1 is inflated prior to the inflating of the airbag for protecting the occupant. The bladder that has been inflated in advance plays a role of closing the cavity of the airbag housing portion and guiding the subsequently inflating airbag in a proper direction. However, since the bladder is added to the airbag so as to be inflated in advance at a position corresponding to the B pillar, the yield is deteriorated, the overall shape of the airbag is complicated, and the sewing work is troublesome. For this reason, there is a problem that the product cost increases.

  As an example that does not use an auxiliary inflatable body such as the above-described bladder, a head in which the airbag deployment direction is controlled by the folded shape of the airbag and the belt attached to the airbag at the initial stage of inflation of the airbag. A part protection airbag has also been proposed (Patent Document 2). In Patent Document 2, examples in which a bellows-like folded shape portion and a roll-like folded shape portion are provided as the folded shape of the airbag are shown in FIGS. 6, 16, and others as schematic diagrams.

US Patent No. 680262 JP 2005-178729 A

  In the airbag device of Patent Document 2, in the initial inflation stage, the deployment direction of the airbag is controlled by the bellows-shaped folded portion, and the subsequent deployment direction of the entire airbag is controlled by a belt attached to the airbag. For this reason, when the airbag is folded, it is necessary to fold the bellows-shaped folded portion and the roll-shaped folded portion over the entire length of the long airbag. Moreover, the process of attaching a belt to an airbag and the process of arrange | positioning and folding a belt in an appropriate position increase. For this reason, there are many airbag manufacturing processes, and the folding operation | work of an airbag becomes complicated, and the burden of an operation | work is large.

  Moreover, in the airbag apparatus of patent document 2, a bellows shape folding part and a roll shape folding part are folded over the whole region. For this reason, for example, as considered in Patent Document 1, it is not considered to partially control the deployment of the airbag at the position of a specific interior material such as a B pillar. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to change the folding shape at the final stage of the folding operation of the airbag, and to partially avoid interference with a specific interior material when the airbag is inflated and deployed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a head protecting airbag device that can be satisfactorily deployed.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle body in a state in which an airbag in which a plurality of inflatable support portions communicating from the front part to the rear part in a vehicle compartment are arranged is folded along the upper side edge of the vehicle interior. In a head protection airbag device that is fixedly held in part and is expanded in a curtain shape along the inner surface of the passenger compartment while inflating the expansion support portion by a gas introduced from an inflator that operates at the time of collision detection or prediction Forming a notch at a predetermined position on the upper edge of the airbag, and changing the folded shape of the folded portion provided at the end of the folded airbag with the notch as a boundary. The airbag is fixed and held, and the deployment direction of the airbag deployed with the initial expansion of the folded portion is changed with the notch as a boundary.

  The folded portion is folded with a substantially Z-shaped cross section, is fixed to the vehicle body at an upper position of the airbag, and downwards along the side surface of the passenger compartment when the airbag is initially inflated. It is preferable to rapidly develop it into a curtain shape.

  The folded portion is folded in a substantially V-shaped cross-section, is fixed to the vehicle body at a position outside the airbag, and is deployed toward the vehicle interior when the airbag is initially inflated. It is preferable to avoid interference.

  It is preferable that the notch length of the notch part is at least twice as long as the folded part to ensure the folded part.

  According to the present invention, at the time of a side collision, the air bag is avoided so as to avoid interference between the airbag and the interior material only by adjusting the folding method at the final stage of the airbag folding operation at the time of manufacturing the airbag. There is an effect that the expansion control of the bag can be performed.

The schematic front view which showed the structure of one Example of the head protection airbag apparatus of this invention. The schematic front view which showed the state which folded the airbag shown in FIG. The perspective view and schematic sectional drawing which expanded the airbag shown in FIG. 2 typically partially expanded, and showed it. The schematic cross section which showed the accommodation state and deployment initial state of the airbag. The schematic cross section which showed the accommodation state and deployment initial state of the airbag. The schematic cross section which showed the other Example of the folding state of the airbag. The schematic front view which showed the structure of the other Example of the head protection airbag apparatus.

  Hereinafter, as a best mode for carrying out the head protection airbag device of the present invention, the following embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a head protecting airbag device 10 (hereinafter referred to as a curtain airbag 10) that is inflated into a predetermined shape along the right side surface in the passenger compartment 1 and deployed in a curtain shape. FIG. The curtain airbag 10 is provided on both the left and right sides of the vehicle interior. In the following description, the configuration of the invention will be described using the curtain airbag 10 on the right side of the vehicle interior.

  The shape of the airbag 10A, which is the main component of the curtain airbag 10 shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, when referring to the airbag itself, is denoted by reference numeral 10A) is substantially the same as that of a known curtain airbag. Specifically, the airbag 10A includes two base fabrics of substantially the same shape that are cut long in the front-rear direction so as to cover the front pillar A to the rear pillar C of the vehicle body, and are sewn on the outer peripheral portion. An outer shape line 25 of a predetermined pattern is formed, which is made of a heavy base fabric and sews the overlapped base fabrics to partition the expansion support portion 20 and the non-expansion portion 22. Furthermore, the expansion support part 20 is partitioned into a front seat expansion support part 20F and a rear seat expansion support part 20R, and a non-expansion part 22 is disposed therebetween.

  Further, a notch 15 having a length L is formed on the upper edge 10a of the airbag 10A where the rear seat inflating support 20R is located. This notch 15 is a slit provided downward from the upper edge 10a of the airbag 10A. At the position of the notch 15, a part of the outer shape line 25 of the rear seat expansion support 20 </ b> R is sewn in a substantially U shape so as to avoid the notch 15. The notch 15 may be formed by cutting a predetermined position of the base cloth by a length L or by cutting a square piece having a predetermined width w and length L from the base cloth (see FIG. 1). The length L of the notch 15 is substantially equal to the diameter φ (FIG. 3A) when the airbag 10A is rolled and folded (hereinafter referred to as a roll-shaped portion 10b). In order to provide the folded portions 10d and 10e (see FIGS. 3B and 3C), it is preferable to secure approximately twice the diameter φ of the roll-shaped portion 10b. For example, when the diameter of the roll-shaped portion 10b is about 20 mm, it is preferable to set L = about 40 mm. When it is desired to secure the folded portions 10d, 10e in multiple stages, the approximate length may be set to an even multiple.

  In the airbag 10A, a gas inflow port 10c is further formed obliquely rearward and upward at an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction. An inflator 5 (FIG. 2) is connected to the gas inlet 10c. The inflator 5 is ignited by a medicine contained therein when a vehicle acceleration sensor (not shown) detects an acceleration exceeding a threshold value at the time of a side collision or prediction of the vehicle, and the reaction gas is suddenly ignited. Is generated. By introducing this gas into the airbag 10A through the gas inlet 10c, the front seat inflating support portion 20F and the rear seat inflating support portion 20R are inflated in the airbag 10A, and the roof side rail (not shown) The lid 3 (FIG. 4 (a), etc.) along the side is pushed open and deployed in a curtain shape downward from the opening position formed on the side surface of the vehicle body in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, thereby functioning as a curtain airbag 10.

  Furthermore, the curtain airbag 10 includes, as an airbag attachment portion to the vehicle body, a tip attachment portion 12 of the tip non-inflatable portion 11 and a plurality of attachment tabs 13 formed on the upper edge 10a in the longitudinal direction. Have The curtain airbag 10 is integrated with an airbag 10A in which the inflator 5 shown in FIG. 2 is folded into a substantially cylindrical shape, and then a tip mounting portion 12 is bolted to a vehicle body anchor portion (not shown) of the front pillar A. Stopped. Further, the mounting tab 13 is fixed to an anchor portion formed on a roof side rail (not shown) extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction between the upper end of the front pillar A, the upper end of the center pillar B, and the upper end of the rear pillar C. Attached to the car body. In this state, the entire curtain airbag 10 is accommodated in an internal space 4 covered with a lid 3 and a weather strip 9 extending in the longitudinal direction, which function as a partition molding between the vehicle ceiling and the side surface ( FIG. 4 (a) and FIG. 5 (a)).

  Hereinafter, the folded shape of the airbag 10A according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows the curtain airbag 10 in a state where the airbag 10A (indicated by virtual lines) in the expanded state shown in FIG. 1 is folded. In the curtain airbag 10, the bundle belt 6 is wound around the longitudinal direction at a predetermined interval in order to maintain the folded shape of the airbag 10 </ b> A. Alternatively, the folded shape is held by a cover (not shown). The bundling belt 6 or the cover is a thin cloth material that does not normally break, but is strong enough to break when the airbag 10A is inflated and applied with a predetermined tension.

  Here, the folded shape of the airbag will be described with reference to a portion surrounded by an ellipse in FIG. 2 and each drawing in FIG.

  FIG. 3A is a perspective view schematically showing a folded state of the airbag 10A by extracting a portion surrounded by an ellipse in FIG. In FIG. 3A, the bundling belt 6 is omitted for simplification of the drawing. In this embodiment, the airbag 10A is densely rolled into a roll shape from the expanded state shown in FIG. 1 so that the outside of the vehicle becomes the inside of the winding direction, thereby forming a roll-shaped portion 10b having a substantially cylindrical shape. Is done. Then, in the state of being rounded up to the notch portion 15 shown in FIG. 1, the end sides thereof have different folding directions with the notch portion 15 as a boundary as shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (c). Thus, the final end is folded back to form the folded portions 10d and 10e. The folded portions 10d and 10e are gathered together by a bundling belt (not shown) so that the entire airbag has a substantially cylindrical shape. Note that the roll-shaped portion 10b shown in FIG. 3A is drawn so that there is a gap between the wound airbags, but the airbag 10A is actually wound in a roll in a dense state. And becomes the roll-shaped portion 10b. 3B and 3C simply illustrate a cross section of a bag-like airbag 10A as a spiral curve diagram. The arrows in the figure indicate the deployment direction of each airbag 10A at the initial inflation stage.

  Hereinafter, for the folded shapes shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the folded shape in FIG. 3B is denoted as “A type”, and the folded shape in FIG. 3C is denoted as “B type”. Each explanation will be given. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the A-type folded shape is applied from the leading end side of the curtain airbag 10 to the notch 15, and the B-type extends from the notch 15 to the rear end of the airbag. The folded shape is applied.

  In the A type airbag portion shown in FIG. 3B, the airbag 10A shown in FIG. 1 is rolled into a roll shape from the lower end, and the cross-sectional shape is substantially Z-shaped at the upper end of the airbag. It has a shape having a folded portion 10d having a length substantially equal to the diameter of 10b. When the airbag 10A is bundled and bundled together with a belt (not shown), the substantially Z-shaped folded portion 10d is closely fitted and has a shape that follows the outer periphery of the roll-shaped portion 10b. As shown in the figure, the A-type folded portion 10d expands downward as indicated by an arrow in the initial expansion stage. Thereafter, after the lid 3 (FIG. 4B) is sufficiently pushed open, the airbag 10A is inflated and deployed toward the lower side of the window between a window (not shown) and the occupant.

  The airbag portion of type B shown in FIG. 3 (c) has the airbag 10A shown in FIG. 1 rolled into a roll shape from the lower end, and has a substantially V-shaped cross section at the upper end of the airbag. It has a shape having a folded portion 10e having a length substantially equal to the diameter of 10b. When the airbag 10A is bundled and bundled together with a belt (not shown), the substantially V-shaped folded portion 10e is closely fitted and has a shape that follows the outer periphery of the roll-shaped portion 10b. As shown in the figure, the B-type folded portion 10e expands toward the vehicle interior side as indicated by an arrow in the initial expansion stage. Thereafter, after the lid 3 (FIG. 5B) is sufficiently pushed open, the entire airbag 10A is inflated and deployed toward the vehicle interior side downward so as to avoid interference with the interior material.

  Hereinafter, an operation state in which the airbag 10A is inflated and deployed at the time of a collision from the state in which the curtain airbag 10 is attached to a part of the vehicle body in the folded state illustrated in FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. FIG. 4A shows an accommodation state in which the A-type folded-back portion 10d is attached to the fixed portion 7 of the vehicle body so as to be positioned above the roll-shaped portion 10b. In the curtain airbag 10 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the gas inflow port 10c is located substantially at the center of the entire length of the airbag 10A, and the B pillar is located at the rear end portion of the front seat expansion support portion 20F. In such a shape, since the expansion capacity of the front seat expansion support portion 20F is large, it is relatively easy to get over the B pillar. For this reason, the A-type folded shape portion is set to be relatively long, and the boundary (notch portion 15) with the B-type folded shape is provided immediately before the rear seat expansion support portion 20R.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4A, the front seat expansion support portion 20F of the airbag 10A is folded in an A-type folded shape as the airbag 10A. The folded portion 10d is positioned at the upper portion of the roll-shaped portion 10b and is fixed to the fixing portion 7 on the vehicle body side with a mounting tab 13 provided at the end of the folded portion 10d. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the A-type folded airbag 10A has a substantially Z-shaped folded portion inflated toward the vehicle interior in the initial inflation stage such as at the time of collision. The lid 3 which is a part of the room interior material expands so as to push downward as indicated by an arrow. Thereafter, the airbag 10A is guided along the inner surface of the lid 3, and is inflated and deployed in a curtain shape toward the lower side of the window between a window (not shown) and the occupant.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5A, the rear seat expansion support portion 20R of the airbag 10A is folded into a B-type folded shape. The folded-back portion 10e connected to the roll-shaped portion 10b is disposed so as to be located on the vehicle outer side of the roll-shaped portion 10b, and is fixed to the vehicle-body-side fixing portion 7 via the attachment tab 13. As shown in FIG. 5B, the B-type folded airbag 10A has a substantially V-shaped folded portion 10e inflated toward the vehicle interior side in the initial inflation stage such as at the time of collision. Thus, the lid 3 which is a part of the vehicle interior material expands so as to push open toward the vehicle interior as indicated by the arrow. Thereafter, the airbag 10A is guided along the inner surface of the lid 3, and is inflated and deployed in a curtain shape downward from the vehicle interior direction so as to avoid interference with the interior material 8 such as a pillar.

  Each drawing in FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the folded shape of the airbag 10A. FIG. 6A shows an example in which the entire airbag 10A is folded and folded into a bellows shape having a predetermined width (for example, about 2 cm on a side). The entire portion folded in a bellows shape was bundled by a bundling belt 6 (indicated by a broken line) to form a folded portion 10f having a substantially rectangular cross section. Also in this case, the A-type folded shape and the B-type folded shape can be realized by providing the substantially V-shaped or substantially Z-shaped folded portions 10d and 10e connected to the folded portion 10f. Thereby, in each type, it is possible to realize the deployment of the airbag 10A in the arrow direction shown in FIG. 6A in association with the expansion of the folded portions 10d and 10e in the initial expansion stage of the airbag.

  6 (b) and 6 (c) show a shape in which the length L of the cutout portion 15 is longer than twice the diameter φ of the roll-shaped portion 10b described above and is wound around the outer surface of the roll-shaped portion 10b. Yes.

  In the case of FIG. 6B (denoted as A2 type), the Z-shaped folded portion 10d is wound around the outer periphery of the roll-shaped portion 10b for a sufficiently long time, so that the initial expansion stage starts from the lower side as indicated by the arrow. The airbag 10A can be deployed slightly toward the lower side in the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to deploy in a direction that avoids interference with the interior material.

  In the case of FIG. 6C (denoted as B2 type), the V-shaped folded portion 10e is sufficiently wound around the outer periphery of the roll-shaped portion 10b, so that, in the initial expansion stage, slightly from the lateral direction as indicated by the arrow. The airbag 10A can be deployed upward in the vehicle compartment. As a result, the lid 3 (FIG. 5 (b)) can be opened much larger, so that interference with the interior material can be actively avoided and sufficient opening can be ensured. Deployment is possible.

  7 is a schematic front view showing examples of patterns of folding shapes of the airbag 10A in the curtain airbag 10 having various shapes. FIG. 7A shows an airbag 10A having an inflator 5 at the rear end 10g. In this embodiment, two notches 15 are formed on the upper edge 10a of the airbag 10A. Since the gas inlet 10c is provided at the rear end 10g of the airbag, the C pillar can be overcome relatively easily in the initial stage of inflation. Therefore, the airbag rear end 10g side can be formed into an A-type folded shape. In the B-pillar position, a B-type folded shape is adopted in order to reliably get over the B-pillar. Since there is no interior material that interferes with the airbag 10A that is inflated and deployed on the front seat side, an A-type folded shape is employed with the notch 15 interposed therebetween. In this way, the notch 15 is formed at a predetermined position on the upper edge 10a of the airbag 10A, and the folding shape is appropriately set at the front and rear positions of the notch 15 in consideration of the positional relationship with the interior material, the gas pressure by the inflator, and the like. Can be set.

  FIG. 7B is an embodiment provided with an airbag 10A having a three-row configuration and long in the vehicle front-rear direction. In this case, two inflators 5 are mounted at positions corresponding to the B-pillar and C-pillar positions. In this embodiment, the airbag 20-3 in the third row is located opposite to the gas inflow direction from the rear inflator 5 and avoids interference with a plurality of interior materials (C pillar, D pillar). There is a need. Therefore, a B-type folded shape is adopted behind the C-pillar position.

  Although several embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in each claim. In other words, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately changed within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

3 Lid 5 Inflator 10 Head protection airbag device (curtain airbag)
10A Airbag 10a (Airbag) Upper edge 10b Roll-shaped parts 10d, 10e Folding part 15 Notch part 20, 20F, 20R Inflation support part

Claims (4)

An airbag in which a plurality of inflatable support portions communicating from the front part to the rear part of the vehicle interior are arranged is fixedly held on a part of the vehicle body in a state of being folded along the upper side edge of the vehicle interior to detect or predict a collision. In the head protection airbag device that is deployed in a curtain shape along the inner surface of the passenger compartment side while inflating the expansion support portion by the gas introduced from the inflator that sometimes operates,
A notch is formed at a predetermined position on the upper edge of the airbag, and the folded shape of the folded portion provided on the end of the folded airbag is changed with the notch as a boundary. The head protection airbag device is characterized in that the airbag deployment direction is changed with the notch portion as a boundary.   The folded portion is folded with a substantially Z-shaped cross section, is fixed to the vehicle body at the upper position of the airbag, and is deployed downward along the side surface of the vehicle compartment when the airbag is initially inflated. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1.   The folded portion is folded with a substantially V-shaped cross section, is fixed to the vehicle body at a vehicle outer side position of the airbag, and is deployed toward the vehicle interior when the airbag is initially inflated. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1.   The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a cutout length of the cutout portion is at least twice as long as the folded portion.

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