JP2014080140A - Cover body of air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cover body of an air bag device which is favorable to aim at the reduction of a development cost.SOLUTION: The inner panel 20 includes a first mounting plate part 30, a pair of opening and closing plate parts 34, and a plurality of fluctuating pieces 36. An opening part 38 of the first mounting plate part 30 is of a rectangle and has a pair of long side opening edges 38A which faces mutually and a pair of short side opening edges 38B. A pair of the opening and closing plate parts 34 is arranged inside the opening part 38. A plurality of the fluctuating pieces 36 is protruded at a distance from each other from each of the long side opening edge 38A and is connected to the opening and closing plate parts 34, respectively. For each of a set of fluctuating pieces 36 which is at least contiguous, a reinforcing piece 44 is arranged which connects the base part 3602 which is protruded from the long side opening edge 38A between a set of fluctuating pieces 36 and is located in the long side opening edge 38A side of the fluctuating piece 36. The thickness of the base part 3602 to which the reinforcing piece 44 is connected is formed with the small size compared with the thicknesses of other parts of the fluctuating pieces 36.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cover body of an airbag device.

As a cover body of an airbag device arranged on an instrument panel of an automobile, an outer panel formed with a projecting opening through which the airbag can project, and an inner panel arranged on the back surface of the outer panel to support the airbag Are provided (see Patent Document 1). The outer panel is composed of a hard synthetic resin material similar to the instrument panel, and the inner panel is composed of a synthetic resin material that is softer than the outer panel.
The inner panel in such a cover body has a frame-shaped first attachment plate portion, a pair of opening / closing plate portions, and a plurality of swing pieces.
The first mounting plate portion is attached to the back surface of the outer panel around the projection opening with an opening formed therein and the opening aligned with the projection opening.
The pair of opening / closing plate portions are disposed on the inner side of the opening portion and attached to the pair of opening / closing lids on the inner side of the protrusion of the outer panel.
The plurality of swing pieces project from the opening edges facing each other of the first mounting plate portion that forms the opening portion and are connected to the pair of opening and closing plate portions.

JP 2006-96267 A

In such an inner panel of the cover body, it is required to satisfy both the strength of the swing piece and the turning ability of the opening / closing plate portion. However, the strength of the swing piece and the turning ability of the opening / closing plate portion are contradictory. It becomes a relationship.
That is, increasing the thickness of the oscillating piece is advantageous in securing the strength of the oscillating piece, but disadvantageous in ensuring the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion.
In addition, reducing the thickness of the swing piece is advantageous in terms of ensuring the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion, but is disadvantageous in ensuring the strength of the swing piece.
Further, since the elasticity of the synthetic resin material constituting the swing piece (inner panel) is lowered in a low temperature region, the turning ability of the opening / closing plate portion is also affected by the temperature change.
That is, since the elasticity of the swing piece is lowered in the low temperature range, the turning ability of the opening / closing plate portion is lowered, and in the high temperature range, the elasticity of the swing piece is increased, and thus the turning ability of the opening / closing plate portion is improved.
Therefore, it is not easy to determine an appropriate thickness of the oscillating piece that achieves both the strength of the oscillating piece and the turnability of the opening / closing plate part while considering the temperature.
Therefore, in the development stage, the thickness of the oscillating piece is finely adjusted to obtain the optimum value of the thickness of the oscillating piece that can achieve both the strength of the oscillating piece and the turning ability of the opening / closing plate part. It is necessary and much labor is required for development.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cover body for an airbag device that is advantageous in reducing development costs.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is provided with an outer panel formed with a projecting opening through which an airbag can project and an inner panel supporting the airbag, wherein the inner panel has an opening portion. And a first mounting plate portion that is attached to the back surface of the outer panel around the projection opening with the opening being aligned with the projection opening, and is arranged on the inner side of the opening to protrude the outer panel. An air having an opening / closing plate portion attached to the opening / closing lid inside the mouth, and a plurality of swinging pieces protruding from the opening edge forming the opening portion and being connected to the opening / closing plate portion. A cover body of a bag device, wherein at least for each pair of adjacent swinging pieces, a base portion protruding from the opening edge between the set of swinging pieces and positioned on the opening edge side of the swinging pieces. Reinforcing piece to be connected It is characterized in that is.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the reinforcing piece is less than the thickness of the oscillating piece, and the thickness of the base of the oscillating piece to which the reinforcing piece is connected is the oscillating piece. It is characterized by being formed with a dimension less than the thickness of the other part of the piece.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the base portions of the adjacent rocking pieces are all connected by the reinforcing pieces.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the swing piece includes a first straight portion that protrudes substantially linearly from the opening edge toward the opening / closing plate portion, and the base portion includes the first straight portion. It is a location by the side of the opening edge of the said rocking | fluctuation piece containing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the base of the swinging piece is set to a dimension sufficient to ensure the turnability of the opening / closing plate part, and the thickness of the base of the swinging piece is reduced. The decreasing strength can be compensated by a reinforcing piece connecting the base of the swing piece.
Therefore, in the development stage, it is not necessary to make a great effort to finely adjust the thickness of the swing piece to obtain the optimum value of the thickness of the swing piece, which is advantageous in reducing the development cost.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the reinforcing piece is formed with a thickness equal to or less than the thickness of the oscillating piece, it is advantageous in improving the turning performance of the opening / closing plate portion. In addition, since the thickness of the base of the swinging piece to which the reinforcing piece is connected is formed with a dimension equal to or smaller than the thickness of the other part of the swinging piece, it is possible to improve the turnability of the opening / closing plate part. It will be advantageous.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the base portions of the adjacent rocking pieces are all connected by the reinforcing pieces, it is advantageous in securing the strength of all the reinforcing pieces.

  According to invention of Claim 4, it becomes advantageous when suppressing material cost by making a reinforcement piece minimum necessary.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of the airbag apparatus for passenger seats to which the cover body in 1st Embodiment was applied. It is XX sectional drawing of FIG. It is the figure which looked at the inner panel 20 from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the inner panel 20 from the downward direction. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a swing piece 36 and a reinforcing piece 44 in FIG. 3. (A) is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 5, (B) is the sectional view on the BB line of FIG. It is the figure which looked at the inner panel 20 in 2nd Embodiment from the downward direction. It is the figure which looked at the inner panel 20 in 3rd Embodiment from the downward direction.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to an airbag device for a passenger seat disposed on an instrument panel will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag apparatus 10 includes a retainer 14 that houses an airbag 12 and an inflator (not shown), and a cover body 16 according to the present invention.
The airbag 12 is housed in the upper part of the retainer 14 in a folded state, and the inflator is housed in the lower part of the retainer 14.

The cover body 16 includes an outer panel 18 that constitutes a part of the instrument panel, and an inner panel 20 that houses and holds the retainer 14.
The outer panel 18 is attached to an opening for attaching an airbag device formed in the instrument panel, and constitutes a part of the instrument panel.
The outer panel 18 is formed of an injection molded product made of a thermoplastic hard synthetic resin similar to the instrument panel.
As such a synthetic resin material, various conventionally known synthetic resin materials such as polypropylene resin, vinyl chloride, ABS, modified PPO (polyphenylene oxide), polycarbonate, or a composite synthetic resin in which these are combined can be used.
Further, the surface of the outer panel 18 is subjected to a matte texture as necessary.

On the back surface side of the outer panel 18, a tear line 22 that is a weak portion as a planned fracture portion is provided.
By this tear line 22, an outer outer portion 24 that is a non-deployed portion and a pair of rectangular opening / closing lids 26 are defined on the inner side of the outer outer portion 24.
That is, the inner part of the outer tear line 22 becomes a protruding port 28 from which the airbag 12 can protrude, and a pair of opening / closing lids 26 are provided inside the protruding port 28.
The pair of opening / closing lids 26 covers the bulging side of the airbag 12 stored in the retainer 14.
In the present embodiment, the tear line 22 includes an outer tear line 22A that extends along the inner side of the outer outer contour portion 24, and a linear central tear line 22B that extends in the central portion.
The tear line 22 can be formed as a cutting groove that is engraved with a rotary blade such as a milling blade and post-processed after the outer panel 18 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the inner panel 20 includes a first mounting plate portion 30, a cylindrical plate portion 32, a pair of opening / closing plate portions 34, and a plurality of swing pieces 36. It is configured to include.
The inner panel 20 is an injection molded product made of a synthetic resin that is softer than the outer panel 18.
As such a synthetic resin material, an elastomeric synthetic resin is used. Various conventionally known elastomer resins called abbreviations such as TPO resin (thermoplastic olefin), TPU (urethane system), TPE (polyester system), SES, SEBS (styrene system) can be used as the elastomeric synthetic resin. .

The first mounting plate 30 has an opening 38 formed in the center and has a rectangular frame shape. The first mounting plate portion 30 is attached to the back surface of the outer shell portion 24 around the protrusion port 28 by aligning the opening 38 with the protrusion port 28.
The opening 38 has a rectangular shape, and has a pair of long side opening edges 38A and a pair of short side opening edges 38B facing each other.

The pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 is disposed inside the opening 38. The pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 are respectively attached to the back surfaces of the pair of opening / closing lids 26 of the outer panel 18.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first attachment plate portion 30 and the pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 are provided with a plurality of welding ribs 40 protruding from the surfaces thereof.
And the attachment to the back surface of the outer shell part 24 of the 1st mounting plate part 30 welds the welding rib 40 of the 1st mounting plate part 30 to the back surface of the outer panel 18 around the protrusion port 28 by vibration welding. Is done.
The pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 is attached to the pair of opening / closing lids 26 by welding the welding ribs 40 of the pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 to the back surfaces of the pair of opening / closing lids 26 by vibration welding.
The welding ribs 40 of the first mounting plate 30 and the pair of opening / closing plates 34, and the reinforcing rib 42 formed over the back surface of the first mounting plate 30 and the cylindrical plate 32 are shown in FIGS. Drawings other than 2 are omitted for clarity of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the cylindrical plate portion 32 is erected so as to surround the outside of the opening 38 from the back surface of the first mounting plate portion 30 and has a rectangular cylindrical shape.
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of attachment holes 32A are formed in the cylindrical plate portion 32, and the retainer 14 that houses the airbag 12 and the inflator is connected to the attachment holes 32A via hooks (not shown). Therefore, the airbag 12 is supported by the inner panel 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6A, the plurality of swinging pieces 36 protrude from the long side opening edges 38A at intervals from each other, and are connected to the opening / closing plate part 34, respectively. . Therefore, the pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 are supported so as to be swingable via the swinging pieces 36.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the swing piece 36 includes a first straight portion 36A that protrudes linearly from the long side opening edge 38A toward the opening / closing plate portion 34, and a bent portion from the tip of the first straight portion 36A. A second linear portion 36C extending linearly in a direction away from the outer panel 18 and the first attachment plate 30 via 36B, and the outer panel 18 and the first attachment connected to the tip of the second linear portion 36C A U-shaped curved portion 36 </ b> D that is convex in a direction away from the plate portion 30 and is connected to the opening / closing plate portion 34 is configured.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and FIG. 6 (B), at least for each pair of adjacent oscillating pieces 36, the pair of oscillating pieces 36 protrude from the long side opening edge 38 </ b> A and oscillate. A reinforcing piece 44 for connecting the base 3602 located on the long side opening edge 38A side of the moving piece 36 is provided. In the present embodiment, the base portions 3602 of the adjacent reinforcing pieces 44 are all connected by the reinforcing pieces 44.
The thickness of the base 3602 to which the reinforcing piece 44 is connected is formed with a dimension that is equal to or less than the thickness of the other part of the swing piece 36.
Further, the thickness of the reinforcing piece 44 is formed with a dimension equal to or smaller than the thickness of the base portion 3602 of the swing piece 36. In the present embodiment, the reinforcing piece 44 is formed with the same thickness as the base portion 3602 of the swing piece 36.
In the present embodiment, the base 3602 is a first straight portion 36A, a bent portion 36B, and a second straight portion 36C.

Next, the operation when the airbag 12 is inflated will be described.
In the event of a vehicle collision, when the inflator is activated and gas is supplied to the airbag 12, the airbag 12 is inflated in the retainer 14, and the pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 of the inner panel 20 is swung by the expansion force. The pair of opening / closing lids 26 of the outer panel 18 are pushed up.
More specifically, the center tear line 22B and the outer tear line 22A are broken by the inflating force of the airbag 12, and the opening / closing lid 26 is separated from the outer outer portion 24, or at least the opening / closing lid of the central tear line 22B and the outer tear line 22A. The outer tear line 22A along the short side 26 is broken.
Then, the pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 of the inner panel 20 starts to swing (turn) through the swinging piece 36, and the pair of opening / closing lids 26 attached to the pair of opening / closing plate portions 34 are paired with each other. Oscillation (turning) is started integrally with the opening / closing plate part 34.
At this time, as shown by an imaginary line (A) in FIG. 6A, the swing piece 36 is deformed so that the base portion 3602 is deformed and the bending portion 36D is stretched, in other words, the curvature of the bending portion 36D is increased. It deforms gradually to become larger.
As the swinging piece 36 is deformed in this manner, the opening / closing plate part 34 and the opening / closing lid 26 are smoothly swung (rotated), and the outer panel 18 is formed with a protruding opening 28 of the airbag 12. When the airbag 12 protrudes and inflates and expands, the airbag 12 can protect the occupant.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the reinforcing pieces 44 that connect the base portions 3602 of the swinging pieces 36 are provided at least for each pair of adjacent swinging pieces 36.
Accordingly, the thickness of the base portion 3602 of the swing piece 36 is set to a dimension that is sufficient to ensure the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion 34, and the strength that decreases as the thickness of the base portion 3602 of the swing piece 36 decreases. Can be supplemented by the reinforcing piece 44.
Therefore, it is possible to easily set the thickness of the oscillating piece 36 that achieves both the strength of the oscillating piece 36 and the turning ability of the opening / closing plate 34 while considering the temperature. In the development stage, it is possible to save a great amount of time and effort to finely adjust the thickness of the oscillating piece 36 to obtain the optimum value of the thickness of the oscillating piece 36, which is advantageous in reducing development costs.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the base portions 3602 of the adjacent reinforcing pieces 44 are all connected by the reinforcing pieces 44, it is advantageous in securing the strength of all the reinforcing pieces 44.
In this embodiment, since the reinforcing piece 44 is formed with the same thickness as the base 3602 of the swing piece 36, there is no step between the reinforcing piece 44 and the base 3602 of the swing piece 36. This is advantageous in improving the turning ability of the opening / closing plate 34.
In addition, since the thickness of the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 to which the reinforcing piece 44 is connected is smaller than the thickness of other portions of the swing piece 36, This is advantageous for improving the performance.

In the present embodiment, the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 to which the reinforcing piece 44 is connected is the first straight portion 36A, the bent portion 36B, and the second straight portion 36C.
Therefore, since the base portion 3602 is a portion excluding the curved portion 36D that is stretched when the swing piece 36 swings, it is advantageous in securing the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion 34.
When the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 is a location on the long side opening edge 38A side of the swing piece 36 including the first straight portion 36A, the strength of the swing piece 36 is increased by the reinforcing piece 44 connecting the base 3602. Needless to say, it is possible to secure the turnability of the opening / closing plate part 34 while ensuring the above, and by minimizing the reinforcing piece 44, it is advantageous in suppressing the material cost.
The length by which the reinforcing piece 44 projects from the long side opening edge 38A is not limited to the above length as long as the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion 34 is ensured.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the following embodiments, the same parts and members as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.
In the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the case where the base portions 3602 of the adjacent swing pieces 36 are all connected by the reinforcing pieces 44 has been described.
On the other hand, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, for each pair of adjacent swing pieces 36, a reinforcing piece 44 that connects the base portion 3602 of the set of swing pieces 36 is provided. It is provided.
Therefore, in the second embodiment, a reinforcing piece 44 is provided between a pair of adjacent swing pieces 36 and a set of swing pieces 36 adjacent to the set of swing pieces 36. There are places that are not provided.
Also according to the second embodiment as described above, since one side of the swing piece 36 is reinforced by the reinforcing piece 44, the thickness of the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 is ensured to ensure the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion 34. In addition, the reinforcing piece 44 can compensate for the strength that decreases as the thickness of the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 decreases.
Therefore, as in the prior art, in the development stage, it is possible to save a great deal of time and effort to fine-tune the thickness of the oscillating piece 36 to obtain the optimum value of the thickness of the oscillating piece 36, thereby reducing the development cost. It is advantageous in planning.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8, in the third embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the base portions 3602 of the adjacent reinforcing pieces 44 are all connected by the reinforcing pieces 44. Further, an auxiliary reinforcing piece 46 is provided to connect the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 located at both ends of the long side opening edge 38A in the long side direction and the long side opening edge 38A and the short side opening edge 38B. The piece 46 is formed with the same thickness as the reinforcing piece 44.
6A, the base 3602 of the swing piece 36 to which the reinforcing piece 44 and the auxiliary reinforcing piece 46 are connected is defined as a first straight portion 36A and a second straight portion 36C.

According to the third embodiment, it is needless to say that the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. The base 3602 of the swing piece 36 located at both ends of the long side opening edge 38A, and the long Since the auxiliary reinforcing piece 46 for connecting the side opening edge 38A and the short side opening edge 38B is provided, it is advantageous in securing the strength of the swing piece 36 positioned at both ends of the long side opening edge 38A.
In addition, since the auxiliary reinforcing piece 46 has the same thickness as the reinforcing piece 44, it is advantageous in securing the turnability of the opening / closing plate portion 34.
The base 3602 of the swing piece 36 to which the reinforcing piece 44 and the auxiliary reinforcing piece 46 are connected is defined as a first straight portion 36A and a second straight portion 36C, and the base 3602 is stretched when the swing piece 36 swings. This is a portion excluding the curved portion 36D, which is advantageous in securing the turning ability of the opening / closing plate portion 34.

In addition, although embodiment demonstrated the case where a cover body was arrange | positioned at an instrument panel, this invention is widely applicable to conventionally well-known various airbag apparatuses regardless of an installation place.
Further, in the embodiment, the case where the broken portion of the tear line 22 is formed in a substantially H shape and the pair of opening / closing lids 26 is opened is described. However, the broken portion of the tear line 22 is formed in a substantially C shape. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a case where the single opening / closing lid 26 is formed and the single opening / closing lid 26 is opened. In this case, the opening / closing plate 34 supported by the plurality of swinging pieces 36 is also single.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Airbag apparatus, 12 ... Airbag, 16 ... Cover body, 18 ... Outer panel, 20 ... Inner panel, 26 ... Opening / closing lid, 28 ... Protruding port, 30 ... First attachment Plate part 34. Opening / closing plate part 36... Swing piece 3602 base part 36 A first straight part 36 C second straight part 36 D curved part 38 opening 38A: Long side opening edge, 38B: Short side opening edge, 44: Reinforcing piece, 46: Auxiliary reinforcing piece.

Claims (4)

An outer panel formed with a protrusion through which an airbag can protrude;
An inner panel for supporting the airbag,
The inner panel is
A first attachment plate portion that is attached to the back surface of the outer panel around the projection opening, the opening being formed and matching the opening to the projection opening;
An opening / closing plate portion disposed inside the opening and attached to an opening / closing lid inside the protrusion of the outer panel;
A plurality of oscillating pieces projecting at an interval from the opening edge forming the opening and connected to the opening / closing plate,
A cover body of an airbag device having
A reinforcing piece that protrudes from the opening edge between the pair of rocking pieces and connects a base located on the opening edge side of the rocking pieces is provided for each pair of the rocking pieces adjacent to each other. ,
A cover body for an air bag device. The thickness of the reinforcing piece is formed with a dimension less than the thickness of the swing piece,
The thickness of the base of the rocking piece to which the reinforcing piece is connected is formed with a dimension equal to or less than the thickness of the other part of the rocking piece.
The cover body of the airbag apparatus according to claim 1. The bases of the adjacent rocking pieces are all connected by the reinforcing pieces,
The cover body of the airbag apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, The swing piece is configured to include a first straight portion protruding substantially linearly from the opening edge toward the opening / closing plate portion,
The base is a portion on the opening edge side of the swing piece including the first straight portion.
The cover body for an airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein

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