JP2016084073A - Side airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a burden added to a shoulder part of an occupant in response to an expansion and an inflation of an inflation part.SOLUTION: An airbag body 41 comprises an inflation part 46 with a chest part PT of an occupant P seated on a vehicle seat 21 as a protective area Z, and restricts the occupant P by expanding and inflating the inflation part 46 on the side of the protective area Z by inflation gas supplied from a gas generator 30 in response to impact added to a vehicle from the side of the vehicle seat 21. The uppermost part 46t of the inflation part 46 is positioned in a place approached to a shoulder part PS of the occupant P, that is, a place lower than the lower side of any of the rotational center O of the shoulder part PS and an upper end surface 23u of a seat back 23 in the vehicle seat 21. An inclined part 47 of becoming lower for separating forward from the uppermost part 46t, is formed on the front side more than the uppermost part 46t of the inflation part 46. A front end part 47f of the inclined part 47 is set in the upper vicinity of a central part 46c in the vertical direction of the inflation part 46.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  In the present invention, when an impact is applied to the vehicle from the side of the vehicle seat, the airbag body is deployed and inflated on the side of the occupant seated on the vehicle seat to restrain the occupant, TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a side airbag device that protects against air.

  A side airbag device equipped with an airbag and a gas generator is widely known as a device for protecting an occupant seated on a vehicle seat when an impact is applied to the vehicle from the side due to a side collision or the like. Yes. In this side airbag device, the airbag is folded and incorporated in the seat back of the vehicle seat together with the gas generator.

  As one form of the side airbag apparatus, there is an apparatus in which an outer shell portion of an airbag is configured by an airbag body and has an inflating portion whose protective region is an occupant's chest (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this side airbag device, when an impact is applied from the side to a side wall portion of the vehicle, for example, a side door, the inflation gas is supplied from the gas generator to the inflatable portion, and the inflatable portion serves as an occupant protection region. It expands and inflates with the side wall part that enters the inside of the vehicle, restrains the occupant in the protection area, and reduces the impact from the side transmitted to the protection area through the side wall part.

  In the side airbag device described in Patent Document 1, the uppermost part of the inflating part is located at a position higher than the rotation center of the shoulder part of the occupant. In addition, an inclined portion that is higher toward the front side is formed in the front upper portion of the inflating portion.

JP 2012-46167 A

  However, in the side airbag device described in Patent Document 1, the inflatable portion continues to be expanded and inflated until the uppermost portion reaches a position higher than the rotation center of the shoulder portion of the occupant. For this reason, the inflating part greatly pushes up the occupant's shoulder while being expanded and inflated.

  Moreover, the passenger | crew's arm part currently seated on the vehicle seat will be in the state which inclined so that it might become low as the front side started from the rotation center. On the other hand, the inflating part expands and inflates so that the inclined part formed in the front upper part becomes higher toward the front side. Therefore, when the inflating part is deployed and inflated, the front part that is higher in the inclined part pushes up the lower front part in the arm part. As a result, the arm portion of the occupant is suddenly pushed up greatly with the rotation center as a fulcrum.

From these things, there exists a possibility that a big load may be added to a shoulder part with expansion | deployment and expansion | swelling of an expansion part.
This invention is made in view of such a situation, The objective is to provide the side airbag apparatus which can make small the load added to a passenger | crew's shoulder part by expansion | deployment and expansion | swelling of an expansion part. There is.

  A side airbag device that solves the above problems includes an inflating portion that uses a chest of an occupant seated in a vehicle seat as a protection region, and a gas generator according to an impact applied to the vehicle from the side of the vehicle seat And an airbag main body that restrains an occupant by deploying and inflating the inflatable portion on the side of the protection region with an inflating gas supplied from the upper portion of the inflating portion, approaching the shoulder portion of the occupant Located at a position lower than the lower one of the rotation center of the shoulder and the upper end surface of the seat back of the vehicle seat, and on the front side of the uppermost portion of the inflatable portion. Is formed with an inclined portion that becomes lower as it moves forward from the uppermost portion, and the front end portion of the inclined portion is set near the upper portion of the central portion in the vertical direction of the inflating portion or at a lower position.

  According to the above configuration, when an impact is applied to the vehicle from the side of the vehicle seat, the inflation gas is supplied from the gas generator to the inflatable portion, and the inflatable portion is located on the side of the passenger protection area (chest). Expand and expand. At this time, the inflatable portion expands and inflates until the uppermost portion reaches a position lower than the lower one of the pivot center of the shoulder portion of the occupant and the upper end surface of the seat back, and the shoulder portion of the occupant is Push up. The amount by which the shoulder portion is pushed up is smaller than when the uppermost portion of the inflating portion reaches a position higher than the rotation center of the shoulder portion. Therefore, the load applied to the occupant's shoulder with the expansion and expansion of the inflatable portion is reduced.

  Further, the arm portion of the occupant seated on the vehicle seat is generally inclined so as to become lower toward the front side starting from the rotation center of the shoulder portion. On the other hand, the expanding portion expands and expands so that the inclined portion formed in the front upper portion thereof becomes lower toward the front side. That is, the inflating part expands and inflates along the inclination of the arm part so that the inclined part inclines in the same tendency as the arm part. The lower front part of the inclined part pushes up the lower front part of the arm part. Further, the high rear part of the inclined part pushes up the high rear part of the arm part. Therefore, unlike the case where the inclined portion becomes higher toward the front side, the arm portion is gradually pushed up by the expanding portion that expands and expands. Also in this respect, the load applied to the occupant's shoulder with the expansion and expansion of the inflatable portion is reduced.

  In the side airbag device, the inside of the inflatable portion is located in front of the compartment by a rear inflatable portion to which inflation gas is supplied from the gas generator by a compartment having a gas flow restricting portion, and The expansion section is partitioned into a rear expansion section and a front expansion section to which expansion gas is supplied via the gas flow restriction section, and the partition section has its upper end positioned at or near the top of the expansion section. It is preferable that it is arrange | positioned in the same expansion part in the state.

  According to said structure, the gas for expansion | swelling from a gas generator is first supplied to the rear expansion part of a rear side rather than a division part among expansion parts, and the said rear expansion part is a passenger | crew's protection area (chest part). Expands and expands on the side of the second half. At this time, the inflating portion is such that the partition portion is positioned at the front end of the rear inflating portion and the upper end portion of the partitioning portion is positioned at or near the top of the inflating portion, that is, the upper end portion of the partitioning portion is It expands and expands until it reaches a position lower than the lower one of the rotation center of the shoulder portion and the upper end surface of the seat back, and pushes up the shoulder portion of the occupant.

  A part of the inflation gas supplied to the rear expansion part is supplied to the front expansion part through the gas flow restriction part. Due to the expansion gas, the front expansion portion is expanded and expanded behind the rear expansion portion. Along with the expansion and expansion, an inclined portion that becomes lower toward the front side is formed on the upper portion of the front expansion portion, and this gradually pushes up the occupant's arm portion.

In this manner, the shoulder is pushed up by the rear inflating portion that first expands and inflates, and the arm portion is gradually pushed up by the front inflating portion that develops and inflates behind the rear inflating portion.
In the side airbag device, the airbag main body is folded into a storage configuration and is stored in a storage section near the side of the occupant, and at least in the airbag main body of the storage configuration It is preferable that the front inflating portion is folded toward the gas generator by roll folding that is repeatedly folded in the same direction so as to wind the passenger side surface inward.

  As one of the folding modes of the airbag body, there is a roll fold that is repeatedly folded in the same direction. The roll fold has a feature that when the airbag main body cancels (deploys) the fold, the deployment is hardly hindered by an obstacle, and the airbag main body easily enters a narrow portion.

  Therefore, according to the above configuration in which at least the front inflating portion of the airbag body is roll-folded, the roll-folded portion easily enters the lower portion of the arm portion. Further, the roll folding here is performed in the same direction so that at least the front inflating portion winds the passenger side surface inward. Therefore, when the front inflating portion is deployed and inflated, the folding is unfolded toward the occupant side rather than the already unfolded portion. The front inflating part including the inclined part expands and inflates along the occupant's arm part, and appropriately conveys the force of gradually pushing it up to the arm part, unlike the case of moving away from the arm part.

The said side airbag apparatus WHEREIN: It is preferable that the said front expansion part is expand | deployed and expand | swelled above the armrest provided in the side wall part of the said vehicle.
Here, in the vehicle in which the armrest is provided on the side wall, the gap between the occupant and the side wall is narrower at the place where the armrest is provided than at the place where the armrest is not provided. Therefore, if an attempt is made to expand the front inflating portion even in this gap, the front inflating portion is unlikely to enter the gap and there is a risk that proper expansion and expansion will be hindered.

  In this regard, in the above configuration, the expansion and expansion of the front expansion portion are appropriately performed in a space wider than the side of the armrest. The expansion and expansion of the front expansion portion are difficult to be hindered by the armrest.

  In the side airbag device, the partition portion is provided at a location where the size of the inflatable portion in the width direction of the vehicle seat is maximized in the front-rear direction of the inflatable portion, and the partition portion in the width direction The dimensions are preferably set to the same or approximate dimensions as the dimensions of the inflated part in the same width direction when the inflated part is inflated on the assumption that there is no section.

  According to said structure, when a rear expansion part expand | deploys and expands in the side of the second half part of a passenger | crew's protection area (chest part), the dimension in the width direction of the vehicle seat of the front end part is located in the front end part. It is difficult to be regulated by the partitioning section. The front end portion of the rear expansion portion expands in the width direction of the vehicle seat with the maximum dimension that can be taken.

  On the other hand, the gap between the passenger and the side wall is the narrowest at the shoulder. Therefore, as described above, by expanding in the width direction of the vehicle seat with the maximum dimension that the front end portion can take, the shoulder is pushed a lot and the gap is greatly expanded, and the rear expansion portion is delayed and expanded. The inclined portion of the pre-expanded portion that expands easily enters the gap.

  According to the said side airbag apparatus, the load added to a passenger | crew's shoulder part with expansion | deployment and expansion | swelling of an expansion part can be made small.

It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of a side airbag apparatus, and is a side view which shows schematic structure of the apparatus with a passenger | crew and a vehicle seat. In one embodiment, the plane cross section which shows the positional relationship of a vehicle seat, an airbag, a passenger | crew, and a side wall part. 1 is a front sectional view showing a positional relationship among a vehicle seat, an airbag, an occupant, and a side wall portion in one embodiment. The partial perspective view which looked at the side door of the open state from diagonally backward of the vehicle in one embodiment. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a side portion on the vehicle exterior side of a seat back in which an airbag module is incorporated in one embodiment. The schematic side view of the airbag module made into the form for storage. (A) is the fragmentary sectional side view which shows the internal structure of the airbag module with which the airbag main body was made into the non-expanded deployment state with a passenger | crew and a vehicle seat in one Embodiment, (b) is one of Fig.7 (a). The partial sectional side view which expands and shows a part. The exploded perspective view shown in the state where each constituent member of the airbag was developed in one embodiment. It is a figure which shows the dimensional relationship of the division part in one Embodiment, and an airbag main body, (a) is the fragmentary front view of a division part, (b) When the airbag main body is expanded assuming that there is no division part The partial front sectional view of the airbag main body of the. It is a figure which shows the dimensional relationship of the division part in one Embodiment, and an airbag main body, (a) is a schematic plane sectional view of a division part, (b) expanded the airbag main body supposing there is no division part. The general | schematic plane sectional view of the airbag main body at the time. In one embodiment, it is a figure which shows the airbag module by which the airbag main body was made into the non-expanded deployment state, (a) is a side view, (b) is a plane sectional view of the airbag module of Fig.11 (a). It is a figure which shows one Embodiment, (a) is a side view which shows the airbag module of the state by which the front expansion part of the airbag main body of Fig.11 (a) was folded, (b) is a figure of Fig.12 (a). FIG. 12C is a side cross-sectional view of the airbag module, FIG. 12C is a side view showing the airbag module in a state where the airbag main body of FIG. 12A is further folded, and FIG. 12D is a side view of the airbag module of FIG. FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial plan cross-sectional view showing a state where the airbag main body of FIG. The partial perspective view which looked at the pressure regulation valve when the division part in one Embodiment was tense, and its peripheral part from the downward direction. (A)-(c) is a sectional side view which shows typically operation | movement of the pressure regulation valve in one Embodiment. (A), (b) is a front sectional view explaining a crew member's restraint mode by a side airbag device of one embodiment. (A), (b) is a partial side view explaining the restraint mode of the passenger | crew by the side airbag apparatus of one Embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment embodied in a vehicle side airbag device will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, the forward direction of the vehicle will be described as the front, and the reverse direction of the vehicle will be described as the rear. Further, with the central portion of the vehicle in the width direction (vehicle width direction) as a reference, the side approaching the central portion is defined as “vehicle inside”, and the side away from the central portion is defined as “vehicle outside”. Further, it is assumed that an adult having a standard physique is seated on the vehicle seat as a passenger in a predetermined appropriate posture.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the body 11 of the vehicle 10, an elevator 13 is provided in the vicinity of the outer side of the passenger compartment 12. The body 11 is attached with a side door 14 that opens and closes the elevator 13 by rotating about a door hinge (not shown) as a fulcrum. The side door 14 constitutes a part of the side wall SW of the vehicle 10. The side wall portion SW includes pillars and the like in addition to the side door 14.

  In the side door 14, a portion below the window frame portion 15 and inside the vehicle is constituted by a door trim 16. An armrest 17 is provided at an intermediate portion in the height direction of the door trim 16. In the door trim 16, below the armrest 17, a door pocket 18 is provided for accommodating objects to be accommodated such as small items and vehicle equipment.

  The vehicle seat 21 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is arranged as a vehicle seat in the vicinity of the inside of the elevator 13 in the passenger compartment 12. The vehicle seat 21 includes a seat cushion 22 and a seat back 23 that rises from the rear side of the seat cushion 22 and has an inclination angle adjusted by an inclination adjustment mechanism (not shown). The vehicle seat 21 is disposed in the passenger compartment 12 with the seat back 23 facing forward. The width direction of the vehicle seat 21 arranged in this way matches the vehicle width direction. The upper end surface 23u of the seat back 23 is located at a position higher than the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P.

Next, the internal structure of the side portion outside the vehicle in the seat back 23 will be described.
Inside the seat back 23, a seat frame forming the skeleton is arranged. As shown in FIG. 5, a part of the seat frame is disposed on the vehicle outer side portion in the seat back 23, and this portion (hereinafter referred to as “side frame portion 24”) is formed by bending a metal plate or the like. Is formed by. A seat pad 25 made of an elastic material such as urethane foam is disposed on the front side of the seat frame including the side frame portion 24. A hard backboard 26 made of synthetic resin or the like is disposed on the rear side of the seat frame. The seat pad 25 is covered with a skin, but the skin is not shown in FIG. The same applies to FIG. 13 described later.

  In the seat pad 25, a storage portion 27 is provided in the vicinity of the vehicle exterior side of the side frame portion 24. The storage unit 27 incorporates an airbag module AM that forms a main part of the side airbag device. The side airbag device has a protection region Z for the occupant P seated on the vehicle seat 21 when an impact is applied to the vehicle 10 from the side of the vehicle seat 21 (downward in FIG. 5) due to a side collision or the like. This is an airbag device that restrains the occupant P by deploying and inflating an airbag 40 to be described later on the side of the vehicle. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. Further, in the protection region Z, the front half of the chest PT is the front protection region ZF, and the latter half of the chest PT is the rear protection region ZR.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a slit 28 extends diagonally forward and toward the vehicle exterior from the vehicle exterior corner of the front portion of the storage portion 27. A portion sandwiched between the corner portion 25c on the front side of the seat pad 25 and the slit 28 (a portion surrounded by a two-dot chain line frame in FIG. 5) constitutes a planned fracture portion 29 to be broken by the airbag 40. .

The airbag module AM includes a gas generator 30 and an airbag 40 as main components. Next, each of these structural members will be described.
<Gas generator 30>
The gas generator 30 includes an inflator 31 and a retainer 32 that covers the inflator 31. Here, a type called a pyrotype is adopted as the inflator 31. The inflator 31 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and a gas generating agent (not shown) that generates an expansion gas is accommodated therein. The inflator 31 has a gas ejection part (not shown) at its upper end. Further, a harness (not shown) serving as an input wiring for an operation signal to the inflator 31 is connected to the lower end portion of the inflator 31.

  As the inflator 31, instead of the pyro type using the gas generating agent, a type (hybrid type) in which a partition wall of a high pressure gas cylinder filled with a high pressure gas is broken with an explosive or the like to eject an expansion gas is used. May be.

  On the other hand, the retainer 32 is a member that functions as a diffuser that controls the direction in which the inflation gas is ejected and that has a function of fastening the inflator 31 to the side frame portion 24 together with the airbag 40. Most of the retainer 32 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape by bending a plate material such as a metal plate. A plurality of (two in this embodiment) bolts 33 are fixed to the retainer 32 as locking members for attaching the retainer 32 to the side frame portion 24. The gas generator 30 may be one in which an inflator 31 and a retainer 32 are integrated.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer shell portion of the airbag 40 is configured by an airbag body 41.
<Airbag body 41>
FIG. 11A shows the airbag module AM in a state where the airbag body 41 is deployed in a planar shape without being filled with the inflation gas (hereinafter referred to as “non-inflated and deployed state”). 7A shows the airbag module AM in which the airbag body 41 is cut at the center in the vehicle width direction together with the occupant P and the vehicle seat 21 in order to show the internal structure of the airbag module AM. Yes. Further, FIG. 8 shows the components of the airbag 40 including the airbag body 41 in a deployed state. In FIG. 11A, the airbag main body 41 is illustrated in a state where the inclination is changed with respect to FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 (a), 8 and 11 (a), the airbag main body 41 is a fold line in which one piece of cloth (also called a base cloth, panel cloth, etc.) is set at the center portion thereof. It is formed by folding it forward along 42 and overlapping in the vehicle width direction, and joining the overlapped portions. Here, in order to distinguish the two overlapped portions of the airbag main body 41, the one located on the vehicle interior side is referred to as a main body cloth portion 43, and the one located on the vehicle outer side is referred to as a main body cloth portion 44.

  In this embodiment, the cloth piece is folded in two so that the fold line 42 is positioned at the rear end of the airbag body 41. However, the fold line 42 is another end of the airbag body 41, for example, the front end. The cloth piece may be folded in half so as to be located at the upper part, the upper end part, the lower end part, or the like. The airbag body 41 may be composed of two pieces of cloth divided along the fold line 42. In this case, the airbag main body 41 is formed by overlapping two pieces of cloth in the vehicle width direction and joining the peripheral portions of both pieces of cloth. Furthermore, the airbag body 41 may be composed of three or more pieces of cloth.

  As the main body cloth portions 43 and 44, a woven fabric formed using a material having high strength, hardly stretched and flexible and can be easily folded, for example, polyester yarn, polyamide yarn or the like is suitable. ing.

  The main body cloth portions 43 and 44 are coupled to each other by a peripheral joint portion 45 provided on the peripheral portion thereof. In the present embodiment, the peripheral edge coupling portion 45 is formed by sewing (sewing with a sewing thread) a portion of the peripheral edge portions of the main body cloth portions 43 and 44 except for the rear end portion (the vicinity of the folding line 42) and the like. Has been. Thus, the point by which the connection is made by sewing is the same for the vertical connection part 57 and the horizontal connection part 67 described later.

  Regarding the above sewing, in FIGS. 7, 8, 11, 12, and 14, the sewing portion is represented by three line types. The first line type is a line in which a thick line of a certain length is intermittently arranged and represents a state in which the sewing thread is viewed from the side (the longitudinal coupling portion 57 in FIG. 7A). Etc.). The second line type is a line in which fine lines of a certain length (longer than a general broken line) are intermittently arranged, which is located at the back of a piece of cloth, for example, and is directly visible. The state of the sewing thread that is not (hidden) is shown (see the lateral coupling portion 67 in FIG. 7 (a), FIG. 8, etc.). The third line type is a line expressing points arranged at regular intervals, which indicates a cross section of the sewing thread along a cross section passing through the sewing portion (the peripheral joint portion 45 in FIG. 7A and the like). reference).

  In addition, the periphery coupling | bond part 45 may be formed by the means different from the sewing using the said sewing thread, for example, adhesion | attachment using an adhesive agent. This also applies to the vertical coupling portion 57 and the horizontal coupling portion 67 described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 7A and 8, the space between the two main body cloth portions 43 and 44 and surrounded by the peripheral joint portion 45 is the protection region Z (chest region) of the occupant P by the inflation gas. By expanding and inflating on the side of (PT), an inflating portion 46 for restraining the occupant P from the impact in the protection region Z and protecting it.

  The uppermost portion 46t of the inflatable portion 46 is a location that is close to the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P when the inflatable portion 46 has been deployed and inflated, and is slightly lower than the rotational center O of the shoulder portion PS. Is set to

  An inclined portion 47 is formed on the front side of the uppermost portion 46t of the inflated portion 46 that has been expanded and expanded, and becomes lower as the distance from the uppermost portion 46t increases. The front end portion 47 f of the inclined portion 47 is set near the upper portion of the central portion 46 c in the vertical direction of the inflating portion 46.

  A slit 51 extending in a direction (lateral direction) perpendicular to the folding line 42 is formed at the rear end portion of the airbag body 41 folded in half and in the middle portion in the vertical direction. In both the main body cloth portions 43 and 44, the lower portion of the slit 51 is an inwardly folded portion 52 that is inserted in a state of being folded inward of the other portions. A lower end portion of the inner folding portion 52 is co-sewn to other portions of the main body fabric portions 43 and 44 by a peripheral edge coupling portion 45. Further, the slit 51 is opened along with the formation of the inwardly folded portion 52, and the insertion port 53 of the gas generator 30 is formed.

  Further, the bolt 33 (see FIG. 5) of the gas generator 30 is inserted into a plurality of places (two places) near the folding line 42 of the main body cloth portion 43 on the vehicle interior and above the slit 51. Bolt holes 54 are formed.

A partition portion 55 that partitions the inflatable portion 46 into two is provided inside the inflatable portion 46.
<Partition section 55>
The partition part 55 has the same configuration as that generally called a tether, and is provided at a position where the size of the expansion part 46 in the vehicle width direction is maximum in the front-rear direction of the expansion part 46. .

  As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the dimension of the partition portion 55 in the vehicle width direction is W1. In addition, the size of the inflating portion 46 in the vehicle width direction when the inflating portion 46 is inflated on the assumption that there is no partition portion 55 is W2. In the present embodiment, the dimension W1 is set to the same or approximate dimension as the dimension W2. In addition, in FIG. 9A, illustration of the seam allowance (portion outside the vertical coupling portion 57) is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the partition portion 55 has a vertically long shape in which the dimension in the vertical direction is longer than the dimension in the vehicle width direction (lateral direction) in the unfolded state. As shown in FIG. 7A, the partition portion 55 is disposed in the inflating portion 46 with its upper end positioned in the vicinity of the uppermost portion 46 t of the inflating portion 46.

  When the airbag main body 41 is in a non-inflated and deployed state, the partition portion 55 is folded in two along the folding line 56 extending substantially in the vertical direction between the main body fabric portions 43 and 44. The upper end portion and the lower end portion of the foldable partition portion 55 are sewn together to the main body fabric portions 43 and 44 by the peripheral edge coupling portion 45.

  As shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 8, the partition portions 55 are respectively corresponding to the main body cloth portions 43 by the longitudinal coupling portions 57 provided so as to extend substantially vertically along the peripheral edge portions on both sides in the lateral direction. , 44. The partition part 55 is spanned between both the main body cloth parts 43 and 44 by said coupling | bonding.

  In the inflating portion 46, a portion on the rear side of the partition portion 55 constitutes a rear inflating portion 58 that expands and inflates on the side of the rear protection region ZR of the occupant P. Further, in the inflating portion 46, a portion in front of the partition portion 55 constitutes a front inflating portion 59 that expands and inflates on the side of the front protection area ZF of the occupant P. The position of the lower end when the front inflating portion 59 completes the expansion and expansion is set to a position above the armrest 17.

The partition part 55 is made of the same material as the two main body cloth parts 43 and 44, and is composed of two cloth pieces 61 and 62 arranged in the vertical direction.
As shown in FIGS. 7A, 7 </ b> B, and 14, the lower end portion 63 of the cloth piece 61 and the upper end portion 64 of the cloth piece 62 overlap each other. The cloth pieces 61 and 62 are each formed by a lateral coupling portion 67 extending in the lateral direction at a boundary portion between a pair of overlapping portions 65 each having a band shape and other portions (hereinafter referred to as “non-overlapping portions 66”). Are combined.

Note that at least one of the cloth pieces 61 and 62 may be configured by being divided into two along the fold line 56.
Furthermore, the partition part 55 is provided with a communication part 68 and a pressure regulating valve 69 as a gas flow restriction part.

<Communication part 68 and pressure regulating valve 69>
The communicating portion 68 and the pressure regulating valve 69 are subject to external force being applied in accordance with the occupant restraint by the rear inflating portion 58, are substantially closed until the condition is satisfied, and are opened when the same condition is satisfied. The communication portion 68 and the pressure regulating valve 69 are provided at a substantially central portion in the vehicle width direction in the partition portion 55 that is tensioned as the rear expansion portion 58 expands. Specifically, the lateral coupling portion 67 in the partition portion 55 is released from coupling at a substantially central portion in the vehicle width direction. Thus, the location where the coupling by the lateral coupling portion 67 is released extends in the vehicle width direction, and constitutes a slit-like communication portion 68 that allows the rear expansion portion 58 and the front expansion portion 59 to communicate with each other.

  The pressure regulating valve 69 is a valve that adjusts each internal pressure of the rear expansion portion 58 and the front expansion portion 59 by controlling the flow of the expansion gas in the communication portion 68. And the valve body part 71 of the pressure regulation valve 69 is comprised by the location corresponding to the communication part 68 about the vehicle width direction among the edge parts 63, and it adjusts by the location corresponding to the communication part 68 about the vehicle width direction among the edge parts 64. A valve body 72 of the pressure valve 69 is configured.

  The flow of the inflation gas between the valve body portions 71 and 72 is restricted by the valve body portions 71 and 72 coming into contact with each other at least at a part thereof, for example, at the tip portions 71t and 72t (FIG. 15). (See (a) and (b)). The operation mode of the pressure regulating valve 69 at this time is referred to as “valve closing”. Further, the communication portion 68 is opened and the entire valve body portion 71 is separated from the entire valve body portion 72, whereby the expansion gas can be circulated between the valve body portions 71 and 72 (see FIG. 15 (c)). The operation mode of the pressure regulating valve 69 at this time is referred to as “valve opening”.

  The two overlapping portions 65 are bent downward (or upward) at the boundary portion with the non-overlapping portion 66 and overlapped with the lower (or upper) non-overlapping portion 66. Further, the folded strip-shaped overlapping portions 65 are shared with the corresponding main body cloth portions 43 and 44 and the non-overlapping portion 66 of the airbag main body 41 by the above-described vertical coupling portion 57 at both ends in the lateral direction. Sewn.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7A, an exhaust hole (also referred to as a vent hole) 73 that communicates the inside and outside of the front expansion portion 59 is provided at the front end portion of the main body cloth portion 43.
And most gas generator 30 is made into the attitude | position extended in a substantially up-down direction, and is accommodated in the rear-end part in the rear expansion part 58. FIG. The lower part of the gas generator 30 passes through the insertion port 53 and is exposed to the outside of the airbag body 41. The bolt 33 of the gas generator 30 is inserted through the corresponding bolt hole 54 (see FIG. 8). By such insertion, the gas generator 30 is locked in a state of being positioned with respect to the airbag body 41.

  By the way, the airbag module AM has a compact configuration (hereinafter referred to as “storage configuration”) as shown in FIG. 6 by folding the airbag body 41 in a non-inflated and deployed state as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. Has been. This is to make the airbag module AM suitable for storage in the storage portion 27 (see FIG. 5) of a limited size in the seat back 23. This storage form is obtained by sequentially performing the first folding and the second folding on the airbag body 41 in a non-inflated and deployed state.

  Next, each fold will be described. For the description, it is necessary to specify the positions of the fold lines 42 and 75 to 77, the positions of the parts to be folded, the folding direction, and the like. Here, it is assumed that the airbag 40 is arranged so that the folding line 42 extends in the vertical direction.

  In FIGS. 11A and 11B and FIGS. 12A to 12D, the right side in the figure indicates “front side” and the left side indicates “rear side”. Further, in FIGS. 11A and 12A and 12C, the upper side in the drawing indicates “upper side” and the lower side indicates “lower side”. Furthermore, in FIG. 11B and FIGS. 12B and 12D, the upper side in the drawing indicates the “vehicle inner side” and the lower side indicates the “vehicle outer side”.

<First fold>
The first folding is a folding mode in which a portion of the airbag body 41 in a non-inflated and deployed state is folded forward from the front to the rear from the gas generator 30. The first fold includes a roll fold performed mainly on the front inflating portion 59 of the airbag body 41 and a bellows fold performed mainly on the rear inflating portion 58.

  At the time of roll folding, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), a plurality of folding lines 75 extending in the vertical direction in a state of being parallel to each other are set mainly with respect to the front expansion portion 59. As shown in FIG. 11 (b), the front expansion portion 59 is mainly folded in a spiral shape along the fold lines 75 toward the gas generator 30. When the expression is changed, mainly the front inflating portion 59 is repeatedly folded in the same direction. This roll folding is performed so that the passenger-side surface (main body cloth portion 43) of the front inflating portion 59 is wound inside.

  When the bellows is folded, a plurality of folding lines 76 extending in the vertical direction in a state of being parallel to each other are set mainly for the rear inflating portion 58 as shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 12 (a). The interval between adjacent folding lines 76 is the folding width in bellows folding. Then, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the rear expansion portion 58 is mainly folded in a bellows shape along the fold line 76. More specifically, the rear inflating portion 58 is mainly folded from the front toward the rear while changing the direction of folding alternately by a fixed width.

In addition, the implementation order of the said roll folding and bellows folding is not specifically limited, For example, you may implement simultaneously or substantially simultaneously.
As a result, as shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D, the rear expansion portion 58 folded by bellows folding is disposed in the vicinity of the front of the gas generator 30, and the front expansion portion 59 folded by roll folding is provided. It is arranged in a state adjacent to the front of the rear inflating part 58. The airbag main body 41 has a vertically long form (hereinafter referred to as “intermediate form”) having a small size in the front-rear direction.

<Second fold>
The second folding is a folding mode in which the upper part of the airbag body 41 of the intermediate form is folded downward. More specifically, a fold line 77 extending in the horizontal direction is set at a position indicated by a dot (•) slightly above the gas generator 30 of the airbag main body 41 in the intermediate form. Then, the portion 41u above the folding line 77 of the airbag main body 41 in the intermediate form is folded downward with the folding line 77 as a fulcrum. By this folding, the portion 41u is overlapped with the portion 41l below the folding line 77 in the airbag main body 41, and the airbag main body 41 is brought into the storage configuration shown in FIG. Thereafter, the airbag main body 41 is held in a storage form by holding means such as a binding tape (not shown).

  As described above, the airbag module AM in which the airbag main body 41 is folded to be stored is smaller in the vertical direction and in the front-rear direction, and is stored in the narrow storage portion 27 of the seat back 23. It will be suitable for.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the airbag module AM, the bolt 33 that extends from the retainer 32 and is inserted into the bolt hole 54 of the main body cloth portion 43 is inserted into the side frame portion 24, and the bolt 33 in the inserted state is connected to the vehicle. A nut 34 is tightened from the inside. By this tightening, the gas generator 30 is attached to the side frame portion 24 together with the airbag body 41.

  Note that the gas generator 30 may be attached to the side frame portion 24 by a member different from the bolt 33 and the nut 34 described above. Further, the inflator 31 may be directly attached to the side frame portion 24 without using the retainer 32.

  The side airbag device includes an impact sensor 81 and a control device 82 shown in FIG. 1 in addition to the airbag module AM described above. The impact sensor 81 is composed of an acceleration sensor or the like, and is provided on the side wall portion SW of the vehicle 10, and detects an impact applied to the side wall portion SW from the side. The control device 82 controls the operation of the inflator 31 based on the detection signal of the impact sensor 81.

  Further, in the passenger compartment 12, a seat belt device for restraining the occupant P seated on the vehicle seat 21 to the vehicle seat 21 is provided. Illustration of the belt device is omitted.

As described above, the side airbag device of the present embodiment is configured. Next, a typical mode of operation (mode) will be described as an operation of the side airbag device.
FIGS. 15A to 15C schematically show how the configurations of the pressure regulating valve 69 and the partition 55 change with time after the supply of the expansion gas starts, and the details are not shown. Omitted and simplified.

  In this side airbag device, when the impact sensor 81 does not detect that a side impact has been applied to the side wall portion SW, the control device 82 does not output an operation signal for operating the inflator 31. The expansion gas is not ejected. The airbag main body 41 continues to be stored in the storage portion 27 in the storage mode.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle 10 is traveling, an impact of a predetermined value or more is applied to the side wall portion SW due to a side collision or the like, and when this is detected by the impact sensor 81, the inflator 31 is controlled from the control device 82 based on the detection signal. On the other hand, an operation signal for operating this is output. At this time, the arm part PA of the occupant P seated on the vehicle seat 21 is inclined so as to become lower toward the front side from the rotation center O of the shoulder part PS as in many cases. (See FIG. 1).

  In response to the operation signal output from the control device 82, the inflation gas is ejected from the inflator 31. By supplying the inflation gas to the rear inflating portion 58 of the airbag body 41 in the storage form, the internal pressure of the rear inflating portion 58 rises, and the rear inflating portion 58 expands to form a curved surface. Try to expand.

  In addition, the two-folded partition portion 55 is pulled in the lateral direction (vehicle width direction) by the rear expansion portion 58 that expands and expands. As shown in FIG. 14, the partition portion 55 has a curved shape that swells forward, and constitutes a front end portion of the rear expansion portion 58.

  As shown in FIG. 15A, the internal pressure PI is applied to both valve body portions 71 and 72 of the pressure regulating valve 69 from the overlapping direction (thickness direction). The internal pressure PI is not as high as the internal pressure when the occupant P is restrained by the rear inflating portion 58. Both valve body parts 71 and 72 are brought into close contact with each other over the entire surface by the internal pressure PI, and are in a self-sealing state that restricts the flow of the expansion gas between the both valve body parts 71 and 72. Further, the overlapping portion 65 which is bent and overlapped with the lower non-overlapping portion 66 is pressed against the non-overlapping portion 66 by internal pressure (see FIG. 14), and both valve body portions 71 and 72 are further closed. It becomes easy to be done.

  Here, since the partition part 55 is formed longer in the vertical direction (vertical direction) than in the horizontal direction (vehicle width direction) (see FIG. 8), the partition part 55 is in the vertical direction with respect to the horizontal direction. It is easier to get stronger tension. Since the communicating portion 68 extends in the lateral direction where the strong tension is easily applied, the communicating portion 68 is easily closed.

  Further, when the rear inflating portion 58 is expanded and inflated, a strong tension is applied not only to the partition portion 55 but also to the overlapping portion 65 in the lateral direction. This is because both ends of the overlapping portion 65 in the horizontal direction are coupled to the main body cloth portions 43 and 44.

  When both valve body parts 71 and 72 contact each other in at least a part of them, the pressure regulating valve 69 is substantially closed. The expansion gas in the rear expansion portion 58 is restricted from flowing out to the front expansion portion 59 between the valve body portions 71 and 72 and the communication portion 68. Due to this restriction, expansion gas is accumulated in the rear expansion portion 58, and the internal pressure of the rear expansion portion 58 exclusively increases.

  In this embodiment, since the expansion part 46 is divided into two by the partition part 55 and one of them is the rear expansion part 58, the volume of the rear expansion part 58 is equal to the partition part 55. It is smaller than the volume when not partitioned by. Therefore, the internal pressure of the rear inflating portion 58 starts to rise earlier than when it is not partitioned by the partitioning portion 55 and becomes higher.

  Due to the increase in the internal pressure, the rear inflating portion 58 expands in the order opposite to the order in which it is folded, that is, in the order of the second fold and the first fold while canceling (expanding) the folded state. This is because the portion of the airbag body 41 that is folded from behind restricts the cancellation of the folded state of the portion that is folded first. As shown in FIG. 13, when the side portion on the vehicle exterior side of the seat back 23 is pressed and broken by the rear inflating portion 58 that expands and inflates as described above, the inflating portion 58 is then connected to the side frame portion 24. In the state where the attachment portion and the vicinity thereof are left in the storage portion 27, the portion protrudes forward from the seat back 23 through the broken portion.

  Here, when the second fold is eliminated, as shown in FIG. 6, the portion 41 u that is folded downward in the airbag main body 41 in the storage form rotates upward with the fold line 77 as a fulcrum. The gap between the side of the occupant P and the side wall SW is narrower at the shoulder PS of the occupant P than at the chest PT. However, the upper portion of the airbag body 41 is likely to enter the narrow gap due to the upward rotation of the portion 41u, which is performed at the initial stage of deployment and inflation of the airbag body 41. Since the first folding of the airbag main body 41 is eliminated after entering the narrow gap in this way, the airbag main body 41 is likely to be smoothly deployed and inflated forward.

  As shown in FIG. 17A, the rear inflating portion 58 to which the inflating gas is supplied thereafter expands and inflates with the gap between the rear protection region ZR of the occupant P and the side wall portion SW directed forward. . At this time, no or almost no inflation gas is supplied to the front inflation portion 59. The front inflating portion 59 has not yet inflated or is slightly inflated, and its internal pressure is low. However, it is possible for the front inflating portion 59 to expand without expanding. This is because the forward movement when the rear expansion portion 58 is expanded and expanded is transmitted to the front expansion portion 59.

  The inflating portion 46 is located until the partition portion 55 is positioned at the front end of the rear inflating portion 58 and the upper end portion of the partitioning portion 55 is positioned near the uppermost portion 46t of the inflating portion 46, that is, the upper end portion of the partitioning portion 55. However, it expand | deploys and expand | swells until it reaches a place lower than the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P, and the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. 16 (a) and 17 (a). Push up. The amount by which the shoulder portion PS is pushed up is smaller than when the uppermost portion 46t of the inflatable portion 46 reaches a position higher than the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS (Patent Document 1). Therefore, the load applied to the shoulder PS with the expansion and expansion of the rear expansion portion 58 is smaller than that of Patent Document 1.

  Further, since the rear inflating portion 58 of the airbag body 41 is accordion-folded so that folding is easy to be eliminated (easy to deploy), the rear inflating portion 58 is rapidly deployed and inflated. Thereafter, the front expansion portion 59 is quickly pushed forward by the expansion portion 58.

  As described above, when the rear inflating portion 58 is deployed and inflated on the side of the rear half of the protection area Z (chest PT) of the occupant P, as shown in FIG. The dimension W2 in the width direction is difficult to be regulated by the partition part 55 located at the front end part. The front end portion of the rear expansion portion 58 expands in the vehicle width direction with the maximum dimension W2 that can be taken.

  On the other hand, the gap between the occupant P and the side wall SW is the narrowest at the shoulder PS. Therefore, as described above, by expanding in the vehicle width direction with the maximum dimension W2 that can be taken by the rear inflating portion 58, the shoulder portion PS is pushed more toward the inside of the vehicle and the gap is expanded. Is pushed up.

  In a state where both valve body portions 71 and 72 are in close contact with each other (substantially closed), the expansion gas is continuously supplied into the rear expansion portion 58, while the adjustment is performed by an external force applied from the side wall portion SW. The pressure valve 69 begins to open.

  That is, from the middle of the supply period of the inflation gas to the rear inflating portion 58, an external force accompanying the restraint of the occupant P is applied and the rear inflating portion 58 is deformed. Along with this, the tension that is strongly applied in the lateral direction to the partition portion 55 is reduced.

  Further, the internal pressure PI of the rear inflating portion 58 further increases with the deformation of the rear inflating portion 58, and the partition portion 55 is pressed toward the front inflating portion 59 (see FIG. 15 (b)). The tension applied to 55 changes, and the difference between the vertical and horizontal tensions becomes smaller. The deformation of the communication portion 68 is allowed, and the operation of the valve body portions 71 and 72 is allowed.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the overlapping portion 65 is overlapped with the non-overlapping portion 66 on the lower side, and is connected to the main body cloth portions 43 and 44 by the vertical connecting portions 57 at both peripheral edges in the horizontal direction. For this reason, in the portion close to the vertical coupling portion 57 in the overlapping portion 65, the force for maintaining the overlapping state is strong. However, this force decreases as the distance from the longitudinal coupling portion 57 increases, and becomes minimum at the central portion in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the overlapping portion 65 pulled in the vertical direction is deformed in the same direction only in the valve body portions 71 and 72 and the vicinity thereof.

  When the communication portion 68 is opened to some extent in the vertical direction, the overlapping portion 65 is connected only to the valve body portions 71 and 72 that have received the high internal pressure PI of the rear expansion portion 58, as shown in FIG. 68 is pushed out (reversed) to the front inflating portion 59. When the vertical width W3 of the communication portion 68 is narrow, the tip portions 71t and 72t come into contact with each other and the pressure regulating valve 69 continues to close.

  When the width W3 of the communication portion 68 is increased, as shown in FIG. 15C, when the tip portions 71t and 72t are separated and the pressure regulating valve 69 is opened, the flow restriction is released. The expansion gas in the rear expansion portion 58 is allowed to flow out to the front expansion portion 59 through the communication portion 68 and the valve body portions 71 and 72 in order.

  Due to the outflow of the expansion gas, the internal pressure of the rear expansion portion 58 changes from increasing to decreasing. However, the side wall portion SW continues to enter the vehicle inner side, and the rear inflating portion 58 is pressed against the rear protection area ZR of the occupant P.

  In addition, due to the inflow of the expansion gas, the front expansion portion 59 starts to expand behind the rear expansion portion 58, and the internal pressure of the front expansion portion 59 starts to rise. The folded state is canceled (expanded) in the reverse order of the order in which the front inflating part 59 is folded, and together with the rear inflating part 58, it tries to expand into a curved surface.

At this time, the gap between the shoulder portion PS and the side wall portion SW is widened by the front end portion (partition portion 55) of the rear inflating portion 58 as described above, so the front inflating portion 59 easily enters this gap.
Further, at this time, the front inflating portion 59 has a lower internal pressure than the rear inflating portion 58 and has a lower impact resistance than the other portions of the upper body of the occupant P, which is on the side of the front protection region ZF (the front half of the chest PT). Expands and expands in the direction.

  Then, with a slight delay from the start of the increase in the internal pressure of the front inflating portion 59, the front inflating portion 59 starts to be pressed against the front protection area ZF of the occupant P in addition to the rear inflating portion 58 by the side wall portion SW entering the vehicle interior. In addition to the restraint of the rear protection area ZR by the rear inflating portion 58, the front protection area ZF starts to be restrained by the front inflating portion 59.

  Along with the expansion and expansion, an inclined portion 47 is formed at the upper portion of the front inflating portion 59 as shown in FIG. That is, the front inflating part 59 expands and inflates along the inclination of the arm part PA so that the inclined part 47 is inclined in the same tendency as the arm part PA. The lower front portion of the inclined portion 47 pushes up the lower front portion of the arm portion PA. Further, the high rear portion of the inclined portion 47 pushes up the high rear portion of the arm portion PA. Therefore, unlike the case where the inclined portion becomes higher toward the front side (Patent Document 1), the arm portion PA has a pre-expansion that expands and expands, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. 16B and 17B. The portion 59 is gradually pushed up.

  In particular, the roll fold applied to the front inflating portion 59 of the airbag main body 41 has a feature that the folding is difficult to be resolved compared to the bellows fold, but is difficult to be hindered by an obstacle and easily enters a narrow portion. is there. For this reason, the front inflating portion 59 is not easily hampered by the arm portion PA of the occupant P, and easily enters the lower portion of the arm portion PA.

  Further, the roll folding here is performed in the same direction so that the front inflating portion 59 winds the surface (main body cloth portion 43) on the passenger side (inner side of the vehicle) inside. For this reason, when the front inflating portion 59 is expanded and inflated, the folding is released toward the occupant side rather than the already unfolded portion. The front inflating part 59 including the inclined part 47 is deployed and inflated along (in close contact with) the arm part PA of the occupant P. Unlike the case of moving away from the arm part PA, Properly convey the force that gradually pushes up.

And the load added to the passenger | crew's P shoulder part PS with the expansion | deployment and expansion | swelling of the expansion part 46 also becomes small also at the point where the arm part PA is pushed up gradually as mentioned above.
As described above, the airbag main body 41 in which the rear inflating portion 58 and the front inflating portion 59 are deployed and inflated is interposed between the protection region Z of the occupant P and the side wall portion SW entering the vehicle inside. By the airbag body 41, the occupant P is pressed and restrained toward the vehicle interior in the protection region Z. And the impact from the side transmitted to the protection area Z through side wall part SW is relieve | moderated by the expansion part 46, and the passenger | crew P is protected.

  In addition, since the front inflating portion 59 starts to be deployed and inflated behind the rear inflating portion 58, even if there is an obstacle in front of the airbag main body 41 before the inflation, the obstacle is It is difficult for the body 41 to be strongly pressed. In this respect, the present embodiment is greatly different from that in which the airbag main body 41 that is not partitioned by the partitioning portion 55 may be expanded and inflated at a stretch to strongly press the obstacle.

  Furthermore, in the vehicle 10 in which the armrest 17 is provided on the side wall part SW, the gap between the occupant P and the side wall part SW is narrower at the place where the armrest 17 is provided than at the place where the armrest 17 is not provided. For this reason, if it is attempted to deploy the front inflating portion 59 even in this gap, the front inflating portion 59 is unlikely to enter the gap and there is a risk that proper deployment and expansion will be hindered. However, in the present embodiment, since the expansion and expansion of the front expansion portion 59 are appropriately performed in a wide gap above the armrest 17, interference with the armrest 17 of the front expansion portion 59 hardly occurs.

  In the state where the front expansion part 59 is expanded, the exhaust hole 73 is directed forward. Excess inflation gas in the front inflation portion 59 is discharged forward through the exhaust hole 73. Due to this discharge, the internal pressure of the front inflating portion 59 is lowered, and the front protection area ZF of the occupant P is restrained by the front inflating portion 59 with an appropriate pressing force.

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the upper end surface 23u of the seat back 23 is higher than the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P, the uppermost portion 46t of the inflating portion 46 is a location close to the shoulder portion PS, It is set at a location lower than the rotation center O of the part PS. On the front side of the uppermost part 46t of the inflating part 46, an inclined part 47 is formed which becomes lower as it moves away from the uppermost part 46t. The front end portion 47f of the inclined portion 47 is set near the upper portion of the central portion 46c in the vertical direction of the inflating portion 46 (FIG. 1).

  Therefore, the amount by which the shoulder portion PS is pushed up with the expansion and expansion of the inflatable portion 46 can be reduced, the arm portion PA can be gradually pushed up, and the load applied to the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P can be reduced. it can.

  (2) The partition part 55 having the communication part 68 and the pressure regulating valve 69 and partitioning the inside of the expansion part 46 into a rear expansion part 58 and a front expansion part 59 has an upper end near the uppermost part 46t of the expansion part 46. It arrange | positions in the same expansion | swelling part 46 in the state which was located (FIG.7 (a)).

  Therefore, the shoulder portion PS can be pushed up by the front inflating portion 59 that first expands and expands, and the arm portion PA can be gradually pushed up by the front inflating portion 59 that develops and inflates behind the front inflating portion 59.

  (3) When the airbag main body 41 is put into the storage form, the front inflating portion 59 is gas-folded by roll folding that repeatedly folds in the same direction so that the passenger side surface (main body cloth portion 43) is wound inside. They are folded toward the generator 30 (FIGS. 12A and 12B).

Therefore, the inclined portion 47 of the front inflating portion 59 can be expanded and inflated along the arm portion PA of the occupant P, and the force for gradually pushing it up can be properly transmitted to the arm portion PA.
(4) The front inflating portion 59 is expanded and inflated above the armrest 17 (FIG. 7A).

  Therefore, it is possible to suppress the expansion and expansion of the front expansion portion 59 from being hindered by the armrest 17. The expansion and expansion of the front expansion portion 59 can be appropriately performed in a space wider than the side of the armrest 17, and the effect (1) can be effectively obtained.

  (5) The partition part 55 is provided in the location where the dimension of the expansion part 46 in the vehicle width direction becomes the maximum in the front-rear direction of the expansion part 46 (FIGS. 10A and 10B). The dimension W1 of the partition part 55 in the vehicle width direction is the same as or approximate to the dimension W2 of the expansion part 46 in the vehicle width direction when the expansion part 46 is expanded assuming that there is no partition part 55. (FIGS. 9A and 9B).

  Therefore, the front end portion of the rear inflating portion 58 is expanded below the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P in the vehicle width direction with the maximum dimension W2 that can be taken, so that the shoulder portion PS is pushed a lot toward the inside of the vehicle, and the shoulder portion A narrow gap between the PS and the side wall part SW can be widened, and the inclined part 47 of the front expansion part 59 that expands and expands behind the rear expansion part 58 can easily enter the gap.

In addition, the said embodiment can also be implemented as a modification which changed this as follows.
<About the gas generator 30>
-The whole gas generator 30 may be arrange | positioned inside the back expansion part 58. FIG.

<About the airbag body 41>
The front end portion 47f of the inclined portion 47 may be set near the upper portion of the central portion 46c as in the above-described embodiment, but may be set at a location lower than that. Also in this case, the effect of gradually pushing up the arm PA of the occupant P by the inclined portion 47 can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P is used as an index when setting the uppermost portion 46t of the inflatable portion 46. Instead, the upper end surface 23u of the seat back 23 is used. (See FIG. 1) may be adopted as an index.

  Specifically, when the upper end surface 23u of the seat back 23 is lower than the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS, the uppermost portion 46t of the inflating portion 46 is set at a position lower than the upper end surface 23u of the seat back 23. Is done.

  In short, the uppermost portion 46t of the inflatable portion 46 is a portion that is close to the shoulder portion PS of the occupant P, and is lower than the lower one of the rotation center O of the shoulder portion PS and the upper end surface 23u of the seat back 23. Is set to a lower position.

  Thus, even when the setting index is changed, the effect of suppressing an excessive load from being applied to the shoulder PS of the occupant P as the inflating portion 46 is expanded and inflated is the same as in the above embodiment. Is obtained.

  -The location where roll folding is performed in the airbag main body 41 may be changed on condition that at least the front inflating portion 59 is included. That is, in addition to the front inflating part 59, at least the front part of the rear inflating part 58 may be subject to roll folding.

  The airbag main body 41 may be substantially composed of the inflating portion 46 as in the above embodiment, but has a non-inflating portion that does not inflate without being supplied with the inflation gas. It may be a thing.

The airbag main body 41 may be one in which the inside of the inflating portion 46 is not partitioned by the partitioning portion 55.
<About the gas flow control unit>
-As the communication part 68 and the pressure regulating valve 69, it replaces with what was demonstrated in the said embodiment, it is on condition that the internal pressure of the back expansion part 58 exceeds predetermined value, it closes substantially until the conditions are satisfy | filled, and the same conditions What opens by satisfying may be used.

  For example, a hole for communicating the rear inflating portion 58 and the front inflating portion 59 in place of the communicating portion 68 is formed at a location where the communicating portion 68 is provided in the partition portion 55 of the above-described embodiment. Is configured.

  In addition, the lid sheet is disposed as a pressure regulating valve at the position where the hole is closed in the rear inflating portion 58 or the front inflating portion 59. The lid sheet is coupled to the partition portion 55 by a coupling portion provided so as to surround the hole. The connecting portion is formed by stitching using a sewing thread, bonding using an adhesive, or the like. However, as this coupling portion, one that is broken at least partially when the internal pressure of the rear expansion portion 58 exceeds a predetermined value is used.

  In this case, when the internal pressure of the rear inflating portion 58 is equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the internal pressure is applied to the coupling portion through the lid sheet, but the coupling portion is not broken, and the lid sheet is divided around the hole. Continue to bind to 55.

  When the joint is formed by continuously applying the adhesive around the hole to the partition 55 in a ring shape, the hole is closed by the lid sheet, that is, the hole and the lid sheet are both closed. It will be in the state.

  On the other hand, when the coupling portion is formed by stitching, the lid sheet is intermittently coupled to the partition portion 55 by the sewing thread, so that some inflation gas may leak from the seam. Therefore, both the hole and the lid sheet are substantially closed.

  When the internal pressure exceeds a predetermined value and a large force is applied to the joint portion through the lid sheet, at least a part of the joint portion is broken. By this breakage, the hole is not blocked by the lid sheet, that is, the hole and the lid sheet are both opened. The inflation gas can pass through the hole and the lid sheet through the broken portion.

<Regional section 55>
-The partition part 55 may be arrange | positioned in the inflatable part 46 in the state which replaced the upper end part in the uppermost part 46t vicinity of the inflatable part 46, and was located in the uppermost part 46t.

-A pair of peripheral part of the division part 55 may be couple | bonded together in the back expansion part 58 with respect to the main body cloth parts 43 and 44, and may be combined in the front expansion part 59. FIG.
Alternatively, one peripheral edge of the partition part 55 may be coupled to the main body cloth parts 43 and 44 within the rear expansion part 58 and the other peripheral part may be coupled within the front expansion part 59.

  In the overlapping portion 65, the portion corresponding to the communicating portion 68 in the lateral direction functions as both valve body portions 71 and 72. Therefore, when at least the distal end portions 71t and 72t of both valve body portions 71 and 72 come into contact with each other and are closed when the rear expansion portion 58 is expanded and expanded, the overlapping portion 65 does not correspond to the communication portion 68 ( The form of the (non-neighboring portion) may be changed. For example, a portion (non-neighboring portion) that does not correspond to the communication portion 68 in the overlapping portion 65 may be partially or entirely combined. As a means for this connection, stitching or adhesion may be used. By changing in this way, only the part corresponding to the communication part 68 in the overlapping part 65 is operated as the both valve body parts 71 and 72, and the phenomenon in which the non-corresponding part moves unnecessarily, for example, the phenomenon of flapping is suppressed. Can do.

In addition, a cutout may be made in at least a part of a portion (non-neighboring portion) that does not correspond to the communication portion 68 in the overlapping portion 65.
-The partition part 55 and both valve body parts 71 and 72 may be comprised by a mutually different member.

  -The location where the coupling is released in the horizontal coupling portion 67 does not necessarily have to be set at a portion that crosses the folding line 56, and is set at a location that deviates from the folding line 56 in a direction perpendicular to the folding line 56. Also good. Moreover, the part by which the coupling | bonding between the both horizontal coupling parts 67 is cancelled | released may be set in multiple places.

The pair of overlapping portions 65 including both the valve body portions 71 and 72 may be disposed in the front expansion portion 59 instead of the rear expansion portion 58 before the expansion portion 46 is expanded and expanded.
The two-folded partition part 55 may be arranged in the inflatable part 46 in a non-inflated and deployed state with the fold line 56 positioned on the front inflating part 59 side with respect to the longitudinal coupling part 57. In this case, the overlapping portion 65 including both valve body portions 71 and 72 may be disposed in the front expansion portion 59 before the expansion portion 46 is expanded and expanded.

-What has the external shape different from the said embodiment as the division part 55 may be used.
<About exhaust hole 73>
The exhaust hole 73 may be provided at a location different from the above embodiment in the front expansion portion 59. For example, the exhaust hole may be provided at a location that overlaps with the peripheral coupling portion 45. In this case, the exhaust hole may be formed by partially releasing the coupling of the two main body cloth portions 43 and 44 by the peripheral edge coupling portion 45.

<About the storage unit 27 of the airbag module AM>
Instead of the seat back 23 of the vehicle seat 21, the storage portion 27 may be provided at a location near the outside of the occupant P in the side wall portion SW, and the airbag module AM may be incorporated therein.

<Others>
The above-described side airbag device is configured such that the vehicle seat 21 is arranged in a direction different from the front of the vehicle, for example, in a posture in which the seatback 23 faces the side, The present invention can also be applied to a side airbag device of a type that protects the occupant P from the impact when an impact is applied from the front-rear direction.

-Vehicles to which the side airbag device is applied include not only private vehicles but also various industrial vehicles.
The above-described side airbag device can also be applied to a side airbag device installed on a vehicle seat other than a vehicle, for example, an aircraft or a ship.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle (vehicle), 17 ... Armrest, 21 ... Vehicle seat (vehicle seat), 23 ... Seat back, 23u ... Upper end surface, 27 ... Storage part, 30 ... Gas generator, 41 ... Airbag main body, 46 ... Expansion part, 46c ... Center part, 46t ... Top part, 47 ... Inclined part, 47f ... Front end part, 55 ... Partition part, 58 ... Rear expansion part, 59 ... Front expansion part, 68 ... Communication part (gas flow restriction part) ), 69 ... Pressure regulating valve (gas flow regulating part), O ... Center of rotation, P ... Passenger, PS ... Shoulder part, PT ... Chest part, SW ... Side wall part, Z ... Protection region, W1, W2 ... Dimensions.

Claims (5)

An inflatable portion having a chest of an occupant seated in a vehicle seat as a protection area is provided, and the protection is provided by an inflating gas supplied from a gas generator in response to an impact applied to the vehicle from the side of the vehicle seat. An airbag body that restrains an occupant by deploying and inflating the inflatable part on the side of the region;
The uppermost part of the inflatable part is a part that is close to the shoulder part of the occupant and is lower than the lower one of the rotation center of the shoulder part and the upper end surface of the seat back of the vehicle seat Located in
On the front side of the uppermost part of the inflating part, an inclined part is formed which becomes lower as it moves forward from the uppermost part,
A side airbag device in which a front end portion of the inclined portion is set near or above a center portion in the vertical direction of the inflating portion. The expansion part has a rear expansion part to which an expansion gas is supplied from the gas generator by a partition part having a gas flow restricting part, and is positioned in front of the partition part, and the rear expansion part and the gas It is divided into a pre-expansion part to which expansion gas passed through the flow restriction part is supplied,
2. The side airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the partition portion is disposed in the inflatable portion in a state where an upper end portion thereof is positioned at the uppermost portion of the inflatable portion or in the vicinity thereof. The airbag main body is folded into a storage form, and is stored in a storage portion near the side of the occupant,
The at least front expansion part in the airbag main body of the said storage form is folded toward the said gas generator by the roll fold repeatedly folded toward the same direction so that a passenger | crew side surface may be wound inside. The side airbag device described in 1.   The side airbag device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the front inflating portion is deployed and inflated above an armrest provided on a side wall portion of the vehicle. The partition portion is provided at a location where the dimension of the inflating portion in the width direction of the vehicle seat is maximized in the front-rear direction of the inflating portion,
The dimension of the partition part in the width direction is set to the same or approximate dimension as the dimension of the expansion part in the same width direction when the expansion part is expanded on the assumption that the partition part does not exist. The side airbag apparatus of any one of Claims 2-4.