JP2017088123A - Occupant protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant protection device capable of increasing an occupant's rib resistance to impact at the time of side crash.SOLUTION: An occupant protection device 10 is provided with: a tension application mechanism (PSB mechanism 34) that applies tension to a shoulder belt 22Y actuated to bind the breast of an occupant D; an air bag 66 that is arranged at an overlapping position with the shoulder belt 22Y in the seat back 16 of a vehicle seat 12 in a vehicle front view and that is expanded to push the back upper part of the occupant D from the vehicle rear side. When side crash is predicted, the tension application mechanism (PSB mechanism 34) is actuated, and the air bag 66 is expanded.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device.

  Patent Literature 1 below discloses an occupant protection device that pulls in webbing prior to a collision when a collision is predicted by a sensor.

JP 2005-263071 A

  However, the conventional occupant protection device has room for improvement from the viewpoint of increasing the load resistance of the occupant's ribs at the time of a side collision.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device that can increase the load resistance of the occupant's ribs when a side collision occurs.

  The occupant protection device according to claim 1 overlaps the tension applying mechanism that applies tension to the shoulder belt that restrains the chest of the occupant and the shoulder belt in the seat back of the vehicle seat in a front view of the vehicle. And an air bag that presses the upper rear part of the occupant from the vehicle rear side by being inflated, and when the side collision is predicted, the tension applying mechanism is activated and the air bag is inflated. .

  In the occupant protection device according to the first aspect, when a side collision is predicted, the tension applying mechanism is activated and the air bag is inflated. That is, when the tension applying mechanism operates, tension is applied to the shoulder belt that restrains the chest of the occupant, and a load is applied to the occupant's chest from the front of the vehicle. At the same time, the air bag disposed at the position overlapping the shoulder belt in the seat back of the vehicle seat in the front view of the vehicle is inflated, so that the upper back of the occupant is pressed from the rear side of the vehicle, and the upper back of the occupant is A load is applied from the rear of the vehicle. As described above, when a side collision is predicted, a load is applied so as to sandwich the chest of the occupant both from the front of the vehicle and from the rear of the vehicle, and the restraining force in the vehicle front-rear direction on the occupant's chest increases. As a result, the resistance load of the occupant's ribs against the load from the side of the vehicle at the time of a side collision increases.

  This point will be described in detail. When a side collision occurs and a load from the side of the vehicle is applied to the occupant's rib, the rib tends to spread in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Here, in the occupant protection device, as described above, when a side collision is predicted, the restraining force in the vehicle front-rear direction on the chest of the occupant is increased prior to the side collision. For this reason, the tolerance load of the rib with respect to the load from the vehicle side when a side collision occurs can be raised.

  As described above, the occupant protection device according to the present invention has an excellent effect of being able to increase the load resistance of the occupant's ribs at the time of a side collision.

It is a typical side view showing vehicle seat 12 and seatbelt device 20 to which occupant protection device 10 concerning this embodiment is applied. It is a typical expanded sectional view which shows the state cut | disconnected along 2-2 line | wire of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an occupant protection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  Note that an arrow FR appropriately shown in each figure indicates the front of the vehicle, an arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle, and an arrow IN indicates the inner side in the vehicle width direction. Also, in the following description, when using the front / rear, up / down, inside / outside, and left / right directions, the vehicle width when facing the front / rear direction of the vehicle, the up / down direction of the vehicle, the inside / outside of the vehicle width direction, and the traveling direction It shall indicate the left and right of the direction.

(Schematic configuration of vehicle seat)
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle seat 12 and a seat belt device 20 to which an occupant protection device 10 according to this embodiment is applied. The vehicle seat 12 shown in FIG. 1 is a front seat for a driver's seat as an example, and is disposed with the vehicle width direction set as the seat width direction and toward the vehicle front side. In the present embodiment, an international unified side impact dummy D (World SID) is seated on the vehicle seat 12 instead of an actual occupant. This sitting posture is determined by the side impact test method (ECE R95) currently employed in Japan and Europe, or the US side impact test method (FMVSS214). Hereinafter, for the convenience of explanation, this international unified side collision dummy D is referred to as “occupant D”.

  The vehicle seat 12 includes a seat cushion 14 that supports the buttocks and thighs of the occupant D. A seat back 16 that supports the back (including the waist) of the occupant D is connected to the rear end of the seat cushion 14. The seat back 16 can be tilted by a reclining mechanism (not shown) provided at a connecting portion with the seat cushion 14. A headrest 18 that supports the head of the occupant D is attached to the upper end of the seat back 16. The height of the headrest 18 can be adjusted.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged sectional view showing a state cut along line 2-2 in FIG. Although not shown in FIG. 2, a seat back pad is disposed on the front side inside the seat back 16, and the seat back pad is covered with a skin on the front and both sides of the seat back 16.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate portion in the width direction of the seat back 16 is constituted by a backrest portion 16A. The backrest 16A is a portion that supports the back side of the occupant D. Further, both side portions in the width direction of the seat back 16 are constituted by side support portions 16B. The pair of left and right side support portions 16B bulge to the front side of the seat back from the backrest portion 16A (intermediate portion in the width direction of the seat back 16), and serve as a portion that supports the side surface side of the occupant D.

(Configuration of three-point seat belt device, etc.)
A three-point seat belt device 20 is provided corresponding to the vehicle seat 12. The three-point seat belt device 20 includes a webbing 22 for restraining an occupant. One end portion 22 </ b> A of the webbing 22 is attached to the side portion of the seat cushion 14 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction (side portion on the back side in FIG. 1) via an anchor plate 24. The other end 22B of the webbing 22 is engaged with a spool 26S of a seat belt winding device 26 (webbing winding device). Further, the intermediate portion of the webbing 22 is inserted and folded through a shoulder anchor 28 provided on the upper side of the vehicle side portion.

  Further, a buckle 30 is provided in a self-supporting state on a side portion (side portion shown in FIG. 1) of the seat cushion 14 on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. A tongue plate 32 provided so as to be slidable relative to the webbing 22 can be engaged with the buckle 30.

  In the three-point seat belt device 20, the webbing 22 is placed on the occupant D (the occupant seated on the vehicle seat 12) by engaging the tongue plate 32 with the buckle 30 while the occupant D is seated on the vehicle seat 12. It comes to be attached to. In a state where the webbing 22 is mounted on the occupant D, a portion of the webbing 22 located between the tongue plate 32 and the anchor plate 24 is a lap belt 22X, and among the webbing 22 from the tongue plate 32 to the shoulder anchor 28. A portion located between them is a shoulder belt 22Y. The lap belt 22X restrains the waist of the occupant D, and the shoulder belt 22Y restrains the upper body (including the chest) of the occupant D.

  The seat belt retractor 26 is fixed in the vicinity of a lower end portion of a center pillar (not shown) constituting the vehicle skeleton member. In the seat belt retractor 26, an urging mechanism 26F is disposed on the side of the spool 26S that winds the webbing 22. By this urging mechanism 26F, the spool 26S is constantly urged in the direction of winding the webbing 22 (winding rotation direction).

(Tensioning mechanism)
The seat belt retractor 26 includes a PSB (pre-crash seat belt) mechanism 34 and a pretensioner 35. Both the PSB mechanism 34 and the pretensioner 35 operate to apply tension to the shoulder belt 22Y by rotating the spool 26S in the direction of winding the webbing 22. The PSB mechanism 34 and the pretensioner 35 correspond to the “tension applying mechanism” of the present invention.

  Of these, the PSB mechanism 34 includes a motor 34A disposed on the side of the spool 26S. The spool 34S is driven in the winding direction by the rotation of the motor 34A. An ECU 36 mounted on the vehicle is electrically connected to the motor 34A.

  On the other hand, the pretensioner 35 includes a squib (ignition device). By operating the squib (ignition device), the spool 26S is instantaneously driven in the winding direction. The ECU 36 is electrically connected to the squib (ignition device). In addition, the pretensioner 35 is not limited to what uses a squib as a drive source, For example, you may drive the spool 26S with a gas generating agent.

(Air bag)
An air bag 66 is built in a range (upper side of the backrest portion 16A) that supports the chest of the occupant D in the backrest portion 16A (intermediate portion of the seat back 16 in the width direction). The air bag 66 is attached to a support plate S disposed on the rear side of the seat back. The support plate S is disposed such that the surface facing the air bag 66 is along the seat back width direction and the seat back vertical direction, and is attached to a seat back frame (not shown).

  Each of the air bags 66 expands when air (gas) flows into the interior (shown by a solid line in the drawing), and contracts when air (gas) flows out from the interior (two-dot chain line in the drawing). ). The inflation direction of the air bag 66 is the front side of the seat back opposite to the support plate S side. The air bag 66 is inflated to press the upper body of the occupant D (particularly, the rear upper portion corresponding to the ribs) from the vehicle rear side toward the vehicle front side.

  A gas supply mechanism unit 70 is connected to the air bag 66. The gas supply mechanism 70 is a mechanism that can supply gas into the air bag 66, and includes a pump P. The pump P includes a pump main body PH and a sensor unit PS. The pump body PH is configured to be driven based on a command signal output from the operation control 36A. The sensor unit PS includes, for example, a Hall IC and the like, and is configured to output a signal corresponding to pressurization and decompression due to the operation of the pump main body PH to the storage unit 36M of the ECU 36. One end of a pipe 72A is connected to the pump main body PH, and an air bag 66 is connected to the other end of the pipe 72A. A valve V is provided in the middle of the flow path of the pipe 72A.

  By operating the pump main body PH and the valve V, the air bag 66 is expanded or contracted. An ECU 36 is electrically connected to the pump P and the valve V.

(ECU)
The ECU 36 includes an operation control unit 36A, a side collision prediction unit 36B, a side collision detection unit 36C, and a storage unit 36M.

  A side collision prediction PCS (pre-crash safety) sensor 38 is electrically connected to the side collision prediction unit 36B. The PCS sensor 38 is configured to include a distance sensor such as a millimeter wave radar, and outputs a signal corresponding to the relative distance to the vehicle (monitored object) located on the side of the host vehicle to the side collision prediction unit 36B. It is supposed to be. Then, the side collision prediction unit 36B predicts a side collision of the vehicle based on the output signal of the PCS sensor 38.

  In addition, the case where the side collision prediction unit 36B predicts a side collision of the vehicle includes the case where it is determined that the collision possibility is higher than a predetermined threshold, in addition to the case where the collision is determined to be unavoidable. It is. Although detailed description is omitted, the PSB mechanism 34 is controlled by the operation control unit 36A so as to operate even when the vehicle is suddenly decelerated. Further, the storage unit 36M described above is configured by, for example, a RAM or the like.

  On the other hand, a side collision detection sensor 40 for side collision detection is electrically connected to the side collision detection unit 36C. The side collision detection sensor 40 is configured by an acceleration sensor as an example, and is provided in a center pillar or a side door of a vehicle (not shown). Then, when a collision body collides with the vehicle from the outside in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle, the side collision detection unit 36C is configured as a side surface with respect to the vehicle based on a signal output from the side collision detection sensor 40 to the side collision detection unit 36C of the ECU 36. The ECU 36 detects (determines) the collision.

  The side collision detection sensor 40 may be constituted by a pressure chamber and a pressure sensor. Specifically, the pressure chamber may be disposed in the side door of the vehicle, and the pressure change in the pressure chamber may be detected by a pressure sensor.

(Control during side collision prediction)
When a side collision of the vehicle is predicted by the side collision prediction unit 36B, the operation control unit 36A of the ECU 36 operates the motor 34A of the PSB mechanism 34 and also supplies the air to the air bag 66 so that the air is supplied to the air bag 66. The pump body PH and the valve V are controlled. As a result, the spool 26S is rotated in the direction of winding the webbing 22, whereby tension is applied to the shoulder belt 22Y and the air bag 66 is inflated.

(Control during side collision detection)
After that, when a side collision occurs and the side collision detection unit 36C detects a side collision of the vehicle, the operation control 36A of the ECU 36 operates the squib (ignition device) of the pretensioner 35 and the air bag 66. Further, the pump body PH is controlled so as to send air. Thereby, the tension applied to the webbing 22 is further increased, and the operating force for inflating the air bag 66 is increased.

<Action and effect>
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  In the occupant protection device 10 according to the present embodiment, when the side collision prediction unit 36B of the ECU 36 predicts a side collision of the vehicle based on the signal output from the PCS sensor 38, the operation control unit 36A includes the motor of the PSB mechanism 34. 34A is operated to rotate the webbing 22 in the winding direction. At the same time, the operation control unit 36A controls the pump main body PH and the valve V of the gas supply mechanism unit 70 so as to inflate the air bag 66. That is, when a side collision is predicted, the PSB mechanism 34 operates and the air bag 66 expands.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, when the PSB mechanism 34 is operated, tension is applied to the webbing 22 (particularly, the shoulder belt 22Y) that restrains the chest of the occupant D, and the front of the vehicle against the chest of the occupant D is applied. Load is applied (arrow F1). At the same time, the air bag 66 provided on the seat back 16 of the vehicle seat 12 is inflated, so that the rear upper part of the occupant D is pressed from the rear side of the vehicle, and a load is applied to the upper rear part of the occupant D from the rear side of the vehicle. (Arrow F2). As described above, since the air bag 66 is inflated at a position corresponding to the shoulder belt 22Y (a position overlapping the shoulder belt 22Y when viewed from the front of the vehicle), when a side collision is predicted, the air bag 66 is detected from the front of the vehicle and from the rear of the vehicle. A load is applied so as to sandwich the chest of the occupant D from both, and the restraining force in the vehicle front-rear direction on the chest of the occupant D increases.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 2, when a side collision occurs and a load (arrow <input>) from the side of the vehicle is applied to the occupant's rib R, the rib R tends to spread in the vehicle longitudinal direction ( Arrow H). In this regard, in the occupant protection device 10 of this embodiment, as described above, when a side collision is predicted, the restraining force in the vehicle front-rear direction on the chest of the occupant D is increased prior to the side collision ( Arrow F1, arrow F2). For this reason, the tolerance load of the rib with respect to the load (arrow <input>) from the side of the vehicle when a side collision occurs can be increased.

  Further, in the occupant protection device 10 of the present embodiment, when a side collision is detected by the side collision detection sensor 40 and the side collision detection unit 36C, the pretensioner 35 is activated and the air bag 66 is further expanded. That is, the restraining force in the front-rear direction of the chest of the occupant D, which has been raised when the side collision is predicted, is further raised when the side collision is detected. In particular, in the present embodiment, when a side collision actually occurs and a side collision is detected, not only the pretensioner 35 but also the operating force of the air bag 66 is increased. For this reason, the restraining force in the front-rear direction of the chest of the occupant D can be increased more efficiently, and as a result, the resistance load of the ribs against the load from the side of the vehicle can be increased.

[Supplementary explanation of the above embodiment]
In the above embodiment, one air bag 66 is built in the intermediate portion in the width direction of the backrest portion 16A of the seat back 16, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, two may be incorporated on the left and right sides of the center in the width direction of the backrest 16A. Further, the seat back 16 may be divided in the vertical direction and a plurality of air bags may be incorporated.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the PSB mechanism 34 and the pretensioner 35 as the “tension applying mechanism” are provided in the seat belt retractor 26, and the shoulder belt 22 </ b> Y is pulled upward via the shoulder anchor 28. The webbing 22 (particularly, the shoulder belt 22Y) is a type that removes the slack of the webbing 22 (so-called shoulder belt pretensioner), but the “tension applying mechanism” of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a type (so-called tongue pretensioner) that removes the slack of the webbing 22 (the shoulder belt 22Y and the lap belt 22X) by pulling the buckle 30 downward may be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the seatbelt apparatus 20 was a three-point type. However, the type of the seat belt device is not particularly limited as long as it has a function of restraining the chest of the occupant D.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the side collision occurred and the side collision was detected, the actuating force with respect to the air bag 66 that was already inflated was further increased, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the operating force of the air bag inflated when a side collision is predicted may be maintained even after the side collision is detected.

10 Occupant Protection Device 12 Vehicle Seat 16 Seat Back 22Y Shoulder Belt 34 PSB Mechanism (Tensioning Mechanism)
66 Airbag D Crew

Claims (1)

A tension applying mechanism that applies tension to the shoulder belt that restrains the chest of the occupant by operating;
An air bag that is disposed in a position overlapping the shoulder belt in the vehicle seat when viewed from the front of the vehicle and inflates to press the upper back of the occupant from the vehicle rear side;
With
When a side collision is predicted, the tension applying mechanism operates and the air bag expands.
Crew protection device.

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