JP2017159775A - Driver seat air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driver seat air bag device capable of further effectively suppressing turning of a driver's head in an oblique front collision.SOLUTION: A driver seat air bag device with a driver seat air bag 20 that expands and develops toward a driver from a steering wheel 12, and protects the driver's head or upper body, includes: in the expanded and developed state, a substantially circular bottom surface part 21 with a diameter covering the steering wheel 12; and impact absorption parts (an inclined side surface part 22 and a top surface part 23) diametrically contracting from the bottom surface part 21, and projecting toward the driver. Therefore, in an oblique front collision, the driver's head H, while sliding on an area where the impact absorption parts diametrically contract, moves obliquely forward, and turning of the head generated by contact of the surface of the driver seat air bag 20 with the head can be effectively reduced. Further, since the driver seat air bag 20 has a diameter covering the steering wheel 12, the head H does not collide with the steering wheel 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a driver airbag device, and more particularly to a driver airbag device having a driver airbag that inflates and deploys from a steering wheel toward the driver to protect the driver's head and upper body.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a driver's seat airbag device having an airbag housed in a central portion of a steering wheel is known as a device for protecting a driver from an impact on a front collision. The driver's seat airbag device protects the driver by restraining the driver's head and upper body that move forward by inflating and deploying the airbag rearward at the time of a front collision. The driver's protection by the driver's seat airbag device is premised on the behavior of the driver at the time of a front collision in a state where the seat belt is worn.

  However, in the event of an oblique collision in which the opponent vehicle collides with the front corner of the host vehicle from diagonally forward, the host vehicle is pushed by the opponent vehicle and moves in the traveling direction of the opponent vehicle, while the driver is in the original position. Therefore, the upper body of the driver shows a behavior of moving diagonally forward toward the opponent vehicle in the own vehicle.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where the driver's head is in contact with a conventional driver's seat airbag when the opponent vehicle collides diagonally from the left front to the left corner of the host vehicle where the right front seat is the driver's seat. It is. The driver wearing the seat belt 101 in the case of an oblique front collision shows a behavior of moving from the left shoulder side to the left front so as to slip through the seat belt 101. As shown in the figure, the head H of the driver D contacts the surface of the inflated and deployed airbag 100 rather than the center portion thereof, and the head H contacts the airbag 100. The face rotates at a high speed in a direction (arrow R direction) in which the face faces the center of the airbag 100 due to friction with the surface. Due to the rotation of the head H, the brain of the driver D may be damaged.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of a driver's seat airbag device that suppresses the rotation of the head. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, Patent Document 1 includes a tether 112 that spans the width direction inside the airbag 110 of the driver's seat airbag device in an inflated and deployed state. A configuration is disclosed.

  According to this driver's seat airbag device, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the head is in an oblique front collision, the head H is in contact with the airbag 110 while moving obliquely forward. Since it is restrained by the airbag 110 so as to be sandwiched from both sides in the vehicle width direction by the tether 112, the difference in restraining force acting on the left and right of the driver's head is suppressed to be small, and the rotation of the driver's head is suppressed. Is done.

JP2015-116912A

  However, according to the driver's seat airbag device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the difference in restraining force acting on the left and right sides of the driver's head in the case of an oblique front collision can be suppressed to a small value, but the restraining force at the center of the airbag is less than the vehicle width. It is inevitable that it becomes larger than the restraining force at the direction end. Therefore, the force to rotate the head in the direction in which the face faces the center of the airbag during an oblique front impact remains, and if the impact from the oblique front impact is large, there is a risk of brain damage due to the rotation of the head. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a driver's seat airbag device that can more effectively suppress the rotation of the driver's head during an oblique front collision. There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a driver seat airbag having a driver seat airbag that inflates and deploys from a steering wheel toward a driver and protects the driver's head and upper body. In the device, the driver airbag has a substantially circular bottom surface having a diameter that covers the steering wheel in the inflated and deployed state, and shock absorption that projects in a driver direction while reducing the diameter from the substantially circular bottom surface. Part.

  According to this configuration, the inflated and deployed driver's seat airbag has a substantially circular bottom surface having a diameter that covers the steering wheel, and an impact absorbing portion that protrudes toward the driver while reducing the diameter from the substantially circular bottom surface. Therefore, the angle formed by the direction of movement of the driver's head and the area where the shock absorbing portion is reduced becomes a sharp acute angle in the case of an oblique front collision, and the driver's head is a region where the diameter of the shock absorbing portion is reduced. It is possible to move diagonally forward while sliding on the top. Therefore, it is possible to effectively suppress the rotation of the head caused by the contact between the driver's seat airbag surface and the head.

  Further, since the bottom surface portion of the driver's seat airbag has a diameter that covers the steering wheel, there is no possibility that the head that moves obliquely forward along the region of diameter reduction collides with the steering wheel.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the driver-seat airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the shock absorbing portion includes a cylindrical inclined side surface portion that rises obliquely while being reduced in diameter from an outer peripheral edge portion of the bottom surface portion. A substantially circular top surface portion that has a smaller diameter than the bottom surface portion and closes an upper end of the inclined side surface portion, and the driver's seat airbag has the bottom surface portion and the inclined side surface in the inflated and deployed state. It has the shape of a substantially truncated cone which consists of a part and the said top surface part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to restrain the head that moves forward in the substantially circular top surface portion of the driver's seat airbag in the case of a so-called full-wrap frontal collision, while in the diagonally forward direction in the diagonally forward direction. It is possible to avoid the collision of the head against the steering wheel while effectively suppressing the rotation of the head due to the contact between the surface of the driver's seat airbag and the head without moving the moving head through the inclined side surface. .

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the driver's seat airbag device according to the second aspect, the driver's seat airbag is disposed in a direction along the inclined side surface portion of the vehicle interior member in front of the vehicle body relative to the steering wheel. It has the auxiliary airbag which inflate-deploys with expansion | swelling deployment of this.

  According to this configuration, the driver's head that contacts the inclined side surface portion of the driver airbag that is inflated and deployed at the time of the oblique front collision and moves forward obliquely even if the driver slides on the inclined side surface portion is rearward. It can be received by the auxiliary airbag inflated and deployed.

  According to the present invention, the inflated and deployed driver's seat airbag has a substantially circular bottom surface portion having a diameter that covers the steering wheel, and an impact absorbing portion that protrudes toward the driver while reducing the diameter from the substantially circular bottom surface portion. Therefore, in the case of an oblique front collision, the angle formed by the direction of movement of the driver's head and the area where the shock absorbing portion is reduced becomes a sharp acute angle, and the head generated by the contact between the driver airbag surface and the head Can be effectively suppressed. This avoids the possibility of damage to the driver's brain.

  In addition, since the bottom surface portion of the driver's seat airbag has a diameter that covers the steering wheel, the possibility of the head colliding with the steering wheel is avoided, and safety is ensured.

It is a mimetic diagram showing composition of driver's seat airbag device 10 concerning an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a driver's seat airbag 20 and an auxiliary airbag 30 in an inflated and deployed state. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the head H of the driver D and the driver airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 that are inflated and deployed; (A) immediately after inflation and deployment, and (B) the head seat on the driver seat airbag 20, respectively. The state where the part H is in contact and the state where the head H is in contact with the auxiliary airbag 30 are shown. It is a figure which shows the state which the driver | operator's head H contacted the conventional driver's seat airbag 100 in the case of the diagonal front collision. It is a schematic diagram which shows the mode of restraint of the driver | operator's head H using the driver's seat airbag 110 which stretched the tether 112 in the width direction, respectively, (A) Immediately after expansion | deployment, and (B), respectively. A state in which the head H is in contact with the driver's seat airbag 110 is shown.

  Next, a driver's seat airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 by taking as an example a vehicle in which the right front seat is the driver's seat. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a driver's seat airbag device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing configurations of a driver's seat airbag 20 and an auxiliary airbag 30 in an inflated and deployed state. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the head H of the driver D, the driver airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 inflated and deployed. 3A shows a state immediately after inflation and deployment, FIG. 3B shows a state in which the head H is in contact with the driver's seat airbag 20, and FIG. 3C shows a state in which the head H is in contact with the auxiliary airbag 30. . In each figure, arrows Fr, Re, Rt, and Lf indicate the front of the vehicle body, the rear of the vehicle body, the right direction of the vehicle body, and the left direction of the vehicle body, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the driver's seat airbag device 10 expands and deploys the driver's seat airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 that are inflated and deployed in response to the collision, and the driver seat airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30. It has the control part 40 to control, and the collision sensor 50.

  The driver's seat airbag 20 is housed in a folded state inside the center pad 12a of the steering wheel 12. Similarly, the gas generated by the operation of the inflator 14 fixed inside the center pad 12a causes the vehicle rearward from the center pad 12a. That is, it expands and deploys in the direction of the driver D, and protects the head H and upper body of the driver D.

  The auxiliary airbag 30 is housed in the substantially central part of the dashboard 18 in the left-right direction of the dashboard, which is a vehicle interior member in front of the steering wheel 12, and is generated by the operation of the inflator 34 fixed inside the dashboard 18. The gas expands and expands from the same position to the rear of the vehicle body.

  The inflated and deployed shapes of the driver airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 are shown in FIG. 2 (in FIG. 2, in order to facilitate understanding of the inflated and deployed shape and position of the airbag, the control unit 40, the driver D, etc. Description is omitted). In the inflated and deployed state, the driver's seat airbag 20 has a substantially circular bottom surface portion 21 having a diameter that covers the steering wheel 12, and a cylindrical inclined side surface portion that rises obliquely while being reduced in diameter from the outer peripheral edge portion 21a of the bottom surface portion 21. 22, and a substantially circular top surface portion 23 that closes the upper end 22 a of the inclined side surface portion 22 and has a smaller diameter than the bottom surface portion 21. That is, the driver's seat airbag 20 has a substantially frustoconical shape including a bottom surface portion 21, an inclined side surface portion 22, and a top surface portion 23 in the inflated and deployed state.

  Among these, the top surface portion 23 and the inclined side surface portion 22 form an impact absorbing portion that protrudes toward the driver. The inflated and deployed shape of the driver airbag 20 is not limited to a substantially truncated cone shape, and may be various shapes such as a hemispherical shape, a bowl shape, and a conical shape with rounded vertices.

  In the inflated and deployed state, the auxiliary airbag 30 is provided at a substantially rectangular bottom surface portion 31, a rectangular cylindrical side surface portion 32 from the outer peripheral edge portion of the bottom surface portion 31, and an upper end of the side surface portion, and is substantially the same as the bottom surface portion 31. And a top surface portion 33 that forms a rectangular surface. That is, the auxiliary airbag 30 has a substantially square columnar inflated and deployed shape.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary airbag 30 has a straight line S (indicated by a broken line in the drawing) along the inclined side surface portion 22 of the driver airbag 20 in the inflated and deployed state. It is accommodated inside the dashboard 18 so as to cross the top surface portion 33. The straight line S is a straight line passing through the apex P of the cone including the truncated cone formed by the driver airbag 20.

  The control unit 40 sends a signal to the inflators 14 and 35 based on the signal transmitted from the collision sensor 50, and performs control to inflate and deploy the driver's seat airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30.

  The control unit 40 is a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. The control unit 40 expands the program stored in the ROM on the RAM and causes the CPU to execute a corresponding process. The program is not limited to being stored in the ROM, but may be stored in a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

  The collision sensor 50 is a sensor that detects an actual collision. In the present embodiment, an acceleration sensor that detects an impact generated in the vehicle body at the time of the collision is used. The acceleration sensor outputs a signal to the control unit 40 when the detected acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold.

  Next, the operation of the driver's seat airbag device 10 will be described by taking, as an example, a case in which a counterpart vehicle collides diagonally from the left front corner of the vehicle having the driver's seat airbag device 10 having the above configuration. To do.

  When the opponent vehicle collides diagonally with the left front corner of the vehicle body from the left front, the collision sensor 50 outputs a signal to the control unit 40, and the control unit 40 sends a signal to the inflators 14 and 35. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, the inflators 14 and 35 act and the driver airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 are inflated and deployed. On the other hand, the driver D moves from the left shoulder side to the left front so as to slip through the seat belt 16 with a front collision, and accordingly, the head H of the driver D also moves to the left front that is the collision direction of the opponent vehicle. The driver's seat airbag 20 is contacted. At this time, since the head H has moved to the left front, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), the head H contacts the inclined side surface portion 22 of the driver's seat airbag 20 and slides on the inclined side surface portion 22 as it is. Move further left forward.

  As shown in FIG. 3C, the head H of the driver D who has completely slipped the inclined side surface portion 22 is placed on the top surface portion 33 of the auxiliary airbag 30 in the extending direction of the straight line S along the inclined side surface portion 22. It touches and is restrained as it is.

  Therefore, according to the driver's seat airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment, the inflated and deployed driver's seat airbag 20 has a substantially circular bottom surface portion 21 having a diameter covering the steering wheel 12, and the substantially circular bottom surface portion 21. And an impact absorbing portion (that is, the inclined side surface portion 22 and the top surface portion 23) projecting in the direction of the driver D while being reduced in diameter. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the angle α formed by the arrow 200 in the moving direction of the head H of the driver D and the straight line S along the inclined side surface portion 22 becomes a sharp acute angle in the case of an oblique front collision. The head H of the person D can move obliquely forward while sliding on the inclined side surface portion 22. Therefore, it is possible to effectively reduce the rotation of the head H caused by the contact between the surface of the driver airbag 20 and the head H.

  Further, since the driver's seat airbag 20 has a diameter that covers the steering wheel 12, there is no possibility that the head H that moves diagonally forward along the inclined side surface portion 22 collides with the steering wheel 12.

  Furthermore, the head H of the driver D who contacts the inclined side surface portion 22 of the driver's seat airbag 20 inflated and deployed at the time of the oblique front collision and moves diagonally forward even if the driver slides on the inclined side surface portion 22 is moved. It can be received by the auxiliary airbag 30 inflated and deployed to the rear of the vehicle body.

  In addition, since the substantially circular top surface portion 23 of the driver's seat airbag 20 faces the driver D in the inflated and deployed state, the driver seat airbag 20 moves forward by the substantially circular top surface portion 23 of the driver's seat airbag 20 in the case of a so-called full wrap front collision. It is also possible to restrain the head H to be operated.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention. For example, although the collision sensor 50 is used in the present embodiment, a collision prediction sensor can be used instead of the collision sensor 50.

  The collision prediction sensor is a sensor that predicts a collision between the vehicle and the opponent vehicle from the distance and relative speed before the collision, and includes, for example, a pair of left and right cameras that capture the traveling direction (front) of the vehicle. Stereo optical systems can be used. From a pair of left and right images captured by the camera, the image processing means calculates a three-dimensional distance distribution over the entire image by the so-called stereo method, and detects the three-dimensional position of an obstacle such as a counterpart vehicle at high speed from the distance distribution information. To do. Then, a signal is output to the control unit when the distance between the own vehicle and the opponent vehicle (obstacle) is less than a predetermined distance and the time until the predicted collision is less than a predetermined time.

  Furthermore, although the driver's seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment has the auxiliary airbag 30, it may not have the auxiliary airbag 30. Even if there is no auxiliary airbag 30, the object of the present invention can be achieved.

  In the present embodiment, the driver airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 are both inflated and deployed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 40 performs control such that only the driver's seat airbag 20 is inflated and deployed in the case of a so-called full-wrap front collision, and the driver's seat airbag 20 and the auxiliary airbag 30 are inflated and deployed only in the case of an oblique collision. It may be done.

  In the above-described embodiment, the auxiliary airbag 30 has a substantially quadrangular prism-like inflated and deployed shape. However, the auxiliary airbag 30 is positioned in the extending direction of the straight line S along the inclined side surface portion 22 and completely slides on the inclined side surface portion 22. Any shape may be used as long as the head H of the person D can be restrained.

10 Driver Airbag Device 12 Steering Wheel 18 Dashboard (Car Body Interior Member)
20 Driver's seat airbag 21 Bottom surface portion 21a Peripheral circle portion 22 Inclined side surface portion (shock absorbing portion)
22a upper end 23 top surface part (shock absorbing part)
30 Auxiliary airbag

Claims (3)

In a driver airbag apparatus having a driver airbag that inflates and deploys from the steering wheel toward the driver and protects the driver's head and upper body,
The driver airbag is
Driving having a substantially circular bottom surface having a diameter covering the steering wheel in the inflated and deployed state, and an impact absorbing portion projecting toward the driver while reducing the diameter from the substantially circular bottom surface Seat airbag device. The shock absorbing portion is a cylindrical inclined side surface portion that rises obliquely while reducing the diameter from the outer peripheral edge portion of the bottom surface portion, and a substantially circular shape that closes the upper end of the inclined side surface portion and has a smaller diameter than the bottom surface portion. And a top surface portion,
The driver's seat airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the driver's seat airbag has a substantially truncated cone shape including the bottom surface portion, the inclined side surface portion, and the top surface portion in the inflated and deployed state.   3. An auxiliary airbag that is disposed in a direction along the inclined side surface portion of a vehicle body interior member in front of the vehicle body relative to the steering wheel and that is inflated and deployed as the driver airbag is inflated and deployed. The driver's seat airbag device described in 1.

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