JP2020050138A - Side airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

To inhibit occupant restraint performance from being impaired by shortage in an inner pressure of an airbag caused by a vent hole.SOLUTION: A side airbag device is provided at a side part of a seat 10 in a vehicle cabin and inflates and deploys an airbag 40 to the vehicle front side between an occupant P seated on the seat 10 and a side wall in the vehicle cabin by supply of gas during a collision of a vehicle. When its anteroposterior direction is set to a vehicle anteroposterior direction, a vent hole 61 which discharges a gas in the airbag 40 is provided at a front edge part of the airbag 40. An opening peripheral edge part of the vent hole 61 is provided with a sealing part 62 which seals the vent hole 61 and is ruptured by expansion pressure of the airbag 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a side airbag device.

  2. Description of the Related Art When an impact is applied to a vehicle from the side of a seat on which the occupant sits due to a side impact of the vehicle or the like, a side airbag device that protects the occupant from the impact is widely known (for example, see Patent Document 1). The side airbag device described in Patent Literature 1 includes an inflator that supplies inflation gas, and an airbag that is deployed by the inflation gas. The airbag forms a bag body by stacking two substantially elliptical sheets and joining the peripheries by sewing. At the front edge of the airbag, a vent hole facing downward is formed. The vent hole has a slit that extends horizontally at the front edge of the two stacked sheets. The lower part of the slit is folded inward in a triangular shape, and the folded part is sewn and sealed. It is formed by stopping.

JP 2013-14266 A

  By the way, in the side airbag device described in Patent Literature 1, since the vent hole always communicates inside and outside, there is a possibility that inflation gas in the airbag is discharged through the vent hole during deployment and inflation of the airbag. is there. Therefore, the occupant restraint performance may be impaired due to insufficient internal pressure of the airbag.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a side airbag device capable of suppressing a decrease in occupant restraint performance due to an insufficient internal pressure of an airbag caused by a vent hole.

  A side airbag device for achieving the above object is provided at a side portion of a seat in a vehicle interior, and supplies a gas to an airbag between an occupant seated on the seat and a side wall in the vehicle interior at the time of a vehicle collision. In the inflating and deploying toward the front of the vehicle, when the front-rear direction of the vehicle is the front-rear direction, the front edge of the airbag is provided with a vent hole for discharging gas in the airbag, A sealing portion that seals the vent hole and is broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag is provided at an opening peripheral portion of the vent hole.

  According to this configuration, since the vent hole provided at the front edge of the airbag is sealed by the sealing portion, when the airbag is inflated and deployed toward the front of the vehicle by gas supply, the vent hole is closed. It is possible to suppress the gas in the airbag from being discharged through the hole. In addition, when the pressure in the airbag increases, the sealing portion is broken to open a vent hole, and the gas in the airbag is discharged through the vent hole, thereby suppressing an increase in the internal pressure of the airbag. be able to. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the restraint performance of the occupant from being impaired due to the insufficient internal pressure of the airbag caused by the vent hole.

  In the above side airbag device, the airbag includes an outer base cloth, an inner base cloth overlapped with the outer base cloth inside the outer base cloth in a vehicle width direction, and the outer base cloth. And a sewn portion for suturing an outer peripheral portion of the inner base cloth portion, wherein the vent hole has a notch formed in a front edge of both the outer base cloth portion and the inner base cloth portion. It is formed by a part.

According to this configuration, a vent hole can be formed at the front edge of the airbag by the notch formed at the front edge of both the outer base fabric and the inner base fabric.
In the side airbag device, the sealing portion is formed by joining peripheral portions of the notches.

  According to this configuration, the sealing portion is formed by joining the peripheral edges of the cutout portions of the respective base fabric portions. Therefore, the vent hole can be sealed without providing a sealing member such as a lid for sealing the opening of the vent hole.

In the above-described side airbag device, the outer base fabric and the inner base fabric are formed of synthetic resin fibers, and peripheral portions between the cutouts are welded.
According to this configuration, the outer base fabric portion and the inner base fabric portion are formed of synthetic resin fibers, and the sealing portions are formed by welding the peripheral edges of the cutout portions of the respective base fabric portions. . For this reason, the peripheral portions of the notches can be joined without using another member such as an adhesive.

  The side airbag device further includes a first reinforcing cloth and a second reinforcing cloth which are sewn by being overlapped and sewn respectively on front edges including the cutouts of the outer base cloth and the inner base cloth. Notches forming the vent holes are formed in both the reinforcing cloth and the second reinforcing cloth.

According to this configuration, the peripheral edge of the opening of the vent hole receiving the pressure of the high-temperature and high-pressure gas can be reinforced by the reinforcing cloth.
In the side airbag device, the vent hole is provided at a lower portion of a front edge portion of the airbag, and is directed obliquely forward and downward in a state where inflation and deployment are completed.

  According to this configuration, the gas in the airbag is discharged diagonally forward and downward from the lower portion of the front edge of the airbag, that is, in a direction away from the exposed portion of the skin such as the face and arms of the occupant. Therefore, contact of the high-temperature gas with the occupant can be suppressed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the restraint performance of a passenger | crew can be suppressed from being impaired by the internal pressure shortage of an airbag resulting from a vent hole.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a vehicle seat provided with a side airbag device according to one embodiment together with an occupant. The side view which expands and shows an airbag in the deployment state. (A)-(d) is explanatory drawing which shows the state in the middle of formation of the airbag of the embodiment in order. It is the front view which looked at the airbag of the embodiment from the vehicle front, (a) is a figure showing the airbag in the middle of inflation deployment, and (b) shows the airbag in the state where the vent hole was opened. FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a side airbag device for a vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the front-rear direction of the vehicle will be described as the front-rear direction. In addition, a description will be given based on a central portion in the vehicle width direction W of the vehicle as a reference, a side approaching the central portion as “inside of the vehicle”, and a side away from the central portion as “outside of the vehicle”.

As shown in FIG. 1, a seat 10 functioning as a driver's seat is disposed in the interior of the vehicle.
The seat 10 includes a seat cushion 11, a seat back 12 erected from a rear end of the seat cushion 11 and provided with an adjustable tilt angle, and a headrest 13 attached to an upper end of the seat back 12. . Further, it is assumed that an occupant P having the same physique as the dummy for the crash test is seated on the seat 10.

  Inside the seat back 12, a seat frame forming the skeleton is arranged. A storage section (both not shown) is provided inside the seat back 12 outside the seat frame. An airbag module ABM, which is a main part of the side airbag device, is incorporated in the storage section.

The airbag module ABM includes a gas generator 30, an airbag 40, an impact sensor 71, and a control device 72.
The gas generator 30 has a long shape and includes an inflator for supplying an inflation gas, and a retainer (both not shown) which covers the inflator and functions as a diffuser for controlling a direction in which the gas is ejected. A bolt (not shown) is fixed to the retainer.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the gas generator 30 is placed in a position extending along the up-down direction of the seat back 12, and a part of the gas generator 30 is inserted into the airbag 40. It is attached to the seat frame of the seat back 12 together with the airbag 40 by bolts.

  When the airbag 40 is inflated and deployed, the airbag 40 is formed in a shape and a size located at least on a part of the upper body of the occupant P, in this embodiment, on a side of a region from the shoulder PS to the waist PT. (See FIG. 1).

The impact sensor 71 includes an acceleration sensor or the like, is provided on a side wall or the like of the vehicle, and detects an impact applied to the side wall from the side.
The control device 72 controls the operation of the gas generator 30 based on the detection signal from the impact sensor 71.

Next, the configuration of the airbag 40 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the bag body 41 of the airbag 40 folds one base cloth 42 at a fold line L1 set at a central portion in the width direction and overlaps the base cloth 42 in the vehicle width direction W. It is formed by stitching and suturing the overlapped portion. As the fiber material constituting the base cloth 42, polyamide fiber such as nylon, which has high strength, is flexible and can be easily folded, is suitable. In the following, the outer side portion and the inner side portion of the base cloth 42 constituting the bag body 41 will be described as an outer base cloth section 43 and an inner base cloth section 44, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the outer shapes of the outer base fabric portion 43 and the inner base fabric portion 44 are both substantially elliptical, and are in line symmetry with each other with the fold line L1 as a symmetry axis.
As shown in FIG. 2, a first reinforcing cloth 53 and a second reinforcing cloth 54 are provided below the front edges of the outer base cloth 43 and the inner base cloth 44, respectively. The front edges of the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54 are formed in an arc shape corresponding to the front edges of the base cloths 43 and 44, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the first reinforcing cloth 53 is superposed on the inner side of the outer base cloth part 43 (on the front side of the drawing in FIG. 3), and the first reinforcing cloth excluding the outer peripheral part of the outer base cloth part 43. An arc-shaped stitching portion 56 for stitching the first reinforcing cloth 53 and the outer base cloth portion 43 is provided on an outer peripheral portion of the cloth 53. The second reinforcing cloth 54 is superimposed on the inside of the inner base cloth part 44, and the second reinforcing cloth 54 and the inner base cloth part are provided on the outer peripheral part of the second reinforcing cloth 54 excluding the outer peripheral part of the inner base cloth part 44. An arc-shaped stitching portion 57 that stitches the stitching 44 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, in a state where the base cloth 42 is folded in two along the folding line L1, the base cloth portions 43 and 44 and the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54 are overlapped. On the outer peripheral portion of the base cloth portions 43 and 44, a sewing portion 45 for sewing the base cloth portions 43 and 44 together is provided. However, the stitching portion 45 is not provided on the inner circumferential side of the circular arc of the stitching portions 56 and 57 in the portion where the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54 are overlapped in the outer peripheral portions of the base cloth portions 43 and 44.

  As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the base cloth portions 43, 44 and the reinforcing cloth are provided at a pair of confluences of the seam portions 56, 57 and the end of the seam portion 45 in the outer peripheral portions of the base cloth portions 43, 44. A pair of suturing portions 46 for suturing 53 and 54 are provided. Therefore, in the portion R of the bag body 41 sandwiched between the pair of stitching portions 46, the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54 (the base cloth portions 43 and 44) are not stitched.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a slit 51 is provided below a portion of the base cloth 42 including the folding line L1. The slit 51 is orthogonal to the fold line L1 and extends across the base cloth portions 43 and 44 (see FIG. 3A).

  The bag main body 41 is provided with an inwardly folded portion 52 in which a portion of the base cloth 42 folded below the slit 51 in the folded half is folded inside the bag main body 41 (FIG. 3B and FIG. 3B). 3 (c)).

At the lower edge portion of the bag body 41, a stitching portion 55 for stitching a portion of the base cloth portions 43 and 44 covering the inner folding portion 52 and the inner folding portion 52 is provided (see FIG. 3D). .
As shown in FIG. 2, the gas generator 30 is inserted into the airbag 40 through the slit 51.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a vent hole 61 is provided at the lower part of the front edge of the bag body 41 so as to point diagonally forward and downward when the inflation and deployment is completed. The vent hole 61 is formed by cutouts 63, 64, 65, 66 in which the base cloths 43, 44 and the reinforcing cloths 53, 54 are cut out. Further, a sealing portion 62 is provided for sealing the peripheral portions of the cutout portions 63, 64, 65, 66 by welding. The breaking strength of the sealing portion 62 is set to a predetermined value when the internal pressure (inflation pressure) of the airbag 40 increases.

  As shown in FIG. 3D, the cutouts 63, 64, 65, 66 are formed by cutting a portion R of the bag body 41 sandwiched between the pair of stitching portions 46 by a laser cutting machine. . At this time, the fibers constituting the base fabric portions 43 and 44 and the reinforcing fabrics 53 and 54 are melted by the heat of the laser beam, so that the peripheral edges of the cutout portions 63, 64, 65 and 66 are welded to each other. In the present embodiment, the vent holes 61 are formed by forming the notches 63, 64, 65, 66 with a laser cutter, and at the same time, the peripheral edges of the notches 63, 64, 65, 66 are formed by laser light. The sealing portion 62 for sealing the vent hole 61 is formed by being welded by heat.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
When an impact of a predetermined value or more is applied to the vehicle from the side of the seat 10 on which the occupant P sits due to a side impact of the vehicle or the like, and the impact is detected by the impact sensor 71, the control device 72 outputs An operation signal for operating the generator 30 is output to the generator 30.

In response to this operation signal, gas is blown out of the inflator into the airbag 40. The internal pressure of the airbag 40 increases due to the ejected gas, and the airbag 40 starts inflating.
The inflation of the airbag 40 is performed while the bag body 41 is deployed forward with a part of the airbag 40 remaining in the storage section.

As shown in FIG. 4A, at the beginning when the airbag 40 starts inflating and deploying, the sealing portion 62 of the vent hole 61 provided at the front edge of the airbag 40 is sealed.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), when the pressure inside the airbag 40 increases and reaches a predetermined size, the sealing portion 62 is broken and the vent hole is opened. 61 is open. At this time, the gas in the airbag 40 is discharged obliquely forward and downward through the vent hole 61.

Next, effects of the present embodiment will be described.
(1) The side airbag device is provided at a side portion of the seat 10 in the vehicle interior, and supplies the airbag 40 between the occupant P seated on the seat 10 and the side wall in the vehicle interior by gas supply at the time of collision of the vehicle. Inflate and deploy toward the front of the vehicle. A vent hole 61 for discharging gas in the air bag 40 is provided at a front edge portion of the air bag 40. A sealing portion 62 that is broken by the inflation pressure is provided.

  According to such a configuration, since the above-described operation is achieved, when the airbag 40 is inflated and deployed forward by the supply of gas, the gas inside the airbag 40 is prevented from being discharged through the vent hole 61. it can. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the restraint performance of the occupant P from being impaired due to the insufficient internal pressure of the airbag 40 caused by the vent hole 61.

  (2) The airbag 40 includes an outer base cloth 43, an inner base cloth 44 overlapped with the outer base cloth 43 inside the outer base cloth 43 in the vehicle width direction W, and an outer base cloth 43. And a sewn portion 45 for suturing an outer peripheral portion of the inner base cloth portion 44. The vent hole 61 is formed by cutouts 63 and 64 formed at the front edges of both the outer base fabric portion 43 and the inner base fabric portion 44.

  According to such a configuration, the vent holes 61 can be formed at the front edge of the airbag 40 by the cutout portions 63 and 64 formed at the front edges of both the outer base fabric portion 43 and the inner base fabric portion 44. it can.

(3) The sealing portion 62 is formed by joining the peripheral edges of the notches 63 and 64 to each other.
According to such a configuration, a sealing portion is formed by joining the peripheral edges of the cutout portions 63 and 64 of the respective base fabric portions 43 and 44. For this reason, the vent hole 61 can be sealed without providing a sealing member such as a lid for sealing the opening of the vent hole 61.

(4) The outer base fabric portion 43 and the inner base fabric portion 44 are formed of synthetic resin fibers, and the peripheral edges of the cutout portions 63 and 64 are welded.
According to such a configuration, the outer base fabric portion 43 and the inner base fabric portion 44 are formed of synthetic resin fibers, and the peripheral edges of the cutout portions 63 and 64 of the respective base fabric portions 43 and 44 are welded. A sealing portion 62 is formed. Therefore, the peripheral portions of the notches 63 and 64 can be joined without using another member such as an adhesive.

  (5) A first reinforcing cloth 53 and a second reinforcing cloth 54, which are superimposed and sewn on the front edges including the cutouts 63 and 64 of the outer base cloth 43 and the inner base cloth 44, respectively, are provided. Notches 65 and 66 forming vent holes 61 are formed in both the cloth 53 and the second reinforcing cloth 54.

According to such a configuration, the peripheral edge of the opening of the vent hole 61 that receives the pressure of the high-temperature and high-pressure gas can be reinforced by the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54.
(6) The vent hole 61 is provided below the front edge of the airbag 40 and points diagonally forward and downward in a state where inflation and deployment have been completed.

  According to such a configuration, the gas in the airbag 40 is discharged obliquely forward and downward from the lower portion of the airbag 40, that is, in a direction away from a portion where the skin such as the face and arms of the occupant P is exposed. The contact of the high-temperature gas with the occupant P can be suppressed.

<Example of change>
The above embodiment can be modified, for example, as follows. The above embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.

The airbag 40 may be substantially entirely inflated as in the above-described embodiment, or may have a non-inflated portion that is not supplied with gas and does not expand. .
-The position and the directivity direction of the vent hole 61 can be changed appropriately.

When the base cloth 42 having high strength is used, the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54 can be omitted.
In the above-described embodiment, the notches 63, 64, 65, and 66 and the sealing portion 62 are formed at the same time by using the laser cutter, but the notches 63, 64 are formed by using a mechanical cutter. After the formation of 64, 65, 66, the peripheral portions of the cutouts 63, 64, 65, 66 may be joined with an adhesive or the like.

  The sealing portion 62 is not limited to one formed by joining the peripheral portions of the cutout portions 63, 64, 65, and 66, and is vented by a sealing member such as a lid separate from the bag body 41. The opening of the hole 61 may be sealed.

  The base fabric may be folded in two such that the fold line L1 is located at another end of the airbag 40, for example, at the front end, the upper end, the lower end, or the like. Further, the airbag 40 may be formed of two base cloths divided along the folding line L1. Further, the airbag 40 may be made of three or more base fabrics.

  -For example, you may make it connect the outer peripheral parts of the base fabric parts 43 and 44 with an adhesive agent. In addition, the manner in which the base cloth portions 43 and 44 are connected to the reinforcing cloths 53 and 54 can be similarly changed.

-Other synthetic resin fibers such as polyester fibers can be adopted as the fiber material constituting the base cloth 42.
-The side airbag device can be applied to a passenger seat or a rear seat.

-The side airbag device is applicable also to the side airbag device which protects the area | region different from the said embodiment in the upper body of the passenger | crew P.
The vehicles to which the side airbag device is applied include not only private vehicles but also various industrial vehicles.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Seat, 11 ... Seat cushion, 12 ... Seat back, 13 ... Headrest, 30 ... Gas generator, 40 ... Airbag, 41 ... Bag body, 42 ... Base cloth, 43 ... Outer base cloth part, 44 ... Inner base Cloth part, 45, 46 ... sewing part, 51 ... slit, 52 ... infold part, 53 ... first reinforcing cloth, 54 ... second reinforcing cloth, 55, 56, 57 ... sewing part, 61 ... vent hole, 62 ... Sealing portion, 63, 64, 65, 66 ... notch portion, 71 ... impact sensor, 72 ... control device, L1 ... folding line, P ... occupant.

Claims (6)

A side airbag device that is provided on a side portion of a seat in a vehicle interior and inflates and deploys an airbag toward the front of the vehicle by gas supply between an occupant seated on the seat and a side wall in the vehicle interior when a vehicle collides. At
When the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is the longitudinal direction,
A vent hole for discharging gas in the airbag is provided at a front edge of the airbag,
At the opening peripheral portion of the vent hole, a sealing portion that seals the vent hole while being broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag is provided.
Side airbag device. The airbag includes an outer base fabric portion, an inner base fabric portion superposed on the outer base fabric portion inside the outer base fabric portion in the vehicle width direction, the outer base fabric portion, and the inner base fabric portion. A bag body having a suturing portion for suturing an outer peripheral portion of the bag,
The vent hole is formed by a notch formed in a front edge portion of both the outer base fabric portion and the inner base fabric portion,
The side airbag device according to claim 1. The sealing portion is formed by joining peripheral portions of the notches,
The side airbag device according to claim 2. The outer base fabric and the inner base fabric are formed of synthetic resin fibers,
The peripheral edges of the notches are welded,
The side airbag device according to claim 3. A first reinforcing cloth and a second reinforcing cloth, which are sewn by being superimposed and sewn respectively on front edges including the cutouts of the outer base cloth and the inner base cloth;
Notch portions forming the vent holes are formed in both the first reinforcing cloth and the second reinforcing cloth,
The side airbag device according to any one of claims 2 to 4. The vent hole is provided at a lower portion of a front edge portion of the airbag and is directed obliquely forward and downward in a state where inflation and deployment are completed.
The side airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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