JP2020172232A - Side airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a side airbag device which can improve protection performance for an occupant in an irregular position.SOLUTION: A side airbag device 30 includes a side airbag 32 which is housed in a side part 18A of a seat back 18 of a vehicle seat 14, and is formed in a bag shape. A rear part expansion partition part 38 is formed on a rear end part of the side airbag 32, and is expanded and deployed when gas is supplied from an inflator arranged inside. A rear part expansion partition part 40 communicating with the rear part expansion partition part 38 is formed on the side airbag 32, and is expanded and deployed to a seat front side and seat upper side of the rear part expansion partition part 38 by the gas supplied from the inflator. A fold-back part 48 formed by folding back a portion from an intermediate part to the upper side in a vertical direction to an outer side in a seat width direction is arranged on the side airbag 32.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a side airbag device.

Patent Document 1 below discloses a side airbag device in which an airbag is housed in a side support portion of a seat bag of a vehicle seat. This airbag receives gas from the inflator and expands and expands toward the front side of the seat and above the seat of the side support portion.

Further, the airbag is formed at the rear end portion, and the rear expansion compartment portion (rear lower expansion portion) in which the inflator is housed, and the front expansion compartment portion formed on the front side and the upper side of the seat of the rear expansion compartment portion. It is equipped with (front upper expansion part). Then, when the gas is supplied from the inflator, the gas is first supplied into the lower expansion compartment, and then the gas is supplied to the upper expansion compartment from the openings formed at the upper and lower ends of the lower expansion compartment.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-016252

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the airbag is housed in the side support portion in a state of being folded by roll folding or bellows folding. Therefore, the front expansion compartment is expanded and expanded so as to rise to the upper side and the front side of the seat by the gas supplied from the rear expansion compartment. Therefore, when the airbag expands and deploys with a part of the occupant's body overlapping the non-regular position in front of the vehicle in the side support portion, the occupant in the non-regular position expands toward the upper side of the vehicle. There is a possibility of receiving a load from the compartment. Therefore, there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of improving the performance of protecting the occupants in the non-regular position.

In consideration of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain a side airbag device capable of improving the protection performance of an occupant in a non-regular position.

The side airbag device according to the present invention according to claim 1 is a side airbag that is housed on the outer side portion of the seat back of a vehicle seat in the seat width direction and is formed in a bag shape, and the side airbag. The rear expansion compartment is formed at the rear end, the inflator is arranged inside, and the rear expansion compartment that expands and expands by receiving gas from the inflator is communicated with the rear expansion compartment through a communication port, and the communication is performed. The side of the rear expansion compartment in a state where the front expansion compartment expands and expands on the seat front side and the seat upper side in response to the gas supply from the mouth and the side airbag is housed in the side portion. It is provided with a folded portion formed by folding the upper side from the middle portion in the vertical direction of the airbag outward in the seat width direction.

In the side airbag device according to the present invention according to claim 1, the side airbag having the folded-back portion as described above supplies gas from an inflator arranged in the rear expansion compartment of the side airbag. Receive and expand.

Here, the side airbag is divided into an upper part and a lower part by a folded portion. Therefore, during expansion and deployment, the lower portion of the side airbag, that is, the lower portion of the rear expansion compartment and the lower portion of the front expansion compartment is expanded at the initial stage of expansion. Next, when the folding of the folded portion is eliminated, the upper portion of the side airbag, that is, the upper portion of the front expansion compartment portion expands outward in the seat width direction and expands upward on the seat. As a result, it is possible to prevent the side airbags from being suddenly deployed upward in the seat width at the initial stage of deployment, and to tilt the lateral deployment direction of the side airbags upward in the latter stage of deployment to the outside in the seat width direction. As a result, even when a part of the occupant's body overlaps the non-regular position in front of the seat on the outer side of the seat back in the seat width direction, the occupant at the non-regular position is prevented from receiving a load from the side airbag. it can.

As described above, the side airbag device according to claim 1 has an excellent effect that the protection performance of the occupant at the non-regular position can be improved.

It is a side view of the vehicle seat on which the side airbag device which concerns on this embodiment is mounted, and is the figure which shows the expansion | expansion state of the side airbag. It is an enlarged side view which shows the non-expansion deployment state of the side airbag shown in FIG. 1, the state in which a folded-back portion is formed is shown by a solid line, and the state where a folded-back portion is not formed is shown by a two-dot chain line. It is a side view which shows the initial state of deployment of the side airbag shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows the state of the side airbag shown in FIG. 1 in the late stage of deployment. It is a front view which shows the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle to which the vehicle seat shown in FIG. 1 is applied, and shows the initial state of deployment of a side airbag. It is a front view which shows the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle to which the vehicle seat shown in FIG. 1 is applied, and shows the state of the side airbag in the late stage of deployment.

Hereinafter, the vehicle seat 14 on which the side airbag device 30 according to the present embodiment is mounted will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. The arrow FR appropriately shown in each figure indicates the front side of the vehicle, the arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle, and the arrow RH indicates the right side of the vehicle. In the following description, when the front-rear, up-down, and left-right directions are used without special mention, the front-rear direction of the vehicle front-rear direction, the up-down direction of the vehicle up-down direction, and the left-right direction when facing the traveling direction are used.
(overall structure)
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle seat 14 is connected to the seat cushion 16 on which the occupant sits, the seat back 18 tiltably supported at the rear end of the seat cushion 16, and the upper end of the seat back 18. It is equipped with a cushioned headrest 20. The vehicle seat 14 is, for example, a passenger seat provided in the front chamber 12 of the vehicle 10 which is a left-hand steering wheel vehicle (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The side airbag device 30 is mounted on a side support portion 18A (side portion: hereinafter referred to as “side portion 18A”) outside the seat back 18 of the vehicle seat 14 in the seat width direction. More specifically, the side airbag device 30 of the present embodiment is mounted on the side portion 18A located on the central side in the vehicle width direction, and is a so-called far side airbag device.

The front-rear direction, left-right direction (width direction), and up-down direction of the vehicle seat 14 coincide with the front-rear direction, left-right direction (width direction), and up-down direction of the vehicle. Further, in FIG. 1, a dummy P1 for a collision test is seated on the vehicle seat 14 instead of the actual occupant. This dummy P1 is, for example, AM50 (50th percentile of an American adult male) of WorldSID (World Side Impact Dummy). Further, in FIGS. 3 to 6, instead of the actual occupant, the dummy P2 for the collision test is turned backward with the seat cushion 16 of the vehicle seat 14 kneeling, and the upper body leans against the seat back 18. ing. The occupant P2 is, for example, a 3-year-old dummy 3YO for a collision test. Hereinafter, for the sake of clarity, the dummy P1 will be referred to as an "occupant P1" and the dummy P2 will be referred to as an "occupant P2".

(Side airbag device 30)
As shown in FIG. 1, the side airbag device 30 includes a side airbag 32 and an inflator 34. The side airbag 32 and the inflator 34 are normally modularized and housed in the side portion 18A. In this state, the side airbag 32 is folded based on the folding method described later.

The side airbag 32 expands and expands between the occupant P1 and the front console 22 provided in the center of the front chamber 12 by the pressure of the gas generated from the inflator 34 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). At the time of this expansion and deployment, the pad material and the seat skin (not shown) arranged on the side portion 18A are configured to be broken by receiving the expansion pressure of the side airbag 32.

The front-back and up-down directions described in the following description regarding the side airbag 32 indicate the direction as a member of the side airbag 32, and when the side airbag 32 is expanded and expanded, the front and rear of the seat back 18 It almost coincides with the vertical direction.

The side airbag 32 is formed in a bag shape by, for example, a base cloth formed by cutting out a nylon-based or polyester-based cloth material, folded in half, and sewn on the outer peripheral edge portion. .. The side airbag 32 is a so-called two-chamber side airbag here, and is partitioned into a rear expansion compartment 38 and a front expansion compartment 40 by a front and rear partition 36.

Specifically, the front-rear partition portion 36 is arranged so as to connect the front portion and the lower end portion of the side airbag 32 and the rear end portion and the intermediate portion in the vertical direction of the side airbag 32 in a side view. It extends diagonally from the front portion to the rear portion of the airbag 32. Therefore, the rear expansion compartment 38 formed on the rear side of the front / rear partition 36 is arranged at the lower and rear ends of the side airbag 32, and the front expansion compartment 38 formed on the front side of the front / rear partition 36. The 40 is arranged at the upper portion and the front end portion of the side airbag 32.

The front and rear partition 36 is composed of a tether (partition wall) attached to the inside of the side airbag 32 or a seam (sewing portion) on which the base cloth of the side airbag 32 is sewn. The rear expansion compartment 38 and the front expansion compartment 40 are communicated with each other by communication ports 42 formed at the upper end and the lower end of the front and rear partition 36. In the following, the communication port 42 formed at the upper end of the front / rear partition 36 will be referred to as the upper communication port 42A, and the communication port 42 formed at the lower end of the front / rear partition 36 will be referred to as the lower communication port 42B.

The manufacturing method of the side airbag 32 is not limited to the above, and can be appropriately changed. For example, the side airbag 32 may be formed by overlapping the two base fabrics and sewing the outer peripheral edge portion.

The side airbag 32 is formed so as to form an elongated substantially oval shape along the vertical direction of the seat back 18 when the expanded and deployed state is viewed from the side. The size of the side airbag 32 is set to a size capable of restraining (protecting) the shoulder portion S, chest C1, abdomen B, and lumbar region L of the occupant P1 seated on the vehicle seat 14. In the expanded and deployed state of the side airbag 32, the front expansion compartment 40 and the rear expansion compartment 38 are arranged in this order from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle, and the front expansion compartment 40 is in front of the rear expansion compartment 38. It is placed on the side and above. As a result, the front expansion compartment 40 restrains the shoulder S of the occupant P1, the chest C1, the abdomen B, and the front of the waist L, and the rear expansion compartment 38 restrains the occupant P1's chest C1, abdomen B, and waist L. Restrain the rear.

The inflator 34 is housed in the rear end of the side airbag 32 (rear end 38A of the rear expansion compartment 38) together with the rectifying cloth 44. The rectifying cloth 44 is a cloth diffuser, and is a member also called a loop diffuser, an inner tube, or the like. The rectifying cloth 44 is formed by cutting out a cloth material similar to the base cloth of the side airbag 32 into a rectangular shape and sewing the base cloth into a cylindrical shape. The rectifying cloth 44 is arranged so that the axial direction is along the vertical direction of the seat back 18.

The inflator 34 is a so-called cylinder type gas generator, and is formed in a cylindrical shape. The inflator 34 is housed inside the rectifying cloth 44 in a posture in which the axial direction is along the vertical direction of the seat back 18. Further, the inflator 34 is fixed to the seat back frame 24, which is a skeleton member of the seat back 18, together with a flat plate-shaped reaction force plate (not shown) that applies a deployment reaction force when the side airbag 32 is deployed. More specifically, a pair of upper and lower stud bolts 34A project from the outer peripheral portion of the inflator 34 toward the outside in the seat width direction (center side in the vehicle width direction). The upper and lower stud bolts 34A penetrate the base cloth of the side airbag 32, the rectifying cloth 44, the reaction force plate, and the side frame 24A of the seat back frame 24, and a nut (not shown) is screwed to the tip side. There is. As a result, the inflator 34 is fastened and fixed (so-called side tightening) to the seat back frame 24 together with the side airbag 32, the rectifying cloth 44, and the reaction force plate. In addition, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the stud bolt 34A is omitted.

A side collision ECU (Electrical Control Unit) 46 mounted on the vehicle is electrically connected to the inflator 34. A side collision sensor (not shown) for detecting a side collision is electrically connected to the side collision ECU 46. The side collision ECU 46 is configured to activate (operate) the inflator 34 when a side collision is detected based on a signal from the side collision sensor. When a pre-crash sensor that predicts (predicts) a side collision is electrically connected to the side collision ECU 46, an inflator is used when the side collision ECU 46 predicts a side collision based on a signal from the pre-crash sensor. The configuration may be such that 34 is activated.

As shown by the broken line arrow in FIG. 1, when the inflator 34 is activated, gas is ejected from the gas ejection portion 34B provided at the upper end portion of the inflator 34. The ejected gas is supplied into the rear expansion compartment 38 from the upper end opening of the rectifying cloth 44. Next, a part of the gas supplied into the rear expansion compartment 38 is connected to the upper communication port 42A formed at the upper end of the rear expansion compartment 38 and the lower communication port formed at the lower end of the rear expansion compartment 38. It is supplied into the front expansion compartment 40 through the mouth 42B. As a result, the side airbag 32 is configured to expand and expand. The gas ejection portion may be provided at the lower end portion of the inflator. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the inflator 34 is omitted.

(Main part of the present invention)
The side airbag 32 described above is housed in the side portion 18A in a folded state by the folding method described below.

(How to fold the side airbag 32)
The side airbag 32 described above is folded by a process including the following two-folding step and a bellows folding step. In the bi-folding step, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper portion 32U of the side airbag 32 has a seat width along a horizontal folding line T1 extending in the front-rear direction (seat front-rear direction) at the middle portion in the vertical direction of the side airbag 32. It is folded back in the direction outside (center side in the vehicle width direction). As a result, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the upper portion 32U is overlapped on the outer side of the lower portion 32D of the side airbag 32 in the seat width direction, and the folded-back portion 48 is formed. The upper portion 32U of the side airbag 32 is a portion on the upper end side of the horizontal polygonal line T1, and the lower portion 32D is a portion on the lower end side of the horizontal polygonal line T1.

Further, in the present embodiment, the horizontal polygonal line T1 is set below the upper communication port 42A formed on the upper end side of the rear expansion compartment 38. In this state, since the upper communication port 42A is blocked by the folded-back portion 48, a part of the gas supplied into the rear expansion compartment 38 passes through the lower communication port 42B to the front portion at the initial stage of operation of the inflator 34. It is supplied to the expansion compartment 40. As a result, at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32, the rear expansion compartment 38 and the front expansion compartment 40 below the folded-back portion 48 are rapidly expanded and deployed (FIGS. 3 and 5). reference).

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the folding back of the folding back portion 48 is eliminated in the latter stage of deployment. Immediately before this, as shown by the arrow F1 in FIG. 5, the upper portion 32U of the side airbag, that is, the upper portion of the front expansion compartment portion expands outward in the seat width direction and expands upward on the seat. Therefore, in the latter stage of deployment shown in FIG. 4, the deployment direction of the side airbag 32 toward the upper side of the seat is inclined outward in the width direction of the seat (see the arrow F2 direction in FIG. 6).

On the other hand, after the two-folding step, the side airbag 32 extends in the vertical direction (seat vertical direction), and along a plurality of vertical folding lines T2 set at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction of the side airbag 32. The crease 50 is formed. Then, the side airbag 32 is folded in a bellows shape by alternately repeating the mountain fold and the valley fold at the fold 50, and the bellows fold portion 52 is formed (see FIG. 2). This completes the bellows folding process.

The bellows folding portion 52 formed by the above step is not folded back at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32. The bellows folding portion 52 strengthens the direction of deployment of the side airbag 32 in the front direction of the seat, and as the compartment on the side airbag 32 below the folded portion 48 expands, these portions are moved to the front side of the seat. It is configured to be deployed quickly.

(Action and effect)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, in the side airbag device 30, the side airbag 32 having the folded-back portion 48 as described above supplies gas from the inflator 34 arranged in the rear expansion compartment 38 of the side airbag 32. In response to this, it expands and expands.

Here, the side airbag 32 is divided into an upper portion 32U and a lower portion 32D by folding the base cloth to form the folded-back portion 48. Therefore, at the time of expansion and deployment, the lower portion 32D of the side airbag 32, that is, the lower portion of the rear expansion compartment 38 and the front expansion compartment 40 is expanded at the initial stage of expansion. Next, when the folding back of the folded-back portion 48 is eliminated, the upper portion 32U of the side airbag 32, that is, the upper portion of the front expansion compartment portion 40 expands outward in the seat width direction and expands upward on the seat. As a result, it is possible to prevent the side airbag 32 from being suddenly deployed upward in the seat width at the initial stage of deployment, and to incline the lateral deployment direction of the side airbag 32 upward in the later stage of deployment to the outside in the seat width direction. ..

As a result, even when a part of the body of the occupant P1 overlaps the non-regular position in front of the seat on the side portion 18A of the seat back 18, the occupant P1 at the non-regular position is prevented from receiving a load from the side airbag 32. it can.

Further, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, a occupant P2 having the same physique as a child leans against the side portion 18A in a backward posture and looks into the rear seat side from between the driver's seat and the passenger seat. Even when the passenger P2 is set, it is possible to prevent the occupant P2 from receiving a load from the side airbag 32. That is, in this state, when the side airbag 32 is expanded and deployed, the neck portion N and the chest portion C2 of the occupant P2 are positioned in the expansion direction of the front expansion compartment portion 40. Therefore, for example, in a structure in which the side airbag is rapidly deployed upward on the seat when the inflator is operated, an upward load is input from the side airbag 32 to the neck N and the chest C2 of the occupant P2.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the side airbag 32 is suppressed from being suddenly deployed to the upper side of the seat at the initial stage of deployment, it is suppressed that an excessive load is applied to the chest C2 of the occupant P2. be able to. Further, in the latter stage of deployment, the deployment direction of the side airbag 32 is tilted outward in the seat width direction, so that the side airbag 32 can be deployed to the side of the neck portion N of the occupant P2. As a result, it is possible to prevent or suppress a situation in which the side airbag 32 directly hits the neck portion N and an excessive load is applied to the neck portion N.

Further, in the present embodiment, the side airbag 32 is set so that the fold of the folded-back portion 48 is set below the upper communication port 42A formed on the upper end side of the rear expansion section 38. That is, the folded-back portion 48 is formed on the lower side of the seat with respect to the upper communication port 42A of the rear expansion compartment portion 38. Therefore, the upper communication port 42A is closed by the folded-back portion 48, and a part of the gas supplied into the rear expansion compartment 38 is supplied to the front expansion compartment 40 through the lower communication port 42B. As a result, the rear expansion compartment 38 and the front expansion compartment 40 below the folded-back portion 48 can be rapidly expanded and deployed at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32, and the lumbar portion L of the occupant P1 is restrained at an early stage. Therefore, the occupant protection performance by the side airbag 32 can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the side airbag 32 is folded in a mountain fold and a valley fold according to the crease 50 along the vertical direction of the seat in a state where the upper portion 32U and the lower portion 32D of the side airbag 32 are overlapped by the folded-back portion 48. Alternately repeated bellows-shaped bellows folds 52 are formed. Therefore, at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32, the expansion compartment on the lower side of the folded-back portion 48 can be quickly deployed to the front side of the seat. As a result, the lumbar portion L of the occupant P1 can be restrained quickly and stably, and the occupant protection performance by the side airbag 32 can be further improved.
[Supplemental Information]

In the above embodiment, the horizontal polygonal line T1 which is a fold of the folded-back portion 48 is set below the upper communication port 42A formed on the upper end side of the rear expansion compartment 38, but the present invention relates to this. Not exclusively. The horizontal polygonal line T1 may be set above the upper communication port 42A of the rear expansion compartment 38.

Further, in the above embodiment, the side airbag device 30 is mounted on the side portion 18A located on the center side of the seat back 18 in the vehicle width direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. The side airbag device 30 may be mounted on the side portion 18A located outside in the vehicle width direction of the seat back 18, and may be a so-called near side airbag device. Also in this configuration, the side airbag 32 expands in a situation where the child leans against the side portion 18A in a backward posture and looks into the rear seat side from between the side portions of the vehicle seat 14 and the front chamber 12. When deployed, the load on the chest and neck of the child can be suppressed.

14 Vehicle seat 18 Seat back 18A Side support (side outside in the seat width direction)
30 Side airbag device 32 Side airbag 34 Inflator 38 Rear expansion compartment 40 Front expansion compartment 42 Communication port 48 Folding section

Claims (1)

A side airbag that is housed on the outer side of the seat back of the vehicle seat in the seat width direction and is formed in a bag shape.
A rear expansion compartment formed at the rear end of the side airbag, in which an inflator is arranged, and which expands and expands by receiving a gas supply from the inflator.
A front expansion compartment that communicates with the rear expansion compartment via a communication port and expands and expands on the seat front side and the seat upper side of the rear expansion compartment by receiving the gas supply from the communication port.
In a state where the side airbag is housed in the side portion, a folded portion formed by folding the upper side from the middle portion in the vertical direction of the side airbag outward in the seat width direction, and a folded portion.
A side airbag device equipped with.