JP2021151807A - Air bag device for front passenger seat - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air bag device for a front passenger seat in which a capacity of the air bag can be further reduced, capable of suppressing the air bag from contacting a display installed in a central part of an instrument panel when it is inflated.SOLUTION: An air bag device 11 for a front passenger seat comprises an air bag 16 that expands and inflates in front of a passenger P seated in a front passenger seat 12 in a vehicular cabin, by a pressure of a gas supplied from an inflator 15. The air bag 16 includes a base 21 whose one end side is attached inside the instrument panel 13 in front of the front passenger seat 12, and a restraining part 22 provided on the other end side of the base 21 for restraining the passenger P. When the air bag 16 is in an inflated state, a width of an entire perimeter of the base 21 is narrower than the width of the entire perimeter of the restraining part 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a passenger seat airbag device that is mounted on a vehicle and protects an occupant from the impact of a frontal collision with the vehicle.

In general, a passenger airbag device instantly deploys an airbag in front of an occupant seated in the passenger seat due to the pressure of gas supplied from an inflator when an impact exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the front part of the vehicle. And inflated to protect the occupants, it is usually embedded in the upper part of the instrument panel (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a passenger seat airbag device, by forming an upper concave portion on the upper part of the airbag, the capacity of the airbag is reduced and the load applied to the occupant from the airbag when the occupant is restrained by the airbag is suppressed. I try to do it.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-153304

By the way, the airbag in the passenger seat airbag device as described above has an upper concave portion formed at the upper portion, but the width in the vehicle width direction in the expanded state is substantially constant as a whole. Therefore, there is room for improvement in reducing the capacity of the airbag. In addition, since the airbag expands widely in the vehicle width direction while contacting the instrument panel when inflated, the airbag hits the display provided in the center of the instrument panel. As a result, there is a problem that the airbag may be damaged by the impact when it hits the display.

The present invention has focused on such problems existing in the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a passenger seat airbag device capable of further reducing the capacity of the airbag and preventing the airbag from hitting the display provided in the center of the instrument panel when inflated.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above problems and their actions and effects will be described.
A passenger airbag device that solves the above problems is an airbag device for a passenger seat provided with an airbag that expands and expands in front of an occupant seated in the passenger seat in the passenger seat by the pressure of gas supplied from an inflator. The airbag has a base portion to which one end side is mounted in an instrument panel in front of the passenger seat and a restraining portion provided on the other end side of the base portion to restrain the occupant. It is a gist that the width of the entire circumference of the base portion in the expanded state is narrower than the width of the entire circumference of the restraint portion.

According to this configuration, the width of the entire circumference of the base portion is narrower than the width of the entire circumference of the restraint portion, so that the capacity of the airbag can be further reduced. In addition, since the restraint portion of the airbag, which is wider than the base portion, expands at a position away from the instrument panel due to the expansion of the base portion, the restraint portion is provided in the central portion of the instrument panel when the airbag is inflated. It is possible to suppress hitting. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the capacity of the airbag and prevent the airbag from hitting the display provided in the center of the instrument panel when inflated.

In the passenger seat airbag device, a partition portion for partitioning the base portion and the restraint portion is provided at a boundary portion between the base portion and the restraint portion in the airbag, and the partition portion is provided with the base portion. It is preferable that a communication portion for communicating with the restraint portion is provided.

According to this configuration, when the airbag is expanded, the gas flow from the base portion to the restraint portion is restricted by the partition portion, so that the internal pressure of the base portion can be made higher than the internal pressure of the restraint portion. Therefore, the behavior of the airbag when it is inflated can be stabilized.

In the passenger seat airbag device, the communication portion has an upper communication portion provided in the upper part of the compartment portion and a lower communication portion provided in the lower part of the compartment portion, and the communication portion has the upper communication portion. The area of is preferably larger than the area of the lower communication portion.

According to this configuration, the restraint portion expands faster in the upper part than in the lower part when expanded. That is, the upper part of the restraint portion expands first and hits the windshield to stabilize the posture, and then the lower part expands. Therefore, the behavior of the restraint portion at the time of expansion can be stabilized.

In the passenger seat airbag device, it is preferable that a plurality of tethers that regulate the thickness of the restraint portion at the time of expansion are provided at intervals in the restraint portion.
According to this configuration, a plurality of tethers can form a relatively flat restraint surface for restraining the occupant on the restraint portion. In this case, the angle of the restraint surface with respect to the occupant can be easily changed by appropriately changing the lengths of the plurality of tethers.

According to the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the capacity of the airbag and prevent the airbag from hitting the display provided in the center of the instrument panel when inflated.

In one embodiment, a schematic side view showing a state when the airbag of the passenger seat airbag device is inflated in the vehicle interior. The plan view which shows the main part of FIG. Schematic diagram of the rear surface of the airbag when inflated. Schematic diagram of the side cross section of the airbag when inflated. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. In the modified example, a schematic view of the rear surface of the airbag when it is inflated.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the passenger seat airbag device will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the traveling direction of the vehicle will be described as forward. Unless otherwise specified, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the following description shall coincide with the vertical direction and the horizontal direction (vehicle width direction) when the traveling direction of the vehicle is the front.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the passenger seat airbag device 11 is fixed in the accommodating portion 14 provided at the upper rear portion in the instrument panel 13 located in front of the passenger seat 12 in the vehicle interior. It includes an inflator 15 and a bag-shaped airbag 16 that covers the inflator 15 and is partially fixed in the accommodating portion 14 together with the inflator 15. A display 17 is attached to the center cluster at the center of the instrument panel 13.

Above the instrument panel 13, the windshield 18 is provided in an inclined state so as to rise rearward. The airbag 16 is normally housed in the accommodating portion 14 together with the inflator 15 in a folded state, expands and expands by the pressure of the gas supplied from the inflator 15, and the portion near the inflator 15 is contained in the accommodating portion 14. It pops out from the upper surface of the instrument panel 13 to the rear while leaving it in.

That is, the airbag 16 is deployed and expanded in front of the occupant P seated in the passenger seat 12 by the pressure of the gas supplied from the inflator 15. In this case, the airbag 16 deploys and expands in front of the portion from the head to the chest of the occupant P. Further, in this case, the occupant P seated in the passenger seat 12 has the same physique as, for example, a dummy for a collision test. This dummy is, for example, the International Unified Side Collision Dummy (WorldSID) AM50 (a model that covers 50% of adult males in the United States).

The inflator 15 is electrically connected to a control unit 19 mounted on the vehicle, and the control unit 19 controls the supply of expansion gas to the airbag 16. An impact sensor 20 mounted on the front part of the vehicle and for detecting a collision with the vehicle from the front part is electrically connected to the control unit 19. The impact sensor 20 outputs a detection signal to the control unit 19 when the impact of a collision is applied to the vehicle. The control unit 19 operates the inflator 15 based on the detection signal from the impact sensor 20 to supply the expansion gas to the airbag 16.

Next, the configuration of the airbag 16 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the airbag 16 is made of, for example, a woven fabric, and has an inflator 15 at the front end side (one end side) of the accommodating portion 14 in the instrument panel 13 in front of the passenger seat 12. It has a base portion 21 to be attached, and a restraint portion 22 provided on the rear end side (other end side) of the base portion 21 and restraining an occupant P seated on the passenger seat 12.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the base 21 has a bag shape extending in the front-rear direction when expanded. When expanded, the restraint portion 22 has a bag shape extending from the rear end portion of the base portion 21 so as to spread in all directions orthogonal to the front-rear direction. When the restraint portion 22 is expanded, it has a substantially inverted triangular shape when viewed from the rear side, and is located on the rear side of the display 17.

In the expanded state of the airbag 16, the width of the base 21 on the entire circumference is narrower than the width of the restraint portion 22 on the entire circumference. That is, in the expanded state of the airbag 16, the width of the base portion 21 in all directions orthogonal to the front-rear direction is narrower than the width of the restraint portion 22 in all directions orthogonal to the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a gas supply port 23 for supplying gas from the inflator 15 into the base 21 is formed in the lower portion of the front end portion of the base 21. At the boundary between the base 21 and the restraint 22 in the airbag 16, a partition 24 for partitioning the base 21 and the restraint 22 is provided.

The partition portion 24 includes a substantially rectangular upper wall 25 integrally formed with the base portion 21, a substantially rectangular lower wall 26 integrally formed with the base portion 21 and facing the upper wall 25 in the vertical direction, and an upper wall 25. It also has a substantially rectangular rear wall 27 that connects the rear ends of the lower wall 26 to each other. The left and right sides of the compartment 24 are open to the restraint portion 22, and the front side is open to the base portion 21. The central portion of the front surface of the rear wall 27 and the position adjacent to the gas supply port 23 on the inner bottom surface of the base portion 21 on the rear side are connected by a band-shaped tether 28 in the base portion.

In the upper wall 25 located above the partition portion 24, two upper holes 29 arranged in pairs on the left and right as an example of the upper communication portion constituting the communication portion that communicates the base portion 21 and the restraint portion 22 are provided. It is formed to penetrate. The lower wall 26 located at the lower part of the partition portion 24 is formed so as to penetrate one pilot hole 30 as an example of the lower communication portion constituting the communication portion that communicates the base portion 21 and the restraint portion 22. There is.

In this case, the upper hole 29 and the lower hole 30 have the same size. Therefore, the opening area of the upper wall 25 is larger than the opening area of the lower wall 26. That is, the total area of the two upper holes 29, which are the upper communication portions, is larger than the area of one lower hole 30 which is the lower communication portion. A vent hole 31 that communicates the inside and outside of the restraint portion 22 is formed at a position on the front side of the upper portion of the restraint portion 22. The vent holes 31 are formed so as to form a pair on both the left and right sides of the restraint portion 22.

The position of the inner surface 32 of the rear wall of the restraint portion 22 closer to the upper end portion than the central portion in the vertical direction and the upper end portion of the rear wall 27 of the partition portion 24 have the thickness in the front-rear direction of the restraint portion 22 at the time of expansion. It is connected by the upper tether 33 in the band-shaped restraint portion as an example of the tether to be regulated. In this case, the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion is inclined so that the front end portion is lower than the rear end portion.

The position of the inner surface 32 of the rear wall of the restraint portion 22 closer to the lower end portion than the central portion in the vertical direction and the lower end portion of the rear wall 27 of the partition portion 24 have the thickness in the front-rear direction of the restraint portion 22 at the time of expansion. It is connected by a lower tether 34 in a band-shaped restraint portion as an example of a tether to be regulated. In this case, the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion is inclined so that the front end portion is higher than the rear end portion.

Therefore, in the restraint portion 22, the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion, which are two (plural) tethers that regulate the thickness of the restraint portion 22 in the front-rear direction at the time of expansion, are spaced vertically. It is set up. In the present embodiment, the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion have the same length in the front-rear direction. On the outer surface of the rear wall of the restraint portion 22, a relatively flat restraint surface 35 that restrains the occupant P when the restraint portion 22 is expanded is formed by the upper inner tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower inner tether 34 in the restraint portion.

Next, the operation of the passenger seat airbag device 11 will be described.
When the impact of a collision from the front is applied to the vehicle, the expansion gas from the inflator 15 is supplied to the base 21 into the airbag 16 folded in the accommodating portion 14 in the instrument panel 13. It is supplied from the mouth 23. Then, the pressure of the gas causes the base 21 to expand while expanding toward the rear. At this time, the gas in the base portion 21 flows from the front portion to the rear portion and hits the partition portion 24, so that the gas flow from the base portion 21 to the restraint portion 22 is restricted.

Therefore, since the internal pressure of the base portion 21 becomes higher than the internal pressure of the restraint portion 22, the base portion 21 expands before the restraint portion 22. At this time, the restraint portion 22 is guided upward and obliquely rearward along the windshield 18 while expanding and expanding. That is, the restraint portion 22 is guided to a position behind the display 17 while sliding with respect to the windshield 18 while expanding and expanding. Subsequently, the gas that hits the partition portion 24 flows into the restraint portion 22 from the left and right sides of the opened rear wall 27, the two upper holes 29 of the upper wall 25, and the lower hole 30 of the lower wall 26.

Therefore, the amount of gas supplied into the restraint portion 22 is larger in the upper part than in the lower part. Therefore, the upper portion of the restraint portion 22 expands and expands before the lower portion and comes into contact with the windshield 18. As a result, the airbag 16 is temporarily sandwiched between the instrument panel 13 and the windshield 18 on the lower surface of the base portion 21 and the upper portion of the restraint portion 22, and the posture of the restraint portion 22 is stabilized. After that, the lower part of the restraint portion 22 expands and expands, and the entire airbag 16 expands.

At this time, the rear wall of the restraint portion 22 is pulled forward by the upper tether 33 inside the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 inside the restraint portion. Therefore, a relatively flat restraint surface 35 is formed on the outer surface of the rear wall of the restraint portion 22. Then, the occupant P seated in the passenger seat 12 is preferably restrained by the restraining surface 35. As a result, the occupant P seated in the passenger seat 12 is protected by the airbag 16 from the impact of a frontal collision with the vehicle. After the entire airbag 16 has expanded, the gas inside the airbag 16 is discharged to the outside from the vent hole 31.

Further, in the above-mentioned airbag 16, the restraint portion 22 expands and expands in a state of being guided to a position behind the display 17 by the expansion and expansion of the base portion 21, and therefore comes into contact with the display 17 during expansion and expansion. Is suppressed. Therefore, it is effectively suppressed that the restraint portion 22 comes into contact with the display 17 during deployment and expansion and is torn, and that the behavior of the restraint portion 22 during deployment and expansion is deteriorated by contact with the display 17. NS.

Further, in the initial stage of deployment and expansion of the airbag 16 described above, the restraint portion 22 hardly expands and expands. That is, the restraint portion 22 hardly expands and expands between the instrument panel 13 and the windshield 18. That is, the restraint portion 22 expands and expands at a position rearward from the instrument panel 13. Therefore, the impact applied from the airbag 16 to the windshield 18 due to the deployment and expansion of the airbag 16 is reduced.

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) In the passenger seat airbag device 11, when the airbag 16 is inflated, the width of the base 21 on the entire circumference is narrower than the width of the restraint portion 22 on the entire circumference. According to this configuration, the width of the entire circumference of the base portion 21 is narrower than the width of the entire circumference of the restraint portion 22, so that the width of the entire circumference of the base portion 21 and the width of the entire circumference of the restraint portion 22 are the same. The capacity of the airbag 16 can be further reduced as compared with a certain case. In addition, since the restraint portion 22 having a width wider than the base portion 21 of the airbag 16 expands at a position rearward from the instrument panel 13 due to the expansion of the base portion 21, the restraint portion 22 becomes an instrument when the airbag 16 expands. It is possible to suppress the contact with the display 17 provided in the central portion of the panel 13. Therefore, while further reducing the capacity of the airbag 16, it is possible to prevent the airbag 16 from hitting the display 17 provided at the center of the instrument panel 13 when inflated.

(2) In the passenger seat airbag device 11, a compartment 24 for partitioning the base 21 and the restraint 22 is provided at the boundary between the base 21 and the restraint 22 in the airbag 16, and the compartment 24 is provided with a compartment 24. A communication portion for communicating the base portion 21 and the restraint portion 22 is provided. According to this configuration, when the airbag 16 is expanded, the gas flow from the base portion 21 to the restraint portion 22 is restricted by the partition portion 24, so that the internal pressure of the base portion 21 can be made higher than the internal pressure of the restraint portion 22. can. Therefore, the behavior of the airbag 16 when inflated can be stabilized.

(3) In the passenger seat airbag device 11, the communication portions that communicate the base 21 and the restraint portion 22 are two upper holes 29 provided in the upper wall 25 of the compartment 24 and the lower wall of the compartment 24. It has one prepared hole 30 provided in 26, and the total area of the two upper holes 29 is larger than the area of one prepared hole 30. According to this configuration, the restraint portion 22 expands faster in the upper part than in the lower part when expanded. That is, the upper portion of the restraint portion 22 first expands and hits the windshield 18 to stabilize the posture, and then the lower portion expands. Therefore, the behavior of the restraint portion 22 at the time of expansion can be stabilized.

(4) In the passenger seat airbag device 11, inside the restraint portion 22, an upper tether 33 inside the restraint portion and a lower tether 34 inside the restraint portion that regulate the thickness of the restraint portion 22 at the time of expansion are vertically spaced apart from each other. It is provided. According to this configuration, when the restraint portion 22 is expanded, the upper tether 33 inside the restraint portion and the lower inner tether 34 inside the restraint portion restrain the occupant P seated on the passenger seat 12 on the outer surface of the rear wall of the restraint portion 22. A flat restraint surface 35 can be formed. In this case, the vertical angle of the restraint surface 35 with respect to the occupant P can be easily changed by appropriately changing the lengths of the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion.

(Change example)
The above embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. Further, the above-described embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.

-As shown in FIG. 7, the restraint portion 22 of the airbag 16 may be configured to have a substantially quadrangular shape when viewed from the rear side. Alternatively, the restraint portion 22 of the airbag 16 may be configured to have a circular shape or an elliptical shape when viewed from the rear side, or may be configured to have a polygonal shape such as a pentagon or a hexagon. ..

-The lengths of the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion may be appropriately changed so as to be different from each other. In this way, the vertical angle of the restraint surface 35 can be easily changed. That is, when the length of the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion is shorter than the length of the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion, the restraint surface 35 faces upward, and the length of the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion is set to the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion. If it is shorter than the length of, the restraint surface 35 faces downward.

-At least one of the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion may be omitted.
-The number of the upper tether 33 in the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 in the restraint portion may be changed as appropriate.

-One or more upper holes 29 may be provided in the upper wall 25 of the section 24, and one or more lower holes 30 may be provided in the lower wall 26 of the section 24. In this case, the total area of all the upper holes 29 may be set to be larger than the total area of all the prepared holes 30, or set to be smaller than the total area of all the prepared holes 30. Alternatively, it may be set to be the same as the total area of all the prepared holes 30.

-The compartment 24 may be omitted. In this case, the upper tether 33 inside the restraint portion and the lower tether 34 inside the restraint portion connect the inner surface of the rear wall and the inner surface of the front wall of the restraint portion 22.

11 ... Passenger seat airbag device 12 ... Passenger seat 13 ... Instrument panel 15 ... Inflator 16 ... Airbag 21 ... Base 22 ... Restraint part 24 ... Section 29 ... Upper as an example of the upper communication part that constitutes the communication part Hole 30 ... Lower hole as an example of the lower communication part constituting the communication part 33 ... Upper tether in the restraint part as an example of the tether 34 ... Lower side tether in the restraint part as an example of the tether P ... Crew

Claims (4)

In a passenger airbag device equipped with an airbag that deploys and expands in front of an occupant seated in the passenger seat in the passenger seat due to the pressure of gas supplied from the inflator.
The airbag has a base portion to which one end side is mounted in an instrument panel in front of the passenger seat, and a restraint portion provided on the other end side of the base portion to restrain the occupant.
A passenger seat airbag device, characterized in that, in an inflated state, the width of the entire circumference of the base portion is narrower than the width of the entire circumference of the restraint portion. At the boundary portion between the base portion and the restraint portion in the airbag, a partition portion for partitioning the base portion and the restraint portion is provided.
The passenger seat airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the compartment is provided with a communication portion that communicates the base portion and the restraint portion. The communication portion has an upper communication portion provided in the upper part of the division portion and a lower communication portion provided in the lower part of the division portion.
The passenger seat airbag device according to claim 2, wherein the area of the upper communication portion is larger than the area of the lower communication portion. The invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of tethers that regulate the thickness of the restraint portion at the time of expansion are provided at intervals in the restraint portion. Airbag device for the passenger seat.

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