JP2022168414A - Collision easing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a collision easing device which can secure a survival space and enables opening/closing of a door during a collision of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A collision easing device 10 includes: a lower impact easing part 11 which expands to an area in front of a front bumper 2 of a vehicle 1 during deployment; an upper impact easing part 12 which expands to an area in front of multiple door hinges 33, provided above the front bumper 2, during deployment and covers all of the door hinges 33 in a front view; and a prediction part 13A which predicts a collision of the vehicle 1. The lower impact easing part 11 is deployed when the prediction part 13A predicts a collision of the vehicle 1, and the upper impact easing part 12 is deployed after the lower impact easing part 11 is deployed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a collision mitigation device provided in a vehicle.

Conventionally, there has been known an airbag device (collision mitigation device) that deploys an airbag (impact mitigation portion) in front of a vehicle in the event of a collision. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,009 discloses an exterior vehicle airbag cushion and apparatus that encloses the front surface of a vehicle bumper in the event of a crash. According to Patent Document 1, by providing such an exterior airbag cushion, it is possible to absorb collision energy and protect the own vehicle, the opponent vehicle, and the lives of people outside the vehicle.

JP 2010-111375 A

By the way, even if the vehicle collides, the vehicle must have a space where the occupants can survive, and the doors (especially the side doors where the occupants get on and off) can be opened and closed. Desired. However, the airbag cushion disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured to surround only the front surface of the vehicle bumper. Opening and closing can be difficult.

The present invention was invented in view of the above-mentioned problems, and one of the objects thereof is to provide a collision mitigation device capable of securing a survival space and opening and closing a door in the event of a vehicle collision.

The collision mitigation device disclosed herein includes a lower shock absorbing portion that expands forward of a front bumper of a vehicle when deployed, and a plurality of door hinges that expand forward of the front bumper when deployed. an upper shock absorbing portion covering all of the plurality of door hinges in a front view; and a prediction portion for predicting a collision of the vehicle, wherein the lower shock absorbing portion predicts a collision of the vehicle by the prediction portion. and the upper shock absorbing portion is deployed after the lower shock absorbing portion is deployed.

In this way, when a vehicle collision is predicted, the two shock absorbing sections are deployed to absorb the collision energy, so that the deformation of the rear side of the two shock absorbing sections can be suppressed, thereby reducing the impact of the collision. Crew's survival space can be secured. In addition, when the vehicle is deployed, the upper shock absorbing portion covers all of the plurality of door hinges in a front view, so deformation of the door hinges due to a rear-end collision of a collision object can be suppressed, and the door can be opened and closed in the event of a collision. can be done. Furthermore, since the upper shock absorbing portion is deployed after the lower shock absorbing portion is deployed, the lower shock absorbing portion that is deployed first absorbs the collision energy, and the upper shock absorbing portion mainly acts as the door hinge. can act as a protector for the door, thus making it more possible to open and close the door in the event of a collision.

According to the disclosed collision mitigation device, it is possible to secure a survival space and open and close the door in the event of a vehicle collision.

1 is a perspective view showing a front portion of a vehicle to which a collision mitigation device according to an embodiment is applied; FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic left side view of the vehicle of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a schematic left side view of the vehicle of FIG. 1, showing a state in which the lower impact cushioning portion and the upper impact cushioning portion of the collision mitigation device according to the embodiment are deployed; 4 is a flow chart illustrating details of control performed by control means of the collision mitigation device according to the embodiment;

Embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to exclude various modifications and application of techniques not explicitly described in these embodiments. Each configuration of the following embodiments can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof. Also, they can be selected or combined as needed.

[1. Constitution]
A collision mitigation device 10 of the present embodiment is provided in a vehicle 1 shown in FIG. A vehicle 1, which is a truck, is illustrated here. Hereinafter, the forward direction of the vehicle 1 will be referred to as the forward direction, and the opposite direction (backward direction of the vehicle 1) will be referred to as the rearward direction. Further, the left and right directions are defined with reference to the forward facing state of the vehicle 1, and the left and right directions are also referred to as the vehicle width direction. Further, a direction orthogonal to both the front-rear direction and the vehicle width direction is referred to as the vertical direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , a vehicle 1 is provided with a front bumper 2 extending in the vehicle width direction and a vehicle body frame 5 forming the skeleton of the vehicle 1 . The vehicle body frame 5 includes, for example, a pair of left and right side frames extending in the front-rear direction, and a cross member extending in the vehicle width direction and connecting the left and right side frames. The front bumper 2 is a shock absorber provided on the front side of the body frame 5 so as to face forward. The front bumper 2 is made of a sheet metal member, and the front portion of the front bumper 2 is provided so as to protrude further forward than the cab 3 described later.

A substantially box-shaped cab 3 is mounted on a body frame 5 at the front of the vehicle 1 . Left and right side surfaces 31 of the cab 3 are provided with doors 32 that can be opened and closed when an occupant gets in and out of the vehicle. 1 to 3 show the door 32 provided on the left side surface 31, the door 32 provided on the right side surface 31 is constructed similarly.

The door 32 is attached to the side 31 via a door hinge 33 arranged in front of the door 32 . In this embodiment, two door hinges 33 arranged vertically are arranged on the left and right doors 32, respectively. That is, the vehicle 1 of this embodiment is provided with a total of four door hinges 33 . All four door hinges 33 are positioned above the front bumper 2 .

The vehicle 1 is also provided with a radar 4 (detection unit) that emits radio waves to detect obstacles (for example, walls, vehicles, and people) in front of the vehicle 1 . The radar 4 of this embodiment is arranged on the front side of the windshield 34 of the cab 3 . Information detected by the radar 4 is sent to the control means 13 of the collision mitigation device 10, which will be described later.

The collision mitigation device 10 has a function of absorbing collision energy at the time of collision by deploying and inflating two airbags 11 and 12 provided in the front portion of the vehicle when a collision of the vehicle 1 is predicted. It has two functions, one is to protect the door hinge 33 . A collision of the vehicle 1 is predicted, for example, based on the distance between the vehicle 1 and the obstacle in front of the vehicle 1, the relative position, the relative speed, etc., and the probability that the vehicle 1 will collide with the obstacle is high. Refers to the case where judgment is made.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the collision mitigation device 10 includes a lower airbag 11 (lower shock absorbing portion) provided in front of the front bumper 2 and an upper airbag 12 (upper airbag) provided in front of the door hinge 33 . and a control means 13 . The collision mitigation device 10 also includes a lower inflator 14 that deploys the lower airbag 11 and an upper inflator 15 that deploys the upper airbag 12 . 1 to 3, the lower airbag 11 and the upper airbag 12 are shown with a lattice pattern for easy understanding.

The lower airbag 11 is a cloth bag extending in the vehicle width direction as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower airbag 11 of the present embodiment is stored in the front portion of the vehicle 1 (the front portion of the front bumper 2) in a folded state before being deployed. The lower airbag 11 inflates toward the front of the front bumper 2 when deployed, as shown in FIG. The position of the lower airbag 11 is not limited to the above position as long as it overlaps with the front bumper 2 in a front view at least when deployed and is inflated toward the front of the front bumper 2.

The lower inflator 14 is a device that supplies gas (filling gas) for deploying and inflating the lower airbag 11, and is arranged at the rear of the lower airbag 11, for example. When a collision of the vehicle 1 is predicted, the lower inflator 14 starts operating upon receiving a signal sent from a command section 13B of the control means 13, which will be described later.

As with the lower airbag 11, the upper airbag 12 is a cloth bag body extending in the vehicle width direction as shown in FIG. stored in the front of the As shown in FIG. 2, the upper airbag 12 of this embodiment is arranged so that its vertical position is positioned between two door hinges 33 arranged vertically in an undeployed state. It is As shown in FIG. 3, the upper airbag 12 inflates forward when deployed, and also inflates in the vertical direction so as to overlap both of the two door hinges 33 arranged vertically in a front view. That is, the upper airbag 12 covers all four door hinges 33 provided in the vehicle 1 when deployed.

The upper inflator 15 is a device that supplies gas (filling gas) for deploying and inflating the upper airbag 12, and is arranged at the rear of the upper airbag 12, for example. After the lower airbag 11 is deployed, the upper inflator 15 starts operating upon receiving a signal sent from a command section 13B, which will be described later.

The control means 13 is an electronic control device (computer) for predicting a collision of the vehicle 1 and deploying the lower airbag 11 and the upper airbag 12 respectively. It is configured as an LSI device or an embedded electronic device. Note that the control means 13 may be incorporated in a control device (Electronic Control Unit) that integrally controls various devices mounted on the vehicle 1 .

The control means 13 has a prediction section 13A that predicts a collision of the vehicle 1 and a command section 13B that deploys the lower airbag 11 and the upper airbag 12 as functional elements. Each of these elements may be realized by an electronic circuit (hardware), or may be programmed as software. It may be

13 A of prediction parts acquire the information sent from the radar 4, and predict a collision of the vehicle 1 based on the acquired information. For example, the prediction unit 13A calculates the collision prediction time based on the moving speed of the obstacle detected by the radar 4 and the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1, and when the collision prediction time is less than a certain value, the vehicle 1 will collide. Predict. The vehicle speed information may be acquired from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown).

When the prediction unit 13A predicts a collision of the vehicle 1, the command unit 13B sends a signal to each of the lower inflator 14 and the upper inflator 15, thereby sequentially deploying the lower airbag 11 and the upper airbag 12. Let

Specifically, command unit 13B sends a signal to lower inflator 14 when prediction unit 13A predicts a collision of vehicle 1 . Upon receiving this signal, the lower airbag 11 is deployed and inflated by operating the lower inflator 14 . Thereafter, the command unit 13B sends a signal to the upper inflator 15 after a predetermined time (for example, 1 to 2 seconds). Upon receipt of this signal, the upper inflator 15 operates to deploy and inflate the upper airbag 12 . Note that the predetermined time is not limited to a preset fixed value, and may be a variable value that changes according to the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 or the relative speed with respect to an obstacle, for example.

[2. flowchart]
FIG. 4 is a flow chart exemplifying the contents of the control executed by the control means 13. As shown in FIG. This flow is repeatedly performed at a predetermined calculation cycle, for example, when the main power source of the vehicle 1 is turned on (in an ON state).

In step S1, information detected by the radar 4 is obtained. Next, based on information detected by the radar 4, it is determined whether or not a collision of the vehicle 1 is predicted (step S2). If the collision of the vehicle 1 is not predicted in step S2, this flow is returned.

On the other hand, if a collision of the vehicle 1 is predicted in step S2, the process proceeds to step S3 and a signal is sent to the lower inflator 14. FIG. After waiting until a predetermined time elapses in subsequent step S4, the process proceeds to step S5. At step S5, a signal is sent to the upper inflator 15 to terminate this flow.

[3. action, effect]
According to the collision mitigation device 10, the lower airbag 11 and the upper airbag 12 are provided, and when a collision of the vehicle 1 is expected, both of the two airbags 11 and 12 are deployed to absorb the collision energy. do. Therefore, the deformation of the rear portion of the cab 3 relative to the two airbags 11 and 12 can be suppressed, and a survival space for the occupant at the time of collision can be secured. In addition, when deployed, the upper airbag 12 covers all of the plurality of door hinges 33 in a front view, so deformation of the door hinges 33 due to rear-end collision of a colliding object (for example, the above obstacle) can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to open and close the door 32 at the time of collision. Furthermore, according to the collision mitigation device 10, the lower airbag 11 is deployed first, and the upper airbag 12 is deployed after the lower airbag 11 is deployed. Therefore, the lower airbag 11, which is deployed first, mainly absorbs the collision energy, and the upper airbag 12 can mainly function as a protector for the door hinge 33. Opening and closing can be made more possible.

[4. Modification]
The configuration of the collision mitigation device 10 described above is an example. It is sufficient that the upper shock absorbing portion can cover all of the plurality of door hinges when viewed from the front when deployed, and its position in the vertical direction is not limited to the position described above. Moreover, the number of door hinges provided in the vehicle is not limited to the above example, as long as it is at least two or more. The lower shock absorbing portion may expand downward as well as forward when deployed. In this case, the lower shock absorbing portion can also function as a support for the front underrun protector that prevents the colliding object from getting under. In addition to the radar 4 , the vehicle 1 may be equipped with a camera as a device for detecting information ahead of the vehicle 1 . Note that the vehicle is not limited to a truck as long as it has a plurality of door hinges provided above the front bumper.

1 vehicle 2 front bumper 3 cab 10 collision mitigation device 11 lower airbag (lower impact mitigation portion)
12 upper airbag (upper impact buffer)
13 control means 13A prediction unit 13B command unit 32 door 33 door hinge

Claims (1)

a lower shock absorbing portion that expands forward of the front bumper of the vehicle when deployed;
an upper shock absorbing portion that expands forward of the plurality of door hinges provided above the front bumper when unfolded and covers all of the plurality of door hinges in a front view;
a prediction unit that predicts a collision of the vehicle;
The lower shock absorbing section is deployed when the prediction section predicts a collision of the vehicle,
A collision mitigation device, wherein the upper shock absorbing portion is deployed after the lower shock absorbing portion is deployed.

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