JP2544983B2 - Air pressure adjustment device in the passenger compartment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is applied to an automobile.

The present invention, in order to protect the person in the vehicle cabin at the time of a collision,
It is used for vehicles equipped with airbags that inflate automatically in a collision.

〔Overview〕

According to the present invention, in an automobile equipped with an airbag, a vacuum tank that opens inside the vehicle compartment is provided, and by opening the opening of this vacuum tank in conjunction with the operation of the airbag, the eardrum of the ear of the person who is inside the vehicle compartment. Is prevented from being hindered by a sudden rise in atmospheric pressure due to the operation of the airbag.

[Prior Art] It is already known to equip an automobile with an airbag instead of a seat belt in order to prevent an accident resulting from a frontal collision of a passenger in a frontal collision.

In this device, a gas generator is actuated by a detection output sent from a collision detection sensor provided in the frontal region, so that the airbag is rapidly filled with gas and inflated. Since the airbag is inflated between the occupant and the front equipment, the occupant does not collide with the front equipment by leaning forward.

Since the time interval from the actuation of the impact detection sensor to the occurrence of the forward-folding phenomenon due to the inertial force on the occupant is very short, the inflation speed of the airbag is extremely high.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

When the air bag is in operation, the volume is about 20 liters, but the expansion rate is so high that the air in contact with the surface of the air bag is pushed away rapidly, causing the air pressure inside the vehicle to rise rapidly and the window to close. May damage the eardrum of the occupant's ear. Louvers that eliminate the rise in air pressure in the passenger compartment are known, but they are not sufficient for sudden rises.
Especially, the driver's seat of a small truck has a small internal volume, so that the pressure rises significantly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an air pressure adjusting device in a vehicle compartment that alleviates a sudden increase in atmospheric pressure when an airbag is operated and prevents damage to the eardrum of an occupant.

At the same time, the purpose of this device is to accelerate the closing of the door and to reduce the force required for closing the door.

[Means for solving the problem]

An air pressure adjusting device for a vehicle interior of the present invention includes a vacuum tank having an opening in the vehicle interior, a pipe line for connecting the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum tank to an intake manifold of an engine, and a closing means for closing the opening of the vacuum tank. An electromagnetic means for removing the closing means and a control circuit for operating the electromagnetic means in conjunction with an airbag actuation signal are provided.

The control circuit may include means for operating the electromagnetic means in response to a signal that causes the door to transition from an open state to a closed state.

A vacuum tank is arranged under the seat, and the capacity of the vacuum tank can be approximated to the operating capacity of the airbag installed in the vehicle compartment.

[Action]

Since the vacuum tank is connected to the intake manifold of the engine by a pipe line, the inside of the vacuum tank is in a vacuum state while the engine is being driven. Since the opening of the vacuum tank is provided in the vehicle compartment and closed by the closing means, the vacuum state is maintained and the operation of the engine is not hindered. Since the closing means is removed by the electromagnetic means that operates in response to the airbag actuation signal, a vacuum region is rapidly generated in the passenger compartment when the airbag is actuated. Therefore, even if the doors and windows of the passenger compartment are hermetically closed, a rapid increase in the air pressure inside the passenger compartment when the airbag is activated is mitigated. This prevents the occupant's eardrum from being damaged. When the control circuit is interlocked with the door open-to-close conversion signal, a vacuum region is created to mitigate the sudden rise in the air pressure inside the vehicle when the door is closed, and to reduce the force required to close the door. it can.

Furthermore, since the operation of the airbag is rare, even if there is an abnormality in the electromagnetic means for opening the opening, it will not be noticed. By using this to assist the door closing operation, the airbag can be reliably operated even when the airbag having a very low occurrence probability is activated.

The volume of the vacuum tank is the volume when the airbag operates (20 l
It can be placed under the seat because it is close to Therefore, a vacuum region occurs near the occupant. If the vacuum tank cannot be arranged under the seat, the opening may be open inside the vehicle, so the vacuum tank may be outside the vehicle compartment.

〔Example〕

 Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, for the sake of simplicity, the case of a small truck with a left-hand drive is shown.

The airbag system is composed of a sensor 21 provided on the forehead of the bonnet, and a control unit 22 which sends an operation signal to the airbag 23 according to the detection output of the sensor 21. The airbag 23 is disposed between the steering wheel 24 and the driver's upper body and is normally reduced in size. The drug in the air bag 23 rapidly oxidizes due to the actuation signal sent from the control unit, inflates the air bag 23 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line, and the upper body of the occupant who leans forward is in front of the handle 24 or the like. Prevents the equipment from being impacted.

In the figure, reference numeral 25 is an engine intake manifold.

The feature of the present invention is that the opening 1A is provided in the vehicle interior.
With a vacuum tank 1, a pipe line 2 for connecting the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum tank 1 to the intake manifold 25, and an opening
A closing means 3 for closing 1A, an opening solenoid 4 which is an electromagnetic means for removing the closing means 3 from the opening 1A, and a control circuit 22A for operating the opening solenoid 4 in conjunction with an actuation signal of an airbag 23. There is something.

In addition, the control circuit 22A uses a courtesy switch 5 provided at a lower part of a door contact (not shown) to switch the door from an open state to a closed state, that is, the detection unit of the courtesy switch 5 detects the door door. The opening solenoid 4 is energized and the closing means 3 includes means to be removed from the opening 1A by a closing switching signal sent immediately before the doors are completely closed so that the hit ends are close to each other. The vacuum tank 1 is arranged under the seat 26 of the occupant, and its capacity is close to the operating capacity of the airbag 23, that is, the capacity shown by the alternate long and short dash line. The operating capacity of this airbag 23 is almost
20l.

FIG. 2 is a control explanatory view including the operation of the vacuum tank 1 in this embodiment. In the figure, the opening 1A of the vacuum tank 1
Is provided in the passenger compartment, and the opening door 3A that closes this opening 1A
And a closing means 3 including a packing 3B for airtightly holding the abutting portions of the opening door 3A and the opening 1A, and a spring means 3C for promoting the opening speed of the opening door 3A. The upper end of the hinged door 3A is held by the rotary pivot 4B provided on the push rod 4A of the opening solenoid 4, so that the opening 1A of the vacuum tank 1 is closed. Reference numeral 6 is a returning means for returning the opened open door 3A to the closed position. As shown in the figure, the roller 6A drives the open door 3A via a hydraulic device or a wire that moves the open door 3A against the spring means 3C. A motor device that operates.

Intake manifold 25 (not shown) from vacuum tank 1
A check valve 7 and a shutoff solenoid valve 8 are inserted in the pipe line 2 connected to. The courtesy switch 5 includes a spring-like protrusion 5A that comes into contact with the vehicle door 5B indicated by a chain line immediately before the door 5B is closed. A sensor 21 provided in the front of the bonnet and a control circuit 22A of a control unit 22 that controls an airbag 23 are connected to a direct current power source of a vehicle and a line for receiving a contact signal of a key switch.

 Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to this drawing.

First, when the key switch is contacted and the engine is started, the control circuit 22A energizes the shutoff solenoid valve 8 to bring the conduit 2 into conduction, so that the inside of the vacuum tank 1 is in a vacuum state. When the actuation signal is generated by the detection output of the sensor 21 provided on the bonnet and the airbag 23 is inflated, the opening solenoid 4 is actuated at the same time, pushing out the push rod 4A, and rotating the pivot 4B to move the upper end of the opening door 3A. Open. Therefore, the opening door 3A is rapidly opened by the spring means 3C, and a vacuum region is generated in the vehicle interior.

On the other hand, when the open door 3A is closed and the door 5B once opened is to be closed rapidly, the spring-like protrusion 5A of the courtesy switch 5 is immediately before the door 5B is completely closed.
When it touches the door, sends a signal to that effect to the control circuit 22A. In the control circuit 22A, the opening solenoid 4 is activated by this signal, so that the opening 1A is opened and a vacuum region is generated in the vehicle compartment. Therefore, when the door 5B is closed, a sudden increase in the internal pressure of the vehicle interior is prevented.

In the above operation, the shutoff solenoid valve 8 shuts off the conduction of the conduit 2 when the opening of the vacuum tank 1 is open. In this way, it is possible to prevent the intake manifold from operating normally.

In the above explanation, the door 3A is connected to the courtesy switch 5
Opening by also occurs relatively frequently. On the other hand, the operation of the airbag 23 is a phenomenon that rarely occurs for a normal driver, but in this case, the opening door 3A must be operated reliably. Therefore, check this at the time of closing the door to prevent it from operating due to sticking of packing.

Further, if the door 3A is opened each time the door position of the courtesy switch 5 is detected, and the inspection frequency is too frequent, a means for detecting the opening / closing of the window of the door 5B is added so that the window is closed. Only the door 3A needs to be opened.

Since the volume of the vacuum tank 1 is about 20 l as described above, it can be sufficiently stored under the seat in the case of a small truck. However, if this is not possible, only the opening may be exposed to the passenger compartment and the tank body may be outside the passenger compartment.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the eardrum damage to the occupant's ear due to the sudden rise in the air pressure when the airbag is inflated, and to prevent the sudden rise in the air pressure when the door is closed. Can be confirmed by daily operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a control explanatory view of the embodiment. 1 ... vacuum tank, 1A ... opening, 2 ... pipe, 3 ... closing means, 3A ... opening door, 3B ... packing, 3C ... spring means, 4 ... opening solenoid, 4A ... push rod,
4B …… Rotary pivot, 5 …… Kurtishi switch, 5A ……
Spring-like projection, 5B ... Door, 6 ... Returning means, 6A ... Roller, 7 ... Check valve, 8 ... Shut-off solenoid valve, 21 ... Sensor, 22 ... Control section, 22A ... Control circuit , 23 …… airbag, 24 …… handle, 25 …… intake manifold, 26 …… seat, 27 …… ventilation system.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vacuum tank having an opening in a passenger compartment, a conduit for connecting the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum tank to an intake manifold of an engine, a closing means for closing the opening of the vacuum tank, and a closing means for this. An air pressure adjusting device for a vehicle interior, comprising: an electromagnetic means for removing the electromagnetic wave; and a control circuit for operating the electromagnetic means in conjunction with an airbag actuation signal. 2. The air pressure adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit includes a means for operating the electromagnetic means in response to a signal for changing a door from an open state to a closed state. 3. The air pressure in the vehicle compartment according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum tank is arranged under a seat, and the capacity of the vacuum tank is close to the capacity of the airbag installed in the vehicle compartment during operation. Adjustment device.