JP2907295B2 - Car airbag system - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an airbag device for an automobile, and more particularly to an improvement in an airbag device for a passenger seat.

<< Conventional Technology >> As is well known, an airbag device has been developed as a safety device against a collision of an automobile and has already been put to practical use. This airbag device includes an airbag that can be deployed and inflated by gas pressure, an impact detection sensor, a gas generator that sends gas into the airbag when an impact is detected by the sensor, and the like. It is general that the airbag unit is incorporated in a vehicle body. The airbag unit is disposed in the steering wheel for the driver's seat and is disposed in the instrument panel for the passenger's seat via an opening. When an impact such as an automobile collision occurs, a gas generator is activated by an impact detection sensor to inflate and deploy the airbag, thereby protecting the head and chest of an occupant who is moving forward in the event of a collision. is there.

Such an airbag unit is usually covered by a cover member called an airbag grid, and in the case of an airbag device for a passenger seat, the airbag grid is composed of an upper lid and a lower lid that can be opened and rotated in the vertical direction with respect to each other. The upper lid and the lower lid are provided along the panel surface so as to cover the opening of the instrument panel. Then, the upper lid and the lower lid are automatically pushed open from the inside of the instrument panel by the inflation and deployment force of the airbag.

Conventionally, in such an airbag device, the upper lid and the lower lid are individually configured independently, and are separately pivotally attached to the instrument panel (for example, JP-A-63-258240). etc).

<< Problems to be Solved by the Invention >> In recent years, there has been an increasing number of cases where an instrument panel is formed in a curved shape due to a demand for enhancing a design effect of a windshield or the like of an automobile. For example, the instrument panel has a smooth continuous curve in the vertical or vertical direction from the side door side toward the vehicle center side. In this case, the upper lid and the lower lid have to be curved shapes corresponding to the instrument panel, but in the conventional configuration in which the upper lid and the lower lid are separately pivoted to the instrument panel, the pivot portion also has a curved state. For this reason, it was difficult to perform accurate assembly.

In view of this, the present applicant has conceived that the upper and lower lids as air bag grids are assembled to the vehicle body side member as one assembly body so as to be adaptable to a curved instrument panel. In this case, if the assembly body can be easily and reliably assembled to the instrument panel, and if necessary, it can be disassembled and inspected so that the airbag device can be operated reliably in an emergency, it is excellent in serviceability. It will be.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a first object is to improve the serviceability by allowing the air bag grid to be assembled and detached at the time of inspection. It is an object of the present invention to prevent erroneous operations such as when the air bag grid is detached, and to further facilitate the grasp of the detachment operation position, thereby further improving the serviceability.

<< Means for Solving the Problems >> The present invention provides an airbag which is provided with an opening at a portion of an instrument panel facing a passenger seat, and which is inflated and deployed at the time of impact into the instrument panel through the opening. An airbag device for an automobile, which has an airbag unit having an airbag unit and a rotatable airbag lid as a cover member for covering the opening from the vehicle interior side,
The air bag grid is formed from an upper and lower divided upper and lower lids, and a support member is provided on both sides of the upper and lower lids. Locking means for holding the upper lid and the lower lid at predetermined positions, and unlocking means for releasing the holding state by the locking means, wherein the unlocking means is located at a parting line position between the instrument panel opening and the air bag grid. It has a lock release operation section.

<< Operation >> According to the present invention, since the lock means for holding the air bag grid at a predetermined position is provided, the air bag grid can be restrained and held at a fixed position with respect to the vehicle body side member by the lock means. Therefore, when assembling the airbag lid to the vehicle body side member, the work can be easily performed, and the workability of assembling the airbag lid can be improved. In addition, since the lock release means for releasing the holding state by the lock means is provided, the air bag grid can be assembled or detached at the time of inspection, and serviceability can be improved.

Further, since the unlocking means has an unlocking operation portion at the parting line position between the instrument panel opening and the air bag grid, the unlocking operation can be performed by inserting an operating tool from a gap or the like in the parting line. I can do it. Therefore, erroneous operations such as when the airbag lid is detached can be prevented, the operation position for detachment can be easily grasped, and serviceability can be further improved.

<< Embodiment >> An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2 schematically show a vehicle body structure in which an airbag device is incorporated. That is, the dash upper panel 3 and the cowl upper panel 4 are joined to the upper end of the dash lower panel 2 located at the rear end of the engine room 1. A front window glass 5 is fixed to a predetermined portion of the cowl upper panel 4. The instrument panel 6 has a top deck portion 6a that covers the cowl upper panel 4 and a sidewall portion 6b that curves down from the rear end of the top deck portion 6a, and has a lower end portion of the sidewall portion 6b. The glove lid 7 is connected. Inside the instrument panel 6, a cleaning unit 8 as an air conditioner,
A defroster nozzle 9 for preventing fogging of the front window glass 5 and the like are provided, and a glove pocket 10 is provided inside the glove lid 7.

A narrow opening 11 is formed in the width direction of the vehicle body at a portion of the instrument panel 6 facing the passenger seat, and the airbag device 12 is incorporated into the instrument panel 6 through the opening 11, The airbag device 12 is supported by a steering support member 13.

The airbag device 12 includes a casing 14 having a rear end opened as a vehicle body-side member, an airbag 15 housed in a folded state in the casing 14, and a gas to be introduced into the airbag 15. The airbag unit 17 includes a gas generator 16 for generating gas and an impact detection sensor (not shown) for operating the gas generator 16. The rear end side of the airbag unit 17, that is, the opening 11 of the instrument panel 6 is provided with an airbag lid 18 serving as a cover member. And occluded by lower lid 19.

3 to 11 show the airbag device 12 in detail.

In the airbag device 12 of the present embodiment, the upper lid 18 and the lower lid 19 are assembled as a single assembly body 21 by the common support bracket 20, and the support bracket 20 of the assembly body 21 is attached to the steering support member 13 by the mounting bracket 22. It is detachably supported via.

First, the configuration of the assembly 21 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Appalid 18 and lower lid 19
Are formed in a horizontally long curved plate shape, and a lower end edge of the upper lid 18 and an upper end edge of the lower lid 19 are arranged in contact with each other. The upper edge of the upper lid 18 and the lower edge of the lower lid 19 are connected to each other in a back state by a belt-like elastic body 23 as a connecting member on a back side. A pair of band-like elastic members 23 are arranged at both lateral ends of each of the lids 18 and 19, and are attached to the lids 18 and 19 via attachment members 24 and 25, respectively. As a result, the upper end of the upper lid 18 and the lower end of the lower lid 19 are urged in a direction in which they overlap on the back side. That is, the upper end serving as the pivot of the upper lid 18 and the lower end serving as the pivot of the lower lid 19 are connected to each other by the belt-like elastic body 23 on the back side with a biasing force in the pulling direction.

On the other hand, at the lower end of the upper lid 18 and the upper end of the lower lid 19, engaging projections 26 and 27 are provided as holding members for holding with an urging force in a direction opposite to the urging direction of the band-shaped elastic body 23. That is, the engagement projections 26 and 27 are provided to project toward the rear surfaces of the lids 18 and 19, respectively. These engagement projections 26 and 27 have large diameter heads 26a and 27a at the tip.

Then, the support bracket 20 is engaged with each of the lids 18, 19, the band-shaped elastic body 23, and each of the engagement projections 26, 27, respectively, so that each of the lids 18, 19 is a single assembly body at both lateral ends.
Mounting bracket as well as mounting bracket 21
It is designed to support 22. That is, the support bracket 20 is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section by the pair of opposing pieces 20a and 20b and the connecting piece 20c provided at one end thereof. One of the opposing pieces 20a is the mounting bracket 2
2 and a pin-shaped first locking portion 28 and a hook-shaped second locking portion, each of which has a large-diameter end protruding toward the outer surface side at a lower end portion and an upper end portion, respectively. 29. The mounting piece 20a is provided with a band-shaped elastic body support portion 30 including a bent portion bent inward at the upper and lower end portions and a through hole, and the band-shaped elastic body 23 is inserted and supported by the band-shaped elastic body support portion 30. ing. In addition, the other piece 20b of the facing piece is
9 is a shape-retaining engagement piece, and the shape-retaining engagement piece 20b is
A contact engaging portion 31 that is bent from the upper and lower ends toward the outer surface side to contact the rear surfaces of the lids 18 and 19, a pair of holes 32 through which the engaging protrusions 26 and 27 are inserted, Engagement projection 2 inserted through 32
A spring 33 for restraining and supporting the constricted portions of the large-diameter heads 26a and 26b on the support bracket side with an elastic force larger than the tensile force of the band-shaped elastic body 23 is provided.

Thus, while the upper end of the upper lid 18 and the lower end of the lower lid 19 are urged in a direction in which they are attracted to each other by the band-shaped elastic body 23, the lower end of the upper lid 18 and the upper end of the lower lid 19 are connected. The large-diameter heads 26a, 27a of the engaging projections 26, 27 and the spring 33 restrain and hold toward the side opposite to the biasing force of the band-shaped elastic body 23, and abut on the back surfaces of the lids 18, 19, respectively. By abutting engagement of 31, each lid 18, 19 is shape-retained and supported as shown in FIG.
Assembled as The engagement projections 26 and 27 have
Hanging collar 26 that contacts spring 33 from the opposite side
b and 27b are provided.

Next, a structure for attaching the assembly body 21 to the instrument panel 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.

This mounting structure is compatible with Appalid 18 and lower lid
A lid assembling guide that slidably supports the rear surface of the lid along the opposing surface between the lid 19 and the casing 14 as a vehicle body-side member disposed opposite to each of the lids 18 and 19. It comprises a means 41, a lock means 42 for holding each of the lids 18, 19 at a predetermined position, and a lock release means 43 for releasing the holding state of the lock means 42.

First, the guide means 41 will be described. The mounting bracket 22 fixed to the steering support bracket 13 includes:
Both side pieces 14 a of the casing 14 of the airbag unit 17 are fastened and fixed by fasteners 34. A mounting board 35 is also fastened and fixed to the surface of the both side pieces 14a of the casing 14 by the fastening tool 34. The mounting board 35 is a vertically long locking hole having a large diameter at the upper end into which the pin-shaped first locking portion 28 of the mounting piece 20a of the support bracket 20 is inserted and locked.
36 and an upward locking tongue piece 37 to which the hook-shaped second locking portion 29 is locked. Then, the assembly body 21 is inserted into the opening, and the first locking portion 28 and the second locking portion 29 of the support bracket 20 are dropped into the locking hole 36 and the locking tongue piece 37 of the substrate 35, respectively. So that it is locked by sliding.

In contrast to such a guide means 41, the lock means 42 is configured to regulate the sliding operation at a fixed sliding position on the surface of each of the lids 18, 19 facing the casing 14.

That is, a tongue-shaped lock plate 44 is provided on the rear surface side of the substrate 35 so as to close the upper portion of the locking hole 36. The lock plate 44 is made of an elastic material such as metal and normally abuts against the back surface of the substrate 35. When the first locking portion 28 of the support bracket 20 is inserted into the locking hole 36, It is pressed by the tip of the locking portion 28 and elastically bends backward. When the first locking portion 28 is slid to the lower portion of the locking hole 36, the first locking portion 28 comes off the tip of the first locking portion 28 and comes into contact with the back surface of the substrate 35. By contacting the upper edge of the first locking portion 28, the upward sliding movement of the first locking portion 28 is restricted. The lock plate 44 has, for example, a horizontally long plate shape as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and its tip protrudes to the side of the substrate 35.

In the present embodiment, the lock release means 43 is constituted by the projecting portion of the lock plate 44. The lock plate (not shown) may be in the shape of a vertically long plate, and may have a tongue-shaped lock release means at the lower end portion as described above.

Such an unlocking means 43 has an unlocking operation section 43a at a parting line position between the opening of the instrument panel 6 and each of the lids 18 and 19. That is,
The lock release operation section 43a is constituted by a tip end of a protruding portion of the lock plate 44, and this tip end is arranged just facing the gap of the parting line portion.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, for example, a thin plate-like pressing tool 45 is inserted through a gap between the instrument panel 6 and each of the lids 18 and 19, and the unlocking means 43 is pressed by the pressing tool 45. By pressing, the lock can be released, that is, the operation of removing the lock plate 44 from the first locking portion 28 can be performed. Then, the lids 18, 19 as the assembly body 21 are moved upward, the first locking portions and the second locking portions 28, 29 are removed from the vehicle body side, and the lids 18, 19 are removed from the instrument panel 6. Inspections and the like can be performed.

A stopper 39 having elasticity is provided on the peripheral surface of the opening 11 of the instrument panel 6, and the upper end of the upper lid 18 and the lower end of the lower lid 19 are respectively abutted and locked to the stopper 39.

According to the present embodiment, the assembly body 21 can be attached to the opening 11 of the instrument panel 6 in a one-touch manner. That is, since the upper lid 18 and the lower lid 19 are integrally assembled as an assembly body 21 by the support bracket 20, the assembly body 21 is simply inserted into the opening, and the first locking portion 28 of the support bracket 20 2 locking part 29
May be locked by dropping into the locking hole 36 and the locking tongue piece 37 of the substrate 35, respectively. In this case, each locking part 2
8 and 29 are hidden on the back side of the assembly body 21 and are difficult to see from the front side, but since the guide plates 38 are protruded from each side edge of the mounting board 35, the right and left Is easily positioned. Therefore, the assembling operation can be performed very easily while being a blind operation. Locking means for holding the lids 18 and 19 in a predetermined position
Since the lid 42 is provided, each of the lids 18 and 19 can be securely attached, and the serviceability is high.

In addition, after the assembly, when the airbag lid is slid to a certain position on the vehicle body side, the airbag lid is provided with the lock means 42 for regulating the sliding operation, so that the airbag lid can be fixedly held at a certain position. Therefore, in the assembled state of the airbag lid, it is possible to reliably prevent the lid from being displaced even when the vehicle body is vibrated.

Further, when an impact occurs, as shown in FIG. 11, the upper lid 18 and the lower lid 19 are pushed from the inside of the instrument panel 6 by the inflation and deployment force of the airbag unit 17, and are automatically opened. In this case, each lid 18, 19
Are restrained by the belt-like elastic body 23 in a state where a certain extension is allowed, so that each can move upward and downward in an appropriate range while moving outward from the instrument panel, and the occupant in the passenger seat It is also possible to prevent the lid from colliding with the vehicle.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the lock release means 43 for releasing the holding state by the lock means 42 is provided, the instrument panel 6 and the lids 18 and
The lock can be released by inserting a thin plate-like pressing tool 45 through a gap with the lock 19 and pushing the unlocking means 43 with the pressing tool 45. So lid as Assy body 21
Slide 18 and 19 upwards in the opposite direction to the
The locking portions and the second locking portions 28 and 29 can be removed from the vehicle body side and the lids 18 and 19 can be removed from the instrument panel 6 to perform inspections and the like, thereby further improving serviceability.

 FIG. 12 to FIG. 14 show a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a guide means 51 is provided. The guide means 51 includes a base guide member 61 attached to the casing 14 and a movable guide member attached to the lids 18 and 19.
62. The base guide member 61 is a vertically long channel-shaped member, and is disposed in a pair of right and left with the opening facing outward, and attached to the flange portions 14a formed on both side portions of the casing 14, respectively. A spring for position regulation is provided on the inner back of the base guide member 61.
63 are provided. On the other hand, the movable guide member 62 is a pair of vertically long channel-shaped members configured to be slidably engageable from above so as to bite the opening into each base guide member 61, and is provided at each of the left and right ends of the air bag grid. Installed.

A locking means 52 is provided at the lower end of each of the guide members 61 and 62.
And an unlocking means 54. Locking means
52 is a claw 65 provided at the lower end of the movable guide member 62.
And an engaging arm 66 provided at a lower end of the base guide member 61 and a hook 65 is engaged with the claw 65 so as to be disengageable. In other words, one end of the engagement arm 66 is a hook 66a for hooking the claw 65, and the other end is an operation unit 66b. A direction in which the intermediate portion of the engagement arm 66 is rotatably supported by the base guide member 61 by a shaft, and the engaging portion 66a is engaged with the claw portion 65 by a biasing member 67 such as a weight or a spring. Is rotationally displaced.

In this embodiment, the connecting member connecting the upper lid 18 and the lower lid 19 is formed of a plastically deformable band-shaped material 6.
8, 69. Each of these strips 68, 69
As shown in FIG. 12, each of the lids 18 and 19 is curved and protrudes from the inside of each of the lids 18 and 19 to the back surface on the pivot end side. This strip material 6
The movable guide member 62 is attached to the projections 68a and 69a of the projections 8 and 69 so as to connect the projections 68a and 69a to each other.

The lids 18 and 19 are formed integrally with each other to form one assembly, and are assembled via the guide means 51 to the casing 14 which is a vehicle body side member. At the time of assembly, the lids 18 and 19 as the assembly body 21 are pushed into the casing 14 side, as in the first embodiment. At this time, the movable guide member 62 is
The claw portion 65 which is guided downward along the
The movable guide member 62 and thus the assembly body 21 are fixed by the engagement between the movable guide member 62 and the engaging portion 66a.

For inspection and the like, the operation portion 66b of the engagement arm 66 can be turned in a direction in which the claw portion 65 is disengaged, and then the assembly body 21 can be removed by sliding the assembly body 21 upward, contrary to the time of assembly.

In addition, at the time of impact, each of the lids 18 and 19 can rotate and deploy with the upper and lower ends as fulcrums due to plastic deformation of the belt-shaped material 61.

According to the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the air bag lid 17 can be fixedly held at a fixed position by the locking means 52.
The position shift of 17 can be reliably prevented, and the lock release means
Since the air bag grid is provided, it is possible to assemble the air bag grid and to attach and detach the air bag during inspection, thereby improving serviceability.

<< Effects of the Invention >> As described above, according to the present invention, since the lock means for holding the airbag grid at a predetermined position is provided, the work can be easily performed when the airbag grid is assembled, and the airbag grid can be easily assembled. The workability of assembling the grid can be improved. In addition, since the lock release means for releasing the holding state by the lock means is provided, the air bag grid can be easily attached or detached at the time of inspection, and the serviceability can be improved. Further, since the unlocking means has an unlocking operation portion at the parting line position between the instrument panel opening and the air bag grid, erroneous operations such as when the air bag grid is detached can be prevented, and the detaching operation position can be easily adjusted. Can be grasped,
Serviceability can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an instrument panel passenger side, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an assembly body. 4 and 5 are perspective views showing the assembled state, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the state after assembly, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8, FIG. 9 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 9, FIG. FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the same, and FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the assembled state. 6 Instrument panel 11 Opening 14 Casing 17 Air bag unit 18 Applid (air bag grid) 19 Road lid (air bag grid) 42, 52 Lock means 43, 54 Unlocking means 43a: Unlocking operation unit 51: Guide means.

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yasutomo Iwamoto 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Inside Mazda Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-276846 (JP, A) Jpn. (JP, U) JP 49-25696 (JP, B1) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60R 21/20

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An opening is provided in a portion of an instrument panel facing a passenger seat, and an airbag unit having an airbag that is inflated and deployed upon impact is housed in the instrument panel through the opening. And an airbag device for an automobile provided with an openable and rotatable airbag lid as a cover member for covering the opening from the passenger compartment side,
The air bag grid is formed from an upper and lower divided upper and lower lids, and a support member is provided on both sides of the upper and lower lids. Locking means for holding the upper lid and the lower lid in a predetermined position, and unlocking means for releasing the holding state by the locking means, wherein the unlocking means is located at a parting line position between the instrument panel opening and the air bag grid. An automobile airbag device having a lock release operation section.