JP2975714B2 - Car airbag structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag structure for a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a vehicle such as a commercial vehicle which has almost no crash space such as an engine room at a front portion of a vehicle body in front of a passenger seat. The present invention relates to an airbag structure for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an air bag device is often mounted for protecting an occupant of an automobile. In this airbag device, the airbag housed in the airbag unit provided on the front of the vehicle body is instantly inflated in the passenger compartment by the impact of the collision , and the upper body of the occupant moves forward by the inertia force
Intended to restrained from, the handle is in the driver's side, between the dash panel and the instrument panel in the passenger side, it is respectively device. Since the distance between the occupant and the airbag unit is large on the passenger seat side, the inflation rate of the airbag on the passenger seat side is generally set to be larger than that on the driver seat side.

[0003]

By the way, airbag devices have been mainly mounted on passenger cars so far, but there is a growing demand for mounting them on commercial vehicles and the like. However, when the airbag device is mounted on a commercial vehicle or the like, there is a possibility that the restraint force of the occupant by the airbag becomes excessive, especially on the passenger seat side.

[0004] First, looking at the structure of the commercial vehicle or the like, many of those cab-over type engine is mounted in the driver's seat downward, engine Le in the front part of the vehicle body of the passenger seat forward
The dash panel moves directly to the rear of the vehicle in the event of a collision because there is no arm and there is almost no crash space, especially on the passenger side between the dash panel and the occupants. There is no obstacle to the backward movement of the dash panel.

Here, regarding the function of the airbag, it is necessary to set the restraining force of the occupant by the airbag so as not to be excessive. In the case of a passenger car type vehicle, there is a crash space called an engine room at the front of the vehicle body, so the amount of retraction of the dash panel due to the collapse of the front part of the vehicle body at the time of a collision is relatively small. In vehicles, the engine
Because there is almost nothing to crash space, such as a beam without interfering with the retreat of the dash panel, from the dash panel
The amount of retreat over the instrument panel is large,
Therefore, the airbag unit installed on the dash panel side approaches the occupant in the passenger seat with the retreat of the dash panel at the time of collision, and the distance between the two becomes small. As a result, by the proximity of the occupant of the airbag unit, excess Na et lest binding force on the driver by the air bag
The time between the occupant and the airbag at the time of the collision
Need to control by column.

[0006] That is, the inflation of the airbag is generally set to be completed immediately after the collision, and even after the front portion of the vehicle body is completely collapsed, the passenger in the passenger seat moving forward is restrained. As described above, since the distance between the passenger in the passenger seat and the airbag unit is large in a car-type vehicle, the gas pressure introduced into the airbag is increased, and immediately after the collision, the airbag is immediately deployed with a large volume. Although it is necessary to restrain the occupant moving forward, the airbag unit which is considerably moved to the rear of the vehicle when the airbag unit approaches the occupant side due to the collapse of the front part of the vehicle body after the collision. In consideration of the fact that the distance between the occupant and the occupant who continues to move forward is reduced, the occupant restraining force of the airbag is reduced after the collapse of the front of the vehicle body is completed. That it is preferable to fence, in order to solve these two sides, the distance between the airbag and the occupant
At the moment of the collision, when the crush of the vehicle is complete,
At the end, it is desired to devise an airbag structure that can be optimally set in time series .

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can be preferably applied to a vehicle such as a commercial vehicle which has almost no crash space such as an engine room at a front portion of a vehicle body in front of a passenger seat. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle airbag structure that can provide an occupant with an appropriate restraining force.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a vehicle in front of a vehicle.
Provided in the front of the vehicle body that moves rearward in the event of a collision and in the passenger seat
Airbag unit that inflates and deploys the airbag
Between the airbag unit and the front part of the vehicle body,
The following the movement of the vehicle body behind the body front airbag
The air unit is fixed so that the
When the load between the vehicle and the occupant exceeds the specified load, the lock is released.
The airbag unit
When the connection with the front of the vehicle body is released,
Means for moving the locking unit forward of the vehicle body .

[0009]

Further, when moving the vehicle body backward above Symbol airbag unit preferably comprises an energy storage means for storing a return resiliency of the vehicle body forward of the airbag unit.

Further, the above-mentioned energy storage means is provided in the vehicle.
It is preferable that one end is attached to a vehicle body-side member whose relative position is displaced from the front part of the vehicle at the time of a collision , and the other end is formed of a U-shaped support plate connected to the airbag unit.

[0012]

The operation of the present invention will be described below .
During et collision, moves the airbag unit to the rear so as to follow the movement of the vehicle body front portion of the vehicle body rearward, the air
When the load between the bag and the occupant exceeds a specified load, the airbag
The airbag unit is unlocked from the front
The airbag unit can approach the occupant and exert sufficient occupant restraint force from immediately after the collision until the collapse of the front part of the vehicle, and thereafter,
Once the airbag unit approaches the occupant, the airbag unit moves away from the occupant in the opposite direction.
The restraining force of the airbag on the occupant during such a lapse of time can be preferably set. Also air
As long as no more than a specified load is applied between the bag and the occupant
The airbag unit and the front of the vehicle body are fixed
Therefore, always use the right angle air at the right position.
The bag can be deployed.

[0013]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of an automobile airbag structure according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the operation, and FIG. 3 is a graph showing the operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, inside a lid 2 along an instrument panel 1 in front of a passenger seat of an automobile,
The airbag unit 3 is arranged. The airbag unit 3 is configured to house the inflator 5 and the airbag 6 in a reaction can 4, and is set so that the inflation of the airbag 6 is completed immediately after the collision.

The reaction can 4 of the airbag unit 3 has its front end on both sides supported by the connecting means 7 and its lower end supported by the energy storage means 8.

The connecting means 7 includes a bracket 10 extending rearward from the dash panel 9 and a connecting pin 11 for connecting the rear end of the bracket 10 to the reaction can 4 of the airbag unit 3. Yes,
The airbag unit 3 is moved backward by following the movement of the dash panel 9 to the rear of the vehicle body immediately after the collision of the vehicle, and the airbag unit 3 is separated from the dash panel 9 side at a set load or more. ing. That is, when the front portion of the vehicle body is crushed during the collision and the dash panel 9 is moved toward the rear of the vehicle body, the bracket 10 moves rearward together with the dash panel 9. The shear strength is set so that the connecting pin 11 is cut when a combined force of the forward movement force of the dash panel 9, the inflation reaction force of the airbag 6, and the reaction force of the forward movement of the passenger in the passenger seat acts. ing. And after cutting,
The configuration is such that the airbag unit 3 is allowed to move forward in the vehicle body.

The energy storage means 8 stores a restoring force for returning the airbag unit 3 to the front of the vehicle body when the airbag unit 3 moves to the rear of the vehicle body at the time of a collision, and has a substantially U-shaped cross section. It has a configuration having a supporting plate 12. That is, the support plate 12 has a horizontally long upper piece 12a and a lower piece 12b, and the lower piece 12b does not move due to the collapse of the front part of the vehicle, such as the steering support member 13.
In addition, the mounting fixture 1 such as the mounting bracket 14 and bolts
5 is fixed. The upper piece 12a of the support plate 12 is integrally attached to the lower end of the reaction can 4 of the airbag unit 3 via a support bracket 16 and a fixture 17 such as a bolt.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the operation of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described in comparison with a conventional example. FIGS. 2A and 2B show the behavior of the airbag unit 3 and the occupant 19 in the front passenger seat at the time of a collision of an automobile. FIG. 2A shows this embodiment, and FIG. 2B shows the conventional example. In each of the examples, the upper part shows the state at the time of collision, the middle part shows the state when the front part of the vehicle body is completely crushed, and the lower part shows the state in which the occupant moves forward. As a conventional example, a configuration in which the airbag unit 3 is simply supported by the steering support member 13 is shown.

At the time of the collision, as shown in the upper part of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the passenger 19 in the front passenger seat is separated from the dash panel 9 by a fixed distance in both the present embodiment and the conventional example.

Next, when the dash panel 9 is moved backward by a distance B due to the collapse of the front portion of the vehicle body at the time of the collision, at this time, the inflating and deploying operation of the airbag 6 is already completed and the occupant restraining force is exerted. However, in the conventional example, FIG.
(B) As shown in the middle row, the airbag unit 3 is at the initial position, and the passenger 19 in the passenger seat moves forward by the distance A1. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the airbag unit 3 is pushed by the bracket 10 and moves backward by the distance B together with the dash panel 9. The passenger 19 moves to the front of the vehicle body by a distance A smaller than the distance A1. At this time, the support plate 9 of the energy storage means 8 extends rearward and stores energy when the airbag unit 3 returns to the front.

Finally, as shown in the lower part of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the passenger 19 further moves forward. In this case, in the conventional example, the position of the airbag unit 3 remains unchanged. Thus, the passenger 19 in the passenger seat moves forward by the distance C1. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, at this time, the connecting pin 11 is cut off, and the action of the energy storage means 8 accompanying this causes the airbag unit 3 to move forward by the distance D and the passenger 19 in the passenger seat to move at the distance C. Moving. In this state, regarding the occupant restraining force by the airbag 6,
In the conventional example, since the airbag unit 3 does not move, the occupant 19 has only a margin C1 for the movement. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, when the airbag unit 3 moves forward, it is larger than the distance C1. There will be room for the distance (C + D). Therefore, (in the figure, you see the broken line a) the conventional example as shown in FIG. 3, for the occupant restraint force is considerably higher, in the present embodiment (see in the figure, the solid line b), the occupant restraint force And the binding force can be reduced. Furthermore, as is clear from this graph, immediately after the collision, the occupant 19 and the airbag unit 3 approach each other, so that the occupant 19 can be restrained by the airbag 6 at an early stage. That is, the airbag 6 and the occupant 1 at the time of the collision
9 and analyze the behavior of the
The optimal distance between the airbag unit 3 and the occupant 19
If possible, the occupant 19 moving forward during the collision should be
If the driver approaches the unit 3 more than the set
The airbag unit is pressed by the pressing force pressing the bag 6.
The connection pin 11 between the vehicle 3 and the front of the vehicle
Unit 3 is moved forward of the vehicle, and the airbag unit is
The distance between the vehicle 3 and the occupant 19 is increased. Therefore, at the time of collision
Force of the airbag 6 is excessively applied to the occupant 19
Protection of the airbag 6 against the occupant 19
Maximum performance in all types of vehicles
Therefore, the safety of the occupant 19 can be improved. Ma
In addition, a load exceeding a predetermined value is applied between the airbag 6 and the occupant 19.
The airbag unit 3 and the front of the vehicle body
Because it is fixed, deployment of airbag 6 is always appropriate
At an appropriate angle in a proper position.

The inflation speed of the airbag unit 3 is set by the gas pressure of the propellant of the inflator 5, but when all the propellants are acted on at once, FIG.
As shown by the solid line c, the rise is sharp, and the initial restraining force also rises sharply accordingly. In this embodiment, after a part of the propellant is once actuated, the remaining propellant is actuated with a certain time delay. Thus, the rising speed itself in the initial stage of expansion can be reduced as shown by the broken line d in FIG.
As a result, the above-mentioned relaxation of the binding force becomes even more effective.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, in front of the vehicle
In the event of a collision from one side, the airbag unit is moved rearward by following the movement of the front of the vehicle body to the rear,
When the load between the airbag and the occupant exceeds a specified load,
The bag and the front of the vehicle are released and the airbag unit is
The airbag unit can move closer to the occupant and exert sufficient occupant restraint between immediately after the collision and the completion of the collapse of the front of the vehicle, and then approach the occupant once. The airbag unit moves away from the occupant in the opposite direction, and the occupant restraining force of the airbag which becomes excessive when the airbag unit stays close can be reduced. Can be preferably set. Therefore, the present invention can be preferably applied to a vehicle such as a commercial vehicle that has almost no crash space in the front of the vehicle body in front of the passenger seat, such as an engine room, and can provide an appropriate restraining force to the passenger in the passenger seat. Also, between the airbag and the occupant
As long as the specified load is not applied, the airbag unit
Is fixed to the front of the vehicle,
Deploy the airbag at an appropriate angle
Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing the operation of the embodiment. (B) It is a figure showing the operation of the conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the effect of the embodiment in comparison with the effect of the conventional example.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing inflation characteristics of the airbag unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 airbag unit 6 airbag 7 connecting means 8 energy storing means 9 dash panel 10 bracket 11 connecting pin 12 support plate

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. The vehicle moves rearward in the event of a collision from the front of the vehicle.
Inflate the front of the vehicle body and the airbag provided in front of the passenger seat.
An airbag unit for expanding and deploying the airbag.
Between Guyunitto and the vehicle front portion, following the movement of the vehicle body behind the front vehicle body is fixed so that the airbag unit is moved rearward load between the air bag and the occupant
Is released by the connection
And connect the airbag unit to the front of the vehicle.
When the connection is released, the airbag unit is
And a means for moving the airbag toward the vehicle. 2. An air bag unit as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
When moving, the airbag unit is restored to the front of the vehicle body.
The vehicle airbag structure according to claim 1, further comprising an energy storage unit that stores an original force . 3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said energy storage means is provided at the time of a vehicle collision.
One end is attached to the vehicle body side member whose relative position is
Side and the other end is
Consists of a U-shaped support plate connected to the knit
The vehicle airbag structure according to claim 2 , wherein the airbag structure is provided.