JP3074439B2 - Airbag device with inflator cover and method of assembling the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for mounting an airbag case and an inflator of a passenger airbag device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag device is a device for protecting an occupant by inflating the airbag when a vehicle collides. Usually, an inflator which is a gas generator, an airbag which is inflated by gas from the inflator, and the inflator And an airbag case stored together with the airbag.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned airbag device is not limited to the driver's seat, and recently many of those for the passenger seat have been developed. Such an airbag device includes an airbag case having a substantially U-shaped cross section and an opening of the case. Generally, the airbag includes an airbag folded and housed in a portion, and a cylindrical inflator fixed in the case behind the airbag. And the installation of the above-mentioned inflator to the airbag case,
Usually, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-270349, an insertion hole is provided in one of the side walls of the airbag case so that the head of the inflator is inserted and the other side wall facing the side wall is provided. Then, a stud bolt protruding axially from the foot edge of the inflator is penetrated, and this bolt is fastened with a nut.

[0004] In the above-mentioned conventional airbag device,
In order to prevent generation of abnormal noise due to metal touch between the insertion hole of the side wall of the airbag case and the peripheral surface of the inflator, a rubber or resin bush is fitted into the edge of the insertion hole, and the peripheral surface of the inflator and the peripheral edge of the insertion hole. Between the parts.

[0005]

However, in the conventional inflator mounting structure, it is necessary to fix the bush in advance on the edge of the insertion hole of the airbag case or on the peripheral surface of the inflator. Therefore, there is a problem that the variation must be reduced, and the assembling workability is poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention addresses the above-mentioned situation and improves the workability of assembling the inflator by using an inflator cover having a novel structure, and absorbs the variation in the outer diameter of the inflator to sufficiently inflate the inflator. The purpose of this is to keep the information.

[0007]

That is, the features of the airbag device for a passenger seat according to the present invention, which meet the above-mentioned object, include a box-shaped airbag case partially open, and a cylindrical airbag case fixed in the case. An airbag device comprising: an inflator having an insertion hole provided in one of the opposite side walls of the case to fit the head of the inflator, and fixing the foot of the inflator to the other of the side walls. An annular flange portion into which the inflator head is fitted and abutted from the outside around the insertion hole, extends from the flange portion to the insertion hole side at intervals in the circumferential direction, and the outer surface has an insertion hole edge portion. guide to, and the flange portion and the insertion hole edge portion fitted to an elastically deformable plurality of case holding claw portion and groove portion formed in, from between the case holding claw portions adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction of the flange The inflator cover is provided with a plurality of elastically deformable inflator holding claws for elastically holding a peripheral surface of the inflator head, and the inflator cover is formed between the inflator head and an insertion hole edge. The inflator head is inserted and inserted between the
The inflator cover is inserted into the case
To the edge of the
Makes the inflator head elastic on the inflator cover
It is configured to be fixed in place.

In the airbag device of the present invention, the inflator cover may be formed integrally with a holding portion for holding a lead wire connector extending from the head of the inflator. Furthermore, the present invention
Around the insertion hole on the side wall
The inflator cover that comes into contact with
Another feature is that the airbag
First, insert the inflator from the insertion hole in the side wall,
The foot of the inflator was fixed to the other case side wall
Later, put the annular inflator cover on the inflator head
And fit the inflator cover to the outside of the insertion hole.
And fix it to the edge of the insertion hole.
The inflator cover fixed above
To do.

[0009]

In the airbag device of the present invention, the inflator is inserted through the insertion hole in the side wall of the airbag case, and the foot portion of the inflator is fixed to the other case side wall by a stud bolt or the like, and then the inflator cover is moved to the head of the inflator. The inflator cover is fixed to the edge of the insertion hole by the plurality of case holding claws, and the inflator head is elastically held on the fixed inflator cover by the plurality of inflator holding claws. .

As described above, the inflator cover is attached later than the inflator, and since the case holding claw guides the edge of the insertion hole to the groove, the inflator cover is inserted into the head of the inflator and pushed into the airbag case. It is possible to attach, and furthermore, by the plurality of inflator holding claws elastically holding the inflator head peripheral surface, the variation of the inflator outer diameter is absorbed, and the inflator head is sufficiently held without rattling. It is possible to hold.

In addition, since the connector holding portion is formed integrally with the inflator cover, tension due to vibration is less likely to act on the lead wire, thereby reducing the number of parts by omitting a corrugated tube or the like covering the lead wire. It is possible to reduce the number of parts and to improve the assembling workability.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an inflator cover of a passenger airbag apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state where an inflator is inserted into the inflator cover, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an end view of a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of FIG. 2B, and FIG. 6 shows an inflator holding claw portion of the inflator cover of the embodiment. FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing the case holding claw portion of the inflator cover of the embodiment from the inside, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showing the case holding claw portion from the outside.

The passenger airbag device of the above embodiment is
An airbag case 1 having a U-shaped or U-shaped box body in longitudinal section, an airbag 3 folded and stored in an opening 2 of the case 1, and the airbag case 1 behind the airbag in the airbag case 1. And a fixed inflator 4.

The inflator 4 and the airbag case 1
Basically, as shown in FIG. 3, an insertion hole 7 is provided in one of the opposite side walls 5 of the case 1 so that an inflator 4 is provided.
A head hole 8 is inserted and a bolt hole 12 is provided in the other side wall 6 of the case, and a stud bolt 10 projecting axially from a foot 9 of the inflator 4 is penetrated and fastened by a nut 11. It has the following structure.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the inflator head 8 is inserted into the insertion hole 7 through an inflator cover 13 shown in each drawing. The inflator cover 13 is made of an integrally molded product of an elastic resin such as nylon. As shown in the drawings, the inflator head 8 is inserted inside the inflator cover 8 and the outer periphery is formed around the insertion hole 7 of the airbag case 1. An annular flange 14 abuts from the flange 14 at an equal interval in the circumferential direction, extends from the flange 14 to the insertion hole 7 side, guides the insertion hole edge 7a on the outer surface 16a, and The inflator head 8 extends from between the four elastically deformable case holding claws 16 for fitting the insertion hole edge 7a into the formed groove 15 and the case holding claws 16 of the flange portion 14. And eight elastically deformable inflator holding claws 17 for elastically holding the peripheral surface of the inflator.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in the present embodiment, the case holding claw portion 16 is formed from the lower center of the spacer claw portion 18 which comes into contact with the insertion hole edge 7a.
It stands upright in the opposite direction. When the case holding claw portion 16 is attached to the airbag case 1, the outer surface 16 a of the claw portion is pressed by the insertion hole edge 7 a of the case 1 to bend inward once, and the insertion hole edge 7 a When it comes to the position of the groove portion 15, it escapes from the pressing and returns to the original shape by elasticity. In addition, other than the above, the spacer claw portion 18 may be a small piece-shaped spacer claw portion 18 'as shown in FIG.
Extend from the flange portion 14 at substantially equal intervals.

The inflator holding claw 17 is
As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, etc., in this embodiment, four small wall portions 19 extending upward from the flange portion 14 are formed at both ends, respectively, so that a small arc is drawn. It is made to project slightly inward from the inner circumference.
That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the inflator holding claw portion 17 is pressed by the peripheral surface 8a of the inflator head 8 inserted into the inside of the inflator cover 4 and retreats to the position shown in FIG. The inflator head 8 can be pressed inward and held. Since the tip of the inflator head 8 is formed in a round shape as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the inflator 4 is inserted into the inflator cover 4, the inflator holding claw 17 projects as described above. However, the above-mentioned round part is
7 is easy to push and spread.

In the airbag apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the inflator 4 is inserted through the insertion hole 7 in the side wall 5 of the airbag and the foot of the inflator is assembled. It is fixed to the case side wall 6 on the opposite side by a stud bolt 10 or the like of the portion 9. Then, after that, the inflator cover 13 is fitted into the head 8 of the inflator 4, and fitted into the groove 15 while guiding the insertion hole edge 7 a with the outer surface 16 a of the plurality of case holding claws 16 of the inflator cover 13, The inflator cover 13 is fixed to the edge 7a of the insertion hole.
At the same time, the inflator head 8 is elastically held on the fixed inflator cover 13 by a plurality of inflator holding claws 17.

As described above, the inflator cover 13
Is attached later to the airbag case 1 by simply inserting and pushing the inflator head 8 since the case holding claw 16 guides the insertion hole edge 7a to the groove 15 because the case holding claw 16 guides the insertion hole edge 7a to the groove 15. Further, the plurality of inflator holding claws 17 for elastically holding the peripheral surface 8a of the inflator head 8 absorbs the variation of the outer diameter of the inflator, thereby causing the inflator head 8 to be loose. It can be held sufficiently without sticking.

9 to 11 show an example in which a connector holding portion is formed on the inflator cover of the embodiment of the present invention described above. The flange portion 14, the case holding claw portion 16, and the inflator holding claw portion are shown in FIGS. 17, spacer claw 1
Since the configurations of 8, 18 'and the small wall portion 19 are the same as those of the above-mentioned inflator cover, the same reference numerals are given and the description is omitted.

That is, the inflator cover 1 of this embodiment
Reference numeral 3 denotes a connector holding portion 25 for holding a lead wire connector 20 extending from an inflator head (not shown), which is formed integrally with the small wall portion 19 of the flange portion 14, as shown in FIG. As described above, the leg portion 21 having the inverted T-shaped cross section of the connector 20 is inserted while pushing down the tongue piece 22 of the connector holding part 25 against the elasticity, and fitted into the hole 23 provided in the tongue piece 22. As a result, the inverted T-shaped portion of the leg portion 21 is engaged with the split groove portion 24 of the base of the tongue-shaped piece for positioning. In addition, the connector 20
Is formed on one side thereof with a T-shaped arm (not shown) having substantially the same shape as the leg portion 21. One side of the T-shaped arm portion is formed in an L-shape of the connector holding portion 25. The retainer 26 is engaged with the retainer 26.

As shown in FIG.
A socket insertion portion 27 into which a socket (not shown) from the vehicle body side is inserted is formed in the socket insertion portion 27. A lock cover 28 as shown in FIG.
Is attached. The lock cover 28 is urged to rotate freely and open downward with respect to the socket insertion portion 27, and is rotated upward to fit the locking claw portion 29 into the claw receiving hole 30 of the socket insertion portion 27. By doing so, the lid is closed and the inserted socket is prevented from coming off.
In the connector 20, when the lock cover 28 is opened, the cover 28 interferes with the connector holding portion 25 and cannot be inserted into the connector holding portion 25. I have.

In this embodiment, however, by forming the connector holding portion 25 integrally with the inflator cover 13, the tension due to the vibration is less likely to act on the lead wire of the inflator, and thereby the corrugated tube for covering the lead wire. It is possible to reduce the number of parts by omitting the steps and the like, and to improve the assembling workability.

[0025]

As described above, in the passenger airbag apparatus of the present invention, the inflator cover is interposed between the inflator and the insertion hole in the side wall of the case, and the inflator cover is provided with the flange of the cover. A plurality of elastically deformable portions that extend from the portion to the insertion hole side at intervals in the circumferential direction, guide the edge of the insertion hole on the outer surface, and fit the edge of the insertion hole into the groove formed by the flange. And a plurality of elastically deformable inflator holding claw portions extending from between the case holding claw portions of the flange portion and elastically holding the peripheral surface of the inflator head. Since the inflator cover is attached later than the inflator, and since the case holding claw guides the edge of the insertion hole to the groove, it is only necessary to insert and push in the inflator head. The inflator can be attached to the bag case, and the plurality of inflator holding claws for elastically holding the peripheral surface of the inflator head absorb variations in the outer diameter of the inflator to lift the inflator head. This has the effect of holding the sheet sufficiently without sticking.

In addition, since the connector holding portion is formed integrally with the inflator cover, tension due to vibration is less likely to act on the lead wire, and a corrugated tube or the like that covers the lead wire is omitted to reduce the number of parts. It is possible to reduce the number and improve the assembling workability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an inflator cover of a passenger airbag apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state where an inflator is inserted into the inflator cover.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the entire airbag device of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an end view of a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a portion shown in FIG. 2B.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing an inflator holding claw portion of the inflator cover of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a case holding claw portion of the inflator cover of the embodiment from the inside.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showing the case holding claw portion from the outside.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an inflator cover of the airbag device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a partial plan view of the same.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the inflator cover connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 airbag case 2 opening 3 airbag 4 inflator 5 side wall 6 side wall 7 insertion hole 7a insertion edge 8 inflator head 8a peripheral surface of inflator head 9 inflator foot 10 stud bolt 11 nut 12 bolt hole 13 inflator Cover 14 Flange part 15 Groove part 16 Case holding claw part 17 Inflator holding claw part 18 Spacer claw part 19 Small wall part 20 Lead wire connector 21 T-shaped leg part 22 Tongue piece 23 Hole part 24 Split groove part 25 Connector holding part 26 L-shaped holding part 27 Socket insertion part 28 Lock cover 29 Locking claw part 30 Claw receiving hole

Continued on the front page. (72) Inventor Kazuaki Bito 3rd Ikuyama, Utsugoshi, Oji, Miyoshi-cho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside the Automotive Parts Technology Center, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. No. 3 Ikayama Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. Automobile Parts Technology Center (72) Inventor Toru Ozaki No. 3 Ikayama Uchikoshi-ji, Miyoshi-cho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi Pref. References JP-A-5-193432 (JP, A) JP-A-6-1031 (JP, U) JP-A-6-16161 (JP, U) JP-A-5-78655 (JP, U) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/16-21/32

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An inflator having a box-shaped airbag case partially open, and a cylindrical inflator fixed in the case, wherein an insertion hole is provided in one of opposing side walls of the case. In an airbag device in which the head is inserted and the foot of the inflator is fixed to the other side wall, an annular flange portion in which the inflator head is inserted and abuts from the outside around the insertion hole. ,
Resiliently deformable extending from the flange portion to the insertion hole side at a circumferential interval, guiding the edge of the insertion hole on the outer surface, and fitting the edge of the insertion hole into the groove formed with the flange portion. a plurality of case holding claw portions such, put to the flange
Extending from between the case holding claws adjacent in the circumferential direction ,
An inflator cover including a plurality of elastically deformable inflator holding claws for elastically holding a peripheral surface of the inflator head is formed, and the inflator cover is interposed between the inflator head and an insertion hole edge. Set up and inflation
The head is inserted, and the inflation is
While securing the cover to the edge of the case insertion hole.
Number of inflator holding claws
An airbag device having an inflator cover, which is elastically fixed to the inflator cover. 2. An airbag device having an inflator cover according to claim 1, wherein a connector holding portion for holding a lead wire connector extending from said inflator head is formed integrally with said inflator cover. 3. A box-shaped airbag case partially open.
And the cylindrical inflator fixed in this case
Having an insertion hole in one of the opposing side walls of the case.
To fit the head of the inflator
Airbag device with the foot of the inflator fixed to the side
In the assembly of the airbag case side wall,
Insert the inflator through the insertion hole, and
After fixing the part to the other case side wall, the annular inflation
Cover into the head of the inflator.
Contact the outside of the insertion hole on the side wall with the edge of the insertion hole.
And the inflator head is fixed as described above.
It is characterized by being held on the inflator cover and assembled
Of airbag device with inflator cover
Method.