JP3096298B2 - Vehicle airbag installation structure - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an airbag disposing structure for an automobile having an airbag device for restraining an upper body such as a chest and a face of a passenger on the passenger side in a collision. About.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a structure for arranging an airbag of an automobile in the above-mentioned example, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
There is a structure described in JP-A-257.

That is, the former passenger car crash protection device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-198547 discloses an airbag unit having a gas generator, a generator case, a board, an airbag, a cover, and the like. Although it is arranged above the glove box in the panel and fixed to the storage frame attached to the support member of the instrument panel, since the airbag unit is supported on the instrument panel side, The displacement of the airbag unit occurs due to the deformation of the instrument panel, and this airbag unit and
When a knee protector on the passenger seat side for reducing the knee load at the time of a collision is juxtaposed, the position of the airbag unit may be deviated due to the penetration of the knee protector, and the restraint by the airbag may be deteriorated. .

The vehicle airbag device mounting structure described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 63-15257 includes a dash upper panel,
An airbag device is fixed to a glove box tightening bracket extending downward from a lower end of the dash upper panel via a stay, and the airbag device is placed in an upper space of the glove box in the instrument panel. Although it is a structure positioned, the above-mentioned dash upper panel, especially the rear half thereof, is a structure that is relatively easily deformed rearward at the time of a vehicle collision, so the holding of the airbag device at the time of collision becomes unstable, There has been a problem that the restraint by the airbag is deteriorated due to the retreat position shift of the airbag device.

The airbags described above are set so that they are deployed in the most appropriate direction and at the right time for the occupant, at the right time, and due to the misalignment of the airbag unit and the misalignment of the airbag device during a collision. If the position or angle of the airbag changes, the size of the airbag when deployed and the timing of contact with the occupant (affecting the cushioning performance of the airbag), or the direction in which the airbag deploys, will shift (usually). The airbag is designed so that the vicinity of the center of the bag having the best cushioning property is located near the head of the occupant), and the maximum safety performance of the airbag cannot be obtained.

(Object of the Invention) According to the first aspect of the present invention, a glass holding member having higher rigidity than a cowl box and a steering support member having high rigidity are provided. With one structure,
By supporting the airbag unit in the front-back and up-down directions, the mounting angle and the front-back position of the airbag unit are particularly firmly supported, and even if the vehicle body is deformed during a collision and the dash panel etc. The mounting angle of the unit and the front-rear position are not affected at all, and the airbag can be deployed to the occupant from the right direction at all times with the proper distance relationship, maximizing the occupant protection performance with the airbag. It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure for arranging an airbag of an automobile which can be exerted.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention, in addition to the object of the invention according to claim 1, has a passenger seat side knee protector without any hindrance of the airbag unit due to penetration deformation of the knee protector at the time of vehicle collision. It is an object of the present invention to provide an airbag arrangement structure for an automobile, which can ensure the knee protection performance of an occupant by the vehicle.

(Structure of the Invention) The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention relates to an automobile having an airbag unit on the passenger seat side for reducing a load generated on the upper body of an occupant, and a front lower end portion at an upper end portion of a dash lower panel. A dash upper panel extending from the dash lower panel side to the vehicle rear side, a support surface of a front window glass formed on an upper surface, and a rear end joined to a rear upper end of the dash upper panel to form a cowl. The cowl upper panel constituting the box, and the cowl upper panel and the dash upper panel are joined to each other by a reinforcement to form a closed cross-sectional structure extending in the vehicle width direction to support the lower end of the front window glass. And a glass holding member. A steering support member connected to the steering wheel and extending in the vehicle width direction. The airbag unit is disposed at a rear position at the same height as the glass holding member and above a front-rear position at the same position as the steering support member. An airbag arrangement structure for an automobile in which an upper portion of a bag unit and the glass holding member are connected by a bracket extending forward and backward, and a bracket extending vertically between the airbag unit and the steering support member is connected. It is characterized by.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, a passenger side knee protector for reducing a knee load at the time of a collision is provided, and the airbag unit and the knee protector are vertically moved. It is characterized in that it is an automobile airbag arrangement structure juxtaposed in the direction.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, the above-described glass holding member has a particularly strong structure so that the holding of the front window glass is not released at the time of a collision or the safety is not reduced due to the breakage of the front window glass. The steering support member also has a particularly strong structure in order to stabilize the support of the steering and to prevent the steering shaft from retreating in the event of a collision.

Thus, the glass holding member having higher rigidity than the cowl box and the steering support member having high rigidity are provided, and the airbag unit is moved in the front-rear direction and in the front-rear direction by the two structures of the glass holding member and the steering support member. Since it is supported by sharing from the top and bottom,
The mounting angle and the front-rear position of the airbag unit are particularly strongly supported, and even if the vehicle body is deformed in the event of a collision and the dash panel retreats, the mounting angle and the front-rear position of the airbag unit are not affected at all. Thus, the airbag can be deployed to the occupant from an appropriate direction at an appropriate distance, and the occupant protection performance of the airbag can be maximized.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the airbag unit and the knee protector are arranged side by side in the vertical direction of the vehicle body. The knee protector on the passenger seat side can effectively protect the knees of the occupant without any hindrance of the airbag unit due to the intrusion deformation of the occupant.

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

The drawing shows an airbag arrangement structure of an automobile. In FIG. 1, a front lower end portion of a dash upper panel 2 is joined to an upper end portion of a dash lower panel 1 located at a rear end of an engine room. Of the rear end of the cowl upper panel 3 and the rear upper end of the cowl upper panel 3 and the dash lower panel 1 described above.
A cowl box 6 having a cowl closed section 5 extending in the vehicle width direction by joining a cowl front panel 4 between the lower front end of the cowl upper panel 3 and the upper front end of the dash upper panel 2 so as to correspond to the upper end extension of the cowl. Is formed.
Here, the above-described cowl upper panel 3 has a support surface for the front window glass 11 formed on an upper surface thereof.

Further, at the upper part in the cowl box 6 and in the vicinity of the joint portion between the two, the cowl upper panel 3
And a reinforcement 7 that is substantially horizontal and extends in the vehicle width direction between the dash upper panel 2 and the dash upper panel 2.
These three members 2, 3, and 7 constitute a glass holding member 9 having a closed section 8. This glass holding member 9 is the first
As shown in the figure, a member formed in a closed sectional structure extending in the vehicle width direction so as to support the lower end of the front window glass 11, and an adhesive 10 is attached to a predetermined portion of the cowl upper panel 3 in the glass holding member 9. Is used to support the front window glass 11.

Further, a cooling unit 12 as an air conditioner is arranged in the instrument panel inside space at the rear position of the dash lower panel 1 and at the lower position of the dash upper panel 2, and air-conditioning air from the cooling unit 12 is supplied to the driver's air through a vent door. Vent duct 13 that blows to the side and the passenger side, and warm air from cooling unit 12 is blown to front window glass 11 through the differential door,
A defroster duct 14 for preventing fogging of the window glass 11 is provided, the above-mentioned vent duct 13 is arranged above the rear end corner of the cooling unit 12, and the above-mentioned defroster duct 14 is connected to the top deck of the instrument panel 15. It is arranged on the lower surface.

A glove tray 16, a glove lid 17, and a glove pocket 18 are located behind the cooling unit 12.
And a glove box 19 having

The above-described glove lid 17 has a glove lid outer panel 20 and a glove lid inner panel 21, and a first knee protector is provided on an inner surface of the glove lid outer panel 20.
22 are arranged.

A substantially knee-shaped second knee protector 24 as viewed from the passenger's seat side is disposed above the opening / closing end of the glove lid 17 and inside the instrument panel core 23. An interior material 25 such as a dash trim is provided on the surface.

The above-mentioned substantially knee-shaped second knee protector 24 has a substantially U-shaped knee protector support bracket (not shown) at its end.
To support the steering support member 26.

The steering support member 26 described above is located diagonally below and behind the glass holding member 9 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the steering support member 26 extends in the vehicle width direction, and both ends of the steering support member 26 are connected to hinge pillars via brackets 27, 27 (only one of which is shown in the drawing). Reinforcing members 29, 29 extending vertically are stretched between the section and the floor tunnel section 28.

By the way, a front mount type airbag unit 30 is disposed on the upper side of the vehicle body with respect to the virtual intrusion trajectory α at the time of the collision of the second knee protector 24 and in the instrument panel 15. And the second knee protector 24 are juxtaposed in the vertical direction of the vehicle body.

The above-mentioned airbag unit 30 detects a collision state with a sensor, ignites an igniter, ignites a chemical substance incorporated in an inflator (inflator, gas generator), and generates a gas generated from the chemical substance. Is passed through a filter and put into an airbag 31, the unit covers 32, 32 formed substantially flush with the instrument panel 15 are opened, and the above-described airbag 31 is deployed as shown by phantom lines in FIG. By doing so, the load generated on the upper body of the occupant is reduced.

The above-described airbag unit 30 is mounted on an airbag unit mounting case 34 using bolts and nuts 33.

The airbag unit mounting case 34 is a substantially rectangular cylindrical case, and weld bolts 35 are provided at a plurality of upper and lower locations on a bottom surface 34a of the case 34. At the rear of the closed section 8 of the glass holding member 9, there is provided a bracket 36 having a concave section, which is bolted, and the above-mentioned weld bolt 35 at the upper part of the bottom is inserted into a weld bolt hole 37 at the rear end of the bracket 36. Later, the nuts 38 are screwed together to support the upper portion of the bottom surface of the airbag unit mounting case 34 on the glass holding member 9 having a closed cross-sectional structure that is difficult to move rearward in the event of a vehicle collision.

A plurality of support brackets 39 are provided at predetermined positions of the steering support member 26, and after the weld bolt 35 at the bottom of the bottom is inserted into the weld bolt hole 40 at the rising portion of the support bracket 39, the nut 41 …
Screw into the airbag unit mounting case 34
Is supported by the steering support member 26. In other words, both airbag units 30 are supported by both members 9, 26, which are both difficult to move rearward in the event of a vehicle collision.

In short, as shown in FIG. 1, the above-described airbag unit 30 is disposed at the rear position at the same height as the glass holding member 9 and above the front-rear position at the same position as the steering support member 26. And the glass holding member 9 are connected by a bracket 36 extending forward and backward, and the airbag unit 30 and the steering support member 26 are connected by a bracket 39 extending vertically.

Here, the above-mentioned glass holding member 9 has a particularly strong structure so that the holding of the front window glass 11 does not come off or the front window glass 11 is broken at the time of collision, so that the safety is not reduced. ing.

Further, the steering support member 26 described above has a particularly strong structure in order to stabilize the support of the steering and to prevent the steering shaft from retreating in the event of a collision.

The above-described mounting case 34 is supported by the member having strong vehicle body rigidity, that is, the glass holding member 9 and the steering support member 26 having the closed cross-sectional structure, and the airbag unit 30 mounted on the case 34 is an airbag. 31 is mounted so as to be directed slightly obliquely upward so as to be deployed toward the front of the upper body of the passenger (passenger seat occupant).

The illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation will be described below.

When about 20 ms elapses from the start of the collision of the vehicle, the inflator in the airbag unit 30 operates, pushes and opens the gas generated from the chemical substance through the filter, and deploys the gas described above at about 50 ms from the start of the collision. The airbag 31 is fully deployed as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the lower half of the dash lower panel 1 and the lower half of the dash upper panel 2 start retreating as indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 1 when about 40 ms have elapsed since the start of the collision, and the occupants' knees and knee protectors 22, 24 Comes into contact when about 50 ms has elapsed since the start of the collision.

By the way, the airbag arrangement structure of the automobile having the above configuration has a glass holding member 9 having higher rigidity than the cowl box 6.
, A steering support member 26 also having high rigidity, and the glass holding member 9 and the steering support member 26 are provided.
26, the airbag unit 30 is supported in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction, so that the mounting angle and the front-rear position of the airbag unit 30 are particularly strongly supported, and the vehicle body is deformed at the time of collision, Even if the dash panel retreats, the mounting angle and the front-back position of the airbag unit 30 are not affected at all, and the airbag 31 is always deployed to the occupant from the proper direction and with the proper distance relationship. Therefore, there is an effect that the occupant protection performance of the airbag 31 can be maximized.

Further, even if the instrument panel 15 is deformed at the time of a collision, the airbag unit 30 cannot be displaced, so that the airbag unit 30 can be stabilized, and the occupant restraining performance of the airbag 31 can be improved.

Further, since the airbag unit 30 and the knee protectors 22, 24 are arranged in the vertical direction of the vehicle body, the airbag unit 30 is not hindered at all by the penetration deformation of the knee protectors 22, 24 at the time of a vehicle collision, and the assistant There is an effect that the knee protector of the occupant can be well protected by the knee protector on the seat side.

The airbag 31 described above contracts after relaxing the load generated on the upper body of the occupant.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the airbag arranging structure, in which a hole 42 is partially opened in the reinforcement 7 forming the glass holding member 9, and a cowl upper panel on the closed cross section 8 at the time of a vehicle collision. 3, so that the portion of the cowl upper panel 3 remains at a fixed position, and the rear end of the cowl upper panel 3 in the glass holding member 9 and the airbag unit mounting case described above.
34 and a substantially concave cross section bypassing the defroster duct 14,
And they are connected by a bracket 44 provided with ribs 43 at predetermined portions.

With this configuration, the deformation of the glass holding member 9 at the time of collision is further reduced, so that the holding of the airbag unit is further stabilized, and the upper body restraining performance of the occupant by the airbag 31 is further improved. be able to.

In other respects, the operation and effects are substantially the same as those of the previous embodiment. Therefore, in FIG. 4, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment, the passenger side knee protector of the present invention is the first knee protector of the embodiment.
However, the present invention is not limited to only the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an airbag arrangement structure of an automobile; FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the structure for disposing the airbag of the automobile. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Dash lower panel 2 ... Dash upper panel 3 ... Cowl upper panel 6 ... Cowl box 7 ... Reinforcement 8 ... Closed cross section 9 ... Glass holding member 11 ... Front window glass 22 ... First Knee protector 24 ... Second knee protector 26 ... Steering support member 30 ... Airbag unit 36,39,44 ... Bracket

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeru Kimura 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Inside Mazda Corporation (72) Isao Hirashima 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda (56) References JP-A-62-105743 (JP, A) JP-A 63-192160 (JP, U) JP-A 50-45806 (JP, U) JP-A 61-67077 (JP, A) U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An automobile having an airbag unit on a passenger seat side for reducing a load generated on an upper body of an occupant, wherein a front lower end is joined to an upper end of a dash lower panel,
A dash upper panel extending from the dash lower panel side to the vehicle rear side, a support surface of a front window glass is formed on an upper surface, and a rear end is joined to a rear upper end of the dash upper panel to form a cowl box. A cowl upper panel, and a glass holding member formed in a closed cross-sectional structure extending in the vehicle width direction to support the lower end of the front window glass by joining the cowl upper panel and the dash upper panel by reinforcement. A steering support member, which is located diagonally below and rearward of the glass holding member and whose both ends are connected to hinge pillars and extends in the vehicle width direction, is provided with the airbag unit at the rear of the same height as the glass holding member. Position and above the same longitudinal position as the steering support member And an upper portion of the airbag unit and the glass holding member are connected by a bracket extending forward and backward, and an airbag of the vehicle is connected between the airbag unit and the steering support member by a bracket extending vertically. Arrangement structure. 2. The vehicle airbag installation structure according to claim 1, further comprising a passenger side knee protector for alleviating a knee load at the time of a collision, wherein the airbag unit and the knee protector are provided in a vertical direction of the vehicle body.