JP3212841B2 - Pedestrian protection airbag device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of deploying an airbag on a hood or the like at the front of a vehicle when a running vehicle collides with a pedestrian, and the pedestrian collides with the hood or the like. The present invention relates to an airbag device that protects a pedestrian by absorbing a shock at that time by the airbag.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a running vehicle collides with a pedestrian, it is known that the pedestrian who has collided has its lower body paid off by the front of the vehicle body and makes a secondary collision with the upper surface of the hood at the front of the vehicle body. I have. Therefore, the present applicants have already developed a method of deploying an airbag on a hood or the like at the front of a vehicle body and absorbing a shock at the time of a secondary collision on the hood or the like with the airbag to protect a pedestrian. is suggesting.

FIG. 7 shows a safety device for protecting a pedestrian disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,249,632, in which a sensor 3 provided on a bumper 2 at a front end of a vehicle 1 detects a pedestrian. When the collision of the hood 5 is detected,
The airbag 6 installed at the lower rear end of the airbag 6 is inflated and deployed, the rear end of the hood 5 is lifted upward, and the rear end of the hood 5 is elastically supported by the cushioning action of the airbag 6,
The impact when the pedestrian 4 collides with the hood 5 in a secondary manner is reduced.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional safety device for protecting a pedestrian, the air bag provided at the rear end of the hood 5 is inflated.
In order to raise the rear end of the hood 5 upward, a large amount of gas is required, and it is necessary to increase the size of the inflator.
The reaction force generated when the bag was deployed was also large. Therefore, in order for the inflator mounting portion to withstand this large reaction force, it is necessary to increase the members of the strength member of the cowl top portion and the hood portion of the vehicle body, which increases the weight of the hood and increases the cost. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and reduces the reaction force generated when an airbag is deployed.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the required strength of the airbag device mounting portion to reduce the weight and cost.

This involves dividing the upper surface of the vehicle body into a plurality of areas,
Install small airbags in each divided area,
This is achieved by reducing the reaction force generated when each airbag is deployed.

[0007]

According to the present invention, as a means for achieving the above object, an airbag is deployed on an upper surface of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, and a secondary airbag is mounted on the upper surface of the vehicle body. in the pedestrian protection airbag device for protecting the pedestrian from the impact of the collision, the left and the vehicle body upper surface vehicle body
Is divided into multiple regions in the right direction, the presence of a plurality of airbags and airbag deployment device disposed to deploy respectively for each of these divided regions, the object in the front end of the vehicle body near the upper space Oyo In the left and right direction of the vehicle
And object detecting means for detecting the position of an object, and select the airbag to be deployed from among the plurality of airbags based on the position of the object body in the lateral direction of the vehicle body detected by this object detecting means and the Airbag control means for outputting a deployment signal for deploying the airbag to the airbag deployment device.

That is, as described above, the upper surface of the vehicle body, such as the upper surface of the hood, the front surface of the windshield, or the upper surface of the roof, is divided into a plurality of regions, and a plurality of airbags are provided so as to cover the respective divided regions. Therefore, each airbag and each airbag deployment device are reduced in size.
Then, when a pedestrian is detected by the object detecting means, a secondary collision area on the upper surface of the vehicle body is determined from a position at which the pedestrian is detected, and a predetermined area on the upper surface of the vehicle body, The airbag necessary for protecting the pedestrian is selected from a plurality of airbags, and a deployment signal is output from the airbag control means to the selected airbag. Therefore, since the size of each airbag is reduced, the size of the airbag deployment device can be reduced, and the reaction force generated when deploying the airbag is reduced.

When the detected position of the pedestrian straddles a plurality of areas, the airbags are simultaneously deployed in a plurality of divided areas on the upper surface of the vehicle body, respectively. Since a portion to which the reaction force generated sometimes is applied to a plurality of portions, there is no stress concentration on the strength member, and the required strength of the member can be suppressed low.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a pedestrian protection airbag apparatus according to the present invention.
The pedestrian protection airbag device mounted on the hood 12 is divided into two parts, left and right, from the center on the hood 12 at the front of the vehicle body.
2b and a right half area 12a, and a right half airbag module 14 is provided in the hood 12 near the front right and a left half airbag module 14 is near the left front. I have.

The right half airbag module includes a right half airbag 13a that expands to cover a right half region 12a on the hood 12 when inflated, and an inflator that inflates and deploys the right half airbag 13a. Are housed integrally in a case. Further, the left half airbag module 14 deploys so as to cover the left half area 12b on the hood 12 when inflated.
a and an inflator for inflating and deploying the left half airbag 14a.

A bumper sensor 15a is buried in the front of the front bumper 15 at the front end of the vehicle body, and a pair of laser receivers 17 is provided on the fenders 16 on both sides near the front end of the vehicle body.

The bumper sensor 15a, which is disposed almost entirely in the vehicle width of the bumper 15, detects a collision by an input from the front of the vehicle, and detects a collision with a pedestrian or an obstacle. In addition, the laser receivers 17
Oppositely disposed on both sides near the front end of the hood 12, the laser beam is irradiated substantially perpendicularly to the vehicle body center line and obliquely upward from a horizontal direction within a predetermined angle range.
By receiving the reflected light, an object in the detection area above the hood 12 is detected, and the respective distances from the laser receivers 17 to the object are also measured.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 18 denotes an airbag control device, which receives a detection signal output by the bumper sensor 15a detecting a collision with an obstacle or a pedestrian.
If the laser receivers 17 detect the object within the detection area (shaded area in FIG. 1) 17a within a predetermined time and receive the output signal, it is determined that the collision with the pedestrian has occurred. And the laser receivers 17
7 to determine a collision position of the pedestrian based on the detected data, and based on the determined position, select one of the right half airbag 13a and the left half airbag 14b, or A deployment signal is output to both airbags.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When the vehicle 10 collides with an obstacle or a pedestrian during running and the bumper sensor 15a is turned on, a detection signal is sent to the airbag control device 18. The airbag control device 18 determines a collision based on the input detection signal, and also determines the fenders 16 on both sides of the front part of the vehicle body.
Are turned on, and laser light is emitted from each of the laser light-emitters 17 toward a space on the hood 12 for a certain period of time. Then, within a certain time during which the laser light is being irradiated, the detection regions 17a,
When an object passes through 17a, the reflected light of the laser light is received by the laser light-receiving / emitting devices 17, 17, and the respective detection signals are sent to the airbag control device 18.

Then, the airbag control device 18 calculates the distance from each of the left and right laser receivers 17 and 17 to the detection position based on the detection signal from each of the left and right laser receivers 17 and 17 and calculates the pedestrian from this distance. Is determined whether the collision position is the left half, the right half, or near the center of the front end of the vehicle body.

When the collision position is the left half of the front end of the vehicle body, an ignition signal is sent to the inflator of the left half airbag module 14, and the gas generated by the inflator causes the left half airbag 14a to It unfolds in the area on the left side of hood 12. Therefore, when a pedestrian colliding with the vehicle body front end of the vehicle 10 makes a secondary collision with the left half of the hood 12, the pedestrian is reliably provided by the left half airbag 14a deployed to cover the left half of the hood 12. Buffered and protected.

When the collision position is at the right half of the front end of the vehicle body, an ignition signal is sent to the inflator of the right half airbag module, and the right half airbag 13a is moved to the hood 1
2 in the area to the right. Therefore, when a pedestrian colliding with the vehicle body front end of the vehicle 10 makes a secondary collision with the right half of the hood 12, the pedestrian is surely opened by the right half airbag 13 a so as to cover the right half of the hood 12. Buffered and protected.

Further, when the collision position is substantially at the center of the front end of the vehicle body, an ignition signal is sent to both the inflators of the right half airbag module and the left half airbag module 14, and the right half airbag 13a is Left half airbag 14
a spreads out so as to cover the entire surface of the hood 12. Therefore, when a pedestrian colliding with the front end of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 makes a secondary collision substantially at the center of the hood 12,
Left and right airbags 13a, 14 deployed to cover the top
a ensures that it is buffered and protected.

Therefore, as described above, according to the airbag apparatus of this embodiment, the hood 12 is divided into two regions, and the right half airbag 13a or the left half airbag 14a is deployed in each divided region. Since the airbags are made smaller, the capacity of each airbag can be reduced, and the inflator for deploying the airbag can be reduced in size. Therefore, the reaction force generated when deploying each of the airbags 13a and 14a can be reduced by the inflator.

As a result, the size of the inflator can be reduced as compared with an airbag of a type in which the entire surface of the hood 12 is covered with a single airbag, the size of the inflator for generating gas can be reduced, and the size of the inflator generated when the airbag is deployed. Since the reaction force can be suppressed to a small value, a bracket (not shown) installed on the hood 12 and a member of a strength member of the hood 12 for fixing the bracket can be reduced, so that the weight of the hood 12 can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. Down can be achieved. In this embodiment, when the bumper sensor 15a detects a collision, the laser receivers 17, 1
7 is switched on for a certain period of time to detect an object passing above the front of the vehicle body. However, the laser light emitting / receiving devices 17 and 17 are always turned on while the ignition key is on. By irradiating, the effective time of the pedestrian collision determination can be measured using a separate timer.

In this embodiment, the hood 12
The laser light emitting / receiving device 17 is used as a means for detecting an object passing through the space above. Instead of the laser light emitting / receiving device 17, another optical obstacle sensor such as an infrared light receiving / emitting device or an ultrasonic obstacle A sensor or the like can be used.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The pedestrian protection airbag device mounted on the vehicle has a bumper sensor 25 embedded in a front bumper 24 at the front of the vehicle body. Also, the upper surface of the hood 22 at the front of the vehicle body is divided into two parts in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, respectively.
a, 22b, 22c, and 22d. Also,
A rear right airbag module including a rear right airbag sa and an inflator is disposed in the area 22a of the hood 22. A rear left airbag module including a rear left airbag sb and an inflator is disposed in the area 22b. In addition, the area 2
A front right airbag module including a front right airbag sc and an inflator is provided in 2c. Further, a front left airbag module including a front left airbag sd and an inflator is disposed in the area 22d.

At the center of the lower surface of the front end of the roof 20a in the vehicle interior, a laser light emitting / receiving device 27 is installed inside the windshield 21. Then, laser light is emitted from the laser light-receiving / emitting device 27 toward a space above the hood 22 in front of the vehicle such that the optical axis thereof is substantially horizontal. From the vicinity of the front end of the hood 22 that is shorter than the distance L1 from the laser
The space between the hood 22 and the vicinity of the center of the hood 22, which is farther than the distance L2, is defined as a pedestrian detection effective range, and the pedestrian detection effective range is cut along a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. Are divided into four sensor areas, that is, an upper right area SA, an upper left area SB, and a lower right area SC
And a lower left area SD.

When an object passes through one or more of these four regions, the irradiated laser light hits the object, and the reflected light is received by the laser light-receiving / emitting device 27, whereby the object is (L1- When it is detected in the range of L2), a detection signal is sent from the laser light receiving / emitting device 27 to the airbag control device 28. At this time, if the bumper sensor 25 detects a collision with an object and then receives a detection signal from the laser light emitting / receiving device 27 within a predetermined time, the airbag control device 28 determines that the collision with a pedestrian has occurred, A deployment signal is output to a predetermined airbag module installed in a divided area on the hood corresponding to the area where the presence is detected.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 and a table showing the correspondence between the detection pattern and the deployed airbag of FIG. In FIG. 5, first, a timer T and a flag F are initialized (T = 0, F = 0) (step 101).
). Next, sensor information is input (step 102).
). That is, the ON signal or the OFF signal of the bumper sensor 25 is read, and the distance measurement values LA, L of the respective areas SA,.
Read B, LC and LD. Next, the presence or absence of a pedestrian in each of the areas SA, to SD is determined based on the read distance measurement values LA, to LD (step 103). Specifically, flags A, B, C, and D are provided corresponding to each of the areas SA, to SD, and the distance measurement values LA,
LD is the pedestrian detection effective range (measured value L1 to L2
If it is within the range (<L1), the corresponding flag A (.about.D) is set to "1", and if it is not within the range, it is set to "0".

In the following step 104, it is determined whether or not the bumper sensor 25 is ON. If a negative determination is made in step 104 because the flag is OFF, the flag F
After resetting to zero (Step 105), Step 10
Return to 2. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 104 that the bumper sensor 25 is ON, the timer T
Flag F indicating whether or not counting is performed
Is determined (step 106). That is, the flag F
Is determined to be "1", and if the flag F is "0" and the counting by the timer T has not been started ("NO" in step 106), the counting of the time by the timer T is started (step 106). 107). In this case, the flag F is set to "1" when the counting by the timer T is started (step 108), and then the airbag deployment control based on FIG. 6 is executed (step 109).

In FIG. 6, if the values of the flags A and D provided for the respective areas SA and SD are "1", they are indicated by "O", and if "0", they are blank. Flag A, ~
The combinations of the values of D are shown in 15 patterns, and the deployed airbag for each pattern is shown. As is known from FIG. 6, when an object (pedestrian) is detected only in the high-position areas SA and SB, none of the airbags is deployed. When an object is detected in the areas SA and SB, basically, the airbag sa, sa on the side corresponding to the head
sb is deployed, and, depending on the situation, in addition to this, the airbags sc and sd on the front side of the vehicle are deployed.

More specifically, in the case of pattern 1, pattern 2 and pattern 9, an object is detected in one or both of the upper right area SA and the upper left area SB in the detection area 27 shown in FIG. Since the lower right area SC and the lower left area SD have not been detected, the detected object is determined to be an article other than a pedestrian, such as a soccer ball, and an airbag deployment signal is not output. Controlled.

In the case of pattern 3, the upper right area S
A and an object are detected in the lower right area SC, and since the detection area straddles the upper and lower sides on the right side, the collision with the pedestrian is determined,
A deployment signal is sent to the inflator of the rear right airbag module, and the rear right airbag sa is controlled to be deployed so as to cover the area 22 a on the hood 22.

Pattern 4 (when an object is detected in upper right area SA and lower left area SD), pattern 5 (when an object is detected in upper right area SA, upper left area SB and lower right area SC), Pattern 6 (upper right area SA and upper left area S
B, when an object is detected in the lower left area SD), pattern 7 (when an object is detected in the upper right area SA, lower right area SC, and lower left area SD), pattern 8 (when an upper right area SA and upper left area SB are detected). Pattern 10 (when an object is detected in the upper left area SB and the lower right area SC), a pattern 12 (when an object is detected in the upper left area SB and the lower right area SC), and a pattern 12 (when the object is detected in the upper left area SC and the lower left area SC). And lower right area SC and lower left area S
D), the rear right airbag sa and the rear left airbag sb.
The two airbags are controlled so as to output deployment signals so as to be deployed.

The pattern 11 (when an object is detected in the upper left area SB and the lower left area SD) is controlled so that only the rear left airbag sb is deployed.

The pattern 13 (when an object is detected in the lower right area SC) is controlled so that only the front right airbag sc is deployed.

Further, the pattern 14 (when an object is detected in the lower right area SC and the lower left area SD) is such that two airbags, a front right airbag sc and a front left airbag sd, are deployed. Each is controlled.

Further, the pattern 15 (when an object is detected in the lower left area SD) is controlled so as to deploy the front left airbag sd.

On the other hand, if the counting of time by the timer T has already been started and the determination in step 106 is affirmative, it is determined whether or not the count value has exceeded a predetermined “pedestrian collision effective time upper limit α”. Is determined (step 11
0). The pedestrian collision effective time upper limit value α is an upper limit value at which the bumper sensor 25 is considered to continue the ON state in a collision with a pedestrian. Therefore, if a negative determination is made in step 110, it is a collision with a pedestrian. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 109 to continue the airbag deployment control. On the other hand, if the count value of the timer T exceeds the above upper limit α, it is considered that there is no collision with the pedestrian. Therefore, the flag F is reset to zero (step 111) and the timer T is stopped. Zero reset is performed (step 112).

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the upper surface of the hood 22 is divided into four areas, and the airbag module is arranged in each of the four areas corresponding to the division of the sensor area of the laser light emitter / receiver 27 into four parts. Since only the airbags in the area corresponding to the sensor area where the pedestrian is detected are deployed, the size of each airbag is reduced,
The reaction force at the time of deploying the airbag is also reduced, so that the required strength of the portion where the airbag module is mounted, such as the hood, can be reduced, and the weight and cost can be reduced.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the upper portion of the vehicle body is divided into two or four regions and the airbags are respectively installed has been described. However, the airbag is installed in each of the four or more regions. You may do so. In addition to the hood, an airbag can be installed on a windshield and a roof . Said
Laser light receiving / emitting device 17, 27 and airbag control device 1
8, 28 correspond to the object detecting means of the present invention,
Data corresponds to the airbag deployment device of the present invention,
The bag control devices 18 and 28 serve as air bag control devices of the present invention.
Corresponds to a column.

[0041]

As described above, the pedestrian protection airbag device of the present invention divides the upper surface of the vehicle body into a plurality of regions and provides a plurality of airbags so as to cover each of the divided regions. As a result, the size of each airbag and each airbag deployment device can be reduced, so that the reaction force generated when the airbag is deployed can be reduced. The strength can be reduced, the weight can be reduced by reducing the members used, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle equipped with a pedestrian protection airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the pedestrian protection airbag device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a sensor area and an area on a hood in a device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an area on a hood and an airbag in the device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control process performed by an airbag control device in the device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between a detection pattern and a deployed airbag in the device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an example of a conventional pedestrian protection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Hood 12a Right half area 12b Left half area 13a Right half airbag 14 Left half airbag module 14b Left half airbag 15a Bumper sensor 17 Laser receiver 18 Airbag controller 22 Hood 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d Divided area 25 Bumper sensor 27 Laser light emitting / receiving device 28 Airbag controller SA, SB, SC, SD Divided sensor area sa, sb, sc, sd Airbag

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroki Ohara 2-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Aiki 2-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Ai Inside Shin Seiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Michio Inoue 1 Ochiai Nagahata, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-7-246908 (JP, A) JP-A-8- 216826 (JP, A) JP-A-7-125605 (JP, A) JP-A-7-156749 (JP, A) JP-A-6-239198 (JP, A) JP-A-7-108903 (JP, A) 6-74533 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/34

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] When a collision with a pedestrian is detected, an airbag is deployed on the upper surface of the vehicle body to protect the pedestrian from the impact of a secondary collision on the upper surface of the vehicle body. the vehicle body upper surface is divided into multiple regions in the vehicle body in the lateral direction, these with each divided region plurality of airbags and airbag deployment device disposed to deploy respectively for each, the front end of the vehicle body near the upper and object detecting means for detecting the position of the object in the horizontal direction of the still present <br/> by beauty body of the object in space, left and right sides of the vehicle body the object detecting means detects
An air bag control means for outputting a deployment signal for deploying the selected and the air bag of the air bag to be deployed from among the plurality of airbags based on the position of the object body in countercurrent to the air bag deployment apparatus An airbag device for protecting pedestrians, comprising: