JP3261048B2 - Fixed structure of vehicle occupant protection 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 bag, which is folded over a front pillar and a roof side rail, is placed under a roof side rail in a passenger compartment by gas blown from an inflator at the time of a side collision. The present invention relates to a fixing structure for a vehicle occupant protection device that expands in a curtain shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve the protection performance of an occupant's head in the event of a side collision, an inflator provided in a front pillar is operated to straddle the front pillar and a roof side rail. Accordingly, an occupant protection device for inflating a curtain-shaped airbag stored between an interior material and a body panel has already been proposed. An occupant protection system of this type will be described below.
The configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 227340 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, an occupant protection device 40 is provided.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a sensor 402 for detecting a side collision state, an inflator 404 which operates by detecting the side collision state to eject gas, and a front pillar 406.
And an elongate bag 412 disposed along the roof side rail 408 from the upper end and stored in the trim 410 in a folded state as a main component. The front end of the bag 412 is connected to the inflator 404.
The rear end of the bag 412 is located at the front part of the center pillar 414.

According to the above configuration, when the side collision is detected by the sensor 402, the inflator 40
4 operates to eject gas. Therefore, the ejected gas is supplied into the bag 412, and the trim 410 is deployed by the inflation pressure of the bag 412. As a result, the bag 412 expanded in a curtain shape is interposed between the head of the occupant and the side of the passenger compartment.

In the occupant protection device 400 described above, the bag 412 is provided only from the upper end of the front pillar 406 to the front portion of the center pillar 414, but from the viewpoint of improving the protection performance of the occupant head. For example, the front end fixed point 412A of the bag 412 and the rear end fixed point 4
It is desirable to lower (tilt backward) the tension line connecting 12B. To this end, the bag 412 is extended rearward of the center pillar
It is necessary to set the rear end fixing point 412 </ b> B as rearward as possible.

However, if the bag 412 is simply extended rearward along the roof side rail 408 and the rear end fixing point 412B is set as rearward as possible, the bag 412 becomes longer in the vehicle front-rear direction, so Inevitably increases the number of fastening points (fixed points). For this reason, the number of parts increases, which leads to disadvantages such as complicated assembling work on an assembly line and an increase in cost.

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fixing structure for an occupant protection system for an automobile which can reduce the number of fixing points dedicated to the bag even when the bag is lengthened in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. .

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inflator which is disposed at a predetermined portion of a vehicle body and injects gas at the time of a side collision, and folds over a front pillar and a roof side rail. A bag which is stored in a state and is inflated in a curtain shape below the roof side rail in the vehicle interior by gas supplied from the inflator, and a vehicle occupant protection device comprising: with fixing means for fixing the assist grip <br/> disposed at a predetermined position, the assist Gris
Bag and the outer end of the roof head lining together with-up
The part is jointly fastened to the body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fixing structure for an occupant protection device for an automobile according to the first aspect of the present invention, the assist grip is connected to a secondary collision energy of an occupant.
-It is characterized by being fixed to the body via an absorbing bracket .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a side collision occurs, gas is blown from the inflator. For this reason, the bag stored in a folded state over the front pillar and the roof side rail is inflated in a curtain shape below the roof side rail in the vehicle interior. As a result, the bag is interposed between the vehicle body side portion and the occupant head, and the occupant head is protected.

Here, if the bag is lengthened in the front-rear direction of the vehicle in order to lower the tension line of the bag, the number of fixing points of the bag to the body generally increases accordingly.
However, according to the present invention, by using a fixing means for fixing the assist grip disposed at a predetermined position of the vehicle interior, bag and Le together with the assist grip
The vicinity of the outer end of the head lining is fastened to the body together . That is, the fixing means for fixing the assist grip is also used as the fixing means for fixing the bag. In addition, the front seat is usually used for the assist grip.
And rear seats.
When the bag is fixed using the fixing means of the grip
Has the following effects. That is, normal assist
Should the grip be fixed at two points with a short pitch
The rear end of the bag can be firmly fixed to the body
It becomes possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, first aspect is provided.
In the invention described, because fixing the assist grip to the body via the bracket for the secondary collision energy absorption of the occupant, in addition to the content of claim 1, wherein the secondary collision occupant head to assist grip side collision Then, the bracket is deformed and energy is absorbed.

[0013]

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

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a schematic configuration of an airbag device 10 as a vehicle occupant protection device in a side view. As shown in this figure, the airbag device 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a sensor 12 for detecting a side collision state, and a cylindrical inflator 14 for ejecting gas when activated.
And a bag 16 folded in a predetermined folding manner as main components. Hereinafter, these elements will be briefly described in this order, and then the main part of the present embodiment will be described.

The sensor 12 is a center pillar (B pillar)
18 is disposed near the lower end of the vehicle body 18, and detects a side collision state when a side collision load of a predetermined value or more acts on the side of the vehicle body.

The inflator 14 is disposed near a connection between a front pillar (A pillar) 20 and an instrument panel 22 and is connected to the sensor 12 described above. Therefore, when the sensor 12 detects the side collision state, the inflator 14 operates. Note that disposing the inflator 14 near the connection portion has an advantage that the front end 16A of the bag 16 can be directly connected to the inflator 14 as described later. A configuration may be adopted in which the front end 16 </ b> A of the bag 16 is connected to the front end. The inflator 14 includes a gas generating agent enclosing type that generates gas by burning a gas generating agent enclosed therein, and a high pressure gas enclosing that ejects high pressure gas by breaking a partition provided inside. Types and the like are applicable.

The bag 16 is formed in a substantially parallelogram shape in a side view. A plurality of non-inflatable portions which are formed by sewing or the like at the middle portion in the vertical direction of the bag 16 and which cross a tension line connecting a front end fixed point and a rear end fixed point of the bag 16 described later and have a longitudinal direction in the bag vertical direction. 24
Are formed at predetermined intervals. In addition, the bag 16
After being folded in a predetermined folding manner to have a long shape, it is accommodated in a resin case 26 (see FIG. 1). Further, the above-described bag 16 is disposed so as to straddle the front pillar 20 and the roof side rail 28. More specifically, the front end 16A of the bag 16 is arranged at the inflator arrangement position so that gas ejected from the inflator 14 flows in, and the intermediate portion 16B is arranged along the front pillar 20 and the roof side rail 28. And
The rear end 16C is arranged near the quarter pillar (C pillar) 30. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the bag 16 is longer in the vehicle front-rear direction than that used in the prior art.
Next, a fixing structure of the bag 16 which is a main part of the present embodiment will be described in detail. FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross-sectional structure at the rear end fixing position of the bag 16. As shown in this figure, a roof rail portion 34 is disposed at the outer end of the roof panel 32 in the vehicle width direction. The roof rail portion 34 includes a rail outer panel 36 having a substantially hat shape in cross section, which protrudes relatively outside the vehicle compartment, a rail inner panel 38 slightly protruding inward of the rail outer panel 36, and a rail outer panel 36. And a rail reinforce 40 formed between the rail outer panel 36 and the rail inner panel 38. Both ends of the rail outer panel 36, the rail inner panel 38, and the rail reinforcement 40 are joined by welding to form a closed cross section. An upper end portion of the roof rail portion 34 composed of the three members is joined to an outer end portion of the roof panel 32 in a vehicle width direction by welding, and an opening weather strip 42 is further provided at a lower end portion of the roof rail portion 34. It is fitted. Further, a bracket 44 having a substantially hat-shaped cross section and having a plate thickness smaller than that of the rail inner panel 38 is fixed to the indoor side surface of the rail inner panel 38, and further faces the bracket 44 of the rail inner panel 38. A through hole 46 is formed at the position.

On the indoor side of the roof panel 32 and the roof rail section 34, a resin roof head lining (molded ceiling) 52 composed of a base material 48 and a skin 50 is disposed at a predetermined interval. The outer end of the roof head lining 52 is elastically engaged with the opening weather strip 42 described above. In the vicinity of the outer end of the roof head lining 52 (a predetermined position on the roof side rail 28), a concave portion 54 that is recessed toward the roof rail portion 34 is formed.

Further, the bag 16 and the case 26 of the airbag device 10 are accommodated in a space 56 surrounded by the outer end of the roof head lining 52, the rail inner panel 38 and the bracket 44. Bag 16
Is folded so that the cross section at right angles to the rectangle is rectangular,
The upper end 16D extends in an L-shape along the bracket 44 and the recess 54. Correspondingly, the bag 16
Case 26 is also bent in a rectangular shape.
Further, the fixing portion 2 that covers the front and back surfaces of the upper end portion 16D of the bag 16
6A extends in an L-shape along the bracket 44 and the concave portion 54. In addition, a position facing the bag 16 (the upper end of the roof rail portion 34 and the roof head lining 52
A rib 58 for absorbing energy when the occupant's head has a secondary collision at the time of a side collision is disposed.
The bracket 44 described above also functions as a target energy absorbing material similarly to the rib 58. That is, when the head of the occupant makes a secondary collision with the assist grip 60 during a side collision,
Energy is absorbed by the deformation of the bracket 44 whose thickness is set to be thin. At this time, a fastener 70 described later retreats inwardly into the closed section through the through hole 46 formed in the rail inner panel 38 described above.

In the recess 54 of the roof head lining 52 described above, a rear assist grip 60 made of resin is provided. The assist grip 60 includes a grip portion 60A gripped by an occupant, and the grip portion 60A.
And a cover portion 60C that covers the mounting portion 60B.

The assist grip 60 has a collar 6
2. It is fixed by a fastener 70 composed of a fixing bolt 64, a washer 66, and a nut 68.
More specifically, the recess 5 of the roof head lining 52
4 at a predetermined position (position coaxial with the through hole 46 of the rail inner panel 38), a cylindrical collar 6 made of resin.
2 are fitted. A mounting portion 60B of the assist grip 60 is placed on an end of the collar 62 on the indoor side,
In this state, the fixing bolt 64 through which the washer 66 is inserted is inserted into the collar 62 and screwed with the nut 68, so that the mounting portion 60 </ b> B of the assist grip 60 is fixed to the bracket 44.

In this embodiment, the outer surface of the concave portion 54 of the roof head lining 52 and the bracket 44
Between the upper surface 1 of the bag 16 and the indoor side surface of the bag 16.
6D and the fixing portion 26A of the case 26 are arranged in a contact state (sandwiched). And the bag 16
And the fixing portion 26A of the case 26 are fastened together with the assist grip 60 by a fastener 70 for fixing the rear assist grip 60 described above. The fixing points of the assist grip 60 on the rear side are the front and rear two points. At any of the fixing points, the upper end 16D of the bag 16 and the fixing portion 26A of the case 26 are fastened together. In addition, the above-described joint fastening structure of the bag 16 and the case 26 is similarly employed for the assist grip 60 on the front side. Parts other than the part where the assist grip 60 is provided in the bag 16 are fixed at appropriate intervals by fasteners dedicated to the bag.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described. When a side impact load equal to or more than a predetermined value acts on the vehicle body side, the sensor 12 detects that a side collision has occurred. For this reason, the inflator 14 operates and a predetermined amount of gas is ejected. As a result, the bag 16 starts to inflate, and the case 26 is broken at the corner thereof by the inflation pressure at that time to be deployed. The inflated bag 16 is expanded in a curtain shape below the roof side rail 28 while pushing and opening the pillar garnish 72 of the front pillar 20 and the outer end of the roof head lining 52 located on the roof side rail 28. Thereby, the bag 16 is interposed between the side of the vehicle body and the occupant's head to protect the occupant's head.

It should be noted that the process of inflation of the bag 16 is supplemented by the fact that, in the present embodiment, a plurality of non-inflatable portions 24 are formed in the middle of the bag 16 in the vertical direction as described above, so that the gas ejected from the inflator 14 Bag 16
After flowing in from the front end 16A, it is split up and down by the non-expandable part 24 located at the forefront end. For this reason, the bag 16 is inflated so that its outer peripheral portion forms a frame-shaped frame, and then gas flows between the non-inflated portions 24 to inflate the portion in the bag thickness direction. As a result, a predetermined tension acts between the non-inflated portions 24, and finally the bag 16 has a substantially parallelogram shape in which a large tension acts along the tension line T connecting the front end fixed point and the rear end fixed point. It expands (see FIG. 3).

Here, from the viewpoint of improving the protection performance of the occupant's head (the viewpoint of positioning the center of gravity of the occupant's head above the tension line T), as in the present embodiment, the bag 1
When the length 6 is increased in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, the number of points for fixing the bag 16 to the body generally increases accordingly. However, in the present embodiment, the fasteners 6 for fixing the assist grip 60 are used by using the fasteners 70 for fixing the assist grip 60.
A configuration is adopted in which the bag 16 is fixed to the body together with 0. In other words, according to the present embodiment, the fastener 70 for fixing the assist grip is also used as the fastener for fixing the bag. As a result, even if the bag 16 is lengthened in the vehicle front-rear direction in order to improve the protection performance of the occupant head as in the present embodiment, the number of fixed points dedicated to the bag can be reduced. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the assembling workability on the assembly line and to reduce the cost.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the rear end portion 16C of the bag 16 is fixed using the fastener 70 for fixing the assist grip 60 on the rear side.
The supporting strength of the rear end 16C of the sixth rear end 6 can be greatly increased. That is, although a large inflation load acts on the rear end 16C of the bag 16, the rear assist grip 60 is fixed to the body (bracket 44) at two points with a short pitch as described above. By fixing the rear end 16C of the bag 16 to the body, the rear end 16C of the bag 16 can be firmly fixed. As a result, as described above, the support strength of the rear end portion 16C of the bag 16 can be greatly increased.

[0027]

Further, in the present embodiment, the rear end portion 16C of the bag 16 is fixed to the body using a pair of fixing means (fasteners 70) of the rear assist grip 60, but the invention is not limited to this. The rear end portion 16C may be fastened to the body using only the fixing means on the rear side of the fixing means, for example.

Further, in this embodiment, the fastener 70 including the fixing bolt 64 and the nut 68 is used as the fixing means. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a structure that can securely fix the assist grip and the bag is used. All are applicable.

[0030]

As described above, the fixing structure of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first aspect of the present invention uses the fixing means for fixing the assist grip disposed at a predetermined position on the vehicle interior side. Since the bag and the vicinity of the outer ends of the roof head lining are fastened together with the assist grip to the body , the fixing means for fixing the assist grip can also be used as the fixing means for fixing the bag. As a result, even when the bag is lengthened in the vehicle front-rear direction, there is an excellent effect that the number of fixed points dedicated to the bag can be reduced. Assist for rear seats
Secure the bag to the body using the grip securing means
By doing so, the rear end of the bag can be firmly fixed
Yes, significantly increasing the strength of the back end of the bag
It has an excellent effect that it can be used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fixing structure for a vehicle occupant protection device according to the first aspect of the invention.
Assist grip is used to absorb secondary collision energy of occupants
Because it was fixed to the body via the bracket of
In addition to the effects described in 1, the occupant's head is assisted during a side collision.
When a secondary collision with the lip occurs, the bracket is deformed and energy
It has an excellent effect of absorbing energy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 2, showing a rear end fixing structure of a bag in an airbag device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an arrangement portion of the airbag device according to the embodiment as viewed from a side.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a state where the bag is inflated at the time of a side collision.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a vehicle occupant protection device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 airbag device (automobile occupant protection device) 14 inflator 16 bag 20 front pillar 28 roof side rail 44 bracket (body) 60 assist grip 70 fastener (fixing means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Katsuhiro Okumura 1 Ochiai Nagahata, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. Inside Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshinori Tanase 1 Ogatai Ogata, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-5-193430 (JP, A) JP-A-5-193 270342 (JP, A) JP-A-8-20274 (JP, A) JP-A-6-227340 (JP, A) JP-A 63-15257 (JP, U) JP-A 61-129611 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-42605 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Hei 5-536 (JP, U) Utility Model Publication in West Germany 29605896 (DE, A) Utility Model Publication in West Germany 29605897 (DE, A) (58) Fields surveyed (I nt.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/16-21/22 B60N 3/00-3/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An inflator which is disposed at a predetermined portion of a vehicle body and injects gas at the time of a side collision, and is stored in a folded state over a front pillar and a roof side rail, and a vehicle interior is provided by gas supplied from the inflator. below the roof side rail to a fixed structure composed automotive occupant protection device includes a bag which is inflated into a curtain shape, a in, for fixing the assist grip disposed at a predetermined position of the vehicle interior Using the fixing means, together with the assist grip, near the outer ends of the bag and the roof head lining.
A fixed structure for a vehicle occupant protection device, characterized in that the side is jointly fastened to a body. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the assist grip is used for a secondary collision of an occupant.
Fixed to the body via the bracket for absorbing
The vehicle ride according to claim 1, characterized in that:
Fixed structure of personnel protection device.