JP3307245B2 - Occupant attitude control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an occupant attitude control device for controlling the attitude of an occupant seated on a seat, for example, in response to a vehicle collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automobile (vehicle), in order to protect an occupant from an impact applied from the front side of a vehicle body, a crushable zone is formed at the front of the passenger compartment, that is, at the front of the vehicle body. As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7051, an airbag device is mounted on a steering handle to absorb an impact applied to an occupant.

[0003]

However, since the passenger compartment of the vehicle body has a structure that withstands the impact caused by a collision at a certain target speed, an impact such as that caused by a collision at a high speed exceeding the target speed is applied. Thus, there is a possibility that a vehicle body member, for example, a toe board, which constitutes the front part of the cabin, is deformed so as to protrude into the cabin.

[0004] In particular, the deformation of the toe board shows a behavior of approaching the lower limb of the occupant sitting on the seat. Therefore, an airbag device mounted on a steering handle is not sufficient, and a sufficient response is demanded.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an occupant sitting on a seat even if an impact is input that deforms a body member constituting a passenger cabin. It is an object of the present invention to provide an occupant posture control device which does not affect the lower limbs.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises an upward displacement means for lifting a lower leg of an occupant sitting on a seat when a vehicle receives an impact , the leg portions of the occupant who was floating with occupant attitude control system configured to have a leg retraction means for retracting the sheet side, the deformation of the vehicle body member, so that the leg portion of the occupant to escape, forcibly occupant Is to change his posture.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when an impact is received from the front side of the vehicle body, the lower leg of the occupant sitting on the seat is lifted upward by the upward displacement means.

By this lifting, the lower limb of the occupant floats from the floor of the vehicle body. Subsequently, the lower leg portion of the occupant, which has become easier to move, is retracted to the seat side by the lower leg retracting means.

Thus, even if the vehicle body member constituting the passenger compartment is deformed so as to protrude in the direction approaching the lower limb of the occupant due to an impact, the lower limb of the occupant moves in the direction of escaping therefrom, that is, the posture is controlled in the direction of escaping. Therefore, the lower limbs of the occupant are protected from impact.

[0010] Thereby, the occupant is not affected. In the invention described in claim 2, the operation of the upward displacement means is
Activate lower extremity evacuation means after finishing
It is in. The invention described in claim 3 has the above object,
To achieve the above displacement of the lower extremities of the driver portion with a simple structure, the upper side displacement means, lies in the construction of at least the front end portion of the sheet in the sheet lifting mechanism for displacing upward.

[0011] invention as set forth in claim 4, in addition to the above objects, the leg portions without causing a burden on the occupant to retract the sheet side, the lower limb retreating means, constituted by a knee air bag device, The lower limb was softly constrained by the deploying airbag bag and pressed toward the seat.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on one embodiment shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle,
For example, a side view of a driver's seat side of a car is shown, in which A is a cabin,
1 is a vehicle body member, for example, a toe boat, that separates the cabin A from the front of the vehicle body (for example, an engine room);
The instrument panel 4 provided with a is an under cover portion formed by extending the lower end of the instrument panel 3 downward, for example, and the front seat 5 is formed by combining a seat cushion 5a and a seat back 5b. (Corresponding to a sheet). 2a
Denotes a pedal operated by the occupant X, and 3b denotes a steering handle.

The front seat 5 has a seat lifting mechanism 6
(Corresponding to the upward displacement means of the present application), slide rail mechanism 7
Is installed on the floor of the passenger compartment A via the instrument panel 3 and faces the instrument panel 3.

That is, the slide rail mechanism 7 comprises a pair of lower rails 7a (only one side is shown) provided on the floor surface of the passenger compartment A along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and a pair of upper rails 7b ( (Only one side is shown).

A seat cushion 5a is mounted between the upper rails 7b via the seat lifting mechanism 6 so that the seat position can be adjusted.
a can be moved in the direction in which it is brought into contact with or separated from the instrument panel 3, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.

The seat lifting mechanism 6 has a seat cushion 5 with a rear portion serving as a fulcrum, for example.
Has a structure in which the front end portion is rotatable upward. That is, both sides of the rear portion of the seat cushion 5 are pivotally supported by the rear portions of the upper rails 7b via the hinge portions 8 so that the vehicle body can be moved back and forth.

The front sides of the seat cushion 5 are supported by the front portions of the upper rails 7b via pantograph-type link mechanisms 9, respectively. Specifically, the link mechanism 9 includes an upper link 10 that protrudes rotatably downward from both sides of the seat cushion 5 and a lower link 11 that protrudes rotatably upward from a front portion of each upper rail rail 7b (both are on one side). (Not shown) are rotatably connected to each other via a shaft 12.
By folding 0 and 11, the front seat 5 as shown in FIG. 2A becomes a posture suitable for seating of the occupant X, and each link 10 and 11 is extended,
The front end is raised so as to be lifted as shown in FIG.

An elastic member, for example, a tension spring 13 is connected between the shaft 12 and the upper rail portion in front of the shaft 12. Further shaft 1
When a trigger means, for example, a release signal is input between the upper rail 2 and the rear rail portion from the shaft 12,
A piston-cylinder trigger mechanism 16 configured by a mechanism that releases the piston 15 from the cylinder 14 by a predetermined amount when the piston 15 is released is connected.

Then, the shaft 12 is forcibly displaced rearward by the trigger mechanism 16 against the elastic force of the tension spring 13 to hold the entire front seat in a posture suitable for seating. (Restrained).

Thus, when the trigger mechanism 16 is actuated (restrained), the shaft 1 is returned by the force of the return tension spring 13.
2, the front seat 5 is instantaneously changed from a posture suitable for sitting to a posture in which the front end is lifted. That is, the lower leg portion Y of the occupant X can be instantly displaced upward.

On the other hand, of the instrument panel 3,
An airbag module 17 constituting a knee airbag device is installed on a portion suitable for pressing the lower limb Y of the occupant X, for example, a portion corresponding to the knee of the occupant X seated on the front seat 5. ing.

The airbag module 17 includes, for example, a folded nylon airbag bag 19 and an inflator for generating gas for inflating the airbag bag 19 in a holder 18 having an opening at a portion facing the instrument panel 3. 20 are accommodated.

A lid 21 is provided on the undercover portion facing the opening of the holder 18 so as to be torn and opened when a predetermined load or more is applied.
, The air bag 19 is deployed (inflated) toward the vicinity of the occupant X's knee. In addition, 21a
Indicates a thin part formed in the under part 40 to form the lid part 21.

On the other hand, reference numeral 22 denotes a controller mounted on the vehicle body and constituted by, for example, a microcomputer. The control unit 22 is connected to a collision detection sensor 23 provided at, for example, a front part of the vehicle body. It is designed to detect collision.

The control unit 22 is connected to the trigger mechanism 16 and the inflator 20, and operates the trigger mechanism 16 and the inflator 20 at a predetermined time in accordance with a command from the control unit 22.

Specifically, the control unit 22 controls the toeboard 1
When it is detected that a collision has occurred such that the vehicle is deformed, first, a signal for operating the trigger mechanism 16 is output. It is set so that a signal to be output is output.

With this setting, the posture of the occupant X sitting on the front seat 5 is controlled so that the lower limbs Y of the occupant X can be protected from the deformed toe board 1. The manner of protecting the occupant X is shown in FIGS.

Here, the operation of the attitude control device thus configured will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Now, the front seat 5 as shown in FIG.
In the state where the occupant X is seated, for example, an impact F that deforms the toeboard 1 is received from the front of the vehicle body.

Then, the control unit 22 detects this, and
Activate the trigger mechanism 16 (release the constraint). Thereby, the tension spring 13 returns as shown in FIG.
With the elastic force of (1), the shaft 12 connecting the upper link 10 and the lower link 11 is pulled forward, and the folded links 10 and 11 are extended vertically.

By the movement of each part, the front end of the seat cushion 5a is instantaneously lifted with the rear hinge portion 8 as a fulcrum. Due to this behavior, the lower limb Y of the occupant X sitting on the front seat 5 is lifted upward, and the entire lower limb of the occupant X is lifted off the floor 3b.

As a result, the restraint of the lower limb Y of the occupant X is released, and the lower limb Y of the occupant X is easily moved. At the same time, in a region from the lower side of the heel of the occupant X to immediately before the seat section 5a, a space α for guiding the lower limb portion Y to the seat side is formed.

Then, the inflator 20 of the airbag module 17 is actuated by a command from the control unit 22 after a lapse of time corresponding to, for example, the completion of the ascent of the seat, delayed from the actuation of the trigger mechanism 16.

As a result, the inflator 20 generates an inert gas such as a rare gas, for example, a nitrogen gas. Then, the rare gas flows into the airbag bag 19 and deploys the airbag bag 19.

Then, the air bag body 19 breaks through the lid portion 21 of the under cover portion 4 and faces the lower leg portion Y of the occupant X, specifically, the periphery of the lower side of the knee as shown in FIG. It pops out and softly constrains the area around the rising knee.

Then, the airbag bag body 19 gradually expands from the knee to the shin while inflating with the increase in pressure, and the lower side of the lower limb Y, that is, the part from the knee to the shin is placed on the seat cushion 5a side. Press

At this time, the lower leg Y of the occupant X is in a state where the lower side from the knee is easy to move with the knee as a fulcrum. Therefore, due to the inflatable air bag 19, FIG.
As shown in (b), the lower part of the occupant X from the lower limb part Y, that is, the knee part, is immediately guided in the direction toward the cushion 5a, and is held at a position immediately before the seat cushion 5a.

Therefore, even if the toe board 1 constituting the cabin A is deformed so as to protrude in the direction approaching the lower limb of the occupant X under the influence of the impact F, the lower limb Y of the occupant X moves away from it. The attitude is controlled.

Therefore, the lower leg Y of the occupant X can be protected from the impact F, and the occupant X is not affected. In particular, the structure in which the lower limb portion Y of the occupant X is retracted to the seat side by using the knee airbag device can realize the behavior of pressing the lower limb portion Y while softly restraining the lower limb portion Y, without imposing a load on the occupant X. The lower limb part Y can be retracted to the seat cushion 5a side.

Further, the upward displacement of the lower leg Y of the occupant X is
A simple structure can be realized by adopting the seat lifting mechanism 6 for displacing the seat cushion 5a upward.
Note that, in one embodiment, the seat is lifted by a structure using the elastic force of the spring. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Is also good. In short, any structure may be used as long as at least the front end of the seat is raised so that the lower leg of the occupant can be guided immediately before the seat.

In addition to the knee airbag device, any other device or structure may be used as long as it can guide the lifted lower leg portion of the occupant to the seat side. In addition, the structure that retracts the lower limbs of the occupant to the seat side employs an electric system that is activated by a command from the control unit. mechanism,
The knee airbag device may be operated. Of course, the present invention is applied to the driver's seat, but is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the present invention may be applied to a passenger seat, a rear seat, or a seat of another vehicle.

[0041]

As described above , claims 1 and 2 are described.
According to the invention described in the above, even if an impact that deforms the body member constituting the cabin is input, the posture of the lower limb portion of the occupant sitting on the seat is controlled in a direction to escape therefrom. The lower limbs are protected from impacts and do not impact the lower limbs.

[0042] According to the invention described in claim 3, in easy single structure, an effect that the leg portions can be realized above displacement of the occupant required to retract into the seat side.

[0043] According to the invention described in claim 4, exhibition open to the air bag body, so pressing the sheet side while restraining the leg portion to the soft, the sheet side leg portion without burdening the passenger This has the effect of being able to be evacuated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the structure of an occupant attitude control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a process until a lower leg of an occupant sitting on a seat is lifted by an impact applied from the front of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a process until the lower leg of the occupant is guided to a position immediately before the seat.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Instrument panel 3 ... Under cover part 5a ... Seat cushion 5b ... Seat back 5 ... Front seat (seat) 6 ... Seat raising mechanism (lifting means) 8 ... Hinge part 9 ... Link mechanism 13 ... Tension spring (elastic member) 16: trigger mechanism 17: airbag module (airbag device) 21: lid unit 22: control unit 23: collision detection sensor A: cabin X: occupant Y: lower limb of the occupant

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60N 2/00-2/72 B60R 21/22

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A seat and upper displacement means and the leg portion of the occupant had before Ki浮 the sheet side to float the lower limbs of an occupant vehicle is seated on said the shock sheet upward rider sits An occupant posture control device, comprising: a lower limb evacuation means for evacuating to an occupant. 2. After the operation of the upward displacement means is completed,
The lower limb evacuation means is operated.
The occupant attitude control device according to 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said upward displacement means is provided with a small amount of said sheet.
At least a seat lift mechanism that displaces the front end upward
Occupant attitude control device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it is. 4. The lower limb evacuation means is provided with a knee airbag.
Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by comprising a device
3. The occupant attitude control device according to any one of 3.