JP3787106B2 - Air bag device for pedestrian protection - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pedestrian protection airbag apparatus, and more particularly to a pedestrian protection airbag apparatus in which an airbag bag body is provided at the front of a vehicle body such as an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, an example of an airbag device for protecting a pedestrian in which an airbag bag body is provided at the front of a vehicle body such as an automobile is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-79859.
[0003]
6 (A) and 6 (B), in this pedestrian protection airbag device, a pedestrian detection means 100 for detecting a collision with a pedestrian and the like, and a signal from the pedestrian detection means 100 The controller 102 that determines whether to operate the system in response to the operation, the flip-up mechanism 108 that jumps up the rear portion of the hood 106 when the controller 102 determines that the airbag 104 is inflated and deployed, and the operation of the flip-up mechanism 108 And an airbag module 110 for inflating and deploying the airbag 104 after the start. The airbag module 110 is arranged below the rear portion of the hood 106 so that the airbag bag body 104 is deployed along the lower portion of the windshield glass 112.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in a general pedestrian protection airbag device, in order to maintain the internal pressure of the airbag bag body after deployment, a highly airtight bag woven bag body is used, and the deployment performance of the airbag bag body In view of the above, it is preferable to store the airbag bag body in the cowl portion of the vehicle and to deploy the airbag bag body in a plane so as to cover the upper portion of the cowl portion and the vicinity thereof. As a result, the gas inlet is set in the central portion of the airbag bag body in a plan view, for example, the central portion of the lower surface. In this case, the gas inlet does not become the bag weave end. That is, the bag weave end portion becomes the front end edge portion, rear end edge portion or vehicle width direction outer edge portion of the airbag bag body. For this reason, gas leakage occurs from the vicinity of the gas inlet formed in the portion of the airbag bag body that is not the end portion of the bag weave, and the advantage of bag weaving that airtightness is high is lost.
[0005]
In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain a pedestrian protection airbag device having excellent internal pressure holding performance and deployment performance.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian according to the first aspect of the present invention has an airbag bag body that is deployed so as to cover the upper part of the cowl part of the vehicle and the vicinity thereof,
The airbag bag body includes two or more woven bag bodies, and the bag woven end portions of the bag bodies are joined to each other along the vehicle front-rear direction so as to expand in a plane. The gas inlet is formed in the end portions of the bag weaves joined to each other .
[0007]
Therefore, the airbag bag body that is deployed so as to cover the upper part of the cowl portion of the vehicle and the vicinity thereof is composed of two or more bags woven in a bag. The bag weaving end portions of the body are joined to each other along the vehicle front-rear direction, and a gas introduction port is formed at the joined bag weaving end portions. As a result, it is possible to dispose the bag weave end portion of each bag body in which the gas introduction port is formed in the center portion in the plan view of the airbag bag body. For this reason, there is no need to set a gas introduction port at a portion of the bag body that does not become the end portion of the bag weave, so that the advantage of the bag weave that airtightness is high is not lost. In addition, since the gas inlets formed at the end portions of the bag weaves joined to each other can be arranged at the center in the vehicle front-rear direction at the center in the vehicle width direction of the airbag bag, Can be deployed. For this reason, it is excellent in internal pressure holding performance and deployment performance.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of an air bag device for protecting a pedestrian in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0009]
In the figure, the arrow FR indicates the vehicle forward direction, and the arrow UP indicates the vehicle upward direction.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 4, the pedestrian protection airbag device 10 of the present embodiment includes a sensor 16 built in the vicinity of the surface of the front bumper 14, and the front bumper 14 is a pedestrian's leg or the like. Deformation is detected when it comes into contact with. In addition, the sensor 16 is connected to the control device 18, and when the control device 18 determines, for example, that the vehicle is traveling by combining the output signal from the sensor 16 and the vehicle speed signal, a pair of left and right An operating current is passed through the inflators 20 and 22.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 3, the airbag module 24 in the pedestrian protection airbag device 10 extends in the vehicle width direction in the cowl box 12 </ b> A of the vehicle body 12.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, when a working current flows, the pair of left and right inflators 20 and 22 ignite and generate gas. This gas passes through pipes 20A and 22A to the airbag bag body 26. It is supposed to be sent.
[0013]
The airbag bag body 26 includes a pair of left and right bag bodies 28 and 30, and each of the bag bodies 28 and 30 has a bag weave structure. Further, the pair of left and right bag bodies 28, 30 have a bag weave end portion 28A and a bag weave end portion 30A, which are inner edges in the vehicle width direction, stitched together in the vehicle front-rear direction (stitched portion P). It is joined by.
[0014]
A gas introduction port 28B is formed at the center of the bag body 28 in the front-rear direction of the bag weave end 28A, and a gas introduction port 30B is formed at the center of the bag body 30 at the end of the bag weave 30A in the front-rear direction. Is formed. These gas inlets 28B and 30B extend downward in the vehicle and are connected to the pipes 20A and 22A of the inflators 20 and 22, respectively.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 4, the airbag bag body 26 is inflated and deployed across the upper surface of the rear end portion 23 </ b> A of the hood 23 and the upper surface of the front end portion 29 </ b> A of the front windshield glass 29 by the gas from the inflator 20. It is like that. Further, the inflated shape of the front portion of the airbag bag body 26 is a shape that is divided into a plurality of tube-shaped portions that are long in the vehicle front-rear direction by a plurality of joints such as sewing and bonding formed along the vehicle front-rear direction. It has become.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 3, the airbag bag body 26 is folded and elongated in the vehicle width direction, and is stored in a metal case 32, and only the upper part of the case 32 is opened. It has a U-shaped side section. Further, a plurality of bolts 34 are welded to the lower surface of the bottom 32D of the case 32 at predetermined intervals along the vehicle width direction, and these bolts 34 and nuts 36 screwed to the respective bolts 34, The case 32 is fixed to a cowl upper panel 38 and a resin cowl louver panel 40 disposed on the cowl upper panel 38. The cowl louver panel 40 is fixed to the cowl upper panel 38 with bolts or the like not shown.
[0017]
The case 32 is covered with a resin cover 42 from above, and the opening side end portions 42A and 42B formed at the lower portion of the cover 42 are sandwiched between the bottom portion 32D of the case 32 and the cowl louver panel 40, respectively. Has been. Further, the lower portion of the front wall portion 32A of the case 32 (a portion below the fragile portion 44 described later), the front wall portion 42C of the cover 42, the rear wall portion 32B of the case 32, and the rear wall portion 42D of the cover 42 are sealed. It is fixed with an adhesive that also serves as the same.
[0018]
On the other hand, a portion of the front wall portion 42C of the cover 42 that is below the upper end portion 32C of the front wall portion 32A of the case 32 is a fragile portion 44 in which a concave section having a triangular cross section is formed from the vehicle rear side. When the airbag bag body 26 is inflated and deployed, the fragile portion 44 formed in the cover 42 is broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag bag body 26. Therefore, the cover 42 is configured such that the upper wall portion 42F and the upper portion 42G of the front wall portion 42C are deployed rearward of the vehicle with the upper end portion 42E of the rear wall portion 42D as a hinge portion.
[0019]
The upper end portion 32C of the front wall portion 32A of the case 32 is in contact with the upper wall portion 42F of the cover 42. Further, the front end portion 40A of the cowl louver panel 40 extends from the front wall portion 38A of the cowl upper panel 38 toward the front of the vehicle. It is arranged. The hood-to-cowl shield 46 is in contact with a hood inner panel 48 constituting the hood 23. Note that an inflator is fixed to the cowl upper panel 38 (not shown) via a bracket.
[0020]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
[0021]
In the present embodiment, when the pedestrian collision detection sensor 16 detects a pedestrian collision, the inflators 20 and 22 are activated and gas flows into the airbag bag body 26. , 22 starts to expand from the inside of the cowl box 12A toward the upper side of the cowl box 12A, as shown in FIG. 2, and the upper surface of the rear end 23A of the hood 23 and the front windshield glass 29 It expands and expands across the upper surface of the front end portion 29A.
[0022]
In the present embodiment, the airbag bag body 26 that is deployed so as to cover the cowl box 12 </ b> A of the vehicle body 12 and the vicinity thereof includes two bag bodies 28, 30 that are woven, and these bag bodies 28. , 30 are developed in a plane, the bag weave end portion 28A and the bag weave end portion 30A are joined to each other at the center in the vehicle width direction. In addition, gas inlets 28B and 30B are formed in the bag weave end portions 28A and 30A of the bag bodies 28 and 30, respectively.
[0023]
As a result, the bag weave end portions 28A and 30A of the bag bodies 28 and 30 in which the gas introduction ports 28B and 30B are formed can be disposed in the center portion of the airbag bag body 26 in plan view. For this reason, there is no need to set a gas introduction port at a portion of the bag body that does not become the end portion of the bag weave, so that the advantage of the bag weave that airtightness is high is not lost. Further, the gas introduction ports 28B and 30B formed in the bag weave end portions 28A and 30A of the respective bag bodies 28 and 30 can be arranged at the center portion in the vehicle longitudinal direction of the airbag bag body 26 at the center portion in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, the airbag bag body 26 can be rapidly deployed toward the front, rear, left and right. For this reason, it is excellent in internal pressure holding performance and deployment performance.
[0024]
Furthermore, since the inflators 20 and 22 can be disposed in the center portion in the vehicle width direction in the cowl portion 24, the inflators 20 and 22 can be easily mounted on the vehicle.
[0025]
Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, in the above embodiment, the gas inlet 28B of the bag body 28 is connected to the inflator 20, and the gas inlet 30B of the bag body 30 is connected to the inflator 22, but instead, as shown in FIG. The gas inlet 28 </ b> B of the bag body 28 and the gas inlet 30 </ b> B of the bag body 30 may be connected to one inflator 22.
[0026]
In the above embodiment, the left and right bag bodies 28 and 30 are joined by stitching, but the left and right bag bodies 28 and 30 may be joined by other methods such as adhesion instead of stitching.
[0027]
In the above-described embodiment, the airbag bag body 26 is divided into the left and right bag bodies 28 and 30. However, instead of this , the airbag bag body 26 may be divided into three or more.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
The airbag device for protecting a pedestrian according to the first aspect of the present invention has an airbag bag body that is deployed so as to cover an upper portion of a cowl portion of the vehicle and the vicinity thereof, and the airbag bag body is woven into a bag. The bag weaving end portions of the respective bag bodies are joined to each other along the vehicle front-rear direction so that these bags expand in a plane, and the bag weaving end portions joined to each other. Since the gas inlet is formed, the internal pressure holding performance and the deployment performance are excellent.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 illustrating a state in which the airbag bag body is stored in the airbag device for protecting pedestrians according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the airbag device for a pedestrian protection airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention as seen from an obliquely forward direction of the airbag body.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a pedestrian protection airbag device according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6A is a schematic sectional side view showing a conventional pedestrian protection airbag device, and FIG. 6B is a schematic plan view showing a conventional pedestrian protection airbag device.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Pedestrian protection airbag apparatus 20 Inflator 22 Inflator 26 Airbag bag body 28 Bag body 28A Bag weave end part 28B Bag body gas inlet 30 Bag body 30A Bag weave end part 30B Gas of bag body Introduction

Claims (1)

An airbag bag body that is deployed to cover the upper part of the cowl part of the vehicle and the vicinity thereof;
The airbag bag body includes two or more woven bag bodies, and the bag woven end portions of the bag bodies are joined to each other along the vehicle front-rear direction so as to expand in a plane. A pedestrian protection airbag device characterized in that gas inlets are formed at the ends of the bag weaves joined together .

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