JP3881245B2 - Airbag device for side impact of automobile - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an airbag device for a side collision of an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A side roof rail is arranged at a position higher than the passenger's head in the body of an automobile, and an airbag device for protecting an occupant at the time of a side collision is provided along the side roof rail. 11-235965).
[0003]
This type of airbag device includes an airbag having two expansion chambers corresponding to a front seat occupant and a rear seat occupant, which are separated from each other in the front-rear direction. That is, they are a front seat expansion part and a rear seat expansion part. Between the front seat expansion portion and the rear seat expansion portion, a cylindrical communication portion that connects the upper portions of the two expansion chambers is provided. Since there is a center pillar between the front seat expansion part and the rear seat expansion part, the communication part extends from the rear seat expansion part to the front seat expansion part side beyond the center pillar. The inflator is connected to the rear part of the rear seat expansion part (the reverse type is also available).
[0004]
The airbag is housed by being folded up and down in the vertical direction with the upper end fixed to the side roof rail, and the vehicle interior side is covered with a headlining. Then, in the event of a side collision of the automobile, the entire airbag is inflated by pushing the inflator gas from the rear seat inflating section to the front seat inflating section via the communication section, and pushes the lower end of the headlining toward the vehicle interior side. However, it is deployed in the form of a curtain facing downward to protect the occupant's head.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional technique, the airbag inflated by the gas from the inflator pushes and opens the lower end of the head lining toward the interior of the vehicle interior, and between the pushed head lining and the side wall of the vehicle body. Although it is structured to deploy the airbag downward in the form of a curtain from the formed gap, the center pillar protrudes to the vehicle interior side compared to the periphery in the part corresponding to the center pillar, The gap formed between the head lining that has been pushed open is narrow, and there is a risk of lowering the deployment speed of the airbag downward.
[0006]
Conventionally, as a countermeasure, the lower end of the head lining is positioned further on the vehicle interior side than the center pillar so as to secure a large gap when it is pushed open. It was squeezing the cabin space near the head.
[0007]
The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides an airbag device for a side collision of an automobile, in which it is not necessary to position the lower end portion of the headlining specially toward the vehicle interior side. is there.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Invention of claim 1, gas air bag is ejected from the inflator while chromatic two expansion chambers which are arranged one behind the other across the pillar, the one expansion chamber between the top of both the expansion chambers The airbag is provided with a tubular communication portion that guides the airbag to the other expansion chamber, and the airbag is folded and stored in the vertical direction with the upper end fixed to the upper part of the vehicle body at a position higher than the occupant head. In the event of a side collision of an automobile, by guiding the gas of the inflator from the one expansion chamber to the other expansion chamber via the communication portion, the entire airbag moves downward while pushing the lower end of the headlining to the vehicle interior side. An airbag device for a side impact of an automobile that is deployed in a curtain shape toward the vehicle, wherein the communication portion intersects the pillar between the rear end of the front expansion chamber and the front end of the rear expansion chamber. , The other part of the communication part Ri to form a large diameter portion having a larger diameter.
[0009]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the portion intersecting with the pillar among the communicating portions extending in the front-rear direction is a large-diameter portion, the large-diameter portion is inflated greatly at the initial stage of inflation of the airbag, and corresponds to the pillar. Push the headlining of the part large toward the passenger compartment. Accordingly, the gap formed between the head lining pushed open is widened, and the speed of deploying the airbag downward is improved. In addition, among the airbags stored in a folded state, the large-diameter portion that is inflated first is greatly inflated. Therefore, an uninflated airbag that is hung under the large-diameter large-diameter portion is not large. Since the diameter portion expands greatly (thicker), it is pushed out both in the lateral direction and in the downward direction, and subsequent development can be reliably performed in an open space as far as possible from the gap.
[0010]
In the invention described in claim 2, the large diameter portion intersects at least the end of the pillar on the gas upstream side.
[0011]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, among the lower end portions of the headlining corresponding to the pillars, at least the end portion on the upstream side of the gas can be pushed open to the vehicle interior side in order, so that the expansion pressure of the large diameter portion The head lining push-out operation by the smooth and reliable.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a closed space that communicates with the lower end portion of the other expansion chamber and is downstream of the expansion chamber is formed corresponding to the pillar , and the closed space is below the communication portion. positioned.
[0013]
According to the invention described in claim 3, since the closed space corresponding to the pillar in the other expansion chamber expands later than the other spaces, the closed space remains in a thin state that is not completely expanded. It follows other spaces and expands downward. Therefore, even if a projection or the like is formed on the center pillar, the portion corresponding to the closed space can be expanded after being surely expanded downward without interfering with the projection.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
1 to 5 are views showing a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a view of the upper part of an automobile as seen from the vehicle interior side, and shows a state in which an airbag 1 is deployed. Reference numeral 2 denotes a front pillar, 3 denotes a center pillar, and 4 denotes a rear pillar. A side roof rail 5 having a closed cross-sectional structure is formed on the top of each pillar 2, 3, 4 along the front-rear direction. Along the side roof rail 5, as shown in FIG. 2, the above-described airbag 1 is mounted in a folded state in the vertical direction, and is covered with a headlining 6 from the vehicle interior side. A portion corresponding to the center pillar 3 of the folded airbag 1 is provided with an L-shaped pressing bracket 8 attached to the center pillar 3.
[0016]
The headlining 6 is not particularly positioned toward the vehicle interior side, and does not compress the space around the head of the occupant M. As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle interior side of the center pillar 3 is formed by a garnish 7, and the garnish 7 has an adjuster 9 for adjusting the upper end support position of a seat belt (not shown) according to the physique of the occupant M. Is provided in a state of protruding toward the vehicle interior side.
[0017]
The airbag 1 has a bag shape in which two base fabrics are stitched, and several places at the upper end are fixed to the side roof rail 5 via brackets 10. In the airbag 1, a rear seat expansion portion (one expansion chamber) 11 corresponding to the rear seat occupant and a front seat expansion portion (other expansion chamber) 12 corresponding to the front seat occupant are separated from each other in the front-rear direction. Is provided. The rear seat inflatable portion 11 is formed with two inner seal portions 13 that are slightly inclined in the front-rear direction, and the rear seat inflatable portion 11 is divided into three spaces in the vertical direction. The front seat inflatable portion 12 has two inner seal portions 14 that are slightly inclined in the vertical direction, and divides the front seat inflatable portion 12 into three spaces in the front-back direction.
[0018]
A gas introduction port 15 is formed at the upper rear end of the rear seat inflating portion 11 so that the gas ejected from the inflator 16 can be introduced into the rear seat inflating portion 11. Further, between the rear seat expansion portion 11 and the front seat expansion portion 12, a cylindrical shape that connects the upper portions of the rear seat expansion portion 11 and the front seat expansion portion 12 in a state continuous from the gas inlet 15. A communication part 17 is provided. In this communication portion 17, a large diameter portion 17 a having a vertical width larger than that of the general portion is within a range from the front of the center pillar 3 (on the gas introduction port 15 side) to the front seat expansion portion 12 beyond the center pillar 3. Is formed.
[0019]
A strap 18 having one end sewn to the airbag 1 and the other end attached to the front pillar 2 is provided on the surplus base fabric portion on the front side of the front seat inflating portion 12 of the airbag 1. The strap 18 penetrates through a hole 19 at the front end of the airbag 1, and when the airbag 1 is deployed downward, it pulls the airbag 1 forward to assist deployment in the front-rear direction. .
[0020]
Next, the deployment state of this airbag 1 is demonstrated based on FIG.4 and FIG.5. When the automobile has a side collision, a signal is sent from a sensor (not shown) to the inflator 16, and the inflator 16 is activated to inject gas from the gas inlet 15 to the upper part of the rear seat inflating portion 11. Further, the head of the occupant M is instantaneously displaced to the outside of the vehicle by the impact of the side collision (see the solid line from the broken line in FIG. 4). The gas injected into the rear seat expansion section 11 expands the rear seat expansion section 11 and is guided to the front seat expansion section 12 via the communication section 17.
[0021]
In this way, the gas in the inflator 16 first passes through the communication portion 17 at the top of the airbag 1, so that the airbag 1 starts to expand from the communication portion 17. When the vicinity of the communication portion 17 is inflated, the lower end portion of the head lining 6 is pushed open to the vehicle interior side to form a gap S for deploying the entire airbag 1 downward.
[0022]
In particular, in this embodiment, even if the gap S is in a portion corresponding to the center pillar 3 which tends to be narrowed, the large diameter portion 17a is formed there, so the diameter R of the large diameter portion 17a when expanded. Increases, and the headlining 6 is pushed larger toward the vehicle interior side. Therefore, the gap S formed between the pushed and opened head lining 6 is widened, and the speed of deploying the airbag 1 downward is improved.
[0023]
Moreover, since the large diameter part 17a which expand | swells first among the airbags 1 accommodated in the folded state expand | swells greatly, the unexpanded airbag used as the form hung under the large diameter part 17a expanded greatly is formed. 1, the large-diameter portion 17a is greatly (thickly) inflated, so that the large-diameter portion 17a is greatly pushed out in both the lateral direction H and the downward direction V, and the subsequent development can be reliably performed in an open space away from the gap S. it can.
[0024]
Further, in this embodiment, the large diameter portion 17a starts from the front of the center pillar 3 and intersects at least the rear end which is the end portion of the center pillar 3 on the gas upstream side, and the lower end portion of the head lining 6 is the gas. Since the head lining 6 is pushed and opened from the rear end in the order in which the pressure acts, the pushing and opening operation of the headlining 6 is smooth and reliable.
[0025]
6 and 7 are views showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the airbag 20 according to this embodiment, a closed space 22 corresponding to the center pillar 3 is formed on the rear side of the front seat inflating portion 21. The closed space 22 is partitioned from another space continuous with the communication portion 17 with a line-shaped seal portion 23 as a boundary, and gas can be introduced from a passage 24 formed at the lower end of the seal portion 23. .
[0026]
Thus, since the closed space 22 corresponding to the center pillar 3 is formed on the most downstream side of the gas in the front seat expansion portion 21, the closed space 22 expands later than the other spaces in the front seat expansion portion 21. It will be. Therefore, the closed space 22 is developed in a downward state following the other space of the front seat inflating portion 21 in a thin state in which the closed space 22 is not completely expanded. Even if the center pillar 3 is formed with a protrusion such as an adjuster 9 or the like, the protrusion can be expanded and reliably expanded without interfering with the protrusion.
[0027]
In the above embodiment, the gas of the inflator 16 is ejected toward the rear seat inflating portion 11 and the gas is guided to the front seat inflating portion 12 through the communication portion 17. Moreover, the pillar which the large diameter part 17a crosses is not limited to one, and there may be two or more pillars depending on the vehicle type.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the portion intersecting with the pillar is the large diameter portion of the communicating portion extending in the front-rear direction, the large diameter portion is greatly inflated at the initial stage of inflation of the airbag, and the headlining of the portion corresponding to the pillar is performed. Push it to the inside of the car. Accordingly, the gap formed between the head lining pushed open is widened, and the speed of deploying the airbag downward is improved. In addition, among the airbags stored in a folded state, the large-diameter portion that is inflated first is greatly inflated. Therefore, an uninflated airbag that is hung under the large-diameter large-diameter portion is not large. Since the diameter portion expands greatly (thicker), it is pushed out both in the lateral direction and in the downward direction, and subsequent development can be reliably performed in an open space as far as possible from the gap.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a vehicle interior perspective view showing a state in which an airbag according to a first embodiment of the present invention is deployed downward.
2 is a vehicle interior perspective view showing a state in which the airbag of FIG. 1 is folded and stored. FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line SA-SA shown in FIG.
4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a large-diameter portion of the airbag of FIG. 3 is inflated.
5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the entire airbag of FIG. 4 is deployed downward in a curtain shape.
FIG. 6 is a vehicle interior perspective view showing a state in which an airbag according to a second embodiment of the present invention is deployed downward.
7 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3, showing a state where the airbag is deployed downward in a state where the closed space of the airbag is thin.
[Explanation of symbols]
1,20 Airbag 3 Center pillar 6 Headlining 9 Adjuster (protrusion)
11 Rear seat expansion section (one expansion chamber)
12, 21 Front seat expansion part (the other expansion chamber)
17 communication portion 17a large diameter portion 22 closed space 23 seal portion 24 passage M occupant S clearance

Claims (3)

With airbag have the two expansion chambers which are arranged one behind the other across the pillar, cylindrical guiding one gas injected from the inflator into the expansion chamber between the top of both the expansion chambers to the other expansion chamber The airbag is folded and stored in the vertical direction with the upper end fixed to the upper part of the vehicle body at a position higher than the head of the occupant. An automobile in which the entire airbag expands downward in the form of a curtain while pushing the lower end of the head lining toward the interior of the vehicle interior by guiding the gas of the inflator from the one expansion chamber to the other expansion chamber via the communicating portion. Side impact airbag device,
A large diameter portion having a larger diameter than the other portion of the communication portion is formed at a portion where the communication portion intersects the pillar between the rear end of the front expansion chamber and the front end of the rear expansion chamber. An air bag device for a side collision of an automobile is characterized. An airbag device for a side collision of an automobile according to claim 1,
The large diameter portion, at least the side airbag of a motor vehicle, characterized in that intersects the end portion of the gas upstream side of the pillar. An airbag device for a side collision of an automobile according to claim 1 or 2,
A closed space that communicates with the lower end of the other expansion chamber and is downstream of the expansion chamber is formed corresponding to the pillar , and the closed space is located below the communication portion. Airbag device for side impact of automobiles.

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