JP3971671B2 - Crew restraint system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a folded airbag is arranged along the upper edge of a door opening of a vehicle body, and the airbag is inflated with a gas generated by an inflator at the time of a side collision and rollover (rollover) of the vehicle. The present invention relates to an occupant restraint device that deploys in the form of a curtain along the inner surface of the side portion.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Such an occupant restraint device is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-33847 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-235965. An airbag of this type of passenger restraint device is deployed both at the time of a side collision of a vehicle and at the time of rollover to protect the head of the passenger.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, since a strong impact acts instantaneously at the time of a side collision of the vehicle, in order to keep the peak acceleration received by the occupant low, excess gas in the airbag is efficiently discharged from the vent hole to reduce the internal pressure of the airbag. It is necessary to let On the other hand, when the vehicle rolls over, it is necessary to maintain the airbag in a deployed state for a relatively long time. However, if a vent hole is provided in the airbag, gas leaks from the vent hole and the airbag is quickly released. There is a possibility that it will not be able to exhibit sufficient occupant restraint performance due to contraction. Therefore, if the vent hole is downsized or abolished in order to prevent early contraction of the airbag, there is a possibility that the internal pressure of the airbag at the time of a side collision will increase excessively.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to achieve both occupant restraint performance of an airbag at the time of a side collision and a rollover of a vehicle.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a folded airbag is arranged along the upper edge of the door opening of the vehicle body, and the inflator is used at the time of a side collision and rollover of the vehicle. In an occupant restraint device that inflates an air bag with gas generated by the gas and deploys it in a curtain shape along the inner side surface of the passenger compartment, a vent hole provided in the air bag, an on-off valve that opens and closes the vent hole, and a vehicle A side collision sensor for detecting a side collision of the vehicle, a rollover sensor for detecting a rollover of the vehicle, and a control means for opening the on / off valve when detecting a side collision and closing the on / off valve when detecting a rollover. An occupant restraint device characterized by being provided is proposed.
[0006]
According to the above configuration, when the side collision sensor detects a side collision of the vehicle, the control means opens the on-off valve that opens and closes the vent hole. Gas can be released to reduce the internal pressure of the airbag, and the peak acceleration experienced by the occupant can be kept low. When the rollover sensor detects the vehicle rollover, the control means closes the on-off valve that opens and closes the vent hole, so that the airbag is kept in a deployed state for a relatively long time during which the rollover continues. The occupant can be restrained reliably.
[0007]
The electronic control unit 43 of the embodiment corresponds to the control means of the present invention.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0009]
1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a view showing a state in which an airbag of an occupant restraint device is deployed in an interior of an automobile, and FIG. 2 is an occupant with the airbag deployed. 3 is an enlarged view of the restraining device, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3, and FIG.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 1, a door opening 14 to which a front door 13 is attached is formed between a front pillar 11 and a center pillar 12 on a side surface of the vehicle body, and a rear door 16 is attached between the center pillar 12 and the rear pillar 15. An opening 17 is formed. A roof side rail (not shown) extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body so as to connect the upper end of the front pillar 11 and the upper end of the rear pillar 15 defines the upper edges of the door openings 14 and 17 of the front door 13 and the rear door 16. An occupant restraint device C is provided along the roof side rail. The occupant restraint device C having substantially the same structure is provided on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle body. Hereinafter, the occupant restraint device C provided on the right side of the vehicle body will be described.
[0011]
When acceleration of a predetermined value or more is detected at the time of side collision or rollover of the vehicle, the inner side surface of the vehicle body, that is, the front pillar 11, the center pillar 12, the rear pillar 15, the door glass 13a of the front door 13, and the door glass of the rear door 16. The airbag 18 of the occupant restraint device C is deployed in a curtain shape downward from the upper edges of the door openings 14 and 17 so as to be shielded between 16a and the occupant sitting on the front seat and the rear seat.
[0012]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the airbag 18 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body has a first base fabric 21 and a second base fabric 22 having substantially the same shape overlapped with each other, and an outer peripheral portion is sewn 23. The inner side is sewn 24 in a predetermined pattern, and a seal material 25 for preventing gas leakage is sandwiched between the parts 23 and 24 where the first and second base fabrics 21 and 22 are sewn. The airbag 18 includes a front protection area 26 for protecting the head of the occupant D on the front seat, a rear protection area 27 for protecting the head of the occupant P on the rear seat, and the front protection area 26 and the rear part. And a non-inflatable portion 28 sandwiched between the protective areas 27.
[0013]
The front portion of the gas supply pipe 34 extending forward from the inflator 33 housed in the rear pillar 15 is inserted into the upper communication path 30, and the tip of the gas supply pipe 34 and the opening 34a formed on the outer periphery of the intermediate portion thereof. Is ejected from the upper communication passage 30 to the respective expansion portions 29.
[0014]
One end of an L-shaped pipe member 35 is connected to the expansion portion 29 at the rear end of the rear protection area 27, and an open / close valve 36 that opens and closes the vent hole 35 a at the other end is housed inside the pipe member 35. A drive gear 38 provided on the output shaft 37 a of the motor 37 is engaged with a driven gear 39 provided on the valve shaft 36 a of the on-off valve 36, and is opened and closed via the drive gear 38 and the driven gear 39 by driving the motor 37. The valve 36 is driven to open and close the vent hole 35a.
[0015]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a side collision sensor 41 for detecting a side collision of the vehicle and a rollover sensor 42 for detecting a rollover of the vehicle are connected to the electronic control unit 43. When a side collision of the vehicle or a rollover of the vehicle is detected based on the signals from both sensors 41, 42, the operation of the inflator 33 and the motor 37 is controlled.
[0016]
Next, the operation of the first embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
[0017]
When the side collision sensor 41 detects a side collision of the vehicle, or when the rollover sensor 42 detects a rollover of the vehicle, the inflator 33 is activated by a command from the electronic control unit 43 and the gas accumulated in the inflator 33 is accumulated. Flows into the expansion portions 29 of the front protection area 26 and the rear protection area 27 through the gas supply pipe 34 and the upper communication passage 30. As a result, the inflated portion 29 of the airbag 18 stored along the roof side rail in the folded state is inflated, and the airbag 18 is moved through the opening formed by the roof garnish being pushed downward by the pressure. Deploy downwards indoors. The front protection area 26 of the deployed airbag 18 is interposed between the front seat occupant D and the vehicle interior wall to protect the head of the occupant D, and the rear protection area 27 is the rear seat occupant P and the vehicle interior wall. And the head of the occupant P is protected.
[0018]
When the side collision sensor 41 detects a vehicle side collision, the motor 37 drives the on-off valve 36 to open the vent hole 35a. Therefore, when a load from the occupant D, P is instantaneously applied to the airbag 18 due to a strong impact at the time of a side collision, the gas is released from the vent hole 35a via the open / close valve 36 and the internal pressure of the airbag 18 is reduced. By reducing the peak acceleration, the peak acceleration received by the occupants D and P can be kept low.
[0019]
On the other hand, when the rollover sensor 42 detects the rollover of the vehicle, the opening / closing valve 36 is driven by the motor 37 to close the vent hole 35a. Accordingly, the outflow of gas inside the deployed airbag 18 is suppressed, the airbag 18 is held in the deployed state, and the occupant can be reliably restrained for a relatively long time during which the rollover continues. .
[0020]
As described above, by opening the vent hole 35a at the time of a side collision of the vehicle and closing the vent hole 35a at the time of rollover of the vehicle, appropriate occupant restraint performance can be ensured in any of the above cases.
[0021]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0022]
In the first embodiment, the vent hole 35a and the opening / closing valve 36 are provided only in the rear protection area 27, whereas in the second embodiment, not only the rear protection area 27 but also the front protection area 26 is provided with the vent hole 35a and opening / closing. A valve 36 is provided. The two motors 37 and 37 connected to the electronic control unit 43 open both the vent holes 35a and 35a when the vehicle side collision occurs, and close both the vent holes 35a and 35a when the vehicle rolls over. According to the second embodiment, by providing the two vent holes 35a, 35a, it is possible to more appropriately control the internal pressures of the expansion portions 29 of the front protection area 26 and the rear protection area 27.
[0023]
As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention can perform a various design change in the range which does not deviate from the summary.
[0024]
For example, in the embodiment, the airbag 18 is formed by sewing the first and second base fabrics 21 and 22 and forms the airbag 18, but it can be formed by bonding or jacquard weaving (seamless).
[0025]
Further, the structure of the on-off valve 36 is not limited to the butterfly valve of the embodiment, and the actuator for driving it is not limited to the motor 37.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the side collision sensor detects a side collision of the vehicle, the control means opens the on-off valve that opens and closes the vent hole. When instantaneously acting, gas can escape from the vent hole to reduce the internal pressure of the airbag, and the peak acceleration experienced by the occupant can be kept low. When the rollover sensor detects the vehicle rollover, the control means closes the on-off valve that opens and closes the vent hole, so that the airbag is kept in a deployed state for a relatively long time during which the rollover continues. The occupant can be restrained reliably.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view showing a state in which an airbag of an occupant restraint device is deployed in an interior of an automobile. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an occupant restraint device with an airbag deployed. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG.
14 Door opening 17 Door opening 18 Air bag 33 Inflator 35a Vent hole 36 On-off valve 41 Side collision sensor 42 Roll over sensor 43 Electronic control unit (control means)

Claims (1)

A folded airbag (18) is disposed along the upper edge of the door opening (14, 17) of the vehicle body, and the airbag (18) is generated by gas generated by the inflator (33) at the time of a vehicle side collision and rollover. ) Is inflated and deployed in a curtain shape along the inner side surface of the passenger compartment,
A vent hole (35a) provided in the airbag (18), an on-off valve (36) for opening and closing the vent hole (35a), a side collision sensor (41) for detecting a side collision of the vehicle, and a rollover of the vehicle And a control means (43) for opening the on-off valve (36) when detecting a side collision and closing the on-off valve (36) when detecting a rollover. An occupant restraint device.

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