JP4103918B2 - Seal structure of vehicle hood airbag device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a seal structure for a hood airbag device for a vehicle that inflates and deploys an airbag on the upper surface side of a hood at the time of collision with a collision body.

  In Patent Document 1 below, an opening that is long in the vehicle width direction is formed on the rear end side of the hood, and the opening is covered with a cover (lid) that can be unfolded. In order to prevent water from entering the airbag case, there is disclosed a vehicle hood airbag device provided with a bowl-shaped water receiving portion and drainage water guiding material.

According to the said structure, water, such as rain water, which entered from the parting part of a cover and opening enters into a bowl-shaped water receiving part, and is drained by a water conveyance material. This prevents water from entering the airbag case and prevents parts in the engine room from getting wet.
Japanese Patent No. 3245489

  However, according to the above prior art, there is room for improvement in the points described below.

  That is, the airbag module may be assembled from the lower side of the hood for some reason, for example, for ease of assembly. Specifically, it is conceivable that an opening for module assembly is formed in the hood inner panel, and the airbag module is assembled into the hood through the opening from the lower side of the hood inner panel.

  When the above configuration is adopted, it is necessary to seal the mating portion so that water does not fall into the engine room from the mating portion between the module assembly opening and the airbag module. However, when the airbag is large, the opening for module assembly also increases in the vehicle width direction, and it is difficult to completely seal the opening. Therefore, the prior art has room for improvement from this viewpoint.

  In view of the above fact, the present invention is a vehicle hood airbag apparatus that can effectively prevent water from entering the engine room from around the airbag module when the airbag module is assembled from the lower side of the hood. The purpose is to obtain a sealing structure.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal structure for a vehicle hood airbag device according to the present invention, comprising: a gas generating means for injecting gas at the time of a frontal collision with a collision body; and a gas generating means stored in a folded state and generated by the gas generating means. An airbag that expands and deploys on the hood by expanding a cover that covers the bag inflation opening formed on the hood outer panel after receiving supply, and an airbag case that houses the gas generating means and the airbag; A hood airbag for a vehicle, in which an airbag module including the hood inner panel is inserted into an assembly opening formed in the hood inner panel from the lower side of the hood inner panel and fixed to the periphery of the assembly opening. A cowl loop that is applied to the apparatus and extends along the vehicle width direction between the rear end of the hood and the lower end of the windshield glass. Hood seal line between the inner panel was set on the front side of the vehicle than the vehicle front side engaging portion of the hood inner panel in the airbag case is characterized by the.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sealing structure of the vehicle hood airbag device according to the first aspect, the cowl louver is disposed below the airbag case and is inclined at a gentle inclination angle toward the front upper side of the vehicle. And an inclined portion that inclines toward the vehicle upper side from the front end portion of the base portion at a steeper angle than the base portion, and extends substantially parallel to the vehicle front side from the upper end portion of the inclined portion along the hood inner panel. And a sealing material holding part that holds the sealing material that forms the structure .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a frontal collision with a collision body such as a pedestrian occurs, gas is ejected by the gas generating means. The ejected gas is supplied into the airbag stored in the airbag case in a folded state, and inflates the airbag. As a result, the cover is deployed by the bag inflation pressure, and the airbag is inflated and deployed on the hood from the bag inflation opening formed in the hood outer panel. As a result, a collision body such as a pedestrian is received by the inflated and deployed airbag, and the collision energy at the time of the collision is absorbed, so that the reaction force received by the collision body such as a pedestrian from the vehicle body can be reduced.

  Here, in the present invention, the airbag module is inserted into the assembly opening formed in the hood inner panel from the lower side of the hood inner panel, and is fixed to the periphery of the assembly opening. Therefore, if water enters the hood inner panel, there is a concern that the water leaks from the joint portion of the airbag case with the hood inner panel and falls below the hood inner panel, that is, into the engine room.

However, in the present invention, since the seal line with the hood inner panel in the cowl louver is set on the vehicle front side with respect to the vehicle front side alignment portion with the hood inner panel in the airbag case, water is temporarily supplied from the alignment portion to the hood inner panel. Even if it leaks downward, it is received by the cowl louver and properly drained. Therefore, there is no worry of water falling into the engine room.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cowl louver is disposed below the airbag case and tilts toward the vehicle front upper side with a gentle tilt angle, and the vehicle is steeper than the base from the front end of the base. An inclined portion that inclines upward, and a sealing material holding portion that holds the sealing material that extends from the upper end of the inclined portion to the vehicle front side substantially parallel to the hood inner panel and forms the seal line. Since this is configured, an inclined portion that is inclined toward the vehicle upper side at a steep angle is set on the vehicle rear front side of the final seal line.
Accordingly, the inclined portion acts as follows. In other words, normally, water during rain flows down the windshield glass and into the cowl inner panel, and drains out of the vehicle from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cowl inner panel. It is possible that there is no possibility, in which case water may flow into the cowl louver. However, as in the present invention, by setting the steeply inclined portion on the vehicle rear front side of the seal line S of the cowl louver, the momentum of the water that flows backward is blocked by the inclined portion, thereby temporarily removing the momentum.

As described above, the seal structure of the hood airbag device for a vehicle according to claim 1 is such that the seal line with the hood inner panel in the cowl louver is connected to the vehicle rather than the vehicle front side alignment portion with the hood inner panel in the airbag case. Since it is set to the front side, when the airbag module is assembled from the lower side of the hood, there is an excellent effect that water can be effectively prevented from entering the engine room from around the airbag module.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal structure for a hood airbag device for a vehicle, wherein a cowl louver is disposed below the airbag case and is inclined to the upper front side of the vehicle at a gentle inclination angle, and a front end of the base portion An inclined portion that inclines toward the vehicle upper side at a steeper angle than the base portion, and a sealing material that extends from the upper end of the inclined portion to the vehicle front side substantially parallel to the hood inner panel and forms a seal line Therefore, it has an excellent effect that the water flowing backward through the cowl louver can be prevented from hitting the sealing material with vigor.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a seal structure for a vehicle hood airbag device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In these drawings, an arrow FR appropriately shown indicates the vehicle front side, an arrow UP indicates the vehicle upper side, and an arrow IN indicates the vehicle width direction inner side.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the vehicle 12 in a state in which the vehicle hood airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment is activated. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the vehicle 12 on which the vehicle hood airbag device 10 is mounted. Further, FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view (an enlarged sectional view taken along line 1-1 in FIG. 2) of a state in which the vehicle hood airbag device 10 in an assembled state is cut from the vehicle longitudinal direction. It is shown.

  As shown in these drawings, the vehicle hood airbag device 10 is disposed along the vehicle width direction on the rear end side of the hood 14 that opens and closes the engine room 13. The hood 14 constitutes a hood outer plate and a hood outer panel 16 constituting a design surface of the hood 14, and is arranged at a position spaced apart from the hood outer panel 16 by a predetermined distance to the vehicle lower side to constitute a hood inner plate. The hood inner panel 20 is configured to be included.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a bag inflation opening 18 that is long along the hood width direction (vehicle width direction) is formed on the rear end side of the hood outer panel 16. The bag bulge opening 18 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. Correspondingly, as shown in FIG. 1, the assembly opening having the same shape as the bag bulging opening 18 is located at the position facing the bag bulging opening 18 in the hood inner panel 20. A hood inner side opening 26 as a part is formed.

  An airbag module 22 is disposed below the bag inflation opening 18. The airbag module 22 includes a high-strength lower plate 24 that closes the hood inner side opening 26 from below. The lower plate 24 is formed to be slightly larger than the hood inner side opening 26 in plan view, and is disposed in contact with the hood inner side opening 26 from the vehicle lower side, whereby the hood inner side opening 26. Is blocked.

  The front end portion 24A of the lower plate 24 is disposed on the lower surface of the front edge of the hood inner side opening 26 in the hood inner panel 20 with a sealant 27 such as sponge interposed therebetween, and is formed in a substantially Z shape in a side view. The bolts and nuts are fastened to the hood inner panel 20 together with the lower end of the front reinforcement, not shown. Similarly, the rear end portion 24B of the lower plate 24 (in a state where the lower end flange portion of the rear wall 46B of the airbag case 46 is overlapped as will be described later) is located behind the hood inner side opening 26 in the hood inner panel 20. Sealing material 27 such as sponge is arranged on the lower surface of the edge, and is fastened to the hood inner panel 20 with bolts and nuts together with a lower end portion of a rear reinforcement (not shown) formed in a substantially Z shape in a side view. Has been. In addition, the upper end part of the front reinforcement which is not shown in figure and the upper end part of the rear side reinforcement are being fixed to the back surface of the hood outer panel 16 by fixing means, such as an adhesive agent (mastic).

  A portion of the lower plate 24 facing the hood inner side opening 26 has a shape recessed toward the vehicle lower side, and a deeply recessed front bottom 24C and a shallow recessed rear bottom 24D are formed. Then, with the front bottom portion 24C and the rear bottom portion 24D as the bottom wall portion, a metal and substantially box-shaped airbag case 46 having a front wall 46A and a rear wall 46B that are open on the upper side is attached.

  More specifically, the lower end portion of the front wall 46A of the airbag case 46 is bent at a predetermined angle toward the rear side of the hood so as to follow the inclined surface of the front bottom portion 24C of the lower plate 24, and an inflator 58 described later is fixed. The bolt 28 and the nut (not shown) are fastened together with the bracket 28 for the fastening to the inclined surface of the front bottom portion 24C. Further, the lower end portion of the rear wall 46B of the airbag case 46 is bent toward the rear side of the hood and overlapped with the upper surface of the rear end portion 24B of the lower plate 24. And it is spot-welded in this two-ply part. The aforementioned sealing material 27 such as sponge is interposed between the upper surface of the lower end flange portion of the rear wall 46B of the airbag case 46 and the lower surface of the rear edge of the hood inner side opening 26.

  In the airbag case 46 described above, an inflator 58 as a gas generating means formed in a substantially cylindrical shape is disposed with the vehicle width direction as a longitudinal direction, and an airbag 60 folded by a predetermined folding method is provided. Contained. The inflator 58 is disposed on the front bottom 24C of the lower plate 24, and the airbag 60 is disposed on the rear bottom 24D of the lower plate 24.

  Further, hexagonal brackets 28 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the inflator 58 at several locations in the axial direction, and these brackets 28 are in contact with the lower end portion of the front wall 46A of the airbag case 46. The bolts and nuts (not shown) standing in the radial direction from the outer periphery of the inflator 46 are fastened together with the inclined surface of the front bottom 24C of the lower plate 24 and fixed.

  As the inflator 58, either a mechanical ignition type or an electric ignition type may be used, and either a gas generating agent enclosure type or a high pressure gas enclosure type can be applied. A plurality of gas ejection holes are formed in the circumferential direction of the inflator 58 at predetermined positions on the peripheral wall portion of the inflator 58.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the airbag 60 includes a main body portion 60 </ b> A composed of a plurality of cells and flattened along the vehicle width direction, and communicated with both sides of the main body portion 60 </ b> A and on the front pillar 66 side. And a pair of left and right extension portions 60B. In a state where the airbag 60 is inflated and deployed, the rear end portion 14A and the cowl 62 (and the lower end portion of the windshield glass 64) of the hood 14 are covered by the main body portion 60A, and the lower portion of the front pillar 66 is covered by the left and right extension portions 60B. Is supposed to be covered.

  On the other hand, the open side end 30 as the upper open portion of the airbag case 46, that is, the bag inflation opening 18 is closed so as to be openable by an airbag door 48 as a cover. Specifically, the bag inflating opening 18 is formed in a step shape that is stepped downward from the general surface 16A of the hood outer panel 16 to the vehicle lower side, and the airbag door 48 has a thickness that can be accommodated in the step 50. And is formed in a size. The airbag door 48 has a two-layer structure in which a resin layer 48B is provided on a metal plate 48A. A deployment hinge portion (not shown) is integrally formed at the rear end portion of the plate 48A of the airbag door 48, and is fixed to a rear reinforcement (not shown) with bolts and nuts. Therefore, the airbag door 46 is configured to be deployed toward the rear side of the hood while plastically deforming the deployment hinge portion around the fastening point of the deployment hinge portion. The airbag door 48 has a two-layer structure of metal and resin, but may be composed of only a panel made of aluminum alloy or the like.

  Here, the sealing structure of the vehicle hood airbag device 10 described above will be described in detail.

  In this embodiment, the hood inner side opening 26 is formed in the hood inner panel 20 as described above, and the airbag module 22 is inserted into the hood inner side opening 26 from the lower side of the hood and assembled. Therefore, a sealing material 27 such as a sponge is interposed between the upper surface of the front end portion 24A of the lower plate 24 and the upper surface of the lower end flange portion of the rear wall 46B of the airbag case 46 and the lower surface of the hood inner panel 20. Thus, the gap between the peripheral portion of the hood inner side opening 26 in the hood inner panel 20 and the airbag module 22 is sealed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the seal line S between the hood inner panel 20 and the resin cowl louver 52 extending along the vehicle width direction between the rear end portion 14A of the hood 14 and the lower end portion of the windshield glass 64. Is set on the vehicle front side of the front end portion 24A of the lower plate 24 with respect to the mating portion 54 with the hood inner panel 20. In the case of the present embodiment, the “airbag case” according to claim 1 is constituted by two members of the airbag case 46 and the lower plate 24.

  Specifically, the cowl louver 52 is disposed below the lower plate 24 and is inclined to the upper front side of the vehicle at a steep angle from a base 52A that is inclined toward the upper front side of the vehicle at a gentle inclination angle. (Inclined part) 52B, and a sealing material holding part 52C extending from the upper end of the inclined part 52B to the vehicle front side along the hood inner panel 20 in a substantially parallel manner. A sealing material 56 made of an elastic material such as rubber is attached to the sealing material holding portion 52C, and is elastically pressed against the lower surface of the hood inner panel 20. Thereby, the seal line S between the cowl louver 52 and the lower surface of the hood inner panel 20 is established.

  On the other hand, as described above, the hood outer panel 16 has a bag bulging opening 18 formed therein. The bag inflation opening 18 is closed by an airbag door 48 so as to be openable. The airbag door 48 is assembled from above the bag inflation opening 18. For this reason, a sealing material 68 such as a sponge is also interposed between the peripheral edge portion of the airbag door 48 and the bag inflation opening 18, whereby the hood inner side opening 26 in the hood outer panel 16 The mating portion 70 with the airbag door 48 is sealed.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the length L1 in the hood front-rear direction of the bag inflation opening 18 is set to be longer than the length L2 of the open side end 30 in the airbag case 46 in the hood front-rear direction. Accordingly, the front wall 46 </ b> A and the rear wall 46 </ b> B of the airbag case 46 are housed inside the bag inflation opening 18. Note that the upper end portions of the front wall 46A and the rear wall 46B are bent inwardly of the airbag case 46 to have a throttle shape.

(Action / Effect)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  When the vehicle 12 collides with a colliding body such as a pedestrian, the inflator 58 is activated and gas is ejected from the plurality of gas ejection holes. For this reason, the airbag 60 stored in the airbag case 46 in a folded state is inflated to press the airbag door 48 from the lower surface side. When the bag inflation pressure acting on the airbag door 48 reaches a predetermined value, the airbag door 48 is deployed to the hood outward side (windshield glass 64 side) with the deployment hinge portion as the center. As a result, the bag inflation opening 18 formed on the rear end side of the hood is opened, and as shown in FIG. 1, the airbag 60 is inflated and deployed so as to be substantially U-shaped in a plan view of the vehicle. The As a result, when the collision body such as a pedestrian is received from the upper side of the hood on the main body 60A or the extension 60B of the inflated airbag 60, the collision energy at the time of the frontal collision is absorbed and the collision of the pedestrian or the like. The reaction force that the body receives from the body can be lowered.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the airbag module 22 is inserted into the hood inner side opening 26 formed in the hood inner panel 20 from the lower side of the hood inner panel 20, and is formed on the peripheral edge of the hood inner opening 26. Since the fixed structure is adopted, if water enters the hood inner panel 20, the water leaks out from the mating portion 54 of the airbag case 46 and the lower plate 24 with the hood inner panel 20, and the hood inner panel 20. There is a concern that it will fall into the engine room 13.

  However, in this embodiment, the seal line S with the hood inner panel 20 in the cowl louver 52 is set on the vehicle front side with respect to the mating portion 54 with the hood inner panel 20 in the lower plate 24. Even if the fuel leaks downward from the hood inner panel 20, it is received by the cowl louver 52, flows into the cowl inner panel (not shown), and is drained from both sides of the cowl inner panel to the outside of the vehicle. Therefore, there is no fear that water will fall into the engine room 13. As a result, according to the present embodiment, water can be effectively prevented from entering the engine room 13 from around the airbag module 22.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the length L1 in the hood front-rear direction of the bag bulging opening 18 formed in the hood outer panel 16 is larger than the length L2 of the open side end 30 in the airbag case 46 in the hood front-rear direction. Since the length is set to be long, the water that has entered from the mating portion 70 between the airbag door 48 and the bag inflation opening 18 does not enter the airbag case 46 but falls onto the hood inner panel 20. Even if water that has fallen on the hood inner panel 20 leaks from the mating portion 54 of the airbag case 46 and the hood inner side opening 26, the water exceeds the seal line S with the hood inner panel 20 in the cowl louver 52. In the same manner as described above, the water is drained from the cowl inner panel to the outside of the vehicle. As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to effectively prevent water from entering the airbag case 46 from the mating portion 70 of the airbag door 48 and the bag inflation opening 18.

  In summary, the joint portion 70 between the airbag door 48 and the bag inflation opening 18 is sealed by the sealing material 68, but the bag inflation opening 18 is a large opening that is long in the vehicle width direction. The sealing material 68 is not necessarily disposed all around the mating portion 70. For this reason, it is conceivable that water such as rainwater enters from the mating portion 70, but the front / rear length L 1 of the bag inflation opening 18 is larger than the front / rear length L 2 of the open side end 30 of the airbag case 46. Therefore, even if water enters from the mating portion 70, the water does not fall into the airbag case 46, but falls outside the airbag case 46. This water flows and accumulates toward the lower plate 24 that closes the hood inner side opening 26 of the hood inner panel 20, and tries to leak from the mating portion 54. Even if water leaks from the mating portion 54, it falls on the down cowl louver 52 that extends to the lower side of the hood inner panel 20 and guides water to the cowl inner panel (not shown), and is drained into the cowl inner panel. The In other words, the seal line S is not exceeded, and water intrusion into the engine room 13 can be effectively prevented.

  In the present embodiment, the cowl louver 52 includes the base portion 52A, the inclined portion 52B, and the sealing material holding portion 52C. However, the steeply inclined portion 52B is set before the final seal line S. Thus, the following effects can be obtained. That is, normally, water during rain flows down through the windshield glass 64 into the cowl inner panel and is drained from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cowl inner panel to the outside of the vehicle. In some cases, it may not catch up, and in this case, water may flow into the cowl louver 52 side. However, the cowl louver 52 has a steeply inclined portion 52B set in front of the seal line S, so that the momentum of the water flowing backward is blocked by the inclined portion 52B. In other words, the inclined portion 52B has an effect of preventing the water flowing backward through the cowl louver 52 from striking the sealing material 56 with vigor.

  In addition, since the engine parts arranged in the engine room 13 are arranged close to the lower side of the lower plate 24, the cowl louver 52 is extended in a narrow gap between the lower plate 24 and the engine parts itself. Although not normally performed, the ingenuity of this waterproof structure is that the seal line S is extended to the front of the airbag case 46 through a narrow gap with a gentle downward slope. Furthermore, utilizing the fact that an inclined surface is formed in front of the front end portion 24A of the lower plate 24, the inclined portion 52B is set so as to be in line with the inclined surface 52B.

  Further, the lower plate 24 constituting the bottom wall portion of the airbag case 46 of this embodiment includes a deep bottom front bottom portion 24C and a shallow bottom rear bottom portion 24D, which is considerably lower than the hood inner side opening portion 26. Although lowered to the position, this point also has an effect of suppressing water from reaching the mating portion 54.

[Supplementary explanation of this embodiment]
In the present embodiment described above, when the airbag 60 is inflated and deployed, it covers not only the rear end portion 14A and the cowl 62 of the hood 14 but also the lower portions of the left and right front pillars 66 (the lower end portion of the windshield glass 64). However, it is only necessary to cover at least the rear end portion 14A of the hood 14 (the rear end portion 16A of the hood outer panel 16) and the cowl 62.

It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view (1-1 line expanded sectional view of FIG. 2) which looked at the state which cut | disconnected the hood airbag apparatus for vehicles which concerns on this embodiment along the vehicle front-back direction. It is an external appearance perspective view of the vehicle which shows the non-operation state of the hood airbag apparatus for vehicles shown by FIG. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a vehicle showing an operating state of the vehicle hood airbag device shown in FIG. 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle hood airbag apparatus 12 Vehicle 13 Engine room 14 Hood 14A Rear end part 16 Hood outer panel 18 Bag expansion opening 20 Hood inner panel 22 Air bag module 24 Lower plate (air bag case)
26 Hood inner side opening (assembly opening)
27 Sealing material 30 Open side end (upper side open part)
46 Airbag case 48 Airbag door (cover)
52 Cowl Louva
52A base
52B slope
52C sealant holding part 54 mating part 56 sealant 58 inflator (gas generating means)
60 Airbag 64 Windshield glass S Seal line

Claims (2)

Gas generating means for injecting gas at the time of a frontal collision with a collision body, and a bag bulging opening formed in the hood outer panel by expanding in response to supply of gas stored in a folded state and generated by the gas generating means An assembly in which an airbag module including an airbag that is inflated and deployed on a hood by deploying a cover, and an airbag case that accommodates the gas generation means and the airbag is formed on the hood inner panel A seal structure applied to a vehicle hood airbag device that is inserted into the opening for the vehicle from the lower side of the hood inner panel and fixed to the periphery of the opening for assembly,
The seal line with the hood inner panel in the cowl louver extending along the vehicle width direction between the rear end of the hood and the lower end of the windshield glass is more than the front side of the vehicle with the hood inner panel in the airbag case. Set on the front side of the vehicle,
A seal structure for a vehicle hood airbag device. The cowl louver is disposed below the airbag case and is inclined to the upper front side of the vehicle at a gentle inclination angle, and an inclined portion is inclined from the front end portion of the base portion toward the vehicle upper side at a steeper angle than the base portion. A seal material holding portion that extends from the upper end portion of the inclined portion to the vehicle front side substantially parallel to the hood inner panel and holds the seal material that forms the seal line, and
The sealing structure for a vehicle hood airbag device according to claim 1.

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