JP4174373B2 - Vehicle occupant protection device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant protection device, and more particularly to a vehicle occupant protection device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a vehicle occupant protection device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, when a vehicle deceleration exceeds a predetermined value, a first protector (also referred to as an active knee bolster) that is movably supported on the vehicle body side is used. Two protectors (also called active knee bolsters) are actuated by the first and second actuators to restrain the lower limbs of the occupant seated on the seat from the front of the vehicle, and the front part of the seat cushion is separated from the rear part, The structure which prevents jumping of the leg part of a target passenger | crew by moving to (for example, refer patent document 1) is known.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 2679405 (FIGS. 1 and 7)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the seating posture of the occupant seated in the passenger seat is usually wider than the seating posture of the occupant seated in the driver seat. As a result, in the configuration as in Patent Document 1, in order to reliably support the lower limbs of the occupant seated in the passenger seat from the front of the vehicle, the occupant seated in the passenger seat must be made large in size unless the first actuator is considerably large. It becomes impossible to correspond to the sitting posture.
[0005]
In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle occupant protection device that can improve the restraint performance of the occupant's lower limbs by the lower limb restraining means with respect to various seating postures of the occupants seated in the passenger seat. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention according to claim 1 is a collision determination means for performing at least one of vehicle collision detection and collision prediction;
In response to the output signal of the collision determination means, the lower limb restraint portion including the glove box of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat on which the target occupant is seated and the portion above the glove box is moved to the lower limb restraint position, Leg restraining means for preventing the leg of the subject occupant from jumping up by the leg restraining part;
Wherein the upper end of the leg restraining portion toward the vehicle front is formed in a plate shape, when the leg restraining portion has moved to the leg restraining position even upper side of the leg restraining portion front end portion in the instrument panel An upper wall overlapping below the parting section ;
It is characterized by having.
[0007]
Therefore, the lower limb restraining means receives the output signal of the collision determination means and moves the lower limb restraining portion to the lower limb restraining position, and the leg restraining portion prevents the leg of the target occupant from jumping up. At this time, the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means is configured by a region including a glove box of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat on which the target occupant is seated and a portion above the glove box. As a result, the leg restraining part of the leg restraining means can be set larger with respect to the seat width direction and the seat vertical direction. For this reason, the restraining performance of the occupant's lower limbs by the lower limb restraining means can be improved with respect to various seating postures of the occupants seated in the passenger seat. Further, the front end of the upper wall portion formed on the upper end portion of the limb restraining portion toward the front of the vehicle body is also the front end of the upper wall portion formed on the upper end portion of the limb restraint portion in a flat plate shape toward the front of the vehicle body. The portion overlaps below the upper part of the lower limb restraining portion of the instrument panel even when the lower limb restraining portion moves to the lower limb restraining position. For this reason, the storage thing in a glove box does not jump out into a vehicle interior.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first aspect, a reinforcing means is provided around the glove box and the glove box.
[0009]
Therefore, in addition to the contents of the first aspect, the lower limb restraining portion of the lower limb restraining means can be easily configured by reinforcing the surroundings of the existing glove box and the glove box with the reinforcing means.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A vehicle occupant protection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0011]
In the figure, the arrow FR indicates the vehicle body front direction, the arrow UP indicates the vehicle body upward direction, and the arrow IN indicates the vehicle width inside direction.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle occupant protection device of the present embodiment includes an acceleration sensor 12 as a collision detection unit that detects vehicle deceleration and detects a vehicle collision. The acceleration sensor 12 is disposed on each of the left and right front side members, and is connected to a control circuit 14 serving as control means having a microcomputer.
[0013]
The instrument panel 18 of the vehicle body 10 is provided with an active knee bolster 24 as a lower limb restraining means at a position in front of the passenger seat 20. The active knee bolster 24 includes a lower limb restraining portion 30 that restrains left and right lower limbs (particularly knees) 28A of the occupant 28 seated in the passenger seat 20 from an obliquely upper front side of the vehicle, and a lower limb restraining portion 30 that lowers the limb 28. The actuator 32 moves to the 28A side.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 4, the lower limb restricting portion 30 of the active knee bolster 24 is a portion (predetermined region) of the instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20 (see FIG. 1), that is, the lower limb restricting portion of the active knee bolster 24. Reference numeral 30 denotes a portion of the instrument panel 18 which is the front of the passenger seat 20 (see FIG. 1), and the width (length in the vehicle width direction) W of the lower limb restraint portion 30 is the width of the passenger seat 20. Or wider than the width of the passenger seat 20.
[0015]
A glove box 34 is disposed on the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 3, the glove box 34 is rotatably supported by shafts 40 extending from the vehicle body side along the vehicle width direction at the lower end rear portions 34B of the left and right side wall portions 34A. The lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is also rotatably supported on the shaft 40 in a bearing portion 42 formed at the lower end portion.
[0017]
Brackets 44 are respectively fixed to upper portions of both sides in the vehicle width direction of the back surface (front side surface of the vehicle body) 18B in the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel. In each bracket 44, a lower end 46A of the sector gear 46 is rotatably supported by a pin 48 disposed along the vehicle width direction. The sector shaft 50 is rotatably supported by a rear end 52A of a mounting bracket 52 disposed along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and a front end 52B of the mounting bracket 52 is fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement 54. The mounting bracket 56 is fixed to the rear end portion 56 </ b> A by a bolt 58 and a nut 60.
[0018]
A motor 62 constituting the actuator 32 and a gear box 64 connected to the motor 62 are fixed to one mounting bracket 52 of the left and right mounting brackets 52, and the motor 62 is connected to the other mounting bracket 52. A gear box 68 connected by a torque cable 66 is fixed. The left and right sector gears 46 mesh with the gears of the gear box 64 and the gear box 68, respectively.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 2, in the normal use state, the sector gear 46 is in a position along the vertical direction of the vehicle body. In this state, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is located on the front side of the vehicle body with the shaft 40 as the rotation center. Has moved. Further, an upper wall portion 18C is formed at the upper end portion of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 toward the front of the vehicle body, and the upper wall portion 18C is an upper portion 18A of the instrument panel 18 in a normal use state. Is stored below.
[0020]
On the other hand, when the motor 62 is operated, the sector gear 46 rotates downward (in the direction of arrow A) about the sector shaft 50 via the gear 64A of the gear box 64, so that the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 rotates the shaft 40. It rotates backward (in the direction of arrow B) to the center and moves to the leg restraining position shown in FIG.
[0021]
Even when the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 moves to the lower limb restraining position, the front end portion of the upper wall portion 18C is overlapped below the upper portion 18A of the instrument panel 18, and the glove box 34 The stored items are prevented from jumping into the passenger compartment.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 1, an airbag device 52 for the passenger seat is disposed on the upper portion 18 </ b> A of the instrument panel 18, and the airbag bag body 54 of the airbag device 52 is seated on the passenger seat 20. The occupant 28 is inflated and deployed toward the upper body 28B. The inflator 56 of the airbag device 52 is connected to the control circuit 14.
[0023]
In addition, the code | symbol 56 of FIG. 1 has shown the seatbelt.
[0024]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
[0025]
In the present embodiment, when the deceleration of the vehicle body detected by the acceleration sensor 12 exceeds a predetermined value and the control circuit 14 determines that the vehicle body 10 has collided, the control circuit 14 activates the airbag 52 for the passenger seat. In addition, the motor 62 constituting the actuator 32 of the active knee bolster 24 is operated. As a result, the sector gear 46 rotates downward (in the direction of arrow A) about the sector shaft 50 via the gear 64A of the gear box 64, so that the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is rearward (arrowed) about the shaft 40. B direction) and move to the lower limb restraint position shown in FIG. As a result, the active knee bolster 24 can prevent the passenger leg from jumping up.
[0026]
At this time, in this embodiment, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the active knee bolster 24 that contacts the lower limb portion 28A of the occupant 28 is configured by a predetermined region of the instrument panel 18 facing the passenger seat 20 on which the occupant 28 sits. Yes. As a result, the width W of the lower leg restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 can be increased and the height H (see FIG. 2) can also be increased. For this reason, the lower limb part 28A of the occupant 28 can be restrained by the lower limb restraint part 30 with respect to various seating postures of the occupant 28 seated on the passenger seat 20, and the restraint performance of the occupant leg part by the active knee bolster 24 can be improved .
[0027]
Next, a second embodiment of the vehicle occupant protection device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0028]
In addition, about the same member as 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the entire region of the back surface (front side surface of the vehicle body) 18 </ b> B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18, that is, the region including the glove box 34, the periphery of the glove box 34, the hinge portion, and the like. In addition, a base cloth 70 as a reinforcing means is disposed by integral molding or the like. The texture direction of the fibers such as resin fibers constituting the base fabric 70 may be the vertical and horizontal directions, or may be inclined.
[0030]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
[0031]
In the present embodiment, in addition to the operational effects of the first embodiment, the base fabric 70 is disposed over the entire area of the back surface (front side surface of the vehicle body) 18B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18. As a result, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the active knee bolster 24 can be easily configured by reinforcing the existing glove box 34 and the periphery of the glove box 34 in the instrument panel 18 with the base cloth 70 throughout.
[0032]
Moreover, the surface rigidity in the leg restraining part 30 of resin-made instrument panels 18 becomes high by arrange | positioning the base fabric 70. FIG. For this reason, when the lower limb restraint part 30 of the instrument panel 18 contacts the lower limb part 28A of the occupant 28, the lower limb restraint part 30 of the instrument panel 18 can be prevented from being damaged.
[0033]
In the present embodiment, the base fabric 70 is disposed over the entire back surface (front side surface) 18B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18, but instead of this, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 is provided. It is good also as a structure which has arrange | positioned the base fabric 70 only to the area | region considered to contact | abut with the leg 28A of the passenger | crew 28 of the back surface 18B. Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the base cloth 70 is disposed in a band shape along the vehicle width direction on the back surface 18 </ b> B of the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 with a predetermined interval in the vehicle body vertical direction. Then, the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 may be partially reinforced.
[0034]
Further, the reinforcing means is not limited to the base cloth 70, and the characteristics of the resin constituting the lower limb restraining portion 30 of the instrument panel 18 may be changed. For example, it is good also as a structure which improved the energy absorption characteristic at the time of contact | abutting to the lower limb part 28A of the passenger | crew 28 while reinforcing the lower limb restraint part 30 of the instrument panel 18 by using resin of a high elongation characteristic.
[0035]
Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference 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 each of the above embodiments, the acceleration sensor 12 is used as the collision determination means, but instead of this, by using a collision determination means such as a camera or a radar indicated by reference numeral 80 in FIG. A configuration may be adopted in which a collision is detected, that is, a collision is predicted and the active knee bolster 24 is operated.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention according to claim 1 is a collision determination means for performing at least one of vehicle collision detection and collision prediction, and an instrument facing the passenger seat on which the target occupant is seated upon receiving an output signal of the collision determination means. A lower limb restraining means for moving a lower limb restraint portion including a glove box of the ment panel and an upper portion of the glove box to a lower limb restraint position, and preventing the leg of the target occupant from jumping up by the lower limb restraint portion; The upper wall is formed in a flat plate shape at the upper end of the vehicle body, and the front end overlaps below the upper part of the lower limb restraining portion of the instrument panel even when the lower limb restraining portion moves to the lower limb restraining position. Therefore, the restraint performance of the occupant's lower limbs by the lower limb restraining means can be improved for a wide variety of sitting postures of the occupants seated in the passenger seat. That. Moreover, it has the outstanding effect that the storage thing in a glove box does not jump out into a vehicle interior.
[0037]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first aspect, since the reinforcing means is provided around the glove box and the glove box, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the lower limb restraining means It has the outstanding effect that a restraint part can be comprised easily.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional side view showing a front part of a passenger compartment to which a vehicle occupant protection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a main part of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention as seen from the obliquely forward outer side of the vehicle.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel to which the vehicle occupant protection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied, as viewed from the obliquely rearward side of the vehicle.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a main part of a vehicle occupant protection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel to which a vehicle occupant protection device according to a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention is applied, as seen from an obliquely rearward side of the vehicle.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a main part of a vehicle occupant protection device according to a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
12 Acceleration sensor (collision judging means)
14 Control circuit (collision judging means)
18 Instrument panel 20 Passenger seat 24 Active knee bolster (lower leg restraining means)
28 occupant 28A occupant lower limb 30 lower limb restraint 32 of instrument panel active knee bolster actuator 34 glove box 70 base fabric (reinforcing means)
80 Collision judging means

Claims (2)

Collision determination means for performing at least one of vehicle collision detection and collision prediction;
In response to the output signal of the collision determination means, the lower limb restraint portion including the glove box of the instrument panel facing the passenger seat on which the target occupant is seated and the portion above the glove box is moved to the lower limb restraint position, Leg restraining means for preventing the leg of the subject occupant from jumping up by the leg restraining part;
Wherein the upper end of the leg restraining portion toward the vehicle front is formed in a plate shape, when the leg restraining portion has moved to the leg restraining position even upper side of the leg restraining portion front end portion in the instrument panel An upper wall overlapping below the parting section ;
An occupant protection device for a vehicle.   The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein reinforcing means is provided around the glove box and the glove box.

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