JP4356878B2 - Vehicle occupant protection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a protection device for an occupant seated on a vehicle seat, and more particularly to a technique for protecting an occupant's neck when a collision object collides with a vehicle from behind.

Generally, in a vehicle such as an automobile, there is a so-called rear gap between the headrest above the seat and the neck of the occupant seated on the seat. When a collision object collides with the vehicle from behind (hereinafter referred to as “rear collision”), the upper body of the occupant falls backward due to the reaction. The larger the gap behind the neck, the greater the burden on the occupant's neck.
As a technique for reducing the burden on the neck, there is a technique for improving the cushion performance of the seat back. When the upper body of the occupant falls back, the seat back having a large cushioning property is greatly compressed, so that the clearance behind the neck is reduced. As a result, the burden on the neck can be reduced. However, if the cushioning property of the seat back is too large, the ride comfort may be reduced. Therefore, as described below, technology development has been carried out in order to achieve better protection performance (see, for example, Patent Document 1-2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-291005 (FIG. 6-9) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-334439 (FIG. 1-5)

  A conventional vehicle occupant protection device shown in Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 18 (a) and 18 (b) are schematic views of a conventional vehicle occupant protection device (first prior art). As shown in FIG. 18 (a), the first conventional vehicle occupant protection device 200 has a seat back 203 attached to a seat cushion 202 of a seat 201 so as to be able to swing back and forth. An intermediate portion 206 of the headrest support member 205 is attached so as to be able to swing back and forth, a headrest 207 is attached to the upper end of the headrest support member 205, and a lower end of the headrest support member 205 is attached to the frame 204 via a connecting portion 208. . The connecting portion 208 is a “spring” that extends backward only when a load of a predetermined value or more is applied.

  When a rear collision occurs with respect to the vehicle, the upper body of the occupant Mn falls backward due to the inertia of the occupant Mn as shown in FIG. The load acting on the seat back 203 from the upper body of the occupant Mn has a magnitude equal to or greater than a predetermined value at which the connecting portion 208 extends. Since the connecting portion 208 extends rearward, the headrest support member 205 swings. As a result, the headrest 207 moves forward and approaches the head Hd of the occupant Mn. In this way, it is possible to reduce the gap behind the neck Ne of the occupant Mn and reduce the impact acting on the neck Ne.

  Next, a conventional vehicle occupant protection device shown in Patent Document 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 19A and 19B are schematic views of a conventional vehicle occupant protection device (second prior art). FIG. 19A shows a occupant Mn on a vehicle seat 301 including the vehicle occupant protection device 300. FIG. (B) shows the configuration and operation of the vehicle occupant protection device 300. In this second conventional vehicle occupant protection device 300, a seat back 303 is attached to a seat cushion 302 of a seat 301, and a headrest 305 is attached to an upper portion of the seat back 303 via a pole 304 so as to be able to swing back and forth. is there.

  The vehicle occupant protection device 300 predicts a rear collision by the prediction sensor 311, detects the inclination angle of the seat back 303 by the potentiometer 312, and detects that the occupant Mn is close to the seat back 303 by the proximity sensor 313. The control unit 314 controls various motors according to these sensor signals. When the prediction sensor 311 predicts a rear collision, the control unit 314 issues a control signal to the motor 315. The motor 315 rotates and swings the headrest 305 forward via the worm gear mechanism 316. As a result, the headrest 305 approaches the head Hd of the occupant Mn. In this way, it is possible to reduce the gap behind the neck Ne of the occupant Mn and reduce the impact acting on the neck Ne.

  By the way, in order to obtain the advantages of both the first and second prior arts, it is conceivable to combine the second prior art with the first prior art. However, if the first and second prior arts are simply combined, the configuration of the vehicle occupant protection device becomes complicated and inevitably becomes large. In addition, it is necessary to consider that the mechanisms in the first and second prior arts do not interfere with each other.

  The present invention provides a technology capable of further reducing the burden on the neck of an occupant when a collision object collides with the vehicle from behind by a vehicle occupant protection device having a small and simple configuration. Let it be an issue.

The invention according to claim 1 is attached to the seat back frame (35) of the vehicle seat (30) and extends in the frame width direction, and the first shaft (51) is a first shaft . As the swing center (Q1), a first swing member (52, 52A) having an upper part attached to the first shaft (51) so as to be able to swing back and forth , and below the first swing center (Q1), A second shaft (61) extending in the frame width direction and attached to the first swing member (52, 52A) so as to be able to rotate back and forth, and being attached to a lower portion of the second shaft (61), A second swing member (80) capable of swinging back and forth with the second shaft (61) as the second swing center (Q2) with respect to the first swing member (52, 52A), and the second swing member (80) Swing back and forth at the bottom of Possible along with the lower end is attached, extends upwardly of the seat back frame (35), front and rear swingably mounted headrest support member to the seat back frame (35) (37), the headrest When the headrest (38) attached to the upper part of the support member (37) and the collision object (12) colliding from behind with respect to the vehicle (11 ) are predicted , the first swing member (52, 52A) On the other hand, the second swing member (80) is swing-driven to swing the headrest (38) forward through the headrest support member (37) by swinging the second swing member (80). a collision predicting driving device (24), when the colliding object from behind (12) collides against the vehicle (11), wherein 1 By swinging the swing member (52, 52A), said second swung swing member (80), in order to swing the headrest (38) forward through the headrest support member (37), wherein The vehicle occupant protection device includes : a collision-time driving means (53, 110) that swing-drives the first swing member (52, 52A) .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first swing member (52) is a substantially square-shaped member when the seat (30) is viewed from the side, and an intermediate portion of the square-shaped member. (52b) is bent rearward, and the second shaft (61) is attached to the bent portion so as to be able to rotate back and forth, and the upper end of the rectangular member is attached to the first shaft (51). The lower end portion of the character-shaped member is attached to the collision-time driving means (53), and the collision-time driving means (53) is located below the first swing member (52) and has a frame width. When the collision object (12) collides with the vehicle (11) from behind, the first swing member (52) receives the external force (fr) directed backward. It is characterized by being configured to swing drive.
In the invention according to claim 3 , the second shaft (61) has a portion (61b) offset downward from a portion (61a) supported by the first swing member (52). The second swing member (80) is attached to (61b).

In the invention according to claim 1, (1) when the rear collision is predicted, the headrest is advanced in advance by a certain amount of advance at the time of the rear collision prediction, and the rear collision is further prepared, and (2) when the rear collision occurs. In addition, the gap between the headrest and the head can be reduced by advancing the headrest by the advance amount at the time of rear collision. Therefore, the time from when the rear collision occurs until the head of the occupant is received by the headrest can be further shortened.
Furthermore, the gap between the headrest and the head can be reduced by advancing the headrest by the advance amount at the time of the rear impact immediately after the rear impact. As a result, even when the upper body of the occupant falls backward due to a reaction at the time of a rear collision, the burden on the occupant's neck can be further reduced.
In this way, it is possible to efficiently secure the amount of advancement of the headrest both at the time of prediction and at the time of rear collision.
In the invention according to claim 1, (1) a mechanism for moving the headrest forward when a collision object that collides with the vehicle from behind is predicted, and (2) when a collision object collides with the vehicle from behind. The two mechanisms, the mechanism for advancing the headrest, can be assembled to the seat with a small and simple configuration without interfering with each other.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, and “lower” follow the direction seen from the driver.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle according to the present invention, and shows a vehicle 11 equipped with a vehicle occupant protection device (described later).

The vehicle 11 is an automobile provided with a rear object detection means 21 at the center of the rear end. The rear object detection means 21 is a rear object detection sensor that detects a rear object existing behind the vehicle 11 (own vehicle 11), that is, a collision object 12, and includes, for example, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultraviolet sensor, It consists of an imaging system (camera system) such as a visible light sensor, a laser sensor, a radar sensor, and a CCD. At least one such rear object detection means 21 is installed at a more appropriate position, for example, a rear bumper beam, which can reliably detect the collision object 12 existing behind the vehicle 11 and has less disturbance.
Here, the “colliding object 12” is an object that collides with the host vehicle 11 from behind, and is, for example, a rear vehicle (rear vehicle).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. The vehicle occupant protection device 20 includes the rear object detection means 21, the headrest movement amount detection means 22, the headrest control unit 23, and a collision prediction time drive means 24.
The headrest control unit 23 is configured to move the seat headrest back and forth by issuing a control signal to the collision prediction time driving unit 24 in accordance with detection signals from the rear object detection unit 21 and the headrest movement amount detection unit 22. For example, a microcomputer and its peripheral devices.

The collision predicting drive means 24 is a headrest motor that moves the seat headrest back and forth, and is composed of, for example, a DC electric motor.
The headrest movement amount detection means 22 is a sensor that detects a movement amount when the headrest moves back and forth and generates a detection signal. For example, the headrest movement amount detection means 22 detects the phase of the rotor of the collision prediction time drive means 24 (electric motor 24). It consists of a phase detection sensor. The amount of movement of the headrest can be known by detecting the phase of the rotor.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat according to the present invention. A seat 30 of the vehicle 11 (see FIG. 1) includes a seat support 31 installed on the floor of the vehicle and a seat cushion provided on the seat support 31. 33, a seat back 36, and a headrest 38 provided on the upper portion of the seat back 36 so as to be movable back and forth.
More specifically, the seat 30 has a seat cushion 33 attached to a seat support base 31 via a seat cushion frame 32, and a seat back frame 35 attached to the seat cushion frame 32 via a hinge 34 so that it can be tilted. A seat back 36 is attached to the seat back frame 35, and a headrest 38 is attached to an upper portion of the seatback frame 35 via a headrest support member 37 so as to be movable back and forth.

The seat cushion frame 32 and the seat back frame 35 are frames of the seat 30. The seat back frame 35 is a substantially gate-shaped frame, as viewed from the front, including left and right support members 35a and 35a that are long in the vertical direction and a cross member 35b that spans between the upper ends of the support members 35a and 35a.
The headrest support member 37 is a substantially gate-shaped frame including a left and right support bars 37a and 37a that are long in the vertical direction and a horizontal bar 37b that spans between the upper ends of the support bars 37a and 37a. This is a folded product. The headrest support member 37 can be attached to the seat back frame 35 by attaching the left and right support bars 37a, 37a to the cross member 35b via the guide mechanisms 40, 40.

  4A and 4B are a configuration diagram and an operation diagram of the guide mechanism according to the present invention. (A) is the figure which showed that the headrest support member 37 was attached to the cross member 35b via the guide mechanism 40 as a cross-sectional structure seen from the left side of the sheet | seat 30. FIG. (B) is the figure which showed the effect | action of the structure of (a).

  As shown to (a), the guide mechanism 40 is the cylindrical guide case 41 which was attached to the through-hole 35c of the cross member 35b so that attachment or detachment was possible from upper direction, and the cylindrical shape fitted to the guide case 41 so that a vertical slide was possible. A guide member 42, an adjustment member 43 that adjusts and locks the support bar 37 a fitted in the guide member 42 so as to be vertically slidable, and an elastic member that elastically supports the guide member 42 in the guide case 41. The member 44 (for example, a rubber member) and a retaining member (not shown) for preventing the guide member 42 from coming off from the guide case 41 are included.

The inner diameter of the guide case 41 is larger than the outer diameter of the guide member 42 in order to fit the guide member 42 so that it can swing back and forth. The lower end surface 41a of the guide case 41 is an inclined surface inclined from the front lower end to the rear upper side. For this reason, the vertical length of the front surface of the guide case 41 is larger than the vertical length of the rear surface of the guide case 41. The elastic member 44 is interposed between the rear inner surface 41 b of the guide case 41 and the rear surface of the guide member 42. For this reason, the guide member 42 is pressed against the inner surface 41 c on the front side of the guide case 41. The upper end portion of the guide member 42 extending upward from the guide case 41 can swing only forward (left side in the figure) from the state shown in FIG.
The adjustment member 43 may be provided only in one of the left and right guide mechanisms 40, 40.

The operation of the guide mechanism 40 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
In the normal state shown in (a), the elastic member 44 elastically pushes the guide member 42 by an elastic force and presses it against the inner surface 41 c on the front side of the guide case 41. The guide case 41 supports the guide member 42 by the frictional force between the guide case 41 and the guide member 42 and the frictional force between the guide member 42 and the elastic member 44. For this reason, the headrest support member 37 is supported on the upper portion of the seat back frame 35.

  Thereafter, the headrest support member 37 is swung counterclockwise against the elastic force of the elastic member 44. The guide member 42 swings counterclockwise in the figure while elastically deforming the elastic member 44 with the upper end of the front inner surface 41c of the guide case 41 as a swing fulcrum Ps. The result is shown in (b).

  Thereafter, when the headrest support member 37 is swung in the clockwise direction from the state (b), the guide member 42 swings in the clockwise direction around the swing fulcrum Ps. In this way, the headrest support member 37 can be returned to the state (a). Since the front surface of the guide member 42 hits the front inner surface 41c of the guide case 41, the headrest support member 37 does not swing further clockwise in the figure.

Next, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 will be described in detail.
FIG. 5 is a front view of the seat back frame, the headrest support member, and the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 includes a forward collision advancement mechanism 50. The rear collision advance mechanism 50 is a mechanism that advances the headrest 38 when the collision object 12 collides with the vehicle 11 shown in FIG. 1 from behind.

  Such a forward collision advance mechanism 50 extends a horizontal first shaft 51 to the left and right above the seatback frame 35 and rotatably attaches both ends of the first shaft 51 to the left and right support members 35a and 35a. The base ends of the left and right first swing members 52, 52 are attached to both ends of the first shaft 51, the first swing members 52, 52 are extended downward, and the collision driving means 53 is attached between the tip ends 52a, 52a. It is a thing.

The first shaft 51 is a rotation shaft disposed immediately in front of the headrest support member 37. The center Q1 of the first shaft 51 is a first swing center where the first swing members 52, 52 swing back and forth. The first swing members 52, 52 are arranged along the inner sides of the support members 35a, 35a, and are elongated flat plates having a substantially “<” shape (“<” shape of an inequality sign) in a side view as shown in FIG. 6. is there.
The driving means 53 at the time of collision is elongated in the left and right directions fixed to the horizontal portion 55 of the driving arm 54 and a substantially upward U-shaped driving arm 54 across the front ends 52a and 52a of the first swing members 52 and 52a. It consists of a flat drive plate 56. The drive arm 54 extends forward and downward substantially along the seat back 36. The drive plate 56 is a member that receives an external force through the seat back 36 when an external force acts backward on the seat back 36 and is embedded in the seat back 36.

  Furthermore, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 includes a forward collision prediction advance mechanism 60. The forward collision predicting advance mechanism 60 is a mechanism that advances the headrest 38 in advance when the collision object 12 colliding with the vehicle 11 shown in FIG. 1 from behind is predicted.

  Such a forward collision predicting advance mechanism 60 extends the second shaft 61 parallel to the first shaft 51 to the left and right below the first shaft 51, and the both ends 61a and 61a of the second shaft 61 to the left and right first shafts. The swing members 52, 52 are rotatably attached to the longitudinal intermediate portions 52b, 52b, the left end portion 61a of the second shaft 61 or the right end portion 61a is attached to the base end of the driven arm 62, and the connecting pin 63 is attached to the tip end of the driven arm 62. One end of the link bar 64 is attached so as to be able to swing back and forth, the other end of the link bar 64 is attached with the swing tip of the drive arm 66 via the connecting pin 65, and the drive shaft 67 is attached to the base end of the drive arm 66. The drive means 67 is connected to the collision prediction driving means 24 via a transmission mechanism 68 (see FIG. 5).

  The driven arm 62 is a member disposed between the one support member 35 a and the one first swing member 52, and is a flat bar extending from the second shaft 61 toward the first shaft 51. The link bar 64 is an elongated flat bar that extends forward and downward substantially along the drive arm 54 of the driving means 53 at the time of collision. The drive shaft 67 is a rotation shaft connected to the transmission mechanism 68 and is a horizontal shaft disposed in front of the collision-time drive means 53. The drive arm 66 is a flat bar that extends forward and upward from the drive shaft 67 and is arranged substantially parallel to the driven arm 62.

Since the input side of the transmission mechanism 68 is connected to the output shaft of the collision prediction driving means 24 (electric motor 24) and the drive shaft 67 is connected to the output side of the transmission mechanism 68, the power is transmitted by the power of the collision prediction driving means 24. The drive shaft 67 can be rotated via the mechanism 68.
As shown in FIG. 5, the one strut member 35 a is attached with the first bracket 71 on the side opposite to the drive arm 66, so that the collision prediction time drive means 24 and the transmission mechanism 68 are interposed via the first bracket 71. It is what supported. In this manner, the collision prediction driving means 24 and the transmission mechanism 68 can be arranged between the one column member 35a and the side surface of the seat back 36.
Further, the one support member 35a supports the drive shaft 67 rotatably via the second bracket 72 (see FIG. 6).

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. FIG. 8 is an exploded view showing the relationship between the second shaft and the headrest support member according to the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8, the second shaft 61 has a longitudinal center portion 61 b that is offset along the driving arm 54 of the driving means 53 at the time of collision by the dimension X <b> 1 (see FIG. 8). It is a pipe shaft bent so as to be offset (offset amount X1). The longitudinal center portion 61 b is a portion parallel to both end portions 61 a and 61 a of the second shaft 61. A pair of left and right connecting arms 81, 81 are extended from the longitudinal central portion 61 b to the front lower side generally along the drive arm 54. These connecting arms 81 and 81 are arranged at positions corresponding to the lower end portions 37d and 37d of the left and right support bars 37a and 37a in the headrest support member 37.

  The left and right connecting arms 81, 81 are connected to the lower end portions 37 d, 37 d of the left and right support bars 37 a, 37 a through the connecting pins 82, 82 parallel to the second shaft 61 so that they can swing back and forth. Specifically, the support bars 37a and 37a are integrally provided with large-diameter pipe bars 37c and 37c at the lower part, and cylindrical pin connections parallel to the connection pins 82 and 82 at the lower ends 37d and 37d of these pipe bars 37c and 37c. The parts 83 and 83 are fixed by welding or the like. By fitting the connecting pins 82 and 82 into the pin holes 81 a and 81 a of the connecting arms 81 and 81 and the pin connecting portions 83 and 83, the lower end portion 37 d of the headrest support member 37 is fitted to the longitudinal central portion 61 b of the second shaft 61. , 37d can be connected so as to be swingable back and forth.

  The center Q4 of the connecting pins 82, 82 fitted to the connecting arms 81, 81 is offset from the center Q3 of the longitudinal center portion 61b by the dimension X2 (offset amount X2). Accordingly, the center Q4 of the connecting pins 82, 82 is offset from the center Q2 of the second shaft 61 by the dimension L1 in the front lower direction. The offset amount L1 is a value obtained by adding the offset amount X2 to the offset amount X1 (offset amount L1 = X1 + X2).

  As is clear from the above description, the combined structure of the longitudinal central portion 61 b offset from the second shaft 61 and the left and right connecting arms 81, 81 constitutes the second swing members 80, 80. The center Q2 of the second shaft 61 is a second swing center where the second swing members 80, 80 swing back and forth. The center Q4 of the connecting pins 82 and 82 is an operating point at which the second swing member 80 swings on the headrest support member 37.

  As described above, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 is attached to the upper portion of the seat back frame 35 so as to be swingable back and forth at the first swing center Q1, as shown in FIGS. And second swing members 80, 80 attached to the first swing members 52, 52 so as to be able to swing back and forth at the second swing center Q2, and for seat back to swing forward by the second swing members 80, 80. A headrest support member 37 attached to the frame 35 so as to be able to swing back and forth, a collision prediction driving means 24 for swinging the second swing members 80 and 80, and the second swing member 80 and the second swing members 80 and 52 via the first swing members 52 and 52, respectively. It is the structure provided with the drive means 53 at the time of a collision which carries out the swing drive of 80.

  The collision predicting drive means 24 drives the second swing members 80 and 80 to swing when the collision object 12 colliding with the vehicle 11 from behind is predicted. The collision driving means 53 is configured to swing the second swing members 80 and 80 via the first swing members 52 and 52 when the collision object 12 collides with the vehicle 11 from behind.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 is provided with a second swing center Q2 on the swing tip 52a side of the first swing member 52 with respect to the first swing center Q1, and this second swing center. The swing tip end side of the second swing member 80 is extended to the opposite side of Q2 from the first swing center Q1.
Accordingly, the second swing center Q2 is different from the first swing center Q1. The distance L2 from the action point Q4 at which the second swing member 80 swings on the headrest support member 37 (that is, the center Q4 of the connecting pins 82 and 82) to the first swing center Q1 is from the action point Q4 to the second swing. It is larger than the distance L1 (offset amount L1) to the center Q2.

  Next, a control flow when the headrest control unit 23 having the above configuration is a microcomputer will be described based on FIGS. 9 and 10 with reference to FIGS. In the figure, STxx indicates a step number. Step numbers that are not specifically described proceed in numerical order.

FIG. 9 is a control flowchart (part 1) of the headrest control unit according to the present invention.
ST01: The separation distance Di between the host vehicle 11 and the collision object 12 is measured. The separation distance Di may be measured by the rear object detection means 21 with the actual separation distance Di.
ST02: It is checked whether or not the separation distance Di is smaller than a predetermined fixed reference distance Ds1. If NO, the process returns to ST01, and if YES, the process proceeds to ST03.
ST03: Based on the separation distance Di, the approach speed Sa (relative predicted collision speed Sa) of the collision object 12 with respect to the host vehicle 11 is obtained. The approach speed Sa may be obtained by calculation based on, for example, a change amount of the separation distance Di measured at a very minute constant time.
ST04: It is checked whether or not the approach speed Sa is higher than a predetermined reference speed So. If NO, the process returns to ST01, and if YES, the process proceeds to ST05.

As described above, the configuration including the set of ST01 to ST04 is such that the separation distance Di between the own vehicle 11 and the collision object 12 is smaller than the approach reference distance Ds1, and the approach speed Sa of the collision object 12 with respect to the own vehicle 11 is. When the vehicle speed is higher than the reference speed So, the rear collision object prediction means 91 is configured to determine that there is a possibility that the collision object 12 may collide with the host vehicle 11 from behind and to generate a prediction signal.
As a determination function of such a rear collision object predicting means 91, whether or not an impact that affects the occupant seated on the seat 30 is received when the collision object 12 collides with the host vehicle 11. More preferably, it can be determined.

ST05: Since there is a prediction signal of the collision object 12 from the rear collision object prediction means 91, the headrest motor 24 (collision prediction driving means 24) is rotated forward so that the headrest 38 is moved forward.
ST06: The advance amount Fr of the headrest 38 is measured. The advance amount Fr may be determined by measuring the actual advance amount Fr by the headrest movement amount detection means 22.
ST07: It is checked whether or not the advance amount Fr has reached a predetermined reference advance amount Fs (the advance amount Fs at the time of rear-end collision prediction). If NO, the process returns to ST05 to further advance the headrest 38. Proceed to ST08.
ST08: Since the headrest 38 has advanced by the reference advance amount Fs, the headrest motor 24 is stopped.
ST09: The actual advance amount Fr of the headrest 38 is set as the reference reverse amount Rs, and then the process proceeds to the output connector A1.

  As described above, the configuration including the set of ST05 to ST08 constitutes the headrest advance control means 92 that advances the headrest 38 by a certain reference advance amount Fs.

FIG. 10 is a control flowchart (No. 2) of the headrest control unit according to the present invention, and shows that the process progressed from the outgoing connector A1 in FIG. 9 to ST101 through the incoming connector A1 in this figure.
ST101: The timer incorporated in the headrest control unit 23 is started after being reset (count time Tc = 0).
ST102: The separation distance Di between the own vehicle 11 and the collision object 12 is measured. The separation distance Di may be measured by the rear object detection means 21 with the actual separation distance Di.

ST103: It is checked whether or not the separation distance Di is smaller than a predetermined fixed closest reference distance Ds2. If NO, the process proceeds to ST104. If YES, it is determined that the collision object 12 is highly likely to collide with the host vehicle 11 from behind, and the state immediately before the rear collision is reached, and this control is terminated.
ST104: It is checked whether or not the count time Tc has reached a predetermined fixed reference time Ts. If NO, return to ST102. If YES, it is determined that there is no possibility of the collision object 12 colliding with the host vehicle 11 from behind within the approach reference time Ts, and the process proceeds to ST105.

As described above, the configuration including the set of ST101 to ST104 has a very high possibility that the collision object 12 will collide with the host vehicle 11 from the rear when the separation distance Di is smaller than the closest approach distance Ds2. The immediately preceding collision predicting means 93 is configured to determine that the state immediately before the collision has been reached and to issue a signal immediately before the collision.
As such a judgment function of the prediction means 93 immediately before the rear impact, whether or not an impact that affects the occupant seated on the seat 30 is received when the collision object 12 collides with the host vehicle 11. More preferably, it can be determined.

ST105: Since there is an avoidance signal from the predicting means 93 immediately before the rear collision that there is no possibility of the collision object 12 colliding, the headrest motor 24 is moved so that the headrest 38 is moved backward and returned to the original position. Reverse.
ST106: The reverse amount Rr of the headrest 38 is measured. The reverse amount Rr may be determined by measuring the actual reverse amount Rr by the headrest movement amount detection means 22.
ST107: It is checked whether or not the reverse travel amount Rr has reached the reference reverse travel amount Rs set in ST09. If NO, the process returns to ST105 to further reverse the headrest 38, and if YES, the process proceeds to ST108.
ST108: Since the headrest 38 has returned to the original position, the headrest motor 24 is stopped, and then the process returns to ST01 via the output connector A2 and the input connector A2 in FIG.

  As described above, the configuration including the set of ST105 to ST108 constitutes the headrest reverse control means 94 for moving the headrest 38 backward to the original position.

Next, the operation of the vehicle occupant protection device 20 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is an operation diagram (part 1) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention, in which the periphery of the first swing member 52 and the periphery of the second swing member 80 are disassembled, and schematically corresponded to FIGS. It is a representation.
The vehicle occupant protection device 20 in the normal state is in a positional relationship indicated by a solid line in FIG. That is, the headrest support member 37 is in a neutral position indicated by a solid line.

Thereafter, when the headrest control unit 23 predicts that the colliding object 12 collides with the vehicle 11 from the rear (rear collision), the headrest control unit 23 controls the collision prediction time driving means 24 (headrest motor 24). Send a signal.
The collision predicting driving means 24 rotates forward to rotate the driving shaft 67 by a certain angle. The drive shaft 67 swings the driven arm 62 counterclockwise via the drive arm 66 and the link bar 64. The second shaft 61 rotates counterclockwise in the figure to cause the second swing member 80 to swing counterclockwise in the figure.

  The second swing member 80 pushes the lower end portion 37d of the headrest support member 37 in the counterclockwise direction via the connecting pin 82 and the pin connecting portion 83 at the tip. The pressed headrest support member 37 extends forward and upward while swinging counterclockwise around the swing fulcrum Ps of the guide mechanism 40. Accordingly, as indicated by an imaginary line, the upper end portion of the headrest support member 37 moves forward by the reference advance amount Fs. The headrest 38 also moves forward by the reference advance amount Fs. The result is shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is an operation diagram (part 2) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention, in which the periphery of the first swing member 52 and the periphery of the second swing member 80 are disassembled and schematically shown corresponding to FIG. It is a thing.
The vehicle occupant protection device 20 at the stage where the rear collision is predicted is in a positional relationship shown by a solid line in FIG. That is, the headrest support member 37 is in a position indicated by a solid line.

Thereafter, when a rear collision occurs, the upper body of the occupant seated on the seat 30 (see FIG. 3) falls backward due to the reaction. An external force fr acts on the seat back 36 (see FIG. 6) from the upper body that has fallen. The external force fr increases as the rear-end collision energy increases. This external force fr acts on the driving plate 56 of the driving means 53 at the time of collision via the seat back 36. The drive arm 54 and the first swing member 52 swing counterclockwise by an angle corresponding to the external force fr.
As a result, the second swing center Q2 provided in the first swing member 52 is displaced substantially horizontally backward to the point Q2a. In accordance with this displacement, the driven arm 62 and the link bar 64 are also displaced. The displacement of the drive shaft 67 and the drive arm 66 is regulated by the transmission mechanism 68 (see FIG. 5).

  The second swing member 80 swings counterclockwise in the figure together with the first swing member 52 so that the lower end portion 37d of the headrest support member 37 is counterclockwise in the figure via the connecting pin 82 and the pin connecting portion 83 at the tip. Press to. The pressed headrest support member 37 extends forward and upward while swinging counterclockwise around the swing fulcrum Ps of the guide mechanism 40. Therefore, as indicated by an imaginary line, the upper end portion of the headrest support member 37 advances forward by the advance amount Fc. The advance amount Fc is the amount of advance at the time of rear impact that further advances by an angle corresponding to the external force fr. The headrest 38 is also moved forward by the forward movement advance amount Fc. The result is shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is an operation diagram (part 3) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention, in which the periphery of the first swing member 52 and the periphery of the second swing member 80 are disassembled and schematically shown corresponding to FIG. It is a thing.
As is clear from the above description, the upper end portion of the headrest support member 37 and the headrest 38 advance by a certain reference advance amount Fs (the advance amount Fs at the time of the rear impact prediction) when the rear impact is predicted, and further When the collision occurs, the vehicle moves forward by the rearward movement amount Fc.

14 (a) and 14 (b) are operation diagrams (part 4) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. The operations described in FIGS. 11 to 13 are summarized and the occupant Mn seated on the seat 30 is shown. This shows the action of the vehicle occupant protection device 20 against the above.
(A) shows that the occupant Ma is seated on the seat 30. The headrest 38 is at the last position indicated by an imaginary line.

Thereafter, the headrest control unit 23 issues a rotation control signal to the collision prediction driving means 24 when the rear collision is predicted (rear collision prediction). The collision prediction driving means 24 moves the headrest 38 forward to the position indicated by the solid line by the reference advance amount Fs. When the headrest movement amount detection means 22 detects that the vehicle has advanced to the reference advance amount Fs, the headrest control unit 23 stops the collision prediction time drive means 24.
Thus, at the stage of predicting the rear impact, the size of the gap Sp between the headrest 38 and the head Hd of the occupant Ma is reduced to prepare for the rear impact. As a result, the gap behind the so-called neck Ne between the headrest 38 and the neck Ne of the occupant Ma can be forcibly reduced in advance. Since the gap behind the neck Ne immediately before the rear impact is reduced, even when the upper body of the occupant Ma falls backward due to the reaction at the time of the rear impact, the burden on the neck Ne of the occupant Ma is more reliably secured. Can be reduced.

Thereafter, as shown in (b), when a rear collision occurs, the upper body of the occupant Ma falls backward due to the reaction, and an external force fr acts on the seat back 36 from the upper body. By this external force, the seat back 36 falls backward. For this reason, the external force fr acts on the driving plate 56 of the driving means 53 at the time of collision via the seat back 36. As a result, the collision-time drive means 53 further advances the headrest 38 to the position indicated by the solid line by the rear-collision advance amount Fc according to the external force fr.
Thus, the gap between the headrest 38 and the head Hd of the occupant Ma can be made zero or close to zero. As a result, the gap behind the neck Ne can be forcibly reduced in advance.

As described above, according to the vehicle occupant protection device 20, when the rear collision is predicted, the headrest 38 is advanced by a predetermined reference advance amount Fs (the advance amount Fs at the time of rear collision prediction), and the rear collision is performed in advance. In addition, the headrest 38 can be moved forward by the forward movement advance amount Fc when a rear collision occurs. Therefore, the time from when the rear collision occurs until the head Hd of the occupant Ma is received by the headrest 38 can be further shortened.
Furthermore, since the gap behind the neck Ne immediately after the rear collision is reduced, even when the upper body of the occupant Ma falls backward due to the reaction during the rear collision, the burden on the cervical Ne of the occupant Ma is reduced. , Can be reduced more reliably.
As described above, the amount of advancement of the headrest 38 can be efficiently ensured both at the time of the prediction of the rear collision and at the time of the rear collision.

  Further, according to the vehicle occupant protection device 20, as shown in FIG. 5, when (1) a rear collision is predicted, the rear collision advance mechanism 50 that advances the headrest 38, and (2) when the rear collision occurs, The two mechanisms 50 and 60, which are the forward collision prediction advancement mechanism 60 that advances the headrest 38, can be assembled to the seat 30 with a small and simple configuration without interfering with each other.

  Further, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 is provided with a second swing center Q2 on the swing tips 52a, 52a side of the first swing members 52, 52 with respect to the first swing center Q1, and with respect to the second swing center Q2. The second swing members 80, 80 are extended on the swing tip side (that is, the connecting arms 81, 81 side) on the side opposite to the first swing center Q1.

By the way, in general, when a rear collision occurs, it is necessary to advance the headrest 38 more rapidly in order to advance the headrest 38 by the necessary rear collision advance amount Fc when a rear collision occurs.
On the other hand, in the vehicle occupant protection device 20, as shown in FIG. 7, in order to swing the headrest support member 37, a point Q4 at which the second swing member 80 acts on the headrest support member 37 is defined as an “action point Q4”. It was. A distance L2 from the action point Q4 to the first swing center Q1 is larger than a distance L1 from the action point Q4 to the second swing center Q2.

  For this reason, at the time of the rear collision shown in FIG. 12, the forward movement advance amount Fc of the headrest 38 can be secured by the small swing angle θh of the first swing member 52. Since the first swing member 52 has only to be swung by this small swing angle θh, the swing time of the first swing member 52 can be shortened. At the time of the rear impact, the headrest 38 can be advanced more quickly by the required rear impact advance amount Fc. Therefore, the amount of advancement of the headrest 38 can be ensured more quickly and efficiently at the time of a rear collision.

  Further, in the vehicle occupant protection device 20, the swing tip 52a of the first swing member 52 and the swing tip (that is, the connecting arm 81) of the second swing member 80 are extended in substantially the same direction. The combination dimensions of the two swing members 52 and 80 can be reduced. For this reason, the vehicle occupant protection device 20 can be easily assembled in a narrow space of the seat 30.

Next, a modified example of the vehicle occupant protection device 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the structure similar to the structure shown to the said FIGS. 1-14, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a vehicle occupant protection device (modification) according to the present invention. The vehicle occupant protection device 100 according to the modified example is characterized in that a rear collision detection unit 101 attached to the vehicle 11 is added, and the collision driving unit 53 (see FIG. 5) is changed to a collision driving unit 110. To do. About another structure and effect | action, it is the same as the Example shown in the said FIGS.

  The rear collision detection means 101 is a rear collision sensor that detects that the collision object 12 has collided (rear collision) from behind with respect to the vehicle 11 shown in FIG. It consists of an acceleration sensor. When such an acceleration sensor is employed, when the detected acceleration exceeds a preset reference acceleration (threshold value), an ON signal is issued as a rear collision has occurred.

  The collision driving means 110 is configured to operate in accordance with a control signal from the headrest control unit 23. When receiving the detection signal (ON signal) from the rear collision detection unit 101, the headrest control unit 23 according to the modification generates a control signal to drive the collision-time driving unit 110.

  FIG. 16 is a control flowchart of the headrest control unit of the vehicle occupant protection device (modification) according to the present invention, and is characterized in that ST109 and ST110 are added to the control flowchart shown in FIG. About ST101-ST8, it is the same structure as the said FIG. Only ST103, ST109 and ST110 will be described.

ST103: It is checked whether or not the separation distance Di is smaller than a predetermined fixed closest reference distance Ds2. If NO, the process proceeds to ST104. If YES, it is determined that the collision object 12 is highly likely to collide with the host vehicle 11 from behind, and the state immediately before the rear collision is reached, and the process proceeds to ST109.
ST109: It is checked whether or not the rear collision sensor 101 (rear collision detection means 101) is on. If NO, ST109 is repeated. If YES, it is determined that a rear collision has occurred, and the process proceeds to ST110.
ST110: The headrest additional advance signal is turned on and the on signal is issued to the driving means 110 at the time of collision, and then this control is finished.

  As described above, the configuration composed of the set of ST109 and ST110 constitutes the headrest additional advance control means 121 that advances the headrest 38 by a certain additional advance amount Fa (see FIG. 17) at the time of a rear collision.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle occupant protection device (modification) according to the present invention, and is shown corresponding to FIGS. 6 and 7 described above.
The first swing member 52 </ b> A in the vehicle occupant protection device 100 of the modified example is an elongated flat plate having a substantially “L” shape in side view with the position supported by the first shaft 51 as an intermediate portion. More specifically, the first swing member 52 is an integrally molded product of a first arm 131 extending downward from the first shaft 51 and a second arm 132 extending substantially horizontally rearward from the first shaft 51. is there. The 1st arm 131 is the member which attached the 2nd axis | shaft 61 to the front end side rotatably like the structure shown in the said FIG. However, the collision driving means 53 shown in FIG.

The collision driving means 110 of the modified example includes a housing 111 attached to the seat back frame 35, a cylinder 112 formed by releasing the upper portion of the housing 111, and a piston inserted into the cylinder 112 so as to be able to reciprocate for a certain stroke. 113 and an inflator 114 that raises the piston 113.
The tip of the piston 113 faces the lower surface of the second arm 132. The seat back frame 35 includes a stopper 117 for setting the swing angle of the second arm 132 bounced up by the piston 113.

  When the inflator 114 receives an electrical control signal from the headrest control unit 23, the inflator 114 ignites the gas generating agent by an ignition device (not shown) to generate a large amount of high-pressure gas, and this high-pressure gas is stored in the cylinder 112. It is what you send in. The cylinder 112 is temporarily pressurized by the fed high pressure gas. As a result, the piston 113 rises by a certain stroke.

Next, the operation of the collision driving means 110 according to the modification will be described with reference to FIG.
When a rear collision occurs, the headrest control unit 23 issues a control signal (headrest additional advance signal) to the inflator 114. The inflator 114 generates high-pressure gas and raises the piston 113 by a certain stroke. The piston 113 rises rapidly and causes the second arm 132 to swing counterclockwise in the figure. Therefore, the first swing member 52 swings counterclockwise by a certain swing angle θs until it hits the stopper 117.

  The second swing member 80 swings counterclockwise in the figure together with the first swing member 52A, so that the lower end portion 37d of the headrest support member 37 is counterclockwise in the figure via the connecting pin 82 and the pin connecting portion 83 at the tip. Press to. The pushed headrest support member 37 extends forward and upward while swinging counterclockwise around the swing fulcrum Ps. Accordingly, the upper end portion of the headrest support member 37 and the headrest 38 advance forward by the additional advance amount Fa. This additional advance amount Fa is the advance amount at the time of rear collision that moves forward in accordance with the swing angle θs of the first swing member 52A.

  As described above, according to the vehicular occupant protection device 100 of the modified example, the headrest 38 is advanced by a predetermined reference advance amount Fs (see FIG. 11) at the time when the rear collision is predicted, so that the rear collision is performed in advance. In addition, the headrest 38 can be advanced by the rearward advance amount Fa (additional advance amount Fa) when the rearward impact occurs. Therefore, the time from when the rear collision occurs until the head Hd shown in FIG. 14 is received by the headrest 38 can be further shortened.

  Furthermore, according to the modified rear collision detection means 101 (see FIG. 15), it is possible to arbitrarily set a rear collision determination reference value for determining that a rear collision has occurred, that is, a “threshold value” for turning on. it can. For example, in the case of a rear collision with a small collision energy that does not affect the occupant Mn, the “threshold value” can be set to a large value so that the rear collision detection means 101 does not emit an ON signal. .

  As described above, according to the vehicle occupant protection device 100 of the modified example, the rear collision detection unit 101, the collision driving unit 110, and the headrest additional advance control unit 121 (see FIG. 16) are combined. In addition to the effects of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 14, a more optimal occupant protection device can be obtained according to the vehicle type of the vehicle 11 and the like.

  In the embodiment, the vehicle occupant protection devices 20 and 100 can be applied to the vehicle 11 when the host vehicle 11 is stopped or traveling.

  The vehicle occupant protection devices 20 and 100 of the present invention are suitable for vehicles such as automobiles and trains that include a seat 30 having a headrest 38 that can move back and forth.

1 is a plan view of a vehicle according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat according to the present invention. It is a block diagram and action figure of the guide mechanism which concerns on this invention. 1 is a front view of a seat back frame, a headrest support member, and a vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 5. It is an exploded view which shows the relationship between the 2nd axis | shaft which concerns on this invention, and a headrest support member. It is a control flowchart (the 1) of the headrest control part concerning the present invention. It is a control flowchart (the 2) of the headrest control part which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 is an operation diagram (part 1) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an operation diagram (part 2) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an operation diagram (part 3) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an operation diagram (part 4) of the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention. It is a block diagram of the passenger protection device for vehicles (modification) concerning the present invention. It is a control flowchart of the headrest control part of the passenger protection device for vehicles concerning the present invention (modification). It is a block diagram of the vehicle occupant protection device (modification) according to the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of the conventional vehicle occupant protection device (first prior art). It is a schematic diagram of the conventional vehicle occupant protection device (second prior art).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Vehicle, 12 ... Colliding object, 20, 100 ... Vehicle occupant protection device, 24 ... Driving means for collision prediction, 30 ... Vehicle seat, 35 ... Frame (frame for seat back), 36 ... Seat back, 37 ... Headrest support member, 38 ... headrest, 52, 52A ... first swing member, 52a ... first swing member swing tip, 53,110 ... collision drive means, 80 ... second swing member, 81 ... second swing member Connecting arm as the swing tip side, Fa: rearward advance amount (additional forward amount), Fc ... rearward advance amount, Fs ... rearward prediction advance amount, Hd ... head, Mn ... occupant, Ne ... neck Part, Q1 ... first swing center, Q2 ... second swing center.

Claims (3)

A first shaft (51) attached to the seat back frame (35) of the vehicle seat (30) and extending in the frame width direction;
A first swing member (52, 52A) having the first shaft (51) as a first swing center (Q1) and an upper portion attached to the first shaft (51) so as to be able to swing back and forth;
A second shaft (61) extending in the frame width direction below the first swing center (Q1) and attached to the first swing member (52, 52A) so as to be able to rotate back and forth;
By being attached to the lower part of the second shaft (61), the second shaft (61) can swing back and forth with the second shaft (61) as the second swing center (Q2) with respect to the first swing member (52, 52A). Two swing members (80);
A lower end is attached to the lower part of the second swing member (80) so as to be able to swing back and forth, and extends upward from the seat back frame (35) so that the seat back frame (35) can swing back and forth. A headrest support member (37) attached to the
A headrest (38) attached to the top of the headrest support member (37);
When the collision object (12) colliding from behind with respect to the vehicle (11) is predicted, the second swing member (80) is swung with respect to the first swing member (52, 52A). A collision prediction drive means (24) for swinging the second swing member (80) to swing the headrest (38) forward via the headrest support member (37);
When the collision object (12) collides with the vehicle (11) from behind, the second swing member (80) is swung by swinging the first swing member (52, 52A), A vehicle comprising: a collision-time drive means (53, 110) for swinging the first swing member (52, 52A) to swing the headrest (38) forward via the headrest support member (37). Occupant protection device. The first swing member (52) is a substantially U-shaped member when the seat (30) is viewed from the side,
The intermediate part (52b) in this character-shaped member is bent backward, and the second shaft (61) is attached to the bent part so as to be able to rotate back and forth.
The upper end of the character-shaped member is attached to the first shaft (51),
The lower end portion of the character-shaped member is attached to the collision-time driving means (53),
The collision driving means (53) is a member extending in the frame width direction below the first swing member (52), and the collision object (12) from the rear with respect to the vehicle (11). There upon collision by an external force (fr) toward the rear, the first swing member (52) according to claim 1 Symbol placement of vehicle occupants protection system was characterized by a structure in which the swing driving. The second shaft (61) has a portion (61b) offset downward from a portion (61a) supported by the first swing member (52), and the second swing (61b) 3. The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a member (80) is attached.

Images