JP5015851B2 - Vehicle occupant protection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for a vehicle that is deployed on a side portion of a passenger compartment to protect an occupant when an impact is input.

  A curtain airbag device is known as a vehicle occupant protection device. In the curtain airbag device, a front seat bag body and a rear seat bag body are formed by stitching two base fabrics, and these base fabrics are folded and accommodated inside the roof side rail. And, an inflator is connected to the front seat bag body and the rear seat bag body, and when the impact load is input to the vehicle, the inflator generates both of the bag bodies by generating high-pressure gas. Yes.

In this type of curtain airbag device, when each bag body is inflated by receiving a high-pressure gas, the bag body pulls the surrounding base fabric by the expansion. There is a concern that the load on the side mounting portion may increase.
For this reason, the curtain airbag apparatus which can cope with this is devised (for example, refer patent document 1).

The curtain airbag device described in Patent Document 1 is provided with an open portion such as a slit or an opening in a region between a front seat bag body and a rear seat bag body on a base fabric, and both bag bodies are subjected to gas pressure. When the bag expands, the opening portion opens to relieve the tensile force acting on the base fabric around the bag.
Japanese Patent No. 3906701

  However, in this conventional curtain airbag device, the opening portion is formed so as to penetrate the two base fabrics, although the opening portion opens to relieve the tensile force acting around the bag body. Therefore, when the bag body is inflated, a part of the protection area of the occupant communicates with the outside of the vehicle.

  Accordingly, the present invention is intended to provide a vehicle occupant protection device that can alleviate an unnecessary pulling force that acts on the base fabric during deployment without causing the occupant protection area to communicate with the outside of the vehicle.

The invention according to claim 1 , which solves the above problem, is an inflator that generates gas when an impact is input (for example, an inflator 30 in an embodiment described later), and is attached to a side portion of a vehicle body in a folded state. An airbag main body (for example, an airbag main body 10 in an embodiment described later) that is introduced with gas, and the airbag main body is a front seat bag body (for example, a front seat bag body in an embodiment described later). 13) and a rear seat bag body (for example, a rear seat bag body 14 in an embodiment described later), and a vehicle interior base fabric and a vehicle exterior base fabric are overlapped with each other. An occupant protection device that is a non-inflatable region (for example, an embodiment described later) located between the front seat bag body and the rear seat bag body of the vehicle interior side base fabric and the vehicle interior side base fabric. Non-inflatable region 18 at A is, at a position offset to one another in the passenger compartment-side base fabric and the compartment outer side base cloth, provided opening for tension reducing (e.g., a slit 20A in the embodiment described later, 20B) respectively, said air bag The main body has an upper end fixed to a side portion of the vehicle body, and the open portion is a slit along the vertical direction of the vehicle body, between the upper end portion of the airbag main body and the non-inflatable region, A communication part (for example, a communication part 17 in an embodiment described later) for introducing the gas from the inflator into the front seat bag body and the rear seat bag body between the seat bag body and the rear seat bag body. The open portion is formed such that a distance from a lower end of the non-inflatable region is larger than a distance from the communication portion .
When high-pressure gas is introduced from the inflator into the front seat bag body and the rear seat bag body at the time of an impact input, both the bag bodies expand to expand the vehicle interior side base fabric and the vehicle interior exterior base fabric. At this time, the region between the front seat bag body and the rear seat bag body of each base fabric is pulled by the expansion of both bag bodies, and the open portion on each base fabric is opened. However, since the open portions of both base fabrics are provided at positions offset from each other, the vehicle interior side does not communicate with the vehicle exterior through the open portion at this time.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an unnecessary pulling force can be relaxed by opening the opening portions on both base fabrics when the front seat bag and the rear seat bag are unfolded, Since the opening part on the base fabric is provided at a position offset from each other, it is ensured that the passenger protection area between the front seat side bag body and the rear seat side bag body communicates with the outside of the vehicle through the opening part. Can be prevented.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram when a curtain airbag device 1 of a vehicle, which is one form of an occupant protection device, is deployed, and FIG. 2 is a main portion when the curtain airbag device 1 is inflated and deployed by introducing gas pressure. FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 2 and 3 denote a front pillar and a roof side rail on the side of the vehicle.
The curtain airbag device 1 includes an airbag main body 10 that is attached in a state of being folded up and down on a portion extending from the front pillar 2 on the vehicle interior side to the roof side rail 3, and an inflator 30 that generates gas when an impact is input. ing. The airbag main body 10 has two substantially rectangular base fabrics (vehicle interior side base fabric 11 and vehicle interior side base fabric 12) extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. A front bag 13 for inflating and deploying at the side of the front seat to protect the occupant of the front seat at the time of input, and after protecting the occupant of the rear seat by inflating and deploying at the side of the back seat at the time of impact input A seat bag 14 is formed.

  A plurality of fixing pieces 15 a to 15 f that are fixed to the vehicle body side are extended from the front end portion and the upper edge portion of the airbag body 10, and the upper end portion near the rear of the airbag body 10 is connected to the inflator 30. A gas introduction part 16 is provided. Further, a communication portion 17 that connects the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14 to the gas introduction portion 16 is formed at the upper edge of the airbag body 10. A region between the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14 of the airbag body 10 is a non-inflatable region 18 into which the gas pressure from the inflator 30 is not introduced. In the figure, reference numerals 19a to 19d denote sewing partition walls for controlling the expansion of the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14.

The non-inflatable region 18 is a portion that is pulled in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body by the expansion of the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14 when the airbag body 10 is inflated and deployed. Slits 20 </ b> A and 20 </ b> B (opening portions for reducing tension) are formed in the inner base fabric 11 and the vehicle interior outer base fabric 12, respectively, along the vertical direction of the vehicle body. These slits 20A, 20B are arranged offset in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body so that they do not communicate with each other when the mouth is opened by tension acting on both base fabrics 11, 12.
The slits 20A and 20B are formed so that the distance from the lower end of the non-inflatable region 18 is larger than the distance from the communication portion 17, thereby absorbing the vertical rigidity difference of the airbag body 10. A more uniform extension of the bag body 10 can be obtained. That is, the tension acting on the airbag body 10 is made more uniform by arranging the slits 20A and 20B so as to be biased toward the upper region (the region where the communication portion 17 is present) that is connected to the vehicle body side and is not easily deformed. Can do.

  The curtain airbag device 1 is accommodated inside the front pillar 2 and the roof side rail 3 with the airbag main body 10 folded, and when an impact load is input when the vehicle collides, the inflator 30 gasses. This gas pressure is introduced into the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14 via the gas introduction part 16 and the communication part 17. Thereby, the airbag bag body 10 expand | deploys below along the side wall of a vehicle body. When the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14 are inflated by the introduction of the gas pressure, the non-inflatable region 18 and the bag bodies 13, 14 are projected by the overhang of the bag bodies 13, 14 in the vehicle width direction. The outer periphery is pulled by the bags 13 and 14, and a large tension mainly along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body acts on the vehicle interior side base fabric 11 and the vehicle interior outer base fabric 12.

  Thus, when a large tension acts on the vehicle interior side base fabric 11 and the vehicle interior outside base fabric 12, the slits 20A and 20B provided in the base fabrics 11 and 12 are opened as shown in FIG. , 20B, the tension acting on the base fabric 11, 12 is relaxed.

  Therefore, in the curtain airbag device 1, the tension and the deformation of the front seat bag 13 and the rear seat bag 14 can be prevented and fixed by relaxing the tension due to the opening of the slits 20A and 20B. It is possible to prevent an excessive load from acting on the pieces 15a to 15f. In particular, in the case of this embodiment, since the slits 20A and 20B are formed along the vertical direction of the vehicle body, the tensile force acting near the center of each bag 13 and 14 can be efficiently reduced.

  Further, since the slits 20A and 20B that are opened when the bags 13 and 14 are inflated are provided offset in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, when the slits 20A and 20B are opened by the tension acting on the base fabrics 11 and 12, respectively. Therefore, the vehicle interior side and the vehicle interior outside do not communicate with each other through the openings of the slits 20A and 20B.

Therefore, in this airbag apparatus 1, since the protection area | region by the airbag main body 10 does not communicate with the vehicle outer side, the protection area | region which faces the passenger | crew in a vehicle interior can be reliably separated from the vehicle outer side.
In addition, in order to prevent the communication between the vehicle interior side and the vehicle interior outside, a configuration in which the base fabric 11 on the rear side of the slit 20A and the base fabric 12 on the front side of the slit 20B are connected can be considered. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a separate connecting cloth in order to allow this, and this is not preferable because it leads to an increase in cost and an increase in folding volume.

In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, A various design change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary. For example, in the above-described embodiment, one slit, which is an opening portion, is formed on each of the vehicle interior side base fabric and the vehicle interior side base fabric, but a plurality of open portions may be provided. Further, the opening portion is not limited to the slit, and may be configured by a notch, a hole, a breakage induction portion that stitches the slit with a thread that can be easily broken, or the like.
Moreover, although said embodiment is a form in case a passenger | crew protection apparatus is a curtain airbag apparatus, the passenger | crew protection apparatus concerning this invention is not restricted to a curtain airbag apparatus, For example, it is a film | membrane form at the time of the input of an impact The base fabric may be developed, and the occupant may be protected by the base fabric.

The front view in the deployment state of the crew member protection device of one embodiment of this invention. The enlarged front view of the site | part corresponding to the A section of FIG. 1 at the time of the gas pressure introduction of the same embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Curtain airbag device (occupant protection device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Airbag main body 11 ... Vehicle interior side base fabric 12 ... Vehicle interior side base fabric 13 ... Front seat bag body 14 ... Rear seat bag body 20A, 20B ... Slit (opening part)
30 ... Inflator

Claims (1)

An inflator that generates gas when an impact is input, and an airbag body that is attached to a side portion of the vehicle body in a folded state and that is introduced and deployed by the gas from the inflator, and the airbag body includes a front seat bag body and A vehicle occupant protection device having a bag body for a rear seat and configured to overlap a vehicle interior side base fabric and a vehicle interior side base fabric,
Of the vehicle interior side base fabric and vehicle exterior side base fabric, a non-inflatable region located between the front seat bag body and the rear seat bag body , the vehicle interior side base fabric and the vehicle interior exterior Opening portions for tension reduction are provided at positions offset from each other on the base fabric ,
The airbag main body has an upper end fixed to a side portion of the vehicle body,
The opening is a slit along the vertical direction of the vehicle body,
Between the upper end of the airbag main body and the non-inflatable region, and between the front seat bag and the rear seat bag, gas from the inflator is used for the front seat bag and the rear seat. Provide a communication part to be introduced into the bag body,
The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the opening portion is formed such that a distance from a lower end of the non-inflatable region is larger than a distance from the communication portion .

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