JP5921846B2 - Airbag - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag that is installed in a vehicle and instantly bulges to protect an occupant in the event of a vehicle collision, and more particularly, an airbag whose deployment state changes depending on the degree of interference between the occupant and the airbag. Regarding the bag.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an airbag device has been widely used as a safety device for protecting an occupant from an impact when a vehicle collides. The airbag device instantly inflates into the space between the occupant and the interior structure at the time of collision, and has a function of absorbing the impact when the occupant directly collides with the instrument panel, side door, handle, etc. . Therefore, as an airbag device, a sensor that detects rapid deceleration when receiving an impact such as a vehicle collision, an inflator that generates a high-pressure gas for inflation by receiving a signal from the sensor, and an inflation from the inflator An air bag body that is inflated and deployed by the high-pressure gas for reducing the impact of the occupant and a diagnostic circuit that determines whether or not the air bag system is functioning normally are provided.

  In general, in an airbag device, the size and shape of an airbag bag body (hereinafter simply referred to as an airbag or a bag) to be deployed is constant. However, it has been found that there are various situations and conditions when deploying an airbag, and it is difficult to restrain an occupant uniformly with a certain airbag. For example, the difference between the timing of `` high-speed collision '' where the occupant comes into contact with the airbag at an early stage and the `` low-speed collision '' where a time lag occurs after the airbag is deployed until the occupant contacts, the difference in the physique of the occupant, Or, a difference occurs in the restraining force by the airbag due to a difference in the seating position of the occupant. Therefore, in recent years, there is a demand for an airbag that can exhibit the ability to restrain an occupant in any situation / state.

  In Patent Document 1, a sub bag having a check valve is provided inside the main bag, and the airbag is inflated according to the degree of interference between the occupant and the sub bag to reduce the diameter of the exhaust hole. A method of adjusting is disclosed. However, since a check valve is used, backflow to the main bag is not possible, and furthermore, there is no exhaust hole in the subbag itself, so when a passenger collides when the pressure in the subbag is high There is a problem that the damage to passengers is large.

  Patent Document 2 describes that the inside of an airbag is divided into two chambers by a partition wall, and a thin-film pressure regulating valve is provided on the partition wall. When the internal pressure in one chamber on the inflator side reaches a predetermined pressure, the thin film is cleaved and gas flows into the second chamber. Therefore, the pressure in the first chamber can be maintained at the initial stage of deployment, and the first chamber can be quickly completed. Even in the case where an occupant collides in the first chamber, the thin film is cleaved in order to mitigate the increase in internal pressure due to the collision, and the damaging (disturbance value) to the occupant is reduced.

  However, with this method, once the thin film has been cleaved, the internal pressure in the first chamber cannot be increased. For this reason, the occupant can be restrained with a high internal pressure in the first chamber during a high-speed collision, but the internal pressure may be low after the thin film has been ruptured in the first chamber during a low-speed collision. There is a problem that the performance is lowered. Further, when the occupant is restrained in the second chamber, the second chamber is crushed by unrestricted exhaust from the second chamber to the first chamber, and the occupant restraint performance is lowered.

  With respect to the exhaust port valve (hereinafter referred to as a vent hole cover), various shapes and mechanisms are disclosed. For example, Patent Document 3 describes that an active vent having a coil spring is attached to a vent hole, and gas is exhausted from the active vent when the air bag internal pressure exceeds the urging force of the coil spring. . However, this method requires a complicated member and increases the weight and storage capacity. Therefore, the vent hole position is limited, and it is difficult to apply to the partition wall in the bag. Furthermore, there is a problem of harming the passengers.

  Patent Document 4 describes that a vent hole cover is attached by spot welding or the like, and the valve body is opened by the action of a predetermined airbag internal pressure during the deployment operation. However, spot welding of the vent hole cover requires a certain bonding area from the viewpoint of bonding strength, and there is a problem that the opening area of the vent hole is limited.

Japanese Patent No. 2946771 JP 2007-1362 A JP 2007-196700 A JP-A-10-76905

  The present invention solves the above-described problem, and attaches a vent hole cover to a vent hole provided in a partition wall of an airbag having a plurality of inner chambers by a very simple method, thereby achieving a simple configuration. However, an object is to provide an airbag that can exhibit occupant restraint under any circumstances.

That is, the present invention is an airbag in which a vent hole is provided in a partition wall for partitioning into a plurality of inner chambers, and the inner chamber far from the inflator has a predetermined internal pressure on the wall side far from the inflator. A vent that covers the vent hole joined by a sewing thread around the vent hole in a state where ventilation from the inner chamber farther from the inflator to the inner chamber closer to the inflator is made through a gap with the partition wall. The present invention relates to an airbag having a hole cover.

When the inner chamber closer to the inflator exceeds a predetermined internal pressure, the vent hole cover is pushed out toward the inner chamber farther from the inflator, and far from the inflator from the inner chamber closer to the inflator. It is preferable that the two inner chambers are joined together in a state where ventilation is performed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, although it is a simple structure, the airbag which can exhibit passenger | crew restraint property under any conditions can be provided.

It is the schematic which showed an example of the airbag of this invention. It is the schematic plan view which showed an example of the vent hole cover used by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the mode of ventilation | gas_flowing from the inner chamber 2A to the inner chamber 2B in the airbag of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the mode of ventilation | gas_flowing from the inner chamber 2B to the inner chamber 2A in the airbag of this invention. It is the schematic plan view which showed the other sewing method of the vent hole cover used by this invention. It is the schematic plan view which showed the other sewing method of the vent hole cover used by this invention.

  The airbag of the present invention is provided with a vent hole in a partition wall for partitioning into a plurality of inner chambers, on the side of the wall farther from the inflator, from the inner chamber farther from the inflator when a predetermined internal pressure is exceeded. A vent hole cover is provided to cover the vent hole joined by the sewing thread in a state in which ventilation to the inner chamber closer to the inflator is made.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag 1 of the present invention includes an inner chamber 2 </ b> B far from the inflator 6 (hereinafter simply referred to as the inner chamber B) and an inner chamber 2 </ b> A closer to the inflator 6 (hereinafter referred to as the inner wall 2). , Simply referred to as an inner chamber A). Although FIG. 1 shows a case where there are two inner chambers, the present invention is not limited to this and may be divided into three or more chambers. A vent hole 4 is formed in the partition wall 3, and a vent hole cover 5 is attached to the vent hole 4 so as to cover the vent hole 4. A vent hole 7 is formed in the inner chamber 2B to exhaust to the outside.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the vent hole cover 5 covers the entire vent hole 4, and is attached by a sewing thread 8 around the vent hole cover 5. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the vent hole cover 5 is attached to the wall side farther from the inflator (in other words, the partition wall on the inner chamber 2B side). For this reason, the inner chamber 2A is expanded to a predetermined position by the gas generated from the inflator, and there is no exhaust from the vent hole 4 until the inner chamber 2A reaches a predetermined internal pressure. a)) When the predetermined internal pressure is exceeded, the vent hole cover 5 is pushed out to the inner chamber 2B side, and the expansion of the inner chamber 2B is started (FIG. 3B).

  In the present invention, the vent hole cover 5 is joined to the partition wall 3 while allowing ventilation from the inner chamber 2A to the inner chamber 2B as well as ventilation from the inner chamber 2A to the inner chamber 2B. It is a feature.

  As described above, since the vent hole cover 5 is attached to the partition wall on the inner chamber 2B side, when the internal pressure of 2B is less than a predetermined value, the ventilation from the inner chamber 2B to the inner chamber 2A is hardly performed. (FIG. 4A). However, when the occupant collides so as to block the vent hole 7 that exhausts the outside of the inner chamber 2B, the vent hole cover 5 is lifted from the partition wall 3 when the inner pressure of the inner chamber 2B reaches a predetermined value or more. In this state (FIG. 4 (b)), the ventilation from the inner chamber 2B to the inner chamber 2A is performed on the contrary, and the passenger can be received softly. Furthermore, when the internal pressure of the inner chamber 2B becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value due to the ventilation of the inner chamber 2A, there is no gap between the partition wall 3 and the vent hole cover 5 again (FIG. 4A). Keep shape.

  The vent hole cover 5 can be joined to the periphery of the vent hole 4 by a sewing method called zigzag stitching as shown in FIGS. In FIG. 2A, staggered stitches are made at 10.6 mm / needle so that the apex positions are at 45 ° intervals, and in FIG. 5, the apex positions are at 22.5 ° intervals. And staggered at 9.4 mm / needle. By adjusting the sewing interval or adjusting the difference in diameter between the vent hole 4 and the vent hole cover 5, the amount of ventilation through the vent hole 4 (as a result, the predetermined internal pressure of the inner chambers 2A and 2B) Can be changed. For example, if the sewing interval is reduced or the diameter of the vent hole cover 5 is sufficiently increased with respect to the vent hole 4, the air flow rate from the inner chambers 2A to 2B tends to decrease.

  It is preferable that the overlap width of the vent hole cover 5 and the panel around the vent hole 4 in a portion related to sewing is 2 to 100 mm. If it is smaller than 2 mm, the area covering the vent hole is reduced, and even if the internal pressure is low, there is a tendency that ventilation is generated and the internal pressure of the inner chamber 2A cannot be maintained. There is a tendency that the internal pressure becomes too high and the occupant cannot be restrained normally.

  Moreover, it can also sew like FIG. 6 (a), (b) and (c). As described above, since the vent hole cover 5 is joined by the sewing thread, the ventilation amount can be easily set and changed, and a joining area is not required to be large.

  The base fabric used for the vent hole cover 5 is not particularly limited, and the same fabric as the bag body described later may be used, or other materials such as a stretchable base fabric may be used. . Especially, it is preferable to use the same base fabric as the bag body in terms of yield.

  The sewing thread used when sewing the vent hole cover 5 is not particularly limited, and a sewing thread used for sewing the bag body described later may be used, or an elastic thread may be used. May be. Especially, it is preferable to use the same sewing thread as that used for the bag body in terms of yield.

  In order to ventilate the inner chamber 2A from the inner chamber 2B and vice versa, it is necessary that the vent hole cover 5 be lifted from the partition wall 3 to create a gap. For that purpose, it is effective to use a stretchable base fabric for the vent hole cover 5 itself or to use a stretchable yarn for the sewing thread. However, even if these are not used, it is possible to generate a gap between the vent hole cover 5 and the partition wall 3 by adjusting the tension of the sewing thread to give a margin to the sewing thread. This is another advantage of joining with a sewing thread.

  As described above, the airbag of the present invention is a very simple method called stitching, and the vent hole cover is attached by a method usually used for manufacturing an airbag, so that the manufacturing process is not complicated. can do. Further, although the vent hole cover has a simple configuration in which the vent hole cover is joined by the sewing thread, the air flow rate can be easily adjusted and the occupant restraint property can be improved.

  In addition, although the vent hole 7 for exhausting to the outside is described in FIG. 1, the exhaust method is not particularly limited, and an exhaust hole type, a base fabric exhaust type, a partial base fabric exhaust type, or these Any of these may be used.

  Depending on the performance of the inflator, the capacity of the bag, the location of use, etc., the base fabric used for the airbag panel of the present invention may be one that has been subjected to air-impermeable processing by laminating and applying rubber or resin. Good.

  A fiber fabric is used as the base fabric. Here, the fiber fabric means a woven fabric woven using fiber yarns, a knitted fabric and a non-woven fabric knitted using fiber yarns.

  The fibers constituting the fiber fabric are not particularly limited, such as natural fibers, chemical fibers, and inorganic fibers. For example, Nylon 6, Nylon 66, Nylon 46, Nylon 610, Nylon 612 and the like, or aliphatic polyamide fibers obtained by copolymerization and mixing thereof, Nylon 6T, Nylon 6I, Nylon 9T and aliphatic amines represented by Copolymerized polyamide fiber of aromatic carboxylic acid, polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate alone or a copolymer thereof, polyester fiber obtained by mixing, ultrahigh molecular weight polyolefin fiber, vinylidene, Chlorine-containing fibers such as polyvinyl chloride, fluorine-containing fibers containing polytetrafluoroethylene, polyacetal fibers, polysulfone fibers, polyphenylene sulfide fibers (PPS), polyethers -Terketone fiber (PEEK), wholly aromatic polyamide fiber, wholly aromatic polyester fiber, polyimide fiber, polyetherimide fiber, polyparaphenylene benzbisoxazole fiber (PBO), vinylon fiber, acrylic fiber One type or two or more types may be appropriately selected from cellulose fibers, silicon carbide fibers, alumina fibers, glass fibers, carbon fibers, steel fibers, and the like. Of these, synthetic fiber filaments are preferred from the viewpoints of versatility and the production process of the base fabric and physical properties of the base fabric. In particular, nylon 66 fiber is preferable from the viewpoints of physical properties, durability, heat resistance, and the like. From the viewpoint of recycling, polyester fibers and nylon 6 fibers are also preferable.

  These fibers include various additives that are usually used to improve spinnability, processability, durability, etc., such as heat stabilizers, antioxidants, light stabilizers, anti-aging agents, and lubricants. One or more of a smoothing agent, a pigment, a water repellent, an oil repellent, a concealing agent such as titanium oxide, a gloss imparting agent, a flame retardant, and a plasticizer may be used. In addition, when it is desirable to weave the calami weave, processing such as twisting, bulking, crimping, winding, or gluing may be performed. Further, as the form of the yarn, in addition to the long fiber filament, a spun yarn of short fibers, a composite yarn of these, or the like may be used.

  For example, when the fiber fabric is a woven fabric, it may be a plain weave, an oblique weave (basket weave), a lattice weave (ripstop weave), a twill weave, a knot weave, an entangled weave, an imitation weave, or a composite structure thereof. If necessary, in addition to the two axes of warp and weft, a multi-axis design including 60 degrees obliquely may be used, and the arrangement of the threads in this case may be the same as that of the warp or weft. Of these, plain weaving is preferable in that the denseness of the structure, the uniformity of physical properties and performance can be ensured.

  Fabric production may be selected from various looms used for weaving ordinary industrial fabrics, for example, shuttle looms, water jet looms, air jet looms, rapier looms, projectile looms, jacquard looms, etc. You may choose from.

  When the fiber fabric is a knitted fabric, a single knitting structure such as a single knitting such as a single tricot knitting, a single cord knitting, a single atlas knitting, a weft knitting such as a flat knitting, a rubber knitting or a pearl knitting, or a combination thereof And those composed of double tissues. Moreover, when the said fiber fabric is a nonwoven fabric, what is manufactured by a chemical bond, a thermal bond, a needle punch, a spunlace, a stitch bond, a spun bond, a melt blow, wet, etc. is mention | raise | lifted.

  The single yarn thickness of the yarn constituting the base fabric may be the same or different, and is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 8 dtex, for example. Further, the strength of the single yarn is also preferably 5.4 cN / dtex or more, and more preferably 8 cN / dtex or more. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the single yarn of these fibers may be appropriately selected within a range that does not hinder the production of the fabric and the physical properties of the obtained fabric, such as a circle, an ellipse, a flat, a polygon, a hollow, and other irregular shapes. Moreover, you may use what integrated several thread | yarns from which thickness, cross-sectional shape, etc. differ by a combined yarn, twisting.

  The total fineness of the fibers is preferably 150 to 1000 dtex, and more preferably 235 to 700 dtex. If it is less than 150 dtex, the strength required for the airbag tends to be difficult to obtain. If it exceeds 1000 dtex, the weight becomes too large, and the thickness of the base fabric may increase, resulting in poor bag storage.

The base fabric preferably has a basis weight of 190 g / m ² or less and a tensile strength of 600 N / cm or more. If the basis weight and tensile strength are within this range, it can be said that it is light and excellent in physical properties. Here, the basis weight refers to the weight of the base fabric in an unprocessed state before application of an air permeability treatment agent to be described later.

The cover factor when the base fabric is a woven fabric is preferably 1500 to 2500. If the cover factor is less than 1500, the opening of the fabric will be large and it will be difficult to obtain the airtightness of the bag. If the cover factor is greater than 2500, the thickness of the fabric will increase and the bag will not be easily stored. There is a fear. Here, the cover factor means that the warp yarn total fineness is D ₁ (dtex), the warp yarn density is N ₁ (lines / 2.54 cm), the weft total yarn fineness is D ₂ (dtex), and the weft yarn density Is N ₂ (lines / 2.54 cm), it is expressed as (D ₁ × 0.9) 1/2 × N1 + (D2 × 0.9) 1/2 × N ₂ .

  The base fabric may be subjected to scouring and heat treatment.

  As described above, the base fabric may have a resin layer for the purpose of improving heat resistance and reducing air permeability. Further, for that purpose, the resin layer is attached to at least the entire surface of one side of the base fabric, but on the surface of the base fabric, the gap portion of the yarn bundle constituting the base fabric, or the gap portion of the single fiber yarn, etc. It may be interposed. It is preferable to fabricate the airbag so that the coated surfaces are inside by joining the surfaces having the resin layer, because of the heat resistance and that the damage to the coating can be suppressed even when an external force is applied to the base fabric. .

  Examples of the resin include halogen-containing rubbers such as chloroprene rubber, high baron rubber, and fluorine rubber, silicone rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, ethylene propylene terpolymer rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, isobutylene isoprene rubber, urethane rubber, and the like. Rubbers such as acrylic rubber, and halogen-containing resins such as vinyl chloride resin, vinylidene chloride resin, chlorinated polyolefin resin and fluorine resin, resins such as urethane resin, acrylic resin, ester resin, amide resin, olefin resin and silicone resin These are used alone or in combination. Of these, silicone rubber and silicone resin are preferable in terms of excellent flexibility, heat resistance, and weather resistance.

  As coating methods, 1) coating method (knife, kiss, reverse, comma, slot die, lip, etc.), 2) dipping method, 3) printing method (screen, roll, rotary, gravure, etc.), 4) transfer method, etc. (Transfer), 5) Laminating method, and 6) Spraying method. Among these, the coating method is preferable because the range of the application amount that can be set is large.

Moreover, as an application quantity, 5-60 g / m < ² > is preferable. If the coating amount is less than 5 g / m ² , the air permeability of the base fabric is increased, which may cause a problem in the airtightness of the bag. If the coating amount is more than 60 g / m ² , the thickness of the base fabric is increased. This may increase the thickness of the bag and cause problems with the bag storage.

  The occupant side cloth and the inflator side cloth may be joined by any method such as sewing, adhesion, welding, weaving, knitting, or a combination thereof, and robustness as an airbag. As long as it satisfies the impact resistance at the time of deployment and the impact resistance performance of the occupant.

  The sewing may be performed by seams applied to ordinary airbags such as main stitching, double chain stitching, one-sided stitching, overcasting stitching, safety stitching, staggered stitching, and flat stitching. Further, the thickness of the sewing thread may be 235 dtex (corresponding to 50th hand) to 2800 dtex (corresponding to 0 hand), and the number of stitches may be 0.09 to 10 stitches / cm. When multiple rows of stitch lines are required, the distance between the stitch lines should be about 2.2 mm to 8 mm, and a multi-needle type sewing machine should be used. If the sewing part distance is not long, a single needle sewing machine should be used. Multiple stitches may be sutured.

  Furthermore, if necessary, seal material, adhesive or adhesive material is applied to the upper and / or lower parts of the seam, between the seams, the seam allowances, etc., in order to prevent gas leakage from the seams such as the outer periphery seam. It may be spread or laminated.

  What is necessary is just to select suitably the sewing thread | yarn used for a sewing from what is generally called as a synthetic fiber sewing thread | yarn, and what is used as an industrial sewing thread | yarn. For example, nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 46, polyester, polymer polyolefin, fluorine-containing, vinylon, aramid, carbon, glass, steel and the like may be used, and any of spun yarn, filament twisted yarn or filament resin processed yarn may be used.

  In addition, as described above, a heat-resistant protective cloth or a mechanical reinforcing cloth for protecting from the hot gas may be provided around the inflator attachment port according to the characteristics of the inflator to be used. These protective cloths and reinforcing cloths are made of heat-resistant materials such as heat-resistant fiber materials such as wholly aromatic polyamide fibers, wholly aromatic polyester fibers, PBO fibers, polyimide fibers, and fluorine-containing fibers. Alternatively, it is also possible to use a woven fabric that is separately prepared using a thread that is the same as the airbag body or thicker than the base fabric. Moreover, you may use what gave the heat resistant coating | covering material to the textile fabric.

  The present invention has been described so far with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, and changes and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The airbag having such a shape is mainly used for a passenger seat, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other airbags such as a driver seat, a side collision, and a rear seat are used. Is also applicable.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air bag 2A Inner chamber nearer to inflator 6 2B Inner chamber farther away from inflator 6 3 Partition wall 4 Vent hole 5 Vent hole cover 6 Inflator 7 Vent hole for exhausting outside 8 Sewing thread

Claims (2)

An airbag in which a vent hole is provided in a partition wall for partitioning into a plurality of inner chambers, which is far from the inflator when the inner chamber far from the inflator exceeds a predetermined internal pressure on the wall side far from the inflator A vent hole cover that covers the vent hole joined by a sewing thread around the vent hole in a state where ventilation from the inner chamber to the inner chamber closer to the inflator is made through a gap with the partition wall. Airbag. When the inner chamber closer to the inflator exceeds a predetermined internal pressure, the vent hole cover is pushed out toward the inner chamber farther from the inflator, and far from the inflator from the inner chamber closer to the inflator. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein the airbag is joined in a state in which air is vented to the inner chamber.