JP6625944B2 - Passenger airbag device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a passenger airbag device.

  As a related technique, there is a passenger airbag device disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this passenger seat airbag device, the housing (case) that houses the airbag includes the first member and the second member connected to the first member. The first member has a frame shape in which an upper surface and a lower surface are open, and is a member to which the inflator is fixed. On the other hand, the second member is a member that holds the airbag below the bottom surface of the first member.

  With the above configuration, even when the size of the airbag (for example, the height of the folded airbag) is changed, only the second member is changed without changing the design of the first member. By doing so, the distance between the upper surface of the folded airbag and the instrument panel can be kept constant, and stable deployment performance of the airbag is obtained.

International Publication No. 2010/150603

  However, in the related art, since the case has a two-part configuration of the first member and the second member, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of types of second members according to the number of airbags having different sizes (volumes). There is. Furthermore, since the second member is a member for holding the airbag below the bottom surface of the first member, it is relatively large. Therefore, high cost is required to prepare a plurality of types of second members.

  In view of the above, the present invention provides a passenger airbag capable of obtaining stable deployment performance of an airbag in a plurality of types of airbag devices including airbags having different heights in a folded state while sharing the cases of the airbags. It is intended to provide a device.

The passenger seat airbag device according to claim 1 is provided in front of a passenger seat and provided on an instrument panel configured to include an airbag door, and provided on a back side of the instrument panel and operated. An inflator that blows out gas, and is provided in a folded state on the back side of the instrument panel.When the inflator is operated, the inflator is inflated by the blown out gas, opens the airbag door, and enters the vehicle interior. An airbag to be deployed, a case provided on the back side of the instrument panel, to which the inflator and the airbag are fixed; and an airbag support attached to the case and supporting the airbag above the inflator. a passenger airbag apparatus comprising: a bulk upper member, a having a surface, substantially in the bulk upper member The part is formed with an inflator arrangement hole penetrating the bulky member in the vertical direction, the inflator arrangement hole is provided with a gas ejection portion of the inflator, and the airbag support surface is substantially The lower surface of the folded airbag is planar and is supported by the airbag support surface of the bulky member at a peripheral edge when viewed from substantially above.

  In the passenger airbag device according to the first aspect, the case is provided on the back side of the instrument panel provided in front of the passenger seat. An inflator and a folded airbag are fixed to the case. Thereby, the inflator and the airbag are provided on the back side of the instrument panel.

  When the inflator operates, the airbag is inflated by the gas ejected from the inflator, and the inflated airbag opens the airbag door of the instrument panel and expands into the vehicle interior.

  Further, in this passenger airbag device, a bulk member is attached to the case. The raising member has an airbag support surface. The airbag support surface is a surface that supports the airbag above the inflator. For this reason, according to this passenger-seat airbag device, the distance between the folded airbag and the back surface of the instrument panel (hereinafter, “instrument panel back surface”) can be appropriately set.

This point will be described in detail. Assuming that the case does not include a bulky member, the folded airbag is supported by the upper surface of the inflator. In contrast, in the passenger airbag device according to the first aspect, the folded airbag is supported above the inflator (that is, above the upper surface of the inflator) by the airbag supporting surface of the bulky member. Have been.
Therefore, if the bulk member cannot be attached to the case, even if the gap between the airbag and the back of the instrument panel becomes wider than desired, the gap between the airbag and the back of the instrument panel can be reduced by attaching the bulk member. Can be adjusted to an appropriate interval.

  Another explanation will be given. In cases where the space between the airbag and the back of the instrument panel is designed so that the space between the airbag and the back of the instrument panel is appropriate when no extraneous material is attached to the case, the upper and lower dimensions of the folded state can be compared with this airbag. There is a case where another airbag which becomes smaller in size is to be mounted. In such a case, by attaching the bulky member to the case, the space between the airbag and the back of the instrument panel can be kept at an appropriate distance without changing the case.

  As described above, the passenger-side airbag device according to the present invention can stabilize the airbag in a plurality of types of airbag devices including airbags having different heights in the folded state while sharing the cases of the airbags. It has an excellent effect that it is possible to obtain improved deployment performance.

It is a sectional side view showing the state where the passenger's seat airbag device concerning one embodiment was cut by a plane perpendicular to the cross direction of vehicles. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a passenger airbag device to which a lifting member is not attached, and FIG. 2A includes an airbag in which a height of a folded airbag is higher than that of the embodiment of FIG. 1. 1B shows a state in which an airbag having the same height as the embodiment of FIG. 1 is provided. (A) is a perspective view showing the raising member of FIG. 1, (B) is a modification which shows the raising member which concerns on a 1st modification. (A) is a sectional side view showing a passenger seat airbag device provided with a raising member according to a second modification, and (B) is a perspective view showing a raising member according to a second modification.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a passenger seat airbag device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3A.

  In addition, the arrow FR appropriately shown in each drawing indicates the front of the vehicle, the arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle, and the arrow W indicates the vehicle width direction. Hereinafter, when the description is simply made using the front-rear, left-right, and up-down directions, unless otherwise specified, it indicates the front-back direction of the vehicle, the left-right direction of the vehicle (vehicle width direction), and the up-down direction of the vehicle vertical direction. Shall be.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a passenger seat airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment is provided in front of a passenger seat (not shown), and includes an airbag 40, an airbag case 50 as a “case”, and an airbag case. The instrument panel 20 includes the bag door 22, the inflator 30, and the bulky member 60.

  The airbag 40 is a bag that is stored in a folded state on the back side of the instrument panel 20 in front of the passenger seat. The airbag 40 is configured to be inflated and deployed by being supplied with gas ejected from the inflator 30.

  The airbag case 50 is a box made of a metal material or the like, and is arranged on the back side of the instrument panel 20 such that the upper side of the vehicle is the opening side. The airbag case 50 is supported by a strength member such as an instrument panel reinforcement (not shown) (a member extending in the vehicle width direction on the back side of the instrument panel 20) via a bracket. A plurality of hooks 54 are provided on the front and rear vertical wall portions 52 of the airbag case 50, respectively, in a row in the vehicle width direction.

  On the back side of the instrument panel 20, a case mounting retainer 24 is provided. The case mounting retainer 24 is fixed to the back surface of the instrument panel 20 at a frame-shaped base 24A. A vertical wall portion 24B is provided on the base portion 24A in a frame shape so as to surround a mounting region of the airbag case 50. A plurality of locking holes 26 are formed in the front and rear vertical wall portions 24 </ b> B of the case mounting retainer 24 in series along the vehicle width direction, and the hooks 54 of the airbag case 50 are formed in the locking holes 26. Are locked respectively.

  The upper end opening of the case mounting retainer 24 serving as an outlet when the airbag 40 is inflated and deployed is closed by the instrument panel 20, and the portion of the instrument panel 20 has, for example, a substantially H-shape in bottom view. Is formed. The inflatable portion 28 is acted upon by a bag inflation pressure equal to or greater than a predetermined value in order to deploy the door portions 22F, 22R constituting the airbag door 22 back and forth around the hinge portions 23F, 23R (both integral hinges). It is constituted so that it may be broken.

  The inflator 30 is, for example, a disk-type gas generator configured to be able to eject gas and supply the gas into the airbag 40 at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle or at the time of predicting the frontal collision. An upper portion of the inflator 30 is a gas ejection portion 32, and a plurality of gas ejection holes 34 are provided on an outer peripheral surface of the gas ejection portion 32. In the inflator 30, a mounting flange 36 is provided below the gas ejection portion 32 so as to project outward from the gas ejection portion 32, and a through hole 38 is formed in the attachment flange 36. Have been.

  At the center of the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50, a mounting hole 58 that allows the gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 to be inserted from below the vehicle, a through hole 59 corresponding to the through hole 38 of the mounting flange 36, Is formed.

  The raising member 60 is attached to the airbag case 50. As shown in FIG. 3 (A), the raising member 60 is bent downward from four flat edges of the top plate 62 that constitutes the upper part of the raising member 60. And a bottom plate portion 64 bent from the lower end of the vertical wall portion 63 to the outside of the bulky member. A bottom plate portion 64 is attached to the airbag case 50, and a vertical wall portion 63 and a top plate portion 62 are provided so as to protrude upward from the bottom plate portion 64. Hereinafter, the vertical wall portion 63 and the top plate portion 62 may be collectively referred to as a bulging portion 61.

  The gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 is housed inside the swelling portion 61 of the raising member 60. On the other hand, the bottom plate portion 64 is provided with a plurality (four in this embodiment) of bolts 72 that penetrate the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 and protrude downward from the vehicle. These bolts 72 are inserted through through holes 59 formed in the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50, and project from the bottom wall portion 56 downward of the vehicle.

  The gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 is inserted into the attachment hole 58 of the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50 from below the vehicle so that these protruding bolts 72 pass through the through holes 38 of the attachment flange 36 of the inflator 30. It is plugged in. A nut 74 is tightened to each bolt 72 from below the mounting flange 36 so that the bulky member 60, the inflator 30 and the base end 42 of the airbag 40 are fastened and fixed to the airbag case 50. Have been.

  An opening through which the gas ejection portion 32 can be inserted is formed on the base end side of the airbag 40. As described above, the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 is connected to the airbag case 50 and the bulky member 60. The opening of the airbag 40 is closed by being sandwiched and fixed between the bottom plate 64 of the airbag 40 and the bottom plate 64. Thereby, the gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 is disposed inside the airbag 40. The raising member 60 is also arranged in the airbag 40.

  The other portion of the airbag 40 to which the base end 42 is fixed is in a folded state, and is placed on the upper surface 62 </ b> A of the top plate 62 of the bulky member 60. In other words, the folded airbag 40 is supported by the upper surface 62 </ b> A of the top plate 62 of the raised member 60. The airbag 40 folded in this way is covered with a protective cloth 45 as shown in FIG. The protective cloth 45 is configured to be easily broken at a perforated cut (not shown) when receiving the bag inflation pressure.

  A through hole 65 is formed in the top plate 62 of the raised member 60. Through this through hole 65, gas from the gas ejection part 32 arranged inside the bulging part 61 of the raising member 60 is supplied to the airbag 40.

  The inflator 30 is connected to an airbag ECU (not shown) via a wire harness (not shown), and is activated by an operating current from the airbag ECU to eject gas from the gas ejection holes 34. It is configured as follows. The airbag ECU is configured to supply an operating current to the inflator 30 when a frontal collision of the vehicle is determined or a frontal collision is predicted based on a signal from a collision sensor (not shown).

  The airbag 40 is configured to be inflated and deployed toward the occupant seated on the passenger seat by receiving gas supply from the inflator 30. Specifically, when the airbag 40 receives a gas supply from the inflator 30, the airbag 40 is inflated, and the breakable portion 28 of the instrument panel 20 is broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag, and the door portion of the airbag door 22 is opened. 22F and 22R open. Thereafter, the airbag 40 is deployed on the front side of the instrument panel 20 (that is, on the vehicle interior).

<Action / Effect>
Next, the operation and effect of the passenger airbag device of the present embodiment will be described.

  In the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, an airbag case 50 is provided on the back side of the instrument panel 20 provided in front of the passenger seat. The inflator 30 and the base end 42 of the folded airbag 40 are fixed to the airbag case 50. Thereby, the inflator 30 and the airbag 40 are provided on the back side of the instrument panel 20.

  When the inflator 30 operates, the airbag 40 is inflated by the gas ejected from the inflator 30, and the inflated airbag 40 opens the airbag door 22 of the instrument panel 20 and expands into the vehicle interior. ing.

Furthermore, in the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, the bulky member 60 is attached to the airbag case 50. The raising member 60 includes a top plate portion 62 disposed above the inflator 30, and the folded airbag 40 is placed on the upper surface 62 </ b> A of the top plate portion 62. In other words, the raising member 60 has an upper surface 62A as an “airbag support surface” that supports the airbag 40 that is folded above the inflator 30.
Therefore, according to the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, the distance D between the folded airbag 40 and the rear surface of the instrument panel can be appropriately set.

This point will be described in detail. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a case where the bulky member 60 is not attached to the airbag case 50 (in this case, a ring retainer 80 is provided). Assuming that the airbags 140, 40 in the folded state are supported by the upper surface 30A of the inflator 30.
On the other hand, in the passenger airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the folded airbag 40 is an airbag of the bulky member 60 located above the inflator 30. The support surface (the upper surface 62A of the top plate 62) supports the inflator 30 above the upper surface 30A.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the bulky member 60 is not attached to the airbag case 50, the distance D between the folded airbag 40 and the rear surface of the instrument panel is wider than a desired distance. Even in the case where the airbag 40 becomes too thin, as shown in FIG. 1, the space D between the folded airbag 40 and the back surface of the instrument panel can be adjusted to an appropriate space by attaching the bulky member 60.

  Another explanation will be given. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the bulky member 60 is not attached to the airbag case 50, the distance D between the folded airbag 140 and the back of the instrument panel is an appropriate distance. In the airbag case 50 and the inflator 30 designed as described above, instead of the airbag 140, another airbag 40 having a relatively small vertical dimension in a folded state (the airbag 40 of the present embodiment). In some cases. In this case, as in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, by attaching the bulky member 60 to the airbag case 50, the airbag case 50 and the inflator 30 can be folded without changing other members. The distance D between the closed airbag 40 and the back of the instrument panel can be maintained at an appropriate distance.

  Further, in the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, the raised member 60 has the bottom plate portion 64 for fixing the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 by sandwiching it between the base end portion 42 and the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50. It is comprised including. That is, the bottom plate portion 64, which is a part of the raising member 60, is a retainer portion that fixes the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 by sandwiching the base end portion 42 with the airbag case 50. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a retainer for sandwiching and fixing the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 between the airbag case 50 and the airbag case 50 separately from the bulky member 60.

  Further, in the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, the upper surface 62A of the top plate portion 62 serving as the airbag support surface for supporting the folded airbag 40 in the bulky member 60 is substantially planar. It has been. Therefore, the folded airbag 40 can be stably supported.

  In the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, the bulky member 60, the inflator 30 and the base end 42 of the airbag 40 are fastened and fixed to the airbag case 50 by the bolts 72 and the nuts 74. That is, the raised member 60, the inflator 30, and the airbag 40 are simultaneously fixed to the airbag case 50 by a set of fixing tools such as the bolt 72 and the nut 74. For this reason, a fixture for fixing the raised member 60 to the airbag case 50, a fixture for fixing the inflator 30 to the airbag case 50, and a fixture for fixing the airbag 40 to the airbag case 50 are separately provided. The number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case of using.

Further, in the passenger seat airbag device 10 of the present embodiment, while the through hole 65 of the top plate portion 62 of the raised member 60 is located above the gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30, gas is ejected. The gas ejection hole 34 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30. That is, the through hole 65 of the top plate portion 62 of the raising member 60 is formed at a position different from the direction in which the gas ejected from the gas ejection hole 34 of the gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 is ejected.
For this reason, the gas ejected from the inflator 30 first strikes the vertical wall 63 of the raised member 60, and then is supplied to the airbag 40 through the through hole 65 of the top plate 62. As described above, since the gas ejected from the inflator 30 is configured not to directly hit the airbag 40, damage to the airbag 40 due to heat of the gas is suppressed.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, the lifting member 60 as an example of the “bulking member” of the present invention has been described, but the “bulking member” of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lifting member 160 according to the first modification shown in FIG. 3B may be used, or the lifting member 260 according to the second modification shown in FIG. 4B may be used. . Hereinafter, each will be described.

  The lifting member 160 according to the first modification includes a bottom plate portion 164 formed in a substantially circular frame shape, and a dome-shaped (bowl-shaped) expansion formed to protrude upward from an inner end of the bottom plate portion 164. And an outlet 161. The upper surface 161A of the dome-shaped bulging portion 161 serves as an airbag support surface on which the folded airbag 40 is supported. The bulging portion 161 has a large number (10 or more in this embodiment) of through holes 165. The large number of through holes 165 are circumferentially arranged at substantially equal intervals so as to surround the center of the bulging portion 161 when viewed from substantially above the vehicle.

  Similar to the above embodiment, the bottom plate portion 164 has a plurality of bolts 72 penetrating through the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 and projecting downward from the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50 toward the vehicle. In the embodiment, four) are provided.

  Next, an operation and an effect of the passenger seat airbag device 100 including the raising member 160 according to the first modified example will be described.

  In the lifting member 160 according to the first modification, the bottom plate portion 164 of the lifting member 160 is formed in a frame shape. That is, the bottom plate portion 164 of the raising member 160 is used to cover the entire base end of the airbag 40 (that is, the entire circumferential direction at the edge of the opening formed on the base end side of the airbag 40). And is fixed between them. For this reason, gas is prevented from leaking from between the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 and the airbag case 50.

  Further, in the raising member 160 according to the first modification, a large number of through holes 165 are formed in the bulging portion 161, and the large number of through holes 165 are located at the center of the bulging portion 161 when viewed from substantially above the vehicle. Are arranged circumferentially at substantially equal intervals so as to surround. Therefore, the raising member 160 also functions as a diffuser for diffusing gas ejected from the inflator 30.

(Second modification)
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the bulky member 260 according to the second modification has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape. An inflator arrangement hole 262 that penetrates the raising member 260 in the vertical direction is formed at a substantially central portion of the raising member 260. As shown in FIG. 4A, the gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 is arranged in the inflator arrangement hole 262.

  A plurality (four in the present embodiment) of bolt insertion holes 264 penetrating the bulky member 260 in the up-down direction is formed outside the inflator arrangement hole 262.

  Further, the passenger seat airbag device 200 including the raised member 260 according to the second modified example is configured to include the ring retainer 80 separately from the raised member 260. As shown in FIG. 4A, in a state where the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 is disposed between the ring retainer 80 and the upper surface 260A of the bulky member 260, it is longer than the bolt 72 of the above embodiment. The bolt 76 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 264 of the bulky member 260 from above while penetrating the ring retainer 80 and the base end 42 of the airbag 40. The bolt 76 protrudes downward from the bottom wall 56 of the airbag case 50 in the vehicle. The gas ejection portion 32 of the inflator 30 is inserted into the attachment hole 58 of the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50 from below the vehicle so that the bolt 76 passes through the through hole 38 of the attachment flange 36 of the inflator 30. A nut 78 is fastened to each bolt 76 from below the mounting flange 36 in the vehicle. As a result, the base end 42 of the airbag 40 is sandwiched and fixed between the upper surface 260A of the bulky member 260 and the ring retainer 80. Thus, the bulky member 260 and the inflator 30 are fixed to the airbag case 50. Then, the folded airbag 40 is supported on the upper surface 260 </ b> A of the bulky member 260.

  Next, the operation and effect of the passenger airbag device 200 including the raising member 260 according to the second modification will be described.

In the raising member 260 according to the second modification, the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 is sandwiched and fixed between the upper surface 260A of the raising member 260 and the ring retainer 80. That is, the base end 42 of the airbag 40 is fixed at a position above the bottom wall 56 of the airbag case 50. Therefore, the shape of the airbag 40 can be made simpler than when the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 is fixed to the bottom wall portion 56 of the airbag case 50.
Further, in the raising member 260 according to the second modification, as shown in FIG. 4A, substantially the entirety of the folded airbag 40 corresponds to the inflator ventilation hole 262 of the raising member 260. It is supported on the upper surface 260 </ b> A of the bulky member 260, except for the portion where it does. That is, in all portions (peripheral edge when viewed from substantially above) of the lower surface of the folded airbag 40 except for the central portion (central portion when viewed from substantially above), the bulking member 260 It is supported on the upper surface 260A. Therefore, collapse of the folded airbag 40 can be efficiently suppressed.

[Supplementary explanation of the above embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment and modified examples, the example in which the bulky members 60, 160, and 260 are attached to the airbag case 50 by the fasteners such as the bolts 72 and the nuts 74 has been described. Is not limited to this. For example, the manner in which the bulky member is attached to the airbag case may be attachment by rivets. Further, for example, the attachment may be performed by welding.

  In the above-described embodiment and the first modification, the bottom plate portions 64 and 164 of the raising members 60 and 160 have a retainer portion that fixes the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 by sandwiching the base end portion 42 with the airbag case 50. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a ring retainer for sandwiching and fixing the base end portion 42 of the airbag 40 between the airbag case 50 and the airbag case 50 may be provided separately from the bulky members 60 and 160.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the example is described in which the airbag case 50 is supported via a bracket on a strength member such as an instrument panel reinforcement (not shown), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the airbag case may be supported directly by the reinforced instrument panel or the like, and may not be supported by a strength member such as instrument panel reinforcement.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the lifting member 60, the inflator 30, and the airbag 40 are simultaneously fixed to the airbag case 50 by a set of fixing tools such as a bolt 72 and a nut 74. Is not limited to this. For example, a fixture for fixing the raised member 60 to the airbag case 50, a fixture for fixing the inflator 30 to the airbag case 50, and a fixture for fixing the airbag 40 to the airbag case 50 are separately provided. It may be provided.

10 passenger seat airbag device 20 instrument panel 22 airbag door 30 inflator 34 gas ejection hole 40 airbag 50 airbag case (case)
60 Bulk Member 62 Top Plate 62A Top Surface of Top Plate (Airbag Supporting Surface)
100 Passenger-seat airbag device 160 Bulk member 161 Swelling portion 161A Upper surface of swelling portion (airbag support surface)
200 Passenger-seat airbag device 260 Bulk member 260A Upper surface of bulk member (airbag support surface)

Claims (2)

An instrument panel provided in front of the passenger seat and including an airbag door,
An inflator that is provided on the back side of the instrument panel and that ejects gas when activated,
An airbag that is provided in a folded state on the back surface side of the instrument panel and is inflated by the ejected gas by operating the inflator, opens the airbag door, and deploys in the vehicle interior,
A case provided on the back side of the instrument panel, wherein the inflator and the airbag are fixed,
A lifting member attached to the case and having an airbag support surface that supports the airbag above the inflator;
A passenger seat airbag device comprising :
An inflator arrangement hole is formed in a substantially central portion of the bulking member so as to vertically penetrate the bulking member,
In the inflator arrangement hole, a gas ejection portion of the inflator is arranged,
The airbag support surface is substantially planar,
Of the lower surface of the folded airbag, at a peripheral edge when viewed from substantially above, the airbag is supported by the airbag support surface of the bulky member,
Passenger airbag device. The base end of the airbag is sandwiched and fixed between the airbag support surface of the bulky member and a ring retainer,
The base end of the airbag is fixed at a position above a bottom wall of the case,
The passenger airbag device according to claim 1.

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