JP6891650B2 - Driver's seat airbag and driver's seat airbag device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an airbag and an airbag device for restraining an occupant in the event of a collision of an automobile, and more particularly to an airbag and an airbag device for the driver's seat.

The driver airbag device provided on the steering wheel activates an inflator (gas generator) to eject gas in an emergency such as a vehicle collision, supplies gas to the airbag, and drives this airbag with the steering wheel. It is configured to be deployed with the seat occupants.

Patent Document 1 describes a central gas bag having an opening for gas inflow at the base end portion, and the base end portion being fixed to a fixing member in front of the seat and blowing in the gas mainstream direction at the time of blowing, and a central gas bag. An outer gas bag that is connected to the outer circumference of the central gas bag and blows in a donut shape in the circumferential direction of the outer circumference of the central gas bag at the time of continuous blowing through the central gas bag and the gas flow distribution port provided at the connecting portion thereof. And, the driver's seat airbag equipped with is described.

In the driver's seat airbag of Patent Document 1, the occupant's head can rotate when restraining the occupant's head that has inertially moved diagonally forward in the event of an oblique collision or a minute lap collision.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-132444 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-207414 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-315494 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-155300 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-156740 U.S. Pat. No. 9,550,465 Japanese Patent No. 3922764 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-207357 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-199123

An object of the present invention is to provide a driver airbag and a driver airbag device capable of restraining an occupant while suppressing the rotation of the occupant's head in the event of an oblique collision.

The driver airbag of the present invention is coupled to a main chamber in which the peripheral edges of the front panel on the occupant side and the rear panel on the steering wheel side are coupled, and is coupled to the main chamber and expands along the outer peripheral portion of the main chamber. An airbag for a driver's seat including an annular subchamber to be deployed, the front panel having at least the tack portions of Articles 1 to 4, and the first and second tack portions. The first tack portion is arranged on one half side of the center of the front panel, the second tack portion is arranged on the other half side, and the third and fourth tack portions are arranged substantially in parallel. , Approximately parallel, extending in the intersecting direction with the first and second tack portions, the third tack portion is arranged on one side of the center of the front panel, and the fourth tack portion is provided. The unit is characterized in that it is arranged on the other side.

The driver airbag device of the present invention includes the airbag for changing seats and an inflator that inflates the airbag for the driver's seat.

In one aspect of the invention, the subchamber has a plurality of curved tubular cylinders with open ends connected to each other.

In one aspect of the present invention, each cylinder is surrounded by first to fourth edges, the first edge and the third edge face each other, and the second edge and the fourth edge. The first edge of the panel facing the edge and the third edge are combined, and the first edge and the third edge are convex toward the outside of the panel. The second edge and the fourth edge are concave toward the inside of the panel.

In one aspect of the present invention, the first to fourth edges are curved arcuate.

In one aspect of the present invention, each tack portion is a single tack having one folded portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, each tack portion is a double tack having two folding portions.

In one aspect of the present invention, the first and second tack portions extend in the vertical direction in a state where the driver's seat airbag is provided on the steering wheel in a vehicle straight-ahead posture, and the third and fourth tack portions extend in the vertical direction. The tack part of is extending in the left-right direction.

In one aspect of the present invention, the peripheral edge of the communication hole formed in the rear panel and the peripheral edge of the communication hole formed in the subchamber are connected.

In one aspect of the present invention, in the expanded and deployed state of the driver airbag, the rear end surface of the main chamber is located on the front side of the rear end surface of the subchamber, and the front panel and the subchamber are located. The panel coupled to forms an inclined surface at the peripheral edge of the main chamber.

The driver airbag of the present invention is coupled to a main chamber in which the peripheral edges of the front panel on the occupant side and the rear panel on the steering wheel side are coupled, and is coupled to the main chamber and expands along the outer peripheral portion of the main chamber. An airbag for the driver's seat including an annular sub-chamber to be deployed, and in the expanded and deployed state, the main chamber has a maximum width portion having a maximum left-right width in the middle portion in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The left-right width of the main chamber gradually decreases from the maximum width portion toward the rear.

In one aspect of the present invention, the subchamber is in contact with the annular portion of the steering wheel and the main chamber is not in contact with the annular portion in the expanded and deployed state of the driver airbag.

According to the present invention, the occupant can be restrained while suppressing the rotation of the occupant's head at the time of an oblique collision.

(A) is a front view of a steering wheel provided with an airbag device provided with an airbag for the driver's seat according to the embodiment, and (b) is a front view of the steering wheel when the airbag is inflated. It is a side view of the inflated driver's seat airbag. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1 (b). It is a top view of the rear panel of a main chamber. (A) is a plan view of the front panel of the main chamber, and (b) and (c) are plan views showing the folding. It is sectional drawing of the rear panel and the front panel along the VI-VI line of FIG. 5C. (A) is a plan view of a panel constituting a subchamber, (b) is a view for explaining a sewing method of this panel, and (c) is a perspective view of a cylinder formed by this panel. It is a figure explaining the manufacturing method of a subchamber. It is a perspective view of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on another embodiment. It is an exploded view of the main bag which concerns on another embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on another embodiment. It is a front view at the time of expansion of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on another embodiment. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. In the following description, the front-rear and left-right directions coincide with the up-down direction and the left-right direction of the steering wheel when the steering wheel is in the vehicle straight-ahead posture.

The driver's seat airbag (hereinafter, may be simply abbreviated as an airbag) 10 according to the present embodiment is attached to a retainer (not shown) as an airbag mounting member in a folded state, and is a built-in inflator 2. Inflated by. A driver's seat airbag device is configured by mounting a module cover (not shown) so as to cover the folded body of the airbag 10.

The steering wheel 1 includes a central portion 1a connected to a steering shaft (not shown), an annular portion 1b orbiting around the central portion 1a, and a spoke portion connecting the central portion 1a and the annular portion 1b. It has 1c and. In this embodiment, a total of three spoke portions 1c extend from the central portion 1a to the left, right, and downward, and the tip side of each spoke portion 1c in the extending direction is inside the left, right, and lower sides of the annular portion 1b. It is connected to each lap. The portion between the central portion 1a and the annular portion 1b where the spoke portion 1c does not exist is an open portion 1d that communicates the occupant side and the anti-occupant side of the steering wheel 1.

The steering wheel 1 is attached to the rear end of the steering column 3 protruding rearward (driver's seat side) from the instrument panel 4. The driver's seat airbag device is arranged in the central portion 1a of the steering wheel 1.

The driver's seat airbag 10 includes a main chamber 11 (center chamber) and an annular sub-chamber 21 that expands and expands in the circumferential direction at the outer peripheral portion of the main chamber 11.

The main chamber 11 is sutured with suture thread 61 (see FIG. 3) at the peripheral edge between the front panel 13 forming the front surface on the occupant side and the rear panel 12 forming the rear surface on the steering wheel 1 side when expanded. It is in the shape of a bag.

The rear panel 12 is made of a circular panel (base cloth). The diameter of the rear panel 12 is about 200 to 500 mm. The rear panel 12 is provided with an inflator opening 15 into which the inflator 2 is inserted. Further, around the inflator opening 15, a bolt insertion hole 16 through which a bolt for fixing the rear panel 12 to the retainer together with the inflator 2 is inserted is provided.

Two circular vent holes 17 that communicate the inside and the outside of the main chamber 11 are provided on the upper portion of the rear panel 12. The shape, number, and position of the vent holes 17 can be changed as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the front panel 13 has a substantially circular shape, but has overhanging portions 40A to 40D at four points on the peripheral edge portion.

Of the outer peripheral edge of the front panel 13, the arc portion 30A is formed between the overhanging portion 40A and the overhanging portion 40D. An arc portion 30B is formed between the overhanging portion 40A and the overhanging portion 40B. An arc portion 30C is formed between the overhanging portion 40B and the overhanging portion 40C. An arc portion 30D is formed between the overhanging portion 40C and the overhanging portion 40D.

The arc portion 30A is located on the upper edge of the front panel 13, the arc portion 30B is located on the right edge of the front panel 13, the arc portion 30C is located on the lower edge of the front panel 3, and the arc portion 3D is located on the front panel 3. Located on the left edge. The circumferences of the arc portions 30A to 30D are equal. The radius of curvature of the arcuate portions 30A to 30D is equal to the radius of curvature of the outer peripheral edge of the overhanging portions 40A to 40D.

The overhanging portion 40A is located obliquely upward to the right when viewed from the center of the front panel 13. The overhanging portion 40B is located obliquely downward to the right when viewed from the center of the front panel 13. The overhanging portion 40C is located obliquely downward to the left when viewed from the center of the front panel 13. The overhanging portion 40D is located at a position obliquely upward to the left when viewed from the center of the front panel 13. The outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40A to 40D are arcuate with the same radius of curvature. The circumferences of the outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40A to 40D are equal.

In this embodiment, the first tack portion 111 that vertically traverses the right half side of the front panel 13, the second tack portion 112 that vertically traverses the left half side, and the upper half side of the front panel 13 are left and right. A third tack portion 113 that is horizontal in the direction and a fourth tack portion 114 that crosses the lower half side in the left-right direction are provided.

The tack portions 111 and 112 are formed by folding the front panel 13 along the vertical valley fold lines 111a and 112a and folding the front panel 13 along the vertical mountain fold lines 111b and 112b. To. That is, the front panel 13 is folded so that the mountain fold lines 111b and 112b overlap the valley fold lines 111a and 112a on the center side of the front panel 13.

The tack portions 113 and 114 are formed by folding the front panel 13 along the valley fold lines 113a and 114a in the left-right direction and folding the front panel 13 along the mountain fold lines 113b and 114b.

The valley fold line 111a is a straight line connecting the right ends of the arc portions 30A and 30C. The mountain fold line 111b is a straight line connecting the left ends of the outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40A and 40B. The valley fold line 112a is a straight line connecting the left ends of the arc portions 30A and 30C. The mountain fold line 112b is a straight line connecting the right ends of the outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40C and 40D.

Similarly, the valley fold line 113a in the lateral direction is a straight line connecting the upper ends of the arc portions 30B and 30D. The valley fold line 114a is a straight line connecting the lower ends of the arc portions 30B and 30D. The mountain fold line 113b is a straight line connecting the lower ends of the outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40A and 40D. The mountain fold line 114b is a straight line connecting the upper ends of the outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40B and 40C.

Each of the overhanging portions 40A to 40D is provided with a communication hole 14 that communicates the inside of the main chamber 11 and the inside of the sub-chamber 21.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, the tack portion 111 is first folded along the valley fold lines 111a and 112a and the mountain fold lines 111b and 112b on the right and left halves of the front panel 13. , 112 is formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the tack portions 113 and 114 are formed by folding the upper half side and the lower half side of the front panel 13 along the valley fold lines 113a and 114a and the mountain fold lines 113b and 114b. .. However, the tack portions 113 and 114 may be formed first, and then the tack portions 111 and 112 may be formed.

As a result, the front panel 13 becomes circular. That is, the outer peripheral edges of the overhanging portions 40A to 40D and the arcuate portions 30A to 30D form a circle having an equal radius from the center of the front panel 13.

The circular front panel 13 and the rear panel 12 are overlapped as shown in FIG. 6, and the outer peripheral edges are sutured with suture thread 61 (see FIG. 3), and then the rear panel 12 and the front panel are sewn through the opening 15. By reversing 13, the main chamber 11 is formed.

The subchamber 21 is formed by using a plurality of panels 22 whose width becomes narrower toward the center side in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction in the drawing) as shown in FIG. 7A. The panel 22 is a panel surrounded by the first to fourth edges 25 to 28, in which the first edge 25 and the third edge 27 face each other, and the second edge 26 And the fourth edge 28 face each other. The edge 25 and the edge 27 are convex toward the outside of the panel, and the edge 26 and the edge 28 are concave toward the inside of the panel. The edge 26 connects one ends of the edges 25 and 27, and the edge 28 connects the other ends of the edges 25 and 27.

The edges 25 to 28 are preferably curved arcuate. When the edges 25 to 28 are all arcuate, it is preferable that the edges 25 and 27 have the same length and the edges 26 and 28 have the same length.

A communication hole 23 that communicates the inside of the main chamber 11 and the inside of the sub-chamber 21 is provided in the central portion of the panel 22.

The panel 22 is folded back along a folding line 24 that crosses left and right at the central portion in the longitudinal direction, and as shown in FIG. 7B, one half side and the other half side of the panel 22 are overlapped, and the edges 25 and 27 are formed. Suture with suture thread 29. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), a curved tubular panel body (cylinder body) is produced. As shown in FIG. 8, four curved tubular panel bodies 21A to 21D are prepared, and the peripheral edges (edges 26 and 28) of the open ends of the panel bodies 21A to 21D are sewn together and connected in the circumferential direction. The annular subchamber 21 is formed. The edges 26, 28 of the four panels 22 may be sewn together and then the edges 25, 27 of each panel 22 may be sewn together.

The communication holes 23 of the panel bodies 21A to 21D and the communication holes 14 of the front panel 13 of the main chamber 11 are aligned with each other, and the peripheral edge thereof is sutured with a suture thread 63 (see FIG. 3) to form the main chamber 11. The sub-chamber 21 is attached and the driver's seat airbag 1 is formed. The main chamber 11 and the sub-chamber 21 are connected only at the peripheral edges of the communication holes 14 and 23.

The order of attaching the sub-chamber 21 to the main chamber 11 is not particularly limited. For example, after the four panels 22 are sewn to the front panel 13, the edges 26 and 28 of the four panels 22 are sewn and joined. Then, the four panels 22 may be folded back along the folding line 24 and the edges 25 and 27 may be sewn with the suture thread 29.

In the present embodiment, the communication holes 14 and 23 have two small holes arranged close to each other, but the configuration of the communication holes 14 and 23 is not limited to this, and for example, the diameter is large. It may be composed of one hole or three or more small holes. When composed of one hole having a large diameter, for example, two small holes, communication holes 14 and 23, are used as alignment holes, the peripheral edges of the holes 14 and 23 are sewn, and then in the sewn area. , A large-diameter communication hole including two holes 14, 23 may be opened.

The driver airbag 10 is folded, the inflator 2 is attached to the opening 15, the inflator 2 is attached to the retainer, the module cover is attached, and the driver airbag device is configured. This driver's seat airbag device is mounted on the steering wheel having the steering wheel 1.

When a vehicle equipped with this driver's airbag device collides, the inflator 2 operates and the airbag 10 expands and expands behind the steering wheel 1 (in front of the occupant). First, the main chamber 11 expands and expands, then the expansion gas is supplied to the sub-chamber 21 through the communication holes 14 and 23, and the sub-chamber 21 expands and expands so as to surround the outer peripheral portion of the main chamber 11.

Since the front panel 13 of the main chamber 11 has tack portions 111 to 114 in the vertical and horizontal directions, the expansion thickness (steering) of the front panel 13 is in a state where the inflator 2 is operated and the airbag 10 is inflated. The expansion length in the axial direction) is sufficiently larger than the expansion thickness of the rear panel 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the rear end surface of the main chamber 11 and the rear end surface of the sub chamber 21 are substantially at the same position in the direction of the steering axis center line.

Further, since the overhanging portions 40A to 40D are located at four locations of the front panel 13, the upper right, the lower right, the lower left, and the upper left, the main chamber 11 is located in the upper right direction and the lower right direction from the center of the front panel 13. The expansion length in the lower left and upper left directions is larger than the expansion length in the upward, right, downward, and left directions. As a result, the shape of the main chamber 11 as viewed from the occupant side becomes a substantially square shape.

When the airbag 10 is expanded and deployed, the main chamber 11 does not contact the annular portion 1b of the steering wheel 1, and the subchamber 21 contacts the annular portion 1b to obtain a reaction force.

At the time of a head-on collision of the vehicle, the occupant is received at or near the central portion in the left-right direction of the front panel 13.

At the time of a vehicle oblique collision (a collision form in which an impact is applied diagonally from the front to the vehicle, including an offset collision), the occupant's head enters the valley between the sub-chamber 21 and the main chamber 11, and the occupant restraint surface. It is received by the inner peripheral surface N of the sub-chamber 21 (see FIG. 1B) and the front surface of the main chamber 11. At this time, the temporal region of the occupant is restrained by the inner peripheral surface N of the sub-chamber 21, and the frontal head is constrained by the front surface of the main chamber 11, so that the head rotates about an axis along the vertical direction. Is suppressed.

The above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may be in a form other than the illustration. For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the rear end surface of the main chamber 11 and the rear end surface of the sub chamber 21 are flush with each other has been described, but the widths of the tack portions 111 to 114 of the front panel 13 are adjusted. As shown in FIG. 11, the rear end surface of the main chamber 11 may be located rearward of the rear end surface of the subchamber 21, or the rear end surface of the main chamber 11 may be located behind the rear end surface of the subchamber 21. May be located on the front side.

In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the front panel 13 is provided with the communication holes 14 in the overhanging portions 40A to 40D to connect the front panel 13 and the subchamber 21 has been described. However, the rear panel 12 is provided with the communication holes and the rear panel is provided. 12 and the subchamber 21 may be connected to each other.

In the above embodiment, the subchamber 21 is formed by connecting four curved tubular panel bodies 21A to 21D formed from four panels 22, but 3 or 5 formed from 3 or 5 or more panels. The subchamber 21 may be formed by connecting a plurality of curved tubular panel bodies.

Two annular (doughnut-shaped) panels may be prepared, and the outer peripheral edges and inner peripheral edges of these panels may be sewn together to form a subchamber.

As shown in FIG. 9, the front panel 72 forming the front surface on the occupant side at the time of expansion and the rear panel 71 forming the rear surface on the steering wheel side are joined via the side panel 73 to form a bag shape and expand. The sub-chamber 21 may be connected to the main chamber 70 which has a columnar shape (or a truncated cone shape) in the deployed state.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the main chamber 70. The side panel 73 is composed of a plurality of side panel pieces 73a to 73d. Each of the side panel pieces 73a to 73d has a truncated fan shape in which an annulus is divided in the circumferential direction. By suturing the end sides e of the side panel pieces 73a to 73d and connecting the side panel pieces 73a to 73d, a cylindrical (or truncated cone-shaped) side panel 73 is produced. The peripheral edge of one open end of the side panel 73 and the peripheral edge of the front panel 72 are sewn together, and the peripheral edge of the other open end of the side panel 73 and the peripheral edge of the rear panel 71 are sewn together. The communication holes 74 formed in the side panels 73 (side panel pieces 73a to 73d) are aligned with the communication holes 23 of the subchamber 21, and the peripheral edge thereof is sewn.

In the above embodiment, the tack portions 111 to 114 are folded between the valley fold lines 111a to 114a and the mountain fold lines 111b to 114b, and as shown in FIG. 6, each has only one folding portion. Although it is a single tack, it may be a double tack with two folds.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the rear end surface of the main chamber 11 is located on the front side of the rear end surface of the subchamber 21, and a circular panel 80 covering the occupant side of the airbag 10 is provided. May be good.

The panel 80 is sutured to the front panel 13 of the main chamber 11 with sutures 81 and to the subchamber 21 with sutures 82. The panel 80 provided so as to pass from the sub-chamber 21 to the main chamber 11 when the airbag 10 is expanded and deployed is inclined so as to be closer to the steering wheel 1 side toward the main chamber 11 at the peripheral edge of the main chamber 11. It is a surface M. That is, when viewed from the occupant side, a mortar-shaped recess is provided near the center of the panel 80 on the steering wheel 1 side.

At the time of an oblique collision of the vehicle, the occupant is received by the inclined surface M of the panel 80. There are various movement directions (angles) of the occupant's head, but since the occupant restraint surface is an inclined surface M, the free-running distance of the head entering at all angles is about the same, and the difference in restraint performance depending on the angle. Is almost nonexistent.

As shown in FIG. 14, in the expanded state of the airbag 10, the main chamber 11 has a maximum width portion having a maximum left-right width in an intermediate portion in the vehicle front-rear direction (for example, an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction or a front portion thereof). Therefore, the left-right width of the main chamber 11 may be configured to gradually decrease from the maximum width portion toward the rear. As a result, the mating surface between the side surface portion of the main chamber 11 and the sub-bag extends in the intersecting direction with respect to the front-rear direction of the vehicle so that the mating surface of the sub-bag extends toward the center side of the main chamber 11 toward the rear. The head can be smoothly restrained by the main chamber 11 and the sub chamber 21.

10 Driver airbag 11 Main chamber 12 Rear panel 13 Front panel 40A-40D Overhang 15 Inflator opening 17 Vent hole 21 Subchamber 111-114 Tuck

Claims (11)

The main chamber where the peripheral edges of the front panel on the occupant side and the rear panel on the steering wheel side are connected,
An annular sub-chamber that is coupled to the main chamber and expands and expands along the outer circumference of the main chamber.
It is an airbag for the driver's seat equipped with
The front panel is provided with at least the tack portions of Articles 1 to 4.
The first and second tack portions are substantially parallel, the first tack portion is arranged on one half side of the center of the front panel, and the second tack portion is arranged on the other half side.
The third and fourth tack portions are substantially parallel and extend in the intersecting direction with the first and second tack portions, and the third tack portion is one of the front panels with the center of the front panel in between. An airbag for the driver's seat, which is arranged on the side and the fourth tack portion is arranged on the other side. The driver's seat airbag according to claim 1, wherein the subchamber has a plurality of curved tubular bodies in which the open ends are connected to each other. In claim 2, each cylinder is surrounded by the first to fourth edges, the first edge and the third edge face each other, and the second edge and the fourth edge Is a combination of the first edge and the third edge of the panels facing each other.
The first edge and the third edge are convex toward the outside of the panel, and the second edge and the fourth edge are concave toward the inside of the panel. An airbag for the driver's seat that is characterized by being present. The driver's seat airbag according to claim 3, wherein the first to fourth edges have a curved arc shape. The driver's seat airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each tack portion is a single tack having one folding portion. The driver's seat airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each tack portion is a double tack having two folding portions. In any one of claims 1 to 6, the first and second tack portions extend in the vertical direction in a state where the driver airbag is provided on the steering wheel in a vehicle straight-ahead posture. An airbag for a driver's seat, wherein the third and fourth tack portions extend in the left-right direction. The operation according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the peripheral edge portion of the communication hole formed in the rear panel and the peripheral edge portion of the communication hole formed in the subchamber are connected. Seat airbag. In any one of claims 1 to 8, the rear end surface of the main chamber is located on the front side of the rear end surface of the subchamber in the expanded and deployed state of the driver airbag. An airbag for a driver's seat, characterized in that a front panel and a panel coupled to the sub-chamber form an inclined surface at a peripheral edge of the main chamber. In any one of claims 1 to 9 , the subchamber does not contact the annular portion of the steering wheel and the main chamber does not contact the annular portion in the expanded and deployed state of the driver airbag. The characteristic airbag for the driver's seat. An airbag device for a driver's seat, which comprises the airbag for the driver's seat according to any one of claims 1 to 10 and an inflator for inflating the airbag for the driver's seat.

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