JP6939227B2 - How to fold airbags, airbag folds and airbag devices - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for folding an airbag, an airbag foldable body, and an airbag device for restraining an occupant of an automobile or the like in the event of a collision or the like. In the present invention, the front-rear, up-down, and left-right directions correspond to the front-back, up-down, and left-right directions of the vehicle unless otherwise specified.

As an airbag that expands in the event of a collision of a vehicle such as an automobile and restrains an occupant, there is an airbag having a main bag (sometimes referred to as an airbag body) and a sub-bag connected to the main bag. (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In Patent Document 1, a main bag and a sub-bag (referred to as a support bag in Patent Document 1) are accordion-folded along a lateral fold line, and then a folded body of the sub-bag is used as a main bag. It is described that it is folded on the upper side of the foldable body and then housed in the housing of the airbag device.

In this airbag foldable body, the sub-bag foldable body overlaps a part of the upper surface of the main bag foldable body, and the sub-bag foldable body has a shape protruding from a part of the upper surface of the main bag foldable body. The volume tends to be large. In addition, since the folding body of the sub-bag protrudes from a part of the folding body of the main bag, the sub-bag may interfere with the vehicle members at the initial stage of the start of expansion of the airbag, and the expansion / deployment characteristics may not meet the design characteristics. There is.

WO2015 / 162943 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-37137

An object of the present invention is to provide an airbag folding method, an airbag foldable body, and an airbag device, in which the package volume can be reduced and the airbag smoothly expands and expands.

The method of folding an airbag of the present invention includes a main bag and a sub-bag connected to a side surface portion of the main bag at least inside in the vehicle width direction, and the inside and sub of the main bag are provided on the side portion of the main bag. In the method of folding an airbag provided with a communication port for communicating inside the bag, a tack portion is formed by folding the tip side of the main bag in the expansion direction into the inside of the main bag, and the sub bag is arranged in the tack portion. Then, the main bag is folded.

In one aspect of the present invention, the distance (X) from the folded side portion to the tip end portion of the main bag when forming the tack portion is 30 of the length (Y) from the folded side portion to the base end portion of the main bag. ~ 70%

In one aspect of the present invention, after arranging the sub-bag in the tack portion, both sides of the main bag are bellows-folded or rolled-folded to form an airbag as a substantially rectangular intermediate foldable body, and then the intermediate foldable body. Fold it by at least one of bellows fold and roll fold and put it in the retainer.

In one aspect of the present invention, the tip side of the main bag in the expansion direction is folded inside the main bag only once to form the tack portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, the tip side of the main bag in the expansion direction is folded once inside the main bag to form the tack portion, and then one or both of the folded side portions when forming the tack portion are tacked. Fold back inside the department.

In another method of folding an airbag of the present invention, a tack portion is formed by folding the tip end side of the airbag in the expansion direction inside the airbag, and after the tack portion is formed, both sides of the airbag are bellows-folded or rolled. The airbag is formed into a substantially rectangular intermediate folding body, and then the intermediate folding body is folded by at least one of bellows folding and roll folding and stored in a retainer.

The foldable body of the airbag of the present invention includes a main bag and a sub-bag connected to at least one side surface of the main bag, and is provided with a communication port for communicating the inside of the main bag and the inside of the sub-bag. In the folded body of the airbag, a tack portion is formed by folding the tip end side of the main bag in the expansion direction into the main bag, and the sub bag is arranged in the tack portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, the rear portion of the sub-bag is located rearward of the main bag in the expanded state.

The airbag device of the present invention includes the foldable body of the present invention, a retainer accommodating the airbag foldable body, and an inflator for supplying gas to the main bag.

The airbag device of the present invention includes an airbag foldable body according to the present invention, a retainer accommodating the airbag foldable body, and an inflator that supplies gas to the main bag.

In the airbag folding method, the airbag folding body, and the airbag device of the present invention, the sub-bag is arranged on the tack portion of the main bag, and the main bag and the sub-bag are folded together. The volume is small.

When the airbag foldable body of the present invention expands, the sub-bag expands into the vehicle interior in a state of being enclosed in the tack portion of the main bag, so that the sub-bag rapidly expands and expands together with the main bag.

Further, according to the present invention, since the main bag and the sub bag integrally bulge from the instrument panel, the expansion speed of the main bag and the expansion speed of the sub bag do not overlap, and the main bag is a windshield. The load applied to is suppressed. Further, according to the present invention, the inflated posture of the main bag is stable.

It is a front view at the time of expansion of the airbag which concerns on embodiment. It is a side view at the time of expansion of the airbag which concerns on embodiment. (A) is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1, and (b) is a side view of the main bag when the main bag is inflated. It is a perspective view which shows the panel structure of a main bag. (A) is a perspective view showing a folding method of an airbag, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line BB of (a). (A) is a perspective view showing a folding method of an airbag, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line BB of (a). (A) is a perspective view showing a folding method of an airbag, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line BB of (a). It is a perspective view which shows the folding method of an airbag. It is a perspective view which shows the folding method of an airbag. It is a schematic cross-sectional view which shows the state which the folded airbag is housed in the retainer. It is sectional drawing which shows another folding method of an airbag.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the airbag device according to this embodiment includes an airbag 1 that is normally folded and expands and expands in an emergency, an inflator 7 that supplies gas to the airbag 1, and folded air. A retainer 8 or the like for accommodating the bag 1 is provided. This airbag device is a passenger seat airbag device and is installed on an instrument panel 9 arranged in front of the passenger seat. The airbag 1 expands and expands in the space surrounded by the occupant P, the instrument panel 9, and the windshield 10.

The airbag 1 includes a main bag 2 and a sub-bag 3 connected to the left side surface of the main bag 2. In this embodiment, the vehicle is a left-hand drive vehicle and the passenger seat is the right-hand seat. The left side surface of the airbag 1 is the side surface on the vehicle body center side (center side in the vehicle width direction), and the right side surface is the side surface on the outside (door side) in the vehicle width direction. When mounted on a right-hand drive vehicle, the airbag 1 has a symmetrical configuration as shown in the drawing.

The main bag 2 expands and expands substantially in front of the occupant P. The main bag 2 has a rear portion 2a, an upper portion 2b, a front portion 2c, a lower portion 2d, a left side portion 2e, and a right side portion 2f in a state where the expansion is completed. The rear portion 2a of the main bag 2 has a substantially square shape in front view, and faces the upper body including the head of the occupant H when the expansion and deployment of the airbag 1 is completed.

An insertion port 2G (see FIG. 4) for the inflator 7 is provided in the front portion 2c of the main bag 2, so that gas is supplied from the inflator 7 into the main bag 2. A communication port 5 is provided on the left side portion 2e of the main bag 2, and a vent hole 6 (FIG. 4) is provided on the right side portion 2f.

The sub-bag 3 has a rear portion 3a, an upper portion 3b, a front portion 3c, a lower portion 3d, a left side portion 3e, and a right side portion 3f in a state where the expansion is completed. The width of the sub-bag 3 in the front-rear direction is larger than the width in the up-down direction and the left-right direction.

A communication port 4 is provided on the right side portion 3f of the sub bag 3. With the communication port 4 of the sub-bag 3 aligned with the communication port 5 of the main bag 2, the peripheral edges of these communication ports 4 and 5 are joined by suturing. As a result, the sub-bag 3 is connected to the main bag 2.

The rear portion of the upper portion 3b of the sub-bag 3 in the expanded state is located slightly below the rear portion of the upper surface 2b of the main bag 2. Further, the rear portion of the lower portion 3d of the sub bag 3 is located above the rear portion of the lower portion 2d of the main bag 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the main bag 2 has a center panel 20 and a first side panel 21 and a second side panel 22 constituting the left and right side portions 2e and 2f. The center panel 20 extends from the upper portion 2b of the main bag 2 to the front portion 2c through the rear portion 2a and the lower portion 2d. In this embodiment, the center panel 20 is composed of a series of one panel from the upper portion 2b to the front portion 2c, but two or more panels may be joined by suturing or the like.

The peripheral edges of the side panels 21 and 22 are sewn to the lateral edges of the center panel 20.

Although not shown, the sub-bag 3 is formed by sewing the outer panel and the inner panel into a bag shape. A communication port 4 is provided on the inner panel. The outer panel and the inner panel may be one in which one panel is folded back, or a separate outer panel and inner panel may be used.

Hereinafter, a method of folding the airbag 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 10. Before folding the airbag 1, the base end side of the airbag 1 is connected to the retainer 8.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the main bag 2 and the sub bag 3 are spread on a flat work table. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the tip portion 2S on the tip side in the expansion direction of the main bag 2 is folded so as to be swallowed inside the main bag 2, and the sub bag 3 is placed in the tack portion 2F while forming the tack portion 2F. Fold it in. The tack portion 2F may be formed as shown in FIG. 6, and then the sub-bag 3 may be folded into the tack portion 2F. The depth of the tack portion 2F, that is, the distance X from the folded side portion 2H to the swallowed tip portion 2S when forming the tack portion 2F is the length Y from the folded side portion 2H to the base end portion 2M of the main bag. About half (about 30 to 70%) is preferable. The extending direction of the folded side portion 2H is the left-right direction of the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the tip portion 2S is located near the middle of the occupant facing surface of the main bag 2 in the vertical direction. After that, as shown in FIG. 8, the left half side 1L and the right half side 1R of the airbag 1 are folded in a bellows or roll along a vertical folding line extending in the direction orthogonal to the folded side portion 2H (bellows folding in FIG. 8). ), And the airbag 1 is formed into a substantially rectangular intermediate foldable body that is long in the vertical direction. The width of the intermediate foldable body in the lateral direction is substantially equal to the width of the retainer 8 in the left-right direction of the vehicle body.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the intermediate foldable body is bellows-folded or roll-folded from the tip end side along the fold-back line in the direction parallel to the fold-back side portion 2H. In this folding example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the intermediate folding body is first bellows-folded, then rolled-folded so as to surround the bellows folding body, and then folded along a shape-retaining band or a shape-retaining sheet as necessary. After retaining the shape of the body, the folded body is housed in the retainer 8 as shown in FIG.

After that, the retainer 8 is covered with a lid (not shown). Instead of the lid, the retainer 8 may be covered with an instrument panel. The lid or instrument panel is provided with a tear line (not shown) so as to open into the vehicle interior when the airbag 1 expands.

When a vehicle equipped with the airbag device configured in this way collides, the inflator 7 operates, the airbag 1 expands and expands as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the occupant P is restrained. The airbag 1 first expands between the base end portion 2M and the folded side portion 2H of the main bag 2, then the tack portion 2F expands, and the sub bag 3 expands.

In the case of a head-on collision, the occupant P is mainly restrained by the main bag 2. In this embodiment, in the expanded state of the main bag 2 and the sub bag 3, the rear portion 3a of the sub bag 3 is located behind the rear portion 2a of the main bag 2. Therefore, in the case of a diagonal collision to the left of the vehicle or a minute lap collision, the occupant P moves diagonally forward to the left and is restrained by the sub bag 3 and the main bag 2.

In this embodiment, after the sub-bag 3 is inserted into the tack portion 2F of the main bag 2, the left and right side sides of the main bag 2 are folded along the vertical folding line, and the airbag 1 is folded in the middle of FIG. A foldable body is formed, and the intermediate foldable body is further folded as shown in FIG. 9 and housed in the retainer 8 as a final foldable shape. Therefore, the airbag 1 is a folded body that is substantially uniform in the left-right direction as a whole, and the package volume is small.

Further, the folded body of the airbag 1 does not have a partially protruding portion such as the folded body of the sub bag 3. Therefore, since the protruding portion of the airbag 1 does not interfere with the vehicle members such as the retainer 8 and the instrument panel 2, the airbag 1 expands and expands smoothly.

Further, in the folded body of the airbag 1, the tack portion 2F is provided on the main bag 2, and the length Y from the base end portion 2M of the main bag 2 to the folded side portion 2H is small. Then, in the main bag 2, first, the portion from the base end portion 2M to the folded side portion 2H expands in advance to become a leading inflating body, and then the tack portion 2F expands from this leading inflating body to the occupant side. Therefore, the main bag 2 rapidly expands to become a leading inflator. Further, since the volume of the leading inflatable body is smaller than the volume of the entire expansion of the main bag 2, the pressing load applied by the leading inflatable body to the windshield 10 is small. Further, since the sub-bag 3 has not started to expand at all or hardly in the middle of expansion of the preceding inflatable body, the expansion pressure of the sub-bag 3 has no or almost no effect on the windshield 10 when the preceding inflatable body hits the windshield 10. .. As a result, the pressing load applied by the airbag 1 to the windshield 10 is small.

Further, the length Y from the base end portion 2M of the leading inflatable body to the folded side portion 2H is smaller than the length (X + Y) from the base end portion 2M of the main bag 2 to the tip end portion 2S in the expansion direction. That is, the length in the expansion direction of the preceding inflator in the vehicle interior is smaller than that of the main bag 2 in which the expansion is completed. Therefore, the vertical swing of the leading inflator is small, and the posture of the leading inflator is stable. Since the tack portion 2F and the sub-bag 3 expand and expand from the leading inflatable body having a stable posture in this way, the tack portion 2F and the sub-bag 3 also quickly take a stable confrontation posture with respect to the occupant. As a result, the occupant restraint surface of the airbag 1 is formed stably at an early stage with respect to the occupant.

In the above folding method, as shown in FIG. 6B, the tack portion 2F is formed by folding the main bag 2 only once, but it may be folded twice or more as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 11A, the folded side portion 2H is folded back into the tack portion 2F once more on both the upper side and the lower side of the tack portion 2F. In this case, the length Y of the intermediate folding body becomes smaller than that in FIG. 6B. Further, as a result, the time for the leading expander to expand is further shortened.

In FIG. 11 (a), both the upper side and the lower side of the tack portion 2F are folded twice, but as shown in FIG. 11 (b), only the upper side may be folded twice, and FIG. 11 (c) Only the lower side may be folded twice as in.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the rear portion 3a of the sub-bag 3 is located behind the rear portion 2a of the main bag 2 in the expanded state of the sub-bag 3 has been described, but the position of the rear portion 3a is not limited to this. For example, the rear portion 3a of the sub bag 3 and the rear portion 2a of the main bag 2 may be flush with each other.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the sub-bag 3 is provided on the left side portion 2e on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the main bag 2 has been described, but the sub-bag 3 may be provided on the right side portion 2f on the outer side in the vehicle width direction. It may be provided on both the left side portion 2e and the right side portion 2f. Further, the sub-bag 3 may be omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and at the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied within a range that does not deviate from the gist thereof. In addition, various inventions can be formed by an appropriate combination of the plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiment. For example, some components may be removed from all the components shown in the embodiments. In addition, components across different embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

1 Airbag 2 Main bag 2F Tack part 3 Subbag 4, 5 Communication port 6 Vent hole 7 Inflator 8 Retainer 9 Instrument panel 10 Windshield

Claims (8)

A main bag and a sub-bag connected to at least the inner side surface portion of the main bag in the vehicle width direction are provided.
A method of folding an airbag in which a communication port for communicating the inside of the main bag and the inside of the sub bag is provided on the side portion of the main bag.
A method for folding an airbag, which comprises forming a tack portion by folding the tip end side in the expansion direction of the main bag into the inside of the main bag, arranging the sub bag in the tack portion, and then folding the main bag. The method for folding an airbag according to claim 1, wherein the distance (X) from the folded side portion to the tip end portion of the main bag when forming the tack portion is from the folded side portion to the base end portion of the main bag. A method of folding an airbag, which is characterized by being 30 to 70% of the length (Y). The method for folding an airbag according to claim 1 or 2, wherein after arranging the sub-bag in the tack portion, both sides of the main bag are bellows-folded or rolled-folded to fold the airbag in a substantially rectangular shape. As a foldable body
Next, a method for folding an airbag, which comprises folding this intermediate folding body by at least one of bellows folding and roll folding and storing it in a retainer. The method for folding an airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tip side of the main bag in the expansion direction is folded inside the main bag only once to form the tack portion. How to fold an airbag. The method for folding an airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tip side of the main bag in the expansion direction is folded once inside the main bag to form the tack portion, and then the tack portion is formed. A method of folding an airbag, which comprises folding one or both of the folded side portions into the tack portion. A main bag and a sub-bag connected to at least one side surface of the main bag are provided.
It is a folding body of an airbag provided with a communication port for communicating the inside of the main bag and the inside of the sub bag.
A folded body of an airbag, characterized in that a tack portion is formed by folding the tip end side of the main bag in the expansion direction into the main bag, and the sub bag is arranged in the tack portion. A folded body of the airbag according to claim 6, in completely inflated state, the rear portion of the sub bag is folded body of the airbag, characterized in that positioned behind the main bag. The foldable body of the airbag according to claim 6 or 7.
A retainer containing the foldable body of the airbag and
An airbag device having an inflator that supplies gas to the main bag.

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