JP7099217B2 - Airbag - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an airbag for restraining a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision or the like.

When the inflated airbag restrains the vehicle occupant, the impact applied to the vehicle occupant is absorbed by the gas flowing out from the inside of the airbag through the vent hole.

In Patent Document 1, the vent hole is covered with a lid member until the gas pressure inside the airbag reaches a predetermined pressure, and when the gas pressure exceeds the predetermined pressure, the lid member is pushed open and the vent hole is formed. Airbags configured to open are listed.

In the airbag of the same issue, when the airbag expands, the vent hole is covered with a lid member until the gas pressure inside the airbag reaches a predetermined pressure, and the gas from the vent hole is covered. Since the outflow is regulated, the pressure inside the airbag quickly becomes high, and the airbag deploys quickly.

When the gas pressure inside the airbag exceeds a predetermined pressure, the lid member is pushed open and the vent hole is opened. Therefore, when a vehicle occupant plunges into the inflated airbag, the vent hole is opened. As the gas flows out from the inside of the airbag through the airbag, the impact applied to the vehicle occupant is absorbed.

Patent Document 2 describes an airbag provided with a center bag in front of an occupant and side bags arranged on the left and right sides of the center bag, and the center bag and the side bag are communicated with each other by a communication portion formed by an opening. Has been done.

Patent Document 3 describes an airbag device that detects the physique of an occupant with a sensor, closes the vent hole when the physique is large, and opens the vent hole early when the physique is small. In Patent Document 3, in order to switch the opening degree of the vent hole, a holding device for holding one end of the tether belt for opening and closing the vent hole is operated.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-16228 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-201980 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-178224

In the present invention, the opening degree of the vent hole is changed between a large occupant and a small occupant without using a sensor for detecting the physique of the occupant, a holding device that operates based on the detection signal of the sensor, and a control device thereof. The purpose is to provide an airbag.

The airbag of the present invention has a main bag having a first area for accepting both large and small occupants and a second area for accepting only large occupants on the occupant facing surface, and the main bag. An swellable part that can swell out of the main bag, a vent hole provided on the side surface of the main bag, a valve member for adjusting the opening degree of the vent hole, and the swellable part. An airbag having a tether connecting the second region, the vent hole is located behind the inflatable portion, and the inflatable portion is the second inflatable airbag. Until the area accepts a large occupant, it is located in the main bag by being pulled to the second area through the tether, and when the second area accepts a large occupant, the second area The swellable portion bulges out of the main bag with the forward movement of the bag member, and the front end side of the valve member is connected to the bulging direction tip side of the swellable portion or the front end side of the tether. The rear end side of the valve member is connected to the rear side of the side surface of the main bag from the vent hole, and the valve member holds the tether until the main bag accepts a large occupant. When the main bag receives a large occupant, the valve member is pulled to the swellable portion and the vent hole is separated from the vent hole by being pulled to the second region through the bag. Take a covering posture.

In one aspect of the present invention, the valve member has a small vent hole having an opening area smaller than that of the vent hole at a position overlapping the vent hole when the valve member is in a posture of covering the vent hole.

In one aspect of the present invention, the airbag is a passenger airbag, the first region is a lower portion of the rear surface of the passenger airbag, and the second region is the passenger airbag. The upper part of the rear surface.

In one aspect of the present invention, the valve member and the tether form a series of integrated tether belts, and an intermediate portion of the tether belt in the longitudinal direction is connected to the tip side of the swellable portion in the swelling direction.

In one aspect of the present invention, the swellable portion is provided on the front portion of the side surface of the main bag.

In one aspect of the present invention, the swellable portion is provided on the front surface portion of the main bag.

In one aspect of the present invention, the swellable portion is a sub-bag, and the sub-bag can swell out of the main bag from an entrance / exit provided in the main bag.

In one aspect of the present invention, the swellable portion comprises a surplus base cloth portion.

In the airbag of the present invention, the inflator operates in the event of a vehicle collision or the like, the main bag expands, and the occupant is received (restrained) by the main bag.

The petite occupants are accepted by the first area of the main bag and the large occupants are accepted by both the first and second areas of the main bag. When the main bag accepts a large occupant, the valve member is pulled by the swellable portion to cover the vent hole, so that the opening of the vent hole becomes small.

When the main bag accepts a small occupant, the valve member is not pulled by the swellable portion, the valve member is separated from the vent hole, and the opening of the vent hole is large.

As described above, according to the present invention, the opening degree of the vent hole can be switched according to the size of the occupant's physique without using a sensor for detecting the occupant's physique.

It is a perspective view of the airbag which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view of the airbag which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view of the airbag which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the airbag at the time of receiving a large-sized occupant. It is sectional drawing of the airbag which concerns on another embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the airbag at the time of receiving a large-sized occupant.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present specification, the front-rear direction coincides with the front-rear direction of the automobile equipped with the airbag device, and the left-right direction coincides with the left-right direction of the automobile.

The passenger airbag 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 has a main bag 2 and a sub-bag 3 connected to the main bag 2. The peripheral portion of the entrance portion of the sub-bag 3 is sewn to the peripheral edge portion of the sub-bag entrance / exit 6 provided in the main bag 2 by a suture thread 7.

The rear surface of the main bag 2 is the occupant facing surface 2a that receives the occupants. The main bag 2 is provided with an opening (not shown) on the surface of the instrument panel (instrument panel) 4 side, and the peripheral edge of the opening is connected to a retainer (not shown) of the passenger airbag device. The airbag 1 is inflated by the gas from the inflator (not shown) supported by the retainer. The main bag 2 constitutes most of the airbag 1 and expands between the instrument panel 4 and the passenger seat occupant to receive the occupant.

A vent hole 5 is provided on the side surface of the main bag 2 in the inflated state.

The lower portion of the occupant facing surface 2a of the main bag 2 is the first region I, and the upper portion is the second region II. The line segment C in FIG. 1 shows a boundary line between the first region I and the second region II. When the airbag 1 is viewed from the side when the airbag 1 has been expanded along the instrument panel and has not received the occupants, the total height of the main bag 2 is set to H, and the height from the lowest level of the main bag to the line segment C is set. When the value is h, h / H is preferably 0.4 to 0.9, and particularly preferably 0.5 to 0.7.

A tether belt 8 is provided to adjust the opening degree of the vent hole 5. One end of the tether belt 8 is sewn by a suture thread 9 near the center of the second region II in the left-right width direction. The other end of the tether belt 8 is sewn by the suture thread 10 in the vicinity of the vent hole 5 and on the occupant facing surface 2a side of the vent hole 5. The vent hole 5 is located on a straight line connecting the suture thread 10 and the sub-bag entrance / exit 6.

An intermediate portion of the tether belt 8 in the longitudinal direction is sewn to the tip portion 3t of the subbag 3 by a suture thread 11. The tip portion 3t of the sub-bag 3 is a tip portion in the protruding direction in a state where the sub-bag 3 has been expanded so as to protrude outward from the entrance / exit 6 of the main bag 2.

Of the tether belt 8, one end side of the intermediate portion, that is, between the sutures 9 and 11, is the tether 8a connecting the subbag 3 and the second region II. Of the tether belt 8, the space between the sutures 10 and 11 is the valve member 8b. As shown in FIG. 5 described later, when the valve member 8b is in a state of overlapping the vent hole 5, a small vent hole 12 is provided at a position where the valve member 8b overlaps the vent hole 5. The width of the valve member 8b is larger than the diameter of the vent hole 5 at least in the portion overlapping the vent hole 5.

The airbag 1 is folded and housed in the retainer with the sub-bag 3 arranged in the main bag 2. When a vehicle equipped with this airbag device collides, an inflator is activated, and the gas from the inflator first inflates the main bag 2 between the instrument panel 4 and the passenger seat occupant.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1 in a state where the main bag 2 has not received an occupant and a state in which the main bag 2 has received a small occupant (for example, AF05). In this state, the second region II of the occupant facing surface 2a of the main bag 2 is in a state of bulging toward the rear. In this state, the tether 8a pulls the sub-bag 3 toward the center of the occupant facing surface 2a in the left-right direction, so that the sub-bag 3 is located inside the main bag 2. Further, the valve member 8b is separated from the vent hole 5, and the vent hole 5 is not covered by the valve member 8b, so that the opening is large.

When the main bag 2 restrains a small occupant (for example, AF05), as shown in FIG. 2, only the first region I of the occupant facing surface 2a is pushed forward by the occupant, and the gas in the main bag 2 is pushed forward from the vent hole 5. It flows out and the impact is absorbed. Although the increase in internal pressure of the main bag 2 when the small occupant is restrained is relatively small, the opening degree of the vent hole 5 is large, so that the amount of gas outflow from the vent hole 5 is sufficient.

When the inflated main bag 2 restrains the large occupant P (for example, AM50), both the first region and the second region II of the occupant facing surface 2a are pushed in as shown in FIGS. It rises relatively large. When the second region II is also pushed in, the tether 8a also moves forward, and the tension of the tether 8a becomes smaller (or disappears). As a result, the sub-bag 3 expands from the sub-bag entrance / exit 6 to the outside of the main bag 2 due to the gas pressure inside the main bag 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the valve member 8b becomes taut between the tip portion 3t of the subbag 3 and the suture thread 10, the valve member 8b overlaps the vent hole 5, and the small vent hole 12 of the valve member 8b. Faces the vent hole 5. The gas in the main bag 2 flows out from the small vent hole 12 to the outside of the main bag 2 through the vent hole 5, so that the impact of the large occupant P is absorbed. Although the increase in internal pressure of the main bag 2 when the large occupant P is restrained is large, the opening area of the small vent hole 12 is smaller than the opening area of the vent hole 5, so that the amount of gas outflow from the vent hole 5 is restricted.

As described above, according to the airbag 1, the opening degree of the vent hole 5 is adjusted according to the physique of the occupant. Further, a sensor for adjusting the opening degree of the vent hole 5, a holding device, a control circuit thereof, and the like are unnecessary, and the configuration cost is low.

In the airbag 1, the sub-bag 3 is provided on the front side surface of the main bag 2, but the sub-bag 3 is provided on the front surface of the main bag 2 as in the airbag 1A of FIGS. 6 and 7. May be good. Note that FIG. 6 shows a cross section corresponding to FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 shows a cross section corresponding to FIG. The other configurations of FIGS. 6 and 7 are the same as those of FIGS. 4 and 5, and the same reference numerals indicate the same parts.

In the case of the airbag 1A, since the tether head 8 extends in the front-rear direction when expanded, the valve member 8b overlaps the vent hole 5 at an early stage. Further, in the case of the airbag 1A, since the sub-bag 3 bulges forward, the sub-bag 3 is less likely to interfere with the interior parts.

By arranging the sub-bag 3 in the substantially central portion as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, even if vent holes and tether belts are provided on the left and right sides of the airbag, one sub-bag can pull the tether belts on both the left and right sides. ..

In the above embodiment, the tether 8a and the valve member 8b are integrated in a series, but the tether 8a and the valve member 8b may be separated from each other. In this case, the front end portion of the valve member 8b may be connected to the front end portion of the tether 8b, or the front end portion of the valve member 8b may be connected to the tip end portion 3t of the subbag 3.

Although the sub-bag 3 is used in the above embodiment, the main bag 2 is provided with a surplus base cloth portion corresponding to the sub-bag 3, and the surplus base cloth portion can be swelled in the same manner as the sub-bag 3. It may be a department.

The above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may be a form other than the above.

1,1A Airbag 2 Main bag 3 Subbag 4 Instrument panel 5 Vent hole 6 Subbag entrance / exit 8 Tether belt 8a Tether 8b Valve member

Claims (8)

A main bag having a first area on the opposite surface of the occupants, which accepts both large and small occupants in the event of a vehicle collision, and a second area, which accepts only large occupants.
A swellable part that can swell out of the main bag from the main bag,
Vent holes provided on the side of the main bag and
A valve member for adjusting the opening degree of the vent hole and
An airbag having a tether connecting the swellable portion and the second region.
The vent hole is located behind the swellable part and is located behind.
The swellable portion is located in the main bag by being pulled to the second region via the tether until the second region of the inflated airbag receives a large occupant.
When the second area receives a large occupant, the swellable portion swells out of the main bag as the second area moves forward.
The front end side of the valve member is connected to the bulging direction tip side of the swellable portion or the front end side of the tether.
The rear end side of the valve member is connected to the rear side of the side surface of the main bag with respect to the vent hole.
The valve member is separated from the vent hole by being pulled to the second region via the tether until the main bag receives a large occupant.
When the main bag receives a large occupant, the valve member is pulled by the swellable portion and takes a posture of covering the vent hole. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein the valve member has a small vent hole having an opening area smaller than that of the vent hole at a position overlapping the vent hole when the valve member is in a posture of covering the vent hole. The airbag is a passenger airbag, the first region is the lower portion of the rear surface of the passenger airbag, and the second region is the upper portion of the rear surface of the passenger airbag. Item 1 or 2 airbag. One of claims 1 to 3, wherein the valve member and the tether form a series of integrated tether belts, and an intermediate portion of the tether belt in the longitudinal direction is connected to the tip side of the swellable portion in the swelling direction. Airbag. The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the swellable portion is provided on a front portion of a side surface of the main bag. The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the swellable portion is provided on the front surface portion of the main bag. The swellable part is a sub-bag and
The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sub-bag can swell out of the main bag from an entrance / exit provided in the main bag. The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the swellable portion is composed of a surplus base cloth portion.

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