JP7221773B2 - side airbag device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a side airbag device.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-200001 discloses a side airbag device in which an airbag is accommodated in a side support portion of a seat bag of a vehicle seat. The airbag is supplied with gas from an inflator and inflates and deploys toward the seat front side and the seat upper side of the side support portion.

In addition, the airbag includes a rear inflation section (rear lower inflation section) formed at the rear end portion and housing an inflator, and a front inflation section formed on the seat front side and upper side of the rear inflation section. (front upper expansion portion). When the gas is supplied from the inflator, the gas is first supplied into the lower inflation section, and then the gas is supplied to the upper inflation section through openings formed at the upper and lower ends of the lower inflation section.

JP 2018-016252 A

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the airbag is stored in the side support portion in a state of being folded by roll folding or bellows folding. Therefore, the front inflatable compartment is inflated and deployed so as to rise upward and forward of the seat by the gas supplied from the rear inflatable compartment. Therefore, when the airbag is inflated and deployed while a part of the occupant's body overlaps an irregular position of the side support portion in front of the vehicle, the occupant in the irregular position deploys the front portion toward the upper side of the vehicle. There is a possibility that it will be loaded from the compartment. Therefore, there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of improving the performance of protecting the occupant in the irregular position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a side airbag device capable of improving the performance of protecting an occupant in an irregular position.

The side airbag device according to the present invention described in claim 1 includes a side airbag that is housed in a side portion of a seat back of a vehicle seat on the outside in the seat width direction and formed in a bag shape, and a rear inflation compartment formed at the rear end, an inflator disposed therein and inflated and deployed by receiving gas supplied from the inflator; and an upper communication port formed at the upper end of the rear inflation compartment. , a lower communication port formed at the lower end of the rear expansion section, and the rear expansion section communicates with the upper communication port and the lower communication port through the upper communication port and the lower communication port. A front inflation section receiving gas supply to inflate and deploy toward the front side of the seat and the upper side of the seat of the rear inflation section; a folded portion formed by folding the upper side including the upper communication port from the intermediate portion in the vertical direction outward in the seat width direction.

In the side airbag device according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, the side airbag having the folded portion folded back as described above is supplied with gas from the inflator disposed in the rear inflation section of the side airbag. Receive and inflate.

Here, the side airbag is divided into an upper portion and a lower portion by the folded portion. Therefore, during inflation and deployment, the lower portions of the side airbags, that is, the lower portions of the rear inflation section and the front inflation section, are inflated at the initial stage of deployment. Next, when the folded back portion is unfolded, the upper portion of the side airbag, that is, the upper portion of the front inflation section expands outward in the seat width direction while inflating toward the upper side of the seat. As a result, it is possible to prevent the side airbag from rapidly deploying toward the upper side of the seat in the early stage of deployment, and to incline the upward deployment direction of the side airbag toward the outside in the seat width direction in the later stage of deployment. As a result, even if a part of the occupant's body overlaps an irregular position in front of the seat on the seat width direction outer side of the seat back, the occupant in the irregular position is prevented from receiving the load from the side airbag. can.

As described above, according to the side airbag device of claim 1, there is an excellent effect that the protection performance for the occupant in the irregular position can be improved.

1 is a side view of a vehicle seat on which a side airbag device according to the present embodiment is mounted, and shows an inflated and deployed state of the side airbag; FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a non-inflated and deployed state of the side airbag shown in FIG. 1 , where a solid line indicates a state in which a folded portion is formed, and a two-dot chain line indicates a state in which the folded portion is not formed. FIG. 2 is a side view showing an initial state of deployment of the side airbag shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a side view showing the state of the side airbag shown in FIG. 1 in the latter stage of deployment; FIG. 2 is a front view of a front part of a vehicle compartment of a vehicle to which the vehicle seat shown in FIG. 1 is applied, showing an initial state of deployment of a side airbag; FIG. 2 is a front view of a front portion of a vehicle compartment of a vehicle to which the vehicle seat shown in FIG. 1 is applied, showing a state in the latter stage of deployment of the side airbag;

A vehicle seat 14 equipped with a side airbag device 30 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. Note that the arrow FR appropriately shown in each figure indicates the front side of the vehicle, the arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle, and the arrow RH indicates the right side of the vehicle. In the following description, when front-rear, up-down, and left-right directions are used unless otherwise specified, front-rear in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, up-down in the vertical direction of the vehicle, and left-right in the direction of travel are indicated.
(overall structure)
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle seat 14 includes a seat cushion 16 on which an occupant sits, a seat back 18 supported by the rear end portion of the seat cushion 16 so as to be tiltable, and an upper end portion of the seat back 18 connected to the seat back 18 . and a headrest 20. The vehicle seat 14 is, for example, a passenger seat provided in the front chamber 12 of the vehicle 10, which is a left-hand drive vehicle (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The side airbag device 30 is mounted on a side support portion 18A (side portion: hereinafter referred to as “side portion 18A”) of the seat back 18 of the vehicle seat 14 on the outside in the seat width direction. More specifically, the side airbag device 30 of this embodiment is mounted on the side portion 18A located on the center side in the vehicle width direction, and is a so-called far side airbag device.

The front-rear direction, the left-right direction (width direction) and the up-down direction of the vehicle seat 14 coincide with the front-rear direction, the left-right direction (width direction) and the up-down direction of the vehicle. In addition, in FIG. 1, a dummy P1 for a crash test is seated on the vehicle seat 14 instead of an actual passenger. This dummy P1 is, for example, a WorldSID (World Side Impact Dummy) AM50 (50th percentile of American adult males). 3 to 6, instead of the actual occupant, a dummy P2 for the crash test leans backward on the seat cushion 16 of the vehicle seat 14 and leans the upper half of the body on the seat back 18. ing. The passenger P2 is, for example, a 3-year-old dummy 3YO for crash tests. Hereinafter, in order to make the explanation easier to understand, the dummy P1 will be referred to as "passenger P1" and the dummy P2 will be referred to as "passenger P2".

(Side airbag device 30)
As shown in FIG. 1 , the side airbag device 30 includes a side airbag 32 and an inflator 34 . The side airbag 32 and the inflator 34 are normally modularized and housed within the side portion 18A. In this state, the side airbag 32 is folded according to the folding method described later.

The side airbag 32 is inflated and deployed between the occupant P1 and the front console 22 provided in the center of the front chamber 12 by the pressure of gas generated from the inflator 34 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). During this inflation and deployment, the pad material (not shown) and the seat skin provided on the side portion 18A receive the inflation pressure of the side airbag 32 and are broken.

Note that the front, rear, top, and bottom directions of the side airbag 32 in the following description indicate the direction of the side airbag 32 as a member. It substantially coincides with the vertical direction.

The side airbag 32 is formed into a bag shape by folding a sheet of base fabric, which is formed by cutting out a nylon-based or polyester-based cloth material, for example, and sewing the outer peripheral edge of the base fabric. . The side airbag 32 is a so-called two-chamber side airbag, and is divided into a rear inflation compartment 38 and a front inflation compartment 40 by a front and rear partition 36 .

Specifically, the front and rear partitions 36 are arranged to connect the front and lower ends of the side airbags 32 and the rear and vertical intermediate portions of the side airbags 32 in a side view. It extends obliquely from the front portion of the airbag 32 toward the rear portion. Therefore, the rear inflation partition 38 formed on the rear side of the front-rear partition 36 is arranged at the lower and rear end portion of the side airbag 32, and the front inflation partition formed on the front side of the front-rear partition 36. 40 is arranged at the top and front end of the side airbag 32 .

The front and rear partitions 36 are configured by tethers (partition walls) attached to the inner sides of the side airbags 32 or seams (stitched portions) made by sewing the base fabric of the side airbags 32 . The rear expansion section 38 and the front expansion section 40 are communicated with each other through communication ports 42 formed at the upper end and lower end of the front and rear partitioning section 36 . Below, the communication port 42 formed in the upper end portion of the front-rear partitioning portion 36 will be referred to as an upper communication port 42A, and the communication port 42 formed in the lower end portion of the front-rear partitioning portion 36 will be referred to as a lower communication port 42B.

Note that the method of manufacturing the side airbag 32 is not limited to the above, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, the side airbag 32 may be formed by stacking two base fabrics and sewing the outer peripheral edges.

The side airbag 32 is formed to have a substantially oval shape elongated along the vertical direction of the seatback 18 when viewed from the side in the inflated and deployed state. The side airbag 32 is sized to restrain (protect) the shoulders S, chest C1, abdomen B, and waist L of the occupant P1 seated on the vehicle seat 14 . In this inflated and deployed state of the side airbag 32, the front inflation section 40 and the rear inflation section 38 are arranged in this order from the vehicle front side to the rear side, and the front inflation section 40 is located in front of the rear inflation section 38. placed on the side and on the upper side. As a result, the front expansion section 40 restrains the shoulders S, the chest C1, the abdomen B, and the front of the waist L of the occupant P1, and the rear expansion section 38 restrains the chest C1, the abdomen B, and the waist L of the occupant P1. restrain the rear of the

The inflator 34 is housed in the rear end portion of the side airbag 32 (the rear end portion 38A of the rear inflation section 38) together with the regulating cloth 44. As shown in FIG. This rectifying cloth 44 is a diffuser made of cloth, and is a member also called a loop diffuser, an inner tube, or the like. The regulating cloth 44 is formed by cutting a rectangular base cloth from the same cloth as the base cloth of the side airbag 32 and sewing it into a cylindrical shape. The regulating cloth 44 is arranged in such a posture that the axial direction thereof extends along the vertical direction of the seat back 18 .

The inflator 34 is a so-called cylinder type gas generator, and is formed in a cylindrical shape. The inflator 34 is accommodated inside the regulating cloth 44 in such a posture that the axial direction thereof extends along the vertical direction of the seat back 18 . The inflator 34 is fixed to the seatback frame 24 , which is the frame member of the seatback 18 , along with a flat reaction plate (not shown) that applies a reaction force when the side airbag 32 is deployed. More specifically, a pair of upper and lower stud bolts 34A protrude outward in the seat width direction (toward the center in the vehicle width direction) from the outer peripheral portion of the inflator 34 . The upper and lower stud bolts 34A pass through the base fabric of the side airbag 32, the rectifying fabric 44, the reaction plate and the side frame 24A of the seatback frame 24, and are screwed with nuts (not shown) on the tip side. there is As a result, the inflator 34 is fastened and fixed (so-called side fastening) to the seat back frame 24 together with the side airbag 32, the regulating cloth 44 and the reaction plate. 3 and 4, the stud bolt 34A is omitted.

A side collision ECU (Electrical Control Unit) 46 mounted on the vehicle is electrically connected to the inflator 34 . A side impact sensor (not shown) for detecting a side impact is electrically connected to the side impact ECU 46 . The side collision ECU 46 is configured to activate (operate) the inflator 34 when a side collision is detected based on a signal from the side collision sensor. If a pre-crash sensor that predicts (predicts) a side collision is electrically connected to the side collision ECU 46, the inflator will 34 may be activated.

As indicated by the dashed arrow in FIG. 1, when the inflator 34 is activated, gas is ejected from the gas ejection portion 34B provided at the upper end portion of the inflator 34. As shown in FIG. The ejected gas is supplied into the rear expansion section 38 from the upper end opening of the regulating cloth 44 . Then, part of the gas supplied into the rear inflation compartment 38 is transferred to the upper communication port 42A formed at the upper end of the rear inflation compartment 38 and the lower communication opening formed at the lower end of the rear inflation compartment 38. Feed into front inflation compartment 40 through port 42B. As a result, the side airbag 32 is configured to inflate and deploy. It should be noted that the gas ejection portion may be provided at the lower end portion of the inflator. 3 and 4, the inflator 34 is omitted.

(Main part of the present invention)
The side airbag 32 described above is accommodated in the side portion 18A in a folded state by a folding method described below.

(Method for folding the side airbag 32)
The above-described side airbag 32 is folded by steps including the following two-folding step and bellows-folding step. In the two-folding process, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper portion 32U of the side airbag 32 is folded along the width of the seat along a lateral fold line T1 extending in the front-rear direction (seat front-rear direction) in the middle portion of the side airbag 32 in the vertical direction. It is folded back in the direction outside (the vehicle width direction center side). As a result, the upper portion 32U overlaps the seat width direction outside of the lower portion 32D of the side airbag 32 to form the folded portion 48, as indicated by the solid line in FIG. The upper portion 32U of the side airbag 32 is a portion on the upper end side from the lateral fold line T1, and the lower portion 32D is a portion on the lower end side from the lateral fold line T1.

Further, in this embodiment, the lateral fold line T1 is set below the upper communication port 42A formed on the upper end side of the rear expansion section 38. As shown in FIG. In this state, the upper communication port 42A is closed by the folded portion 48, so that part of the gas supplied to the rear inflation compartment 38 passes through the lower communication port 42B in the initial stage of the operation of the inflator 34 and flows through the front portion 42B. It is supplied to the expansion compartment 40 . As a result, at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32, the rear inflation section 38 and the front inflation section 40 below the folded portion 48 are rapidly inflated and deployed (FIGS. 3 and 5). reference).

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, in the latter stage of deployment, the folded portion 48 is unfolded. Immediately before this, as indicated by an arrow F1 in FIG. 5, the upper portion 32U of the side airbag, that is, the upper portion of the front inflatable section expands outward in the seat width direction and inflates toward the upper side of the seat. Therefore, in the latter stage of deployment shown in FIG. 4, the deployment direction of the side airbag 32 toward the upper side of the seat is inclined outward in the seat width direction (see the direction of arrow F2 in FIG. 6).

On the other hand, after the folding process, along a plurality of vertical fold lines T2 that extend in the vertical direction of the side airbag 32 (vertical direction of the seat) and are set at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction of the side airbag 32. A crease 50 is formed. The side airbag 32 is folded into a bellows shape by alternately repeating mountain folds and valley folds at the fold line 50, thereby forming a bellows folded portion 52 (see FIG. 2). This completes the bellows folding process.

The bellows-folded portion 52 formed by the above process is unfolded at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32 . The directionality of deployment of the side airbag 32 in the front direction of the seat is strengthened by the bellows-folded portion 52, and as the section of the side airbag 32 below the folded portion 48 expands, these portions are moved to the front side of the seat. It is configured to be rapidly deployed to

(Action and effect)
Next, the operation and effects of this embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, in the side airbag device 30, the side airbag 32 having the folded portion 48 folded as described above is supplied with gas from the inflator 34 arranged in the rear inflation section 38 of the side airbag 32. Inflate and expand upon receiving

Here, the side airbag 32 is divided into an upper portion 32U and a lower portion 32D by folding a base fabric to form a folded portion 48. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, when inflating and deploying, the lower portion 32D of the side airbag 32, that is, the lower portions of the rear inflation partition portion 38 and the front inflation partition portion 40, is inflated at the initial stage of deployment. Next, when the folded portion 48 is unfolded, the upper portion 32U of the side airbag 32, that is, the upper portion of the front inflation section 40 expands outward in the seat width direction and inflates toward the upper side of the seat. As a result, it is possible to prevent the side airbag 32 from rapidly deploying toward the upper side of the seat in the early stage of deployment, and to incline the upward deployment direction of the side airbag 32 toward the outside in the seat width direction in the later stage of deployment. .

As a result, even if a part of the body of the occupant P1 overlaps the irregular position in front of the seat in the side portion 18A of the seat back 18, the occupant P1 in the irregular position is prevented from receiving the load from the side airbag 32. can.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, an occupant P2 having a physique similar to that of a child leans against the side portion 18A in a posture facing backward and looks into the rear seat side from between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat. Even when the side airbag 32 is on, the occupant P2 can be prevented from receiving a load from the side airbag 32 . That is, in this state, when the side airbag 32 is inflated and deployed, the neck N and chest C2 of the occupant P2 are positioned in the deployment direction of the front inflation section 40 . Therefore, for example, in a structure in which the side airbag is rapidly deployed upward from the seat when the inflator is activated, an upward load is input from the side airbag 32 to the neck portion N and chest portion C2 of the occupant P2.

In contrast, in the present embodiment, the side airbag 32 is prevented from being rapidly deployed toward the upper side of the seat at the initial stage of deployment, thereby preventing excessive load from being applied to the chest C2 of the occupant P2. be able to. Further, in the latter stage of deployment, the deployment direction of the side airbag 32 is inclined outward in the seat width direction, so the side airbag 32 can be deployed to the side of the neck portion N of the occupant P2. As a result, a situation in which the side airbag 32 hits the neck N directly and an excessive load is applied to the neck N can be prevented or suppressed.

In this embodiment, the fold of the folded portion 48 of the side airbag 32 is set below the upper communication port 42A formed in the upper end portion of the rear inflation section 38 . That is, the folded portion 48 is formed on the seat lower side than the upper communication port 42A of the rear expansion partition portion 38 . Therefore, the upper communication port 42A is closed by the folded portion 48, and part of the gas supplied into the rear inflation compartment 38 is supplied to the front inflation compartment 40 through the lower communication port 42B. As a result, the rear inflation section 38 and the front inflation section 40 on the lower side of the folded portion 48 can be rapidly inflated and deployed at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32, and the waist L of the occupant P1 can be quickly restrained. As a result, the occupant protection performance of the side airbag 32 can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the side airbag 32 is mountain-folded and valley-folded along the fold line 50 along the vertical direction of the seat in a state where the upper portion 32U and the lower portion 32D of the side airbag 32 are overlapped by the folding portion 48. Alternately repeated bellows-like bellows-like folds 52 are formed. Therefore, at the initial stage of deployment of the side airbag 32, the inflation section below the folded portion 48 can be rapidly deployed forward of the seat. As a result, the waist L of the occupant P1 can be quickly and stably restrained, and the occupant protection performance of the side airbag 32 can be further improved.
[supplementary explanation]

In the above-described embodiment, the horizontal folding line T1, which is the folding line of the folded portion 48, is set below the upper communication port 42A formed on the upper end side of the rear expansion section 38, but the present invention is directed to this. Not exclusively. A configuration in which the lateral fold line T1 is set above the upper communication port 42A of the rear inflation section 38 may be adopted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the side airbag device 30 is mounted on the side portion 18A of the seat back 18 located on the center side in the vehicle width direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. The side airbag device 30 may be mounted on the side portion 18A of the seat back 18 positioned outside in the vehicle width direction, and may be a so-called near-side airbag device. In this configuration as well, the side airbag 32 is inflated in a situation where the child leans against the side portion 18A in a backward posture and looks into the rear seat side from between the vehicle seat 14 and the side portion of the front chamber 12. When unfolded, the load on the chest and neck of the child can be suppressed.

14 Vehicle seat 18 Seat back 18A side support portion (outer side portion in the seat width direction)
30 side airbag device 32 side airbag 34 inflator 38 rear expansion section 40 front expansion section 42 communication port 48 folded portion

Claims (2)

a side airbag formed in a bag-like shape and accommodated in a side portion of the seat back of the vehicle seat on the outside in the seat width direction;
a rear inflation section formed at the rear end of the side airbag, having an inflator disposed therein and inflated and deployed by receiving gas supplied from the inflator;
an upper communication port formed in the upper end of the rear expansion compartment;
a lower communication port formed at the lower end of the rear expansion compartment;
The rear expansion section is communicated with the rear expansion section through the upper communication port and the lower communication port , and receives the supply of the gas from the upper communication port and the lower communication port, and the rear expansion section is located on the front side of the seat and above the seat. a front inflation section that inflates and deploys to the side;
a folded portion formed by folding an upper side including the upper communication port from a vertical intermediate portion of the side airbag outward in the seat width direction in a state where the side airbag is accommodated in the side portion;
A side airbag device. The side airbag has a bellows-shaped bellows fold in which mountain folds and valley folds are alternately repeated along fold lines along the vertical direction of the seat in a state in which the upper portion and the lower portion of the side airbag are overlapped by the folded portion. 2. The side airbag device according to claim 1, wherein a portion is formed .

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