JP7517095B2 - Occupant restraint system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an occupant restraint device that restrains an occupant of a motor vehicle.

One type of seat belt device that tightens the seat belt to restrain the vehicle occupant in an emergency such as a car collision or rollover is one that has an airbag installed along the seat belt and that inflates with gas in the event of a vehicle emergency.

JP 2017-178144 A

The present invention aims to provide an occupant restraint device that deploys an airbag between the seat belt and the occupant to effectively restrain the occupant.

The passenger restraint device of the present invention comprises a webbing that is routed along the body of the passenger, and an airbag that is attached to the webbing in the area from the shoulders to the waist of the passenger and that inflates and deploys between the webbing and the passenger when gas is supplied to the airbag, and the longitudinal direction of the airbag when inflated and deployed intersects with the extension direction of the webbing, and the airbag has a lateral deployment section that inflates and deploys laterally, and multiple vertical chambers that extend downward from the lateral deployment section.

In one aspect of the present invention, the multiple vertical chambers are longer on the inner side in the vehicle width direction.

In one aspect of the present invention, the airbag further includes a gas passage extending along the webbing, connected to the lower end of the vertical chamber located at the innermost side in the vehicle width direction, and supplying gas to the vertical chambers and the lateral deployment section.

In one aspect of the present invention, the airbag has a first base fabric on the occupant side and a second base fabric on the non-occupant side, and a tether is attached to the first base fabric so as to cover the multiple vertical chambers.

The occupant restraint device of the present invention deploys an airbag between the seat belt and the occupant, effectively restraining the occupant.

FIG. 1A is a front view showing a passenger restraint device according to an embodiment in a used state, and FIG. 1B is a front view showing a state in which an airbag is deployed. FIG. FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3 . FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of attaching a webbing. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 1B. FIG. 11 is a plan view of an airbag according to another embodiment.

The airbag and occupant restraint device according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 6. Figure 1A is a front view showing the occupant restraint device applied to a vehicle seat 1 in a used state (installed state), and Figure 1B is a front view showing the airbag 10 in a deployed state.

The webbing W pulled out from the retractor 2 is routed through the shoulder anchor 7, folded back at the tongue 4, and its end is fixed to the anchor plate 6. The anchor plate 6 is fixed to a fixed part of the vehicle body (not shown).

The retractor 2 is installed, for example, on the B-pillar, but is not limited thereto and may be installed on the C-pillar, inside the seat back, etc. When the occupant restraint device is in use, the webbing W is attached to the upper body of the occupant P from the front, diagonally from the shoulders on the outer side of the vehicle width to the waist on the inner side of the vehicle width.

An airbag 10 is attached to the webbing W, closer to the shoulder anchor 7 than the tongue 4. When gas is supplied from the inflator, the airbag 10 inflates and deploys between the occupant P and the webbing W, as shown in FIG. 1B. When fully inflated, the airbag 10 has a laterally deploying portion 11 that deploys laterally, and multiple vertical chambers 12-15 that extend downward from the laterally deploying portion 11. The upper portions of the vertical chambers 12-15 are each connected to the laterally deploying portion 11.

For example, the inflator is fixed to a fixed part of the vehicle body on the buckle 9 side where the tongue 4 is attached and detached, or to the floor on the anchor plate 6 side. One end of a gas passage (not shown) extending along the webbing is connected to the lower end of the vertical chamber 12, and the other end of the gas passage serves as a gas inlet.

When the inflator is provided on the buckle 9 side, a gas supply pipe connection hole to which the gas outlet of the inflator is connected is provided in the buckle 9, and a gas supply pipe is provided in the tongue 4 so that when the tongue 4 is attached to the buckle 9, the gas supply pipe is inserted into the gas supply pipe connection hole. Gas ejected from the inflator is guided through the gas supply pipe to the gas inlet of the gas passage, causing the airbag 10 to inflate.

When the inflator is installed on the anchor plate 6 side, a flexible hose (tube) that guides the gas generated by the inflator to the gas inlet of the gas passage is installed along the webbing W.

The inflator may be placed inside the B-pillar, etc., and gas may be supplied from above the lateral deployment section 11 using a flexible hose.

The vertical chambers 12 to 15 have different lengths in the vertical direction, and are longer toward the inside in the vehicle width direction. That is, vertical chamber 12 is the longest and vertical chamber 15 is the shortest. In other words, the lower end of the vertical chambers is located at the lowest position, and the lower end of vertical chamber 15 is located at the highest position.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the airbag 10 is made into a bag shape by overlapping two base fabrics 10a, 10b and sewing their periphery together at seams 21a to 21g. The base fabrics 10a, 10b have a horizontally elongated, roughly rectangular region corresponding to the lateral deployment section 11 and a roughly trapezoidal region corresponding to the vertical chambers 12 to 15.

The upper edges of the base fabrics 10a and 10b are sewn together at seam 21a, the side edges are sewn together at seams 21b and 21c, and the lower edges are sewn together at seams 21d to 21g. For ease of explanation, the connection points of the gas passages that supply gas from the inflator are not shown. When the airbag 10 is inflated and deployed, the base fabric 10a is located on the side opposite the occupant, and the base fabric 10b is located on the occupant side.

One end of stitching 21d is connected to the lower end of stitching 21b, and linear stitching 22a extends upward (toward the laterally deployed section 11) from the other end of stitching 21d. Linear stitching 22b extends upward from one end of stitching 21e in parallel with linear stitching 22a, and linear stitching 23a extends upward from the other end of stitching 21e.

Linear stitching 23b extends upward from one end of stitching 21f so as to be parallel to linear stitching 23a, and linear stitching 24a extends upward from the other end of stitching 21f. Linear stitching 24b extends upward from one end of stitching 21g so as to be parallel to linear stitching 24a, and the other end of stitching 21g is connected to the lower end of stitching 21c.

The area surrounded by stitching 21b, stitching 21d, and linear stitching 22a becomes vertical chamber 12. The area surrounded by linear stitching 22b, stitching 21e, and linear stitching 23a becomes vertical chamber 13. The area surrounded by linear stitching 23b, stitching 21f, and linear stitching 24a becomes vertical chamber 14. The area surrounded by linear stitching 24b, stitching 21g, and stitching 21c becomes vertical chamber 15.

The upper end of linear stitching 22a is connected to the upper end of linear stitching 22b, and the area between linear stitching 22a and linear stitching 22b becomes a non-expanding area. The upper end of linear stitching 23a is connected to the upper end of linear stitching 23b, and the area between linear stitching 23a and linear stitching 23b becomes a non-expanding area. The upper end of linear stitching 24a is connected to the upper end of linear stitching 24b, and the area between linear stitching 24a and linear stitching 24b becomes a non-expanding area.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, a generally trapezoidal tether 30 is attached to the base fabric 10b side so as to cover the vertical chambers 12-15. One of a pair of side edges of the tether 30 is sewn to the base fabrics 10a, 10b by a sewing portion 25 in an area closer to the periphery than the sewing portion 21c, and the other side edge is sewn to the base fabrics 10a, 10b by a sewing portion 26 in an area closer to the periphery than the sewing portion 21b. The sewing portions 25 and 26 are not shown in Figure 2.

The central region of tether 30 is connected to base fabrics 10a and 10b by tethers 41 to 43.

For example, the center of the rectangular tether 41 is sewn to the base fabrics 10a, 10b by stitching portion 51 in the region between linear stitching portion 22a and linear stitching portion 22b. Although not shown in FIG. 2, stitching portion 51 extends parallel to linear stitching portions 22a, 22b. A pair of long sides of the tether 41 are sewn to the tether 30 by stitching portion 27.

Similarly, the central portion of the rectangular tether 42 is sewn to the base fabrics 10a, 10b by stitching portion 52 in the region between linear stitching portion 23a and linear stitching portion 23b. Although stitching portion 52 is not shown in FIG. 2, it extends parallel to linear stitching portions 23a, 23b. A pair of long sides of the tether 42 are sewn to the tether 30 by stitching portion 28.

Similarly, the center of the rectangular tether 43 is sewn to the base fabrics 10a, 10b by stitching 53 in the region between the linear stitching 24a and the linear stitching 24b. Although not shown in FIG. 2, stitching 53 extends parallel to the linear stitching 24a, 24b. A pair of long sides of the tether 43 are sewn to the tether 30 by stitching 29.

The method of attaching the webbing W to the airbag 10 is not particularly limited, but for example, as shown in FIG. 5, rectangular base fabrics 60, 61 are placed on the base fabric 10a, a pair of edge portions of the base fabrics 60, 61 are sewn to the base fabric 10a at seams 70, 71, and the webbing W is passed between the base fabric 10a and the base fabrics 60, 61.

It is preferable that the intersection angle θ between the extension direction of the webbing W and the longitudinal direction L of the laterally expanding portion 11 is 45° or more and 65° or less. This longitudinal direction L can be said to be the direction of the central axis of a cylinder when the portion of the laterally expanding portion 11 in the expanded state that receives the restraining force of the webbing W is regarded as a cylinder.

The airbag 10 is fitted with a webbing W, a gas supply pipe or flexible hose is connected to the gas inlet of the gas passage, and the folded airbag 10 is surrounded by a bag cover (not shown) to form an occupant restraint device as shown in FIG. 1A.

In an emergency, such as when a vehicle collision is detected, gas is ejected from the inflator and supplied to the airbag 10 through the gas passage, causing the laterally deploying portion 11 and the vertical chambers 12-15 to inflate and deploy between the webbing W and the occupant P, as shown in FIG. 1B. The laterally deploying portion 11 crosses the webbing W and deploys so that its longitudinal direction is laterally, e.g., horizontally, to restrain areas of the occupant P that have high human body resistance, such as the shoulders and chest.

As shown in FIG. 6, the vertical chambers 12-15 extending downward from the lateral deployment section 11 have improved surface rigidity due to the tethers 30, 41-43, dispersing the load from the webbing W. The areas restrained by the vertical chambers 12-15 have a lower human body resistance than the areas restrained by the lateral deployment section 11, so dispersing the load from the webbing W provides an appropriate restraining force.

In the above embodiment, the vertical chambers 12 to 15 are configured to be longer on the inner side in the vehicle width direction, but they may all be the same length. However, since the vertical chambers 12 to 15 only need to be located between the webbing W and the occupant P, it is preferable to reduce the volume of the airbag by making them shorter on the outer side in the vehicle width direction in accordance with the inclination of the webbing W that is attached diagonally to the upper body of the occupant.

In the above embodiment, a configuration was described in which four vertical chambers 12 to 15 extend downward from the horizontal deployment section 11, but the number of vertical chambers is not limited to four and may be two, three, or five or more.

The lateral deployment portion 11 of the airbag 10 may come into contact with a driver's airbag mounted on the steering wheel or a passenger airbag that inflates and deploys between the passenger seat and the instrument panel, providing a high restraining force.

In the above embodiment, the vertical chambers 12-15 extending in the vertical direction are arranged in a horizontal line below the lateral deployment section 11. However, as in the airbag 10A shown in FIG. 7, the horizontal chambers 16-19 extending in the horizontal direction may be arranged in a vertical line below the lateral deployment section 11.

In this example, the lower edges of the base fabrics 10a and 10b are sewn together by a stitching portion 21h, one end of which is connected to the lower end of the stitching portion 21b and the other end of which is connected to the lower end of the stitching portion 21c.

The stitching portions 81 to 84 that stitch the base fabrics 10a, 10b together extend horizontally in parallel with a gap between them. The area between stitching portion 81 and stitching portion 82 forms horizontal chamber 16. The area between stitching portion 82 and stitching portion 83 forms horizontal chamber 17. The area between stitching portion 83 and stitching portion 84 forms horizontal chamber 18. The area between stitching portion 84 and stitching portion 21h forms horizontal chamber 19.

The seams 81-84 are longer toward the top, and the horizontal chambers 16-19 are longer in the horizontal direction toward the top.

A tether similar to the tether 30 described in the above embodiment is attached to the base fabric 10b on the occupant side so as to cover the lateral chambers 16 to 19.

One end of each of the stitching portions 81 to 84 may be connected to stitching portion 21b. Alternatively, the other end of each of the stitching portions 81 to 84 may be connected to stitching portion 21c.

With this type of airbag 10A, the load from the webbing W is distributed by the lateral chambers 16-19, allowing the occupant to be restrained efficiently.

The above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may be implemented in other forms than those shown in the drawings.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Vehicle seat 2 Retractor 4 Tongue 6 Anchor plate 7 Shoulder anchor 9 Buckle 10 Airbag 11 Lateral deployment portion 12 to 15 Vertical chamber

Claims (3)

Webbing that runs along the occupant's body,
an airbag provided in the webbing in an area extending from the shoulders to the waist of the occupant, the airbag being inflated and deployed between the webbing and the occupant by supplying gas;
Equipped with
the airbag has a laterally deploying portion whose longitudinal direction when inflated and deployed intersects with an extension direction of the webbing and which inflates and deploys in a laterally direction, and a plurality of vertical chambers extending downward from the laterally deploying portion,
The vehicle occupant restraint device is characterized in that the plurality of vertical chambers are longer toward the inner side in the vehicle width direction . 2. The occupant restraint device according to claim 1, wherein the airbag further comprises a gas passage extending along the webbing, connected to a lower end of a vertical chamber located innermost in a vehicle width direction, and supplying gas to the multiple vertical chambers and the lateral deployment portion. The airbag has a first base fabric on an occupant side and a second base fabric on an opposite side to the occupant side,
3. The passenger restraint device according to claim 1, wherein a tether is attached to the first base fabric so as to cover the plurality of vertical chambers.

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