JPH03281455A - Collision energy absorption device for body side part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively prevent the secondary collision of a riding person at the time of a side collision by providing an air bag expandable and spreadable toward a body side wall side, and an air bag spreading means spreading the air bag by receiving output from a side collision detecting sensor. CONSTITUTION:Shock detecting sensors 5 and 7 or 6 and 8 are made a turn-ON operation by a side collision. Then a pair of air bags 22, contained in a front seat 1 where a riding person sits, is expanded and spreaded on both the left and right sides of the riding person. Also the upper half of the body of the riding person who is moving to a collision side is restrained in the front seat 1 moving to the non-collision side. Consequently the riding person is moved to the non-collision side while inertia force added to the riding person is relaxed and a relative speed of a door 10 on the collision side and the riding person is made low to surely prevent a secondary collision with the door 10 on the collision side or a collision of fellow riding persons. Moreover because the air bags 22 are contained over seat cushions 9 and seatbacks 13, the air bags 22 can surely be spreaded and the riding person securely be caught even if the door 10 is deformed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a device for absorbing collision energy to the side of a vehicle body.
In particular, the present invention relates to an airbag that is inflated and deployed from a seat to absorb collision energy during a side collision.

[Prior art]

Traditionally, airbag devices for automobiles have been used to buffer the inertial force applied to occupants during a frontal collision through an airbag that inflates and deploys from the steering wheel or passenger side instrument panel. A variety of devices have been proposed and put into practical use to prevent secondary collisions of occupants with vehicles such as vehicles.

The above airbag device operates an ignition device (igniter) based on an output signal from a collision detection sensor installed in the vehicle body, and fires the airbag using the pressure of nitrogen gas generated from a gas generator (inflake). Solid-state airbag devices that instantly inflate and deploy are widely used.

By the way, in the event of a side collision, the upper body of an occupant seated on the seat on the collision side may have a secondary collision with the door that has entered the vehicle interior. In other words, in the event of a side collision, the door moves to the anti-collision side and the seat moves to the anti-collision side via the side sill and floor, so the lower body of the occupant sitting in the seat moves together with the seat towards the anti-collision side. Since the occupant's upper body is almost free relative to the seat, it moves toward the collision side and causes a secondary collision with the door.

Therefore, recently, in order to protect occupants in the event of a side collision, an airbag unit consisting of an ignition device, a gas generator, an airbag, etc. is installed in the armrest of the door, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-117957. A collision detection sensor is installed in the door or side sill, and in the event of a side collision, the ignition device is activated at a predetermined timing so that the airbag is fully deployed just before the occupant contacts the door. An airbag device has also been proposed that prevents a secondary collision with a door or the like by blocking the occupant's upper body.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The airbag device described in the above publication can prevent a secondary collision with a door, etc. by stopping the upper body of the occupant who has moved relatively toward the collision side, but the airbag device deployed near the door can prevent the occupant Since the structure is not designed to restrict the behavior of the passenger, it is possible that the relative speed between the door on the collision side and the occupant increases, causing an impact force to act on the occupant.

Furthermore, since the airbag unit is provided in the armrest of the door, the positions of the two may be shifted relative to each other when the seat is slid back and forth, which is undesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a collision energy absorbing device for the side of a vehicle body that can effectively prevent a secondary collision of an occupant during a side collision.

[Means to solve the problem]

The energy absorbing device for collision against the side of a vehicle body according to the present invention detects a side collision with the vehicle body and an airbag that is installed inside the seat cushion and the seat back and is inflatable and deployable toward at least the side wall of the vehicle body for the occupant. The vehicle includes a side collision detection sensor and an airbag deployment means that deploys the airbag in response to an output from the side collision detection sensor.

[Effect]

In the vehicle body side collision energy absorbing device according to the present invention, the airbag deploying means receives the output from the side collision detection sensor and deploys the internal air between the seat cushion and the seat back in the event of a side collision. Since the bag is inflated and deployed toward at least the side wall of the vehicle, the airbag moves along with the seat toward the opposite side of the collision, restraining the upper body of the occupant who is about to move toward the collision side, and reducing the relative speed with the door on the collision side. It can be made small, and while effectively buffering the inertia force applied to the occupant, the occupant can be moved along with the seat to the anti-collision side, and a secondary collision with a door or the like on the collision side can be reliably prevented.

Furthermore, since the airbag is installed inside the seat cushion and seat back, the airbag can be deployed reliably even if the door is deformed, and the relative positional relationship between the airbag and the passenger can be maintained. Since there is almost no change in the amount of change, it is possible to reliably stop the occupant from being hit.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the collision energy absorption device for the side of the vehicle body according to the present invention, as described in detail in the above [Function] section, an airbag that can be inflated and deployed at least on the side wall of the vehicle body for the occupant is provided between the seat cushion and the seat back. Since the interior is completely covered,
The system restrains the occupant in the seat via the inflated airbag, effectively buffering the inertial force applied to the occupant, and moves the occupant toward the side opposite to the collision, reducing the relative speed between the door and the occupant on the collision side. The ability to reliably prevent secondary collisions with doors, etc., the ability to reliably deploy airbags even if the door is deformed due to a side impact, and the ability to reliably stop occupants from being hit by even relatively small airbags. , and other effects can be obtained.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

This embodiment is a case in which the present invention is applied to an automobile airbag device for further improving safety for front seat occupants in the event of a side collision.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the airbag device includes two sets of side-impact airbag units (hereinafter referred to as side-impact units) installed in the vicinity of the left end and the vicinity of the right end of the left and right front seats 1. ) 2, a pair of left and right seat sensors 3 and 4 installed in the approximate center of the seat cushion 9 of the left and right front seats 1, and a pair of left and right first impact detection sensors installed in the left and right doors 10, respectively. It includes sensors 5 and 6, and a pair of left and right second impact detection sensors 7 and 8 that are installed inside the left and right side sills 11, respectively.

To explain the above-mentioned side collision unit 2, the side collision unit 2 is installed in the vicinity of the left end and the vicinity of the right end of the left and right front seats 1, respectively, but since they have the same configuration, the front seat on the right side (driver's seat side) A description will be given of what is installed in the vicinity of the left end of the seat 1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, a housing portion 12 elongated in the front-rear direction is located in the rear half of the seat cushion 9 near the left end.
In the lower half of the seat back 13 near the left end, a vertically elongated housing part 14 connected to the housing part 12 is formed, and in the lower part of the seat cushion 9, a housing part 12 is formed.
A casing 15 that opens in the front half of the seat cushion frame 1 is installed inside the casing 15, and the lower end surface of the casing 15 is a frame-shaped seat cushion frame 1.
6, and the back end surface of the rear half of the housing section 12 and the housing section 1
Fixing plates 17 and 18 are fixed to the rear end surface of fixing plate 1.
7 is connected to the seat cushion frame 16 via a connecting rod 19, and the fixed plate 1 is connected to a hollow vibe-shaped seat back frame 21 via a connecting rod 20.

The bag-shaped airbag 22 is accommodated in a folded state over the demarcation portions 12 and 14, and the airbag 22
The outer periphery of the proximal end is fixed in a substantially airtight manner between the fixing plates 17 and 18 and the casing 15, and inside the casing 15 is a gas generator that instantaneously generates gas by the reaction between the gas generating agent and the carburizing agent. The gas generator 23 is equipped with an ignition device 24 that generates heat when energized and reacts the gas generating agent and the carbon enhancer. A plurality of vent holes (paths shown) are formed for discharging gas, and when the ignition device 24 is energized, the gas generating agent and the carbon enhancer react, and a large amount of gas is instantly generated from the gas generator 23. And this gas is airbag 2
2.

Note that the reaction rate of the gas generating agent and the carbonizing agent, the capacity of the airbag 22, and the opening area of the vent hole are based on the ignition device 24.
The airbag 22 is set to a predetermined value so that the airbag 22 is fully deployed, for example, in about 10 m5ec after the operation.

A pair of left and right lid portions 25a are integrally formed with the pad member 25 of the seat cushion 9 above the storage portion 12 so that the airbag 22 can be deployed from the front seat 1. As shown in FIG. A pair of lid portions 28a are integrally formed with the band member 28 of the seat back 13, and the lid portion 28a is closed via the skin 29 of the seat back 13, and the skin 29 has a substantially T-shaped perforation 30. is formed up to the vicinity of the bending part of the airbag 22, and the airbag 22 is formed at the perforation 27 by the gas generated from the gas generator 23.
- The skins 26 and 29 are ruptured along line 30, and as shown by the imaginary lines in FIG.

Each of the above-mentioned impact detection sensors 5 to 8 is an existing well-known acceleration-sensitive sensor, and as shown in FIG. The second impact detection sensors 7 and 8 are fixed to approximately the center of the outer end surface of the reinforcing member 32, and the second impact detection sensors 7 and 8 are fixed to approximately the center of the vertical wall of the side sill 11 in the longitudinal direction. Sensitivity is set low and turns on when the impact force at the time of collision exceeds a predetermined value, and second impact detection sensors 7 and 8 are set to have relatively high sensitivity and turn on even with a small impact force. Incidentally, since the impact force at the time of a side collision is transmitted to the impact detection sensors 5 to 8 via the door outer panel 31 and the like, the impact detection sensors 5 to 8 are turned ON after approximately 10 msec has elapsed from the side collision.

The seat sensors 3 and 4 are connected to the seat cushion 9 when the occupant
It turns ON when you sit on it.

As shown in FIG. 7, the first impact detection sensors 5 and 6 are
The impact detection sensors 7 and 8 are connected in series, the left impact detection sensors 5 and 7 and the right impact detection sensors 6 and 8 are connected in parallel, and the left and right seat sensors 3 and 4 are connected to the impact detection sensors 7 and 8. Heaters 24A of a pair of left ignition devices 24 connected in series are connected in series to the left seat sensor 3, and heaters 24A of a pair of right ignition devices 24 connected in parallel are connected to the right seat sensor 4. 24B are connected in series.

Next, the operation of the above airbag device will be explained.

When the impact detection sensors 5, 7 or 6, 8 are activated due to a side collision, a pair of airbags 22 installed in the front seat 1 on the side where the occupant is seated inflates on both sides of the occupant. Front seat 1 unfolds and moves the upper body of the occupant toward the collision side toward the anti-collision side.
The occupant is restrained by the driver, moves the occupant toward the opposite side of the collision while alleviating the inertial force applied to the occupant, and reduces the relative speed between the door 10 on the collision side and the occupant, thereby preventing a secondary collision with the door 10 on the collision side, etc. Reliably prevent collisions between them.

Furthermore, since the airbag 22 is installed inside the seat cushion 9 and the seatback 13, the airbag 22 can be reliably deployed even if the door 10 is deformed, and the airbag 22 and the occupant can be Since the relative positional relationship between the two hardly changes, it is possible to reliably stop the occupant from being hit.

As described above, the occupant is restrained to the front seat 1 by the airbag 22 inflated and deployed from the front seat 1 to both the left and right sides of the occupant, so the occupant is reliably restrained and the inertial force applied to the occupant is effectively buffered. While moving the occupant to the anti-collision side, it is possible to reliably prevent a secondary collision with the door 10 or the like on the collision side and a collision between the occupants.

Furthermore, since the airbag 22 is installed inside the front seat 1, the airbag 22 can be reliably deployed even if the door 10 is deformed due to a side collision.

In this embodiment, the side collision unit 2 is of a type that generates gas by reacting a gas generating agent and a carbonizing agent, but the same applies to airbag units of a type that generates gas using other methods. It can be applied to

Incidentally, the above-mentioned airbag device can also be applied to the flyer seat in the same manner as above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an automobile, FIG. 2 is a cutaway perspective view of a main part of a front seat, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a front seat, and FIG. The figure is the third
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V--IV in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the air bag device. 1.Front seat, 5.6.1st impact detection sensor, 7.8.2nd impact detection sensor, 9..seat cushion, 13..seat back, 22..airbag, 24..ignition. Equipment, 23... Gas generator. Patent applicant Mazda Motor Corporation Figure 2 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An airbag that is installed inside the seat cushion and the seat back and is inflatable and deployable toward at least the side wall of the vehicle body for the occupant; a side collision detection sensor that detects a side collision with the vehicle body; and an airbag deployment means for deploying an airbag in response to an output from the vehicle body.