JPH03281459A - Energy absorption structure for body side part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure a riding person protecting function regardless of the opening and closing of a side glass by making the spread of an air bag larger when a side glass is opened comparing that when closed at the time of a side collision. CONSTITUTION:When a side collision is detected with a sensor 25, a main air bag 15 is expanded to be upwardly spreaded along the room side inner surface of a door 2. In this case, a sub-air-bag is expanded when a door glass 4 is in a fully-opened or a nearly fully-opened condition with a signal from a sensor 26 received. That is, the sub-air-bag 18 is spreaded besides the spread of the main air bag 15. On the other hand, when the door glass 4 is in a fully- closed or a nearly fully-closed condition, only the main air bag 15 is spreaded and the initiation of the inflater 19 of a sub-air-bag unit EU2 is prohibited.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an energy absorbing structure for a side portion of a vehicle body that protects occupants from impact energy in the event of a side collision of a vehicle.

(Prior Art) Recently, there has been a tendency for vehicles to be equipped with airbags to protect occupants in the event of a collision.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-117957 discloses an air bag unit disposed in the armrest of a side door. That is, an airbag that expands in the event of a side collision is deployed toward the occupant's body, so that the impact energy applied to the occupant in the event of a side collision is absorbed by the airbag. Generally, the airbag for this side collision is deployed to the shoulders or head of the occupant.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The deployment size of the airbag is set to be just the right size to absorb energy during a side collision. In other words,
If the airbag is deployed too much, it is conceivable that the deployment of the airbag will cause a load to act on the occupant in the direction opposite to the collision direction. On the other hand, if the deployment is too small, the impact energy applied to the occupant will not be absorbed sufficiently.

However, even if the airbag is deployed to an appropriate size, if the door glass is opened, a portion of the airbag will escape through the window, reducing the impact energy absorption effect on the occupants. There is a problem with halving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an energy absorption structure for a side portion of a vehicle body, which allows an airbag to be deployed to an appropriate size regardless of whether side glass including door glass is opened or closed.

c) Means for Solving Problems) In order to achieve such technical means, in the present invention, a side glass that can be opened and closed is provided in the car window formed on the side wall of the passenger compartment, and the side wall is provided with air It is assumed that an energy absorption structure is provided on the side of the vehicle body in which an airbag unit storing the bag is disposed, and the airbag that inflates in the event of a side collision is deployed at least toward an area beyond the waistline. a glass opening/closing detection means for detecting an open/closed state; a collision detection means for detecting a side collision; and a deployment state adjustment means for adjusting the deployment size of the airbag;
In the event of a side collision and when the side glass is open,
The airbag is configured to include a rotation state control means that causes the airbag to expand more widely than when the side glass is closed.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, the symbol l is a car, and this car 1 is:
The vehicle is of a so-called two-door type, with doors 2 provided on the driver's seat side and the passenger's seat side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the door 2 is roughly composed of a door body 3 and a door glass 4 provided within the door body 3 so as to be movable up and down. More specifically, in the door body 3, a door glass storage space 7 is formed by an outer panel 5 and an inner panel 6, and an impact parr 8 is disposed in this door glass storage space 7, and this impact parr 8 is connected to the outer panel. 5 and extends in the front-rear direction.

The upper ends of the outer panel 5 and the inner panel 6 are separated from each other to form an entrance 9 for the door glass 4. The line defined by the upper end of the door body 2 is called the waist line ρ.

The door glass 4 is guided by a glass guide 1o and moves up and down, and the drive source for this up and down movement is an electric motor 11 here.

The door body 3 has a vehicle interior side inner surface formed by a door trim 12. That is, a door trim 12 is attached to the inner panel 6 on the inner surface thereof toward the vehicle interior, and an armrest 13 is formed on the door trim 12.

In such a door 2, a main airbag unit EUI is disposed on the armrest 13, and a sub-airbag unit EU2 is disposed on the upper end of the inner panel 4, and these units EUI and EU2 are covered by the door trim 12. There is.

The above main airbag unit EUI has an opening 1 facing upward.
The main airbag 15 and the inflator 16 are housed in the case 14. The secondary airbag unit EU2 also has a case 17 having an opening 17a facing upward, and the secondary airbag 18 and the inflator 19 are housed within the case 17.

The door trim 12 has a main airbag unit) EUI.
A break line 2o is formed on the shelf of the armrest 13 corresponding to the opening 14a of the auxiliary airbag unit EUI, and a break line 21 is formed on the upper end of the door trim 12 corresponding to the opening 17a of the sub airbag unit EUI.
When the main airbag 15 is inflated, the shelf portion of the door trim 12 is forcibly pushed open and directed upward. When the secondary airbag 18 is inflated, the upper end of the door trim 12 is forcibly pushed open and expanded upward.

The f-shifter 16 of the main unit E[J1 and the inflator 19 of the sub-unit EU2 are each independently detonated based on a signal from the control unit (J). , a signal from a sensor 25 attached to the impact par 8 and a signal from a sensor 26 attached to the door glass motor 11 are input. The sensor 26 detects the opening degree of the door glass 4 based on the amount of rotation of the electric motor 11, such as a rotation potentiometer.

When a side collision (indicated by arrow A in FIG. 3, etc.) is detected by the sensor 25, the main aberration lug 15 is expanded.
As shown in FIG. 3, the main airbag 15 is deployed upward along the inner surface of the door 2 on the vehicle interior side. At this time, the sensor 26
When the door glass 4 is fully opened or almost fully opened, the secondary airbag 16 is inflated as shown in FIG. That is, the door glass 4 is
When the airbag is fully opened or almost fully opened, the secondary airbag 18 is deployed in addition to the main airbag 15, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the door glass 4 is fully open or almost fully closed, the first
As shown in Figure 3, only the main airbag 15 is deployed;
Regarding the secondary airbag unit EU 2, detonation of its inflator 19 is prohibited. In addition, the reference numeral 30 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is a roof, and 31 is a side sill.

As a result, when the door glass 4 is opened, the main airbag 15 is supported by the auxiliary airbag 18, and falling out of the iF is restricted. That is, the capacity shortage caused by the main airbag I5 collapsing out of the vehicle is compensated for by the secondary airbag 18.

5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention, and in the description of this embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same elements as in the first embodiment. will be omitted, and only the characteristic portions of this embodiment will be described below.

In this embodiment, the airbag unit EU is disposed in the armrest 13, and this airbag unit
U has two inflations - 35.36. Further, the air bag 37 has a size sufficient to inflate when the two inflators 35 and 36 are activated. When the door glass 4 is closed, the - inflator 35 is detonated, and the other inflator 1/- inflator 36 is detonated.
The detonation of the airbag 37 is prohibited and the airbag 37 is inflated to a small extent (see FIG. 5). On the other hand, when the door glass 4 is opened, the two inflators 35 and 36 are detonated together, and the airbag 37 is greatly expanded (see Fig. 4).
Incidentally, the detonation of the inflators 35 and 36 is controlled by the control unit (J) as in the first embodiment.

The present invention has been described in detail above, but the number of inflators is provided three or more, and the number of inflators to be detonated is changed in multiple stages according to the degree of opening and closing of the side glass 4-5 including the door glass 4. The deployment size of the airbag may be adjusted in multiple stages depending on the degree of opening.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the deployment size of the airbag can be adjusted to a retroactive size regardless of whether the side glass is opened or closed, and the occupant protection function can be extended to the side glass. It can be secured regardless of whether it is opened or closed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the internal structure of the door, and Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line rr shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 is a side view of an automatic type to which the present invention is applied, and Figure 3 shows the door glass being closed. Figure 4 shows the deployment of the airbag when the door glass is opened, and is a cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 1, and Figure 5 shows the deployment of the airbag when the door glass is opened. is a sectional view of the door showing the deployment of the airbag when the door glass is closed in the second embodiment; FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the airbag when the door glass is opened in the second embodiment. A cross-sectional view of the door showing its development. 2 ・ ・ 3 ・ − 4 ・ 】 5 ・ 18 ・ ] 6. 25 ・ 26 ・ U ・ ・ Door main body Door glass ・ Main airbag ・ Secondary airbag 9.35.36 ... Inflake ・ Collision sensor ・ Door glass opening/closing sensor control unit EU ・ ・Airbag unit -, --- -,1 Figure 3 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A side glass that can be opened and closed is provided in a car window formed on a side wall of the vehicle compartment, and an airbag unit that stores an airbag is disposed on the sidewall, and the airbag that is inflated in the event of a side collision is at least An energy absorbing structure for a side of the vehicle body that is deployed toward an area above the waistline, comprising: a glass opening/closing detection means for detecting an open/closed state of the side glass; a collision detection means for detecting a side collision; and deployment of the airbag. and a deployment state control means for increasing the deployment of the airbag when the side glass is opened at the time of a side collision compared to when the side glass is closed. An energy absorption structure on the side of the vehicle body.