JPH04113954A - Air bag device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To mitigate impulsive force applied on crew at collision of the front of a vehicle by calculating a forward movement starting time of a steering column based on the load condition of crew colliding with an air bag main body at collision of the front of the vehicle. CONSTITUTION:When collision of the front of a vehicle is detected with a judging circuit 29, development starting time t0 of an air bag main body 22 is calculated as the base of collision detected time. Nextly, at no putting on of a seat belt 25, the air bag main body 22 is immediately developed, meanwhile at putting on of the seat belt 25, withdrawal starting time t of a steering column 14 as a forward movement starting time is calculated. After t1 time passing from the collision, the air bag main body 22 is developed, hereafter at t>=t1, a signal is sent from the judging circuit 29 to an ignition circuit 28, a loader 17 is operated to pull a wire 20, the upper half part 14a of the steering colum 14 is withdrawn on the engine room side, and deceleration of the crew is made into an optimum value, considering the vehicle speed and the weight of the crew.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications This invention relates to a vehicle airbag device.

An example of a conventional air bag device for a vehicle is shown in FIG. 8-9.

In the figure, an airbag body 3 is fixed within a steering wheel 2 supported by a steering column 1.

The airbag body 3 detects the impact force at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle and deploys, and the person is seated in the seat 4 and restrained by the seatbelt 5.
Or the chest 7 of the occupant 6 who is not fastening the seat belt 5
and protects the head 8.

An exhaust hole 9 is formed in the airbag body 3, and after the occupant 6 interferes with the airbag body 3, the internal pressure of the airbag body 3 increases transiently as the occupant 6 moves toward the front of the vehicle, causing a reaction against the occupant 6. This prevents the force from becoming too large, and the bag inflator specifications are such that the airbag body 3 generates the internal pressure necessary to restrain an unrestrained occupant only by the airbag body 3. The dimensions of the exhaust hole 9 have been determined.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned conventional airbag device,
Since the structure does not have a bag reaction force adjustment mechanism that corresponds to the seatbelt restraint performance that changes depending on the collision speed of the vehicle, the weight of the occupant, etc., as shown in FIG. The impact force (deceleration) received when the airbag body 3 interferes with the airbag body 3 tends to be higher than when the occupant 6 is restrained by the seatbelt 5 alone without the airbag body 3.

For this reason, there is a structure in which a pressure regulating valve is provided in the exhaust hole 9 of the airbag body 3, but this type of structure increases the weight of the airbag body 3 and also Another problem is that it is difficult to adjust the pressure instantly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle airbag device that can reduce the impact force when an occupant interferes with the seat bag body.

Means for Solving the Problems A vehicle airbag device is provided in which an airbag main body is provided on the steering wheel of a vehicle equipped with a seat belt, and the steering column is configured to be movable toward the engine room side, and the steering column is movable toward the engine room side. Control means is provided which calculates the time to start forward movement of the steering column based on the load condition of H when the airbag body collides with the airbag body, and instructs the start of forward movement.

Effect When the air pack body deploys during a frontal collision of the vehicle and the occupant's chest or head collides with the air pack body, the control means calculates the forward movement time of the steering column based on the occupant's weight, vehicle speed, etc. When this time has elapsed, the system issues an instruction to move the steering column forward, thereby reducing the impact on the air pack body for the occupants.

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

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the main parts.

In the figure, a steering column support member 11 is attached to the cowl box portion IO of the vehicle body, and the steering column support member 11 is attached to the upper side of the steering column support member 11 via an upper mounting bracket 12.
A steering column 14 is supported on the lower side of the vehicle via a lower mounting bracket 13. In addition, I5 is the upper mounting bracket 12 and the lower mounting bracket! 3 shows the bolts that secure it.

The steering column 14 has an upper half 14a and a lower half 1.
The upper mounting bracket 12 is configured to be able to freely retract (move forward) by retracting from the steering column support member 4b, and the upper mounting bracket 12 is configured to be slidable on a slide block 16 that is fastened with bolts 15 to the upper side of the steering column support member ll. ing.

The lower mounting bracket 13 is equipped with a gunpowder live loader.
A wire 19 having one end fixed to a pulley 18 is attached to the loader 17. Also,
This pulley 18 is hung around a wire 20 disposed across the upper side of the steering column support member 11 and the upper mounting bracket I2. Note that 21 indicates a pin.

The steering column 14 has a steering wheel 2 with an air pack main body 22 housed at its tip.
3 is installed.

The air pack main body 22 is provided with an exhaust hole 24,
This is to prevent the internal pressure of the bag from becoming too high when the occupant 26 restrained by the seat belt 25 moves forward and collides with the air pack body 22 during a frontal collision of the vehicle. The characteristics of the air pack main body 22 are such that the bag inflator specifications and the exhaust hole 24 dimensions are normally determined so as to generate the bag internal pressure necessary to restrain an unrestrained occupant only by the air pack main body 22. Note that 27 indicates a bag internal pressure sensor.

An ignition circuit 28 is connected to the loader 17, and an ignition instruction is given to the loader 17 via the ignition circuit 28 based on an instruction from a determination circuit 29 serving as a control means. It is designed to be pulled and degenerate by .20.

A column load sensor 3O for measuring the load acting on the steering column 14 from the steering wheel 23 is mounted on the upper end of the steering column 14, a belt sensor 32 is mounted on the seat belt inner buckle 31, and a belt sensor 32 is mounted on the D ring 33 of the seat belt 25. A belt tension sensor 34 and a weight sensor 36 are provided on the seat cushion 35, respectively.

Note that 37 indicates a speedometer.

The column load sensor 30. Belt sensor 32
, belt tension sensor 34, weight sensor 36, speedometer 37
and a bag internal pressure sensor 27 are connected to a determination circuit 29.

Next, the operation will be explained along the flowchart of FIG. 3.

When the vehicle has a frontal collision and this is detected (Step 1.
2) The deployment start time t0 of the airbag body 22 is calculated based on the time when the collision is detected (step 3).

Next, the belt sensor 32 determines whether the seat belt 25 is worn or not (step 4), and if the seat belt 25 is not worn, the airbag body 22 is deployed (step 5).
) ends (step 13).

When the seat belt 25 is fastened, the retraction start time t, which is FJ at the start of forward movement of the steering column 14, is calculated (step 6).

The retraction start time t of the steering column 14 is obtained by adding a correction value Δt corresponding to the vehicle speed and a correction value Δt corresponding to the passenger weight to the reference time (time when the airbag body 22 starts deploying) to. .

As shown in Figure 4, the above retraction start time 1+ and the reference time (
Deployment start time of the airbag body 22) t.

Difference with 1. -1. If it becomes large (section C in the figure), the steering column ■4 will be retracted after the occupant is completely restrained, so the reduction will be the same as when the sorting belt 25 and the airbag body 22 are set normally. Become the speed,
If tl-to becomes smaller (section A in the figure), it is expected that the restraint of the airbag body 22 will be smaller and the deceleration occurring to the occupant will be higher.

Therefore, the retraction start time t of the steering column 14 is set at a time corresponding to section B in the figure.

On the other hand, if the collision speed is higher than the standard, or if the occupant weight is heavy, increasing the occupant's movement stroke is effective in reducing the occupant's deceleration, so see Table 1 (below) Table ■ As shown in Figure 1, the retraction start time is 1. It is effective to make the value smaller than the standard.

Specifically, the signals from the speedometer 37 and the weight sensor 36 are determined. 29 and enter Δ1. and Δ1. Calculate t
Add to o and 1. We seek.

After the retraction start time t is calculated in this way, the airbag main body 22 is inflated t0 hours after the collision (step 7), and then t≧t.

When (step 8) a signal is sent from the judgment circuit 29 to the ignition circuit 28, the loader-F is activated and the pulley 1 is activated.
8 is pulled by wire 19.

Then, the pin 21.21 is pulled through the wire 20,
The upper half 14a of the steering column 14 is pulled into the engine room (step 12). As a result, the deceleration of the occupant becomes an optimal value taking into consideration the vehicle speed and the occupant's weight.

Here, before the retraction start time t1 of the steering column 14 comes, the belt tension sensor 34 provided on the D ring 33 detects that the belt tension of the seat belt 25 is equal to or higher than a certain value (B in FIG. 5) (A in the same figure). When this happens (step 9), the steering column 14 is retracted without waiting for t-t (step 12).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, when the airbag body 22 is deployed, the occupant is forced to press the airbag body 22 against the internal pressure (A in the figure).
If this occurs, the internal pressure will increase (B in the figure) and the deceleration of the occupant will increase.

Therefore, even if the belt tension is below a certain value,
When the bag internal pressure sensor 27 detects a load above a certain level (step 10), the steering column 14 is retracted without waiting for the retraction start time t of the steering column 14 to reach tl (step 12).

As shown in FIG. 7, the load acting on the steering column 14 is the load A generated when the airbag body 22 alone is deployed, and the load B when the occupant acts on the airbag body 22. is larger, so load B has a higher deceleration.

Therefore, even if the belt tension is below a certain value and the internal pressure of the airbag body 22 is below a certain value, if the column load sensor 30 detects a load above a certain value (step 11), the steering column 14 Retraction start time t
The steering column 14 is retracted without waiting for tl to reach tl (step 12).

In this way, when the seat belt 25 is fastened, the steering column J is adjusted according to the vehicle speed and the passenger weight.
4, and after this time elapses, the steering column 14 is retracted, or even if the retraction start time t1 has elapsed, the notebook held 25
When any one of the tension of the airbag body 22, the internal pressure of the airbag body 22, and the load of the steering column 4 exceeds a certain value, the steering flamm 14 is retracted to lower the deceleration of the vehicle, thereby ensuring the safety of the occupants. It is to ensure it. Incidentally, in the above-described embodiment, the timing of retraction of the steering wheel is controlled, but in addition to this, the maximum retraction position and the duration of retraction of the steering wheel can also be controlled.

As described in detail, according to the present invention, the forward movement start time of the steering column is calculated based on the load condition of the occupant who collides with the air pack body at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle, and the forward movement start is instructed. The provision of the control means has the effect of alleviating the impact force received by the occupant when the vehicle collides with the plane of incidence.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 7 show one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 is an overall explanatory diagram, Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the main parts, Figure 3 is a flow chart, and Figures 4 to 7 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the invention.
7 is a graph diagram, FIGS. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams of collision situations of the prior art, and FIG. 10 is a graph diagram of the prior art. 14... Steering column, 22... Air pack body, 23... Steering wheel, 25... Seat belt, 29... Judgment circuit (control means), t...
- Pull-in start time (tFi direction movement start time). A: Engineering 7 Hankobe 4 Kuma No. 1 and 2 missing Z to see 2] 'VA51 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8, 3 Fig. 9

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A vehicle airbag device in which the airbag body is installed in the steering wheel of a vehicle equipped with a seat belt, and the steering column is configured to be movable toward the engine compartment, and the airbag body 1. An airbag device for a vehicle, comprising a control means for calculating a time to start forward movement of a steering column based on load conditions of an occupant colliding with an occupant, and instructing the start of forward movement of a steering column.