JPH04238760A - Structure for supporting air bag device of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a degree of freedom for arranging a car body constitutional member and an air conditioning unit while rigidity of supporting an air bag device by mounting an air bag module to the air conditioning unit, in the case of a structure for supporting the air bag device in an assistant driver's seat side. CONSTITUTION:In an automobile, a heater unit 10 for partly constituting an air conditioning unit is offset to an assistant driver's seat side and fixed to an instrument panel 51. A defroster duct 20 and a vent duct 30 are respectively mounted to the heater unit 10. Further, the vent duct 30 is fixed to the heater unit 10 through a ring blanket 12. Here, a mounting part 61 of an air bag module 60 is stopped by a screw to a supporting part 12B of the ring blanket 12. That is, the air bag module 60 is supported not by a constitutional member inserted in a lateral direction of a car body, but to the instrument panel 51 with sufficient rigidity. In this way, a degree of freedom for arranging the car body constitutional member and the air conditioning unit is improved.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a support structure for an automobile airbag device that inflates in the event of a collision to prevent an occupant from colliding with a front structural member. Regarding support structures.

0002

[Prior Art] In order to prevent the driver from colliding with the steering wheel in the event of a collision in the front direction of the vehicle, and to ensure the safety of the driver, an airbag is provided in the center of the steering wheel that inflates in the event of a collision. Recently, it has become popular to install such airbags not only on the driver's seat but also on the passenger's seat. The airbag needs to be firmly supported by a rigid part from the viewpoint of its function of preventing the movement of the occupant.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5345, it is conceivable that an airbag module containing an airbag is supported by an inter-pillar pipe extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body.

0003

[Problems with the prior art] However, on the front side of the passenger seat,
Normally, air conditioning-related units are arranged closely together, as shown in Figure 10, and in reality, it is difficult to insert pipe-shaped structural members in the left-right direction of the vehicle body, or the structural members are not properly arranged. Even if it were possible, there was a problem in that it interfered with the air conditioning unit and could not be supported by the component.

FIG. 10 shows a configuration in which the engine is placed as close to the passenger compartment as possible in order to shorten the engine room at the front end of the vehicle body. To avoid interference with the engine (engine deck 1), the heater unit 1 is equipped with a heater core.
0 is arranged offset to the passenger seat side, and a blower unit including a blower and a cooling unit including an evaporator are arranged on the engine room side and are not shown. From the air distribution section of the heater unit 10, there are defroster nozzles 21 that open on the lower side of the front window, and center vents 3 that open on the left and right sides of the center of the instrument panel.
2. Air is blown through ducts to side vents 33, 33 that open at both left and right ends of the instrument panel, and heater vents 41, 41 that open toward the feet of the left and right occupants, respectively.

[0005] In a normal configuration in which the engine is not arranged protruding into the passenger compartment, the blower unit and cooling unit are arranged in the passenger compartment adjacent to the heater unit, and in any case, the air conditioning unit and ducts are located in front of the passenger seat. are arranged densely.

[0006]

[Object of the Invention] In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a support structure for an automobile airbag device that can support an airbag with the necessary rigidity in the front part of the passenger seat. shall be.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION For this reason, the support structure for an automobile airbag device according to the present invention includes an airbag module that is connected to an air conditioning unit, an air conditioning duct as an air conditioning unit disposed on the passenger side of another air conditioning unit, Supported by an air conditioning core installed in the air conditioning unit or by an engine deck with a lower dash panel located approximately in the center of the vehicle width protruding into the passenger compartment to cover the engine located closer to the passenger compartment. It is something. Further, when the airbag module is supported on an air conditioning duct, the air conditioning duct is coupled and supported with a dash panel.

[0008] With this configuration, the airbag module can be well supported even if it is difficult to dispose the component through the vehicle body in the left-right direction, or if it cannot be supported by the component due to interference with the air conditioning unit. An airbag device can be provided.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a passenger seat portion of a vehicle to which an embodiment of the support structure for an automobile airbag device according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. In this example,
This is applied to an automobile in which the engine is arranged centrally in the vehicle width direction toward the passenger compartment, and the heater unit 10 is offset toward the passenger seat side and fixed to the dash panel 51 with sufficient rigidity.

A defroster duct 20 is installed on the top surface of the heater unit 10 for blowing air to a defroster nozzle 21 that opens on the lower side of the front window 52. A vent duct 30 that blows air to a center vent and side vents (not shown) is attached to the surface on the vehicle interior side. Note that the defroster duct 20 and the vent duct 30 extend in the vehicle width direction.

The vent duct 30 has a thin rectangular cross-sectional shape in the front-rear direction, and the long side thereof is connected to the heater unit 1.
The heater unit 10 is fitted to the heater unit 10 through a fitting portion (not shown), and is connected and fixed to the left and right side surfaces of the heater unit 10, respectively, via ring brackets 12, 12 fitted to the outer periphery thereof.

The ring bracket 12 is a plate-shaped member having a predetermined width and is formed to be able to fit around the outer periphery of the vent duct 30 with a predetermined tolerance. However, the vent duct 3 has fixing portions 12A to the heater unit 10 fitted in the portions corresponding to the rear surface of the vent duct 30, respectively.
They are formed parallel to each other at a predetermined distance from the zero plane. The ring bracket 12 is connected to the vent duct 30.
The screws 13 are attached to the support angles 11, which are inserted into positions corresponding to both side surfaces of the heater unit 10, and whose fixing portions 12A are fixed to both side surfaces of the heater unit 10, respectively.
, 13, and the vent duct 30 is fixedly supported on the heater unit 10 by the ring bracket 12.

An air bag module 60 is attached to the air bag module support portions 12B, 12B of the ring brackets 12, 12 disposed on both the left and right sides of the heater unit 10.
Attachment portions 61, 61 protruding to the left and right sides are screwed to support the airbag module 60. That is, the ring brackets 12, 12 fixed to both sides of the heater unit 10 allow the vent duct 3 to
0 and the airbag module 60 are both supported.

As shown in FIG. 2, which is a perspective view of the vent duct 30, the air bag module support portion 1 is located on the side wall surface of the vent duct 30 corresponding to the air bag module 60.
A recess 30A is formed into which the rear part of the air bag module 60 can fit when the air bag module 60 is attached to 2B and 12B, thereby avoiding interference.

According to the above configuration, the airbag module 60 is rigidly attached to the vehicle body (dash panel 51) without being supported by structural members disposed through the vehicle body in the left-right direction. heater unit 10
This makes it possible to support the vehicle with sufficient rigidity, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in arranging the vehicle body components and the air conditioning unit.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an embodiment in which the support rigidity of the airbag module can be further improved compared to the above embodiment. That is, as shown in a perspective view in FIG.
A bracket 70 having a shape including a mounting collar 71 that overlaps with the mounting collar 10A of the heater unit 10 is formed, and the mounting collar 71 of the bracket 70 is overlapped with the mounting collar 10A of the heater unit 10, and the bracket 70 is attached to the dash panel 51 in a co-tight state. It is structured as follows.

Support angles 72 similar to the support angles 11A fixed to the side surfaces of the heater unit 10 in the previous embodiment are fixed to both sides of the bracket 70, and the vent duct 30 is attached to the support angles 72. The inserted ring bracket 12 is fixed, and the ring bracket 1
2 supports an airbag module (not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5). Incidentally, reference numeral 13 denotes a seal rubber interposed at a portion where the vent duct 30 is attached to the heater unit 10. According to this configuration, the bracket 70 can support the airbag module with higher rigidity.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an engine deck in which a lower dash panel portion approximately in the center in the width direction of the vehicle is formed to protrude into the vehicle interior in order to cover the engine that is placed closer to the vehicle interior. It is configured to support a bracket 70, and FIG. 6 is a side view and FIG. 7 is a front view thereof. That is, an angle 81 is fixed vertically on the side surface of the engine deck 80 on the passenger seat side (the side where the heater unit 10 is disposed) as close to the passenger compartment as possible, and the leg portion 72 of the bracket 70 on the engine deck side is fixed to the angle 81. It is configured to be fixed. According to this, the length of the leg part 72 on the engine deck side can be made shorter than that attached to the dash panel 51, and as a result, the bending moment is reduced and the support rigidity is improved.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the airbag module 6
0 is supported by a heater core 90, which is an air conditioning core provided in the heater unit 10. FIG. 8 is a side view of the heater unit 10, partially in section, and FIG. 9 is a plan view. It is a corresponding cross-sectional view. The heater core 90 has an engine room side side fixed to the engine room side side of the case 10B of the heater unit 10, and a planar U-shaped bracket that opens to the passenger compartment on the vehicle interior side. An arm 91 is integrally attached, and the bracket arm 91 protrudes to the outside of the case 10B through the opening.
This supports the airbag module 60. With this configuration as well, the airbag module 6
0 is rigidly attached to the vehicle body (dash panel 51) without being supported by structural members disposed through the vehicle body in the left-right direction, contributing to an increase in the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the vehicle body structural members and the air conditioning unit.

[0020]

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the support structure for the automobile airbag device according to the present invention, the airbag device can be mounted in front of the front passenger seat without being supported by structural members disposed through the vehicle body in the left-right direction. Not only can it be supported with the necessary rigidity, but also the degree of freedom in arranging the vehicle body components and the air conditioning unit can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a passenger seat portion of a vehicle to which an embodiment of a support structure for an automobile airbag device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vent duct attached to a heater unit.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a passenger seat portion of a vehicle according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bracket of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a passenger seat portion of a vehicle showing another embodiment of a bracket mounting structure.

FIG. 7 is a front view of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a passenger seat portion of a vehicle configured to support an airbag device on a heater core.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to the plan view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of the arrangement of air conditioning units.

[Explanation of symbols]

10... Heater unit (air conditioning unit) 10B... Heater core (air conditioning core) 30... Vent duct (air conditioning duct) 60... Air bag module 70... Bracket (reinforcing member) 80... Engine deck

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A supporting structure for an airbag device on a passenger seat side of an automobile, characterized in that an airbag module is mounted on an air conditioning unit. 2. A support structure for an air bag device for an automobile, wherein the air conditioning unit supporting the air bag module is an air conditioning duct disposed on the passenger side of another air conditioning unit. 3. The support structure for an air bag device for an automobile according to claim 2, wherein the air conditioning duct to which the air bag module is installed is connected and supported by a reinforcing member to a dash panel. 4. A support structure for an airbag device on a passenger seat side, wherein an airbag module is supported by an air conditioning core disposed within an air conditioning unit. Support structure. 5. A support structure for an airbag device on the passenger seat side, wherein the airbag module is mounted on a lower dash panel portion approximately in the center of the vehicle in the vehicle interior in order to cover the engine which is placed closer to the vehicle interior. A support structure for an automobile airbag device, characterized in that the support structure is supported by an engine deck formed protruding from the top.