JPH0516760A - Air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a means capable of simply providing an air bag device with no trouble against a vehicle, and effectively mitigating impulsion between a passenger and a side door or a side wall. CONSTITUTION:At least a part of the interior of an arm rest 22 fitted to a door 10 or a side wall on the side of the passenger of the vehicle is formed into a hollow chamber to receive an air bag 36 in the deflated condition, and a related part to inflate the above-mentioned air bag 36 is equipped in the interior of the door 10 or the side wall comprising the arm rest 22. At collision of the vehicle, this air bag device is featured that the flow direction of gas jet is set to face upward so as to quickly inflating the air bag 36 from the arm rest 22, for filling up the gap between the inner face of the door 10 or the side wall and the passenger, and protecting up to the head part of the passenger.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device which is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and protects an occupant in a side collision or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle such as an automobile collides with another vehicle or a fixed object, in addition to the seat belt device, the vehicle is rapidly inflated from near the dashboard in front of the vehicle occupant or near the steering wheel toward the occupant. Then, an air bag device that softly receives an occupant and protects the occupant from absorbing the shock so as not to be injured has been researched for some time, and has been put to practical use in some automobiles.

[0003]

A conventional airbag device is provided in front of an occupant and is configured to reduce the impact of a collision in the traveling direction of the vehicle such as a frontal collision. Therefore, when a vehicle collides with a fixed object on the side, when another vehicle collides from the side,
In the event of a collision between the occupant and the side door or side wall surface of the vehicle that may occur when the vehicle body spins or falls, safety can be further enhanced by providing a means for protecting the occupant's head. Further, a seat belt, which is said to be highly effective against a frontal collision, is not very effective against a lateral collision, so that it is desirable to provide some means for complementing it.

Generally, in the case of a vehicle collision, even in the case of a head-on collision, the impact force is secondarily applied in various directions other than the traveling direction. Not only in the case of a collision from the front, but also in the case of a frontal collision, if a means for avoiding the side impact of the occupant is provided, the occupant is fully protected. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be easily provided separately from or in addition to the conventional front airbag device without causing any hindrance to an occupant or a device mounted on a vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel means capable of effectively mitigating an impact with a door or a side wall of the above.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an airbag in which at least a part of the inside of an armrest attached to a door or a side wall on the side of an occupant of a vehicle is in a contracted state. A hollow chamber for accommodation is formed, and a related part for inflating the airbag is installed inside the door or the side wall including the armrest, and an inner surface of the door or the side wall when the vehicle collides. In order to fill the gap between the passenger and an occupant, a flow direction of the gas jet is upward from the armrest so that the airbag can be rapidly inflated upward from the armrest. To do.

[0006]

When the vehicle collides, the relevant portion is actuated by the means for detecting the collision, and the gas is sent upward from the inside of the armrest to the airbag in the contracted state accommodated in the armrest. Therefore, the airbag rapidly expands upward and sideways and reaches a height that covers the occupant's head and fills the gap between the inner surface of the door or the side wall and the occupant, so that the impact of the occupant colliding with the door or the side wall is reduced. To be done. Since the airbag device according to the present invention is installed by utilizing the internal space of the armrest provided on the inner surface of the door or the side wall, it does not hinder the occupant at all and does not interfere with the operation of various devices of the vehicle.

[0007]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of the entire door as seen from the passenger compartment, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a portion of FIG. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing A in an enlarged manner, and FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the same portion A as seen from the vehicle interior, and is also an enlarged sectional view of a part of FIG. Each of these drawings depicts an operating state in which a vehicle collides and an airbag is inflated.

In these drawings, reference numeral 10 denotes a door on the side of the automobile, which is a door on which a passenger seat is provided. However, since the present invention is not necessarily applied only to doors, for a vehicle body part without a door, regardless of whether or not there is an opening such as a window there, the side wall of the vehicle body next to the passenger seat. Corresponds to the illustrated door 10. The door 10 on the side of the vehicle, or the side wall of the vehicle body corresponding to the door 10, is generally an outer panel 12 and an inner panel 14 formed by pressing a steel plate.
Is connected by spot welding or the like together with an appropriate reinforcing member, a decorative material, etc., so that the inside is substantially hollow to form a space 16 divided into several parts. Vacant space 16
Is used as a moving space for the window glass 18 and the like. In the figure, 20 indicates a window frame.

Reference numeral 22 denotes an armrest (armrest) that is attached to the inner panel 14 of the side door 10 (or a side wall that replaces it) of the occupant or integrally formed as a part of the inner panel 14, and is made of synthetic resin. Alternatively, it is formed of a metal plate, or wood in some cases. Needless to say, these armrests 22 may be provided with a suitable surface material or decoration material as required. The armrest 22 to which the present invention is applied has a space such as a large recess or cavity forming a chamber 24 at least in a part of the inside. The upper surface of the armrest 22 or the opening 26 of the chamber 24 formed from the side surface to the inside of the vehicle interior is closed by a lid (not shown) so that the armrest 22 does not interfere with the original function of armrest at all times. Therefore, a soft pad may be attached to the lid. The lid can be opened and closed by a hinge or the like, and the opening 26 can be largely opened by rotating or removing the lid by the internal pressure of the chamber 24.

As shown in FIG. 4, an inflator 28 and a gas discharge pipe 30 connected to the inflator 28 are provided in the chamber 24.
The inflator 28 is similar to that used in a conventional airbag device provided in front of an occupant, has an gas generating agent that is ignited when a signal from a collision detection sensor (not shown) is received, and is instantaneous. A large amount of gas can be generated and sent to the gas discharge pipe 30. Gas discharge pipe 30
A large number of gas emission holes 32 are bored on the upper surface of the so as to eject gas upward. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a filter 34 covering the gas release hole 32 is attached to the inner surface of the gas release pipe 30 so that only the gas can pass through the gas release hole 32 when releasing the gas. ..

In the case of the illustrated embodiment, an airbag 36 having a size that covers at least the side surface of the upper body including the occupant's head with a sufficient margin is prepared, and its opening is attached to the gas discharge pipe 30. The airbag 36 is made of an airtight sheet material such as rubber or synthetic resin, or cloth, like the conventional airbag as described above. When not in operation (always), the airbag 36 is finely folded, for example, in a bellows shape, and is housed in the chamber 24 inside the armrest 22 around the gas discharge pipe 30 or in the vicinity thereof. (See Figure 7)

In the airbag apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, when the vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object, a collision detection sensor (not shown) changes the speed (acceleration) due to the collision. , A deceleration) or a deformation of a part of the vehicle body is detected to automatically ignite the gas generating agent of the inflator 28. Through
A large amount of gas is discharged upward into the airbag 36. Therefore, the internal pressure of the airbag 36 becomes momentarily high, the lid of the armrest 22 is pushed upward, and the airbag 36 is pushed upward through the opening 26 to fill the gap between the occupant and the side door 10 (or the side wall of the vehicle body). Inflate upward to reach a height exceeding the occupant's head, and cushion the occupant's head, particularly when the head collides with a door or a side wall, to prevent injury.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, since the gas discharge hole 32 is formed in the upper surface of the gas discharge pipe 30, the airbag 36 is mainly upward as shown by the arrow B. The vehicle can be inflated smoothly and quickly along the gap between the occupant and the door 10 or the side wall of the vehicle body. Further, in this example, since most of the airbag device is housed in the armrest 22, the provision of the airbag device does not affect other devices, and it is easy to replace the armrest of a ready-made vehicle. There is also the advantage that it can be attached to.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and one of the features of this embodiment is that the gas discharge hole 32 of the gas discharge pipe 30 (in this case, not the small hole, but the gas discharge pipe 30). There are one or more relatively large openings on the side of the.
The elbow-shaped ejection direction changing pipe 38 is attached so as to connect to the above, and the flow of the gas ejected from the inflator (not shown) through the gas discharge pipe 30 is smoothly guided upward. is there. However, when it is sufficient to provide one ejection direction changing pipe 38, the gas discharge pipe 30
Directly bend the open end of the
You may shape like. However, in this case, filter 3
An alternative to No. 4 will be provided near the opening of the gas discharge pipe 30.

Another feature of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is that the vicinity of the opening at the lower end of the airbag 36 is extended to wrap around at least a part of the gas discharge pipe 30, and the ejection direction changing pipe 38. That is, the gas is prevented from leaking from the connecting portion of the airbag 36 and the like. This is particularly effective when a plurality of ejection direction changing pipes 38 are provided for one gas discharge pipe 30.

Another feature of the second embodiment is that an inflator and a gas discharge pipe 30 (not shown) are provided in the door 10 or the space 16 in the side wall of the vehicle body. It is relatively difficult to have such a configuration when attaching the airbag device to a ready-made vehicle, but in a newly designed vehicle, it is easy to find such a space inside the door 10 or the like. .. By moving some of the components of the airbag device into the space 16 as described above, a relatively large airbag 36 can be accommodated in the chamber 24 inside the small armrest 22. Further, even if the inflator 28 is somewhat large, the empty space 16 can be sufficiently accommodated.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference between this example and the second embodiment is that the inflator 28 provided in the space 16 such as the door 10 and the gas discharge pipe 30 provided in the chamber 24 in the armrest 22 are connected by the manifold 40. Accordingly, the manifold 40 may be formed as, for example, two pipe lines in which both ends of the gas discharge pipe 30 are bent outward at a right angle, whereby two or more gas passages are provided to the inflator 28. You can The advantage of providing the manifold 40 is that the gas generated in the inflator 28 can be sent into the airbag 36 without resistance.
The gas outlet from the gas discharge pipe 30 to the airbag 36 is formed above the gas discharge pipe 30 in order to eject the gas upward, as in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. It is formed by a large number of gas emission holes 32.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment which is shown in order to supplement the description of the above-mentioned respective embodiments, and in this embodiment, a lid which opens and closes the upper opening 26 of the armrest 22 by means of a hinge 42. 44, and a state in which a gas discharge pipe / spouting direction changing pipe 46 which is directly connected to the inflator 28 and has a spouting direction of gas upward is provided, and a state in which the air bag 36 is accommodated by being folded around is shown as 48. It is shown in 7. The open state of the lid 42 is illustrated by a broken line, but it goes without saying that the hinge 42 may be provided on the opposite edge of the opening 26 to open the lid 44 on the opposite side, or in some cases, the hinge 42. The lid 44 may simply be fitted into the opening 26 without providing the above. The inflated state of the airbag 36 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

[0019]

In the air bag system of the present invention, the air bag in a contracted state is accommodated in the armrest provided so as to project on the door or the side wall of the vehicle, and the gas is ejected upward from the armrest. , Even if the side door is deformed when the vehicle collides, before that,
Due to the upward jet of gas, the airbag quickly inflates upward from the armrest, smoothly enters the gap between the occupant and the door or the side wall, and surely covers even the side of the head of the occupant, sideways the occupant. Can be protected from collisions. Further, even if another airbag device is provided in front of the occupant, there is no risk of mutual interference. Similarly, there is no interference with the seat belt device, and those functions can be sufficiently exerted.

Further, since the air bag device of the present invention is installed by utilizing the internal space of the armrest originally provided in the vehicle, the air bag device is newly provided to narrow the space in the vehicle compartment. And there is no danger of hindering the operation of passengers or the operation of other devices. Further, since it is possible to install the airbag device so that it is not apparent that the airbag device is installed, it is possible to prevent an occupant from feeling extra fear and spoil the appearance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a part of FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing a part of FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially cut side view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Door 16 ... Vacancy 22 ... Armrest 24 ... Room 28 ... Inflator 30 ... Gas release pipe 32 ... Gas release hole 34 ... Filter 36 ... Airbag 38 ... Jet direction changing pipe 40 ... Manifold 44 ... Lid 48 ... Folded state Airbag

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Matsuhashi 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya city, Aichi prefecture Nihon Denso Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

Claims: What is claimed is: 1. At least a part of the inside of an armrest attached to a side door or side wall of an occupant of a vehicle forms a hollow chamber for accommodating a deflated air bag. Along with the door or the side wall including the armrest, a related portion for inflating the airbag is installed, and when the vehicle collides, the gap between the inner surface of the door or the side wall and the occupant is filled. An air bag device characterized in that a flow direction of a gas jet is upward from the armrest so that the air bag can be rapidly inflated upward from the armrest.