JPH05270342A - Front passenger seat air bag device for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve assembly workability and mounting and demounting workability and to improve support rigidity during expansion and development of an air bag. CONSTITUTION:A bracket 7 is integrally extended from a steering member 6, disposed inside an instrument panel 1, toward an upper part containing a position right thereabove. The instrument panel 1 and an air bag module 3 are placed, in the order named, on the bracket 7. A mounting flange part 11 protruded from the outer peripheral of the case 9 of the air bag module 3 and the instrument panel 1 are securely mutually fastened against the bracket 7 by means of a bolt 15. A pad 16 in which an air bag opening part 17 is formed is securely fitted on the instrument panel 1 so as to conceal a coupling part coupled by a bolt 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a passenger airbag device which is provided in an instrument panel in front of a passenger seat of an automobile and protects a passenger occupant from a secondary collision at the time of a vehicle collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional passenger seat airbag device of this type, for example, the one shown in FIG. 3 has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-303952). That is, inside the instrument panel 51 of the vehicle body, the steering member 52 that extends the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction is arranged. The instrument panel 51 is formed with an air bag accommodating recess 53 having an open top surface, the air bag module 54 is accommodated in the air bag accommodating recess 53, and the top opening is closed by an air bag grid 55. ing. The airbag module 54
As is well known, the case 56 has an inflator (gas generator) 57 and a folded airbag 58 housed therein. The case 59 has a stay 59 provided on the bottom thereof for the instrument panel 5.
The core metal 60 and the substantially L-shaped bracket 61 are fastened together by bolts 62, and the bracket 6
1 is fixed to the steering member 52 with bolts and nuts 63 and 64.

Therefore, when the airbag device is operated, the gas pressure generated by the inflator 57 causes
As shown in, the airbag 58 pushes open the airbag bag 55 and inflates and deploys along the windshield 65.
It is possible to prevent the head of the passenger in the passenger seat from colliding with the windshield 65.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional airbag device, both the fastening joint portion between the stay 59 and the bracket 61 and the fastening joint portion between the bracket 61 and the steering member 52 are both air. It is located below the bag module 54. Therefore, in assembling the air bag device or the instrument panel 51, the work from below the instrument panel 51 is required to tighten the bolts 62 or the bolts / nuts 63, 64. Therefore, not only is it difficult to confirm the positions of the bolt 62 and the bolts and nuts 63 and 64, but also the operator is forced to take an unreasonable posture, and the workability of assembling at the time of outfitting assembly is extremely poor. ..

In addition, when replacing the air bag module 54, the glove box 66 is once removed, and then the operation is performed by hand from below the instrument panel 51 as described above. Therefore, not only the workability is poor, but also extra work is required to attach and detach the glove box 66, which is unrelated to the airbag device, and the detachability for replacing the airbag module 54 is also poor. There is.

In the structure of the conventional airbag device,
The L-shaped bracket 61 extending substantially horizontally from the steering member 52 is used to form the airbag module 5.
4 is supported, and the connecting portion between the airbag module 54 and the bracket 61 is largely offset in the horizontal direction from the axial center of the steering member 52. For this reason,
The support rigidity against the upward pulling force due to the inflation and deployment of the airbag 58 depends on the strength of the bracket 61. Therefore, when the airbag 58 is inflated and deployed, its tensile force also acts as a force that deforms or restores the bracket 61, which also leaves a problem in terms of support rigidity when the airbag 58 is inflated and deployed.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and improves the assembling workability and the detaching workability, and at the same time, improves the support rigidity when the airbag is inflated and deployed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a passenger airbag device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, an inflator and an air bag are housed in a case in front of a passenger seat and inside an instrument panel. In a passenger airbag device of a vehicle in which a bag module is arranged, a bracket protruding upward is provided on a strength member that is arranged inside the instrument panel and that extends in the vehicle width direction. Is an instrument panel provided with an opening for receiving the airbag module and an airbag module received in the opening, both of which are placed in this order, and are projected on the outer periphery of the case of the airbag module. The mounting flange portion and the instrument panel are fastened together with the bracket by a fastening member.

[0009]

In the above structure, when the air bag device is assembled during the outfitting and assembly, the instrument panel and the air bag module are placed in this order on the bracket, and the bolts or nuts are tightened from above. , The airbag flange case, the mounting flange portion protruding from the outer periphery of the case, and the instrument panel are fixed to the bracket together.

When replacing the air bag module, contrary to the above, the cover is removed, the fastening connection with the bolts or nuts is released, and the air bag module is taken out upward. Therefore, as described above, the work is performed from above in both cases of assembling the airbag device and exchanging the airbag module.

Further, since the bracket is extended upward from the strength member in the vehicle width direction and the airbag module is fixed to this bracket, the upward pulling force due to the inflation and deployment of the airbag is The working direction and the extending direction of the bracket are the same. Therefore, when the airbag is inflated / deployed, the tensile force of the airbag is directly applied to the strength member in the vehicle width direction via the bracket, and the force in the direction of deforming the bracket is not applied. The supporting rigidity is also high.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the instrument panel 1 arranged in the vehicle body dash, the airbag module 3 is accommodated above the glove box 2 at a portion corresponding to the front of the passenger seat. Has been done.

An air conditioner unit 4 and a duct 5 are provided inside the instrument panel 1, and a steering member 6 as a strength member that traverses the inside of the instrument panel 1 in the vehicle width direction.
Is provided. A pair of brackets 7 extending upward, including directly above the steering member 6, are fixed by welding, and the upper ends of the brackets 7 come into contact with the inner and lower surfaces of the instrument panel 1. In addition, the weld nut 8 is welded and fixed in advance.

As is well known, the air bag module 3 accommodates an unillustrated air bag folded in a bellows shape together with an inflator (gas generator) in a case 9 and inflates the air bag on the upper surface of the case 9. The module cover 10 made of resin, which can be pushed open at the time of unfolding, is mounted to form a module, and mounting flange portions 11 extending horizontally are integrally formed on both sides of the outer periphery of the case 9.

Further, the instrument panel 1 has an opening 1 for accommodating the airbag module 3.
2 and a positioning recess 13 are formed, and a pad receiving recess 14 for receiving a pad 16 described later is formed so as to surround the opening 12. Then, the instrument panel 1 is mounted on the bracket 7.
And the airbag module 3 is inserted into the opening 12 of the instrument panel 1 from above and the bolt 15 is tightened to the weld nut 8 on the bracket 7 side. The three airbag modules 3 are fastened together.

Further, on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 to which the air bag module 3 is attached, a pad 16 or a finisher whose front side is made of a soft material such as urethane is attached as a cover. The pad 16 is formed in a predetermined three-dimensional shape according to the shape of the instrument panel 1, and has an airbag opening 17 for exposing the module cover 10 to the outside. In addition, a plurality of clips 18 for locking are provided on the inner lower surface thereof. Therefore, after the instrument panel 1 and the airbag module 3 are fixed to the bracket 7 as described above, the clip 18 is engaged with the locking groove 19 on the pad receiving recess 14 side while aligning the pad 16 with the pad receiving recess 14. As a result of the fitting, the fastening joint portion by the bolt 15 is covered with the pad 16. In addition,
Reference numeral 20 in FIG. 1 is a windshield.

In the present embodiment having the above-mentioned structure, when the vehicle body is equipped with the fittings, the instrument panel 1 is placed on the bracket 7 while the positions of the bracket 7 and the positioning recess 13 are aligned with each other, and the positioning recess 1 is provided.
The airbag module 3 is attached to the opening 12 of the instrument panel 1 from above so that the mounting flange portion 11 is fitted to the mounting portion 3. Then, the bolt holes 21, 22 of the mounting flange portion 11 and the positioning recess 13 are formed.
Insert the bolt 15 into and tighten the weld nut 8 on the bracket 7 side. This allows the bracket 7,
The instrument panel 1 and the airbag module 3 are fastened together, and as a result, the instrument panel 1 and the airbag module 3 are firmly fixed to the steering member 6 which is a strength member via the bracket 7.

Finally, the clip 18 of the pad 16
By fitting the pad 16 on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 by engaging the locking groove 19 on the pad receiving recess 14 side, the fastening joint portion by the bolt 15 is concealed, and the appearance around the instrument panel 1 is hidden. The visual appearance is also good.

When the airbag module 3 is replaced, the pad 16 is first removed in the reverse order of the above, and then the
The bolts 15 may be loosened, the airbag module 3 may be taken out upward, and a new airbag module 3 may be mounted in the same procedure as in the above-described outfitting and assembly.

As described above, according to the structure of this embodiment, when the air bag module 3 is assembled at the time of fitting and assembling and when the air bag module 3 is replaced, all necessary parts are attached and detached from above the steering member 6. It becomes the work of. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to force the operator to take an unreasonable posture, and it is not necessary to remove parts such as the glove box 2 unrelated to the airbag device, which improves workability, and the assembling work at the time of outfitting assembly. And the workability of attaching and detaching the air bag module 3 at the time of replacement are greatly improved.

Further, when the airbag device is in operation, as is well known, due to the pressure of the gas generated by the inflator housed in the case 9 of the airbag module 3, the airbag also housed in the case 9 is covered by the module cover. 10 is pushed open and instantly inflates upward and expands inside along the windshield 20, but the tensile force due to the inflation and deployment of the airbag finally supports the airbag module 3. The existing steering member 6 bears the burden.

In this case, in this embodiment, the bracket 7 is extended upward from the steering member 6 and is integrally coupled thereto, and the extension or the direction of the bracket 7 is substantially the same as the tension of the airbag. It matches the direction of force action. Therefore, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, its pulling force is immediately transmitted to the steering member 6 via the bracket 7, and there is no room for the force to deform the bracket 7, which allows the airbag to inflate. -The support rigidity during deployment will be improved.

These things are the same as the airbag module 3
The same applies to the instrument panel 1 that is fastened together with the bracket 7 together with the case 9, and the supporting rigidity of the instrument panel 1 is also improved.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, a bracket is integrally formed so as to extend upward from a strength member laterally installed inside the instrument panel, and the instrument panel and the air bag module are sequentially mounted on the bracket. Was mounted, and the mounting flange portion and the instrument panel projectingly provided on the outer periphery of the case of the airbag module were fastened together with the bracket by a fastening member. Therefore, at the time of assembling the air bag module at the time of assembling the equipment and at the time of replacing the air bag module, all the necessary parts are attached and detached from above the strength member. For this reason, it is not necessary to force the worker to take an unnatural posture unlike the conventional method, and it is not necessary to remove parts such as a glove box unrelated to the airbag device, and the workability is improved, and the assembling work at the time of outfitting assembly. And the workability of removing and installing the air bag module are greatly improved.

Further, when the airbag device is operated, the tensile force associated with the inflation and deployment of the airbag finally acts on the reinforcing member supporting the airbag module. The reinforcing member extends upward and is integrally connected, and the extending or directing direction of the bracket substantially coincides with the acting direction of the tensile force of the airbag. Therefore, when the airbag is inflated and deployed, its tensile force is immediately transmitted to the reinforcing member via the bracket, and there is no room for the force to act in a direction to deform the bracket. As a result, the support rigidity of the airbag when inflated / deployed is improved, and at the same time, the support rigidity of the instrument panel fixed to the strength member via the bracket is improved as in the case of the airbag module. it can. Further, a space for inserting the fastening tool is not required inside the instrument panel, so that the space can be effectively used.

Further, in the embodiment, since the cover having the air bag opening is fitted and fixed on the instrument panel to conceal the fastening joint portion by the fastening member, the instrument panel. It does not impair the appearance of the surroundings.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the airbag device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional airbag device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an operation of the airbag device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Instrument Panel 3 Airbag Module 6 Steering Member 7 Bracket 8 Weld Nut 9 Case 11 Mounting Flange 15 Bolt 16 Pad 17 Airbag Opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A passenger airbag device for a vehicle, in which an airbag module, which accommodates an inflator and an airbag in a case, is arranged in front of a passenger seat and inside an instrument panel. An instrument panel in which a bracket protruding upward is provided on a strength member that is disposed inside the panel and that extends in the vehicle width direction, and an opening for receiving the airbag module is provided on the bracket. Both of them are placed in the order of the airbag module received in the opening, and a mounting flange portion projecting on the outer periphery of the case of the airbag module and the instrument panel are fastened together to the bracket by a fastening member. A passenger airbag device for a vehicle, which is fixed.