JPH0534463Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] A. Purpose of the invention (1) Industrial application field The present invention relates to an airbag device that is expanded and deployed by high-pressure gas in the event of a vehicle collision to protect occupants inside the vehicle from impact. .

(2) Conventional technology In recent years, an airbag device has been installed near the front windshield inside the instrument panel, and the airbag is inflated upward from an opening formed on the top surface of the instrument panel and is inflated backward along the inner surface of the windshield. A so-called top-dash-mounted airbag device has been proposed, which is guided by the windshield and deployed toward the passenger compartment.The airbag inflates linearly upward from an opening on the top surface of the instrument panel and closes the window glass. Since the windshield is deployed toward the vehicle interior while sliding against the inner surface, there is a problem in that the deployment speed is reduced due to the frictional force received from the window glass.

In order to solve this problem, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 49-55033, an air bag is installed in a storage groove provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel and extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle body, and the free end side of the bag is placed inside the vehicle interior. The air bag is stored in a folded state by winding it up in a downward spiral, and the front edge of the proximal opening of the air bag is placed in the front edge of the opening of the storage groove, and the rear edge is placed in the opening of the storage groove. By sticking to the trailing edge of each airbag, in the event of a vehicle collision, the spirally folded portion of the airbag is forcefully rolled out from the bag base toward the free end side, inflates in an inclined position toward the passenger compartment, and the front It is already known that the windshield is expanded substantially along the inner surface of the window.

(3) Problems to be solved by the invention However, as shown in FIG. 6a, when the air bag 6' is stored in the storage groove, the spirally folded portion 6m' Front drawer portion 6 from the outer periphery to the bag front edge 6f'
af′ extends substantially straight forward from the upper outer periphery of the spiral folded portion 6m′ without being folded back midway;
m' is arranged so that it is shorter than the rear drawer part 6ar' extending from the lower outer periphery to the rear end edge 6r' of the bag, so that the spiral folded part 6m ' is raised high in the direction of the front window 9 (that is, in a direction slightly away from the occupant) using the front edge 6f' of the bag as a fulcrum and contacts the front window 9, and then is moved along the inner surface of the front window 9 from its free end side. As a result, along with the loss due to contact friction between the front window 9 and the air bag 6', it takes some time for the free end side of the air bag 6' to reach the position in front of the passenger. There is a risk of delays.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air bag device that can solve all of the problems of the conventional ones.

B. Structure of the invention (1) Means for solving the problem According to the invention, in order to achieve this purpose,
An air bag that can be expanded by high-pressure gas from a gas generator and deployed into the passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle collision is placed in a storage groove provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel and extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. Stored in a spirally folded state,
In the air bag device, the proximal edge of the proximal opening of the air bag is attached to the front edge of the opening of the storage groove, and the rear edge is attached to the rear edge of the opening of the storage groove, The airbag is
When it is stored in the storage groove, the front drawer part from the outer periphery of the spirally folded part to the front edge is below the spirally folded part and behind the center of the part. It is arranged so that it is folded back toward the front at a closer position.

(2) Effect When a vehicle collides, the airbag receives high-pressure gas from the gas generator, and its spirally folded portion is forcefully rolled out from the bag base toward the free end, and is then pushed toward the passenger compartment. Since it inflates in a tilted position, it expands into the passenger compartment along the inside surface of the front window. In this case, when the air bag is stored in the storage groove, the front drawer part extending from the outer periphery of the spirally folded part to the front edge of the bag is below and above the spirally folded part. Because it is arranged so that it is folded back forward at a position closer to the rear than the center, and has a relatively long margin, the spiral folded part uses the rear edge of the bag as a fulcrum at the initial stage of expansion. The air bag is lifted in the direction approaching the passenger, and then its free end side is deployed along the inner surface of the front window. Since contact with the front window is avoided and there is no loss due to contact friction, the overall time required for the free end of the air bag to reach the position in front of the passenger can be shortened.

(3) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a container-shaped case 2 with an open top is installed inside an instrument panel 1 located in front of the passenger seat of a vehicle.
The inner surface of the case 2 constitutes a storage groove 2c of the present invention that extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. The opening of the case 2 is closed by a lid 1a forming a part of the upper surface of the instrument panel 1.

A gas generator 5 consisting of a cylinder 3 containing high-pressure gas and a starting device 4 for opening the valve of the cylinder 3 and spouting the high-pressure gas is mounted on the bottom surface of the case 2. In addition, inside this case 2, an air bag 6 formed of a flexible material is placed in a clockwise direction, that is, in a downward direction from the free end E side of the bag in the passenger compartment 8, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The air bag 6 is stored in a folded state wound up in a spiral shape, and the front edge 6f of the proximal opening of the air bag 6 is at the front edge of the opening of the storage groove 2c, and the rear edge is connected to the storage groove 2c. They are hermetically attached to the rear edges of the openings 2c by a large number of rivets 7, respectively.

As clearly shown in FIG. 2, when the airbag 6 is stored in the storage groove 2c, the front drawer portion 6af extending from the outer periphery of the spirally folded portion 6m to the front end edge 6f is It is arranged so as to be folded forward at a position e below the spiral folded portion 6m and rearward of the center of the spiral folded portion 6m, and the spiral folded portion 6
The rear drawer portion 6ar extending from the lower outer periphery of the spiral portion 6m to the rear end edge 6r extends along the outer peripheral surface of the spirally folded portion 6m without being folded back in the middle, as in the conventional example.

As is clear from FIG. 3, the airbag 6 in the deployed state is inflated toward the passenger compartment 8 along the rearwardly inclined windshield 9, and there are airbags on both sides of the base of the airbag 6. 6
A slit 6a is formed in the direction in which the window glass 9 develops, that is, substantially parallel to the window glass 9.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be explained.

When an impact of a certain value or more is detected due to a vehicle collision, the starting device 4 of the gas generator 5 is activated, opens the valve of the cylinder 3, and releases high pressure gas into the case 2. Then, the air bag 6 starts to expand due to the pressure of this high pressure gas, and this air bag 6
The lid 1a, whose back surface is pressed by the lid 1a, separates from the instrument panel 1 and moves upward. This lid 1a
As a result of the separation, the air bag 6 is moved toward the passenger compartment 8 while its spirally folded portion 6m is forcefully pushed out from the bag base toward the free end E side, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. Since it inflates in a tilted position, it expands into the passenger compartment 8 along the inner surface of the front window 9. In this case, while the air bag 6 is stored in the storage groove 2c, the front drawer portion 6af extending from the outer periphery of the spirally folded portion 6m to the front edge 6f of the spirally folded portion 6m extends from the spirally folded portion 6m. 6m below and in the same area
Due to the fact that it is arranged so as to be folded back forward at a position e which is closer to the rear than the center of the fifth At the initial stage of unfolding as shown in FIG. c)), the airbag 6 is deployed in the direction of the passenger from beginning to end, and contact between the airbag 6 and the front window 9 at the initial stage of deployment is avoided, thereby reducing loss due to contact friction. It disappears. As a result, compared to the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, the time required for the free end of the airbag to reach the position in front of the occupant is shortened, which is effective in protecting the human body.

During the inflation process of the air bag 6 described above, tension is applied to the slits 6a formed on both sides of the air bag 6 in the longitudinal direction.
a is kept closed. Therefore, high pressure gas does not leak from the slit 6a, and the air bag 6 can be quickly inflated.

As shown in Figure 4 A and B, airbags 6
When hit, the air bag 6 is crushed and deformed, and the slits 6a formed on both sides of the air bag 6 are opened. Then, the high pressure gas inside the air bag 6 leaks from the slit 6a and the internal pressure of the air bag decreases.
The pressure on people is alleviated. If a person is pushed back and leaves the airbag 6, the slit 6a
closes again and high pressure gas leakage stops. Therefore, the internal pressure of the air bag 6 is maintained at a predetermined value.
Even if a person is secondarily hit by the air bag, it can provide a sufficient cushioning effect.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be applied to various small designs without departing from the present invention described in the claims of the utility model registration. It is possible to make changes.

For example, instead of the cylinder type gas generator described above, a propellant ignition type gas generator may be used. Further, the mounting position of the airbag 6 on the instrument panel 1 is not limited to the front of the passenger seat, but can also be mounted in front of the driver's seat. At this time, this air bag can be used alone or in combination with an air bag attached to the center of the handle.

C. Effects of the invention As described above, according to the invention, the air bag is
When it is stored in the storage groove on the upper surface of the instrument panel, the front drawer part extending from the outer periphery of the spiral folding part to the front edge of the bag is below the spiral folding part and at the center of the part. Since the air bag is folded forward to a position closer to the rear than the air bag, the front drawer part is relatively long and has ample room. The airbag is lifted in the direction toward the occupant using the airbag as a fulcrum, and then the free end side is deployed along the inner surface of the front window, so the airbag can be deployed toward the occupant from beginning to end, and Since it is possible to avoid contact between the airbag and the front window at the initial stage of its deployment, and there is no loss due to contact friction, it greatly contributes to shortening the time it takes for the free end side of the airbag to reach the position in front of the passenger as a whole. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state in which an air bag of an air bag device according to an embodiment of the present invention is housed;
Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the air bag in a deployed state, and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of Figure 1.
Figure A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the airbag in contact with the human body, Figure 4B is a partially cutaway plan view, Figure 5 is a simplified action view showing the airbag's deployment process, and Figure 6 FIG. 5 is an operational view similar to FIG. 5, illustrating a simplified deployment process of a conventional airbag. E...Free end, 1...Instrument panel, 2c...Storage groove, 5...Gas generator, 6...Air bag,
6af...Front drawer part, 6ar...Rear drawer part,
6f...front edge, 6m...spiral folded portion, 6r...rear edge, 8...vehicle compartment.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An air bag 6 that can be expanded by high pressure gas from the gas generator 5 and deployed into the passenger compartment 8 in the event of a vehicle collision is installed in a storage groove 2c provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 and extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. The air bag 6 is stored in a folded state that is spirally wound downward from the free end E side, and the front edge 6f of the proximal opening of the air bag 6 is connected to the front edge of the opening of the storage groove 2c, and the rear end The edge 6r is the storage groove part 2
In the air bag device, the air bag 6 is attached to the rear edge of the opening of the air bag 6, respectively, when the air bag 6 is stored in the storage groove 2c, from the outer periphery of the spirally folded portion 6m to the front edge of the air bag 6. 6
An airbag device characterized in that a front drawer portion 6af extending to f is arranged so as to be folded forward at a position e below the spiral folded portion 6m and rearward from the center of the portion 6m. .