JPH054553A - Energy absorbing structure for side of car body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To protect a passenger from a vehicle, such as a truck and a bus, the bumper position of which is high and a structure, such as a guide rail, at the time of collision with these structures. CONSTITUTION:An air bag device 2A comprises an upper lid 11 corresponding to the part, unfolded upward, of an air bag 7 and a lower lid 13 corresponding to the part, unfolded downward, of the air bag 7. The upper part of the air bag 7 protects a breast part M1 of an occupant M and the lower part of the air bag 7 protects a west part M2 of the occupant M. The upper and lower lids 11 and 13 are different in a force required for opening of the lid. During sideways collision, the upper lid 11 is opened earlier than the lower lid 13, and the part, unfolded upward, of the air bag 7 is unfolded earlier than the part, unfolded downward, thereof.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a so-called side collision countermeasure for protecting the occupant in the vehicle compartment by absorbing impact energy caused by a relatively large impact applied to the side portion of the vehicle body from the outside. The present invention relates to an energy absorption structure of a vehicle body side portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a vehicle such as an automobile is provided with an air bag device having an inflator and an air bag, and is folded in a normal state when a relatively large impact force acts on the vehicle body at the time of collision. It is known that an airbag is inflated and the inflated airbag relaxes the impact force acting on an occupant in a vehicle compartment to protect the occupant.

In such a device, as a countermeasure against a side collision, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-117957, an impact sensor that is turned on by an impact force input from the side is provided on the side of the vehicle body. It has been proposed to provide a folded airbag and a propulsion means for inflating the airbag in response to a signal from the sensor in an armrest inside the vehicle body side portion.

[0004]

In such a case, from the viewpoint of occupant protection, it is necessary to use an airbag having a surface area large enough to protect the occupant's chest and waist at once. It is actually difficult to deploy such a large-capacity airbag at a speed that can protect an occupant.

Therefore, in order to efficiently deploy the airbag, it may be considered that the airbag is deployed separately from the upper bag portion and the lower bag portion, which correspond to the chest and waist, which require special protection. In this way, at the time of collision,
The occupant's chest and waist can be protected quickly.

In consideration of protecting an occupant from a vehicle such as a truck or a bus having a high bumper position or a structure such as a guide rail, the upper and lower portions of the airbag for the occupant's chest and waist are provided. If they are deployed at the same time, the load is first input to a high position, and there is a possibility that the chest of the occupant cannot be sufficiently protected.

The present invention provides an energy absorbing structure on the side of a vehicle body which protects an occupant from a structure such as a vehicle or a guide rail having a high bumper position such as a truck or a bus during a side collision. It is intended to be provided.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is premised on an energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body side portion in which an airbag device for side collision having an airbag is disposed on an inner wall portion of a vehicle body which constitutes a vehicle body side portion. .

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the airbag device is configured so that the airbag is deployed in the vertical direction by opening the airbag bag when a side collision occurs, and the airbag which is deployed upward is deployed downward. It will be deployed faster than the lower part of the airbag.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the air bag grid is
An upper lid that corresponds to an upper portion of the airbag that expands upward, and a lower lid that corresponds to a lower portion of the airbag that expands downward are provided, and both lids have different configurations required to open the lid.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the air bag grid is
An upper lid corresponding to the upper part of the airbag that expands upward, and a lower lid corresponding to the lower part of the airbag that expands downward are provided, and both lids are provided to a trim member that covers the airbag device via a fragile portion. The fragile portion is formed by breaking the fragile portion by the deployment pressure of the airbag when the airbag is deployed, and the fragile portion has a plate thickness with respect to the upper lid and a fragile portion with respect to the lower lid. Have a different configuration.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the side impact airbag device further includes an inflator, and the inflator is configured such that the upper and lower portions of the airbag have different gas ejection modes.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the side impact airbag device further has an inflator, an upper gas passage connecting the inflator and the airbag upper part, an inflator and an airbag lower part. And a lower gas passage for connecting the two, and the shapes of the both passages are different from each other.

[0014]

According to the invention of claim 1, in the case of a side collision, the upper part of the airbag which is deployed upward to protect the occupant's chest is
Deploys downward and protects the occupant's lower back, deploys earlier than the lower part of the airbag to protect the occupant's chest quickly. This protects the occupant (particularly the chest) from a side collision with a vehicle such as a truck or a bus having a high bumper position or a structure such as a guide rail.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the upper lid corresponding to the upper portion of the airbag and the lower lid corresponding to the lower portion of the airbag have different forces required to open the lid. When the airbag bag grid is uniformly deployed in the vertical direction due to the expansion, the upper lid opens faster than the lower lid, and the upper portion of the airbag deploys faster than the lower portion of the airbag.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the upper lid and the lower lid have different plate thicknesses in the fragile portion which is connected to the trim member and is broken when the airbag is deployed, the airbag has a single airbag. When the air bag grid is deployed in the same manner and a uniform deployment pressure is applied to the air bag grid in the vertical direction, the fragile part of the upper lid ruptures before the fragile part of the lower lid, and the upper lid dies faster than the lower lid. It will be released. Therefore, the upper part of the airbag deploys faster than the lower part of the airbag.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in the inflator, the gas ejection mode is different between the upper part of the airbag and the lower part of the airbag. Therefore, the upper part of the airbag has a lower part of the airbag due to the difference in the ejection mode of the gas. Deploy faster than.

According to the invention of claim 5, the upper gas passage to the upper portion of the airbag and the lower gas passage to the lower portion of the airbag have different passage shapes. Deploys faster than the bottom of the airbag.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Example 1 In this example, the forces required to open the upper lid and the lower lid of the air bag grid are different.

In FIG. 1 showing a schematic structure, reference numeral 1 is a door of an automobile, which is formed into a closed cross section by joining an outer panel 1a arranged on the outer side of the vehicle and an inner panel 1b arranged on the cabin side. Has been done. The inner panel 1b has a passenger M.
The airbag device 2A is disposed at a portion between the chest M1 and the waist M2 of the occupant when the passenger is seated. A door trim 3 is attached to the passenger compartment side of the inner panel 1b, and a part of the door trim 3 covers the airbag device 2A.
Are configured. A door glass 5 is supported between the outer panel 1a and the inner panel 1b so as to be able to move up and down by an elevating mechanism such as a window regulator.

As is well known, the airbag device 2A has a casing 6 in which a folded airbag 7 and an inflator 8 are housed. Also, the outer panel 1a
Between the door glass 5 and the door glass 5, an impact sensor 9 for detecting an external impact applied to a side portion of the vehicle body is arranged. The inflator 8 and the impact sensor 9 are electrically connected to, for example, a control unit (not shown) arranged in a console box on the front side of the central portion of the vehicle compartment. When the impact detection output from the impact sensor 9 is input, the control unit outputs a drive signal to the inflator 8 corresponding to the impact detection output to drive the inflator 8 and deploy the airbag 7. It has become.

The air bag grid 4 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in detail in FIG. 1, it basically includes an upper lid 11, an intermediate lid 12, and a lower lid 13.
That is, the upper edge portion of the upper lid 11 is connected to the trim body 3 a via the hinge portion 14, and the lower edge portion of the lower lid 13 is connected to the trim body 3 a via the hinge portion 15. Further, the front and rear edges and the lower edge of the upper lid 11 are defined by the upper fragile portion 17 in which the slit groove 16 is formed on the vehicle outer side of the door trim 3, and the front and rear edges and the upper edge of the lower lid 13 are also It is defined by a lower fragile portion 19 formed with a slit groove 18 on the vehicle outer side of the door trim 3. The intermediate lid 12 is connected between the upper lid 11 and the lower lid 13 via the fragile portions 17 and 19.

The slit groove 16 of the upper fragile portion 17 is formed to be deeper than the slit groove 18 of the lower fragile portion 19, and the upper fragile portion 17 has a smaller plate thickness than the lower fragile portion 19. It is easy to break and separate. Therefore,
The peripheral portion of the upper lid 11 excluding the upper edge, the lower lid 13
The connecting strength with the door trim 3 increases in the order of the peripheral edge portion excluding the lower edge and the front and rear edge portions of the intermediate lid 12, and the force required to open the lid also increases. The reason why the forces required to open the lids are made different in this way is to open the respective lids in the order of the upper lid 11, the lower lid 13, and the intermediate lid 12. However, the intermediate lid 12 is surely opened most slowly. In order to make the fragile portion 2 of the front and rear edges of the intermediate lid 12 owing to the high temperature of the gas generated from the inflator 7,
The strength of 0 and 20 may be reduced.

With the above construction, the interior of the door trim 3 including the portion of the air bag grid 4 does not differ in appearance from the normal door trim 3 in normal times (see FIG. 4 (a)) and looks good. Does not spoil.

When a side collision occurs, the impact sensor 9 detects it and the inflator 7 is actuated to cause the airbag 8 to move.
When the expansion pressure is applied to the air bag grid 4 when the expansion occurs, the air bag grid 4 that receives the expansion pressure has the lowest connection strength with the door trim 3 at the upper fragile portion 17, and thus the slit groove 16 is broken. The upper fragile portion 17 is broken as a starting point for the upper lid 1
1 is separated from the door trim 3. And the airbag 8
The upper lid 11 is opened upward via the hinge portion 14 by the expanding pressure of (see FIG. 4 (b)).

Since the deploying pressure of the airbag 8 continues to act on the airbag bag 4, the lower fragile portion 19 having the next weakest connection strength with the door trim 3. Slit groove 18
And the lower lid 13 is separated from the door trim 3. Then, the deployment pressure of the airbag 8 causes the lower lid 13 to open downward via the hinge portion 15 (see FIG. 4 (c)).

Following this, the fragile portions 20, 20 at the front and rear edges of the intermediate lid 12 are also broken, moved to the passenger compartment side together with the airbag 8 (see FIG. 4 (d)), and then fall off.

Therefore, the upper lid 11 is opened first, and then the lower lid 13 is opened, so that the upper portion of the airbag 8 that protects the chest M1 of the occupant M is the airbag that protects the waist M2 of the occupant M. The occupant M's chest M1 is protected earlier than the waist M2, and the occupant M's chest M1 and waist M2 are protected, and then the intermediate lid 12 falls off and the air bag grid 4 is released.
The whole is opened, and the airbag 8 is fully deployed.

Therefore, in the case of a side collision with a vehicle such as a truck or a bus having a high bumper position or a structure such as a guide rail, the occupant is effectively protected from such a structure.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the air bag grid 4 is constituted by three lids of the upper, middle and lower lids 11, 12, 13; however, for example, the middle lid is eliminated and the upper and lower lids 2 are provided. It is composed of one lid, both lids are defined by slit grooves, and a rigid member etc. is embedded inside the lower lid so that the lower lid requires more force to open the lid than the upper lid. It is also possible to open the lower lid later than the upper lid.

Example 2 In this example, in the upper lid and the lower lid of the air bag grid, the plate thickness of the fragile portion of each lid, which is broken due to the opening of the airbag due to the deployment pressure of the airbag when the airbag is deployed, has a different thickness. , The upper lid and the lower lid are different.

In FIG. 5, the armrest 22 is attached to the inner panel 21b of the door 21 formed by joining the outer panel 21a and the inner panel 21b so as to project into the vehicle interior. The armrest 22 is provided with the airbag device 2B inside and is formed of a part of the door trim 23. The airbag apparatus 2B is configured such that one inflator 24 inflates an upper airbag 25a that protects the occupant's chest and a lower airbag 25b that protects the occupant M's waist M1.

At the portion of the armrest 22 of the door trim 23, the upper lid 26 corresponding to the upper airbag 25a is provided.
However, the lower lid 27 is formed corresponding to the lower airbag 25b. The both lid portions 26, 27 have hinge portions 28, 29 at the edges on the vehicle interior side, and the peripheral edges other than the edges are formed by fragile portions 30, 31 having slit grooves 30a, 31a. Since the fragile portion 30 with respect to the upper lid 26 is thinner than the fragile portion 31 with respect to the lower lid 27, the upper lid 26
The fragile portion 30 against the
When the gas ejection pressure from 4 is uniform, the upper lid 26 is opened more easily and is opened earlier. It should be noted that the portion of the door trim 23 serving as the upper lid 26 is made thinner than the door trim 23 serving as the lower lid portion 27,
The slit grooves may have the same depth and the plate thickness of the fragile portion may be changed.

The chest M of the occupant M is attached to the armrest 22.
Since the lower part of 1 and the upper part of the waist M2 may come into contact with each other, a crash pad 32 made of an energy absorbing material is provided on the intermediate surface of the armrest 22.

With the above structure, the upper lid 26
The plate thickness of the fragile portion 30 against the lower lid 27 is smaller than that of the fragile portion 31 with respect to the lower lid 27, and the fragile portion 30 with respect to the upper lid 26 is easier to break than the fragile portion 31 with respect to the lower lid 27. When the gas ejection pressure from the inflator 34 is uniform with respect to the airbags 25a and 25b, the upper lid 26 is easier to open than the lower lid 27, and the upper lid 26 is lower. Open faster than.

As a result, the upper airbag 25a for protecting the chest M1 of the occupant M deploys to the occupant M earlier than the lower airbag 25b for protecting the waist M2 of the occupant M. M1 is protected faster than waist M2.

-Embodiment 3 In this embodiment, the manner in which gas is ejected from the inflator is different between the upper part and the lower part of the airbag.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, the air bag grid 41 is the upper, middle and lower lids 4 as in the first embodiment.
Although the three lids 2, 43, and 44 are formed on the door trim 45, the depths of the slit grooves of the weak portions 46 and 47 are all the same, and the breaking strength of each weak portion 46 and 47 is substantially the same. It is the same.

The inflator 49 is arranged in consideration of the direction of the arrangement so that the number of ejection holes 49a is obliquely upward, and the gas is ejected to the upper portion of the airbag 50 ( (See FIG. 7).

With this arrangement, when the airbag 50 is inflated at the time of a side collision or the like, the gas from the inflator 49 acts mainly on the upper portion of the airbag 50, and the inflation pressure due to the inflation. , The upper lid 42 is larger than the lower lid 44, so that the upper fragile portion 46 is broken by using the slit groove as a starting point and the upper lid 42 is separated from the door trim 45. Then, the deployment pressure of the airbag 50 causes the upper lid 42 to open upward.

Then, the deployment pressure of the air bag 50 continues to act on the air bag grid 41, so that the lower fragile portion 47 is broken by using the slit groove as a slit, and the lower lid 44 is separated from the door trim 45. Then, the lower lid 44 is opened downward by the deployment pressure of the airbag 50.

Subsequently, after restraining the chest M1 and waist M2 of the occupant M, the intermediate lid 43 is dropped and the entire air bag grid 41 is opened, whereby the airbag 50 is fully deployed.

Embodiment 4 In this embodiment, the manner of supplying gas from the inflator to the airbag is different between the upper portion of the airbag and the lower portion of the airbag.

As shown in FIG. 8, an upper airbag 53 for protecting the occupant's chest and an upper airbag 53 for protecting the occupant's waist are provided above and below the inner panel 51b of the door 51 formed by joining the outer panel 51a and the inner panel 51b. A lower airbag 54 is provided respectively. The door trim 55 has an upper lid 5 corresponding to the airbags 53 and 54.
6 and the lower lid 57 are formed via the fragile portions 58 and 59 formed by the slit grooves 58a and 59a.

An inflator 60 is arranged between the airbags 53 and 54, and gas generated from the inflator 60 is constituted by a pipe having a uniform diameter.
It is supplied to each of the airbags 53 and 54 via 1, 62. The upper gas passage 61 is shorter than the lower gas passage 62, and the gas from the inflator 60 is supplied to the upper airbag 53 earlier than the lower airbag 54, so that the upper airbag 53 can be protected. Because it expands quickly,
The upper lid 56 opens earlier than the lower lid 57,
Fasten and protect M's chest M1.

In the above embodiment, the length of the gas passage is changed, but as shown in FIG. 9, the length of the gas passages 65 and 66 from the inflator 60 is the same, and the gas passage 6 is made the same.
The diameters of the upper and lower gas passages 65 and 65 are set so that the upper gas passage 65 is larger than the lower gas passage 66.
By supplying a large amount of gas, it is possible to quickly expand and deploy.

[0048]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the event of a side collision, the portion of the airbag of the airbag device that deploys upward is deployed earlier than the portion that deploys downward. When a side collision occurs with a structure such as a vehicle having a high bumper position or a guide rail, the occupant is protected from such a structure.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the forces required for deployment are different between the upper lid corresponding to the portion deployed above the airbag and the lower lid corresponding to the portion deployed below the airbag. Therefore, the upper lid can be opened earlier, and the portion of the airbag that deploys upward can be deployed earlier than the portion that deploys downward.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the plate thickness of the fragile portion that is broken when the airbag is deployed is changed between the upper lid and the lower lid, the upper lid opens faster with a simple structure, It is possible to deploy the portion of the airbag that deploys above the airbag earlier than the portion that deploys below.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the inflator has different blowing modes with respect to the center, that is, the upper and lower sides of the inflator. Can be expanded earlier than the part that expands downward.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since passages are formed in a portion that expands above the inflator and a portion that expands below the inflator, and the shapes of both passages are different,
Without complicating the structure, due to the difference in the shape of the passage, the portion of the airbag that deploys upward can be deployed earlier than the portion that deploys downward.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an energy absorption structure of a vehicle body side portion according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a lid portion of the airbag device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a lid portion of the airbag device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the opening order of the lid of the airbag device.

FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram showing an energy absorbing structure on a vehicle body side portion of a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram showing an energy absorbing structure on a vehicle body side portion according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of gas outlet holes of an inflator.

FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram showing an energy absorbing structure on a vehicle body side portion according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 9 for a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,21 doors 2A, 2B airbag device 3,23,55 Door trim (trim member) 4,41 air bag grid 7,24,49,60 Inflator 8,25a, 25b, 50,53,54 airbags 11,26,42,56 Upper lid 13,27,44,57 Lower lid 17,19,30,31,46,47,58,59 Vulnerable part 61,62,65,66 Gas passage

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A structure in which an airbag device for a side impact having an airbag is disposed on an inner wall portion of a vehicle body that constitutes a side portion of a vehicle body, wherein the airbag device is configured to open an air bag grid when a side collision occurs. An energy absorbing structure for a side portion of a vehicle body, wherein the bag is configured to be deployed in a vertical direction, and an upper portion of the airbag that deploys upward is deployed earlier than a lower portion of the airbag that deploys downward. 2. The air bag grid is provided with an upper lid corresponding to an upper portion of an airbag that expands upward and a lower lid corresponding to a lower portion of an airbag that expands downward, and both lids have a force required to open the lid. Claim 1 in different places
The energy absorbing structure on the side of the vehicle body described. 3. An air bag grid is provided with an upper lid corresponding to an upper part of an airbag that expands upward, and a lower lid corresponding to a lower part of an airbag that expands downward, and both lids respectively include an airbag device. The fragile part is formed on the covering trim member through the fragile part, and when the airbag is deployed, the fragile part is broken and opened by the deployment pressure of the airbag. The energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side portion according to claim 1, wherein a plate thickness of the fragile portion with respect to the lid is different. 4. The vehicle body side according to claim 1, wherein the side impact airbag device further has an inflator, and the inflator has different gas ejection modes between the upper portion of the airbag and the lower portion of the airbag. Part energy absorption structure. 5. The side impact airbag device further has an inflator, and an upper gas passage connecting the inflator and the upper portion of the airbag, and a lower side connecting the inflator and the lower portion of the airbag. The energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side portion according to claim 1, further comprising a gas passage, wherein the shapes of the both passages are different.