JPH0558514U - Module cover for airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In order to reliably prevent the scattering of debris when the airbag is inflated and the module cover is ruptured and expanded, the scattering prevention reinforcement is accurately arranged in the coating layer. Provide a highly reliable module cover for an airbag device. A module cover 1 that covers an airbag 9 that expands at a predetermined time, is broken at a thin portion 5 when the airbag 9 is inflated, and is expanded into a plurality of divided pieces 2a and 2b is formed of a transparent resin, The arrangement state of the net inserts 4a and 4b embedded in the module cover 1 is made visible.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial application]

 The present invention relates to an improvement of a module cover of an airbag device which normally covers and stores an airbag which is inflated at a predetermined time in order to protect an occupant of an automobile or the like.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, as a cushioning system that supports a seat belt device for safely holding a vehicle occupant in a seat, in the event of a collision, the occupant's body, especially the head and chest, is received by a balloon-shaped airbag and then the interior Air bags have been put into practical use by gradually releasing these gases, thereby creating a buffer stroke and reducing the impact force on the human body.

In such an airbag device, for example, a folded airbag and an inflator (gas generator) are housed inside a center pad of a steering wheel, and an electric signal from a sensor that detects a collision of a vehicle. Ignites the inflator and instantly inflates the airbag with the rapidly burning gas. Therefore, the upper wall of the center pad is broken by the inflation pressure of the airbag, and the airbag is expanded from the broken opening so that the airbag can largely inflate above the center pad.

Therefore, a conventional module cover of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-20177, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-104751, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-70458, and No. 63-192159. When the airbag is inflated, it is made of a soft synthetic resin such as polyurethane or a rubber material so that it can be ruptured by the inflation pressure thereof, and the upper wall of the module cover is ruptured at substantially equal predetermined locations. As can be obtained, for example, a thin portion for breaking having a substantially H-shape when viewed from above is provided. In addition, in this type of module cover, a net-like net made of flexible synthetic fiber such as polyamide is used as a scattering prevention reinforcement to prevent the module cover from shattering and scattering during air bag expansion. The insert is buried.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional module cover. The module cover 21 includes a substantially rectangular upper wall 22 when viewed from above, and four side walls 23a extending downward from the periphery of the upper wall 22. It is formed in a substantially box shape including 23b, 23c, and 23d. On the inner wall surface of the upper wall 22, a thin portion 25 having a substantially H shape for breaking is formed, and the upper wall 22 is broken and developed into the divided pieces 22a and 22b.

The module cover 21 is formed of a coating layer 26 of a soft synthetic resin such as urethane, which is injection-molded with a net insert 24, which is a scattering preventing reinforcement, embedded therein. At the lower end of each of the side walls 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d, a mounting piece 28 and a rivet hole 27 for mounting the module cover 21 on a back-up plate fixed to the steering wheel are formed.

The net insert 24 is embedded in each of the split pieces 22a, 22b that break and expand and in the side walls 23a, 23b, 23c, 23d, respectively. The thin wall portion 25 is not provided with a net insert 24 so that the module cover 21 can be broken and expanded.

[0008]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, when the module cover 21 in which the net insert 24 is embedded as described above is formed by the rim molding or the injection molding, after the net insert 24 is arranged in the injection molding die in advance, the synthetic resin is placed in the mold. There is a problem in that the arrangement state of the net insert 24 cannot be confirmed from the external appearance after the molding is completed because the molding is performed by injecting into the mold.

Therefore, for example, if the net insert 24 is not provided up to the vicinity of the thin portion 25 for deploying the module cover, the vicinity of the fractured portion of the module cover 21 may be chipped and scattered when the airbag is inflated. .. If the base end portion of the net insert 24 is not arranged up to the attachment piece 28 of each of the side walls 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d, the attachment piece 28 will not have sufficient strength for the deployment force when the airbag is inflated. The module cover 21 may be broken and scattered from the rivet hole 27.

That is, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in order to reliably prevent the scattering of fragments when the airbag is inflated and the module cover is broken and deployed, the scattering prevention reinforcement material is provided. The object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable module cover for an airbag device which is accurately arranged in the covering layer.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to cover an air bag that expands at a predetermined time, and integrally form a scattering prevention reinforcement member so that the air bag is broken at a predetermined portion when the air bag is inflated and can be expanded into a plurality of divided pieces. In the module cover of the device, at least one of the front and back surface side coating layers of the module cover is formed of a transparent material from which the disposition state of the scattering prevention reinforcement is visible from the outside. This is achieved by the module cover of the bag device.

For example, the module cover is formed by injection-molding a transparent synthetic resin and integrally forming a reinforcement material for preventing scattering, and then at least coating the outer surface which is visible when the vehicle body is mounted. Further, instead of applying the coating after molding, the colored coating film may be transferred to the outer surface during injection molding by a transfer molding process or the like.

Further, the module cover is injection-molded by a two-color molding method to form its outer surface side coating layer with a colored opaque resin, and its back surface side coating containing the scattering prevention reinforcement material. The layer may be formed of a transparent resin.

[0014]

According to this invention, since the coating layer of the module cover is formed of the transparent material, the disposition state of the scattering preventing reinforcement material embedded in the module cover can be visually confirmed even after the molding is completed.

[0015]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the module cover 1 of the airbag device is disposed above the boss portion of the steering wheel so as to cover the airbag 9, and has a substantially rectangular upper wall 2 when viewed from above. , Is formed in a substantially box shape having four side walls 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d extending downward from the peripheral edge of the upper wall 2. On the inner wall surface of the upper wall 2, a thin portion 5 for breaking having a substantially H shape is formed, and the upper wall 2 is broken and developed into divided pieces 2a and 2b. At the lower end of each of the side walls 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, a mounting piece 8 and a rivet hole 13 for mounting the module cover 1 on the backup plate 7 fixed to the steering wheel are formed.

The module cover 1 is formed of a coating layer 6 of synthetic resin or rubber material injection-molded so as to embed the net inserts 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, which are scattering reinforcements, inside. Has been done. The coating layer 6 is a transparent material that allows the arrangement state of the net inserts 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d to be visually observed from the outside, for example, TPE such as "Hytrel" (trade name: manufactured by DuPont), It is molded from a base material made of synthetic resin such as urethane or rubber material. The net inserts 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d are flexible nets made of synthetic resin fiber such as polyamide, and extend to the vicinity of the thin portion 5, but the module cover 1 can be broken and expanded. As described above, no net insert is disposed in the thin portion 5, and the thin insert portion 5 is embedded in each of the split pieces 2a, 2b that break and develop and in the side walls 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d up to the periphery of the rivet hole 13. ing.

That is, since the coating layer 6 is formed of a base material made of a transparent material, the net inserts 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d embedded therein can be visually inspected from the outside as shown in FIG. Therefore, the arrangement state can be confirmed. Therefore, in particular, whether or not the end edge of the net insert is surely arranged in the vicinity of the thin portion 5, or the base end of the net insert is attached to each of the side walls 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d. It is possible to easily confirm whether or not it is surely arranged up to the periphery.

Then, after coating the outer surface of a good module cover 1 in which the net insert is normally buried, at least the part that is visible when mounting the vehicle body should have a good appearance, then the mounting piece of the module cover 1 is attached. 8 is fixed to the back up plate 7 by the rivet 10. The backup plate 7 has an opening formed in the center thereof for mounting the inflator 12, and the flange 12a of the inflator 12 inserted into the opening from below is an annular stopper fixed to the lower portion of the airbag 9. Along with the metal fitting 14, it is fixed to the opening peripheral edge of the backup plate 7 by bolts 15 and nuts 16.

Therefore, according to the airbag device using the module cover 1 as described above, the vicinity of the breakage portion of the module cover 1 is chipped and scattered when the air bag is inflated, and the mounting piece 8 has strength against the deploying force. Instead, it is possible to reliably prevent the module cover 1 from breaking and scattering from the rivet hole 13. Therefore, the scattered debris does not hit the occupants and is safe.

In the above embodiment, the outer surface of the module cover was painted after the module cover was molded in order to improve the appearance of the module cover 1. However, for example, the coloring on the carrier film at the time of extrusion molding by a transfer molding method or the like. By transferring the coating film to its outer surface, various decorative effects can be provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the module cover 17 is injection-molded by a two-color molding method to form the outer surface side coating layer 19 of the same colored opaque resin as in the conventional case, The backside coating layer 18 including the net insert 4a may be formed of a transparent resin. In this case, the arrangement of the net inserts is visible from the back surface side, but the outer surface side is opaque as in the conventional case, so there is no need to apply coating after molding.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when the module cover 20 is molded in the integral skinned foam state, the net insert 4a is provided at the boundary between the skin layer 20a on the back side and the foam layer 20b. When installed, the reinforcing force is large and the appearance is not impaired. Reference numeral 20c in the drawing denotes a skin layer on the front surface side.

Although the net insert, which is a flexible net made of synthetic resin fiber, is used as the anti-scattering material in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the wire mesh is not limited to this. Other reinforcing materials such as a metal plate, a synthetic resin plate, and cloth can be used.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the base material of the coating layer made of a transparent material does not necessarily have to be colorless and transparent, and the embedded anti-scattering material is colored to such an extent that the disposition state can be confirmed from the appearance. Or the base material may be foamed. In the case of a semi-transparent base material as described above, the appearance of the anti-scattering reinforcement varies depending on the distance from the back side of the module cover to the embedded anti-scattering reinforcement. However, the effect of being able to confirm the position of the scattering prevention reinforcement in the depth direction can be expected. Further, as the scattering preventing reinforcing material, a colored material that can be easily seen from the outside can be used.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the module cover provided so as to cover the airbag at the upper portion of the boss portion of the steering wheel has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, in the passenger seat. In order to protect the occupant, it is needless to say that the same can be applied to the module cover arranged so as to cover the airbag provided in the passenger side dash board, and the shape and mounting means of the module cover, etc. Also, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and can take various forms.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 That is, according to the present invention, since the cover layer of the module cover is formed by using the embedded scattering prevention reinforcement material as a base material of a transparent material that can be seen from the outside, the module cover is formed even after the formation is completed. The disposition state of the anti-scattering reinforcement material embedded inside can be observed. Therefore, it is possible to confirm the correct disposition of the anti-scattering reinforcement material, and use only the normal module cover except for the bad disposition where there is a risk of debris being scattered when the rupture is developed. The device can be manufactured.

Therefore, in order to reliably prevent scattering of debris when the airbag is inflated and the module cover is fractured and deployed, the net insert is accurately arranged in the covering layer and has high reliability. A module cover for the device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an airbag device equipped with a module cover of an airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view illustrating a configuration of a module cover shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a module cover of an airbag device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a module cover of an airbag device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view illustrating a configuration of a conventional module cover.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Module Cover 2 Upper Wall 2a Divided Piece 2b Divided Piece 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d Side Walls 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d Net Insert 5 Thin Wall Part 6 Cover Layer 7 Backup Plate 8 Attachment Piece 9 Airbag 10 Rivet 12 Inflator 12a Flange Part 13 Rivet hole 14 Fastener 15 Bolt 16 Nut 17 Module cover 18 Back side coating layer 19 Outer surface side coating layer 20 Module cover 20a Back side skin layer 20b Foam layer 20c Surface side skin layer 21 Module cover 22 Top wall 24 Net insert 25 Thin part 26 Covering layer

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An airbag device integrally formed with an anti-scattering reinforcing member, which covers an airbag that expands at a predetermined time and is broken at a predetermined portion when the airbag is inflated and can be expanded into a plurality of divided pieces. In the module cover, at least one of the front and back surface side coating layers of the module cover is formed of a transparent material that allows the disposition state of the anti-scattering reinforcement to be visible from the outside. cover.