JPH061192A - Air bag device and air bag unit for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an air bag from escaping outward through an opened opening of a cabin. CONSTITUTION:An air bag 13 is unfolded between a crew and a side window 7 as an opening for a cabin. The collapsed air bag 13 being fixed to a car body respectively at the upper and lower edges 11a, 11b of the side window 7, for example, is received in the car body side along the upper and lower edges 11a, 11b and the rear edge 11c therebetween.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile air bag device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many automobiles are equipped with an airbag device for inflating an airbag toward the interior of a vehicle at the time of a collision from the viewpoint of improving the safety of passengers due to the collision. Among the airbag devices, there has been proposed a device referred to as a side airbag device in which a side airbag is deployed between a side door and an occupant during a side collision.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-86699 discloses that from a vicinity of a belt line of a side door as a side wall member of a vehicle body,
It has been proposed to deploy the side airbag upward. Moreover, the actual Kaihei 1-117957
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-242242, an air bag unit accommodating a side air bag is proposed which is generated in an armrest of a side door.

[0004]

By the way, in the vehicle body,
A large number of vehicle compartment openings having a considerably large area are formed, and examples of the vehicle compartment openings include side windows, front windows, rear windows, and the like. These vehicle compartment openings are closed with openable or fixed glass. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand to deploy an airbag between the passenger compartment opening and the passenger, such as a side airbag or a passenger airbag.

As described above, in the airbag deployed between the passenger compartment opening and the occupant, the airbag deployed by the glass covering the passenger compartment opening escapes to the outside of the vehicle body. It is prevented and effectively protects the occupant from impact. That is, since the deployed airbag is fixed to the vehicle body only in the vicinity where it is stored in the folded state, the tip end portion and its vicinity are especially subjected to a large load from the occupant. It is easy to be displaced outward, and by regulating this displacement with glass, the occupant can be protected by effectively utilizing the cushioning property of the airbag.

However, the glass for covering the vehicle compartment opening is made openable / closable like a side glass of a lift type,
If the glass is in the open position when the airbag is deployed,
Alternatively, it is possible that the glass breaks due to the impact of the collision. In such a case, when the occupant collides with the deployed airbag from the inside of the vehicle, the function of supporting the side airbag by the glass so as not to escape to the outside of the vehicle cannot be expected. Becomes
In this respect, some measure will be desired.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide an air bag device and an air bag unit for an automobile, in which a deployed air bag can be prevented from escaping to the outside of the vehicle body through a vehicle compartment opening. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the airbag device according to the present invention has the following structure. That is, in an airbag device for a vehicle in which an airbag is deployed between a passenger compartment opening and an occupant, the airbag is in a folded state, and in the peripheral portion of the passenger compartment opening, First facing
The folded airbag which is arranged along three peripheral edges of a peripheral edge and a second peripheral edge, and a third peripheral edge located between the first peripheral edge and the second peripheral edge. Is the first
The peripheral edge portion and the second peripheral edge portion are respectively fixed to the vehicle body side.

The first peripheral edge portion and the second peripheral edge portion may extend in a substantially horizontal direction and are vertically spaced apart from each other, and the third peripheral edge portion may extend in a vertical direction.

An inflator may be disposed on one of the first peripheral edge portion and the second peripheral edge portion on the peripheral edge side.

The vehicle compartment opening may be a side window covered with a side glass or a front window covered with a windshield.

In order to achieve the above object, the airbag unit according to the present invention has the following structure. That is, in an airbag unit in which an inflator and a folded airbag are housed in a casing, the casing has three elongated portions, that is, a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion. A first portion and a second portion are arranged substantially parallel to each other, and one end portions of the first portion and the second portion are connected to the third portion, respectively. The folded airbag is stored along the three portions of the first portion, the second portion and the third portion in a state of being fixed to the first portion and the second portion, and the airbag Is developed so as to fill the space between the first portion and the second portion.

Each of the first to third portions has a main body formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section so as to open toward a space between the first and second portions, and the main body. A lid portion that is opened by receiving the inflation pressure of the airbag that is deployed while closing the opening portion of the portion that faces the space.

[0014]

According to the airbag device of the present invention as set forth in claim 1, the airbag straddles the first peripheral portion and the second peripheral portion so as to traverse the vehicle compartment opening. However, since the deployed airbag is fixed to each of the first peripheral edge portion and the second peripheral edge portion, the airbag from the occupant is opened with the vehicle compartment opening open. Even if a large load is applied to the outside of the vehicle body, the deployed airbag does not escape to the outside of the vehicle body, and the impact of the airbag on the occupant can be effectively mitigated.

The structure as described in claim 2 is preferable when the entire length in the vertical direction of the vehicle compartment opening is covered with the expanded airbag.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by disposing the inflator in the peripheral portion to which the airbag is fixed, the positional relationship between the inflator and the airbag in the vicinity thereof is set. It is preferable that it is immovable as much as possible in order to properly supply the gas pressure generated by the inflator to the airbag.

With the structure as described in claim 4, the effect of claim 1 can be obtained in the case of a side airbag which is deployed while facing the side window. Further, with the configuration as described in claim 5, the effect of claim 1 can be obtained in the case of an airbag that is deployed in front of the front window, and particularly in the case of an airbag for a passenger seat. Suitable for

According to the airbag unit of the present invention as defined in claim 6, since the casing, the airbag and the inflator are unitized in advance, the airbag unit can be simply attached to the vehicle body. Claim 1
The effect described in can be obtained. Further, by adopting the structure described in claim 7, not only the appearance looks good as a whole, but also the strength of the casing is sufficiently secured, which is advantageous in transportation of the airbag unit itself and installation work on the vehicle body. Becomes

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a side door to which the present invention is applied. In the embodiment, the side door is for a driver's seat. The side door 1 is formed of an inner panel 2 and an outer panel 3 in a closed cross-sectional shape, and the inner surface side of the inner panel 2 in the vehicle width direction is covered with a trim member 4. An armrest 5 is formed by partially bulging the trim member 4 toward the inner side of the vehicle body.

The side door 1 has a window frame 6. A space surrounded by the window frame 6 serves as a side window 7 as an opening for a vehicle compartment, and the side window 7 is opened and closed by a vertically movable side glass 8. The airbag unit 10 is arranged so as to be located around the window frame 6. The airbag unit 10 includes a casing 11 that is generally U-shaped, an inflator 12, and a folded side airbag 13. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the airbag unit 10 is removed from the side door 1.

The casing 11 of the airbag unit 10
Has a first portion 11a along the upper edge of the window frame 6, a second portion 11b along the lower edge of the window frame 6, and a third portion 11c along the rear edge of the window frame 6. , Is generally formed in a substantially U shape. As shown in FIG. 4, each of these portions 11 a to 11 b is composed of a main body portion 14 having a U-shaped cross section and a lid portion 15. The main body portion 14 has an opening side on the side window 7, that is, the first portion 11a and the second portion 11
The opening is covered by the lid portion 15 so as to face the space between the opening b and the opening b.

The main body 14 is made of metal or rigid resin and has excellent strength. Further, the lid portion 15 is configured so as to be broken or opened in a door type by receiving an inflation pressure when the side airbag 13 is deployed. Such a casing 11 as a whole has at least the window frame 6 when assembled in the side door 1.
Designed to match with.

Side airbag 13 in a folded state
The casing 11 over the three parts 11a to 11c.
It is stored inside. The side airbag 13 is fixed to the first portion 11a and the second portion 11b (the range of this fixed portion is indicated by L1 and L2 in FIG. 1), but is fixed to the second portion 11c. On the other hand, it is not fixed. A storage recess 11d is partially formed in the second portion 11b of the casing 11, and the inflator 12 is stored in the storage recess 11d. This inflator 12
May be incorporated in the first portion 11a.

The airbag unit 10 as described above is
As shown in FIG. 3, the second portion 11b is the side door 1
As shown in FIG. 1, the side door 1 is stored inside.
Mounted on. At the time of this attachment, the first portion 11a
The second portion 11c and the second portion 11c are fixed to the window frame 6 with bolts or the like. The second portion 11b is firmly fixed to the inner panel 2 via a bracket or the like (not shown).

In addition, an impact bar is provided inside the side door 1.
16 is provided, and the G sensor 17 is attached to the impact bar 16.

In the above construction, when a side collision is detected, the G sensor 17 is actuated to detonate the inflator 12 and generate gas pressure. The side airbag 13, which is inflated by receiving the gas pressure, is deployed as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

The inflated airbag 13 is held on the vehicle body side in a so-called double-supported state in which the upper end portion and the lower end portion are fixed to the side door 1, respectively. Therefore, even when a large load from the occupant outward in the vehicle width direction is received in the state where the side window 8 is lowered and the side window 7 is largely opened, the side airbag 13 can pass through the side window 7 and move in the vehicle width direction. Escape to the outside is prevented. As a result, the side airbag 1
The cushioning property of No. 3 is effectively used to protect the occupant from impact.

FIG. 5 shows the present invention applied to a passenger seat airbag device. In FIG. 5, 21 is a front window, 22 is a windshield, 23 is a left front pillar, 24 is a front header, 25 is an instrument panel, and 26 is a left side door. In this embodiment, the airbag unit 10 shown in FIG. 2 is arranged in the peripheral portion of the front window 21 in front of the passenger seat, and the casing 11 portion of the airbag unit 10 is shown by hatching, and The deployed airbag 33 (13
(Corresponding to) is indicated by a dashed line.

In the case of FIG. 5, the airbag 33 is deployed when a frontal collision is detected. It is conceivable that due to the impact of this frontal collision, the windshield 22 is broken and the passenger in the passenger seat is about to be thrown forward. At this time, the deployed airbag 33 is held by the vehicle body at both ends of the upper end portion and the lower end portion thereof, and is prevented from escaping forward through the front window 21. As a result,
The occupant who is about to be thrown forward is firmly received by the airbag 33, and the occupant's impact is effectively protected.

Although the embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and includes the following cases, for example. The airbag 13 (33) is the third of the casing 11.
It can also be fixed to the portion 11c (the vehicle body portion corresponding thereto). Further, the airbag 13 (33) may be fixed to the casing 11 (vehicle body) not at both ends in the vertical direction but at both ends in the lateral direction. Further, the casing 11 of the airbag unit 10 can be formed in a closed frame shape (closed loop shape). Furthermore, a plurality of inflators 12 can be dispersedly arranged in one airbag 13 (33).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view of a side door to which the present invention is applied, as viewed from a passenger compartment side.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the airbag unit shown in FIG. 1 is removed from a side door.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the side door of FIG. 1 taken along a section including an inflator.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of the casing of the airbag unit and the folded airbag.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view of the front window as seen from the passenger seat side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: side door 6: window frame 7: side window (vehicle compartment opening) 8: side glass 10: airbag unit 11: casing 11a: first portion 11b: second portion 11c: third portion 11d: storage recess 12: Inflator 13: Side Airbag 14: Main Body 15: Lid 21: Front Window (Vehicle Interior Opening) 22: Windshield 23: Front Pillar 24: Front Header 25: Instrument Panel 33: Airbag L1: Airbag fixed range L2: Airbag fixed range

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An airbag system for an automobile, wherein an airbag is deployed between a vehicle compartment opening and an occupant, wherein the airbag is in a folded state, and a peripheral portion of the vehicle compartment opening is provided. A first peripheral portion and a second peripheral portion of the
The folded airbag is disposed so as to extend along three peripheral portions, a peripheral portion and a third peripheral portion located between the first peripheral portion and the second peripheral portion, and the folded airbag includes the first peripheral portion. An airbag device for an automobile, wherein the airbag device is fixed to a vehicle body side with respect to a peripheral edge portion and a second peripheral edge portion, respectively. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first peripheral edge portion and the second peripheral edge portion extend in a substantially horizontal direction and are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction, and the third peripheral edge portion extends in the vertical direction. . 3. The inflator according to claim 2, wherein one of the first peripheral edge portion and the second peripheral edge portion is provided with an inflator. 4. The side window according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle compartment opening is covered with side glass. 5. The front window according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle compartment opening is covered with a windshield. 6. An airbag unit in which an inflator and a folded airbag are housed in a casing, wherein the casing has elongated first and second portions and a third portion, respectively. The first portion and the second portion are arranged substantially parallel to each other, and one end portions of the first portion and the second portion are respectively connected to the third portion. And the folded airbag is fixed to the first portion and the second portion, the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion.
An airbag unit, wherein the airbag is accommodated along with three portions, and the airbag is deployed so as to fill a space between the first portion and the second portion. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first part to the third part are respectively the first part and the second part.
A main body portion having a substantially U-shaped cross-section so as to be opened toward a space between the main body portion and an inflation pressure of the airbag which is expanded while closing the opening portion of the main body portion facing the space. It is composed of a lid part that is received and opened.