JPH06166362A - Protective device for protecting passenger by air bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To maintain an operating condition meeting the moment an airbag is activated completely, by fitting a means of moving the occupant to a protection position before full activation of the air bag, on a protective device protecting a vehicle occupant. CONSTITUTION: A gas generator 3 for a side air bag 4 is mounted in a center pillar 1. When a pre-crush sensor generates a signal by the approach of side crush, a valve is opened and the connecting part (a) and accumulator are connected with each other to inflate the side air bag 4. By the inflation, an occupant sitting next to him or her is moved easily from a deviated position to a prescribed protective position. When the positioning is not conducted by mistake, the side air bag 4 can be moved back to the initial position through a connecting part (b) by the negative pressure of the vehicle engine. Therefore, in case of crush, the occupant can be moved first to the prescribed position before the complete activation of the side air bag 4, thus it is possible to protect the occupant from a shock.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a passenger equipped with an airbag that operates when a crash occurs and a device that considers a deviation of a passenger's current position from a predetermined protection position before the airbag is completely operated. The present invention relates to a protection device for protecting a vehicle.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, the actuation of an air bag is a sensor that signals the occurrence of an accident, an acceleration sensor or a delay sensor or is mounted on a vehicle, for example, in a known construction, many, usually at regular intervals. They are arranged so that they deform and come into contact with each other in the event of a collision-depending on the signal of a contact sensor with contact strips.

[0003] A problem when an airbag is fully activated is that it is designed to take into account the passengers who are sitting in a given defensive position, but the moment the crash occurs and the airbag is activated. The passenger is sitting at a position deviating from the predetermined position at the moment when he / she does. The airbag provided on the side of the passenger to protect the side of the passenger, particularly the head and chest areas, is such that the passenger's head and chest areas are not located approximately in the center of the vehicle seat, Various problems arise when the head is supported near the side airbag, for example. When the airbag is fully activated immediately after the occurrence of a crash, the passenger is unnecessarily annoyed because the exit distance between the airbag and the passenger is extremely small.

For this reason, for example, German Patent 38 09 074 (International Classification B60R 21 /
16) Publication and German Patent Publication No. 40 19
From 677 (International Classification B60R 21/26)
First, relatively "soft" or weakly bulging--which results in very weak impact forces on occupant seated eccentricities--and then fully operational airbag systems are known. However, in this airbag, there is a risk that a part of the delay process for passengers is lost.

German Patent Publication No. 40 23
No. 109 (International Classification B60R 21/32) also discloses a passenger protection system for motor vehicles. In this passenger protection system, the seating position of the passenger in question is constantly measured in relation to the passenger protection device provided. The results of this measurement lead to the time and magnitude of the protective measures to be taken. Apart from the relatively high cost of passengers or seats in the motor vehicle in this configuration, this known technique reveals the current passenger excursion.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problem underlying the present invention is to provide a protective device of the type described at the outset, which remains unchanged in its current state of being adapted to the operating conditions at the moment the airbag is fully activated. Is.

[0007]

The object according to the invention is solved by the fact that this protection device comprises means for moving the passengers into the protective position before the airbag is fully activated.

Other advantageous configurations according to the invention are described in claims 2 to 7. In the known art, the deviation-condition is taken as a stipulation and only the complete movement of the airbag is delayed, but in the present invention the positioning of the passenger in its predetermined protective position is carried out. Be seen. Therefore, at the moment when the airbag is fully activated, an equal relationship is always established regarding the relative positions of the passenger and the airbag.

Even if the means provided for the above construction also use an air bag or in some cases an air bag which constitutes the original structural element of the protective device. A suitable is pre-crash-although this is solved by sensors-the actuation of this air bag exerts a pressure which is high enough that this air bag does not provide its own protective function, but moves the passenger to its intended protective position. This is done by selecting the pressure.
Obviously, this means that the proper size of the positioning airbag is such that it can move the passengers (or theoretically average passengers) to the defending position in the event of a crash. Means

This means does not necessarily have to be provided with an airbag, it is also possible for this purpose to use a chair or cushion which is slidable or rotatable at the time of the crash.

As stated in the claims,
A separate accumulator is used to actuate the positioning means, which accumulator can be connected to the compressor of the motor vehicle, in particular by means of a valve, in order to recharge the device.

Further, the positioning means returns to its original state again by coupling with a negative pressure source of the automobile (for example, an engine is used) when the original safety airbag is not completely started. It is possible to reproduce.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a center pillar. The center pillar is provided with a door backing in position 2 in the usual manner and thus in a mounting manner not described in detail. Within the center pillar 1 there is-a gas generator 3 for the side airbag 4-shown in its activated state. A detailed description of the gas generator 3 and the side airbag 4 is not necessary. This is because these are well known to those skilled in the art. It is also known that the gas generator 3 quickly supplies gas to the side airbag 4 when the sensor gives an electric signal indicating a crash to the ignition device, and thereby inflates (operates) the airbag.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the airbag 4 is not only used as an essential component of the original protective device, but on the other hand, at the moment of the crash, the passenger is accidentally taken. It is also used as a means to move from the current position to a predetermined defending position. For this purpose
The pressurized medium inlet a according to FIG. 2 is approached by a pre-crash sensor 8 of known construction, which is provided in the side door 7 in this embodiment and which operates non-contactingly, for example by microwave technology. Immediately after signaling the occurrence of a lateral crash, it can be connected via valve 5 to accumulator 6. The pre-crash sensor has a relatively wide scan field which is depicted at an angle α (here 90 °). For example, a sensor strip 9 consisting of a number of contact strips, between which a traverse, which is normally electrically insulated, is installed between them, serves for the complete actuation of the airbag 4.

As soon as the pre-crash sensor 8 detects that a lateral crash is imminent, the accumulator 6 is discharged through the connecting portion a, so that the airbag 4 is inflated at a high speed and next to it. The optimum pressure is applied to the airbag 4 which moves the seated passenger from the deflection-state or from the deflection-position to a predetermined protective position without difficulty.

If this positioning is not performed by mistake, the negative pressure generated by the engine 10 of the motor vehicle, and possibly the negative pressure accumulated in the negative pressure source 11, causes air to flow through the connection b. It is possible to return the bag 4 to its starting position again-in this position the airbag is within the contour of the center pillar 1. Engine 10
It is also possible to reinject pressure into the accumulator 6 (which may be formed by a cartridge) via a compressor 12 and a valve 15 driven by.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the application of such side airbags in the area of the head of a passenger sitting next to them. Depending on the other mounting position of the airbag, the sometimes provided pre-crash-sensor may
For example, it must be installed in the crash shovel soba. Also, if the crash sensor is appropriately "staged" configured, the pre-crash sensor may not be provided.

[0019]

According to the present invention, in the event of a crash, before the airbag is fully activated, the passengers who are currently on board are first moved to a predetermined protection position, which protects the passengers from the impact of collision, The safety of is guaranteed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the center pillar region of an automobile with an airbag that provides side protection for the heads of passengers sitting next to each other.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an electric actuation mechanism and a pneumatic actuation mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Center Pillar 2 Door Packing 3 Gas Generator 4 Airbag 5 Valve 6 Accumulator 7 Side Door 8 Pre-Crash-Sensor 9 Sensor Strip

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Protection for protecting a passenger, comprising an airbag that operates in the event of a crash and a device that takes into account the deviation of the passenger's current position from a predetermined defensive position before the airbag is fully activated. A protection device, characterized in that the protection device comprises means (4) for moving a passenger into a protective position before the airbag (4) is fully activated. 2. The protective device comprises a pre-crash sensor (8) for actuating the means in response to the full actuation of the airbag (4) before the actuation of the crash sensor in time. The protection device according to claim 1. 3. Protective device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the means comprises a member which is moved in the direction of the protective position when it is actuated, in particular a padded enclosure. 4. Protective device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the means comprises a positioning-airbag. 5. Positioning-In the event of a crash, the air bag (4) is such that in the event of a crash, the pressure is first brought to a value sufficient to move the passenger to a protective position and then raised to a maximum value for full operation. 5.) Protective device according to claim 4, characterized in that 6. Protective device according to claim 1, characterized in that an accumulator (6) is provided for actuating the means (4). 7. A negative pressure source (11) for regenerating the means (4).
The protection device according to claim 1 or 6, wherein the protection device can be combined with the protection device.