JPH0640043Y2 - Airbag device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A. Purpose of the Invention (1) Industrial Application Field of the Invention The present invention is designed to inflate and deploy an airbag by a high-pressure gas generated by an inflator during a vehicle collision to cause a secondary collision of an occupant. The present invention relates to an airbag device for protecting the vehicle from impact.

(2) Conventional Technology Conventionally, when an acceleration of a certain value or more is detected due to a collision of a vehicle interior, an inflator generates high-pressure gas to inflate and deploy an airbag in the vehicle interior, and the cushioning action of the airbag inflates an occupant. 2. Description of the Related Art An airbag device is known that is protected from the impact of a secondary collision.

Generally, such an airbag device is attached to a central portion of a steering wheel or an instrument panel so as to protect passengers in a driver's seat and a passenger's seat, respectively.

(3) Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, a bag body made of nylon or the like which constitutes the airbag is usually formed with a plurality of openings, and the pressure in the airbag rises due to an impact when restraining an occupant. Then, a part of the gas is released from the opening into the passenger compartment to reduce the impact on the occupant. Further, even when the amount of high-pressure gas generated by the inflator is excessive compared with the volume of the airbag, the excess gas is allowed to escape into the vehicle compartment through the opening.

However, the high-pressure gas generated by the inflator generally has an odor, and it is not preferable to discharge this high-pressure gas into the vehicle interior.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to discharge excess gas generated by an inflator of an airbag device to the outside of the vehicle compartment to keep the air inside the vehicle compartment clean.

B. Configuration of the Invention (1) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an airbag in a vehicle compartment by high-pressure gas generated by an inflator which detects a collision of a vehicle and operates. In an airbag device for inflating and deploying to restrain an occupant, a knee bolster disposed in front of a passenger's leg is made into a hollow body, the inside of this knee bolster is communicated with the airbag, and the high-pressure gas is discharged to the outside of the passenger compartment. This is the first feature.

In addition to the first characteristic, the present invention has a second characteristic that the knee bolster is composed of a corrugated plate.

(2) Operation According to the first feature of the present invention described above, the inflator is actuated by the collision of the vehicle, and the high-pressure gas generated by the inflator expands and deploys the airbag in the passenger compartment to restrain the occupant. At this time, a part of the surplus gas is discharged from the inflator through the knee bolster to the outside of the vehicle compartment, so that the gas is prevented from leaking into the vehicle compartment and the air in the vehicle compartment is kept clean. be able to.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the knee bolster is configured by the corrugated plate that easily deforms and absorbs the impact, it is possible to enhance the action of protecting the legs of the occupant in the event of a vehicle collision.

(3) Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an overall perspective view of a vehicle equipped with the airbag device.
2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag device E is composed of an airbag module M arranged in front of a passenger seat in an instrument panel P of a vehicle, and a knee bolster N arranged below the airbag module M.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pipe-shaped cross member 3 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body is welded to the support bracket 2 welded to the vehicle body frame 1, and an instrument panel P is attached to the cross member 3. A mounting bracket 4 for mounting is fixed by three bolts 5. Instrument panel P
Is made of synthetic resin, and a metallic reinforcing frame 6 is integrally embedded therein. The instrument panel P is attached to the vehicle body frame 1 by fixing the lower surface of the reinforcing frame 6 to the upper surface of the mounting bracket 4 fixed to the slot member 3 with bolts 7. The body frame 1
A defroster outlet 9 is formed in the upper part of the duct-shaped defroster passage 8 welded to the above, and this defroster outlet 9 is opened in the lower part of the wind glass 10 extending to the upper part of the instrument panel P.

An instrument panel P located in the front part of the passenger seat has a space 11 with an open upper surface. Inside this space 11, an air bag module for restraining the upper body of the passenger in the passenger seat in the event of a collision. M is attached. The airbag module M has a casing 12 made of a metal container having an open upper surface.
It is held in the space 11 by fastening the mounting bracket 13 welded to the lower surface thereof to the reinforcing frame 6 and the mounting bracket 4 together.

A module cover 14 is rotatably and pivotally supported by a pin 15 at the opening of the section 11, and its outer surface is smoothly connected to the outer surface of the instrument panel P when the module cover 14 is closed. The bottom of the casing 12 has a plurality of gas ejection holes 16a on the outer periphery and a cylindrical heat-resistant container 16 filled with a propellant 17 that generates high-pressure gas by combustion inside, and is attached to the end of this heat-resistant container 16. An inflator I including an ignition device 18 that ignites the propellant 17 in response to a signal from a sensor that detects the impact of a collision is stored. An opening of the folded nylon airbag B is airtightly fixed to the upper portion of the casing 12 by a rivet 19.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, one end of a U-shaped connecting pipe 20 is connected to the side wall of the casing 12 on the driver's seat side, and the other end of the connecting pipe 20 is located below the inside of the instrument panel P. It is connected to the right side surface of the provided knee bolster N. The knee bolster N is made of a thin metal corrugated plate and has a substantially cylindrical shape. The back of the support bracket 21 welded to the vehicle body frame 1 is welded to the knee bolster N, and a pair of left and right cobras are attached to the lower surface of the reinforcing frame 6. It is suspended via a character-shaped support member 22. A discharge pipe 23 extending from the left side surface of the knee bolster N is opened in a tire house 24 of the left front wheel of the vehicle as shown in FIG. A throttle 25 is attached to the connecting portion between the connecting pipe 20 and the casing 12 to regulate the flow rate of the high pressure gas flowing from the casing 12 to the knee bolster N.

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

When an acceleration of a predetermined value or more is detected due to a vehicle collision, an electric current is supplied to the ignition device 18 mounted on the inflator I of the airbag module M, and the propellant 17 filled in the heat resistant container 16 is ignited and burned. . The high pressure gas generated by the combustion of the propellant 17 is a gas ejection hole formed in the heat resistant container 16.
It is ejected from the inside of the casing 12 from 16a and supplied to the inside of the folded airbag B. When the airbag B starts to inflate with the pressure of the high-pressure gas, the module cover 14 is pushed outward by the pressure and spreads around the pin 15,
The airbag B inflates and deploys into the vehicle compartment through the opening. As a result, the upper body of the passenger in the passenger seat is restrained and protected from the impact of the secondary collision. In the process of inflating and expanding the airbag B, excess high-pressure gas generated by the inflator I after the inflation is completed is discharged to the outside of the vehicle through the throttle 25, the connecting pipe 20, the knee bolster N, and the discharge pipe 23, and the airbag B is discharged. Is prevented from becoming unnecessarily high.

When the load of the occupant moving forward due to the impact of the collision acts on the inflated airbag B, the high-pressure gas in the airbag B flows back into the casing 12, and from there, the throttle 25, the connecting pipe 20, the knee bolster N, and It is discharged to the outside of the vehicle through the discharge pipe 23. This prevents the pressure inside the airbag B from rapidly increasing due to the load of the occupant, and the cushioning performance of the airbag B is improved.

On the other hand, due to the impact of the collision, the legs of the occupant come into contact with the lower portion of the instrument panel P, and the knee bolster N arranged inside thereof is plastically deformed to absorb the impact. At this time, since the knee bolster N is composed of a corrugated plate, it can be easily deformed by contact with the legs of the occupant to exert a large cushioning ability.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various small design changes can be made without departing from the present invention described in the scope of claims for utility model registration. It is possible to

For example, the inflator I of the airbag device E is not limited to the one that generates high-pressure gas by the combustion of the propellant 17, but may use a gas cylinder filled with high-pressure gas. Further, the shape of the knee bolster N is not limited to the cylindrical shape of the embodiment,
An arbitrary shape such as a box shape can be adopted.

C. Effect of the Invention According to the first feature of the present invention described above, the inflator is actuated by detecting the collision of the vehicle, and the pressure of the high-pressure gas generated causes the airbag to inflate and deploy into the passenger compartment. Restrain. At this time, a part of the excess gas is discharged from the inflator to the outside of the vehicle compartment, so that the gas is prevented from leaking into the vehicle interior, and the air in the vehicle interior can be kept clean. Moreover, since the knee bolster is used as the passage for discharging the surplus gas to the outside of the vehicle compartment, it is not necessary to provide a special passage, and not only the cost can be saved, but also the space in the narrow instrument panel can be effectively used. Become.

Further, according to the second feature of the present invention, since the knee bolster is composed of the corrugated plate, the protection effect can be enhanced when the leg of the occupant comes into contact with the knee bolster during a vehicle collision.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an overall perspective view of a vehicle equipped with the airbag device.
2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. FIG. B: airbag, I: inflator, N: knee bolster

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An airbag device for restraining an occupant by inflating and deploying an airbag (B) into a vehicle compartment by high-pressure gas generated by an inflator (I) which detects a collision of a vehicle and operates. An air bag characterized in that the knee bolster (N) disposed in front is a hollow body, the inside of the knee bolster (N) is communicated with the airbag (B), and the high-pressure gas is discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment. apparatus. 2. The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the knee bolster (N) is composed of a corrugated plate.