JPH0687392A - Air bag folding method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an air bag folding method for an auxiliary seat in which the number of working processes is not increased and there is less irregularity in folding size. CONSTITUTION:In an air bag folding method for an auxiliary seat, a bag body 3 to which a bag case is mounted is stored in the bag case after a lateral folding process for folding up to the width of the bag case and a vertical folding process for zigzag-folding. In the width-directional folding process, odd-number outside folding bars 21a, 21b, 21c in plane-eggplant set shape that they are wrinkled H1 to form a U-shaped space are being inserted and set into a U-shaped space on both extension-directional sides of the bag body 3 and inside folding bars 23a, 23b in preset number of steps are moved to be inserted into gaps among the steps of the outside folding bars 21a, 21b, 21c via the bag body 3, so that the bag body 3 can be slide into gaps among the outside folding bars 21a, 21b, 21c and the inside folding bars 23a, 23b for folding.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for folding a bag body prior to assembling the air bag to an air bag device mounted on a passenger side instrument panel of an automobile. More specifically, the bag main body with the bag case attached is folded in the width direction of the bag main body in the width direction of the bag main body in the width direction folding step, and the bag main body that has undergone the width direction folding step is zigzag-folded vertically. The present invention relates to a method for folding an airbag that stores the bag body in a bag case through a direction folding step.

Here, the case of folding the bag main body 3 in which the passenger airbag, that is, the bag case 1 having a three-dimensional shape (when inflated) as shown in FIG. 1 is mounted will be described as an example. The present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to an airbag for a rear seat and the like.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, folding of an airbag has been performed as follows.

(I) From the three-dimensional shape shown in FIG. 1, an initial shape of a planar wedge shape is formed by fold-folding H1 inward so that a U-shaped space can be formed on both sides in the extending direction of the bag body 3 (FIG. 3).

(Ii) Using the folding bar, the inner folds H2 and H3 are manually performed in the upper and lower stages, and the bag body 3 is folded to the width of the bag case 1 to perform the width direction folding step (Fig. See 4.5).

(Iii) Using a simple jig, a zigzag fold is performed, and a longitudinal folding process is performed, and then the bag is housed in the bag case 1 in the order shown in FIG. 6 (FIG. 6).

[0007]

However, in the above method, the number of man-hours for manual work is increased, and variations in folding dimensions are likely to occur.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for folding an air bag, which requires less man-hours for working and has less variation in folding size.

[0009]

The method of folding an airbag according to the present invention solves the above problems by the following constitution.

The bag body with the bag case attached,
Air for storing the bag body in the bag case through a lateral folding step of folding the bag body to the width of the bag case in the extending direction of the bag body and a vertical folding step of zigzag folding the bag body that has undergone the lateral folding step. In the folding method of the bag, the width direction folding step is performed by changing the number of outer side folds in the U-shaped space on both sides from the set shape of the flat folds that is foldable to form the U-shaped space on both sides in the extension direction of the bag body. With the bar inserted and set, insert a predetermined number of inner fold bars between the outer fold bars.
The airbag is folded by sliding it between the outer folding bar and the inner folding bar by moving the airbag one step at a time or a plurality of steps simultaneously so as to be inserted between the outer folding bars through the bag body. To do.

[0011]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below based on examples. The same parts as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and the whole or part of the description thereof is omitted.

A. First, an example of an apparatus used for the folding method of the present invention will be described.

(1) Basically, a width direction folding step of folding the bag body 3 with the bag case 1 mounted therein in the extension direction of the bag body 3 to the width of the bag case 1, and the width direction. This device is used to store the bag body in the bag case through a vertical folding step of zigzag folding the bag body 3 that has undergone the folding step.

(2) As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the folding device shown in FIG. 7 basically comprises (a) a working portion, (b) a width direction folding means, and (c) a longitudinal direction folding means. It is located on B.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a partial cutout of the folding device, FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of the partial cutout, and FIG.
FIG. 9 is a schematic IX-IX line arrow view of FIG.

(A) Work surface: The work surface A has a wide base portion 6 and a narrow front end portion 7 so that the work body A has a width and a vertical length that can accommodate the bag body 3 having an initial shape. And the flip-up plates 11, 11 are symmetrically arranged on both sides in the vertical direction with the front narrow portion 7 of the work table 8 interposed therebetween. Here, the width of the front narrow portion 7 is substantially the same as the width of the bag body 3 folded in the width direction. In addition, in the base wide portion 6,
A plurality of slits 9 for the push-up jig bar are formed in parallel (six in the illustrated example). The flip-up plates 11 and 11 have a side surface U-shape to avoid interference with an inner folding bar 23, which will be described later, and the air cylinder (twin rod type) 1
Driven by 3. A case clamp 15 is provided on the front side of the work surface A.

(B) Folding means in the width direction: a plurality of lateral outward folding bars 21 arranged so as to be able to drive forward and backward from the working table 8 and to be rotatable, and a step of the outer folding bars 21. Between the gaps, there are a plurality of stages of inner folding bars (flat plate-like) 23 that can be moved forward and backward so that they can be inserted through the bag body 3.

In the outer folding bar 21, two pairs of upper, middle, and lower outer folding bars 21a, 21b, and 21c, which are divided into two on both sides in the longitudinal direction, are manually operated by a holding block 29 on the carriage 27 in three stages. It is rotatably held by. The carriage 27 is provided with a handle 28 and can be manually run on the rail 26. The holding block 29 and the carriage 27 are manually operated in the illustrated example, but may be driven by an air cylinder or the like. In the illustrated example, the upper and lower outer folding bars 21a are formed to have a width narrower than that of the middle outer folding bar 21b.

The inner folding bars 23 sandwich the workbench 8 and are located on the right and left sides of the inner folding bars 23a, 23a.
b is held by the guide rails 24, 24 so as to be able to move forward and backward. In the illustrated example, the inner folding bars 23a and 23b are manually driven by gripping the handles 17 formed on the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, but it is also possible to drive an air cylinder or the like.

(C) Folding means in the vertical direction: at the upper and lower positions corresponding to the width of the wide width portion 6 of the workbench 8 in the vertical folding direction of the bag,
It is composed of a holding jig bar 31 and a push-up jig bar 33, which are arranged alternately in the vertical direction so as to oppose each other, and a bag holding member 25 having a reverse channel cross section which is arranged above the work table 5 so as to be vertically movable. . That is, in the illustrated example, each jig bar is composed of six pieces, and the holding jig bar 31 is arranged between the slits 9 in order from the front side of the slit 9 for the thrust jig bar, and the thrust jig bar 33 is provided. Are arranged corresponding to each slit 9.

The bag retainer 25 and the retainer jig bar 31 travel on the rails 36 of the gantry B, and the work surface A
It is held by a frame wheel 35 which is manually reciprocally movable by holding a handle 34 between the original position and the original position. That is,
The bag presser 25 is held by a pair of screwed shafts 37, 37 installed on the upper surface of the ceiling of the frame wheel 35, and the pressing jig bar 31 is an air cylinder (twin rod type) installed on the lower surface of the frame wheel 35. ) 39, 39 ...
It is designed to be driven independently. In addition, a plurality (6 in the illustrated example) of air cylinders (twin rod type) 41, 4 are arranged so that each bar of the push-up jig bar 33 is independently driven.
Independently driven by 1 ...

Although the bag retainer 25 and the frame wheel 35 are both manually operated, they may be driven by an air cylinder or the like. In addition, it is preferable that the final stage of the push-up jig bar has a notch at the upper end as shown in the figure, from the viewpoint of holding the end of the bag body after zigzag folding.

It should be noted that the width-direction folding bars and the vertical-direction folding bars do not have to be flat folding bar shapes as shown in the drawing, but may be frame shapes, rod shapes, or the like. Further, the driving means is not limited to human power / cylinder, and may be any link mechanism or the like.

B. Next, a folding method using the airbag folding device will be described mainly with reference to FIGS.

(1) The bag body 3 to which the rectangular bag case 1 is assembled is fixed to the case clamp 15 provided at the base of the workbench 8, and the bag body 3 is stretched. A U-shaped space is formed on both sides in the direction to form a set of flat, flank-shaped folds that are folded inward (Figs. 2 and 3). In this example, these are performed manually, and this process is substantially the same as the conventional method.

(2) The carriage 27 is moved forward toward the tip of the narrow portion 7 of the workbench 5, and the holding block 2
9 is rotated downward, and the outermost folding bar 21c of the lowermost stage is brought close to the top of the bag body 3, and the upper fin portion 3a of the fold fold H1 of the bag body 3 is vertically lifted by hand. Hang it on the outer folding bar 21a.

Then, the lower side fin portion 3b of the fold fold H1 of the bag body 3 is pressed by the outermost fold bar 21c at the bottom (FIGS. 10 and 11).

In this state, the flip-up plate 11 is lifted to lift the lower fin 3b, and the inner folding bar 23
Are simultaneously or sequentially advanced toward the axis of the bag body 3. Then, the bag body 3 becomes the outer folding bar 2
It folds by sliding between 1a, 21b, 21c and the inner folding bars 23a, 23b. The lower inner folding bar 23b does not pass through the U-shaped gap of the flip-up plate 11 and interfere with the flip-up plate 11 (FIGS. 12 and 13).

Subsequently, the inner folding bars 23a and 23b are retracted to their original positions, and then the frame presser 35 and the presser jig bar 31 are manually conveyed to above the work table. Then, the bag retainer 25 is lowered, the outer folding bar group 21 is retracted and pulled out while the bag body 3 is being retained, and then returned to the original position (FIGS. 14 and 15). Thus
The width direction folding process is completed.

(3) With respect to the bag main body 3 in which the width direction folding step is completed and the front end side is pressed by the bag pressing member 25, the first pressing jig bar 31a and the first pushing-up fixing member from the bag base side. The tool 33a, the second pressing jig bar 31b, the second pushing jig 33b, ..., The sixth pressing jig bar 31f, and the sixth pushing jig 33f are advanced in this order (FIG. 16).

Then, the bag body 3 is held by the bag holder 25.
Zigzag folding while being pulled out. Then, the holding jig bar 31 and the pushing-up jig bar 33 are retracted leaving only the first holding jig bar 31a and the sixth pushing-up jig 33f (FIG. 17). Next, while the temporary pressing jig 43 is moved forward and the front side of the first pressing jig 31a of the bag body 3 is being pressed, the first pressing jig 31a is retracted, and the bag front end is zigzag finally folded. The temporary holding jig 43 is removed while being held by. Thus, the zigzag folding is completed.

(4) While holding this zigzag state by hand, rotate the case clamp 60 ° so that the opening of the bag case 1 is on the top. Then, the bag body 3 that has been zigzag folded in the same manner as described above is stored in the bag case 1 (see FIG. 6), and the bag is removed from the case clamp.

[0033]

Since the airbag folding method of the present invention has the above-described structure, it has the following operations and effects.

During the folding operation of the width folding process of the bag main body, the outer folding bar and the inner folding bar are set mechanically sequentially, and the pulling-out work is sequentially performed mechanically, so that the set of the folding bar is pulled out. There is no risk of the mold losing its shape.

Therefore, the number of man-hours required for folding the airbag can be greatly reduced, and the folding dimensions are small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an airbag to which the folding method of the present invention is applied when the airbag is inflated,

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a set shape of the bag body,

FIG. 3 is a schematic end view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a widthwise folding shape of a conventional bag body,

5 is a schematic end view taken along line VV of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a process diagram showing the order in which the bag body is vertically folded in a zigzag shape and then stored in a bag case.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of the folding device used in the method of the present invention, with partial cutaways;

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a partial cutout,

9 is a schematic IX-IX line arrow view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing the first half stage of the width folding process of the bag body in the method of the present invention,

11 is a schematic end view taken along line XI-XI of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view showing the latter half stage of the widthwise folding step of the bag body in the method of the present invention,

13 is a schematic end view taken along line XIII-XIII of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a model diagram showing an example immediately before the start of the vertical folding process of the bag body in the method of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a view taken along the line XV-XV in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a model diagram showing an example of the first half stage of the longitudinal folding process of the bag body in the method of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a model diagram showing an example of the latter half of the longitudinal folding process of the bag body in the method of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 bag case, 3 hug main body, 5 workbench, 6 worktable wide part, 7 workbench tip narrow end part 11 flip-up plate 21 outer fold bar, 23 inner fold bar, 25 bag presser, 31 presser Jig bar 33 Push-up jig bar H1 Inside folds

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A width-direction folding step of folding a bag body having a bag case mounted therein in a direction of extension of the bag body to a width of the bag case, and a bag body subjected to the width-direction folding step is zigzag-folded. A method of folding an airbag in which the bag main body is housed in the bag case through a vertical folding step, wherein the width direction folding step is a fold inward so that a U-shaped space can be formed on both sides in the extension direction of the bag main body. From the initial shape of the flat surface formed into a flat shape, an odd number of outer fold bars are inserted and set in the U-shaped spaces on both sides, and a predetermined number of inner fold bars are inserted between the outer fold bars via the bag body. By moving one step at a time or a plurality of steps at the same time so that the bag body is inserted between the step gaps of the outer folding bar and the outer folding bar and the inner folding bar. Slide between the River performing folding method folding the airbag, characterized in that.