JPH07246908A - Air bag system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the reliability of pedestrian protection by changing an unfolding area of an air bag in accordance with a vehicle speed or physique of a pedestrian. CONSTITUTION:In a hood air bag 13 composed of right and left bags 13a, 13b to be unfolded in the vicinity of a rear end of a hood 12, and a central bag 13c to be unfolded on a windshield 11 rearward thereof, only the right and left bags 13a, 13b are unfolded to avoid wasteful air bag unfolding in the case where a car speed at the time of collision is slower than a set speed V1. In the case where the car speed at the time of collision is faster than the set speed V1, the central bag 13c is unfolded in addition to the right and left bags 13a, 13b to increase an unfolding area of the air bag so as to surely protect a pedestrian.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag system for protecting a pedestrian by spreading it on the outer surface of the vehicle and absorbing the impact of the collision when a running vehicle collides with a pedestrian. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that when a running vehicle collides with a pedestrian, the collided pedestrian is secondarily collided with the lower half of the body by the front portion of the vehicle body and the upper surface of the hood at the front portion of the vehicle body. There is. Therefore, the applicants have already developed an airbag on the hood or the like at the front of the vehicle body to absorb the impact of a secondary collision on the hood or the like with this airbag, and have already protected the pedestrian. is suggesting.

The position on the hood where the pedestrian collides secondarily changes depending on the vehicle speed, the height of the pedestrian, and the like.
Conventionally, by deploying the airbag so as to cover the entire front hood of the vehicle, the airbag absorbs the impact of the collision and protects the pedestrian regardless of the secondary collision at any position on the hood. I was able to do it.

11 and 12 show Japanese Patent Application No. 5-294.
No. 636 (unknown before application) shows a hood airbag device, which deploys a hood airbag 3 on a hood 2 at the front of the vehicle body 1 when the vehicle collides with a pedestrian. The hood airbag 3 absorbs and relaxes the impact generated when the pedestrian makes a secondary collision with the hood 2. The hood airbag 3 before being unfolded is folded and stored together with the inflator 4 in an opening 5 formed near the front end of the vehicle body of the hood 2, and the opening 5 can be opened and closed by a hinge 2a. It is covered by the attached lid 2b.

When a pedestrian collision detection means (not shown) provided in the front bumper or the like detects a collision with a pedestrian, an ignition current flows through the inflator 4 and gas generated in the ignited inflator 4 is reached. Causes the hood airbag 3 to inflate, and the inflating pressure causes the lid 2 to inflate.
Open a by pushing up against the elastic force of the spring 2c,
The hood airbag 3 bulges out from the opening 5 and expands to cover the hood 2, and the hood airbag 3 absorbs and protects the impact of a secondary collision of a pedestrian. There is.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional hood airbag 3 is formed in a large size so as to deploy the hood 2 of the vehicle body 1 so as to cover almost the entire hood 2, and has a large storage space. And a large capacity inflator 3 is required,
Further, there is a problem that the time required for expansion and expansion becomes long. In addition, since the hood airbag 3 is deployed so as to cover almost the entire hood 2 at the time of deployment and to cover the entire range in which a pedestrian on the hood 2 may secondarily collide, efficiency is improved. Was bad and was uneconomical.

An object of the present invention is to provide an airbag system capable of deploying an airbag only within a range necessary for protecting a pedestrian who has collided.

[0008]

As a means for solving the above problems, the present invention deploys an airbag on the outer surface of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, and the pedestrian uses the airbag. In an airbag system that protects the pedestrian, a pedestrian collision detection unit that detects a collision with a pedestrian, and an airbag that can be deployed on the outer surface of the vehicle body
Vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed during traveling, and when the detected vehicle speed is higher than a set speed, control is performed so as to change at least one of the deployment position and the area of the airbag as compared with the case where the detected vehicle speed is slower than the set speed. And an airbag control device.

In addition, when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, an airbag is deployed on the outer surface of the vehicle body and the pedestrian is protected by the airbag.
Pedestrian collision detection means for detecting a collision with a pedestrian, an airbag that can be deployed on the outer surface of the vehicle body, a pedestrian detection means for detecting the presence of a pedestrian in front of the vehicle, and a detected pedestrian A height detecting means for detecting the height of the airbag and an airbag control device for controlling so as to change at least one of the deployment position and the area of the airbag according to the detected height of the pedestrian. It has a feature.

[0010]

As described above, when the pedestrian collision detection means detects a collision with a pedestrian, a pedestrian collision detection signal is input to the airbag control device, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. Further, the vehicle speed signal detected by the vehicle speed detection means is input, and the detected vehicle speed is compared with a preset speed V. If the detected vehicle speed is faster than the set speed V, the detected vehicle speed is Than if it is slower than the set speed
Control so that the deployment area of the airbag is increased. Also, as a result of comparison, if the detected speed is slower than the set speed, the deployment area of the airbag is made narrower than when the detected speed is faster than the set speed to limit the deployment to unnecessary parts and to walk. Deploy only to the parts necessary to protect the person.

When the pedestrian collision detection means detects a collision with a pedestrian, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1 (B),
The pedestrian collision detection signal is input to the airbag control device, and the height of the pedestrian detected in advance by the pedestrian detection means for detecting the pedestrian in front of the vehicle is detected by the height detection means and preset. When the height is higher than the determined height H, the deployment position of the airbag is set to the rear or the deployment area is controlled to be wider than when the detected height is lower than the set height H. Then, the airbag is deployed in an appropriate range to reliably cover the position and range of the secondary collision of the pedestrian, which changes depending on the height of the body, so that the pedestrian can be reliably protected. As a result of comparison, if the detected height is lower than the set height H,
When the airbag is higher than it is, the range for deploying the airbag should be on the front side, or the deployment area of the airbag should be narrowed to limit the deployment to unnecessary parts and to deploy only to the part that is necessary to protect pedestrians. .

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments in which the airbag system of the present invention is applied to a hood airbag device will be described below with reference to FIGS.
It will be described based on.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show an airbag system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. When a collision with a pedestrian is detected, the hood is developed near the rear end of the hood 12 of the vehicle 10. An airbag 13, a bumper sensor 15 embedded in the front surface of a front bumper 14 at the front end of the vehicle body to detect a collision by input from the front of the vehicle, a lower surface of a front end of the hood 12, and an upper surface of a radiator support (not shown) on the vehicle body side. And a hood sensor 16 for detecting a collision of a pedestrian by an input on the hood 12, a vehicle speed sensor 17 for detecting a traveling vehicle speed, the bumper sensor 15, the hood sensor 16 and a vehicle speed. The signals output from the sensor 17 are input, and when the respective signals satisfy a predetermined condition, an airbag control device 19 that outputs an ignition signal to the inflator 18 It is equipped with a.

The hood airbag 13 is housed together with a dedicated inflator 18 in a right opening 12a formed on the right side of the rear part of the hood 12, and when expanded, expands so as to cover the right side part of the rear part of the hood 12. Right bag 1
3a and a left opening 1 formed at the rear left side of the hood 12
2b is housed together with a dedicated inflator 18 in the left bag 13b which expands so as to cover the left side portion of the hood 12 when inflated and a central opening 12c formed in the rear center of the hood 12 together with the dedicated inflator 18. It is composed of a central bag 13c which is stored and expanded so as to cover almost the entire surface of the windshield 11 when expanded. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 20 is a right lid that covers the right opening 12a so as to be openable and closable, 21 is a left lid that also closes the left opening 12b, and 22 is a central lid that also closes the central opening 12c.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 2 and FIGS.

When the control program of the airbag control device 19 is started, first in step 1, the vehicle speed indicated by the vehicle speed signal constantly input from the vehicle speed sensor 17 and
When a pedestrian collides, a comparison is made with a predetermined airbag lower limit speed V ₀ (for example, about 15 km / h) as a minimum speed at which pedestrian protection by the hood airbag 13 is required, and vehicle speed <V ₀ In this case, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling at a low speed to the extent that the hood airbag 13 does not need to be deployed, and the progress of the program from Step 2 onward is prohibited, so that the hood airbag is stopped or stopped. 13 is prevented from malfunctioning. And step
When the vehicle speed is ≧ V ₀ in 1, that is, it is determined that the pedestrian protection by the hood airbag 13 is required at the time of a pedestrian collision, the process proceeds to step 2.

In step 2, the front bumper 1
It is checked whether the bumper sensor 15 is switched on due to a collision of a pedestrian, a vehicle, or the like with No. 4, and if the bumper sensor 15 is not turned on, it is determined that a collision has not occurred and Step 1 Return to. And step 2
When the bumper sensor 15 is turned on, it is judged that a collision with a vehicle or a pedestrian has occurred, and
Go to 3.

In step 3, it is checked whether or not the hood sensor 16 is switched on by the load applied on the hood 12 when the colliding partner is a pedestrian, and the hood sensor 16 is on. If not, it is judged that it is not necessary to deploy the hood airbag 12 due to a collision with a vehicle other than a pedestrian, and the process returns to step 1. Then, in step 3, when the hood sensor 16 is turned on, it is determined that the collision with the pedestrian occurs, and the process proceeds to step 4.

In step 4, an experiment using a dummy or the like is performed in advance, and from the relationship between the vehicle speed and the secondary collision position of the pedestrian colliding with the front end of the vehicle, which is obtained for each vehicle type having different vehicle body sizes, For example, it is obtained from the vehicle speed signal and the high speed lower limit speed V ₁ which is set as the speed at which the secondary collision position reaches the vicinity of the rear end of the hood 12 or further reaches the rear windshield 11. When comparing the vehicle speed at the time of the collision, if the vehicle speed <V ₁ , the vehicle speed is slower, so it is judged that the airbag deployment range should be up to the rear end portion of the hood 12, and the process proceeds to step 5 to the right. Only the bag 13a and the left airbag 13b are deployed (state of FIG. 4), and the program ends.

If the vehicle speed is equal to or more than V ₁ in step 4, the process proceeds to step 6 and the center bag 13c is deployed together with the right bag 13a and the left bag 13b at a position farther from the front end of the vehicle body than the left and right bags 13a and 13b. Is developed on the windshield 11 (state of FIG. 5), and the program ends.

As a result, the expanded area of the airbag is increased by the amount that the central bag 13c is deployed on the windshield 11, and the pedestrian is protected by absorbing the impact even when a secondary collision occurs on the windshield 11. it can.

Therefore, in the hood airbag system of this embodiment, the preset high speed lower limit speed V ₁
If the vehicle speed is slower than
By deploying only a and 13b, the windshield 11 at which the pedestrian does not make a secondary collision at the vehicle speed
It is possible to prevent the airbag from being unnecessarily deployed upward and ensure the visibility of the windshield 11 portion.
If the vehicle speed is faster than the high speed lower limit speed V ₁ ,
Since the airbag deployment area is expanded rearward by deploying the central bag 13c in addition to the left and right bags 13a and 13b, it is possible to reliably protect a pedestrian who makes a secondary collision on the hood 12 or the like after a collision. .

6 to 10 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
1 shows an airbag system according to an embodiment, which is embedded in a hood airbag 33 that is deployed on a hood 32 of a vehicle 30 and a front bumper 34 at a front end of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, A bumper sensor 35 that detects a collision by an input from the front of the vehicle, and a front bumper 34
A pedestrian sensor 36, which is provided at a low position in the front of the vehicle body such as a vehicle, irradiates a light ray or an ultrasonic wave forward in the horizontal direction and detects a reflected wave thereof to detect the presence of a pedestrian or the like in front of the vehicle. And is provided at a high position of the vehicle body facing the front of the roof 30a such as the front end in the traveling direction, irradiates a light ray or an ultrasonic wave forward in the horizontal direction, and detects the reflected wave thereof to detect the back of the vehicle front. An adult sensor 37 for detecting the presence of a high pedestrian, etc., and a front grille, etc. are provided in the front part of the vehicle body. The vehicle includes a second adult sensor 38 that detects the presence of a tall pedestrian or the like in front of the vehicle, and a vehicle speed sensor 39 that detects the speed of the traveling vehicle, and the bumper sensor 35 and the pedestrian sensor 36.
And an airbag control device 41 that outputs an ignition signal to the inflators 40, 40 when the respective signals input from the adult sensor 37 and the second adult sensor 38 satisfy a predetermined condition. Further, in FIG. 7, reference numeral P1
Is a short pedestrian such as a child, and reference numeral P2 in FIG. 9 is a tall pedestrian such as an adult.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 6 and FIGS.
Will be described with reference to.

When the control program of the airbag control device 41 is started, first in step 1, the vehicle speed V indicated by the vehicle speed signal constantly input from the vehicle speed sensor 39 is indicated.
Is compared with a preset airbag lower limit speed of 15 km / h, and the vehicle speed is less than 15 km / h.
In the case of, it is judged that the pedestrian protection by the hood airbag 13 is not necessary, and the progress of the program after Step 2 is prohibited to prevent the hood airbag 33 from malfunctioning when the vehicle is stopped or running at low speed. is doing. And
When the vehicle speed V ≧ 15 km / h in step 1, it is judged that the pedestrian protection by the hood airbag 33 is necessary, and the process proceeds to step 2.

In step 2, the bumper sensor 35
It is checked whether or not a collision has been detected, and if the bumper sensor 35 is not turned on, a collision has not occurred, so the process returns to step 1. When the bumper sensor 35 is turned on in step 2, it is determined that a collision with a vehicle or pedestrians P1, P2, etc. has occurred, and the process proceeds to step 3.

In step 3, the pedestrian sensor 36
Detects the pedestrians P1, P2, etc. in front of the vehicle in advance to check whether the detection signal is input before the collision.
It is judged that the collision is erroneously detected by hitting
Return to 1. When the pedestrian sensor 36 is turned on in step 3, it is determined that the collision with the pedestrians P1, P2, etc., and the process proceeds to step 4.

In step 4, the front bag 33 is adjusted in accordance with the secondary collision position, which is determined in advance by an experiment using a dummy or the like and is different depending on the height of the pedestrian.
The expansion range of each of a and the rear bag 33b is determined. Therefore, when neither the adult sensor 37 nor the second adult sensor 38 is switched on, it is determined that the detected pedestrian is only a short pedestrian P1 such as a child, and the procedure goes to step 5. Go ahead, front bag 33
Only a is expanded and the program ends.

In step 4, the adult sensor 37
If at least one of the second adult sensor 38 is switched on and the detection signal is input before the collision, the process proceeds to step 6, and it is determined that the collision is a tall pedestrian P2, Both the airbags of the front bag 33a and the rear bag 33b are deployed on the hood 32 (state of FIG. 10), and the program ends. In this case, in the event of a collision with an adult and a child at the same time, only the adult, who is a tall pedestrian P2, is detected by the adult sensor 37 and the second adult sensor 38, but the front bag 33a and the rear bag 33b are deployed. A child who is a short pedestrian P1 is also protected by the front bag 33a, so there is no problem.

As described above, according to the airbag system of this embodiment, when the collision with the short pedestrian P1 is detected, the front bag 33a is deployed so as to cover the front half of the hood 32. , Rear bag 33 to the second half
Unnecessary expansion of b can be prevented. When a collision with a tall pedestrian P2 is detected, by deploying both the front bag 33a and the rear bag 33b, the deployment area is increased by the amount of the rear bag 33b to ensure the pedestrian P2. I am trying to protect it.

In this embodiment, when the bumper sensor 35 detects a collision when at least one of the adult sensor 37 and the second adult sensor 38 detects an adult, the front bag 33a and the rear airbag are detected. 33
The air bag deployment area was increased by deploying b and
When an adult is detected in this way, the rear airbag 3
By expanding only 3b and changing the deployment position of the airbag, it is possible to protect an adult. Further, by combining the signals of the adult sensors 37, 38 and the vehicle speed sensor 39, for example, when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the set speed A when at least one of the adult sensors 37, 38 is turned on, only the rear airbag 33b is deployed. You may Further, when both the adult sensors 37 and 38 remain off and the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the set speed B (set speed B> set speed A), only the rear airbag 33b may be deployed.

Further, in this embodiment, as the pedestrian sensor 36, the adult sensor 37, and the second adult sensor 38, a fixed ultrasonic sensor or the like that radiates ultrasonic waves or the like forward in the horizontal direction or obliquely upward and forward is used. However, by swinging the irradiation direction of directional ultrasonic waves in the vehicle width direction,
It is also possible to detect a wide range of pedestrians ahead of the vehicle traveling direction.

In both of the above-mentioned embodiments, the number of airbags to be deployed is varied depending on the vehicle speed or the height of the pedestrian to increase or decrease the deployment area. A partition may be provided to form a plurality of air sacs, and the air sacs may be selectively filled with gas to change the deployment area of the airbag.

[0034]

As described above, in the airbag system of the present invention, when the vehicle speed is faster than the set speed when the pedestrian collision detection signal is input to the airbag control device, the deployment area of the airbag is reduced. If the vehicle speed is slower than the set speed, the air bag deployment area should be narrowed or the deployment position should be changed to the front to control the air speed according to the vehicle speed. It is possible to deploy the bag in an appropriate range to reliably protect a pedestrian and prevent the airbag from being deployed to an unnecessary portion.

When a pedestrian collision detection signal is input to the airbag control device, the height and the like of the pedestrian in front of the vehicle are detected in advance and a pedestrian taller than a predetermined height collides. In this case, increase the deployment area of the airbag, or control the deployment position to change to the rear, or narrow the deployment area of the airbag when a pedestrian shorter than a predetermined height collides, Since the deployment position is changed to the front, both a short pedestrian and a tall pedestrian can be surely protected, and the airbag can be prevented from being deployed to an unnecessary portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram corresponding to the claims.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control by an airbag control device in the airbag system of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle showing the configuration and arrangement of the airbag system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vehicle showing a deployed state of the airbag when the vehicle speed ≧ V ₁ .

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vehicle showing a deployed state of the airbag when the vehicle speed is <V ₁ .

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing control by an airbag control device in the airbag system of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle showing the functions of pedestrian detection and height detection by the airbag system of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle showing a deployed state of the airbag when the detected height of the pedestrian is equal to or less than the set height.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle showing the functions of pedestrian detection and height detection by the airbag system of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle showing a deployed state of the airbag when the detected height of the pedestrian is higher than the set height.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a front portion of a vehicle showing an airbag deployment range of a conventional airbag device.

12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 hood 13 hood airbag 13a right bag 13b left bag 13c center bag 15 bumper sensor 16 hood sensor 17 vehicle speed sensor 18 inflator 19 airbag control device 33a front bag 33b rear bag 35 bumper sensor 36 pedestrian sensor 37 adult sensor 38 second adult sensor 39 Vehicle speed sensor 40 Inflator 41 Air bag control device P1 Short pedestrian P2 High pedestrian

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroki Obara Ichijin Seiki Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An airbag system that deploys an airbag on the outer surface of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, and protects the pedestrian with the airbag, the pedestrian detecting a collision with the pedestrian. Collision detection means, an air bag provided on the outer surface of the vehicle body so as to be deployable, vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle while traveling, and when the detected vehicle speed is faster than the set speed, An airbag system comprising: an airbag control device that controls so as to change at least one of a deployment position and an area of the airbag. 2. An airbag system that deploys an airbag on the outer surface of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, and protects the pedestrian with this airbag. Person collision detection means, an airbag provided on the outer surface of the vehicle body so as to be deployable, a pedestrian detection means for detecting the presence of a pedestrian in front of the vehicle, and a height detection means for detecting the height of the detected pedestrian. And an airbag control device that controls so as to change at least one of a deployment position and an area of the airbag according to the detected height of the pedestrian.