JPH082372A - Forced-operation structure of inflator for occupant protecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow an inflator for an occupant protecting device, formed to include a mechanical ignition type sensor and the like, to be easily operated forcibly in the state of being fitted to a vehicle at the time of motor vehicle cessation or the like. CONSTITUTION:A spiral heating coil 72 is disposed directly below a detonator 22, and both end parts of the heating coil are led out of a sensor 20 by lead wires 74. Accordingly, when a worker connects a power circuit 76 to the lead wires 74 from the outside at the time of motor vehicle cessation or the like, the heating coil 72 is heated to ignite the detonator 22. An inflator and in its turn an air bag device can be thereby forcibly operated easily in the state of being fitted to a vehicle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a forced actuation structure for an inflator for a passenger protection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of occupant protection devices mounted on a vehicle, there is an air bag device for inflating the bag toward the occupant when the vehicle is suddenly decelerated. There are various types of air bag devices, for example, driver seats, passenger seats, etc. when categorized from the viewpoint of installation site, and mechanical ignition type and electric ignition type when categorized from the viewpoint of ignition system. Hereinafter, a mechanical ignition type airbag device and an electric ignition type airbag device will be briefly described in comparison, taking an example of an airbag device for a driver's seat.

As elements common to both, an inflator having a gas generating agent or the like inside, a base plate to which the inflator is attached, a bag body attached to the base plate in a folded state, and the bag body to be stored between the base plate and There are pads that break and develop when the vehicle suddenly decelerates. On the other hand, although the two have different ignition systems as described above, in the case of the mechanical ignition system, the sensor itself is arranged at the shaft center of the inflator, and the mass moves inertially when the vehicle suddenly decelerates so that the mass is mediated by the trigger member. The firing pin pierces the detonator with biasing force, which causes the gas generating agent to burn. On the other hand, in the case of the electric ignition type, the sensors themselves are arranged on both sides and the center of the front part of the vehicle body, and when one of the sensors senses the rapid deceleration state of the vehicle, it is arranged on the axial center of the inflator through the determination circuit. The ignition device is energized, which causes the gas generating agent to burn.

By the way, when a vehicle provided with the above-described airbag device is scrapped, it is desirable to forcibly activate the airbag device before the vehicle body is crushed from the viewpoint of safety. In addition, from the viewpoint of safety and the reduction of work effort, it is rational to perform this work with the airbag device attached to the steering wheel.

In this case, in the case of the electric ignition type air bag device, the worker can easily operate the air bag device by energizing the ignition device, so that the work can be performed safely and easily. .

However, in the case of the mechanical ignition type air bag device, a predetermined inertial force (G) must be applied to the sensor. Due to this effect, the operator operates the safety device of the airbag device to deactivate the sensor, removes the airbag device from the steering wheel, and then operates the safety device again to activate the sensor. Therefore, it is a very troublesome work of forcibly operating the airbag device.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention allows an inflator for a passenger protection device including a mechanical ignition type sensor and the like to be easily and forcibly operated while being mounted on a vehicle when the vehicle is scrapped. An object is to obtain a forced actuation structure for an inflator for an occupant protection device.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an igniting material which is ignited by activation of a mechanical ignition type sensor for detecting a sudden deceleration of a vehicle, and an ignition material which ignites. A gas generating means for combusting to generate gas, which is applied to an inflator for an occupant protection device that operates an occupant protection device equipped on a vehicle by the generated gas, and is external to the occupant protection device inflator. Is provided so as to be able to be operated, and forcibly ignites the ignition material by being operated to forcibly operate the inflator for the occupant protection device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the present invention according to the first aspect, the forcibly operating means is arranged around the ignition material and is heated by operating the ignition material from the outside. It is a feature.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the forcible actuating means is disposed in the sensor and via an ignition member that ignites the ignition material when the vehicle suddenly decelerates. It is an electronic spark supply means for supplying electronic sparks to the ignition material.

[0011]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, when the vehicle is scrapped,
When the forced actuation means is actuated from the outside of the occupant protection device inflator, the ignition material disposed inside the inflator is forcibly ignited. Therefore, the gas generating means burns to generate gas. As a result, the inflator is forcibly operated.

As can be seen from the above, the forced actuation operation of the occupant protection device inflator can be performed while the occupant protection device is mounted on the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of removing the occupant protection device from the vehicle and to operate the safety device, so that the work is simplified.

According to the present invention described in claim 2, claim 1
In the present invention described, the heating means (forced actuation means) is arranged around the ignition material, and the ignition material is heated by being operated from the outside, so that the ignition material is forcibly ignited. As a result, the occupant protection device inflator is forcibly activated.

According to the present invention of claim 3, claim 1
In the present invention described, electronic sparks are supplied to the ignition material by the electronic spark supply means (forced operation means) via the ignition member that is arranged in the mechanical ignition type sensor and ignites the ignition material when the vehicle decelerates rapidly. As a result, the occupant protection device inflator is forcibly activated.

[0015]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which an airbag device 10 for a driver's seat as an occupant protection device is attached to a hub 12A of a steering wheel 12. Less than,
The schematic configuration of the airbag device 10 will be described with reference to this drawing.

As shown in the figure, the upper case 14 and the lower case 1 are provided at the center of the inside of the airbag device 10.
An inflator 18 composed of 6 and 6 is provided. The bulging portion 16 bulged toward the occupant is provided on the shaft core of the lower case 16.
A is formed, and a mechanical ignition type sensor 20 for detecting a rapid deceleration state of the vehicle is housed in the bulging portion 16A. Further, a detonator 2 as an ignition material is provided directly above the sensor 20.
2 and an enhancer 24 are provided. Further, a gas generating agent 26 as a gas generating means is enclosed around the enhancer 24. A coolant 28 and a filter 30 are arranged around the gas generating agent 26. Further, a plurality of gas holes 32 are formed on the peripheral surface of the upper case 14 at predetermined intervals.

The above-described inflator 18 is fixed to the central portion of the base plate 34, which is a strength member, with the upper case 14 side being penetrated. A folded bag body 36 is provided on the side of the occupant of the base plate 34 so as to cover the upper case 14 side of the inflator 18. A ring plate 38 is arranged on the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the bag body 36.
Is fixed to the base plate 34 so that the bag 3
The peripheral edge of the opening 6 is pressed against the side surface of the occupant of the base plate 34.

The folded bag body 36 is covered with an air bag pad 40 attached to the base plate 34 through an insert plate 39 which is molded into a predetermined shape by foaming urethane and insert-molded inside. There is. A substantially H-shaped thin portion 48 is formed on the side surface of the occupant of the airbag pad 40, and the thin portion 48 is broken at the time of sudden deceleration of the vehicle. As a result, the airbag pad 40 is deployed and the bag body 36 is inflated toward the occupant seated in the driver's seat.

The above is the schematic configuration of the airbag device 10. Next, the schematic configuration of the mechanical ignition type sensor 20 for detecting the rapid deceleration of the vehicle will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor 20 is made of a resin and has a cylindrical sensor body 50 (in FIG. 1, the same hatching is shown, but more accurately, it is a two-part structure of an upper body and a lower body. Has become). The sensor body 50 is covered with a can cover 52 and a support plate 54.

A cylinder 56 is arranged in the sensor body 50, and a ball 58 that inertially moves forward (on the side opposite to the occupant; downward in FIG. 1) when the vehicle is suddenly decelerated is accommodated in the cylinder 56. Has been done. One end of the drive shaft 60 is in contact with the moving direction side of the ball 58. A block-shaped engaging portion 60A is integrally formed at an axially intermediate portion of the drive shaft 60, and is rotatably supported at both longitudinal ends of the engaging portion 60A. The locking portion 60A has a firing pin 64 that is biased by a firing spring 62.
The collar portion 64A is locked. In addition, on the movement trajectory of the firing spring 62, the above-mentioned detonator 22
Is arranged. On the other hand, the other end of the drive shaft 60 is in contact with the tip of the bias pin 66 which is biased by the bias spring 70.

As shown in FIG. 1, a spiral heating wire 72 is arranged immediately below the detonator 22 in the sensor 20 described above. As the heating wire 72, a nichrome wire, a platinum wire or the like is used. The heating wire 72 is formed in a spiral shape so as not to interfere with the movement locus of the firing pin 64. The position of the heat wire 72 need not be directly under the detonator 22, but may be in the vicinity of the detonator 22.

Lead wires 74 are connected to both ends of the heating wire 72, and are led to the outside of the sensor 20 through a path bypassing the functional components in the sensor 20. The lead wire 74 can be connected to a power supply circuit 76 prepared by an operator when the vehicle is scrapped.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. When a worker connects the power supply circuit 76 and turns on a switch (not shown) when the vehicle is scrapped, the heating wire 72 is heated via the lead wire 74. Therefore, when the heat ray 72 reaches a predetermined temperature, the detonator 22 arranged immediately above the heat ray 72 is ignited. Therefore, the enhancer 24 is ignited by the igniting detonator 22, and the flame is propagated to the gas generating agent 26. As a result, the gas generating agent 26 burns to generate a large amount of gas. That is, the inflator 18 is forcibly operated.

The gas generated by the combustion of the gas generating agent 26 flows into the bag body 36 from the gas holes 32 via the coolant 28 and the filter 30. Therefore, the airbag pad 40 is broken and expanded at the thin portion 48 to inflate the bag body 36 toward the occupant.

As described above, in this embodiment, the inflator 1 is
Since the heating wire 72 for forcibly igniting the detonator 22 in 8 is provided immediately below, the inflator 18 can be forcibly operated by an external operation when the vehicle is scrapped. Moreover, as can be seen from the above description, the airbag device 10 is mounted on the steering wheel 1 when the vehicle is scrapped.
The inflator 18 can be forcibly operated while being attached to the No. 2 unit. Further, this eliminates the need for removing the airbag device 10 and operating a safety device (not shown), so that the work can be performed easily.

In this embodiment, the spiral heating wire 72 is used.
Although the detonator 2 is arranged directly below the detonator 22, the detonator 2 is not limited to this.
Any heating means for forcibly igniting 2 may be applied. For example, the coil may be arranged in a ring shape immediately below the detonator 22 or a filament may be arranged. [Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The mechanical ignition sensor 100 used in the second embodiment is different in type from the mechanical ignition sensor 20 described above, and will be briefly described below.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor 100 is
The sensor body 102 has a bottomed cylindrical shape. The open side end of the sensor body 102 is closed by a plate 104. A through hole 106 is formed in the shaft core of the plate 104, and a shaft 112 that connects the safety lever 108 and the operation lever 110 is inserted through the through hole 106. The safety lever 108 has a substantially disc shape, and a cutout 114 is formed in a part of its peripheral surface. In the state shown in FIG. 3, the cutout portion 11 of the safety lever 108 is shown.
The peripheral surface on which 4 is not formed is a trigger lever 12 described later.
8 is in contact, and this state is the non-operating state of the sensor 100. Rotate the operating lever 110 to rotate the safety lever 1
The state where the trigger lever 128 corresponds to the notch portion 114 of 08 is the operating state of the sensor 100.

A bulging portion 102A bulging to the side opposite to the occupant is formed in the center of the bottom portion (end portion on the occupant side) of the sensor body 102 described above.
Are integrally formed. Around the bulged portion 102A, a substantially cylindrical mass 116 is arranged. Square 11
A bias spring 118 is arranged on the inertial movement direction side of 6. One end of the bias spring 118 is abutted and locked to the end of the mass 116 on the side opposite to the occupant, and the other end is abutted and locked to the inner wall 120 disposed inside the sensor body 102. There is. Therefore, the bias spring 118 constantly presses the mass 116 toward the occupant.

A projecting portion 120A projecting toward the occupant is integrally formed with the shaft center portion of the inner wall 120 described above. Around the protrusion 120A, the firing spring 12
One end of 2 is abutted and locked. The other end of the firing spring 122 is abutted and locked in the hollow cylindrical body 124A of the firing pin 124. Therefore, the firing spring 122 constantly presses and urges the firing pin 124 toward the detonator 126.

Main body 124A of the firing pin 124
An engaging portion 128A of the trigger lever 128 is engaged with the peripheral edge of the. The trigger lever 128 is swingably supported at its axially intermediate portion. Further, in the vicinity of the locking portion 128A of the trigger lever 128, a slide holding portion 128B is integrally formed so as to project. The slide holding portion 128B is in contact with a slide portion 116A formed in an annular shape in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of the mass 116. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG.
Since the engaging portion 128A of the trigger lever 128 does not disengage from the main body 124A of the firing pin 124 because it is in contact with 8B, the sliding portion 116A disengages from the slide holding portion 128B when the mass 116 inertially moves. The trigger lever 128 oscillates around the support shaft by the urging force of the spring 122 (at this time, the end portion of the trigger lever 128 is cutout 1 of the safety lever 108).
14 inside) body 1 of the firing pin 124
Remove from 24A.

Here, in the present embodiment, the piezoelectric element 130 is arranged on the above-mentioned operation lever 110. Also,
The operating lever 110, the shaft 112, the safety lever 108, the trigger lever 128 except for the slide holding portion 128B, and the firing pin 124 are made of a conductive material (metal). The slide holding portion 128B of the trigger lever 128 is made of resin, for example. In addition, the elastic body 1 is provided at the contact portion between the inner bottom of the main body 124A of the firing pin 124 and the firing spring 122.
32 are interposed. Therefore, a conduction path is formed by the operating lever 110, the shaft portion 112, the safety lever 108, the trigger lever 128 except for the slide holding portion 128B, and the firing pin 124, and the tip portion 124B of the firing pin 124 serves as the center electrode. Function. On the other hand, the tip 12 of the firing pin 124
A ground electrode 134 is embedded in the detonator 126 facing 4B, and the gap between the ground electrode 134 and the tip end portion 124B of the firing pin 124, which is the center electrode, is set to a predetermined distance at which electronic sparks can fly. . In addition, detonator 1
The periphery of 26 is in contact with the bulging portion 16A of the lower case 16 (made of metal) of the inflator 18 as shown in FIG. 2, and therefore the ground electrode 134 and the bulging portion 16A are in contact with each other.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. After the operator puts the safety lever 108 in the state shown in FIG.
When a predetermined external force is applied to the position where 0 is arranged, the piezoelectric element 130
Due to this, a high voltage current is generated and flows to the tip portion 124B side of the firing pin 124 which is the center electrode. Therefore, electronic sparks fly from the tip portion 124B of the firing pin 124 to the ground electrode 134. As a result, the detonator 12
6 is ignited, and the flame is propagated to the gas generating agent 26 via the enhancer 24. As a result, the gas generating agent 26 burns to generate a large amount of gas. That is, the inflator 18 is forcibly operated.

Thus, also in this embodiment, the sensor 2
Although the type is different from 0, like the first embodiment, the inflator 18 can be forcibly operated easily with the airbag device 10 still attached to the steering wheel 12.

In this embodiment, the piezoelectric element 130 is provided on the operating lever 110, but the location of the piezoelectric element 130 is not limited to this, and the firing pin 124 to the detonator 1 may be arranged.
It suffices to be able to supply an electronic spark to 26. For example, without providing the elastic body 132, the metal firing spring 122 is directly abutted and locked to the firing pin 124, and the rear end side of the firing spring 122 is Alternatively, the piezoelectric element 130 may be provided. In this case, a member for applying an external force to the piezoelectric element 130 may be separately provided so that the external force can be applied to this member from the outside of the sensor 100.

Further, in the present embodiment, the piezoelectric element 130 is provided on the operation lever 110. However, the invention is not limited to this, and the piezoelectric element is connected to the operation lever 110 via a lead wire at the time of work after ensuring a conduction path. However, a configuration may be adopted in which electronic sparks are externally supplied to the detonator 126 via a conduction path (the firing pin 124 or the like).

In each of the above-described embodiments, the detonator 22, 126 is ignited.
Not limited to this, the same effect can be obtained by igniting the enhancer 24 that plays a role of propagating the flame to the gas generating agent 26.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the invention is applied to the airbag device 10 of the type arranged on the steering wheel 12, but the invention is not limited to this, and the airbag device of the type arranged on the passenger seat or It is also possible to apply the present invention to an airbag device of a type arranged in a vehicle door.

Furthermore, although the airbag device 10 is used as the occupant protection device in this embodiment, the invention is not limited to this.
It can also be applied to a preloader device that rapidly rotates the winding shaft of the webbing winding device in the webbing winding direction when the vehicle is rapidly decelerated. In this case, the preloader device is not provided with the inflator 18 having the shape shown in FIG. 2, but is provided with a case for containing the gas generating agent 26, which corresponds to the inflator 18 in the above-described embodiment. You can think of it.

[0041]

As described above, the forced actuation structure for an inflator for a passenger protection device according to the present invention is an inflator for a passenger protection device including a mechanical ignition type sensor, etc. It has an excellent effect that it can be easily forcibly operated while being attached.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a mechanical ignition type sensor used in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an airbag device for a driver's seat including the sensor shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a mechanical ignition type sensor used in a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Airbag Device (Passenger Protection Device) 20 Sensor 22 Detonator (Ignition Material) 24 Enhancer (Ignition Material) 26 Gas Generator (Gas Generation Means) 72 Heat Wire (Forced Actuation Means, Heating Means) 124 Firing Pin (Ignition Member) 130 Piezoelectric element (forced actuation means, electronic spark supply means) 134 Ground electrode (forced actuation means, electronic spark supply means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An igniter that is ignited by the operation of a mechanical ignition type sensor that senses a sudden vehicle deceleration state, and a gas generating means that combusts to generate gas when the igniter ignites. The present invention is applied to an inflator for an occupant protection device that operates an occupant protection device equipped on a vehicle by the generated gas, and is provided so as to be operable from outside the inflator for the occupant protection device, and by being operated, A forced actuation structure for an inflator for an occupant protection device, comprising: forcibly activating an ignition material to forcibly actuate the inflator for the occupant protection device. 2. The occupant protection according to claim 1, wherein the forced actuation means is a heating means which is arranged around the ignition material and heats the ignition material by being operated from the outside. Forced operation structure of inflator for equipment. 3. The forcible actuation means is an electronic spark supply means for supplying electronic sparks to the ignition material via an ignition member that is arranged in the sensor and that ignites the ignition material when the vehicle rapidly decelerates. The forced actuation structure for an inflator for an occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein.