JPH0832512B2 - Position control device for airbag seats - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a rear seat occupant of an airbag device in which an airbag device for protecting an occupant in the rear seat is provided on the back side of a seat back. The present invention relates to a position control device that does not impair restraint performance.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a protection device for an occupant in a rear seat of a vehicle or the like, for example, an airbag mounting seat described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-35730 is known.

In this conventional example, when the seat back of the seat is rotated around the lower part of the seat back due to the secondary collision reaction force of the rear seat occupant, the airbag is mounted so that the rear seat occupant can be restrained in an appropriate deployment direction. The portion is configured to be bendable with respect to the seat back, and the mounting portion is connected by a connecting rod that can rotate about a point different from the center.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the conventional airbag mounting seat, since the seat back is provided with a parallel link mechanism so that the airbag can be folded inwardly, when an occupant sits on the airbag mounting seat and the reclining mechanism is operated. In addition, the seating posture becomes unnatural, and the distance between the rear seat occupant and the airbag device changes, impairing the rear seat occupant restraint performance of the airbag device, and the strength and play of the parallel link mechanism become a problem. It had a drawback.

An object of the present invention is to provide a position control device for an airbag-equipped seat that can surely satisfy the restraint performance of the airbag device with respect to a passenger in the rear seat.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and in an airbag-equipped seat having a seat back with an airbag device mounted on the back side, at least the longitudinal position of the airbag-equipped seat and the tilting angle of the seat back. An electric position adjuster that electrically controls one of the seats, a seating sensor that detects a seated person on the rear seat of the airbag-equipped seat, and an electric position adjuster that detects the seated person when the seated sensor is used. Position control means for controlling within a range that satisfies the restraint performance of the back seat occupant of the airbag device.

[Action]

According to the present invention, when the seating sensor detects the seating of the rear seat occupant, the position control means adjusts at least one of the seat back angle and the front-rear position by an electric position adjusting portion for rear seat occupant restraint performance by the airbag device. By satisfying the control, the relative distance and the facing angle between the airbag device and the rear seat occupant can always be controlled in an appropriate state, and the rear seat occupant restraint performance can be reliably exhibited.

〔Example〕

1 to 4 schematically show an embodiment of a position control device for an airbag-equipped seat according to the present invention.

First, a vehicle front seat generally designated by reference numeral 1 is composed of a seat cushion 2 and a seat back 3 standing upright on the rear end side. And seat back 3
As is well known, is connected and supported to the seat cushion 2 side via a reclining mechanism 6 which is composed of a base 7 and an arm 9 pivotally supported by a rotary shaft supporting portion 8. In this case, as the reclining mechanism 6, a power reclining device such as an electric motor is adopted.

An airbag device 11 is provided on the back side of the seat back 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the airbag device 11 includes a base plate 12 attached to a seat back frame, a gas generator 13 fixed to the base plate 12, and air bulging due to the operation of the gas generator 13. And a bag body 14.

Further, a vehicle rear seat 21 is disposed on the rear side of the vehicle front seat 1, and the vehicle rear seat 21 is provided with a seat cushion 22 and a seat back which is erected on the rear end side.
The seat cushion 22 facing the airbag device 11 of the front seat 1 is provided with a seating sensor 24 including, for example, a pressure-sensitive element, an optical sensor, or the like.

The electric motor of the power reclining device of the reclining mechanism 6 is the control device 31 shown in FIG.
Controlled by.

That is, the control unit 31 receives the seating detection signal of the seating sensor 24 and the vehicle speed detection signal of the vehicle speed sensor 32 provided separately in the vehicle, and also a rotary encoder that detects the rotation angle of the electric motor of the power reclining device. 33 rotation angle detection value and seat position switch 34
Switch signal is input.

The control device 31 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and executes the processing shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 based on the seating detection signal, the vehicle speed detection signal, the rotation angle detection signal, and the seat position switch signal, which are input to the rear portion. When the occupant is seated on the seat 21, the tilting angle of the seat back 3 of the front seat 1 is restricted within an allowable range that sufficiently satisfies the passenger restraint performance of the rear seat by the airbag device 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the seat back 3 of the front seat 1 is arranged along a straight line θ inclined rearward by about 25 ° with respect to the vertical line Y, and in a normal seated state, the seat back 3 is arranged around θ. It is used in the range indicated by straight lines L ₁ and L ₂ inclined by about 10 ° in the direction. Further, as the allowable range of operation of the airbag device 11 with respect to the inclination angle of the seat back 3, a range of a straight line L _{3 having} an angle α behind the vertical line Y is preferable. When the seat back 3 leans forward from the vertical line Y, the airbag body 14 bulges toward the passenger's face side of the rear seat 21, and the seat back 3 leans backward from the straight line L ₃ . The rear seat 21
The airbag main body 14 bulges toward the foot side of the occupant, and the occupant restraint performance of the airbag device 11 cannot be sufficiently exhibited. The angle α between the vertical line Y and the straight line L ₃ is preferably in the range of 15 ° to 45 °.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 showing the processing procedure of the control device 31.

That is, the process of FIG. 4 is executed as a timer interrupt process for every predetermined time, for example, every 50 msec, first reads the vehicle speed detection signal of the vehicle speed sensor 32 in step, and then shifts to step to determine whether the vehicle is traveling. To determine. This determination determines whether or not the vehicle speed detection signal is zero. When the vehicle speed detection signal is zero, it is determined that the vehicle is stopped, and the timer interrupt process is terminated and the predetermined main program is executed. When the vehicle speed detection signal is not zero, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling and the process proceeds to step. still,
In the present embodiment, the case where the vehicle is running is regarded as the start, but there is also a rear-end collision or the like when the vehicle ignition switch is in the ON state and the vehicle is stopped, so this step can be omitted.

In step, the seating detection signal of the seating sensor 24 is read, and then the process proceeds to step to determine whether the occupant is seated. This determination is made based on whether or not the seating detection signal is in the on state.When the seating detection signal is in the off state, it is determined that the rear seat occupant is not seated, and the timer interrupt processing is ended as it is. Returning to the predetermined main program, when the seating detection signal is in the ON state, it is determined that the rear seat occupant is seated, and the process proceeds to step.

In this step, the tilt angle detection value of the rotary encoder 33 is read, and then the process proceeds to step to effectively restrain the occupant in the rear seat when the airbag device 11 having the tilt angle detection signal set in advance is deployed. Determine whether the tilt angle is within the allowable range of ゜ to 45 ゜.

At this time, when the tilt angle detection value is within the allowable range, the timer interrupt processing is ended as it is, and the predetermined main program is returned to. When the tilt angle detection value is outside the allowable range, the process proceeds to step, Reclining mechanism 6
After the drive signal in the direction in which the detected tilt angle value is within the allowable range is output to the electric motor 6a, the process returns to the step.

On the other hand, the processing of FIG. 5 is executed while the seat position switch is being pressed down. First, in a step, the vehicle speed detection signal of the vehicle speed sensor 32 is read, and then the processing proceeds to the step and the vehicle is carried out similarly to the step of FIG. Is determined whether the vehicle is running, and when the vehicle is stopped, the process proceeds to step, and the motor drive signal is output to the electric motor 6a according to the selection direction of the seat position switch 34, and then the process proceeds to step. Returning, when the vehicle is traveling, the process shifts to step to read the seating detection signal of the seating sensor 24, and then shifts to step to determine whether or not the occupant is seated in the rear seat as in the step of FIG. If it is not seated, the process proceeds to the step, and if it is seated, the process proceeds to step.

In this step, the tilt angle detection value of the rotary encoder 33 is read, and then the process proceeds to step to determine whether the tilt angle is within the allowable range as in the step of FIG. 4, and when it is within the allowable range. To step S6, the motor drive signal is output to the electric motor 6a according to the selected direction of the seat position switch 34, and then the process returns to the step. And then the process ends.

Therefore, when the vehicle is stopped, the seat position switch 34 is pressed to select the tilting direction of the seat back 3, and the seat position switch 34 is pressed by repeating steps 1 to 5 in the process of FIG. The seat back 3 can be tilted at any tilt angle while the vehicle is in motion.

However, when the vehicle is running, if the occupant is seated in the rear seat 21, the seat position switch
Even if 34 is pressed, the tilting angle of the seat back 3 is allowed only within a range in which the rear seat occupant restraint performance by the airbag device 11 is sufficiently exerted, and tilting to other parts is prohibited. It

Further, when the vehicle starts traveling and the occupant is seated on the rear seat 21, the processing shown in FIG. 4 is executed so that the tilt angle of the seat back 3 of the front seat 1 falls within the allowable range. If the tilt angle of the seat back 3 is driven so that the tilt angle of the seat back 3 is within the allowable range by the processing of steps 1 to 4 when it exceeds, the tilt angle of the seat back 3 is always the rear part of the airbag device 11. It will be maintained within the allowable range to fully demonstrate the occupant restraint performance.

In the embodiment described above, the position control device according to the present invention is applied to the reclining mechanism 6 of the front seat 1 for a vehicle, and the case where the vehicle is traveling is described. However, the invention is not limited to this, and the ignition switch of the vehicle may be used. It is also possible to operate the position control device while the vehicle is stopped in the on state,
The present invention can also be applied to a case where an electric drive mechanism is mounted on a seat slide that moves the vehicle front seat 1 in the front-rear direction. In this case, when an occupant is seated in the rear seat. The sliding position is regulated by the airbag device 11 within an allowable range in which the rear seat occupant restraint performance can be sufficiently exhibited.

〔The invention's effect〕

The above is the configuration of the embodiment of the position control device for the airbag-equipped seat according to the present invention. According to such a configuration, when the occupant is seated in the rear portion of the seat-back-equipped seat, the seat-back attachment is performed. At least one of the tilt angle of the seat back of the seat and the longitudinal position of the seat with the seat back can be reliably regulated by the airbag device within an allowable range in which the rear seat occupant restraint performance can be sufficiently exhibited, and the conventional example Since it is not necessary to provide a link mechanism or the like in the seat back as in the above, it is possible to reliably prevent the seating posture from becoming unnatural and the distance between the airbag device and the seat occupant in the rear seat from changing significantly. There are various practically excellent effects that the seat backlash can be reduced and the comfort of sitting can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 5 respectively show an outline of an embodiment of a seatback fixing device for an airbag-equipped seat according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a side view showing only the structure of a main part, and FIG. Is a cross-sectional view showing an airbag device, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a control device, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are flow charts showing an example of processing procedures of the control device. In the figure, 1 ... front seat for vehicle, 2 ... seat cushion, 3 ... seat back, 6 ... reclining mechanism,
6a ... Electric motor, 11 ... Airbag device, 12 ... Base plate, 13 ... Gas generator, 14 ... Airbag body, 21 ... Vehicle rear seat, 24 ... Seating sensor, 31 ...
… Control device, 32 …… Vehicle speed sensor, 33 …… Rotary encoder, 34 …… Seat position switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electrically operated position for electrically controlling at least one of a front-back direction position of the airbag-equipped seat and a tilting angle of the seatback, in an airbag-equipped seat having a seatback having an airbag device mounted on the back side. An adjusting unit, a seating sensor for detecting a seated person in the rear seat of the airbag-equipped seat, and when the seating sensor is detected by the seating sensor, the electric position adjustment unit is used to operate the seat back passenger of the airbag apparatus. A position control device for an airbag-equipped seat, comprising position control means for controlling the position within a range satisfying the restraint performance.