JPH0976864A - Air bag in air bag device used for side collision - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a dimension in the thickness direction of an air bag when it is folded down so as to make the air bag compact when it is stored. SOLUTION: In an air bag device against a side collision mounted inside a seat back in a vehicle seat, an air bag 20 is constructed of a long bag body which is formed by putting cloths together and sewing their outer circumference parts together. In the air bag 20, a base end in the longitudinal direction is connected to an inflater 18, while its point end is free, and a shape before folding is a trapezoidal shape whose width dimension is gradually reduced toward the tip in the longitudinal direction. When the air bag 20 is bent alternately along the longitudinal direction so as to be folded, the sewed parts, which are arranged along the folding direction of the air bag 20, in the outer circumference part in the air bag are collapsed without overlapping each other. As the sewed parts does not overlap each other, increase in a dimension in the thickness direction can be prevented when the air bag 20 is folded down.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag for a side impact airbag device which is mounted outside a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag device for a side collision of a vehicle is equipped with an airbag device outside a side portion of a seat back frame, and the airbag is provided between an inner side portion of a vehicle and a side portion of an occupant when a vehicle side collision occurs. There is something to deploy.

As such a side impact airbag device, the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-64491 is known.

The device described below is also conceivable.
Description will be made based on a comparative example according to FIGS. 14 to 19. In the drawings, the front side of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow FR, the outer side in the vehicle width direction is indicated by an arrow OUT, and the upper side of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow UP.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the module case 100 is attached to the seat back frame 106 of the seat back 104 of the vehicle seat 102 on the side of the seat back side. In the module case 100, a cylindrical inflator 108 is stored on the back side of the seat back and an airbag 110 is folded and stored on the front side of the seat back.

An opening 112 is formed on the side of the seat back of the module case 100 and on the front side of the seat back, and the opening 112 is closed by a lid 114.

At the time of a vehicle side collision, the inflator 108 is activated to generate gas, and the gas is supplied into the airbag 110 from the ejection port 124 formed on the peripheral surface of the inflator 108 to inflate the airbag 110. Due to the inflation of the airbag 110, the lid 114 is pressed from the inner side, and the lid 114 deploys outward from the front side of the seat back to the rear side of the seat back. The seat cover 116 that covers the lid 114 is sewn along the edge portion of the lid 114 on the front side of the seat back, and the suture thread 118 is broken by the deployment pressure of the lid 114, and the seat cover 116 is sewn.
Is peeled off and the lid 114 is allowed to expand. Lid 1
When the airbag 14 is deployed, the airbag 110 is deployed outside the module case 100 between the vehicle inner side portion and the occupant 120 side portion (a deployed state is shown by a chain line in FIGS. 14 and 15).

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Here, the airbag 1
As shown in FIG. 16, 10 is a long rectangular bag body, and as shown in FIG. 18, cloth is overlaid and the outer peripheral portion is sewn (suture thread is indicated by 122), and then the front and back are repeated. Is formed in this way. The longitudinal end portion of the airbag 110 is attached so as to cover the peripheral portion of the inflator 108, and the ejection port 124 of the inflator 108 communicates with the inside of the airbag 110. The longitudinal end of the airbag 110 is a free end. The airbag 110 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the sheets are alternately folded back along the longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIG. 18, the sewn portion (sewn portion) of the outer peripheral portion of the airbag is thicker than the other portions. As for the airbag 110 in the folded state, the stitched portions are overlapped with each other, and as shown in FIG. 19, the dimension A in the thickness direction is increased and a large storage space is required.

Referring to FIG. 14, the dimension B protruding from the seat back frame 106 of the module case 100 to the outside laterally becomes large, which causes an increase in size of the side collision airbag device in the seat width direction.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention provides an airbag for a side-impact airbag apparatus, which reduces the size of the airbag when folded and reduces the thickness of the airbag when it is stored. The purpose is to

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an airbag of a side-impact airbag apparatus of the present invention according to claim 1 is mounted outside a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat. Used for side impact airbag devices,
An airbag that is sewn to the outer periphery to form a bag, is folded and stored, and is deployed between the vehicle inner side and the occupant side in the event of a vehicle side collision. Is characterized by a trapezoidal shape having a trapezoidal height direction.

An airbag of a side-impact airbag apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is used in a side-impact airbag apparatus mounted outside a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat, and has an outer peripheral portion. Are sewn into a bag body, folded and stored, and in the case of a vehicle side collision, in an airbag that expands between the vehicle inner side and the occupant side, the shape before folding of the airbag is parallel to the folding direction. It is characterized in that it is formed in a parallelogram shape in the height direction of the quadrangle.

An airbag of a side impact airbag device according to a third aspect of the present invention is used in a side impact airbag device mounted outside a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat, and has an outer peripheral portion. Is sewn into a bag body, folded and stored, and in the case of a vehicle side collision, in the airbag which is deployed between the vehicle inner side portion and the occupant side portion, the shape of the airbag before folding is inclined with respect to the folding direction. It is characterized in that it is formed in a shape having a side to be formed along the folding direction.

According to the above structure, the airbag is normally folded and stored outside the side portion of the seat back frame of the vehicle seat, and inflates when the vehicle side collision occurs. From the folded state, the airbag is deployed between the vehicle inner side portion and the passenger side portion.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the shape of the airbag before folding is a trapezoidal shape having the trapezoidal height direction as the folding direction, when the airbag is folded, the airbag is folded along the folding direction. The sewn portion (sewn portion) on the outer peripheral portion of the airbag has a width direction shift without overlapping. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the size of the airbag in the folded state from increasing due to the overlapping of the sewn portions.

The trapezoidal shape is not limited to the isosceles trapezoidal shape, and it is possible that the width becomes smaller toward the tip of the airbag, and conversely the width becomes wider.

According to a second aspect of the invention, even when the shape of the airbag before folding is a parallelogram shape in which the folding direction is the parallelogram height direction, when the airbag is folded, The sewn portions along the folding direction of the bag deviate in the width direction without overlapping, and as in claim 1, due to the overlapping of the sewn portions, the dimension of the airbag in the folded state in the thickness direction increases. Can be prevented.

Further, the shape of the airbag before folding is not limited to the trapezoidal shape and the parallelogram shape, but may be a shape having a folding direction and an inclined side along the folding direction as claimed in claim 3. For example, when the airbag is folded, the sewn portions along the folding direction of the airbag are shifted in the width direction without overlapping, and the sewn portions overlap due to the overlapping of the sewn portions similarly to claims 1 and 2. It is possible to prevent the dimension in the thickness direction in the folded state from increasing.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of an airbag of a side impact airbag device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. In the figure, the front of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow FR, the outer side in the vehicle width direction is indicated by an arrow OUT, and the upper side of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow UP.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a side impact airbag device is mounted inside a seat back 12 of a vehicle seat 10. In the side airbag device,
The module case 14 is attached to the seatback frame 16 on the side surface side of the seatback. A cylindrical inflator 18 is stored in the module case 14 on the back side of the seat back, and an airbag 20 is folded and stored on the front side of the seat back.

An opening 22 is formed on the side of the seat back of the module case 14 and on the front side of the seat back, and the opening 22 is closed by a lid 24.

At the time of a vehicle side collision, for example, a side collision sensor (not shown) detects the side collision state of the vehicle, and the inflator 1
Ignition current flows through 8, and the inflator 18 operates. As a result, the gas generating agent in the inflator 18 is ignited to generate gas, and this gas is supplied into the airbag 20 from the ejection port 26 formed on the peripheral surface of the inflator 18, and the airbag 20 is inflated. . Due to the inflation of the airbag 20, the lid 24 is pressed from the inner side and the lid 24 is deployed outward from the front side of the seat back to the rear side of the seat back. The seat cover 28 that covers the lid 24 is sewn along the edge of the lid 24 on the front side of the seat cover, and the suture thread 30 is broken by the deployment pressure of the lid 24, and the seat cover 28 is peeled off to remove the lid 24. Deployment is allowed. By deploying the lid 24, the airbag 20 is deployed outside the module case 14 between the vehicle inner side portion and the occupant 32 side portion (the deployed state is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3).

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the airbag 20 is a long bag body, and as shown in FIG. 8, cloths are overlapped and the outer peripheral portion is sewn (suture thread is indicated by 34). After that, it is formed by repeating the front and back. The longitudinal direction base end portion of the airbag 20 is attached so as to cover the peripheral portion of the inflator 18, and the ejection port 26 of the inflator 18 communicates with the inside of the airbag 20. The longitudinal end of the airbag 20 is a free end. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the airbag 20 is formed in a trapezoidal shape in which the width dimension gradually decreases toward the distal end in the longitudinal direction.
As shown in (1), it is alternately folded back along the longitudinal direction so as to have a crease along the width direction and folded (bellows fold or accordion fold).

That is, the shape of the airbag 20 before folding is formed into a trapezoidal shape whose folding direction is the trapezoidal height direction. The folding direction of the airbag 20 is a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the inflator 18.

According to the above structure, the airbag 20 is normally folded and stored outside the side portion of the seat back frame 16 of the vehicle seat 10, and inflates when the vehicle side collision occurs. That is, the airbag 20 is unfolded from the folded state and is deployed between the vehicle inner side portion and the occupant 32 side portion.

Since the shape of the airbag 20 before folding is a trapezoidal shape having the trapezoidal height direction as the folding direction, when the airbag 20 is folded, as shown in FIG. The sewn portion (sewn portion) of the outer peripheral portion of the airbag which is provided along the folding direction is shifted in the width direction without overlapping. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the dimension A (see FIG. 9) in the thickness direction of the airbag 20 in the folded state from increasing due to the overlapping of the stitched portions.

As a result, the dimension A of the airbag 20 in the thickness direction when folded is suppressed to a small size, and the airbag 20 is stored in a small size. The effect that the airbag 20 can be easily accommodated even in a limited space outside the side portion, especially for a seat of a small vehicle, and the degree of freedom in design can be increased.

Referring to FIG. 1, the module case 1
The dimension B protruding outward from the seat back frame 16 of No. 4 in the lateral direction is suppressed to a small size, and the side impact airbag device is downsized in the seat width direction.

The trapezoidal shape, which is the shape of the airbag 20 before folding, is not limited to the isosceles trapezoidal shape, and although not shown, the airbag 20 as in the first embodiment is not shown. It is possible to widen the width, as opposed to the width that decreases toward the tip (free end).

In folding the airbag 20, in addition to bellows folding or accordion folding, as shown in FIG. 10, roll folding is performed so as to be wound in one direction, and inward folding is performed as shown in FIG. Cactus folds that fold in and out are possible, and various other folds are possible.

Next, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
3 will be described. In the present embodiment, the airbag 5
The shape before folding 0 is formed into a parallelogram shape with the folding direction as the parallelogram height direction. The folding direction of the airbag 50 is perpendicular to the axial direction of the inflator 18.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, when the airbag 50 is folded, the sewn portions along the folding direction of the airbag 50 shift in the width direction without overlapping, and the first embodiment described above is performed. The same effect as that of the form can be obtained.

The shape of the airbag before folding is:
The airbag is not limited to the trapezoidal shape according to the first embodiment and the parallelogram shape according to the second embodiment, and the airbag can be folded as long as it has a folding direction and an inclined side along the folding direction. When the airbag is folded, the sewn portions along the folding direction of the airbag shift in the width direction without overlapping, and thereby the effect described in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, when the airbag is folded, as described in the first embodiment, various folds such as bellows fold, accordion fold, roll fold and cactus fold are applied. It is possible.

[0036]

As described above, according to the airbag of the airbag apparatus for side impact according to claim 1 of the present invention,
According to the airbag of the airbag apparatus for side collision according to claim 2, by forming the shape of the airbag before folding into a trapezoidal shape whose folding direction is a trapezoidal height direction.
According to the airbag of the airbag apparatus for side collision according to claim 3, the airbag before folding is formed into a parallelogram shape in which a folding direction is a parallelogram height direction. By forming the shape of the airbag before folding into a shape having a folding direction and an inclined side along the folding direction, the dimension of the airbag when folded is reduced to a small value in the thickness direction of the airbag. The compact size makes the air bag storage space small and makes it possible to easily store the air bag in the limited space outside the side of the seat back frame, especially for small vehicle seats. The degree of freedom in design can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a side impact airbag device to which an airbag according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied, viewed from above the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a deployed state of the airbag.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a deployed state of the airbag according to the first embodiment as viewed from the vehicle width direction outer side.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a shape of the airbag according to the first embodiment before being folded.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the shape of the airbag according to the first embodiment before being folded, as viewed from the thickness direction.

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 showing a folded state of the airbag.

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 showing a folded state of the airbag.

8 is an end view taken along line 8-8 of FIG.

9 is an end view taken along line 9-9 of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a view showing another folding method of the airbag as seen from the airbag width direction.

FIG. 11 is a view showing still another folding method of the airbag.
It is a figure corresponding to 0.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a shape before folding of the airbag according to the second embodiment, as viewed from the thickness direction.

FIG. 13 is a view corresponding to FIG. 12 showing a folded state of the airbag.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a side impact airbag device of a comparative example as viewed from above the seat.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a deployed state of the airbag of the comparative example, as viewed from the outside in the vehicle width direction.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a shape of an airbag of a comparative example before being folded.

FIG. 17 is a view corresponding to FIG. 16 showing a folded state of the airbag of the comparative example.

18 is an end view taken along line 18-18 of FIG.

19 is an end view taken along line 19-19 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Vehicle Seat 12 Seat Back 16 Seat Back Frame 18 Inflator 20, 50 Airbag 34 Suture Thread

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Dai ▲ Yabu ▼ Masanori 1st Toyota-cho, Toyota-shi, Aichi Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A side impact airbag device mounted on the outside of a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat, the outer peripheral portion of which is sewn to form a bag, which is folded and stored. In an airbag that is deployed between a vehicle inner side portion and an occupant side portion at the time of a collision, a side collision characterized in that the shape of the airbag before folding is formed into a trapezoidal shape whose folding direction is a trapezoidal height direction. Airbag device airbag. 2. A side impact airbag device mounted on the outside of a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat, the outer peripheral portion of which is sewn into a bag, which is folded and stored. In an airbag that is deployed between a vehicle inner side portion and an occupant side portion at the time of a collision, the shape of the airbag before folding is formed into a parallelogram shape in which a folding direction is a parallelogram height direction. An airbag for a side impact airbag device. 3. A side impact airbag device mounted outside a side portion of a seat back frame of a vehicle seat, the outer peripheral portion of which is sewn into a bag body, which is folded and stored. In an airbag that is deployed between a vehicle inner side portion and an occupant side portion at the time of a collision, the shape of the airbag before folding is formed into a shape having a folding direction and an inclined side along the folding direction. Airbag for side impact airbag device.