JPH1016691A - Air bag case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To respectively position a case main body and a door of an air bag case at specified positions regardless of a dimensional error of each part. SOLUTION: A stopper 24 is inserted on the outside of an installation part 16a through a plural number of lock parts 20a provided on a retainer 20 by overlapping an opening part of an air bag 14, an opening part of a case main body 12 and the installation part 16a of a door 16 on each other and so as to pass through holes 28, 26, 30 formed on them from the inside to the outside. A support 34 is firmly provided on the case main body 12, the stopper 24 is made to be positioned at a position separated farthest from the case main body 12 within an allowable area by the retainer 20, and the door 16 has a specified play against the case main body 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an airbag case which accommodates an airbag and is disposed on an instrument panel or the like of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air bag is widely mounted on an instrument panel or the like to protect an occupant in a vehicle cabin during a vehicle collision. This airbag is generally housed in an airbag case and mounted on a vehicle, and is expanded from the airbag case by generating gas from a gas generator at the time of a vehicle collision. The airbag case 100 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is an example of the airbag case. In the state in which the opening peripheral portion of the airbag 104 is fixed inside the opening peripheral portion of the container-like case main body 102, the air inside the case main body 102 is fixed. The bag 104 is stored. Also, this airbag case 1
00 has a door 106 that covers the opening of the case body 102 in a state where the airbag 104 is housed, and a mounting portion 108 of the door 106 is fixed to the outside of the peripheral edge of the opening of the case body 102. The opening of the case main body 102 has a rectangular shape, and the mounting portions 108 are provided separately on four sides of the rectangle.

A plurality of through holes are formed on each side of the opening edge of the case body 102, the opening edge of the airbag 104, and the mounting portion 108 of the door 106, while the airbag 104 has A plurality of bolts 112 are fixed to the retainer 110 disposed inside the periphery of the opening, and these bolts 112 are attached to the airbag 10.
4. The case body 102 and the through-hole of the mounting portion 108 are passed through, and the nut 114 is screwed from the outside of the mounting portion 108, so that they are integrally fixed. The retainer 110 is the case body 102
Corresponding to the four sides of the opening portion.
FIG. 11 shows a retainer 110 used on the upper side or the lower side.
In this example, four bolts 112 are fixed.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present application disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-6628 filed earlier that the airbag opening peripheral portion was fixed inside the opening peripheral portion of the container-like case main body. An airbag case in which the airbag is housed inside, and a mounting portion of a door that covers the opening of the case body in a state where the airbag is housed is fixed to an outer periphery of the opening of the case body. ,
(a) a plurality of through-holes are provided in the opening peripheral portion of the case main body, the opening peripheral portion of the airbag, and the mounting portion of the door, respectively, while (b) straddling the plurality of through-holes. The airbag, the case body, and the through-hole of the mounting portion of the door are respectively provided through the through holes of the airbag, the case body, and the door mounting portion. A retainer integrally provided with a plurality of locking portions protruding to the outside of the mounting portion; and (c) a retainer having substantially the same length as the retainer and disposed outside the mounting portion of the door, And a stopper having a retainer, the airbag, and a door attachment portion each of which can not be detached from the case body by being locked by the plurality of locking portions. According to such an airbag case, a retainer is disposed inside the opening peripheral portion of the airbag, and a plurality of locking portions provided on the retainer are inserted into the through holes, respectively, to thereby form a mounting portion for the door. Since it is sufficient to protrude to the outside and lock the stopper to the plurality of locking portions, the number of parts is small, the assembling work can be performed easily and quickly, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

[0005]

In such an airbag case with a door, the case body is fixed to a vehicle body such as an instrument panel reinforcement, while the door is located at a predetermined position of an interior part such as an instrument panel. Therefore, if the case body and the door are integrally fixed, there is a possibility that the door may be displaced due to a dimensional error of each part.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to attach a case body and a door of an airbag case to predetermined positions irrespective of dimensional errors of respective parts. To be able to do it.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide an airbag in which a peripheral portion of an opening of an airbag is fixed inside a peripheral portion of the opening of the case body. An airbag case in which the airbag is housed, and a mounting portion of a door that covers the opening of the case body in a state where the airbag is housed is attached to an outer periphery of the opening of the case body, a)
A plurality of through-holes are provided in the opening peripheral portion of the case body, the opening peripheral portion of the airbag, and the mounting portion of the door, respectively, while (b) a position straddling the plurality of through-holes. The airbag, the case body, and the door are provided at the inside of the opening peripheral portion of the airbag, and the airbag, the case body, and the mounting portion of the door are respectively inserted through the through holes of the mounting portion. (C) a retainer provided integrally with a plurality of locking portions protruding to the outside of the door, (c) having a length substantially the same as that of the retainer, disposed outside the mounting portion of the door, and A stopper that locks the retainer, the airbag, and the door mounting portion with respect to the case body by being locked to the locking portion; and (d) one of the stopper and the case body. In one The door mounting portion is provided between the case main body and the stopper by being passed through a through hole provided in the door mounting portion to be engaged with the stopper and the other of the case main body. And a support for positioning the stopper at a position most distant from the case body within a range permitted by the retainer so as to have a play.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the airbag case of the first aspect, the case body is made of a metal material, and the support is formed by cutting and raising a part of the case body.

[0009]

According to the airbag case of the present invention, the stopper and the support provided on one of the case main body are provided.
The stopper locked by the locking portion of the retainer is positioned at the position furthest away from the case main body, and the door mounting portion has a predetermined play between the case main body and the stopper. The door and the case main body can be respectively assembled at predetermined positions regardless of dimensional errors and the like. In addition, since the stopper is positioned by the support and the retainer, there is no danger that it will rattle and generate noise, etc., and the peripheral edge of the opening of the airbag will be clamped and fixed between the case body and the retainer. Is done.

In the second invention, since the support is formed by cutting and raising a part of the case body made of a metal material,
Compared with a case where a separately manufactured support is integrally fixed to the case body or the stopper by welding or the like, the number of parts and the number of processing steps are reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Here, a door is attached to a case body with a predetermined play, and the form of the play is in a direction perpendicular to an opening plane of the case body (inflating of an airbag). (Moving out direction) or a device that can move relatively in a predetermined direction in a plane parallel to the opening plane, and is appropriately determined according to the type of assembly error. For example, by making the size of the through hole provided in the mounting portion of the door larger than the locking portion or the support of the retainer, play can be provided in a predetermined direction. The size of the play is appropriately determined according to an assembly error or the like.

At the time of assembly to a vehicle, the door is positioned, for example, on the interior part side, and the case body is positioned on the vehicle body side. The member on the interior component side where the door is positioned is, for example, an instrument panel (instrument panel) or the like, and the door may be fixed by fixing means such as bolts. But it is good. The member on the vehicle body side where the case body is positioned is, for example, instrument panel reinforcement, and the case body is generally a bolt,
It is fixed by fixing means such as welding.

As described in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-6628, various forms of the retainer and the stopper can be adopted. For example, when the retaining portion provided on the retainer is a gate type, the stopper is It is configured so that the inside of the gate-shaped locking portion can be inserted. The stopper in this case may be a simple rod-shaped member inserted from one end to the other end of the plurality of locking portions, but a plurality of claw portions are provided at the same interval as the locking portions, and each claw is provided. It is also possible that each part can be locked to a plurality of locking parts at substantially the same timing.
When a plurality of claws are provided not only for the gate-type locking portion but also for a plurality of locking portions, the assembling stroke of the stopper is shortened and the support is allowed to move by the assembling stroke. If a through hole is formed in the mounting portion, it is possible to provide a support on the stopper side.

[0014] The retainer and the stopper may each be constituted by a single member which can be deformed according to the shape of the opening of the case main body. In the case of a rectangular shape composed of parts, it is desirable to constitute the linear part, that is, a plurality of linear members divided for each side. That is, when the opening of the case body is formed in a rectangular shape such as a rectangle, a plurality of through holes are provided for each of the periphery of the opening of the case body, the periphery of the opening of the airbag, and each side of the mounting portion of the door. A hole is formed, and a retainer and a stopper are used for each side so that the door cannot be detached. The door may have a predetermined play with respect to the case body as a whole.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an airbag case 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing a state before the main members of the airbag case 10 are assembled. The airbag case 10 is attached to, for example, an instrument panel in front of a passenger seat of an automobile.
A bag-shaped airbag 14 made of a synthetic resin or the like is housed in a container-shaped case body 12 having a substantially U-shaped cross section in the vertical direction and a rectangular opening. The opening of the case body 12 is covered with a door 16 made of synthetic resin. The door 16 is attached to the case body 12 with a predetermined play,
The case body 12 is fixed to a member on the vehicle body side such as an instrument panel reinforcement by a fixing means such as a bolt or welding, while the door 16 is positioned by fitting or the like to a member on the interior part side such as the instrument panel.

As in the case of FIG. 10, the air bag 14 is mounted such that its opening is opposed to the opening of the case main body 12 with its opening rim inside the opening rim of the case main body 12. It is housed in the case main body 12 in a state of being entangled, and when a predetermined gas is generated at the time of a vehicle collision from a gas generator arranged in the case main body 12, the gas is discharged from the opening of the case main body 12 to the outside. To be swelled. The door 16 has a rectangular shape corresponding to the opening of the case body 12, and has an attachment portion 16 a integrally provided on each side to be attached to the outside of the four side walls of the case body 12. On the other hand, when the airbag 14 is inflated, a part of the front surface is opened to allow the airbag 14 to inflate from the case body 12.

The mounting portion 16a of the airbag 14 and the door 16 is mounted on the case body 12 by a retainer 20 and a stopper 24 at every four side walls of the case body 12. The assembling structure of the upper side wall located on the upper side of the opening peripheral portion of the case body 12, that is, the assembling structure of the upper side wall portion in FIGS. 1 and 4 will be specifically described. The two through holes 26 are formed, and the portion of the opening peripheral portion of the airbag 14 attached to the upper side wall and the one of the four attachment portions 16a of the door 16 attached to the upper side wall are respectively Four through holes 28 and 30 are formed at the same position corresponding to the through holes 26. In the mounting portion 16a, the through holes 30 are provided.
A through-hole 32 having substantially the same size as the through-hole 30 is formed at a total of three places on both sides and the center of the hole.

The retainer 20 and the stopper 24 shown in FIG. 4 are used for assembling the upper side wall. The retainer 20 is disposed inside the opening peripheral portion of the airbag 14, and is provided with the four through holes 26.
And has a longitudinal shape having substantially the same length as the upper side wall so as to be positioned over the through-holes.
6 and 30, a gate-shaped locking portion 20a having a substantially U-shape so as to protrude to the outside of the mounting portion 16a.
Are provided in the longitudinal direction corresponding to the respective through holes 28, 26, 30. The retainer 20 is made of sheet metal, and has a locking portion 20a formed by bending press working. When the rod-shaped stopper 24 is inserted from one end into the inside of the gate-shaped engaging portion 20a protruding from the mounting portion 16a, the retainer 20 cannot be detached from the case body 12, and the retainer 20 allows air to be removed. Bag 14
And the door 16 is integrally attached to the case main body 12.

The height of the locking portion 20a (the inner size of the gate) is larger than the sum of the thicknesses of the airbag 14, the case body 12, the mounting portion 16a of the door 16, and the stopper 24. On the outer surface of the case body 12, three supports 34 are integrally fixed by welding or the like corresponding to the through holes 32, and the stopper 24 is attached to the retainer 20.
Is positioned at the position farthest from the case body 12 within the range permitted by the above. Thereby, the airbag 1
4 is sandwiched between the retainer 20 and the case main body 12 and securely fixed, while the mounting portion 1 of the door 16 is fixed.
6a is attached with a predetermined play (for example, about several mm) between the case body 12 and the stopper 24. The lower side wall and the left and right side walls of the case body 12 also
Similarly, each side of the opening of the airbag 14 and the door 1
6, the other mounting portions 16a are mounted. The through holes 30, 32 formed in the mounting portion 16a of the door 16 have a predetermined play (for example, several meters) between the locking portion 20a and the support 34.
m), so that the door 16 has a direction perpendicular to the opening plane of the case body 12 (the direction in which the airbag 14 expands) and a plane parallel to the opening plane. Relative movement in any direction within is allowed.

As described above, since the door 16 is attached to the case body 12 with a predetermined play, the airbag case 10 of this embodiment can be mounted on the vehicle irrespective of the dimensional error of each part. At the time of assembling, the case main body 12 and the door 16 can be correctly positioned and fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement, the instrument panel and the like, respectively.

Further, since the stopper 24 locked by the locking portion 20a of the retainer 20 is positioned at the position furthest away from the case main body 12 by the support 34 provided on the case main body 12, they are displaced. As a result, there is no danger of noise and the like, and the peripheral edge of the opening of the airbag 14 is clamped between the case body 12 and the retainer 20 to be securely fixed.

In the above embodiment, the support 34 formed separately is fixed to the case body 12 by welding or the like. However, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the support 34 is made of a metal material (made of sheet metal). It is also possible to form the support 40 integrally with the case body 12 by cutting and raising a part of the case body 12 and bending it. In this case, the support 40 can be easily formed by press working, and the number of parts and the number of processing steps are small. As a result, manufacturing costs are reduced. If necessary, a reinforcing rib 42 can be provided as shown in FIG.

In the above embodiment, a simple rod-shaped stopper 24 is used. However, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of cutout holes 4 are formed in the elongated main body portion 44a corresponding to the locking portions 20a.
4b, a notch 44c is provided in each of the notch holes 44b, and a stopper 44 can be employed in which the plurality of claw portions 44c can be inserted through the locking portions 20a. In that case, the claw portions 44c can be locked to the plurality of locking portions 20a by simply moving the stopper 44 in the longitudinal direction by a length corresponding to one locking portion 20a or claw portion 44c. And the assembling work is further facilitated. Also, the back surface, that is, the case body 1
A support 46 similar to the support 34 may be provided on the surface facing the side 2, and the support 34 of the case body 12 may be omitted. The mounting portion 16a of the door 16 may be provided with a through hole 32 large enough to allow movement of the support 46 for the assembling stroke of the stopper 44.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, these embodiments are merely one embodiment, and the present invention is based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Can be implemented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an airbag case according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing a state before assembling of main members of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a support part of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a case in which a reinforcing rib is provided on the support of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of the stopper, in which a support is provided on the back surface.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional airbag case.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the airbag case of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a retainer used for the airbag case of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Airbag case 12: Case body 14: Airbag 16: Door 16a: Mounting part 20: Retainer 20a: Locking part 24, 44: Stopper 26, 28, 30, 32: Through hole 34, 40, 46: Support

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a state where an opening edge of an airbag is fixed inside an opening edge of a container-shaped case body, the airbag is housed in the case body and the airbag is housed. An airbag case in which an attachment portion of a door that covers an opening of the case body is attached to an outside of an opening periphery of the case body, wherein the opening periphery of the case body, the opening periphery of the airbag, and the airbag case. A plurality of through-holes are provided in the mounting portion of the door, respectively, while a long shape is formed so as to straddle the plurality of through-holes, and is disposed inside an opening peripheral portion of the airbag. A retainer integrally provided with a plurality of locking portions that respectively penetrate through holes of the airbag, the case body, and the mounting portion of the door and protrude to the outside of the mounting portion; The retainer, the airbag, and the door are disposed outside the mounting portion of the door with substantially the same length as the retainer, and are locked by a plurality of locking portions of the retainer. A stopper that makes each of the mounting portions not detachable from the case body; and a stopper that is provided integrally with one of the stopper and the case body and passes through a through hole provided in the door mounting portion. The stopper is engaged with the other of the case body so that the mounting portion of the door has a predetermined play between the case body and the stopper within a range allowed by the retainer. An airbag case having a support positioned at a position most distant from the main body. 2. The airbag case according to claim 1, wherein the case body is made of a metal material, and the support is formed by cutting and raising a part of the case body.