JPH10315894A - Air bag device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect an occupant from his kees to shins and further to around ankles. SOLUTION: An air bag device 3 which inflates in the event of car collision and constrains the movement of an occupant D, is equipped with a sack 6 (6a and 6b) inflating so as to fill the void between the mating surfaces of the occupant knees 2, shins 8 and insteps 9 and the instrument panel 1 of the car. Thereby the lower legs are prevented from directly colliding with the instrument panel by the inflated sack, and also the ankles are precluded from unreasonable bend as the angle between each instep and shin is fixed by the inflated sack. If in particular, the sack is formed as movable together with the lower legs while the ankle angle is held when a specified load is applied to the soles, the lower legs can make follow-up motions after deformation of the car body with the ankle angle remaining fixed even if the lower legs are thrusted up by the deformation of the car body, so that the load applied to the shins can be released in favorable degree.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device which expands when a vehicle collides and restrains the movement of an occupant, and more particularly to an airbag device for protecting a lower leg of the occupant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the event of a vehicle collision, an occupant may move forward due to inertial force and hit a knee against an instrument panel. In order to protect an occupant from such an impact, an airbag device that inflates from the lower surface of the instrument panel has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 48-5134).

[0003]

However, in an actual collision, there are cases in which the floor of the vehicle body is deformed by impact and the ankle is bent at an unreasonable angle due to the projection of the pedal. However, the above-described conventional airbag device is mainly intended to obtain a cushion function for preventing a knee from directly abutting against a rigid instrument panel, and thus cannot protect an ankle from a collision impact.

The present invention has been devised in order to solve such disadvantages of the prior art, and a main object of the present invention is to provide an airbag device capable of protecting the knee, the shin, and the vicinity of the ankle. To provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an airbag device 3 which is inflated at the time of a collision of a vehicle and restrains the movement of an occupant D is provided with the occupant's knee 2 and shank 8. And a bag body 6 that expands so as to fill the gap between the opposing surfaces of the instep 9 and the instrument panel 1. According to this, not only is the inflated bag preventing the occupant's lower leg from directly abutting the instrument panel, but also the angle between the instep and the shin is fixed by the inflated bag. Therefore, the ankle is not forced to bend.

In particular, if the bag body can be moved together with the lower leg 13 while maintaining the angle of the ankle when a predetermined load is applied to the sole of the foot, the lower leg due to deformation of the vehicle body Even when the upper leg is pushed up, the lower leg can follow the deformation of the vehicle body with the angle of the ankle fixed, so that the load applied to the shank can be suitably released.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a state where an occupant is seated in a driver's seat to which the present invention is applied. An airbag device 3 according to the present invention is attached to a portion of the instrument panel 1 facing the knee 2 of the occupant D (near the steering column). The airbag device 3 has a basic configuration similar to that of a known type incorporated in a steering wheel, and as shown in FIG. 2, a box-shaped retainer 4, an inflator 5 and an airbag accommodated in the retainer 4. It consists of a bag 6. The opening surface of the retainer 4 is closed by a flat lid 7 which is flush with the lower surface of the instrument panel 1.

The airbag 6 has a bag shape and is normally housed in the retainer 4 in a folded state. The airbag 6 is roughly divided into a first portion 6 a near the inflator 5.
And a second portion 6b that is continuous with the first portion 6a. As shown in FIG. 3, the first portion 6a is folded substantially in a bellows shape, and the second portion 6b is folded in a zigzag shape. Folded.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. When a vehicle collision is detected by a deceleration sensor (not shown), the gas generating agent incorporated in the inflator 5 burns. The first portion 6a of the airbag is inflated by the pressure of the gas generated at this time, and the lid 7 hooked on the opening of the retainer 4 is pushed out and comes into contact with the knee 2 of the occupant D (see FIG. 4). .

Next, the second portion 6b of the airbag is deployed and inflated along the occupant D until it reaches the instep 9, and the knee 2, the shin 8 and the instep 9 of the occupant D are connected to the instrument panel. The airbag 6 fills the gap between the surfaces facing each other with the airbag 1 (see FIG. 5). Thereby, the lower leg including the angle of the ankle is fixed so as not to move. In this case, the airbag provided on the steering wheel is provided with a vent hole for releasing internal pressure in order to prevent rebound, whereas the purpose of this airbag 6 is to fix the lower leg, so that the vehicle body is completely Hold inflated state until stopped.

If the angle of the ankle is merely fixed, the lower leg cannot follow the deformation of the vehicle body, and the heel may be pinched by the vehicle body. Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the mounting hole 11 of the retainer 4 with respect to the bracket 10 fixed to the vehicle body side is formed as a vertically long hole, and the shearing bar 1 is cut with a predetermined load.
2 is provided at the connecting portion of the retainer 4 to the bracket 10, and when a certain load F is applied to the sole, the sharing bar 12
Is broken, and the inflated airbag 6 is displaced obliquely upward together with the retainer 4 (see FIG. 7). Accordingly, when the lower leg 13 is pushed up due to deformation of the vehicle body, the airbag 6 is moved to the lower leg 1 while maintaining the angle of the ankle.
3, the lower leg 13 can follow the deformation of the vehicle body with the ankle angle fixed, and the load applied to the shank 8 can be reduced appropriately.

[0013]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ankle of the occupant is restrained at the time of collision by the airbag, so that the ankle is not forced to bend due to deformation of the vehicle body. In addition, when an excessive force in the direction of lifting the lower leg is applied to the sole, the retainer of the airbag device is shifted by the configuration of claim 2, so that the ankle angle is fixed and the shank is sharpened. Applied compressive load can be suitably reduced. Therefore, according to the present invention, since the entire lower leg can be protected, a great effect can be achieved in reducing the damage to the lower leg at the time of collision.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view around a driver's seat to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an airbag portion.

FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIG. 1, showing an airbag being inflated;

FIG. 5 is a side view similar to FIG. 1, showing an inflated state of the airbag.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part showing an attached state of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a force in the direction of lifting the lower leg is applied to the sole of the foot;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2 Knee 3 Airbag device 4 Retainer 5 Inflator 6 Airbag 7 Lid 8 Shade 9 Instep 10 Bracket 11 Mounting hole 12 Sharing bar 13 Lower leg

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An airbag device which inflates and restrains movement of an occupant upon collision of a vehicle, comprising: a space between opposing surfaces of an occupant's knee, shin, and instep and an instrument panel; An airbag device comprising a bag body that expands so as to be filled. 2. The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the bag body is movable with the lower leg while maintaining the angle of the ankle when a predetermined load is applied to the sole of the foot.