JPH11152008A - Car air bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car air bag equipped with an elastic member being flexible following internal pressure in the air bag by improving operability and mountability when installing the elastic member in an adjusting hole of the air bag. SOLUTION: This car air bag having an air bag 1 to be developed by an impact impartation to a vehicle to restrain the body of an occupant and adjusting holes 3 opened at specified spots of the air bag 1 and adjusting inner pressure of the developed air bag 1, is provided with ring elastic annular members 6 with diameter smaller than that of the adjusting hole 3 in a no-load state at the peripheral edge of the adjusting holes 3.

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 vehicle, which is deployed by applying a predetermined impact to a vehicle and restrains the occupant's body to ensure the safety of the occupant. The present invention relates to a vehicle airbag capable of controlling internal pressure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional airbag for a vehicle, for example, there is one described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 7-30164. Here, an adjustment hole is provided at a predetermined position of the airbag, and a flat elastic member having a hole having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the adjustment hole at the center is connected to a peripheral portion of the adjustment hole. A disclosed vehicle airbag is disclosed.

[0003] Further, the flat elastic member has a cut formed in a side surface thereof, and is fitted to a predetermined portion of the airbag by fitting the cut into the edge of the adjustment hole of the airbag. With the above configuration, the hole diameter is reduced when the internal pressure is low, such as at the time of initial deployment or contraction of the airbag, and the elastic member is bent to increase the hole diameter when the internal pressure is high, such as when the airbag is deployed. Thereby, the internal pressure of the airbag can be adjusted.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional airbag for a vehicle, the flat elastic member is fitted and coupled to the edge of the adjustment hole of the airbag, so that the following is required. There was a problem. That is, when attaching the elastic member to the adjustment hole, it is necessary to fit the edge of the adjustment hole to the cutout on the side surface while appropriately bending the elastic member,
Workability was poor, and assembly took a long time.

[0005] Further, since the elastic member is cut into the side surface to be fitted with the airbag, a thickness for forming the cut is required, and the elastic member becomes thick. In general, as the elastic member becomes thicker, the load required to bend it becomes larger, so that it has been difficult to bend following the internal pressure of the airbag which gradually increases.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made to address the above-described problems, to improve the workability and the attachment property when attaching an elastic member to an adjustment hole of an airbag, and to flex the elastic member following the internal pressure of the airbag. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle airbag provided with an elastic member that can be used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle airbag according to claim 1 of the present invention is provided.
An airbag that is deployed by applying a predetermined impact to the vehicle and restrains an occupant's body, and an adjustment hole that is opened at a predetermined location of the airbag and adjusts the internal pressure of the deployed airbag, wherein the adjustment hole Is provided with an annular elastic member having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the adjusting hole in a no-load state at the periphery of the ring.

According to this configuration, when the internal pressure is low, such as at the beginning of deployment or at the later stage of deployment of the airbag, the annular elastic member remains in a no-load state, and a hole having a diameter smaller than the adjustment hole is formed in the airbag. On the other hand, when the internal pressure in the middle stage of deployment of the airbag is high, the diameter of the annular elastic member increases with the diameter of the adjustment hole being the maximum diameter. In the airbag for a vehicle according to a second aspect of the present invention, the annular elastic member is disposed inside an annular reinforcing cloth attached along an opening shape of the adjustment hole.

According to this configuration, the annular elastic member is disposed inside the annular auxiliary cloth, and adjusts the internal pressure of the vehicle airbag.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The vehicle airbag according to the present invention, as shown in FIG.
When it is detected that a predetermined impact has been applied to the vehicle, the vehicle expands by filling in nitrogen gas and restrains the occupant's body, thereby preventing the occupant from hitting the front interior parts, It mainly includes the airbag 1, the inflator 2, the adjustment hole 3, and the annular elastic member 6.

Before deployment, the airbag 1 is folded in an airbag module incorporated in the steering wheel 5, as shown in FIG. 2, and expands by breaking the airbag module when deployed. The airbag 1 is disposed so as to be deployed in a bag shape between the steering wheel 5 and the occupant when inflated.

The inflator 2 seals nitrogen gas into the airbag 1 when an impact is applied to the vehicle.
For example, an electric ignition device (squib), an igniting agent, a nitrogen gas generating agent and the like are stored in an aluminum container. And when the sensor detects the collision of the vehicle,
Electricity is supplied to the electric igniter to generate heat in the filament inside the igniter, and the igniting agent is ignited, and the heat instantaneously burns the nitrogen gas generating agent. In this case, the gas sealed in the airbag 1 is not limited to nitrogen gas, but other inert gas or the like can be used.

As a sensor for detecting the application of an impact to a vehicle, an electric sensor using a strain gauge or a piezo or a mechanical sensor using a spring mass system is used. The adjustment hole 3
These holes are opened in the airbag 1 in a substantially circular shape, and serve to reduce the impact on the occupant by discharging the nitrogen gas in the airbag 1 therefrom.

Further, the adjustment hole 3 is provided in the deployed airbag 1.
Is formed at a position opposite to the occupant, and a reinforcing cloth 4 for reinforcing the edge is sewn to the edge. Here, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, an annular elastic member 6 having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the adjustment hole 3 in a no-load state is disposed in the reinforcing cloth 4. Therefore,
When the pressure in the airbag 1 is small, the opening area of the adjustment hole 3 is reduced by the elastic force of the annular elastic member 6.

Then, as the pressure in the airbag 1 increases, the internal pressure comes to resist the elastic force of the annular elastic member 6, the opening area increases, and the internal pressure is adjusted. . When the annular elastic member 6 is attached to the peripheral edge of the adjustment hole 3, the elastic force of the annular elastic member 6 causes a wrinkle extending radially in the airbag 1 at the peripheral edge of the adjustment hole 3. The area becomes smaller.

Next, the operation of the airbag having the above configuration will be described. First, when the sensor detects the application of an impact to the vehicle, the inflator 2 operates to inflate and deploy the airbag 1. At the initial stage of deployment of the airbag 1, the internal pressure is low because the nitrogen gas is not sufficiently sealed, and the diameter of the adjustment hole 3 of the airbag 1 remains small.

Therefore, in this state, the discharge of nitrogen gas can be suppressed, and the airbag 1 can be deployed quickly. In the mid-term deployment of airbag 1, airbag 1
Since the inside is sufficiently filled with nitrogen gas, the internal pressure increases, and the diameter of the annular elastic member 6 is expanded by the internal pressure. When the diameter of the annular elastic member increases, the opening area of the airbag 1 also increases, so that the amount of discharged nitrogen gas increases.

Therefore, the internal pressure of the airbag 1 can be reduced at the timing when the occupant collides with the airbag 1,
The impact on the occupant can be reduced. In the late stage of deployment of the airbag 1, the internal pressure is sufficiently reduced in the middle stage of deployment, so that the diameter of the annular elastic member 6 is reduced, and the amount of nitrogen gas discharged is reduced. Therefore, the restraint time of the occupant can be kept long,
It is possible to prevent the occupant from hitting the steering wheel 5 or the like, that is, to prevent the occupant from bottoming out.

As described above, the discharge amount of the nitrogen gas can be changed depending on the deployment state of the airbag 1, so that the internal pressure of the airbag 1 can be appropriately controlled. In addition, since an annular member is used as the elastic member, the elastic member can be easily attached to the peripheral portion of the adjustment hole 3 of the airbag 1. Further, since it is not necessary to form a cut for attaching to the airbag 1, the annular elastic member 6 can be made thin, and an elastic member that follows the internal pressure of the airbag 1 can be used.

In the above embodiment, the airbag on the driver's seat side has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, an airbag on the passenger's seat side. Can also be applied.
Further, the airbag system in the above embodiment is an electric airbag system that electrically ignites the igniting agent, but may be applied to a mechanical airbag system that mechanically ignites the igniting agent.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided the first aspect of the present invention.
In the described invention, the workability and the mountability when attaching the elastic member to the adjustment hole of the airbag can be improved, and when attaching the annular elastic member to the airbag, it is not necessary to make the elastic member thick. Therefore, the diameter of the adjustment hole can be adjusted according to the internal pressure of the airbag. In the invention according to the second aspect, the annular elastic member is disposed inside the reinforcing cloth, so that the reinforcing cloth and the annular elastic This eliminates the need for separately attaching the member to the airbag and improves the attachment of the annular elastic member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an airbag according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an airbag according to the present invention and a steering wheel storing the airbag.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an adjustment hole of an airbag according to the present invention and a peripheral portion thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Airbag 2 ... Inflator 3 ... Adjustment hole 4 ... Reinforcement cloth 5 ... Steering wheel 6 ... Annular elastic member

Claims (2)

[Claims] An airbag which is deployed by applying a predetermined impact to a vehicle and restrains an occupant's body, and an adjusting hole which is opened at a predetermined position of the airbag and adjusts the internal pressure of the deployed airbag. In a vehicle airbag having
An airbag for a vehicle, comprising: an annular elastic member having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the adjustment hole in a no-load state at a periphery of the adjustment hole. 2. An airbag for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said annular elastic member is disposed inside an annular reinforcing cloth attached along an opening shape of said adjusting hole.