KR20050006793A - Driver air-bag for a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An airbag for a driver's seat of a vehicle is provided to make the best use of space of the steering wheel, and to prevent secondary injury from deployment of the air cushion in seating the passenger abnormally by mounting the airbag module in the roof over the passenger. CONSTITUTION: An airbag for a driver's seat of a vehicle is composed of a driver seat airbag module(100) having an air cushion(110), an inflator supplying gas to the air cushion and a housing containing the air cushion and the inflator, and a control unit controlling the driver seat airbag module. The driver seat airbag module is installed in a roof(200) placed over the front of the driver seated on the driver's seat. A cushion guide part is mounted in the housing to guide the deploy direction of the air cushion to the front of the passenger seated on the driver's seat. Secondary injury is prevented by deploying the air cushion downward from the roof in operating the airbag module.

Description

Driver Airbag for Vehicles {DRIVER AIR-BAG FOR A VEHICLE}

The present invention relates to a driver's seat airbag, and more particularly, to a vehicle that can maximize the space utilization inside the steering wheel and at the same time prevent secondary injuries due to the deployment of an air cushion in the driver's seat. Relates to the driver's seat airbag.

In general, a driver air-bag module is mounted in a steering wheel which is a part of a steering device of a vehicle, so that a driver's safety is prevented in front of a vehicle.

The driver seat airbag module includes an air cushion, an inflator for providing an inflation gas to the air cushion, and a housing for receiving the air cushion high inflator, as described in detail in US Pat. No. 6,142,510.

Accordingly, when the vehicle collides, the inflator is exploded by the ignition signal applied from the control unit ECU, thereby generating a high-pressure expansion gas and supplying it into the air cushion, and the air cushion is inflated by the inflow of the expansion gas. The door is located and deployed outside the steering wheel to cushion the driver's shock.

On the other hand, in addition to the above driver's seat airbag module, the steering wheel is equipped with a membrane switch or a floating type horn switch, or more recently, a remote control switch. It has a complicated structure that can be mounted up to a control switch. (Refer to Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-0006344 and US 2000-0012183).

In addition to the driver's seat airbag module, various peripheral devices must be built in the limited space inside the steering wheel. As a result, the inner space of the steering wheel is narrowed, which reduces design freedom, and the structural rigidity of the steering wheel is also relatively weak. There was a problem that adversely affects the deployment performance.

In addition, there is a problem that various switches mounted in the steering wheel cause a malfunction due to interference with the airbag module as well as the deployment performance of the airbag module as described above.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to install the driver's seat airbag module mounted in the steering wheel in the roof located above the driver's seat, to maximize the space utilization inside the steering wheel In addition, it is possible to provide a driver's seat airbag that can prevent secondary injuries caused by the deployment of air cushion in the passenger's abnormal seating position.

1 is a schematic view showing the mounting position of the driver's seat airbag module according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a specific configuration of the driver's seat airbag module shown in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure of the driver's seat airbag module shown in FIG.

4 is an exemplary view illustrating a modification of the housing shown in FIG.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: driver's seat airbag module 110: air cushion

120: inflator 130: housing

132: cushion guide portion 140: retainer

142: bolt 144: nut

150 connector 200 loop

200a, 200b: Inner / outer panel 220: Steering wheel

The driver's seat airbag module of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a driver seat airbag module having an air cushion, an inflator for supplying gas to the air cushion, and a housing accommodating the air cushion and the inflator; And a control unit for controlling the driver's seat airbag module, wherein the driver's seat airbag module is installed in a roof located at an upper front side of the driver's seat passenger.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic view showing the mounting position of the driver's seat airbag module according to the present invention, Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a specific configuration of the driver's seat airbag module shown in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a cross-sectional structure in which a driver's seat airbag shown in FIG. 2 is installed in a roof.

1 to 3, the driver's seat airbag according to the present invention includes a driver's seat airbag module 100 and a controller (not shown) for controlling the operation of the driver's seat airbag module 100.

On the other hand, according to a characteristic configuration of the present invention, the driver's seat airbag module 100 is installed in the roof 200 located in front of the driver's seat passenger 300 of the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 2, the driver's seat airbag module 100 includes an air cushion 110, an inflator 120 supplying gas to the air cushion 110, and the air cushion 110 and the inflator 120. It includes a housing 130 for receiving.

The air cushion 110 is coupled to the retainer 140 and fixed inside the housing 130, and the inflator 120 is partially coupled to the housing 130.

In this case, the air cushion 110 and the inflator 120 are housing 130 through a plurality of bolts 142 formed on the bottom surface of the retainer 140 and nuts 144 fastened to the bolts 142. To be combined.

One end of the inflator 120 is provided with a connector 150 to be electrically connected to the control unit, the ignition signal output from the control unit to be applied to the ignition device (not shown) in the inflator 120 through the connector 150 It is supposed to be.

On the other hand, the housing 130 is disposed so that the air cushion 110 receiving portion facing downwards and is fixed through a predetermined fastening member (not shown) on the inner panel 200a of the loop 200.

At this time, in the present embodiment, the fixing portion of the housing 130 is limited to the inner panel 200a. Alternatively, the fixing portion of the housing 130 may be fixed on the outer panel 200b of the roof 200.

Although not shown in the drawing, the door part is installed on the inner panel 200a where the air cushion 110 is located so as to be openable and open when the air cushion 110 is inflated.

At this time, the door portion is preferably formed so that the front end of the vehicle toward the front side of the front end of the vehicle so that the air cushion 110 can be deployed toward the front side of the driver's seat 300 to rotate.

In addition, a tear line (not shown) of a predetermined shape is formed in the roof trim (not shown) of the lower side of the inner panel 200a so that the door may be ruptured at the same time.

Since the specific operation mechanism of the present invention having the above-described configuration is performed by the same process as the above-described prior art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the driver's seat airbag module, which was mounted inside the conventional steering wheel 220, may be installed in the roof 200 located above the driver's seat 300, thereby maximizing space utilization inside the steering wheel 220. Therefore, the degree of freedom of design inside the steering wheel 220 can be maximized.

In addition, when the driver's seat airbag module 100 is operated, the deployment direction of the air cushion 110 is extended downward from the roof 200 so that the passenger due to the deployment of the air cushion 110 in the abnormal seating position of the passenger 300 ( 300) secondary injury can be prevented.

Meanwhile, FIG. 4 illustrates one modification of the housing 130 provided in the driver's seat airbag module 100 of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cushion induction part 132 may be installed at one side of the upper end of the housing 130 shown in the above-described embodiment to guide the deployment direction of the air cushion 110 to the front side of the passenger 300. It may be.

The cushion induction part 132 may be formed integrally with the housing 130 or may be combined with a separate structure. In addition, an end portion of the cushion guide part 132 forms a gentle bend toward the front side of the passenger 300 to guide the air cushion 110.

Accordingly, when the air cushion 110 is inflated, the air cushion 110 may be deployed toward the front side of the passenger seat passenger 300 in response to the guide action of the cushion guide 132.

As described above, although described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art various modifications of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below. And can be changed.

According to the present invention described above, by installing the driver's seat airbag module, which is conventionally mounted in the steering wheel, in the roof located in front of the driver's seat, the space utilization in the steering wheel can be maximized.

In addition, the operating performance of various switches such as a membrane switch or a floating horn mounted on the steering wheel can be greatly improved, and the design freedom of the steering wheel can be improved.

In addition, by forming a cushion guide portion in the air cushion in the housing, it is possible to develop the direction of deployment of the air cushion to the normal passenger protection area through the cushion guide portion.

In addition, since the deployment direction of the air cushion is extended downward from the loop when the driver's seat airbag module is operated, secondary injury due to the deployment of the air cushion in the abnormal seating position of the passenger can be prevented.

Claims (2)

A driver seat airbag module having an air cushion, an inflator for supplying gas to the air cushion, and a housing for accommodating the air cushion and the inflator; And Including the control unit for controlling the driver's seat airbag module, The driver's seat airbag module is a driver's seat airbag, characterized in that installed in the roof located in front of the driver's upper passenger. The vehicle driver's seat airbag according to claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with a cushion guide part for guiding the deployment direction of the air cushion to the front side of the driver seat passenger.