WO2002057120A1

WO2002057120A1 - Airbag

Info

Publication number: WO2002057120A1
Application number: PCT/JP2001/000395
Authority: WO
Inventors: Takeshi Yamaji; Yoshinori Mihara; Kenji Shibayama; Kazuaki Bito; Tsuyoshi Furuno
Original assignee: Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2001-01-22
Filing date: 2001-01-22
Publication date: 2002-07-25
Also published as: WO2002057121A1

Abstract

An airbag (10) having a substantially cylindrical inflator (16) disposed within an airbag (14), into which gas is fed from a gas feed hole (42) formed in the side wall of the axial end (16a) of the inflator, wherein a cup-shaped member (48) surrounding the end (16a) of the inflator (16) is disposed within the airbag (14), so that the gas flow issuing from the gas feed hole (42) is once stopped by the inner side of cup-shaped member (48) and then is fed into the airbag (14) from a flow channel (54) defined by the cup-shaped member (48) and the side wall of the inflator (16). This prevents damage to the airbag cloth otherwise caused by the gas flow emitted from the inflator (16).

Description

Description air bag device

[Technical field]

The present invention relates to an airbag device that is an occupant protection device in an automobile.

[Background technology]

Modern automobiles are equipped with airbag devices. In general, an airbag device is composed of an airbag, an inflator which is a gas generator, a case for accommodating them, a retainer for fixing the airbag to the case, a diffuser, and the like. In some cases, a door is attached to the case to cover the folded airbag. The diffuser is provided in the vicinity of inflation, temporarily receives gas generated from inflation, and supplies the gas to the air bag from a plurality of gas supply holes provided in the side wall. It is.

The gas generated from the inflation process is supplied to the outside from the inside of the inflation process through a nozzle.Generally, near the nozzle, heated gas is blown out at a relatively high flow rate into a narrow range. You. Conventionally, the gas in the vicinity of the nozzle is blocked by a case and a diffuser, and the heated gas is not directly and intensively applied to the airbag cloth at a high flow rate. To prevent damage. In particular, in the case of an inflation system in which gas is supplied from the end in the axial direction, such as a hybrid inflation system, the gas is easily supplied to the airbag, so the diffuser has a specially designed shape. The number, arrangement and number of gas supply holes are provided to rectify the gas flow supplied to the airbag. Further, depending on the type of the airbag device, a diffuser may be integrated with the retainer. For example, by making the diffuser cylindrical and wrapping the mouth of the airbag around its outer surface and arranging the inflator inside, the gas generated by the inflation overnight does not directly hit the airbag cloth. There is something that I did. In this case, the diffuser is fixed to the case together with the airbag with the bolts provided on the side wall. In addition, there is a structure in which a flat diffuser is provided so as to cover the upper part of the inflation lamp arranged at the bottom of the case, and the airbag is also fixed at the same time when the diffuser is fixed to the case. The diffuser and the diffuser are designed to prevent gas from directly hitting the airbag cloth.

In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-5033288 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-191332 propose an integrated inflator and diffuser. I have. In this case, the diffuser has a cylindrical shape over the entire axial length of the inflation evening so as to entirely wrap the cylindrical inflation evening, and thus both have a double-pipe structure. .

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 8-253,089 and 2,693,644 disclose a method for rectifying a gas flow with respect to an inflator having a gas outlet at one axial end. However, it discloses an inflation overnight covered with a diffuser. In this case, too, the diffuser extends over the entire axial length of the inflation.

In the conventional airbag device described above, the diffuser or the case and the diffuser temporarily stop the gas flow so that the gas flow generated by the inflation evening does not directly hit the mouth of the airbag and damage the cloth. ing. In addition, the diffuser is provided with gas supply holes of a devised shape, arrangement, and number to rectify the gas flow and supply it to the airbag. Conventionally, all of these diffusers have a cylindrical or planar shape that extends over the entire axial length of the inflator. There is a problem that the weight of the bag device increases and the cost is disadvantageous.

[Disclosure of the Invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a simple structure to prevent damage to an airbag cloth due to a gas flow generated by inflation, thereby reducing the weight and cost of the airbag apparatus. The purpose is to aim.

A first airbag device of the present invention includes an airbag, and a substantially cylindrical inflator arranged inside the airbag, and the inflator is provided on a side wall at an axial end thereof. In an airbag device for supplying gas to an airbag from a gas supply hole provided, a cup-shaped member surrounding the end portion of the inflator is disposed inside the airbag, and a gas flow exiting from the gas supply hole is formed into a cup shape. The gas flow is once received inside the member, and the gas flow is supplied to the airbag from a flow path formed by the buckle-shaped member and the inflation overnight side wall. ,

A second airbag device of the present invention includes an airbag, and a substantially cylindrical inflator disposed inside the airbag, wherein the inflator is a side wall in a part of the axial direction. An air bag device for supplying gas to an air bag from a gas supply hole provided in the air bag, a ring-shaped member surrounding the part of the inflator is disposed inside the air bag, and Outgoing gas flow is once received inside the ring-shaped member, and the gas flow is supplied to the airbag from a flow path formed by the ring-shaped member and the inflating side wall.

According to the airbag device of the present invention, the gas flow blown out from the gas supply hole during the inflation is temporarily received by the cup-shaped member or the ring-shaped member. It can prevent direct contact with the cloth, thus preventing damage to the airbag cloth. O

Also, according to the difference in the folding and storage structure of the airbag, by cutting out the wall on the side where the airbag inflates in the cup-shaped member or the ring-shaped member, the gas flow is rectified and supplied to the airbag. be able to.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the airbag cloth from being damaged by the short member such as the cup-shaped member and the ring-shaped member, instead of the diffuser extending over the entire length of the inflator in the axial direction. Also, since the gas flow can be rectified, the weight and cost of the airbag device can be reduced. Further, the airbag device has a simple structure because it is not necessary to provide gas supply holes of a devised shape, arrangement, and number on the diffuser surface.

In the first air bag apparatus, a bolt is provided on the bottom wall of the gas supply side end of the inflator, and the bolt penetrates through the bolt holes provided in the force-up member and the air bag. In some cases, nuts are tightened from the outside of the airbag.

In the second airbag device, a bolt is protruded from the outer surface of the ring-shaped member, and the bolt passes through a bolt hole provided in the airbag and is tightened with a nut from the outside of the airbag. May be.

In these cases, a bracket having a bolt hole may be provided outside the airbag, and the bolt may be further passed through the bolt hole and fastened by the nut. This bracket is used for fixing the airbag device to a body side member such as a vehicle interior material such as an instrument panel or a line hose. Instead of providing such a bracket, the bracket may be simply clamped with a nut across the washer.

In the airbag device of the present invention, bolts are protruded from both bottom walls in the axial direction during the inflation, and the two bolts may be arranged with their axes offset from each other. In this way, by arranging the bolts that protrude from both bottom walls during inflation overnight, the bolts can be shifted so that Inflation in the night can be prevented from rotating.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an inflator and a cup-shaped member in the embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the airbag according to the embodiment,

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the airbag device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the cup-shaped member.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the airbag device according to the second embodiment,

FIG. 8A is an exploded perspective view of an inflator and a ring-shaped member in the embodiment,

FIG. 8B is a perspective sectional view of the assembled state.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An airbag device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The airbag device 10 is a passenger-seat airbag device disposed in an instrument panel 1 in front of a passenger seat of a vehicle. The airbag device 10 is made of synthetic resin and folded behind. An airbag 14 arranged in a state, and a substantially cylindrical inflator 16 arranged inside the airbag 14 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the door 12 has a plurality of locking claws 18 on the peripheral edge thereof, and is fitted into the opening 2 of the instrument panel 1. The door 12 is provided with a thin-walled rupture portion 19 that breaks due to the internal pressure when the airbag operates, and the door 12 is pushed by the rupture of the rupture portion 19. It has been opened. In addition, the door 12 has a frame-shaped door wall 20 surrounding the side surface of the folded body of the air bag 14 protruding from the rear surface thereof. The folded airbag 14 is housed inside the door wall 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, the airbag 14 is a piece-type airbag formed by forming a base cloth cut into a predetermined shape into a three-dimensional bag shape by sewing 24. The airbag 14 includes a housing portion 26 for housing the inflation overnight 16 and a main body portion 28 that expands in an inverse tapered shape from the housing portion 26 to receive an occupant. Is equipped with a vent hole 30.

The accommodating portion 26 includes a cover 32 that holds the folded shape of the airbag 14, a partition cloth 34 that covers the bottom surface of the folded airbag 14 and separates from the internal space of the instrument panel 1. Is sewn by sewing 3 6

One end of the cover 32 is sewn to the airbag 14 by sewing 36, and the other end is a free end so that the folded airbag 14 can be covered. A break 38 is provided at the center by traversing a plurality of slits, and the break 38 is broken by the internal pressure when the airbag operates.

The partition cloth 34 has its central portion sewn to the airbag 14 by the sewing 36 described above, and a plurality of hooks 40 are fixed to free ends on both sides thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the partition cloth 34 covers the lower end opening surface of the door wall 20 by hooking the hook 40 into the corresponding mounting hole 22 of the door wall 20 and hooking the hook. , And so on. Here, the same kind of cloth as the cloth used for the airbag 14 can be used as the partition cloth 34.

The inflation overnight 16 is a single-blow type in which gas is supplied to the airbag 14 from a gas outlet 16a provided at one end in the axial direction. Sand That is, the inflation overnight 16 comprises a cylindrical body 16b and a small-diameter gas outlet 16a provided at one end thereof. Gas supply holes 42 are provided. The gas supply holes 42 are arranged on the entire circumference of the gas blowout portion 16a so as to blow out gas radially around the axis of the inflator 16.

On both bottom walls in the axial direction of the inflation 16, there are provided bolts 44, 46, respectively. Both bolts 44 and 46 are arranged with their axes offset. In detail, a thread bolt 44 provided on the bottom wall of the gas blowing section 16a is arranged on the central axis X1 of the inflation section 16-the cylindrical body 16 on the opposite side. The screw bolt 46 provided on the bottom wall of b has its axis X2 not located on the central axis X1, but is located at a shifted position. By arranging the shafts of both bolts 44 and 46 in such an offset manner, rotation of the inflator 16 during bolt fastening is prevented. On the bottom wall of the gas blowing portion 16a in the inflation day 16 is provided a sealing member 48 surrounding the gas blowing portion 16a so as to cover the gas blowing portion 16a. The coil-shaped member 48 includes a disk-shaped bottom wall 50 and a ring-shaped side wall 52 extending from the periphery of the bottom wall 50. Then, the side wall portion 52 surrounds the outer periphery of the gas blowing portion 16a with a predetermined gap so as to be able to temporarily receive the gas flow from the gas supply hole 42. As a result, a gas flow path 54 is formed between the cup-shaped member 48 and the side wall of the inflator 16, and this flow path 54, particularly the tip end face 48 a of the cup-shaped member 48 is formed. A gas flow is supplied to the air bag 14 from a gap formed between the side wall of the inflator 16 and the air bag 16.

A cutout portion 56 is provided in the side wall portion 52 of the force-trap-shaped member 48 by cutting a side (upper side in this embodiment) where the airbag 14 inflates in a predetermined range. The gas flow supplied to the bag 14 is rectified. In this way, the flow is rectified to some extent by the cup-shaped member 48, Further, a rectifying cloth may be provided in the airbag 14 to finally rectify the gas and supply the gas to the airbag 14.

The force-up member 48 may be provided integrally with the bottom wall of the inflation housing 16 or may be attached to the inner surface of the airbag 14 by sewing or the like. A bolt hole 58 is provided in the bottom wall 50, and the cup-shaped member 48 is fixed to the inflator 16 with a screw bolt 44 penetrating the bolt grove 58. .

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the inflation overnight 16 is stored inside the airbag 14 together with the cup-shaped member 48, and the bolts 44 on the bottom wall on the gas blowing side are connected to the cup-shaped member. 4 8 through the bolt hole 58 and the bolt hole 60 provided in the airbag 14 in order, and furthermore, the bracket 62 arranged outside the airbag 14 bolt hole 6 4 The nut is fastened with nut 66. In addition, a stud bolt 46 on the other bottom wall passes through a bolt hole 61 provided in the airbag 14 and a bolt hole 65 of a bracket 63 disposed outside the airbag 14. And is fastened with nuts 67. Here, the brackets 62 and 63 are for fixing the airbag 14 including the inflator 16 to the phosphorus hose 3, and the mounting seat surfaces 6 2 a and 6 3 a to the phosphorus hose 3 are provided. have.

In this way, after the inflation overnight 16 is built into the airbag 14, the bag main body 28 is folded by a predetermined folding method, and the folded body is wrapped by the cover 32, thereby obtaining a structure shown in FIG. As a result, a subassembly 68 is obtained. Then, the subassembly 68 is inserted into the inside of the door wall 20 so that the axial direction of the inflator 16 faces the vehicle width direction, and the lower surface of the door wall 20 is separated by the partition cloth 34. Close up. Next, this is assembled from above into the opening 2 of the instrument panel 1 and fixed to the phosphorus hose 3 via the brackets 62, 63. As described above, in the present embodiment, the metal case is eliminated, and the bottom surface of the folded body of the airbag 14 is covered with the partition cloth 34. Since the airbag storage space is formed more, the airbag device 10 is lightweight and compact.

In the airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment configured as described above, at the time of a vehicle collision, the gas flow blown out from the gas supply holes 42 of the inflator 16 as shown in FIG. Once through the flow path 54 between the cup-shaped member 48 and the side wall of the inflation member 16, and the leading end surface 48 a of the force-up member 48 is in contact with the inflation member. It is led to the airbag 14 from the gap with 16. As described above, the cup-shaped member 48 can prevent the gas flow from directly hitting the airbag cloth near the gas supply hole 42, particularly the cloth on the side opposite to the airbag inflation side. Can be prevented.

In addition, since the gas flow blown in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the inflation overnight 16 is directed in the axial direction by the cup-shaped member 48, the gas flow can be regulated to some extent. In particular, by providing a cutout portion 56 by notching the wall on the airbag inflation side in a predetermined range, further rectification of the gas flow becomes possible. FIG. 6 shows an example of a modification of the cup-shaped member 48. It is shown. In this example, the cup-shaped member 48 is cut off on the airbag inflation side, that is, approximately half of the upper side.

Next, an airbag device 70 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. It is to be noted that components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the above embodiment have the same configuration unless otherwise specified, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the air bag device 70 of the second embodiment, the position of the gas blowing portion 16a of the inflation unit 16 is different from that of the above-described embodiment, and therefore, a ring-shaped member is used instead of the cup-shaped member 48. 7 2 is used.

That is, in this embodiment, in the inflation system 16, the gas supply hole 42 is provided on the side wall at the central portion in the axial direction, so that the gas is supplied to the airbag 14 from the central portion in the axial direction. This is the evening I do. And this A ring-shaped member 72 is provided so as to cover the gas outlet 16a at the center. As shown in FIG. 7, the ring-shaped member 72, like the cup-shaped member 48, once receives the gas flow coming out of the gas supply hole 42 inside the gas supply hole 42. The gas flow can be supplied to the air bag 14 through the flow path 54 formed by the side wall of the air bag 14.

As shown in FIG. 8A, a pair of positioning claws 74 is provided on the end surface of the ring-shaped member 72, and as shown in FIG. By making contact with the peripheral surface of the inflation, a space serving as a gas flow path 54 is formed around the inflation overnight 16 with the ring-shaped member 72 with a constant thickness. Further, the gas can be rectified by the claw shape.

This ring-shaped member 72 is also provided with a cutout portion 56 by cutting out a wall on the airbag inflation side in a predetermined range. Specifically, in this example, the side wall of the ring-shaped member 72 is cut off from both left and right sides.

A thread bolt 76 is provided at the lower end of the side wall of the ring-shaped member 72, and the bolt 76 passes through a bolt moss 78 provided in the airbag 14, and further to the phosphorus hose 3. It is fastened with a nut 82 through the provided bracket 80.

As described above, even when the ring-shaped member 72 is used instead of the cap-shaped member 48, the gas flow blown out from the gas supply hole 42 of the inflation 16 is temporarily removed by the ring-shaped member 72. Thus, it is possible to prevent the gas flow from directly hitting the airbag cloth near the gas supply hole 42. In addition, the gas flow is rectified and supplied to the airbag 14 by cutting out the wall of the ring-shaped member 72 on the side where the airbag is inflated in accordance with the folded storage structure of the airbag 14. Can be.

[Industrial applicability]

According to the airbag device of the present invention, a gusset-shaped member and a ring-shaped member are called. The short member prevents damage to the airbag cloth and rectifies the gas flow, thereby reducing the weight and cost of the airbag device.

Claims

Claims: An airbag, and a substantially cylindrical inflation tube disposed inside the airbag, wherein the inflation gas is supplied to the airbag from a gas supply hole provided in a side wall at an axial end thereof. In the air bag device for supplying air, a cup-shaped member surrounding the end portion of the inflator is disposed inside the airbag, and a gas flow exiting from the gas supply hole is temporarily received inside the cup-shaped member, An airbag device, wherein a gas flow is supplied to an airbag from a flow path formed by a top member and an inflation side wall.

A bolt is protruded from the bottom wall at the gas supply side end of the inflator, and the bolt penetrates through a bolt hole provided in each of the force-up member and the airbag to the outside of the airbag. The airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the airbag device is tightened with a nut.

An airbag and a substantially cylindrical inflation chamber disposed inside the airbag, the inflation chamber supplying gas to the airbag from a gas supply hole provided in a side wall of a part of the airbag in the axial direction. In an airbag device that

A ring-shaped member surrounding the part of the inflation is disposed inside the airbag, and a gas flow exiting from the gas supply hole is temporarily received inside the ring-shaped member, and the ring-shaped member and the inflation member are received. An airbag device, characterized in that a gas flow is supplied to an airbag from a flow path formed by an overnight side wall. '

4. The airbag device according to claim 3, wherein the gas supply hole is provided in a side wall at a central portion in the axial direction of the inflation.

A bolt is protruded from an outer surface of the ring-shaped member, and the bolt penetrates a bolt hole provided in the airbag to form a nut from the outside of the airbag. 4. The airbag device according to claim 3, wherein a wall on the side where the airbag inflates in the force-like member or the ring-shaped member is cut off. The airbag device according to claim 1 or 3.

6. The airbag according to claim 2, wherein a bracket having a bolt hole is arranged outside the airbag, and the bolt is inserted through the bolt hole and fastened by the nut. apparatus.

4. The bolt according to claim 1 or 3, wherein bolts are respectively protruded from both bottom walls in the axial direction of the inflator, and both bolts are arranged with their respective axes offset. Airbag equipment.