WO2023189989A1

WO2023189989A1 - Airbag device

Info

Publication number: WO2023189989A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/011374
Authority: WO
Inventors: 大輔新藤
Original assignee: 三菱自動車工業株式会社
Priority date: 2022-03-29
Filing date: 2023-03-23
Publication date: 2023-10-05

Abstract

This airbag device comprises a housing and a cover. The housing has a fixing part in which an airbag is fixed, an opening part, and a side wall part extending from the fixing part to the opening part. The cover has a cover part for covering the opening part, a connecting part extending from the cover part along the side wall part, and a through-hole located in the connecting part. The side wall part includes: a first locking part, which is formed by folding the distal end section of the side wall part toward the fixing part and on which the through-hole is locked; and a second locking part for restricting the connecting part from being displaced toward the fixing part. The second locking part extends from the side wall part toward the opening part and is inclined away from the side wall part.

Description

air bag device

The present disclosure relates to an airbag device.

Conventionally, an airbag device is known that includes a housing that accommodates an airbag and a cover that is attached to the housing (for example, see Patent Document 1). The airbag device of Patent Document 1 includes a housing that accommodates and fixes the airbag in a folded state, and a cover that covers an opening of the housing. The cover is locked to the housing.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-178321

The airbag device of Patent Document 1 is installed in a vehicle, and when a vehicle collision is detected, the airbag breaks through the cover and inflates and deploys. When the airbag inflates and deploys, the force of the airbag's inflation (reaction force of the airbag) may deform the cover or housing. Even if the cover and housing are deformed by such reaction force of the airbag, it is preferable to prevent the cover from coming off from the housing.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an airbag device that can prevent the cover from coming off the housing.

An airbag device according to the present disclosure includes a housing that accommodates an airbag, and a cover attached to the housing. The housing includes a fixing portion for fixing the airbag, an opening facing the fixing portion and opening in a direction in which the airbag is deployed, and a side wall extending from the fixing portion toward the opening. has. The cover includes a cover portion that covers the opening, a connection portion extending from the cover portion along the side wall portion, and a through hole disposed in the connection portion. The side wall portion includes a first locking portion that protrudes from the side wall portion and has a tip portion folded back toward the fixing portion, and that locks the through hole, and the first locking portion. a second locking portion that is disposed closer to the fixed portion than the second locking portion and restricts displacement of the connecting portion toward the fixed portion. The second locking portion extends from the side wall toward the opening and is inclined in a direction away from the side wall.

According to this airbag device, even when the airbag is deployed and the cover and housing are deformed, the end of the second locking portion disposed on the extending portion of the housing is connected to the connecting portion of the cover. Get caught. This can prevent the cover from coming off the housing.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an airbag device that can prevent the cover from coming off from the housing.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which an airbag device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is mounted on a vehicle. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a fixed state of a housing and a cover according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a housing according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the first locking portion and the second locking portion in FIG. 4;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following specification, the longitudinal direction of the vehicle C is indicated as Q in the drawings, and the front direction is indicated as F. Further, the vehicle width direction of the vehicle C is indicated as P in the drawing, and the right side as viewed from the rear of the vehicle C is indicated as R. Further, the vertical direction of the vehicle C is indicated as G in the drawing, and the upward direction is indicated as U.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the airbag device 1 includes a housing 2 that accommodates an airbag 6, and a cover 4 attached to the housing 2. The airbag device 1 of this embodiment is a knee airbag that inflates and deploys an airbag 6 (see broken line in FIG. 1) toward the shin of an occupant M of a vehicle C. The vehicle C has a steering column C1, and the housing 2 and the cover 4 are arranged below the steering column C1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 2 includes a fixing portion 8, an opening 10, and a side wall portion 12. The housing 2 of this embodiment functions as a holding bracket for holding an airbag unit 6b, which will be described later, to a vehicle body member such as a front deck member (not shown) of the vehicle C. In this embodiment, the housing 2 is a box-shaped sheet metal member having an opening 10. However, the housing 2 may be a member made of other materials, such as aluminum die-casting or a resin part formed into such a shape, in addition to the sheet metal member.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fixing portion 8 is a surface that fixes the airbag 6 in the folded state and the inflator 6a that supplies inflation gas to the airbag 6. The fixing portion 8 of this embodiment is a surface that fixes the airbag unit 6b in which the airbag 6 and the inflator 6a are integrated. The opening 10 is arranged to face the surface of the fixing part 8 and opens in the direction in which the airbag 6 is inflated and deployed. In this embodiment, the airbag 6 is inflated and deployed toward the rear of the vehicle C. Therefore, the opening 10 opens toward the rear of the vehicle C. In this embodiment, the airbag unit 6b is inserted into the opening 10 and fixed to the fixing part 8.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the side wall portion 12 extends from the upper and lower ends of the fixing portion 8 toward the rear of the vehicle. Specifically, the side wall portion 12 is a surface extending from the upper end 8a of the fixing portion 8 to the upper end 10a of the opening 10. In this embodiment, the side wall portion 12 forms the upper surface of the housing 2 . In addition, the housing 2 has a lower surface 16 (a part of the side wall portion 12 in this embodiment). The lower surface 16 is a surface extending from the lower end of the fixing portion 8 to the lower end 10b of the opening 10.

The side wall portion 12 includes a first locking portion 18 , a lower locking portion 19 , and a second locking portion 20 . The first locking portion 18 is formed so as to protrude from the side wall portion 12, and a tip portion 18a is folded back toward the fixing portion 8 side. The lower locking portion 19 extends in a direction away from the lower surface 16 and is formed with a tip portion 19 a folded back toward the fixing portion 8 . As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of first locking portions 18 (five in FIG. 3) are provided at the end portion 12a of the side wall portion 12 in this embodiment. Further, a plurality of lower locking portions 19 are provided at the end portion 16a of the lower surface 16.

The second locking portion 20 is disposed closer to the fixing portion 8 than the first locking portion 18 is, extends from the side wall portion 12 toward the opening 10, and is inclined in a direction away from the side wall portion 12. The second locking portion 20 functions as a restriction member that restricts displacement of the connecting portion 24 toward the fixed portion 8 side. The second locking portion 20 of this embodiment extends toward the rear of the vehicle C and is inclined toward the upper U of the vehicle C. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of second locking portions 20 are arranged in one direction intersecting the extending direction of the side wall portion 12 (in the present embodiment, the front-rear direction Q). Two second locking portions 20 of this embodiment are arranged on the right side of the vehicle C in the vehicle width direction P. As shown in FIG. 1, a control device (not shown) for the airbag unit 6b is provided on the left side of the side wall portion 12 where the second locking portion 20 is not provided (the other side in the direction intersecting the extension direction). A connecting harness (an example of a vehicle harness) is provided. In this way, by arranging the second locking portion 20 so as to be biased toward either side of the vehicle width direction P, interference between the second locking portion 20 and other equipment can be easily avoided.
Note that equipment of the vehicle C other than the harness may be arranged on the left side.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second locking portion 20 is provided with a bead 20c that protrudes in a direction away from the side wall portion 12. The bead 20c is formed to extend from the second locking portion 20 to the side wall portion 12. By providing such a bead 20c, the second locking portion 20 is reinforced.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the second locking portion 20 of this embodiment is formed by cutting and raising a sheet metal member. Therefore, a notch hole 20b is generated in the side wall portion 12. In order to prevent the strength of the housing 2 from being weakened by such a notch hole 20b, in this embodiment, the first locking portion 18 and the second locking portion 20 are arranged in the direction in which the side wall portion 12 extends. They are arranged alternately when viewed in the intersecting direction (vehicle width direction P in this embodiment). More specifically, two second locking portions 20 are arranged between three first locking portions 18 arranged on the right side when viewed in the vehicle width direction P. Thereby, the airbag device 1 prevents the strength of the housing 2 from decreasing while suppressing the cost for forming the second locking portion 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, an end 20a of the second locking part 20 is arranged closer to the opening 10 than an end 24a of a connecting part 24 of the cover 4, which will be described later. In other words, the second locking portion 20 and the connecting portion 24 are arranged to overlap in the vertical direction G. Further, the end portion 20a of the second locking portion 20 is arranged at a higher position than the tip portion 18a of the first locking portion 18. In this embodiment, the end portion 20a of the second locking portion 20 is arranged above the tip portion 18a of the first locking portion 18.

The cover 4 is provided to cover the opening 10. The cover 4 of this embodiment is a resin trim member that is placed behind the airbag unit 6b and covers the airbag unit 6b so that it cannot be seen from inside the vehicle C. However, the cover 4 may be a component made of a material other than resin. The cover 4 includes a cover portion 22, a connecting portion 24, a through hole 26, and a locking hole 28.

The cover part 22 covers the opening 10. In this embodiment, the cover portion 22 covers the rear surface of the airbag unit 6b in the vertical direction G. A fragile portion 30 and a hinge portion (not shown) are arranged in the vertical middle of the cover portion 22 in the width direction. When the airbag 6 is deployed, the cover part 22 has a fragile part destroyed (broken), and the cover part 22 rotates about the hinge to open up and down, thereby deploying the airbag 6 rearward.

The connecting portion 24 extends from the cover portion 22 along the side wall portion 12. The through hole 26 is arranged in the connecting portion 24 . The connecting portion 24 is arranged above the cover 4. The connecting portion 24 extends along the side wall portion 12 forming the upper surface of the housing 2 . The lower connecting portion 25 located below extends along the lower surface 16 . As shown in FIG. 5, the end 24a of the connecting portion 24 is provided with an inclined surface 24b that is inclined along the same direction as the inclination of the second locking portion 20 and extends toward the end 24a of the connecting portion 24. It will be done.

The through hole 26 is arranged in the connecting portion 24, and the tip portion 18a of the first locking portion 18 is inserted therethrough. The locking hole 28 is arranged in the lower connecting part 25, and the lower locking part 19 is inserted therethrough. When an operator attaches the housing 2 to the cover 4, the tip portion 18a of the first locking portion 18 is inserted into the through hole 26. At this time, since the second locking part 20 is inclined toward the rear, the connecting part 24 is guided by the second locking part 20, making it easy to insert the first locking part 18 into the through hole 26. Furthermore, since the end 20a of the second locking part 20 is disposed above the tip 18a of the first locking part 18, and the slope 24b is formed on the end 24a of the connecting part 24, It is easy to guide the hole 26 to the first locking part 18. Thereafter, the lower locking part 19 is inserted into the locking hole 28 and the lower locking part 19 is hooked into the locking hole 28. In this way, the cover 4 is attached to the housing 2. The airbag device 1 is fixed to a vehicle body member of the vehicle C when the housing 2 is attached to the cover 4 in this manner.

Next, the movement of the cover 4 and the function of the second locking portion 20 when the airbag 6 of the airbag device 1 of this embodiment is inflated and deployed will be described.

When a collision of the vehicle C is detected and the airbag 6 is inflated and deployed, at least the cover 4 is pushed by the force of the inflation of the airbag 6, and the fragile portion is destroyed and deformed to open up and down. Specifically, after the cover 4 is broken at the fragile portion and separated into upper and lower parts, it is pushed by the airbag 6 and opens while being deformed vertically. When the airbag 6 is further inflated and deployed and hits the occupant, the airbag 6 is pushed back forward by the reaction, and the cover 4 is displaced forward while deforming up and down. As the cover 4 is pushed and deformed by the airbag 6 in this manner, the through hole 26 of the connecting portion 24 may be displaced in the direction in which it is disengaged from the first locking portion 18 . In such a case, in the airbag device 1 of the present embodiment, the second locking portion 20 extends toward the rear of the vehicle C and is inclined toward the upper U of the vehicle C, so that the cover 4 The connecting portion 24 comes into contact with the second locking portion 20 and is guided downward along the slope, thereby restricting forward and upward displacement of the connecting portion 24. This can prevent the first locking portion 18 from coming out of the through hole 26 of the connecting portion 24 and being unlatched from each other.

Moreover, the end 20a of the second locking part 20 is arranged closer to the opening 10 than the end 24a of the connecting part 24, and the second locking part 20 and the connecting part 24 are arranged to overlap in the vertical direction G. Therefore, when the cover 4 is displaced, the second locking part 20 can be reliably brought into contact with the connecting part 24. As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent the first locking portion 18 from falling off from the through hole 26 and the cover 4 from coming off from the housing 2.

As explained above, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide the airbag device 1 that can prevent the cover 4 from coming off the housing 2.

<Other embodiments>
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. In particular, the plurality of modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

(a) In the above embodiment, the airbag device 1 disposed below the steering column C1 was described as an example, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the airbag device 1 of the present disclosure may be used as an airbag on the passenger seat side.

(b) Although the above embodiment has been described using an example in which the second locking portion 20 extends rearward and slopes upward U, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The second locking part 20 may extend from the side wall part 12 toward the opening 10 side and be inclined in a direction away from the side wall part 12. If the device is mounted at an angle with respect to either the direction P or the vertical direction G, the direction in which the second locking portion 20 extends may be changed in accordance with the inclination.

Although various embodiments have been described above with reference to the drawings, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that those skilled in the art can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, and these naturally fall within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood. Further, each of the constituent elements in the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Note that this application is based on a Japanese patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-052744) filed on March 29, 2022, and the contents thereof are incorporated as a reference in this application.

1: Airbag device, 2: Housing, 4: Cover 6: Airbag, 8: Fixed part, 10: Opening part 12: Side wall part, 16a: End part, 18: First locking part 18a: Tip part, 20 : Second locking part, 20a: End part 20c: Bead, 22: Cover part 24: Connection part, 24a: End part 24b: Inclined surface, 26: Through hole C: Vehicle, C1: Steering column, M: Occupant

Claims

a housing that accommodates an airbag; a cover attached to the housing;
An airbag device comprising:
The housing includes a fixing portion for fixing the airbag, an opening facing the fixing portion and opening in a direction in which the airbag is deployed, and a side wall extending from the fixing portion toward the opening. has
The cover has a cover part that covers the opening part, a connecting part extending from the cover part along the side wall part, and a through hole disposed in the connecting part,
The side wall portion includes a first locking portion that protrudes from the side wall portion and has a tip portion folded back toward the fixing portion, and that locks the through hole, and the first locking portion. a second locking part that is disposed closer to the fixing part and restricts displacement of the connecting part toward the fixing part; the second locking part is arranged from the side wall to the opening side; extending toward the side wall and being inclined in a direction away from the side wall portion;
Airbag device.
The connecting portion is provided with an inclined surface that slopes in the same direction as the slope of the second locking portion toward the end of the connecting portion.
The airbag device according to claim 1.
an end of the second locking part is located at a higher position than the tip of the first locking part;
The airbag device according to claim 1 or 2.
an end of the second locking part is located closer to the opening than an end of the connecting part;
The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
A plurality of the first locking portions and the second locking portions are arranged on the side wall, and the first locking portion and the second locking portion are arranged in a direction intersecting an extending direction of the side wall. are arranged alternately,
The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The housing is a sheet metal member,
The second locking portion is formed by cutting and raising the sheet metal member.
The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
The second locking portion is provided with a bead extending along the extending direction of the second locking portion,
The bead is formed to extend from the second locking part to the side wall part.
The airbag device according to claim 6.
The airbag is a knee airbag that is placed below the steering column of the vehicle and deploys toward the occupant's shins,
The side wall portion extends toward the rear of the vehicle from at least the upper and lower ends of the fixing portion, and the first locking portion and the second locking portion protrude from the side wall portion in the vertical direction,
The cover is configured such that the cover portion is opened in a vertical direction of the vehicle when the airbag is deployed.
The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The harness for the vehicle is arranged on one side in a direction intersecting the extending direction of the side wall portion with respect to the steering column,
The airbag device according to claim 8, wherein the second locking portion is disposed on the other side of the steering column in a direction intersecting with an extending direction of the side wall portion of the steering column.