JP2004210290A - Energy absorbing structure for vehicle body side part - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body side part for improving occupant protecting effect in case of a side collision of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: This energy absorbing structure on the vehicle body side is provided with an airbag for restraining the occupant within a cabin by being inflated to the cabin side in the side collision of the vehicle 1. The airbag 9 is arranged longitudinally along a roof side rail part 1d located on an upper side part of the cabin. An inflator 7 for jetting gas for inflating the airbag is arranged longitudinally along the roof side rail part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body side portion, and more particularly to an energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body side portion provided with an airbag which is deployed inside the vehicle at the time of a side collision of the vehicle and restrains an occupant in a vehicle interior.

In recent years, for example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 1-117957 (Patent Document 1), from the viewpoint of protection of occupants at the time of a side collision of a vehicle, an airbag is provided on a belt line portion of a door or an armrest portion of a door. It is known that the airbag is deployed in a vehicle cabin to restrain an occupant in the event of a side collision of the vehicle, thereby preventing the occupant from directly colliding with an inner surface of a door or the like.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-14035 (Patent Document 2), an air bag is also provided in a roof portion near a side roof rail.

Publication No. 1-1117957 JP 50-14035 A

  By the way, in the prior art described in the above-mentioned publications, an occupant protection at the time of a side collision of a vehicle is improved by arranging an airbag in a door portion or a roof portion. In order to further improve the occupant protection performance, the behavior of the occupant during a side collision was examined as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 19, consider the behavior of the occupant M when another vehicle X collides from the outside on the driver's seat side with the occupant M sitting in the driver's seat 2 of the vehicle 1. In this case, when the other vehicle X is a vehicle of the passenger car type, the bumper is generally located at a height near the waist of the occupant M of the vehicle 1, so that the collision of the other vehicle X causes the occupant M to first move to the lumbar region. A lateral load F1 is received in the vicinity. Therefore, the occupant M swings its upper body to the collision side, that is, the left side 1a of the vehicle 1 due to the inertial force, and collides with the inner wall member of the left side 1a.

  Further, after the occupant M is once swung toward the left side portion 1a in this manner, due to the recoil, the occupant M is greatly thrown from the driver seat 2 side to the passenger seat 3 side as shown in FIG. In this case, since the impact force on the occupant M enters the vicinity of the waist of the occupant M as described above, even if the occupant M is seated forward with respect to the driver's seat 2, the occupant M is placed sideways on the entire body. It is thrown toward the screw and with its waist protruding toward the right side 1b and obliquely upward. As a result, it is expected that the occupant M will collide with the inner wall portion extending from the upper portion of the right side portion 1b of the vehicle 1 to the roof side rail 1d.

In this case, since the occupant M is thrown out with its waist protruding backward, it is considered that the waist collides with the inner wall member at a timing earlier than the upper shoulder or head.
That is, at the time of a side collision of the vehicle, the occupant may collide with the relatively upper portion of the cabin side, and the timing at which the occupant collides with the vehicle interior wall member is between the collision side and the non-collision side, and It has been found by the present inventors that there is a deviation between the upper and lower positions of the vehicle compartment.
Therefore, in order to further improve the occupant protection performance in the event of a side collision of a vehicle, it is necessary to take measures that sufficiently consider the occupant's behavior such as the occupant's collision near the upper part of the passenger compartment and the timing of the collision. It turned out to be.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of occupant protection performance, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the airbag itself. In other words, the airbag has a structure in which the airbag is developed by a gas (usually nitrogen gas) generated from the inflator. However, if the repulsive force of the airbag becomes excessive, the performance of restraining the occupant is rather lowered. Is provided with a vent hole, and when an occupant comes into contact with the deployed airbag, gas is appropriately released from the vent hole to absorb an impact load, thereby securing an optimal deployment state for restraining the occupant.
However, since the amount of gas generated by the inflator is limited, the period during which the optimum deployment state of the airbag is obtained is naturally limited. Therefore, it is important to consider the deployment timing so that the occupant can be restrained during the period in which the optimum deployment state is obtained.

  In view of the above, the present invention provides an energy absorbing structure on the side of a vehicle body that can further improve the occupant protection performance in the event of a side collision of a vehicle, in consideration of the behavior of the occupant or the structure of the airbag. It is an object.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side portion provided with an airbag that expands to the inside of the vehicle at the time of a side collision of the vehicle and restrains an occupant in the vehicle interior, An inflator for injecting a gas for deploying the airbag is arranged in the front-rear direction along the roof side rail portion located on the upper side of the vehicle compartment, and a gas for inflating the airbag is arranged in the front-rear direction. It is characterized by:
In the present invention thus configured, at the time of a side collision of the vehicle, the airbag is disposed in the front-rear direction along the roof side rail portion located on the upper side of the vehicle compartment, and the airbag is deployed by the inflator. Thus, the occupant in the passenger compartment is restrained, so that the occupant can be reliably received.

In the present invention, preferably, the airbag and the inflator are arranged so as to overlap in the front-back direction.
In the present invention, preferably, the inflator is modularized integrally with the airbag at the roof side rail portion.
In the present invention, preferably, the modularized inflator and airbag are mounted on the inner panel side of the roof side rail portion.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the energy absorption structure of the vehicle body side part of this invention, the occupant protection performance at the time of a side collision of a vehicle can be improved more.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an upper side portion on a passenger seat 3 (see FIG. 5) side of a vehicle 1 having a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1c denotes a roof, 1d denotes a roof side rail having a closed cross section extending along the side of the roof 1c in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (see FIG. 3), and 1e denotes a pillar extending downward from an intermediate position in the front-rear direction of the roof side rail 1d (a so-called pillar). In this embodiment, a pair of left and right pillars 1e is attached with a later-described pillar-side airbag module 4, and a pair of left and right roof side rails 1d is fitted with a later-described roof side rail-side airbag module 5, respectively. (See FIGS. 5 and 6).

As shown in FIG. 2, the pillar-side airbag module 4 is mounted from a vehicle compartment side to a module mounting bracket 12 formed by denting a part of the inner panel of the pillar 1 e into a concave shape. A module case 10 fastened and fixed to a module mounting bracket 12 houses therein a cylindrical inflator 6 having a large number of gas outlets 6a and a folded airbag 8. I have. In the present embodiment, a part of the airbag 8 is constituted by a pillar trim 14 made of a relatively soft material fixed by a seaming welt 15 inside the pillar 1e.
Therefore, the pillar-side airbag module 4 is normally accommodated in the pillar 1e and covered by the pillar trim 14 from the passenger compartment side as shown by a solid line in FIG. The occupant does not feel any discomfort.

  On the other hand, the side collision of the vehicle 1 is detected by a collision sensor (not shown) arranged on the side of the vehicle body, and the inflator 6 is actuated in response to the collision and the gas is discharged from each gas outlet 6 a into the airbag 8. When the gas is ejected, the airbag 8 is deployed by the gas pressure and presses the pillar trim 14 from the inside. At this time, the seaming welts 15 to which the pillar trims 14 are fixed are disengaged, and the pillar trims 14 are separated from the pillars 1e to allow the deployment of the airbag 8. Accordingly, the airbag 8 eventually deploys largely toward the passenger compartment together with the pillar trim 14 as shown by a chain line 8 'in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the roof side rail side airbag module 5 has a module mounting bracket 13 in a module accommodating portion 18 formed by cutting out a part of the roof side rail 1d on the inner panel side. The inflator 7 and the airbag 9 are mounted on a module case 11 fixed to the module mounting bracket 13. In the present embodiment, a portion corresponding to the roof side rail side airbag module 5 of the rail trim 16 attached to the vehicle compartment side of the roof side rail 1d is used as an air back grid 16a. That is, an outer peripheral cutout groove 19 is formed at a portion of the rail trim 16 corresponding to the roof side rail side airbag module 5 so as to conform to the outer shape of the roof side rail side airbag module 5, and an intermediate cutout is provided at an intermediate position thereof. Each of the notched grooves 20 is formed from the inside, and a portion surrounded by the outer peripheral notched groove 19 is defined as an air bag grid 16a.
Therefore, at normal times, as shown in FIG. 3, the roof side rail side airbag module 5 is prevented from being exposed to the passenger compartment by the rail trim 16, so that the occupant does not feel any discomfort.

  On the other hand, at the time of a side collision of the vehicle 1, as shown in FIG. 4, when the airbag 9 is deployed by the gas ejected from the inflator 7, the airbag 9 moves the airbag lid portion 16a from the inner surface side by the deployed pressure. It presses, breaks this from the middle notch groove 20, and pushes up and down around the outer notch groove 19 part. Therefore, the deployment of the airbag 9 is allowed, and the airbag 9 is greatly deployed to the vehicle compartment side, and waits in a state where the occupant can be restrained.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the pillar-side airbag module 4 and the roof-side rail-side airbag module 5 are disposed on both sides of the vehicle 1, respectively. The protection of the occupant is achieved by deploying the airbags 8 and 9 from the side 5 to the passenger compartment side, respectively. The specific operation state will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, when another vehicle X collides with the left side 1a of the vehicle 1, when this collision is detected by a collision sensor (not shown), In response to this, the airbag 8 of each pillar-side airbag module 4 and the airbag 9 of each roof side rail-side airbag module 5 arranged on both upper side portions of the vehicle compartment are simultaneously deployed.
Therefore, when the occupant M is swung toward the collision side in the initial stage of the side collision, as shown in FIG. 5, the occupant M is moved to the shoulder and head by the airbags 8, 9 disposed on the left side 1a side. The portion is restrained, and is prevented from directly colliding with the inner wall member (for example, the pillar 1e or the roof side rail 1d) of the vehicle interior.

In the later stage of the side collision, as shown in FIG. 6, the occupant M is thrown from the driver's seat 2 side to the passenger seat 3 side and in a state of protruding the waist and rising upward, but in this case, The occupant M is securely restrained by the airbags 8, 9 waiting in the deployed state on the anti-collision side, that is, on the upper portion of the right side portion 1b, and is prevented from directly colliding with the pillar 1e or the roof side rail 1d.
In this manner, the restraint of the occupant M by the airbags 8 and 9 disposed on both upper sides of the passenger compartment can reduce the damage to the occupant M as much as possible. The performance is improved.

  In this embodiment, the left and right airbags 8 and 9 are simultaneously deployed at the time of a side collision as described above. Each of the airbags 8, 9 on the collision side (the left side 1a in this embodiment) is deployed with a predetermined time delay relative to the airbags 8, 9 on the collision side (the left side 1a in the present embodiment). Regardless of the displacement of the occupant restraint timing due to the occupant M, the occupant M can also be restrained by the airbags 8, 9 in the optimum deployed state on both the collision side and the anti-collision side. The protection performance will be further improved.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a main part of a vehicle 1 having a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the arrangement of the pillar-side airbag module 4 and the roof-side rail-side airbag module 5 on both the pillar 1e and the roof side rail 1d is the same as in the first embodiment. The same operation and effect as in the embodiment can be obtained. However, in particular, in the second embodiment, the airbags 8 and 9 provided for each of the airbag modules 4 and 5 in the first embodiment are replaced with one airbag that straddles both airbag modules 4 and 5. 8 is different.

  In such a case, the airbag 8 is deployed in a substantially L-shape toward the passenger compartment at the time of a side collision of the vehicle 1, and therefore, for example, the airbag 8 on the pillar-side airbag module 4 side which is deployed in close contact with each other. Since there is no possibility that the body of the occupant M thrown into the contact portion between the airbag 8 and the airbag 9 on the roof side rail side airbag module 5 may enter at all, the first embodiment is not used in the second embodiment. A higher occupant protection performance than the form is secured.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 8 and 9 show a vehicle 1 having a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a pillar side airbag module 4 and a roof side rail side airbag module 5 having structures similar to those described in the first embodiment are arranged on both sides of the vehicle 1, respectively. Is not different from that of the first embodiment.

However, the present embodiment is characterized in the operation timing of each of the airbag modules 4 and 5 as described later, whereby the occupant protection performance is more reliably secured as compared with the first embodiment.
That is, in the present embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, when the collision sensor detects that a side collision has occurred (steps S1 and S2), the airbag on the pillar 1e side is used. 8 is deployed (step S3), and thereafter, the airbag 9 on the roof side rail 1d side is deployed after a predetermined time delay (steps S4 and S5). By shifting, the following operation can be performed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the initial stage of the side collision, only the airbags 8 of the left and right pillar-side airbag modules 4 are simultaneously deployed. This is because in the initial stage of the side collision, the occupant M is swung to the collision side without being lifted up, and therefore, it is necessary to operate each roof side rail side airbag module 5 located at the top of the passenger compartment. This is because the number is smaller than that of the airbag module 4 on the pillar side, and the occupant may be seated not only on the driver's seat 2 side but also on the passenger's seat 3 side depending on the use condition of the vehicle 1. is there. By doing so, the occupant M is restrained by the airbag 8 of the pillar-side airbag module 4 in the initial stage of the side collision, and the protection is achieved.

On the other hand, in the late stage of the side collision, as shown in FIG. 9, the occupant M is thrown toward the upper part on the collision side. In this case, the airbag 9 of the roof side rail side airbag module 5 is already deployed. Therefore, the occupant M is reliably restrained by the two airbags 8 and 9 arranged vertically and protected.
That is, in the present embodiment, an occupant protection function that appropriately responds to the behavior of the occupant M during a side collision is secured.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 shows a main part of a vehicle 1 provided with a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows one specific example of how to adjust the deployment timing of the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e side and the airbag 9 on the roof side rail 1d side in the third embodiment, and FIG. As shown, the pillar-side airbag module 4 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment including the inflator 6 and the airbag 8, but the roof side rail-side airbag module 5 has no inflator, The configuration is such that a simple gas blowing member 22 is provided inside the airbag 9. The gas blowing member 22 is connected to the inflator 6 on the pillar-side airbag module 4 via a gas passage 23 provided with a gas control valve 24 in the middle of the passage. That is, in the present embodiment, the two airbags 8 and 9 are both deployed by the inflator 6 on the pillar-side airbag module 4 side, and in that case, the gas control valve 24 controls the gas blowing member 22 side. By controlling the amount of gas flowing to the airbag 9, the airbag 9 on the roof side rail 1d side is deployed a predetermined time later than the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e side.
In the present embodiment, by operating the airbag 9 on the roof side rail 1d side later than the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e side in this way, the same operation and effect as in the third embodiment can be obtained.

  Here, a specific configuration of the above-described gas control valve 24 will be described. First, the gas control valve 24 shown in FIG. 12 is a valve body which is urged by a spring 27 in a valve casing 25 so as to be constantly seated on a valve seat 28. 26, and is attached to the gas passage tube 23 with the valve seat 28 facing the inflator 6 of the airbag module 4 on the pillar side. In the gas control valve 24 having such a configuration, in the case of the vehicle 1, when the inflator 6 of the pillar-side airbag module 4 is activated by a side collision and gas is ejected from the same, the gas is first supplied to the pillar 1 e side. It is dedicated to the deployment of the airbag 8. When the airbag 8 is almost completely deployed, the gas pressure inside the airbag 8 increases, whereby the valve body 26 of the gas control valve 24 is pushed open against the spring force of the spring 27, and the gas control valve is opened. The gas from the inflator 6 is supplied to the airbag 9 on the side of the roof side rail 1d via the airbag 24, and the airbag 9 is deployed. That is, the gas control valve 24 automatically delays the deployment timing of the airbag 9 on the roof side rail 1d side from the deployment timing of the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e side by the internal pressure of the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e side. It was made. Therefore, there is an advantage that the structure is simple, its reliability is high, and its cost is low.

  On the other hand, the gas control valve 24 shown in FIG. 13 is different from that shown in FIG. 12 in that the valve 30 is driven by a solenoid 29. Therefore, although the gas control valve 24 cannot be automatically opened and closed by the gas pressure unlike the above, it can be opened and closed regardless of the gas pressure. The deployment timing of the airbag 9 can be set arbitrarily, and has an advantage that control can be performed in more detail according to the behavior of the occupant.

  Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 14 and 15 show a vehicle 1 having a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the pillar-side airbag module 4 and the roof-side rail-side airbag module 5 are arranged on both sides of the vehicle compartment, respectively, and the structure is not changed at all. However, in this embodiment having such a basic structure, each of these airbags is selected and deployed at the time of a side collision, and the deployment timing is made different between the collision side and the anti-collision side. This is characterized in that the following advantages can be obtained in addition to the case of the first embodiment.

That is, in this embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16, when the vehicle 1 side-collides and the collision sensor detects this (steps S11 and S12), first, As shown in FIG. 14, of the two upper and lower airbags 8 and 9 on the collision side, only the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e side is deployed (step S13). This is because in the initial stage of a side collision, the occupant M is swung to the collision side, so that it is necessary to deploy the airbag on the collision side, and in that case, the occupant M is swung at a relatively low position in a substantially seated state. Therefore, the airbag 9 on the roof side rail 1d located at a higher position than the airbag 8 on the pillar 1e located at a lower position has a lower demand for deployment.
Therefore, in the initial stage of the side collision, the occupant M is reliably restrained by the airbag 8 that is deployed on the collision side and at a relatively low position, and protection is achieved.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15, in the late stage of the side collision, the two airbags 8 and 9 on the non-collision side are simultaneously deployed and wait to restrain the occupant M. Therefore,
The occupant M thrown from the driver's seat 2 side to the passenger seat 3 side with the waist protruding is widened not only to the waist but also to the shoulder and head by the two airbags 8 and 9 on the anti-collision side. It is reliably restrained over the range and protection is achieved.
In this case, the airbags 8, 9 on the anti-collision side are deployed with a predetermined time delay from the airbags 8 on the collision side, so that the airbags 8, 9 on the anti-collision side are in an optimum deployed state, respectively. Thus, the occupant M can be awaited, and more reliable occupant protection can be expected.

  Further, instead of deploying all the four airbags 8 and 9 provided in total as in the present embodiment, only three airbags considered to be the minimum necessary for protecting the occupant are deployed. In this case, for example, compared to the case where all four are deployed, the generation of gas noise at the time of deployment and the amount of gas released into the vehicle interior are small, so that discomfort or health to the occupant may be given to the occupant. Can be reduced as much as possible.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18 show a vehicle 1 provided with an energy absorbing structure which can be said to be a modification of each of the above embodiments. In the present embodiment, similarly to the above embodiments, the pillar-side airbag module 4 and the roof-side rail-side airbag module 5 are respectively arranged at the upper portions on both sides of the vehicle compartment, and in addition to this, as shown in FIG. In addition, an airbag 21 is disposed at a top seal portion disposed on the vehicle cabin side of the roof 1c, and the airbag 21 is mounted on each of the roof side rail side airbag modules 5 located on the left and right sides of the airbag 21. It communicates with the airbag 9.
Then, at the time of a side collision of the vehicle 1, the airbag 8 of each pillar side airbag module 4 and the airbag 9 of each roof side rail side airbag module 5 are simultaneously deployed. Then, simultaneously with the deployment of the airbag 9 on each roof side rail 1d, the airbag 21 on the roof 1c is deployed on the ceiling side of the passenger compartment, and the upper part of the passenger compartment is surrounded by these five airbags. The protection of the occupant M is more complete.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a main part side view showing a vehicle provided with a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a state change diagram of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the airbag of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the airbag of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1. It is a principal part side view which shows the vehicle provided with the energy absorption structure of the vehicle body side part concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is an operation explanatory view of an airbag in a vehicle provided with a body side energy absorbing structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is an operation explanatory view of an airbag in a vehicle provided with a body side energy absorbing structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is a control flowchart of a third embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part side view which shows the vehicle provided with the energy absorption structure of the vehicle body side part concerning 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a structural explanatory view showing a gas control valve of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is a structural explanatory view showing a gas control valve of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is an operation explanatory view of an airbag in a vehicle provided with a body side energy absorbing structure according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. It is an operation explanatory view of an airbag in a vehicle provided with a body side energy absorbing structure according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a control flowchart according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view of an airbag in a vehicle having a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view of an airbag in a vehicle having a vehicle body side energy absorbing structure according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a behavior of an occupant during a side collision of a vehicle. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a behavior of an occupant during a side collision of a vehicle.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 1d Roof side rail 1e pillar 2 Driver's seat 3 Passenger's seat 4,5 Airbag module 6,7 Inflator 8,9,21 Airbag 10,11 Module case 12,13 Module mounting bracket 14 Pillar trim 15 Seaming welt 16 Rail Trim 22 Gas blowing member 23 Gas passage 24 Gas control valve 29 Solenoid

Claims (4)

  An energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side portion provided with an airbag that expands to the inside of a vehicle and restrains an occupant in a vehicle room in a side collision of the vehicle, wherein the airbag is located on an upper side portion of the vehicle room. An inflator which is disposed in the front-rear direction along the roof and which blows out a gas for deploying the airbag is disposed in the front-rear direction along the roof side rail. Construction.   The energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side portion according to claim 1, wherein the airbag and the inflator are arranged so as to overlap in the front-rear direction.   3. The energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side according to claim 1, wherein the inflator is modularized integrally with the airbag in the roof side rail portion.   4. The energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side part according to claim 3, wherein the modularized inflator and airbag are mounted on an inner panel side of the roof side rail part.

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