JP2007320511A - Air bag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bag for side part protection capable of immediately seaming a main body panel after applying a sealant, favorable in workability in seaming, capable of holding sufficient airtightness with a small amount of adhesive, light and excellent in a compact storing property and capable of holding airtightness for a long period of time even when a vehicle rolls over in collision. <P>SOLUTION: This air bag is constituted by forming an air chamber by seaming a polymerized main body ground fabric panel and applying a seal along a seaming line of a peripheral edge part of the air chamber, and the seal is made of an adhesive seal previously formed in a specified shape and characteristically positioned in the neighborhood of the inside of the seaming line. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag for protecting an occupant at the time of a vehicle collision, and more particularly to an airbag suitable for protecting a side part having excellent airtightness.

  Airbag systems have become widespread as safety devices for protecting passengers in vehicles, and the number of mounting parts has increased from driver seats to passenger seats, side protections, and rear seats, and the protection function for passengers has increased. In particular, an airbag that protects an occupant from an impact at the time of a side collision, that is, a side portion protecting airbag (hereinafter referred to as a side portion airbag) has been put into practical use as a means for improving safety for the occupant. Against this backdrop, multipurpose vehicles with high vehicle height and excellent maneuverability are preferred, while accidents have increased and side collisions and rollovers due to collisions have also increased. When a vehicle rolls over, that is, rolls over, it is necessary to protect the occupant for a long time of several seconds, and high airtightness of the airbag is required. That is, in a rollover compatible airbag, the body panel is provided with a coating layer for providing airtightness, and means for preventing gas leakage from the joint is essential at the joint of the body panel by sewing or the like. Become.

Many proposals have been made for a method for preventing gas leakage from a seam of an airbag created by stitching.
For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-237737) proposes a method in which a double-sided tape having a thermosetting adhesive on both sides of a cloth is sandwiched between stitched parts and stitched together with a main body base cloth. . In this method, in order to improve the adhesiveness between the adhesive and the stitched portion, it is necessary to perform heat treatment, and the process becomes complicated.

  Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-86776) discloses a method of re-melting and solidifying a hot-melt adhesive by stitching a bonded portion to which a hot-melt adhesive is applied or pasted, and then heating the stitched portion. Is disclosed. In this method, the gap of the seam is sealed with a hot-melt adhesive, but the hot-melt resin is fluidized and melted by heating. When an inflator with a high gas temperature is used, it is used as a sealing agent. The function may be reduced, or the adhesion may be insufficient depending on the material of the surface of the base fabric.

  Further, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-220017) discloses a technique for joining two panels together by stitching with a thread and bonding with an elastic adhesive such as a silicone-based adhesive or a urethane-based adhesive. Has also been proposed. In this method, not only the process of applying the adhesive to the panel surface is indispensable, but also the process of curing the adhesive by heat, pressure, moisture, etc. is necessary, and the manufacturing process becomes complicated as in the prior art described above. .

In any of these methods, a compound having excellent adhesiveness is used in the stitched portion to close the seam. However, since compounds other than the main body panel are sewn together at the sewing step, there are not a few troubles during sewing. Therefore, for example, in patent document 4 (Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-2149), an adhesive sealing material is used as a sealing material of a stitching part, and the outer end part of the hardened sealing material or an outer proximity position is sewn. Therefore, there is also a proposal for making the sewing work easier by reducing the contamination of the sewing needle.
However, these methods described above require an application process and a curing process of an adhesive compound having a sealing function prior to stitching, which not only complicates the process but also increases the overall cost. In addition, when stitching through an adhesive compound that has been applied and pasted in a linear or belt form, a certain amount of wide application width and application width is required from the viewpoint of sewing workability, resulting in a large amount of adhesiveness. The use of a compound has been a problem in terms of folding storability, weight, material price, and the like.
JP-A-2-237837 JP-A-10-86776 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-220017 JP 2003-2149 A

The present invention provides an epoch-making airbag capable of improving the airtightness of the stitched portion by a simple process, which is impossible with these prior arts, that is, immediately after applying a sealing material. The body panel can be sewn, the workability at the time of suturing is good, and a sufficient amount of airtightness is maintained with a small amount of adhesive, and it is lightweight and provides a side protection airbag with excellent compact storage. For the purpose.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an air bag that can maintain airtightness for a long time even when a vehicle rolls over in the event of a collision.

The present invention relates to an airbag obtained by applying a flexible sheet coated with an adhesive near the inside of a stitched portion in order to prevent gas leakage from the stitched portion.
That is, the present invention

[1] An air bag in which an air chamber is formed by stitching a polymer main body base fabric panel, and a seal is provided along a stitching line at the peripheral edge of the air chamber, and the seal is formed in a predetermined shape in advance. An air bag comprising an adhesive seal made and located in the vicinity of the inside of the stitching line,
[2] An airbag in which an air chamber is formed by an opposing main body base fabric panel, and has a stitching portion that divides the interior of the air chamber into a plurality of small air chambers that communicate with each other. An airbag provided with a seal along the airbag, wherein the seal is made of an adhesive seal formed in advance in a predetermined shape, and is located in the vicinity of the outside so as to surround the stitched portion;
[3] An airbag in which an air chamber is formed by opposing body base fabric panels, wherein the interior of the air chamber is connected by a connection panel that connects the opposing body base fabric panels to each other, and the body base of the connection panel An airbag characterized in that the connecting portion with the fabric panel is connected non-sewn by an adhesive seal;
[4] The pressure-sensitive adhesive seal is composed of a base material made of a flexible material and a pressure-sensitive adhesive on the surface of the base material, and the base material has an elongation at break according to JIS-L-1096 (8.12.1 method). The airbag according to any one of [1] to [3], in which is 500% or more,
[5] The adhesive seal is composed of a base material made of a flexible material and an adhesive on the surface of the base material, and the base material has an elongation at break in the thickness direction according to JIS-L-1096 (8.12.1 method). The airbag according to any one of [1] to [3], in which is 800% or more,
[6] The airbag according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the base material includes a reinforcing layer having a higher flexural modulus than the base material.
[7] The airbag according to [6], wherein the reinforcing layer is selected from paper, nonwoven fabric, and film.
[8] The airbag according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the base material is selected from a foamed elastomer and a soft resin material of foamed rubber,
[9] The adhesive seal is any one of [1] to [8], to which an adhesive composed of one or more of acrylic, urethane, silicone, and halogen-containing is applied. Air bag,
It is about.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to impart airtightness to an airbag with a small amount of pressure-sensitive adhesive without using a complicated process, and in particular, it is possible to satisfy a rollover response that needs to maintain airtightness for a long time. In addition, it is possible to provide an air bag particularly suitable for protecting the side part, which is excellent in compact storability, by a simple process.

The airbag according to the present invention is an airbag in which an air chamber is formed by stitching a polymer body base fabric panel, and a seal is provided along a stitching line at a peripheral edge of the air chamber, and the seal is predetermined. An air bag comprising an adhesive seal formed in the shape of and located near the inside of the stitching line.
In the present invention, it is extremely important to use an adhesive seal for joining various panels, and after heat treatment, pressure treatment, and standing for a long time, such as conventionally used adhesives. No process is required, and extremely high airtightness can be secured by firmly adhering the panels to each other via an adhesive seal.
Further, the positional relationship between the adhered adhesive seal and the stitched portion is also a major technical element of the present invention, and the adhered adhesive seal is located along the stitching line and in the vicinity of the inside of the stitched line at the outer peripheral joint portion. Further, in the stitched portion that divides the inside of the air chamber into a plurality of small air chambers that communicate with each other, the adhered adhesive seal is positioned along the stitched portion and in the vicinity of the outside so as to surround the stitched portion. .

  In the present invention, it is important that the panel is sewn without touching the end portion as well as the central portion of the adhesive seal adhered to the joint portion. As in the prior art where the adhesive compound described above is used for the stitching part, a high degree of airtightness can be secured even if the center part of the adhesive seal is sewn, but the vicinity of the adhesive seal away from the end part is sewn. Is advantageous for sewing workability, and can reduce the width of the adhesive seal to be applied. In particular, when stitching from above the adhesive seal using a plurality of seams, the distance between the seam lines is about 2 to 5 mm, and the width of the adhesive seal needs to be wide enough to ensure the distance between the seam lines. In the present invention, at least the distance between the stitch lines is unnecessary compared to the conventional method, and the width of the adhesive seal can be narrowed. Therefore, the thickness of the folded airbag is reduced, and the surface can be more compactly stored. It will be advantageous. The width of the sheet may be selected depending on the shape and capacity of the airbag, the required air tightness, the site to which the adhesive seal is applied, and the shape to be applied. For example, it may be about 2 to 10 mm, preferably about 3 to 8 mm. .

The distance between the end of the adhesive seal applied to the outer peripheral portion and the seam line for stitching the panel may be selected depending on the material of the adhesive seal, the material of the adherend surface, the properties, etc. Preferably, the thickness may be about 2 to 6 mm. If the distance between the seam line and the end of the adhesive seal is too large, the internal pressure stress generated when the airbag is inflated does not propagate to the sewing thread, and the adhesive seal may be broken depending on the magnitude of the internal pressure stress.
In addition, in the part that divides the air chamber, which is an inflatable part provided inside the airbag, the adhesive seal is affixed so as to be located on both sides of the seam line, and is sandwiched or surrounded by the adhesive seal What is necessary is just to sew a space part. In this case as well, the distance between the adhesive seal and the sewing thread may be the same as that for the stitching of the outer peripheral portion.
Furthermore, inside the air chamber, an adhesive seal is also applied at the connection part between the connection panel and the connection panel that are connected in a state of separating the main body panel, and the main body panel and the connection panel side base are overlapped and fixed. You can also

  The pressure-sensitive adhesive seal used in the airbag of the present invention comprises a flexible base material and a pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to both surfaces of the base material, and the elongation at break in the thickness direction of the base material (measurement method is JIS-L- 1096, 8.1 method) is preferably 500% or more, more preferably 800% or more. When the elongation at break of the flexible base material is less than 500%, the elongation characteristic with respect to the expansion action to the adhesive seal generated by the internal pressure stress of the airbag is insufficient, and the sealing function as an airtight holding material may not be sufficiently satisfied. is there.

A rollover-compatible side protection airbag to be mounted around a window, which is one of the objects of the present invention, is usually stitched on the outer periphery of two panels. In order to control the shape of the airbag and the thickness of the airbag during inflation, the central portion of the inflation region is also stitched or connected, so that it cannot be reversed like a front seat airbag for a driver seat or a passenger seat. Accordingly, the force for peeling the two panels directly acts on the peripheral stitching portion and the partition stitching portion of the inner inflation portion at the time of inflation, so that a stitching strength sufficient to ensure the pressure resistance of the airbag is required.
In addition, from the viewpoint of preventing gas leakage from the seam, physical properties that resist the peeling force acting on the sealing material that closes the seam and provides airtightness and adhesion to the main body panel are required.

  That is, a sealing material that satisfies the required characteristics of a rollover-compatible airbag is required to maintain high strength, high elongation, and adhesion to the main body panel for a long period of time against the peeling action. A strong material often has a high modulus, the sealing portion is extremely hard, and the folding volume of the airbag is difficult to be compact. The main body panel of the air bag is often coated with a silicone resin or rubber having excellent heat resistance, and the seam sealing material is a material having adhesiveness to silicone, for example, a highly extensible silicone resin. Or rubber is also used. However, a material that satisfies the characteristics required for the above-mentioned sealing material, that is, a material that satisfies both high extensibility and high adhesion, is devised in the composition of materials such as resin or rubber material components, adhesion-imparting agents, and fillers. As a result, the price of materials tended to increase.

The pressure-sensitive adhesive seal of the present invention has a performance similar to that of a conventionally used sealing material, but a highly extensible flexible sheet material serving as a base material for the pressure-sensitive adhesive seal, and a surface of the sheet material. Because it is composed of the applied adhesive, it complements each of the two different required performances compared to the case where the required properties are satisfied with a single sealing material as in the past. Different materials can be used, the degree of freedom in selecting a material as a sealing material is increased, and the material price can be reduced.
The shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive seal used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it fits the purpose, and can be appropriately selected.

  In addition, the use of a relatively flexible reinforcing layer such as paper, non-woven fabric, or films as an intermediate layer of the adhesive seal of the present invention suppresses deformation during the operation of attaching the adhesive seal to the panel, or an airbag. It is preferable for the reason that it exhibits a certain level of resistance against the stretching action that acts during expansion.

  In this invention, it is preferable that the flexible base material which comprises an adhesive seal consists of foamed resin or foamed rubber, and what is excellent in high extensibility, heat resistance, a softness | flexibility, etc. is sufficient. For example, one or more selected from acrylic, urethane, silicone, olefin, fluorine, and chlorine containing, more specifically, acrylic resin or rubber (including copolymer) , Ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer resin or rubber, polyurethane resin or rubber (including silicone modified, fluorine modified), polystyrene resin or rubber, silicone resin or rubber, polyolefin resin or rubber, fluorine resin or It is preferable to use one or a mixture or copolymer of two or more selected from rubber, chlorine-containing resin or rubber, etc., and in some cases, a foamed material in combination of two or more may be used. There is no need to use general-purpose materials such as nitrile rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, and natural rubber. There.

As a foaming method of the material, a method usually performed may be used. For example, 1) mechanical stirring, 2) use of a reaction product gas, 3) use of a pressurized gas, 4) a soluble solution of a material solvent 5) Use of various foaming agents such as organic or inorganic. Further, the expansion ratio may be selected in accordance with the required performance as a sheet material, and usually selected from a range of 1.1 to 5 times or an apparent specific gravity of 0.2 to 0.9. May be independent, continuous, or a mixture thereof, but those that are foamed independently have a high shielding property in the thickness direction and are more effective as a sealing material.
In order to improve the adhesion between the flexible substrate and the adhesive applied to the surface of the substrate, the surface of the substrate is previously treated with 1) chemical treatment such as a primer, 2) plasma, ultraviolet rays, electron beam. It is also preferable to perform single or plural chemical treatments and / or physical treatments such as irradiation, etc., and 3) fine polishing.

  The pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to the flexible substrate may be any material as long as the substrate adheres strongly to the main body panel, and is excellent in heat resistance, durability, flexibility, for example, acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive (co-polymer) Combined), ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer adhesives, silicone adhesives, polyurethane adhesives, halogen-containing adhesives, rubber adhesives (natural rubber, block copolymers, polyisobutylene / butyl rubber, It is preferable to use one or more pressure-sensitive adhesives selected from polyisoprene rubber), among which silicone pressure-sensitive adhesives are particularly preferable. These pressure-sensitive adhesives include pressure-sensitive materials and heat-sensitive materials.

The application amount of the pressure-sensitive adhesive may be selected according to the required characteristics, but the application amount on one side may be in the range of ² to 75 g / m ² or thickness of ² to 150 μm. Also, the coating method may be selected according to the properties of the surface to be coated, the coating amount, the viscosity of the adhesive, etc. For example, 1) coating method (knife, kiss, reverse, comma), 2) printing method (screen, Roll, rotary), 3) laminating method, 4) spraying method, 5) transfer method, etc. may be selected.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to use a gas-impermeable base fabric having a heat-resistant coating material on at least one side as the main body panel in order to reduce gas escape from the airbag main body. As a heat-resistant resin, the durability, heat resistance, air tightness, wear resistance, non-adhesiveness between coated surfaces, adhesion to a base fabric, flame retardancy, etc. are usually satisfied as an air bag. Any material may be used, for example, silicone resin or rubber, polyurethane resin or rubber (including silicone-modified and fluorine-modified), fluorine-based resin or rubber, chlorine-based resin or rubber, polyester resin or rubber, polyamide-based resin or rubber, One or more of epoxy resins, vinyl resins, urea resins, phenol resins, etc. may be used.

  The methods for applying these coating materials to the main fabric are 1) coating method (knife, kiss, reverse, comma, etc.), 2) dipping method, 3) printing method (screen, roll, rotary, etc.), 4) Processing methods such as laminating and 5) spraying may be used. The properties of the coating material may be any of solvent-based, solvent-free, emulsion-based, water-dispersed, aqueous solution, or a mixed solution thereof, fine powder, film or sheet.

  In addition, the coating material includes various additives usually used for improving processability, adhesion, durability, weather resistance, etc., such as a crosslinking agent, a reaction accelerator, a reaction retarding agent, a heat stabilizer, Antioxidants, light stabilizers, anti-aging agents, lubricants, smoothing agents, anti-blocking agents, pigments, water repellents, oil repellents, concealing agents such as titanium oxide, gloss imparting agents, flame retardants, plasticizers, etc. One kind or two or more kinds may be selected and used in combination. In addition to the various additives described above, various pretreatment agents for improving adhesion to the base fabric, adhesion improvers, etc. may be added to the covering material, or primer treatment may be applied to the surface of the base fabric in advance. The pretreatment may be performed. Furthermore, in order to impart heat resistance, aging resistance, oxidation resistance, etc. to the coating agent, after applying the coating agent to the fabric, drying, crosslinking, vulcanization, etc. are performed with hot air treatment, contact heat treatment, high energy treatment (high frequency treatment) , Electron beam, ultraviolet ray) or the like.

In the case of the conventional method, after applying the adhesive sealing material to the main body panel, in order to develop the physical properties of the sealing material and improve the adhesion to the main body panel, the curing process of the sealing material, that is, heating, It was necessary to sew after passing through the manufacturing process such as pressure and standing at room temperature for a long time.
In the present invention, the main body panels can be integrated through the adhesive seal simply by applying the adhesive seal to a predetermined vicinity of the stitching line, overlaying and pressing the main body panels. An air bag can be obtained by an extremely simple manufacturing process by stitching a stitching line in the vicinity.
In order to facilitate the sewing work, it is preferable to make a ruled line in advance and to identify the position of the end of the adhesive seal by illumination from the back surface of the stitched portion. In addition, when the difference in brightness due to illumination from the back surface is sensed and the dark area is sewn, that is, the needle position enters the adhesive seal area, and the sewing machine stops when it penetrates the sheet and is sewn. Providing it in the suturing device is preferable for ensuring the accuracy of the suturing portion position.

  The sewing specification of the stitching portion of the present invention may be performed by stitches that are applied to a normal airbag such as main stitching and double chain stitching. The thickness of the sewing thread may be 700 dtex (equivalent to 20th) to 2800 dtex (equivalent to 0th). When a plurality of stitch lines are required, the distance between the stitches is about 2 to 8 mm, and a multi-needle type sewing machine may be used. However, a single-needle sewing machine may be sewn multiple times.

  The sewing thread used for the sewing may be appropriately selected from what is generally called a synthetic fiber sewing thread or an industrial sewing thread. For example, nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 46, nylon 6T, nylon 9T, etc. There are fiber materials such as polyamide, polyester (including wholly aromatic), vinylon, aromatic polyamide (including ether copolymer), polyoxazole, carbon, glass, etc., spun yarn, filament twisted yarn Any of filament resin processed yarns may be used.

Moreover, the base fabric used for the main body panel of the present invention may be any fabric as long as it satisfies the instantaneous impact force at the time of deployment, the airtightness and pressure resistance as a bag body, the folding volume, etc. It is preferable to use a base fabric having a dense structure composed of 700 dtex yarn. The denseness of the base fabric affects the amount of seam deviation that occurs. For example, it is preferable that the fabric has a cover factor of 720 or more, more preferably 800 to 1120. Here, the cover factor (CF) is a parameter representing the density of the woven fabric structure determined by the product of the thickness decitex of the warp and weft and the fabric density (w / cm) of the warp and weft. The
CF = Nw × √Dw + Nf × √Df
Here, Dw and Df represent the warp and weft thickness (decitex), and Nw and Nf represent the warp and weft fabric density (lines / cm).
The single yarn thickness of the yarn is preferable, for example, by using a thin yarn of 3 decitex or less, because a base fabric rich in flexibility can be obtained even at high density.

  The base fabric used for the airbag main body panel used in the present invention may be woven by various looms used to produce ordinary industrial fabrics, for example, shuttle looms, water jet looms (WJL), An air jet loom (AJL), rapier loom, or projectile loom may be selected. In the present invention, in addition to a normal woven fabric composed of warps and wefts, a triaxial woven fabric, a tetraaxial woven fabric, or the like that has improved the mechanical isotropy of the woven fabric may be used. Moreover, you may use the bag woven structure partially connected by the woven structure with the Jacquard loom. The woven structure may be any of plain weave, twill weave, satin weave, oblique weave, lattice weave (ripstop weave), silk weave, or a combination thereof.

  Moreover, the fiber yarn which comprises the base fabric for main body panels of this invention is not specifically limited, For example, nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 46, nylon 610, nylon 612 etc. are individual or these copolymerization , Aliphatic polyamide fiber obtained by mixing, copolymer of aliphatic amine and aromatic carboxylic acid typified by nylon 6T and nylon 9T, paraphenylene terephthalamide, typified by copolymer of this with aromatic ether Aromatic polyamide fiber, polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, etc., or a copolymer of these, polyester fiber obtained by mixing, fully aromatic polyester fiber, ultrahigh molecular weight polyolefin Fiber, vinyl Chlorine fibers such as den or polyvinyl chloride, fluorinated fibers containing polytetrafluoroethylene, polyacetal fibers, polysulfone fibers, polyphenylene sulfide fibers (PPS), polyether ether ketone (PEEK) fibers, polyimide fibers, polyethers Imido fiber, polyoxazole fiber such as polyparaphenylene benzbisoxazole (PBO), cellulosic fiber including high strength rayon, vinylon fiber, acrylic fiber, silicon carbide fiber, alumina fiber, glass fiber, carbon fiber, depending on circumstances May be appropriately selected from metal fibers typified by steel.

  These fiber yarns have various additives that are commonly used to improve spinnability, processability, and material durability, such as heat stabilizers, antioxidants, light stabilizers, anti-aging agents, One or more of a lubricant, a smoothing agent, a pigment, a water repellent, an oil repellent, a concealing agent such as titanium oxide, a gloss imparting agent, a flame retardant, and a plasticizer may be used. Moreover, you may give processes, such as twisting, a bulky process, a crimping process, and a winding process depending on the case. Furthermore, the form of the yarn is not particularly limited, such as filaments of long fibers, spun yarns of short fibers, and composite yarns thereof.

The specifications, shape, and capacity of the airbag according to the present invention may be selected according to the site to be disposed, the application, the storage space, the impact absorption performance with the contact object, the output of the inflator, and the like.
Also, rollover-compatible airbags require extremely high airtightness, so there is usually no exhaust hole for gas exhaust, but when high energy absorption is required when the occupant comes into contact, One or a plurality of exhaust holes, a function of adjusting the internal pressure by allowing gas to flow into the adjacent expansion portion when the internal pressure of the expansion portion reaches a certain level or more, and the like may be provided. For example, a circular hole having a diameter of about φ10 mm to φ40 mm or a hole having an area corresponding to the circular hole may be provided, and a reinforcing cloth may be joined around the exhaust hole. The internal pressure adjustment function may be based on a tear seam by sewing, bonding, or the like, and an adjacent auxiliary expansion part. Moreover, you may provide parts, such as an auxiliary member for promoting the expansion | deployment performance of an airbag, and a baffle cloth for controlling the gas flow inside an airbag.

In the present invention, depending on the characteristics of the inflator used, a heat-resistant protective cloth or a mechanical reinforcing cloth for protecting the airbag body base cloth from the hot gas from the inflator may be provided. These protective cloths and reinforcing cloths are made of heat-resistant materials such as wholly aromatic polyamide fibers, wholly aromatic polyester fibers, polyimide fibers, fluorine-containing fibers, and polyoxazole fibers. It may be used, or a base fabric such as a woven fabric using a thread thicker than the main body base fabric that is the same as or separately prepared from the airbag main body may be coated with a heat resistant material, or a coating material may not be applied. You may use for.
The airbag can be folded using the bellows folding, folding screen-like zigzag folding, roll-up winding, or a combination of these. Bending, roll winding, etc. may be employed.

  The present invention relates to a method for obtaining a high airtightness of a side collision protection airbag. For example, a headrest bag for protecting a front seat of a driver seat and a passenger seat, a rear collision protection, and leg / foot protection. Functionally satisfied in addition to various uses such as knee bags and foot bags for pedestrians, airbags for protecting pedestrians, mini bags for child protection (child seats), bags for air belts, passenger cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles If so, the present invention may be applied to other uses such as ships, trains, airplanes, other transportation means, amusement park facilities, and the like.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically based on examples. In the examples, the performance of the airbag body was evaluated by the following method.

(1) Elongation at break in the thickness direction As shown in FIG. 1, a sample having an adhesive seal 5 sandwiched between one end of two main body panel cut pieces 1 and 2 was prepared. Subsequently, two cut pieces were pulled up and down, and the elongation at the time when the tensioned adhesive seal began to break was measured to obtain the thickness direction breaking elongation (%) of the stitched portion. The tensile conditions were measured according to JIS L-1096 (8.12.1 method) at a tensile speed of 200 mm / min.

(2) Airtightness of the airbag The airbag shown in FIG. 3 is prepared, and the inflator (tank pressure 200 kpa, helium gas type inflator manufactured by Daicel) is fixed to the inflator insertion portion 10 together with the fixing bracket, and the airbag is brought to room temperature. Expanded. The maximum internal pressure of the airbag and the internal pressure retention rate (%) 5 seconds after the start of deployment were determined.

(3) Folding capacity of airbag The thickness was measured in a state where the airbag was folded 10 times in a bellows substantially parallel to the length direction, and a relative comparison was made with the case of Example 1 being 100.
(4) Comparison of manufacturing process The time required for the manufacturing process of the airbag was measured, and the case of Example 1 was set as 100, and a relative comparison was performed.

Example 1
A plain woven fabric having a weaving density of 23 yarns / cm and a weaving density of 23 yarns / cm was prepared using nylon 66 fiber 350 dtex / 144 f (yarn strength 8.6 cN / dtex). This woven fabric was scoured and heat-set, and then a solventless addition type silicone resin was applied to one side of the woven fabric at 30 g / m ² (in terms of solid content). The weave density was 24.5 pieces / cm for both warp and weft, and the cover factor was 917.

Next, two base fabrics for the main body panel were cut into the shape shown in FIG. 3 as the main body panel of the airbag. The overall size of the airbag is 165 cm in length and 55 cm in height, and the cut cloth 2 has a shape in which the central portion of the cut cloth 1 is deleted along the joining line. A double-sided adhesive sticker with a thickness of 1.0 mm is coated on the coated surface side of the cut piece 1, the outer peripheral part (3) is 4 mm wide, and the linear part of the inner part (5a to 5c) has a space part between the straight lines of 5 mm. In order to obtain a 4 mm band on both sides of the stitched part, the circular part was stuck in an annular shape with a ring width of 4 mm. The adhesive seal is a flexible base material made of acrylic resin foam, and the adhesive applied on both sides is a silicone-based adhesive (a double-sided adhesive heat-resistant product of adhesive tape GT7112 manufactured by Sumitomo 3M Limited, with a base material thickness of 1 mm, adhesive The coating amount was 75 μm on each side). Next, the cut pieces 2 were superposed and pressure-bonded with a roller having a weight of 6 kg with an adhesive seal interposed therebetween. As for the stitching position, the outer peripheral part is 3 rows on the outer side along the adhesive seal, and two rows of double stitches (the number of stitches is 3.5 stitches / cm, the distance between stitches is 2.4 mm). The inner circular part and the inner circular part 2 mm of the annular part were each performed in one row of main stitches (number of stitches: 4 stitches / cm). All of the sewing threads were made of nylon 66 fiber, and the double chain stitch was 5th thread (corresponding to 1470 dtex, thread strength of 7.8 N / dtex).
Table 1 shows the characteristics of the materials used for manufacturing the airbag and the results of the airbag deployment test. The airtightness and stowability (folding thickness) of the airbag are excellent, and the manufacturing process can be simplified as compared with the manufacturing method using the conventional thermosetting sealing material (Comparative Example 1).
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

Example 2
In Example 1, a plain woven fabric having a weaving density of 51 pieces / cm after passing through a 470 dtex / 144 f (yarn strength of 8.6 cN / dtex) and coating 40 g / m ² of silicone resin on one side. (The cover factor is 867), and an airbag was made according to Example 1 except that a silicone-based foam was used as the flexible substrate.
Table 1 shows the material characteristics and the airbag deployment test results. Like Example 1, it was excellent in airtightness and the manufacturing process was short.

Comparative Example 1
In Example 2, an addition type thermosetting silicone resin (product of Toray Dow Co., SE1700) as an adhesive was applied as a sealing material, and the sealing material was cured by heat treatment at 160 ° C. for 2 minutes. Then, an airbag was prepared according to Example 2. Since the breaking elongation of the sealing material is low, the hermeticity in the development test is low, and the manufacturing process is long.

Comparative Example 2
In Example 1, an adhesive seal was affixed with a width of 12 mm at all positions, and after pressing, the main body panel and the adhesive seal were penetrated from above and stitched to create an airbag. The airtightness and manufacturing process are the same as those of the present invention, but the folding thickness is increased and the storage property is inferior.

Comparative Example 3
In Example 1, an airbag was created without using an adhesive seal. Although the storage property is good and the manufacturing process is short, since the material that gives the airtightness of the airbag stitching portion is not used, the airtightness is not very good.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of another embodiment of the airbag according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the airbag is formed in a bag shape by facing the main body panels 1 and 2 and sewing the outer peripheral portion. An adhesive seal is held inside the stitching position, and the main body panels 1 and 2 are connected via adhesive seals 15a to 15h by two connection panels 19a and 19b partially stitched 16a to 16c. Yes.

It is sectional drawing of the sample for the breaking elongation measurement of the horizontal direction of a stitching | suture part. It is sectional drawing of the adhesive seal | sticker which apply | coated the adhesive to both surfaces which become this invention. It is explanatory drawing before the expansion | deployment which looked at the airbag which becomes this invention from the side window part. It is AA arrow sectional drawing after the expansion | deployment in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of another embodiment of the airbag according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the airbag is formed in a bag shape by facing the main body panels 1 and 2 and sewing the outer peripheral portion. An adhesive seal is held inside the stitching position, and the main body panels 1 and 2 are connected via adhesive seals 15a to 15h by two connection panels 19a and 19b partially stitched 16a to 16c. Yes.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2 ································································· Adhesive seal affixed to the outer peripheral portion of the airbag main body panel. 15h ··· Adhesive seal affixed so as to form a space to partition the air bag air chamber 6 · · Flexible base material constituting the adhesive seal 7a to 7c · · Air bag air chamber 8a to 8c ..Suture portions 9a and 9b in the space formed by an adhesive seal for partitioning the air bag air chamber ..Adhesive 10 ..Inflator attachment ports 16a to 16c ..Suture portion 19a between connecting panels 19b ... Connection panel

Claims (9)

An air bag is formed by stitching the polymer body base fabric panel, and a seal is provided along a stitching line at the peripheral edge of the air chamber, wherein the seal is an adhesive formed in a predetermined shape in advance. An airbag comprising a seal and positioned in the vicinity of the inside of the stitching line. An air bag in which an air chamber is formed by an opposing main body base fabric panel, and has a stitching portion that divides the inside of the air chamber into a plurality of small air chambers communicating with each other, and seals along the stitching portion The airbag is characterized in that the seal is made of an adhesive seal formed in advance in a predetermined shape, and is located near the outside so as to surround the stitched portion. An airbag in which an air chamber is formed by opposing body base fabric panels, wherein the interior of the air chamber is connected by a connection panel that connects the opposing body base fabric panels to each other, The airbag is characterized in that the connecting portion is connected by an adhesive seal without stitching. The adhesive seal is composed of a base material made of a flexible material and an adhesive on the surface of the base material, and the base material has an elongation at break in the thickness direction of 500% according to JIS-L-1096 (8.12.1 method). The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The pressure-sensitive adhesive seal is composed of a base material made of a flexible material and a pressure-sensitive adhesive on the surface of the base material. The base material has an elongation at break of 800% in accordance with JIS-L-1096 (8.12.1 method). The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the base material incorporates a reinforcing layer having a higher flexural modulus than the base material. The airbag according to claim 6, wherein the reinforcing layer is selected from paper, nonwoven fabric, and film. The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the base material is selected from a foamed elastomer and a soft resin material of foamed rubber. The airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the adhesive seal is provided with an adhesive composed of one or more of acrylic, urethane, silicone and halogen-containing.

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