JP2009280068A - Occupant's leg restraint system and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly conduct satisfactory expansion and deployment of an airbag even if it is contained at a relatively shallow position from an instrument panel surface. <P>SOLUTION: The occupant's leg restraint system 14 includes: a retainer 16; a knee airbag 18 contained in the retainer 16; a gas generator 20 for expanding the knee airbag 18; and a skin member 22. The skin member 22 is arranged to normally face rearward (the occupant side or a vehicle interior side) from an opening part 10a. When the knee airbag 18 expands, the skin member 22 appears together with the airbag 18 from the opening part 10a and contacts a knee part Ha of the occupant H. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant leg restraining device that restrains an occupant's leg when a vehicle collides, and a vehicle including the same.

  Conventionally, as an occupant leg restraining device that suppresses an occupant's leg from hitting an instrument panel (instrument panel) in front of a seat at the time of a collision of a vehicle such as an automobile, there is a conventional one disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

In this prior art, an occupant leg restraining device (expansion protection device) is provided on an instrument panel of a vehicle. The inflating protection device covers a panel door formed integrally with the instrument panel, an airbag (inflating means) accommodated on the non-occupant side (back side) of the panel door, and an occupant side (front side) of the panel door. And a stretchable surface cover disposed. A thin portion (fragile region) is formed at the boundary between the panel door and the instrument panel. When the vehicle collides and the airbag is inflated by the gas from the gas generator, the thin wall portion is broken by the pushing force and the panel door is opened. By the opening operation of the panel door, the airbag advances to the outside of the instrument panel and bulges out, and the occupant's legs are prevented from colliding with the instrument panel. At this time, the surface cover provided on the occupant side of the panel door extends and spreads by being pushed by the bag that is inflated and deployed toward the occupant's leg, and comes into contact with the occupant's leg together with the airbag. . In this way, by interposing the surface cover between the airbag and the occupant leg, dust generated when the airbag is inflated and the fragmentation of the instrument panel and the panel door are prevented from scattering to the occupant side. It is like that.
Special table 2001-519745 gazette

  In recent years, the layout in a vehicle tends to be restricted by needs such as multifunction of vehicles and in-vehicle devices, improvement of occupant comfort, and miniaturization of the vehicle itself. As a result, when the occupant leg restraining device is arranged, it is required to reduce the installation space. The occupant restraint device of the above prior art is adapted to this requirement, and the folded airbag is stored at a relatively shallow position from the instrument panel surface (so-called shallow bottom type).

  Compared to the structure in which the folded airbag is stored at a relatively deep position from the instrument panel surface (so-called deep-bottom type), the shallow-type airbag storage structure as described above expands from the stored state. The distance to reach the occupant's legs is relatively small. Therefore, in order to quickly perform good inflation and deployment for restraining the occupant's legs, some contrivance is required as compared with the deep bottom type.

  However, in the above-described prior art, there is no particular consideration regarding the speeding up of the inflation and deployment, and as with the deep bottom type, the panel door is broken and the airbag is inflated and deployed, and the resistance during inflation is large. The front cover also acts to slow the inflation and deployment of the airbag (although it helps prevent scattering). For this reason, it was not possible to rapidly perform good expansion and deployment at a short distance as described above.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an occupant leg restraining device and a vehicle using the same, which can rapidly inflate and deploy even when the airbag is stored at a relatively shallow position from the surface of the instrument panel.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first invention provides an airbag that is inflated toward a leg portion of an occupant riding in a vehicle, a gas generator that inflates the airbag by injecting gas, and the gas generator. And an occupant leg restraining device provided in an instrument panel on the front side of the occupant of the vehicle, the retainer accommodating the folded airbag, wherein the instrument panel is attached to the instrument panel when attached to the vehicle. The panel substitute member is disposed on the surface of the airbag so as to face the vehicle interior from the provided opening and to be in contact with the legs by being interposed between the airbag and the legs when the airbag is inflated and deployed. It is characterized by being provided in.

  In the first invention of the present application, a panel substitute member is provided on the surface of the airbag. This panel substitute member is arranged so as to face the inside of the vehicle from the opening of the instrument panel when attached to the vehicle, so that the opening of the instrument panel (without being blocked by a panel, door, etc.) ) The panel substitute member is exposed to the inside of the vehicle. When the airbag is inflated and deployed, the panel substitute member exposed at the opening of the instrument panel as described above comes into contact with the leg portion of the occupant together with the airbag to restrain the leg portion.

  As described above, the opening portion of the instrument panel is closed with the panel substitute member provided on the airbag side, and the panel substitute member reaches the leg portion together with the airbag when the airbag is inflated and deployed. Thereby, it does not become the resistance of inflation deployment of an airbag like the structure which closes the opening part of an instrument panel with a panel or a door. As a result, even when the folded airbag is stored at a relatively shallow position from the instrument panel surface (so-called shallow bottom type), the airbag can be quickly inflated and deployed quickly. Further, in a structure in which the folded airbag is stored at a relatively deep position from the surface of the instrument panel (so-called deep bottom type), the airbag is stored at the back of the retainer, so that the retainer is inflated when the bag is inflated and deployed. Phenomenon (so-called fish mouth phenomenon) that tries to push out in the radial direction occurs. For this reason, reinforcement for improving the rigidity of the retainer is necessary to avoid this, which contributes to an increase in weight. The structure can be as follows. As a result, the above-described reinforcement to the retainer becomes unnecessary, and the weight of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

  A second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, the panel substitute member is a skin member having elasticity larger than that of the instrument panel.

  By using a member having high elasticity, it is possible to prevent the airbag from being inflated and deployed, and to improve the feel when the occupant contacts the leg.

  A third invention is characterized in that, in the second invention, the skin member has a substantially square shape larger than the substantially square opening provided in the instrument panel.

  Usually, since the opening provided in the instrument panel is often substantially rectangular, the opening can be sufficiently closed by making the skin member in a shape that matches this.

  According to a fourth invention, in the second or third invention, the skin member has substantially the same color as that of the instrument panel.

  Since the instrument panel and the skin member have substantially the same color, it is possible to suppress visual discomfort.

  According to a fifth invention, in any one of the second to fourth inventions, the skin member is fixed to the airbag by adhesion.

  Thereby, an outer skin member can be easily fixed to an airbag with a simple method.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the skin member is fixed to the airbag by sewing.

  Thereby, an outer skin member can be firmly fixed to an airbag with a simple method.

  A seventh invention is characterized in that, in any one of the second to sixth inventions, an outer edge portion of the skin member is attached to the retainer.

  By attaching the skin member to the retainer that houses the airbag, the skin member can be installed in a stable positional relationship with respect to the instrument panel.

  According to an eighth invention, in any one of the second to sixth inventions, the outer edge portion of the skin member is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the retainer and the outer edge portion of the opening portion of the instrument panel. It is characterized by.

  By sandwiching the skin member between the retainer and the instrument panel, the skin member can be firmly fixed to the instrument panel in a stable positional relationship. Moreover, since it can suppress that a level | step difference and a clearance gap generate | occur | produce between an instrument panel and an outer skin member by pinching structure, visual discomfort can be reduced significantly.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to eighth aspects, a scattering suppressing member that connects the bottom portion of the retainer and the skin member is provided so as to penetrate the airbag.

  Thereby, even when a part of the skin member scatters due to the momentum during inflation and deployment of the airbag, it is possible to suppress the scatter part from flying to the occupant side.

  In order to achieve the above object, a tenth aspect of the invention is a vehicle in which an instrument panel is provided at a front portion and an occupant leg restraining device is provided on the instrument panel, wherein the occupant leg restraining device is the vehicle. An airbag that inflates toward the leg of the occupant who rides on the vehicle, and a gas generator that injects gas to inflate the airbag, and the front side of the occupant's leg of the instrument panel The part located in is comprised by the elastic member provided with the elasticity larger than the other part, and the other side of the leg part of the said passenger | crew of the said elastic member was fixed to the said airbag.

  In the tenth invention of the present application, a part of the instrument panel (the front side of the occupant leg) is formed of an elastic member different from other parts. This elastic member faces the inside of the vehicle (occupant's leg side) as the instrument panel, and the opposite side (opposite side of the leg) is fixed to the airbag of the occupant leg restraining device provided on the instrument panel. Has been. When the airbag is inflated and deployed, the elastic member fixed to the airbag as described above comes into contact with the legs of the occupant together with the airbag to restrain the legs.

  As described above, a part of the instrument panel is made of an elastic member (having a different structure from other parts), and the elastic member reaches the leg portion together with the airbag when it is inflated and deployed. . Thus, unlike the structure in which an opening is provided in the instrument panel and the opening is closed by the panel or door, there is no resistance to inflation and deployment of the airbag. As a result, even when the folded airbag is stored at a relatively shallow position from the instrument panel surface (so-called shallow bottom type), the airbag can be quickly inflated and deployed quickly.

  According to the present invention, even when the airbag is stored at a relatively shallow position from the surface of the instrument panel, it is possible to quickly perform good inflation and deployment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view in the vicinity of the front of the seat schematically showing when the knee airbag is inflated in the passenger leg restraining device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the knee airbag in a normal state (when the bag is stored). In the following description, the front-rear direction and the left-right direction refer to the front-rear direction and the left-right direction viewed from the seated occupant.

  1 and 2, in this embodiment, an occupant H who gets on a vehicle (not shown) is seated on a seat (not shown) (in this example, a driver seat with a steering ST is taken as an example). An occupant leg restraining device 14 is installed on the instrument panel 10 in front of the seat (not shown).

  The occupant leg restraining device 14 includes a retainer 16 having a bottomed rectangular tube shape (container shape; see FIGS. 2 and 4 to be described later) made of sheet metal, a knee airbag 18 housed in the retainer 16, and a knee airbag. The gas generator 20 for expanding 18 and the skin member 22 (after-mentioned) are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the knee airbag 18 is inflated from the bottom to the top along the front surface (occupant side surface) of the instrument panel 10 from the opening 10a during deployment. The knee airbag 18 has an outer shell constituted by a single panel 24 including a front panel portion 24A on the passenger side and a rear panel portion 24B on the instrument panel 10 side. The panel 24 is folded back at the connection portion, and the peripheral portions except for the connection portion between the front panel portion 24A and the rear panel portion 24B are joined to each other by joining means such as stitching, thereby forming a bag shape. . And the seam 28 is formed from the sewing thread etc. which couple | bonded these peripheral parts.

  The knee airbag 18 is divided into three chambers: a first chamber portion 18a, a second chamber portion 18b, and a third chamber portion 18c. The first chamber portion 18a and the second chamber portion 18b, and the second chamber portion 18b and the third chamber portion 18c communicate with each other through a gas flow path (not shown).

  The gas generator 20 burns the gas generating agent by heat generated by igniting the igniting agent and ejects the gas. In this example, the gas generator 20 is arranged so that the cylinder axis direction is the vehicle width direction. The gas generator 20 is fixed to a bottom plate portion 16a located on the front side of the retainer 16 via a fixing member (not shown). The rear panel portion 24 </ b> B of the knee airbag 18 is attached to the retainer 16 so as to be sandwiched between the gas generator 20 and the bottom plate portion 16 a of the retainer 16.

  The retainer 16 is disposed in an opening 10 a provided in the instrument panel 10. As shown in FIG. 2, normally, the knee airbag 18 is folded and stored in the retainer 16. And the said skin member 22 (panel substitute member; elastic member) is provided in the opening part 16p of the rear side (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 lower right side) of the retainer 16 so that the accommodated knee airbag 18 may be covered. ing. The skin member 22 is fixed to the surface of the knee airbag 18 by sewing at a substantially central portion M in the surface direction. By sewing, it can be firmly fixed by a simple method. In addition, you may fix by adhesion | attachment. In this case, it can be easily fixed by a simple method.

  In the normal state, the skin member 22 is arranged so that the outer edge portion 22a is on the front side (the upper left side in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the opening portion 10a of the instrument panel 10 and the rear side (occupant side, vehicle). It is arranged to face the inside. As a result, the skin member 22 is located on the front side of the occupant's leg Ha. The skin member 22 has a substantially rectangular shape (see FIG. 3 to be described later) that is slightly larger than the substantially rectangular opening 10a, thereby sufficiently closing the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10 (see FIG. 2). (See FIGS. 3 and 4). Further, the display member 22 has substantially the same color as the instrument panel 10 (color similar to the extent that a human feels the same color or a similar color with the eyes), thereby causing a visually uncomfortable feeling. It has come to suppress.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the knee airbag 18 is inflated, the skin member 22 appears from the opening 10 a together with the airbag 18 and contacts the knee portion Ha of the occupant H. For this reason, the skin member 22 is made of a material (for example, resin) having a larger elasticity than the instrument panel 10 (in other words, a portion located on the front side of the leg portion Ha of the instrument panel 10). The outer skin member 22 is an elastic member larger than the other portions).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the knee airbag 18 is provided with a scattering suppression member 30 that penetrates the inside (for example, a non-inflatable portion) and suppresses the scattering of the skin member 22 during inflation and deployment. It has been. The front side (left side in FIG. 1) of the scattering suppressing member 30 is fixed to the bottom plate portion 16a of the retainer 16, and the rear side (right side in FIG. 1) is connected to the front panel portion 24A constituting the third chamber portion 18c (for example, by sewing). ) It is fixed. Thereby, even when a part of the skin member 22 scatters due to the moment when the knee airbag 18 is inflated and deployed, the scattered part can be prevented from flying toward the occupant H side.

  3 is a front view showing the detailed structure of the skin member 22 as viewed from the A part in FIG. 2 (illustration of the instrument panel 10 is omitted to avoid complication). FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the skin member 22 is turned up in FIG. 3 for the sake of convenience (not related to the state during the actual operation) in order to represent the internal structure of the retainer 6.

  3 and 4, the retainer 16 is formed into a substantially square tube shape with a bottom by bending a sheet metal, for example, by pressing, and includes the bottom plate portion 16 a on the front side, the upper plate portion 16 b on the upper side, and the lower side. The lower plate portion 16c, the left plate portion 16d, and the right plate portion 16e are provided. The rear side is the opening 16p for the airbag 18 to be inflated and deployed.

  A nail for attaching the skin member 22 by inserting it into the holes 22A provided on the upper and lower ends of the skin member 22 on the rear end side (front side in FIGS. 3 and 4) of the upper plate portion 16b and the lower plate portion 16c. Part 16A is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a left mounting piece 16f is provided so as to protrude from the left side plate portion 16d, and a right mounting piece 16g is provided so as to protrude from the right side plate portion 16e. The left and right attachment pieces 16f and 16g are attached to a vehicle body side attachment member (not shown) provided on the front side thereof by attachment bolts that pass through the through holes. The vehicle body side attachment member is connected to the instrument panel 10 at a connection portion (not shown), whereby the retainer 16 is indirectly attached to the instrument panel 10. As a result, the outer edge portion 22p of the skin member 22 has an upper plate portion 16b, a lower plate portion 16c, a left attachment piece 16f, a right attachment piece 16g, and an outer edge portion front side (back side) of the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10. Are fixed in a stable positional relationship with respect to the retainer 16 and the instrument panel 10 (see FIG. 2).

  In the above configuration, in the normal state, as described above, the skin member 22 is arranged so as to face the inside of the vehicle in the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10, and thereby the opening 10a is closed (by a panel, a door, or the like). The skin member 22 is exposed to the inside of the vehicle.

  At the time of a vehicle collision, the gas generator 20 operates to generate a gas for inflating the bag. This gas is supplied into the first chamber portion 18a, and the first chamber portion 18a first expands. As a result of the skin member 22 being pressed from the front side by the expansion of the first chamber portion 18a, the claw portion 16A breaks the upper and lower outer edge portions 22p of the through hole 22A, and the skin member 22 is released from the retainer 16. The Thereafter, the gas in the first chamber portion 18a flows out to the second chamber portion 18b through the gas flow path, the second chamber 18b expands, and the gas in the second chamber portion 18b passes through the gas flow path. The third chamber 18c flows out into the third chamber 18c, and the third chamber 18c expands (see FIG. 1). At this time, in this embodiment, the skin member 22 is provided on the surface of the knee airbag 18. When the knee airbag 18 is inflated and deployed, the skin member 22 contacts the leg portion Ha of the occupant H together with the airbag, and restrains the leg portion Ha.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, the opening 10 a of the instrument panel 10 is closed with the skin member 22 provided on the knee airbag 18 side, and the skin member 22 is combined with the knee airbag 18 when the knee airbag 18 is inflated and deployed. It reaches and contacts the leg Ha. Thereby, it does not become resistance of expansion | deployment deployment of the knee airbag 18 like the structure which closes the opening part 10a of the instrument panel 10 with a panel or a door. As a result, even if the folded knee airbag 18 is housed in a relatively shallow position from the surface of the instrument panel 10 (so-called shallow type), the knee airbag 18 can be satisfactorily expanded. Deployment can be done quickly. In addition, by configuring the skin member 22 using a material having high elasticity, it is possible to improve the feel when the occupant H contacts the leg portion Ha.

  Further, in the normal mounting structure, the skin member 22 can be firmly fixed to the instrument panel 10 in a stable positional relationship by sandwiching the skin member 22 between the retainer 6 and the instrument panel 10. it can. Moreover, since it can suppress that a level | step difference and a clearance gap generate | occur | produce between the instrument panel 10 and the outer skin member 22 with a pinching structure, visual discomfort can be reduced significantly.

  When the folded knee airbag 18 is stored at a relatively deep position from the surface of the instrument panel 10 (so-called deep bottom type), the knee airbag 18 is stored toward the back of the retainer 16. Therefore, when the knee bag 18 is inflated and deployed, a phenomenon (so-called fish mouth phenomenon) that tries to expand the retainer 16 in the radial direction occurs. In order to avoid this, reinforcement for improving the rigidity of the retainer 16 is necessary, which contributes to an increase in weight. However, in the present embodiment, the knee airbag 18 can be inflated and deployed satisfactorily as described above, so that a shallow bottom structure can be easily obtained. As a result, the above-described reinforcement to the retainer 16 becomes unnecessary, and the weight of the entire occupant leg restraining device 14 can be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the skin member 22 is attached to the retainer 16 by inserting the claw portions 16A of the retainer 16 into the holes 22A on the upper and lower ends of the skin member 22. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 5, the claw portion 16 </ b> A is omitted, and flange portions 16 </ b> B and 16 </ b> B are provided on the upper and lower sides of the retainer 16, and the outer edges of the flange portions 16 </ b> B and 16 </ b> B and the opening 10 a of the instrument panel 10 are provided. The outer edge 22p of the skin member 22 may be simply sandwiched and fixed between the front side (back side) of the part (in this case, the hole 22A of the skin member 22 is not necessary). Also in this case, the skin member 22 can be fixed to the retainer 16 and the instrument panel 10 in a stable positional relationship as described above. Further, when the knee airbag 18 is inflated and deployed, the skin member 22 is not broken by the claw portion 16A as in the above embodiment (resistance is reduced), so that the inflation and deployment can be performed more quickly.

  In the above, the case where the present invention is applied to an occupant leg restraining device 14 having a gas generator 20 that ejects high-temperature gas using explosives has been described as an example. The present invention may be applied to an occupant leg restraining device having a gas generator that ejects a high-pressure gas.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the vicinity of the front of the seat schematically illustrating when the knee airbag is inflated in the occupant leg restraining device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a knee airbag in a normal state. It is the arrow view front view seen from the A section in Drawing 2 showing the detailed structure of an outer skin member. FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the skin member is turned up in FIG. 3 for the sake of convenience in order to show the internal structure of the retainer. It is an expansion longitudinal cross section in the normal time of a knee airbag in the modification which abbreviate | omitted the nail | claw part of the retainer.

Explanation of symbols

14 Crew Leg Restraint Device 16 Retainer 18 Knee Airbag 22 Skin Member

Claims (10)

An airbag that inflates to the leg side of an occupant riding in the vehicle;
A gas generator for inflating the airbag by injecting gas; and
A retainer for accommodating the gas generator and the folded airbag;
An occupant leg restraining device provided on an instrument panel on the front side of the occupant of the vehicle,
When mounted on the vehicle, it faces the vehicle interior from an opening provided in the instrument panel, and when the airbag is inflated and deployed, it is interposed between the airbag and the leg so as to contact the leg. In addition, an occupant leg restraining device having a panel substitute member provided on the surface of the airbag. The occupant leg restraining device according to claim 1,
The panel substitute member is
The occupant leg restraining device, which is a skin member having elasticity greater than that of the instrument panel. The occupant leg restraining device according to claim 2,
The skin member is
An occupant leg restraining device having a substantially square shape larger than the substantially square opening provided in the instrument panel. In the occupant leg restraining device according to claim 2 or 3,
The skin member is
An occupant leg restraining device having substantially the same color as the instrument panel. The occupant leg restraining device according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The skin member is
An occupant leg restraining device fixed to the airbag by bonding. The occupant leg restraining device according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The skin member is
An occupant leg restraining device fixed to the airbag by sewing. The occupant leg restraining device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
The outer edge of the skin member,
An occupant leg restraining device attached to the retainer. The occupant leg restraining device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
The outer edge of the skin member,
An occupant leg restraining device, wherein the retainer leg restraining device is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the retainer and an outer edge portion of the opening of the instrument panel. The occupant leg restraining device according to any one of claims 2 to 8,
An occupant leg restraining device, characterized in that a scattering suppression member is provided for connecting the bottom of the retainer and the skin member so as to penetrate the airbag. An instrument panel at the front,
A vehicle provided with an occupant leg restraining device on the instrument panel,
The occupant leg restraining device is:
An airbag that inflates toward the leg side of an occupant riding in the vehicle;
A gas generator for injecting gas to inflate the airbag,
Of the instrument panel, the portion located on the front side of the occupant's leg portion is composed of an elastic member having greater elasticity than the other portions,
The vehicle, wherein the side of the elastic member opposite to the occupant's leg is fixed to the airbag.

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