JP2019038375A - Crew protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant protection device for suppressing an occupant's injury. SOLUTION: A occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated on a seat 200 having a seat surface 210 for holding a thigh F and a buttock of an occupant P and a seat back 220 for holding an upper body UB of the occupant collides with each other. Collision precursor detection devices 10 and 20 that detect the precursor of a collision, the upper body tilting means 50 that tilts the upper body in the backward tilting direction according to the detection of the precursor of the collision, and the thigh portion according to the detection of the precursor of the collision. It is configured to include a thigh restraining means B1 that restrains the seat surface. [Selection diagram] FIG. 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device that protects an occupant and suppresses injury when a vehicle collides.

In a vehicle such as an automobile, it is known to use an occupant restraint device such as a seat belt or various airbags in order to restrain an occupant at a collision and suppress injury.
For example, frontal collision airbags that are deployed from the steering wheel, instrument panel, etc. to the front of the occupant, knee protection airbags (knee bags) that are deployed under the steering column, and side collisions that are deployed from the seat side to the occupant side Various airbag devices such as airbags and curtain airbags deployed along the side door glass are in widespread use.
In addition, a seat belt pretensioner that pulls in the seat belt at the time of collision and increases the restraining force is also widely used.

In addition, it has been proposed to suppress occupant injury by utilizing the behavior of the seat back during a collision.
For example, in Patent Document 1, in order to prevent a seated person from being caught between a steering wheel or the like and a seat back at the time of a frontal collision, a reclining adjuster is automatically set when an impact load exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the vehicle. The vehicle seat to be released is described.
Further, in Patent Document 2, when a sensor detects a shock at the time of a frontal collision and activates a control means, the backrest portion can be rotated only in the backward tilt direction, and the inflation of the airbag and the driver side such as the steering wheel are directed to the driver side. An impact-absorbing sheet is described that is configured such that the backrest part falls back backwardly only together with the upper body and the head when approaching.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-5897 JP 2000-280805 A

In an existing occupant protection device (occupant restraint device) that starts deployment and inflation of an airbag after the impact of a collision is detected by an acceleration sensor or the like mounted on the vehicle body, maximum restraint is achieved in a short time of 20 msec or less, for example. It is necessary to expand and inflate the airbag so as to exert its force.
However, when the airbag is deployed and inflated rapidly and at high speed, there is a concern that a sudden increase in restraining force may induce a compression injury to the occupant.
In addition, the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 suppress the pressure on the occupant by reclining the seat back against the deployment and inflation of the airbag due to a collision or the backward movement of the steering wheel. However, since the seat back operates according to the pressure applied to the occupant, it is inevitable that the occupant is burdened to some extent.
In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device that suppresses occupant injury.

The present invention solves the above-described problems by the following means.
The invention according to claim 1 is an occupant protection device that protects an occupant seated on a seat having a seat surface that holds the thigh and buttocks of the occupant and a seat back that holds the upper body of the occupant, A collision sign detection device for detecting a sign of a collision; body tilting means for tilting the body in a backward tilt direction in response to detection of the sign of the collision; and the thigh in response to detection of a sign of the collision And a thigh restraining means for restraining the seat to the seat surface.
According to this, by setting the upper body of the occupant to be tilted backward prior to the collision, the upper body of the occupant is raised by the inertial force at the time of the collision and rotated in the forward tilt direction. At this time, energy at the time when the occupant's upper body rises against gravity acceleration contributes to energy absorption, so that energy absorption performance can be improved without causing local injury to the occupant's body.
In addition, by restraining the occupant's thighs to the seat surface, the movement of the thighs and waists relative to the seat can be suppressed, and the rising behavior of the upper body can be stably generated, ensuring the occupant's safety. And can be adequately protected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the occupant according to claim 1, further comprising thigh tilting means for tilting the thigh in a direction in which the buttocks side is raised in response to detection of a sign of the collision. It is a protective device.
According to this, by reducing the angle formed by the upper body of the occupant and the thigh, and by aligning the spine along the input direction of energy input as an axial force from the leg, injury due to input from the leg Deterioration can be prevented.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided upper body restraining means for restraining relative advance of the upper body relative to the vehicle body of the occupant after the occurrence of the collision. Occupant protection device.
According to this, even if the occupant's upper body is completely raised, energy cannot be absorbed, and the upper body is restrained by the upper body restraining means even when the upper body tries to move forward further with respect to the vehicle body. Thus, it is possible to suppress occupant injury.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the input direction detecting means for detecting the input direction in which the impact due to the collision is input, and the occupant's left and right according to the increase in the angle formed by the input direction with respect to the vehicle longitudinal direction. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising occupant inclination means for inclining the occupant in a direction in which the input direction side in the direction is lowered.
According to this, even when the energy due to the collision is input obliquely from the front side, the upper body of the occupant is prevented from falling in the shoulder width direction with respect to the waist (the spine is bent in the left-right direction). The effect obtained can be obtained appropriately.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, when the said passenger | crew inclines in the left-right direction by the said passenger | crew inclination means, the said thigh restraint means is the restraint force which suppresses the dispersion | variation in the restraint force of the said left and right thighs. The occupant protection device according to claim 4, further comprising balancing means.
According to this, even when the occupant is inclined in the left-right direction, the thigh can be appropriately restrained, and the above-described effects can be ensured.

According to the invention of claim 6, the thigh restraining means restrains the thigh with a first restraining force in response to detection of a sign of the collision, and the just before or after the occurrence of the collision. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the thigh is restrained by a second restraining force that is greater than the first restraining force.
According to this, the thigh restraint is preliminarily restrained by a relatively weak force until the collision is detected (for example, within 10 msec from the collision) or until the collision actually occurs after the sign of the collision is detected. By staying at the point, driving operation for avoiding collision can be made possible.
On the other hand, the impact absorbing effect described above can be reliably obtained by increasing the restraining force of the thigh immediately before the occurrence of the collision or after the collision has actually occurred.

According to the invention of claim 7, the body tilting means tilts the body backward to a first tilt angle in response to detection of a sign of the collision, and immediately before or after the occurrence of the collision. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the upper body is tilted backward to a second inclination angle larger than the inclination angle of one.
According to this, the inclination of the upper body is kept to a relatively gentle preliminary inclination immediately after the occurrence of a collision sign, immediately before the occurrence of the collision (for example, within 10 msec from the collision) or until the collision actually occurs. Thus, it is possible to perform a steering operation or the like for avoiding a collision.
On the other hand, immediately before the occurrence of the collision or after the collision has actually occurred, the above-described shock absorbing effect can be reliably obtained by increasing the inclination of the upper body.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an occupant protection device that suppresses occupant injury can be provided.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of an occupant protection device to which the present invention is applied. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which looked at the compartment front part of the vehicle which has the passenger | crew protection apparatus of 1st Embodiment from the side, Comprising: A normal state is shown. It is a timing chart which shows operation at the time of a collision of the occupant protection device of a 1st embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which looked at the compartment front part of the vehicle which has the passenger | crew protection apparatus of 1st Embodiment from the side, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the state immediately after pre-crash determination establishment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which looked at the compartment front part of the vehicle which has the passenger | crew protection apparatus of 1st Embodiment from the side, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the state just before a collision. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which looked at the compartment front part of the vehicle which has the passenger | crew protection apparatus of 1st Embodiment from the side, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the state immediately after a collision. It is a mimetic diagram showing the state which looked at the front of the compartment of the vehicle which has the occupant protection device of a 1st embodiment from the side, and is a figure showing the state where occupant restraint was completed after a collision. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state just before the collision in the vehicle which has 2nd Embodiment of the passenger | crew protection device to which this invention is applied.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an occupant protection device to which the present invention is applied will be described.
The occupant protection device of the first embodiment protects an occupant seated in a front seat (driver's seat or front passenger seat) of an automobile such as a passenger car, for example.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an occupant protection device according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle having the occupant protection device of the first embodiment is viewed from the side, and shows a normal state (a state in which no collision or a precursor thereof is detected). It is.
In FIG. 2, the left side indicates the vehicle front side. (Same in FIGS. 4 to 7)

  As shown in FIG. 1, the occupant protection device includes a stereo camera device 10, an environment recognition unit 20, an occupant protection device control unit 30, a first inflator 41, a second inflator 42, a third inflator 43, a seat back tilting device 50, A seat surface tilting device 60, a seat belt pretensioner 70, and the like are included.

The stereo camera device 10 includes a camera LH11, a camera RH12, a stereo image processing unit 13, and the like.
The stereo camera device 10 functions as a collision sign detection device according to the present invention in cooperation with the environment recognition unit 20.
The camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are imaging devices having an optical system such as a lens group, a solid-state imaging device such as a CMOS and a driving device thereof, an image processing engine, and an input / output interface.
The camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are attached toward the front of the vehicle in a state of being separated in the left-right direction.
For example, the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are suspended from the front end portion of the roof 130 in the vehicle interior and capture an image of the front of the host vehicle through the windshield 140.
Data relating to images captured by the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 is sequentially provided to the stereo image processing unit 13.

The stereo image processing unit 13 performs known stereo image processing on the image data sequentially transmitted from the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 to recognize a subject existing in front of the host vehicle, and the relative position of the recognized subject to the host vehicle. Is detected using the pixel position on the image and the parallax between the camera LH11 and the camera RH12.
In addition, the stereo image processing unit 13 can determine the type and attribute of the recognized subject by known image processing and image recognition techniques.

The stereo image processing unit 13 corresponds to a subject such as a building such as another vehicle, a pedestrian, a bicycle, a building, a guardrail, a curb, a power pole, a sign, or a traffic light from the images captured by the cameras LH11 and RH12. A pixel group is extracted, and the relative position of each subject with respect to the host vehicle can be calculated substantially in real time.
Further, the stereo image processing unit 13 can calculate the relative speed of each subject with respect to the subject vehicle based on the history of the relative position of each subject.

The environment recognition unit 20 recognizes the environment in front of the host vehicle using the object detection result in front of the host vehicle by the stereo image processing unit 13.
The environment recognition unit 20 recognizes a risk object that has a high possibility of colliding with the own vehicle from other vehicles, buildings, and the like recognized by the stereo image processing unit 13 from the relative position and relative speed with respect to the own vehicle.

When the environment recognition unit 20 determines that the collision between the risk object and the host vehicle is inevitable from the relative position and relative speed (approach speed) of the risk object with respect to the host vehicle (when the pre-crash determination is established) ), Information on the risk object is transmitted to the occupant protection device control unit 30.
Here, examples of the information on the risk object include the type of the risk object, the predicted collision location, the input direction of the collision energy, the expected time until the collision, the expected relative speed at the time of the collision, and the like.

The occupant protection device control unit 30 includes each airbag inflator 41 to 43, a seat back tilt device 50, a seat surface tilt device 60, according to a sign of a frontal collision with a risk object (another vehicle or the like) of the host vehicle. Commands are issued to the seat belt pretensioner driving device 70 to control them.
An acceleration sensor 31 is connected to the occupant protection device control unit 30.
The acceleration sensor 31 includes, for example, an acceleration pickup that detects longitudinal acceleration at the front of the vehicle body (for example, inside the bumper face).
The acceleration sensor 31 functions as means for detecting that the host vehicle has actually collided with a risk object such as another vehicle.
The function and operation of the occupant protection device control unit 30 will be described in detail later.

The first inflator 41, the second inflator 42, and the third inflator 43 generate a high-temperature and high-pressure deployment gas by using, for example, explosives, and the thigh restraint airbag B1 (see FIGS. 4 to 7 and the like), the upper body They are introduced into the restraint airbag B2 (see FIGS. 6 and 7, etc.) and deployed and inflated.
The deployment gas generated by the first inflator 41 and the second inflator 42 is introduced into the thigh restraint airbag B1.
The gas for deployment generated by the third inflator 43 is introduced into the upper body restraint airbag B2.
The first inflator 41, the second inflator 42, and the third inflator 43 start generating the deployment gas in response to the gas generation command signal from the occupant protection device control unit 30.

In response to a rearward tilt command signal from the occupant protection device control unit 30, the seat back tilting device 50 moves the seat back 220 of the seat 200 backward with respect to the lower end with respect to the normal traveling state. Rotate in the direction (back tilt).
The seat back tilting device 50 functions as a body tilting unit that tilts the upper body UB of the occupant P in the backward tilt direction.
The seat back tilting device 50 includes an electric or explosive actuator that drives the seat back 220 in the backward tilt direction.

In response to the tilt command signal from the occupant protection device control unit 30, the seat surface tilting device 60 lowers the seat surface 210 of the seat 200 relative to the rear end portion with respect to the normal traveling state. It is inclined (forwardly inclined) in the direction.
The seat surface tilting device 60 functions as a thigh tilting unit that tilts the thigh F of the occupant P in a direction in which the buttocks side is raised (the knee side is lowered).
The seat surface tilting device 60 includes an actuator such as an electric type or explosive type that invalidates the supporting member such as a pin that supports the front end portion of the seating surface 210 by dropping or breaking the supporting member.
By invalidating the support member, the seat surface 210 is inclined in the forward tilt direction by its own weight and a load from the passenger P.

The seat belt pretensioner 70 retracts the seat belt 230 in response to a retract command signal from the occupant protection device control unit 30.
The seat belt pretensioner 70 winds up and retracts the webbing of the seat belt 230 by, for example, an electric actuator or an actuator using the pressure of gas that generates explosives, and increases the occupant restraint force by the seat belt 230.

As shown in FIG. 2, the passenger compartment 100 includes a floor 110, a toe board 120, a roof 130, a windshield 140, an instrument panel 150, and the like.
The floor 110 is a part constituting the floor surface portion of the passenger compartment.
The floor 110 is disposed in the lower part of the passenger compartment 100 along the substantially horizontal direction.

The toe board 120 is a part that constitutes the front part of the lower part of the passenger compartment 100.
The toe board 120 is formed to rise upward from the front end portion of the floor 110.
The toe board 120 functions as a partition wall between the passenger compartment 100 and an engine room (not shown).

The roof 130 is a part constituting the ceiling part of the passenger compartment 100.
The roof 130 is disposed on the upper part of the passenger compartment 100 along a substantially horizontal direction.

The windshield 140 is provided in front of the occupant P's upper body UB at the front of the passenger compartment 100.
The windshield 140 is disposed so as to be tilted rearward so that the upper end portion is on the rear side with respect to the lower end portion.
The upper end portion of the windshield 140 is attached to the front end portion of the roof 130.
The lower end portion of the windshield 140 is attached to a cowl portion (not shown) in the vicinity of the upper end portion of the instrument panel 150.

The instrument panel 150 is an interior member provided with, for example, instruments, an air conditioner, a navigation device, a glove box, and the like.
The instrument panel 150 is formed to project from the upper part of the toe board 120 to the rear side (occupant P side).
The instrument panel 150 is provided with a housing (not shown) in which the thigh restraint airbag B1, the body restraint airbag B2, and the first to third inflators 41 to 43 are housed.

A seat 200 on which a front passenger is seated is provided in the passenger compartment 100.
The seat 200 is fixed to the upper portion of the floor 100 through a seat rail (not shown) so that the position can be adjusted in the front-rear direction.
The seat 200 includes a seat surface 210 and a seat back 220, and a seat belt 230 is provided.
The seat surface 210 and the seat back 220 are configured such that, for example, a cushion formed of a spring, urethane foam, or the like is provided on a frame formed in a metal frame shape and covered with an outer skin such as cloth or leather.

The seat surface 210 is a substantially flat plate-like portion on which the thigh F to the buttocks of the occupant P are placed.
In the normal state, the upper surface portion in contact with the occupant P in the seat surface 210 is slightly inclined so as to be substantially along the horizontal direction and the front end side is higher than the rear end side.

The seat back 220 is a backrest that holds the back portion of the upper body UB of the occupant P.
The seat back 220 is raised upward from the vicinity of the rear end portion of the seating surface 210.
The front portion of the seat back 220 that is in contact with the occupant P is slightly rearwardly inclined so that the upper end portion is on the vehicle rear side with respect to the lower end portion.

The seat belt 230 restrains the occupant P by cloth webbing.
The seat 200 is provided with a buckle, a retractor, and the like (not shown) of the seat belt 230, and the restraining function of the seat belt 230 is realized by the seat 200 alone configured as a so-called integral seat.
The seat belt 230 has a shoulder belt portion that is stretched over the front portion (chest portion) of the upper body UB of the occupant P, and a lap belt portion that is spanned over the waist portion of the occupant P in the left-right direction.

Next, functions and operations at the time of collision in the occupant protection device of the first embodiment will be described in more detail.
FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation at the time of collision of the occupant protection device of the first embodiment.
Hereinafter, a description will be given in time series.

  First, based on the recognition result in the environment recognition unit 20, there is a risk object (for example, another vehicle) where the possibility of a frontal collision is greater than a predetermined threshold and the collision is considered inevitable. If so, pre-crash determination is established.

When the pre-crash determination is established, the occupant protection device control unit 30 first gives a gas generation command signal to the first inflator 41 to start preliminary deployment and inflation of the thigh restraint airbag B1.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle having the occupant protection device of the first embodiment is viewed from the side, and shows a state immediately after the pre-crash determination is established.
The thigh restraint airbag B1 is an airbag that extends and expands from the rear end of the instrument panel 150 to the vehicle rear side (occupant P side) and the lower side.
The lower surface portion of the thigh restraint airbag B1 is in contact with the upper surface portion (front surface portion) of the thigh F of the occupant P and presses the lower surface portion (the seat surface 210 side) to reserve the thigh F. Restrain.
The restraint force at this time is set so as to be weaker than the later-described restraint so that a driving operation (brake operation or the like) for avoiding a collision is possible when the occupant P is a driver.
Such setting of the restraining force can be realized by reducing the pressure of the developing gas generated by the first inflator 41 relative to the pressure of the developing gas generated by the second inflator 42.

Further, in response to the establishment of the pre-crash determination, the occupant protection device control unit 30 gives a tilt command signal to the seat surface tilting device 60 and tilts the seat surface 210 in the forward tilt direction.
As a result, the thigh F of the occupant P is tilted (turned) in a direction in which the knee side is lowered and the buttocks side is raised.

Next, the occupant protection device control unit 30 gives the first back tilt command signal to the seat back tilting device 50 to tilt the seat back 220 back to a predetermined first tilt angle.
The first inclination angle is set to such an extent that a steering operation for avoiding a collision is possible when the occupant P is a driver.
Note that, although the pre-crash determination is established, but when the actual collision is avoided by the subsequent avoidance operation or the like, the thigh restraint airbag B1 is retracted into the instrument panel 150, and the seat surface 210 and the seat The back 220 may also be returned to the initial state.

Thereafter, immediately before the collision (for example, after 10 msec is cut until the collision scheduled time), the occupant protection device control unit 30 gives a second rearward tilt command to the seatback tilting device 50, and the seatback 220 is set to a predetermined first. Tilt backward to 2 tilt angle.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle having the occupant protection device according to the first embodiment is viewed from the side, and illustrates a state immediately before the collision.
As shown in FIG. 5, the second inclination angle is set to be larger than the first inclination angle.
The second inclination angle is set in consideration of the fact that the upper body UB rises reliably (rotates forward around the waist) due to the longitudinal acceleration acting on the occupant P due to the collision.

The series of processes described above are performed before an actual collision occurs based on the establishment of the pre-crash determination.
When the acceleration sensor 31 detects an impact due to a collision, the occupant protection device control unit 30 gives a gas generation command signal to the second inflator 42, and the first inflator 41 expands and expands the thigh restraint air in a preliminary restraint state. A higher-pressure deployment gas is introduced into the bag B1.
As a result, the restraint force of the thigh F by the thigh restraint airbag B1 is strengthened, and the thigh is strong enough to prevent the waist from lifting when the upper body UB of the occupant P rises due to the acceleration due to the collision. The main restraint state in which the part F is restrained is entered.

Thereafter, the occupant protection device control unit 30 gives a pull-in command signal to the seat belt pretensioner 70, and starts to retract the seat belt 230 to the seat belt pretensioner 70 to reinforce the restraining force by the seat belt 230.
Next, the occupant protection device control unit 30 gives a gas generation command signal to the third inflator 43 to start deployment and inflation of the body restraint airbag B2.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle having the occupant protection device of the first embodiment is viewed from the side, and shows a state immediately after the collision.
The upper body restraint airbag B2 is deployed and inflated from the rear end portion of the instrument panel 150 to the vehicle rear side (occupant P side) and the upper side.
In the state shown in FIG. 6, the upper body restraint airbag B2 is in the middle of inflation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper body UB of the occupant P exhibits a behavior of rotating around the waist and moving up in the forward rotation direction in response to generation of acceleration due to the collision.
At this time, the energy required for the rising behavior of the upper body UB (energy that raises the upper body UB against the acceleration of gravity) uses a part of the inertial force acting on the occupant P due to the collision. Due to the rising behavior, an energy absorption (EA) effect that absorbs part of the energy received by the occupant P due to the collision is obtained.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the front part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle having the occupant protection device of the first embodiment is viewed from the side, and shows a state in which occupant restraint is completed after a collision.
Eventually, the head H and the upper body UB of the occupant P are restrained by the upper body restraining airbag B2 that has been deployed and inflated, and are fixed so as not to excessively advance relative to the vehicle body.

According to the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Prior to the collision, the thigh F of the occupant P is restrained by the seating surface 210 of the seat 200, and the upper body UB is tilted backward, so that the upper body of the occupant P is caused by inertial force at the time of the collision. UB gets up and turns forward. At this time, the energy when the upper body UB of the occupant P rises against the acceleration of gravity contributes to energy absorption, so that the energy absorption performance can be enhanced without causing local injury to the body of the occupant P. .
(2) The angle formed by the upper body UB of the occupant P and the thigh F is determined by inclining the thigh F in the direction in which the buttocks side is raised (the direction in which the knee is lowered) in response to the detection of the sign of the collision. By making the spine smaller and keeping the spine along the input direction of energy input as an axial force from the legs, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of injury due to the input from the legs.
(3) By providing the upper body restraining airbag B2 that restrains the upper body UB after the upper body UB of the occupant P is raised, the upper body UB of the occupant P cannot completely absorb energy even if the upper body UB of the occupant P is completely raised. Even when the body UB tries to move further forward with respect to the vehicle body, the injury of the occupant P can be suppressed by restraining the body UB with the body restraint airbag B2.
(4) Until the occurrence of a collision after the pre-crash determination is established, the restraint of the thigh F by the thigh restraint airbag B1 is limited to the preliminary restraint by a relatively weak force, thereby avoiding the collision. Driving operation can be made possible.
On the other hand, after the collision actually occurs, by increasing the restraining force of the thigh F, the above-described impact absorbing effect can be reliably obtained.
(5) Until the pre-crash determination is established and immediately before the occurrence of the collision, the steering operation for avoiding the collision can be performed by keeping the inclination of the upper body UB to a relatively gentle preliminary inclination. it can.
On the other hand, immediately before the occurrence of the collision, the above-described impact absorbing effect can be obtained with certainty by increasing the inclination of the upper body UB.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of an occupant protection device to which the present invention is applied will be described.
In the second embodiment, portions that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and differences are mainly described.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state immediately before a collision in a vehicle having a second embodiment of an occupant protection device to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 8A is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the host vehicle and another vehicle that collides with the host vehicle.
FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram (a cross-sectional view taken along the line bb in FIG. 8A) showing the occupant's lateral inclination when the host vehicle is viewed from the front.

In the second embodiment, a seat left-right tilting device 80 that tilts the seat 200 in the left-right direction (around the axis along the vehicle front-rear direction) is provided.
The seat left-right tilting device 80 has a function of tilting the seat 200 in the left-right direction using, for example, an electric actuator.
The seat right / left tilting device 80 functions as an occupant tilting means according to the present invention.
The occupant protection device control unit 30 causes the seat left-right tilt device 80 to tilt the seat 200 toward the side in which the impact in the left-right direction is input, according to the input direction of the impact due to the collision with the host vehicle V1.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 8A, the other vehicle V2 collides from the diagonally forward right as viewed from the host vehicle V1.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 8B, the occupant protection device control unit 30 tilts the seat 200 in a direction in which the head H of the occupant P is displaced to the right with respect to the buttocks.
The inclination angle of the seat 200 at this time is set so as to increase as the angle θ formed by the traveling direction of the other vehicle V2 with respect to the front-rear direction of the host vehicle V1.
Such an input direction can be obtained by detecting the relative speed (vector) of the other vehicle V2 with respect to the host vehicle by the stereo camera device 10 and the environment recognition unit 20.
The stereo camera device 10 and the environment recognition unit 20 function as input direction detection means in the present invention.

Further, the thigh restraint airbag B1 is provided independently on the left and right thighs (B1L and B1R in FIG. 8B).
The left and right thigh restraint airbags B1L and B1R are large even if the height of the left and right thighs F is different because the seat left-right tilting device 80 tilts the seat 200 in the left-right direction. By making the internal pressures of the thigh restraint airbags B1L and B1R different, it is possible to apply substantially the same restraining force to the left and right thighs F.
For example, the inflator of each airbag can be controlled so that the internal pressure of the thigh restraint airbags B1L and B1R on the side whose height decreases due to the inclination is higher than the other.
Such left and right independent thigh restraint airbags B1L and B1R function as restraint force balancing means for suppressing variation in restraint force between the left and right thighs.

According to the second embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects substantially similar to the effects of the first embodiment described above.
(1) By tilting the seat 200 in the left-right direction together with the occupant P according to the input direction of the impact due to the collision, the upper body of the occupant is placed on the waist even when energy due to the collision is input from the diagonally front side. On the other hand, it can prevent falling in the shoulder width direction, and can appropriately obtain the above-described effects.
(2) The left and right thigh restraint airbags B1L and B1R restrain the thigh F by restraining the left and right thighs with substantially equal restraining force even when the occupant P is inclined. It can restrain appropriately and can secure the effect mentioned above.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and changes are possible, and these are also within the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The structure of each part which comprises an occupant protection device is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, It can change suitably.
For example, in the embodiment, the warning sign of the collision is detected by the stereo camera device 10 or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various sensors such as a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar, a monocular camera, and the like can be used as the warning sign detection unit. Information obtained by inter-vehicle communication, inter-vehicle communication, or the like may be used.
(2) In the embodiment, the body restraint airbag B2 is deployed and inflated after the acceleration sensor 31 detects an impact caused by an actual collision, but the body restraint airbag B2 is also a thigh restraint airbag. Similarly to B1, it may be expanded and inflated in response to detection of a sign of collision (establishment of pre-crash determination).
Further, in the embodiment, the seat belt pretensioner 70 that is operated after the actual collision occurs may be operated according to the establishment of the pre-crash determination.
(3) In the embodiment, the thigh F is inclined in the direction in which the buttock side is raised by lowering the front end portion of the seating surface of the seat, but instead of such a configuration, such a configuration At the same time, the rear end of the seating surface may be raised.
Further, instead of inclining the seating surface itself, or with the inclination of the seating surface itself, for example, the airbag built in the seat is deployed and inflated below the region on the rear side of the thigh F, and the thigh F may be inclined.
(4) The inclination angle that causes the upper body UB of the occupant P to tilt forward, the inclination angle that causes the thigh F to tilt backward, and the restraining force of the airbags B1 and B2 are optimal according to the physique and weight of the occupant P. It can be changed appropriately so that
The physique of the occupant P includes, for example, the front and rear positions of the seat 200, the output of a load sensor provided on the seat 200 (occupant weight), the recognition result of an occupant monitoring system having an imaging device such as a camera, It is possible to estimate from the drawing amount of 230 or the like.
(5) Although the occupant protection device of the embodiment is mounted on an automobile such as a passenger car, the present invention can also be applied to a vehicle other than the automobile.
(6) In the embodiment, the inclination angle of the upper body is increased immediately before the actual collision. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the inclination angle of the upper body may be increased after the occurrence of the collision. Further, in the embodiment, the lower body restraint is strengthened after the collision occurs, but the lower body restraint may be strengthened immediately before the collision.
(7) In the embodiment, the thigh restraint airbag B1 and the upper body restraint airbag B2 are deployed from the instrument panel 150. However, not limited to this, each airbag is deployed from another location. Also good.
For example, when an occupant protection device is provided in the driver's seat, the thigh restraint airbag may be deployed from below the steering column, and the upper body restraint airbag may be deployed from the steering wheel.
Further, the upper body restraint airbag may be deployed and inflated downward from the roof.
Furthermore, you may provide airbags other than a thigh restraint airbag and an upper body restraint airbag.
(8) In the second embodiment, the left and right thigh restraint airbags are used to restrain the left and right thighs evenly when the occupant is tilted. The restraint force balancing means for suppressing the restraint is not limited to this, and the restraint force balance may be achieved by other methods.

10 Stereo camera device 11 Camera LH 12 Camera RH
13 stereo image processing unit 20 environment recognition unit 30 occupant protection device control unit 31 acceleration sensor 41 first inflator 42 second inflator 43 third inflator 50 seat back tilting device 60 seat surface tilting device 70 seat belt pretensioner 80 seat left / right tilting device B1 Thigh restraint airbag B2 Upper body restraint airbag 100 Car compartment 110 Floor 120 Toe board 130 Roof 140 Windshield 150 Instrument panel 200 Seat 210 Seat surface 220 Seat back 230 Seat belt P Passenger H Head UB Upper body F Large Thigh V1 Own vehicle V2 Other vehicle

Claims (7)

An occupant protection device that protects an occupant seated on a seat having a seat surface that holds the thigh and buttocks of the occupant and a seat back that holds the upper body of the occupant,
A collision sign detection device for detecting a sign of a collision;
Body tilting means for tilting the body in a backward tilt direction in response to detection of a sign of the collision;
An occupant protection device comprising: thigh restraining means for restraining the thigh to the seat surface in response to detection of a sign of the collision. 2. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, further comprising a thigh tilting unit that tilts the thigh in a direction in which a buttock rises in response to detection of a sign of the collision. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, further comprising a body restraining unit that restrains the occupant from advancing relative to the body of the body after the occurrence of the collision. An input direction detection means for detecting an input direction in which an impact caused by the collision is input;
The occupant inclining means for inclining the occupant in a direction in which the input direction side in the left-right direction of the occupant is lowered according to an increase in an angle formed by the input direction with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction. The occupant protection device according to any one of Items 3 to 3. The thigh restraining means includes restraining force balancing means for suppressing variation in restraining force between the left and right thighs when the occupant tilts in the left-right direction by the occupant tilting means. The occupant protection device according to claim 4. The thigh restraining means restrains the thigh with a first restraining force in response to detection of a sign of the collision, and a second greater than the first restraining force immediately before or after the occurrence of the collision. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the thigh is restrained by a restraining force. The body tilting means tilts the body backward to a first tilt angle in response to detection of a sign of the collision, and a second tilt angle greater than the first tilt angle immediately before or after the occurrence of the collision. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the upper body is tilted backward to an inclination angle.

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