JPH06191362A - Air bag device for seat next to driver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve constraint of occupants by expanding an upper part and a lower part of an air bag faster than the central part at the tip end in an air bag device for the seat next to a driver so that the air bag is immediately inflated. CONSTITUTION:In an air bag device in which a base of an air bag 8 is mounted at an opening peripheral part of an air bag case 5 and the air bag 8 and an inflator 9 are stored in this case 5, the inflator 9 is arranged inclined to a bottom wall 3 and a front wall 1 of the air bag case 5, and gas injection ports 10a and 10b of the inflator 9 are formed so that injection is made diagonally upward to the front on the front wall 1 side and diagonally downward to the rear on the bottom wall 3 side. And most of the air bag 8 is folded and stored between the inflator 9 and a case rear wall 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device for a passenger seat, and more particularly to improvement of a deployment shape of an airbag of an airbag device installed on an upper surface of an instrument panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag device for a passenger seat is a safety device that protects an occupant by instantaneously inflating the airbag as an aid to a seat belt when the impact is greater than a predetermined value when a vehicle collides. , An inflator which is a gas generator,
It is composed of a bag that is inflated by the gas of the inflator and an airbag case that encloses the inflator together with the bag in a substantially airtight manner. When the airbag apparatus operates, the gas ejected from the inflator fills the airbag case and the airbag to generate an internal pressure, and the internal pressure causes the airbag to deploy.

By the way, the passenger airbag device is usually mounted in the instrument panel in front of the passenger seat, and most of them are installed so as to open on the surface of the instrument panel facing the occupant. Has been done. On the other hand, however, in recent years, an opening is provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel, and an airbag that expands and inflates upward is supported partially on the windshield to maintain its shape and protect passengers. An airbag device for restraint stability has also been proposed.

In such an airbag device, the final shape of the airbag when inflated is designed to most effectively receive an occupant, such as a cone or a pyramid for the passenger seat. However, normally, the airbag is stored in the airbag case in a folded state.

Conventionally, the airbag is housed substantially evenly in the airbag case, and the inflator is also provided with a gas outlet on the entire surface facing the airbag housing portion. It is designed to be installed in the central position.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the case where the gas ejecting ports of the inflator are arranged so as to face each other in the central portion of the airbag that is evenly accommodated as described above, the airbag is first inflated from the central portion when the airbag device is operated. Will be deployed. Therefore, in the initial stage of inflation, the airbag is pulled by the central portion of the airbag, the peripheral portion thereof extends in the gas ejection direction, and the central portion thereof largely projects. And
As the pressure inside the airbag rises, its peripheral portion inflates and its central portion recedes, so that the airbag reaches a predetermined final shape.

That is, in the above-mentioned conventional airbag device, the peripheral portion of the airbag is different from that of the protruding central portion.
In particular, since the upper part and the lower part are inflated with a delay, there is a possibility that the airbag may have a slight delay in reaching the final shape most suitable for occupant reception.

The present invention copes with the above-mentioned actual situation, and particularly by defining the arrangement of the inflator and the folded airbag in the airbag case and the gas ejection direction of the inflator, the airbag is most preferably developed. The purpose is to quickly inflate the shape and further improve the restraint of the occupant.

[0009]

That is, the feature of the passenger airbag device of the present invention which meets the above-mentioned object is that it has a bottomed box-like airbag case in which openings are defined by front, rear, left and right side walls. An airbag that is folded and housed in the case and has mounting portions provided on the base fixed to the side walls of the case opening; and inside the case, the front wall and the bottom wall of the case are substantially parallel to each other. In an airbag device provided with a cylindrical inflator arranged, the inflator is arranged so as to be close to the bottom wall and the front wall of the airbag case, respectively, and the gas outlet of the inflator is arranged. ,
The front wall side is formed so as to be ejected obliquely upward and the bottom wall side is formed so as to be ejected obliquely rearward and downward, respectively, and the outline of the airbag is folded and housed between the inflator and the case rear wall. is there.

[0010]

The airbag device of the present invention having the above structure is
The instrument panel is mounted on the upper surface of an instrument panel of the vehicle with the opening facing upward, the front wall of the airbag case facing the front of the vehicle, and the rear wall facing the rear.

When the apparatus is in operation, the air bag inflates and deploys to the rear of the vehicle by utilizing the windshield as in the normal case. However, in the present invention, as described above,
By arranging the inflator and the folded airbag and defining the gas ejection direction of the inflator, the deployment of the airbag starts from the lower portion and the upper portion of the airbag, leaving the central portion of the airbag.

That is, since the airbag is generally folded and stored on the rear wall side of the airbag case in advance, the airbag lower portion near the rear wall has many folded portions, and conversely, the airbag far from the rear wall. The upper part of the bag is slightly less folded than the lower part of the bag. That is, due to the folded form of the airbag including the arrangement and the gas blown from the inflator to the front wall and the rear wall of the case, in the present invention, at the time of initial deployment, the airbag center is left while the airbag is folded. The lower part of the airbag with many parts expands from the case before the upper part, and then the upper part expands. Further, due to the action at the time of the initial deployment, the action that the inflation of the lower portion of the airbag grows faster than that of the upper portion is obtained in the subsequent deployment behavior.

On the other hand, the central part of the airbag is deployed later than the upper part and the lower part, and in particular, the upper part which has not been expanded yet has fully expanded, and the lower part has already completed its expansion and developed the expansion. Even then, the center of the bag is not yet fully extended. The lower part of the airbag in this state is located on the chest of the occupant, the central part is located on the head, and the upper part is located near the head.

Therefore, according to the airbag device of the present invention, unlike the conventional airbag, the central portion does not inflate and deploy first and the deployment of the peripheral portion is delayed, and the airbag device is hung on the central portion. It is not necessary to attach a string or the like to regulate the deployment behavior of the airbag, so that the expansion of the airbag is stopped in front of the occupant's face, and even if the airbag is in contact with the occupant for some reason, the deployment delay at the center of the bag is used. Do not touch the occupant's head first, first in the chest and then in the crown,
Finally, it is possible to obtain the deployment and inflation behavior and shape of the airbag upon contact with the face.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a passenger airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle.
In the figure, P is an arrow indicating vertically upward, F is a windshield of the vehicle, D is an airbag door, and G is a gas ejection direction of the inflator. The instrument panel of the vehicle is omitted.

That is, the airbag device of this embodiment has a front wall 1 and a rear wall 2, left and right side walls (not shown) and a bottom wall 3.
And an airbag case 5 having an opening 4 defined above, and folded and housed in the case 5,
Further, the airbag 8 in which the mounting portions 6 provided on the base are fixed to the side walls 1, 2 ... Of the case opening portion 4 by the retainer 7, and inside the case 5, the front wall 1 and the bottom wall 2 of the case. And a tubular inflator 9 arranged so as to be substantially parallel to each other.

According to the present invention, in the airbag device as described above, the inflator is arranged so as to be close to the bottom wall 3 and the front wall 1 of the airbag case 5, and the inflator 9 is provided. Gas outlet 10a of
As shown in the drawing, 10b are formed so as to jet forward obliquely upward on the front wall 1 side and obliquely downward rearward on the bottom wall 3 side, respectively, and the airbag 8 is roughly formed by the inflator 9 and the case rear. The gist of the structure is that it is folded and stored between it and the wall 2.

Both ends of the inflator 9 in the axial direction are fixed to left and right case side walls (not shown) by bolts or the like. As for the extent to which the inflator 9 is offset to the front wall 1 and the bottom wall 3, it is preferable to offset the inflator 9 from the front wall 1 and the bottom wall 3 by 0 to 30 mm, more preferably about 10 to 20 mm ( Case front and back length of about 15
0 mm, inflator diameter of about 60 mm). The gas outlets 10a and 10b of the inflator 9 are continuously provided in the axial direction of the inflator 9 while having the angles as described above. With respect to a line (L) parallel to the above, a range of about 15 ° to 65 ° upward on the front wall side of the case, and a range of about 15 ° to 65 ° downward on the rear wall side of the case.
The range of the degree is suitable, and it is desirable that the front wall or the bottom wall is ahead of any of the ejection ports.

On the other hand, the airbag 8 has the above 8a and the lower portion 8
b is provided in the shape of a pyramid or a cone having substantially the same shape. The airbag 8 has four independent mounting portions 6 at the base portion, and the mounting portion 6a on the upper bag portion 8a side is attached to the front wall 1 of the case and the mounting portion 6 on the lower bag portion 8b side as illustrated.
b are attached to the rear wall 2 of the case, respectively. Then, as shown in the figure, the folded storage of the airbag 8 is performed by moving the airbag upper part 8a between the mounting portion 6a and the inflator 9 and between the inflator 9 and the rear wall 2 of the case. The portion is folded as shown together with the airbag lower portion 8b and the airbag central portion 8c.

Next, the operation of the airbag device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration has an opening 4 directed upward on the upper surface of an instrument panel (not shown) of the vehicle and in the front direction of the vehicle. The front wall 1 of the airbag case 5 and the rear wall 2 of the airbag case 5 are mounted so that the rear wall 2 faces rearward, respectively. At the time of operation, the airbag 8 uses the windshield similarly to a normal one to rearward the vehicle. Expand and deploy.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the inflator 9 is arranged so as to be offset to the bottom wall 3 and the front wall 1 of the airbag case 5, and the inflator 9 is arranged.
Gas jet outlets 10a and 10b are formed so as to jet forward obliquely upward on the front wall 1 side and obliquely downward rearward on the bottom wall 3 side, respectively.
The folded portion of the lower side 8b of the bag 8 is made larger than that of the upper side 8a so that it is folded and housed between the inflator 9 and the case rear wall 2 so that the airbag 8 can be expanded. Starting from the bag lower part 8b and the bag upper part 8a, leaving the central part 8c.

In this case, since the airbag 8 is folded and accommodated in the rear wall 2 side of the airbag case 5 in advance, the airbag lower portion 8b near the rear wall 2 has many folded portions as described above. On the contrary, the upper part 8a of the airbag far from the rear wall 2 has a slightly smaller number of folded parts than the lower part 8b of the bag. That is, due to the folded form of the airbag including the arrangement and the gas blown from the inflator 9 to the front wall 1 and the rear wall 2 of the case, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. Occasionally, the lower part 8b of the airbag having many folding portions is expanded from the case 5 before the upper part 8a, and then the upper part 8a is expanded while leaving the airbag center part 8c.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, due to the action at the time of the initial deployment, the action that the lower part 8b of the airbag 8 expands faster than the upper part 8a is obtained in the subsequent deployment behavior. It should be noted that the initial deployment direction is toward the windshield F and that the airbag upper portion 8a is sandwiched between the windshield F and the lower portion 8b due to the rapid inflation of the airbag lower portion 8b and the inflation is delayed. Furthermore, the fact that the opening end of the door D is on the airbag lower part 8b side further promotes the above-mentioned action. However, the unfolded state, that is, the amount of extension in the vehicle direction is almost the same as the upper part is slightly smaller.

On the other hand, the central portion 8 of the airbag 8 is
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, c is deployed later than the airbag upper portion 8a and lower portion 8b, the airbag upper portion 8a before inflation is fully extended, and the airbag lower portion 8b is inflated after inflation. Even at the time of FIG. 4 which is about to be attempted, the central portion 8c of the bag is in a state where it does not reach the end yet. In the airbag 8 in the state of FIG. 4, the lower portion 8b is located at the chest of the occupant, the central portion 8c is located at the head, and the upper portion 8a is located near the overhead.

According to the above-described operation, in the present invention, as in the conventional airbag, the central portion is first inflated and deployed, and the peripheral portion drawn by the central portion is fully extended, and finally the central portion is formed. It is possible to obtain the effect that the part does not significantly project and that the deployment behavior is not restricted by attaching a hanging string or the like to the center part. Even if the extension is stopped and the occupant comes into contact with the occupant for some reason, the lag of the center of the bag is used to prevent the occupant's head from contacting first, but the chest first, then the crown, and finally the face. The expansion and inflation behavior and shape of the airbag when contacted with are obtained (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

In the state of FIG. 5, the airbag 8 is deployed almost in the upper design area of the airbag, and thereafter, from FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, the airbag 8 is deployed vertically downward and then deployed and inflated over the entire area. ing. This process is as shown in the deployment behavior of the airbag 8 of FIGS.
Gases ejected from two directions flow in the airbag 8 along the windshield F, whereby the airbag 8
The internal pressure rises and the respective parts try to inflate evenly, but this is accomplished by the fact that the once expanded air bag tries to return to a predetermined shape by the tension of the cloth.

Although FIGS. 2 to 8 are based on photographs taken at equal time, four frames are required from the start of development to the development of the upper area, whereas one frame is required to develop the entire area from the top. Only. This indicates that it has been deployed near the abdomen immediately after deployment near the chest and head,
When observing a series of expansion and expansion processes over time, it can be said that the expansion from the upper area to the entire area is completed almost at the same time. When observing the airbag from the occupant side, the airbag has been deployed in front of the human body in a screen shape at the next moment when the mortar-shaped airbag has been deployed in front of the eyes, and full-scale restraint begins as the occupant accelerates. Is obtained.

[0027]

As described above, in the passenger airbag device of the present invention, the base portion of the airbag is attached to the peripheral edge of the opening of the airbag case, and the airbag and the inflator are mounted in the case. In the stored device,
The inflator is arranged on the bottom wall and the front wall of the airbag case, respectively, and the gas ejection ports of the inflator are arranged obliquely upward and forward on the front wall side and obliquely rearward and downward on the bottom wall side. Each of the airbags is formed so as to squirt out, and the outline of the airbag is folded and housed between the inflator and the rear wall of the case.The upper and lower portions of the airbag are evenly fronted from the center. Since it is deployed along the glass and does not cause a delay between the deployment behavior of the upper part and the lower part of the airbag, it does not cause a time difference in the behavior of the maximum expansion of the airbag thereafter. Even in the subsequent inflation process by expanding the upper and lower parts, the lower part of the airbag can be quickly inflated, and the airbag can be restrained on the entire surface almost at the same time after being deployed near the head of the occupant. It is possible to obtain an open expansion. Therefore, it is possible to restrain the occupant's body as a whole without giving a conspicuous local reaction force of the airbag to the occupant's head, chest, and abdomen.

Regarding the center of the airbag,
Depending on the posture and seating position of the passenger in the passenger seat, the inflation behavior of the lower and upper parts of the above bag is given priority even when the airbag is inflated until the deployment behavior is delayed compared to the upper and lower parts of the bag. Even if you approach the air bag, due to the delay in the deployment of the central part, the first part of the face does not come into contact with the chest first, then the chest, then the top of the face, and finally the face. It is possible to prevent the head from rotating rearward with respect to the fulcrum and protect the face and the neck.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a passenger airbag according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a first stage deployed state of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a second stage deployed state of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a third stage deployed state of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a deployed state of a fourth stage of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a fifth stage deployed state of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a deployed state of a sixth stage of the airbag of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a seventh-stage deployed state of the airbag of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Case Front Wall 2 Case Rear Wall 3 Case Bottom Wall 4 Case Opening 5 Airbag Case 6 Airbag Attachment 6a Airbag Attachment 6b Airbag Attachment 7 Retainer 8 Airbag 8a Airbag Top 8b Airbag Lower part 8c Air bag center part 9 Inflator 10a Gas ejection port 10b Gas ejection port D Air bag door F Windshield G Gas ejection direction

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 19, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0024

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

With the above operation, in the present invention,
As seen in conventional airbags, the central part does not inflate and expand first, and the peripheral part stretched by this central part does not fully extend, and finally the central part does not significantly project. It is possible to obtain the effect that it is not necessary to attach a hanging string or the like to the center part and to regulate its deployment behavior. This prevents the airbag from expanding in front of the occupant's face, and even if the occupant contacts the occupant for some reason. Also, by utilizing the delay in the deployment of the central part of the bag, the airbag does not contact the head of the occupant first, but the chest first, then the crown, and finally the face. Obtained (see FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 ).

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0025

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0025] In addition, the state shown in FIG. 7, has been deployed air bag 8 at the top design area of almost air bag, after the
In FIG. 8, after being deployed vertically downward from the top, it is deployed and inflated over the entire area. In this process, as seen in the deployment behavior of the airbag 8 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the gases ejected from two directions flow in the airbag 8 along the windshield F, whereby the internal pressure of the airbag 8 is increased. Rises and the respective parts try to inflate evenly, but this is achieved by the fact that the once expanded air bag tries to return to a predetermined shape by the tension of the cloth.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuaki Bito 3 Ikagayama, Uchikoshi, Miyoshi-cho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. Automotive Parts Technology Center

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bottomed box-shaped airbag case having openings defined by front, rear, left and right side walls, and mounting parts provided on the base that are folded and housed in the case are provided on the side walls of the case opening. In an airbag device including a fixed airbag and a tubular inflator disposed inside the case so as to be substantially parallel to a front wall and a bottom wall of the case, the inflator is provided in the airbag case. The inflator is arranged so as to be close to the bottom wall and the front wall, respectively, and the gas ejection ports of the inflator are ejected obliquely forward and upward on the front wall side and obliquely rearward and downward on the bottom wall side, respectively. An airbag device for a passenger seat, characterized in that the airbag is formed and folded so that the airbag is folded and housed between the inflator and a case rear wall.