JP3367378B2 - Airbag module - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag module characterized by a folded state of an airbag. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An airbag module generally includes a folded airbag, an inflator connected to the airbag so that air can flow into the airbag, and a bag holder integrally holding the airbag and the inflator. It is a configuration provided. [0003] The airbag 12 is, for example,
As shown in FIG. 1, a front fabric 14 and a back fabric 16 having substantially the same planar shape (an elliptical plate in the drawing) and a back fabric 16 are provided with a peripheral sewn portion 17 formed by being sewn around the periphery. 14 has a gas inlet 18. Normally, the front cloth 14 and the back cloth 16 are formed of a nylon woven cloth or the like, and a heat-resistant coating or the like is applied to the inner surface as necessary. Further, the peripheral edge of the gas inlet 18 of the back cloth 16 is reinforced by a reinforcing cloth 19 or the like. Prior to folding the airbag 12,
A retainer (not shown) is provided at the gas inlet 18 of the back cloth 16.
Assemble inside. The retainer includes a mounting bolt, and the mounting bolt 22 protrudes outward through a mounting hole 21 formed in the peripheral edge of the gas inlet 18. [0005] In this state, the airbag 1 is expanded in a plane.
1A, from the state shown in FIG. 1A, as shown in FIG. 1B, the left and right symmetrical parts 24, 24 on the outer peripheral edge side with respect to the gas inlet 18 are mountain-folded m and valley-folded v, respectively. After the vertical fold is performed by performing the mountain fold m, as shown in FIG. 1 (C), the upper and lower symmetrical portions 26, 26 on the outer peripheral edge side are subjected to the mountain fold m and the valley fold v to perform the lateral fold to perform the lateral fold. Complete. Instead of the horizontal folding, roll winding may be performed. Then, usually, in order to maintain the folded state, it is temporarily fixed with the temporary fixing band 28. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the folded airbag 12 (the retainer 20 is previously incorporated inside the gas inlet 18) is used together with an inflator 38 by a bag holder (bag case) 40. When the inflator 38 is operated by being modularized and attached to the vehicle body, since it is folded symmetrically in the vertical direction (up and down) and the horizontal direction (left and right), it is equally deployed vertically and horizontally,
It bulges out in the same direction as the gas inflow direction. [0007] Recently, in a passenger airbag module mounted on an instrument panel or the like, it has been demanded that one side be deployed first. I have. For example, in a so-called top-mount type airbag module A shown in FIG. 2 mounted on the upper surface side 30a of the instrument panel 30 so as to include a bag pad 36 for closing the airbag outlet 32, It is desirable that the side (passenger seat side) 30b expands and protrudes before the upper surface side (wind shield 34 side) 30a. The front side 30 of the instrument panel 30
b) Pad 36 for closing air bag outlet 32
On the other hand, in the airbag module A on the so-called mid-mount side shown in FIG. 3 which is mounted so as to include the airbag module, the upper surface side (windshield side) 30a is deployed and inflated before the front side (passenger seat side) 30b. It is desirable to put out. In order to cope with this, conventionally, a strap (tether) is attached to the inner surface of the bag or the gas flow is controlled. Control was not easy. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an airbag module that facilitates partial control of the airbag deployment / inflation speed. An airbag module according to the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by the following constitution. An airbag module comprising a folded airbag, an inflator connected to the airbag so that air can flow into the airbag, and a bag holder integrally holding the airbag and the inflator.
A front cloth and a rear cloth having substantially the same planar shape are sewn and inverted at the peripheral edge to provide a peripheral sewn portion, and the rear cloth has a gas inlet, and the folded state of the airbag is the airbag. It is characterized in that a part is folded inward with an inwardly sack-shaped portion which is folded inward and polymerizes on the inside with the gas inlet. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and all or part of the description thereof will be omitted. (1) FIGS. 4 to 6 show one embodiment of the present invention. The airbag module A1 of the present embodiment
Is a so-called top mount type, which is mounted on the upper surface side 30a of the instrument panel 30 so as to include a bag pad 36 for closing the airbag outlet 32. The airbag module A1 of the present embodiment
Is a folded airbag 12 and an airbag 12
The configuration is premised on a configuration including an inflator 38 that is connected to the airbag so that air can flow into the airbag 12 and a bag holder 40 that integrally holds the airbag 12 and the inflator 38. In addition,
The integral holding is performed by projecting the mounting bolts 22 protruding from the airbag 12 of the retainer 20 from the intermediate mounting step 40a of the bag holder (bag case) 40 and fastening the screws using a nut 42 or the like. In the present embodiment, the folded state of the airbag 12 is such that a part of the airbag 12 is folded inward so as to have the gas inlet 18 and an inwardly folded bag-like portion 44 that overlaps inside. And the inner folded bag-shaped portion 44
Is the windshield 34 of the instrument panel 30
It is formed from the side. This folded state is specifically shown in FIG.
6 in order. A front-side cloth 14 and a back-side cloth 16 having substantially the same planar shape (an elliptical shape in the figure) are provided with a peripheral sewn portion 17 formed by reversing the periphery of the front-side cloth 14 with a peripheral edge. An airbag 12 </ b> A as shown in FIG. A rectangular retainer (not shown) is previously mounted inside. In the illustrated example, the peripheral suturing portion 17 is inverted after suturing, but may not be inverted. Also, the airbag 12A shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), a part of the airbag 12 is folded inward to form an inwardly folded bag-like portion 44 that overlaps with the gas inlet 18. The airbag 12A shown in FIG.
According to a mountain fold line m1, a valley fold line v1, a mountain fold line m2, and a valley fold line v2, as shown in FIG.
Is vertically folded by performing a mountain fold m, a valley fold v, a mountain fold m, and a valley fold v, respectively. The airbag 12A shown in FIG.
According to the mountain fold lines m1 and m2, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), the upper and lower sides of the gas inlet 18 are folded. Further, the airbag 1 shown in FIG.
2A is sequentially subjected to mountain folding, that is, roll folding, in accordance with the mountain folding lines m1, m2, and m3. Reference numeral 46 denotes a roll folding bar. The folded airbag is temporarily held in a folded state by a temporary fastening band or the like, assembled into the bag holder 40, and mounted on an actual vehicle, as in the prior art. (2) The usage of the above embodiment will be described. When the inflator 38 is operated, gas flows into the airbag 12 through the gas inlet 18. At this time, since the bag-shaped in-fold portion 44 is folded inside the outer vertical and horizontal folds, it is developed at the final stage as shown in FIG. At this time, the bag-shaped in-fold part 44 is formed from the windshield 34 side of the instrument panel 30. Therefore, as shown in the figure, the front side (passenger seat side) 30b is on the upper side (wind shield 34 side) 30a.
It expands and swells faster, and the expansion and swelling speed toward the windshield 34 side is suppressed. (3) FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention, which is a so-called mid-mount type airbag module A2 having an airbag outlet 32 on the front side 30b of the instrument panel 30. It is attached to. The airbag module A2 of this type differs from the above-described top mount type in that, as described above, the upper surface side expands and expands ahead of the front side, that is, the expansion and expansion speed toward the passenger seat side is suppressed. desirable. The difference from the above embodiment is that an inwardly folded bag-like portion 44 is formed on the passenger side of the instrument panel 30. The folding mode is exactly the same as above, but the mounting to the bag holder 40 is upside down. In the present embodiment, an inward folded bag-like portion 44 is formed on the occupant seat side of the instrument panel 30. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper surface side (wind shield side) 30a expands and swells faster than the front side (passenger seat side) 30b, and the expansion swelling speed toward the passenger seat side is suppressed. The airbag module A2 of the present embodiment
The present invention can also be applied to a type having an airbag outlet 32 at a ridge line portion of the instrument panel 30, that is, at a boundary position between the upper surface side 30a and the front side 30b. (4) Here, the airbag module for the passenger seat has been described as an example, but the present invention is also applicable to a steering wheel. In this case, the inner folded bag-shaped portion is formed on the upper side of the steering wheel. As a result, the lower side of the steering wheel expands and swells faster than the upper side, and the expansion and swelling speed toward the upper side is suppressed. In a steering wheel, the bag pad is also a part of the airbag module. The airbag has an example in which the peripheral suturing portion is inverted after suturing. However, the airbag may be sewn only and not inverted. Although not described, other means for controlling the deployment and inflation of the airbag, such as a strap for mainly controlling the height of the airbag and a differential user for controlling the gas flow, are also used. Of course, you can. According to the airbag module of the present invention, the airbag is provided with a peripheral sewn portion in which a front fabric and a back fabric having substantially the same planar shape are sewn at the periphery, and the back fabric is made of gas. The airbag is provided with an inflow port, and the folded state is such that a part of the airbag is folded inward so as to have an infolded bag-like portion that is folded inward and overlaps with the gas inflow port. Accordingly, by appropriately setting the formation position of the inwardly folded bag-like portion, it becomes easy to partially control the speed of deployment and inflation of the airbag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing an embodiment of a conventional airbag folding mode. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a top-mounted airbag module incorporating the airbag folded in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a mid-mount type airbag module. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a top-mount type airbag module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an airbag used in FIG. FIG. 6 is a process diagram showing a process of forming an inwardly folded bag-like portion in one embodiment of the folding mode of FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a process diagram showing a folding process after FIG. 5 similarly. FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a mount type airbag module. [Description of References] 12 Airbag 14 Front cloth 16 Back cloth 18 Gas inlet 20 Retainer 30 Nsu torr instrument panel 30a panel top side 30b panel front side 36 bags pad 38 inflator 40 bag holder (bag case) 44 inside the folding bag portion A, A1, A2 airbag module

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Asanuma 1 Ochiai Nagahata, Kasuga-cho, Nishi-Kasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-8-276810 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 255437 (JP, A) JP-A-9-48308 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/16-21/32

Claims (1)

(57) Claims 1. An airbag in a folded state, an inflator connected to the airbag so that air can flow into the airbag, and a bag holder integrally holding the airbag and the inflator , Airbag on top of instrument panel
An airbag module for a passenger seat having an outlet for the front airbag, wherein the airbag is provided with a peripherally sewn portion in which a front fabric and a rear fabric having substantially the same planar shape are sewn at the periphery, and The cloth is provided with a gas inlet, and the folded state of the airbag is configured so that a part of the airbag is
Folds inward to polymerize at the gas inlet and inside , and
From the windshield side of the instrument panel
An airbag module which is formed and folded with an in-folded bag-like portion.