JP3528596B2 - Pillar garnish - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a molding part integrally molded with a plastic material, and a skin part which covers the design side surface of the molding part. The molding part comprises a long base part and The present invention relates to a pillar garnish having a bag door part integrally hinged to one side of the base part.

Although a front pillar will be described as an example of the pillar, the present invention can be applied to the case of a rear pillar.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Various side air bag devices for protecting the head of an occupant have been proposed in response to the recent demand for increased occupant protection in automobiles (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-240409 / 31).
No. 5253). And the outline of those side airbag devices is as follows.

The side airbag device includes an inflator and an airbag. The inflator is usually in the shape of a cylinder in relation to the storage space, and is attached near the door belt line on the vehicle interior side (inner panel) of the front pillar. The airbag is provided with a tubular air inlet for connecting the inflator and a protective curtain portion having a substantially parallelogram expanded shape. Then, in the airbag, the protective curtain portion is folded in a long length, and the vehicle body is attached to each of the front pillars, which are constituent members, over the roof side rails.

As a pillar garnish, the present inventors have previously proposed a pillar garnish having the following schematic structure (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-129617, not yet published at the time of application).

The pillar garnish is usually composed of a molded part integrally molded with a plastic material and a skin part which covers the design side surface of the molded part. The molded part is a long base part and one side of the base part. And a door part for a bag integrally connected to the base part, and further, engaging means by retaining metal fittings (engaging pins) are formed at both ends of the back surface of the base part.

[0007]

In the above structure, the retaining metal fitting has the embedded plate portion and the engaging head portion which are parallel to each other at both ends of the shaft portion. A thick portion is usually formed between the embedded plate portion and the design side surface of the base portion. This is because of the relationship between the design shape of the garnish and the mounting direction of the retaining bracket to the front pillar. It was found that this thick portion caused sink marks on the design side surface of the base portion, and the sink marks were conspicuous even if a skin portion was formed on the surface.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a pillar garnish in which sink marks are unlikely to occur on the design surface of the base portion corresponding to the embedded plate portion of the retaining metal fitting.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive efforts to solve the above problems, the present inventors have conceived a pillar garnish having the following structure.

A molding portion integrally molded of a plastic material and a skin portion covering the side surface of the design of the molding portion are provided. The molding portion includes a long base portion and an integral portion along one side of the base portion. A pillar garnish with a bag door part that is hinged to each other, including a metal fitting boss that partially embeds a retaining metal fitting on the back surface of the base portion, and the retaining metal fittings are parallel to each other at both ends of the shaft portion. An embedded plate part and an engaging head part, and a thick part between the embedded plate part and the design side surface of the base part, characterized in that the thick part is provided with a sink for preventing sink marks. .

It is desirable that this sink for preventing sink marks is formed by a uniform distribution of pin-shaped holes.

[0012]

The operation and effect of the invention The pillar garnish of the present invention is
In the case where there is a thick wall between the embedded plate part of the retaining bracket and the design side surface of the base part, the thick wall part has a sink for preventing sink marks, so a sink mark occurs in the thick part during molding. do not do. Then, the meat steal is hidden by covering the skin portion, so that there is no problem in the appearance of the garnish. Therefore, in designing the mounting direction of the retaining metal and the shape of the design side surface of the pillar garnish, it is not necessary to consider the occurrence of sink marks on the design surface side of the molded product. Therefore, the degree of freedom in designing the pillar garnish is increased.

Further, by forming the shape of the sink for preventing sinks with a pin-shaped hole assembly having a uniform distribution, it becomes easier to prevent sinks uniformly, and when the skin is covered, the skin is thin. Also, the presence of meat stealing is unlikely to occur, and the stress acting on the boss part of the retaining metal fitting via the embedded plate part of the retaining metal fitting is not likely to be concentrated or anisotropic during inflation of the airbag, resulting in retaining It contributes to the improvement of stability of the disengagement load of the metal fittings.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the pillar garnish of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a mounting state of a pillar garnish molded body, FIG. 2 is a schematic rear perspective view of the pillar garnish molded body (molding portion), and FIGS.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the mounting manner of the garnish molded article of the present embodiment at each of the 3-2 line, 3-4 line, and 5-5 line of FIG. In addition, the symbol "D" in each drawing indicates a door body.

The side airbag device 12 to which the present embodiment is applied includes an inflator 14 and an airbag 16. The inflator 14 usually has a cylindrical shape in relation to the storage space, and is attached near the door belt line BL on the vehicle interior side (inner panel) of the front pillar 18. The airbag 16 includes a cylindrical air inlet 22 that connects the inflator 14 and a protective curtain portion 24 having a substantially parallelogram-shaped expanded shape. Then, in the airbag 16, the protective curtain portion 24 is folded in a long length, and the vehicle body is attached to the roof side rail 26 from the front pillar 18 which is a constituent member. Then, the front and back joining portion 2 is provided on the protective curtain portion 24.
4a are formed at a plurality of locations. This is to prevent the protective curtain portion 24 from escaping in the vehicle width direction due to an external force when the airbag 16 is deployed / inflated.

Here, in this embodiment, the pillar garnish 28 is composed of a molding portion 32 integrally molded of a plastic material and a skin portion 34 which covers the design side surface of the molding portion, and the molding portion 32 has a long length. The base portion 36 and the bag door portion 38 joined to the integral hinge 37 along one side of the base portion 36 are provided, and the back surface of the base portion 36 is provided with an attaching means. The attachment means are three different types of integrated fixing means from the door belt line BL side to the roof side rail 26 side, that is, the retaining metal fitting 42, the locking clip 44, and the bolt fastening seat boss 46. It consists of The workability of attaching the pillar garnish 28 to the front pillar 18 is improved, and the opening amount of the bag pop-out opening is relatively increased from the viewpoint of making the pop-out of the air bag quick and smooth when the air bag is activated. This is to reliably prevent the pillar garnish 28 from being separated from the front pillar 18 (partial separation).

Here, as the plastic material used as the molding material for the pillar garnish, a thermoplastic elastomer (TPO) of a polyolefin type or a polystyrene type, which can impart the shape retention (rigidity) required for an ordinary garnish, is desirable. It may be a thermosetting plastic such as polyurethane, unsaturated polyester or the like. From the standpoint of ensuring the shape retention required for garnish and ensuring the hinge characteristics of the door that does not hinder the air bag from popping out, the range of rigidity is the flexural modulus (ASTM D790).
At 400 to 1000 MPa, preferably 400 to 60
It is 0 MPa.

The decorative sheet forming the skin portion 34 is not particularly limited, but may be a single-layer or multiple-layer fabric, leather, as long as it is in harmony with other interior parts of the vehicle.
The printing soft sheet or the like is optional. The thickness of the decorative sheet is usually 0.5 to 5 mm.

A metal fitting boss 48 for partially embedding the retaining metal fitting 42 is provided on the back surface of the base portion 36.
Includes an embedded plate portion 42b and an engaging head portion 42c that are parallel to each other at both ends of the shaft portion 42a. In addition, the embedded plate portion 42
A thick portion 35 is provided between the outer surface b and the front surface of the base portion 36.

In the example shown in the drawing, the thick portion is formed by intersecting the containing plane of the embedded plate portion 42b with the corresponding front side design surface of the base portion 36. Here, the angle of intersection between the embedded plate portion 42b and the front side design surface of the base portion 36 is usually 5 ° to 3 °.
It is 0 °. When the angle is small, sink marks are unlikely to occur, and it is not necessary to form the sink preventive meat steal 33 described below.

The mode of the sinkage prevention thief 33 is shown in FIGS.
It is desirable that the pin-shaped hole aggregate 33 is uniformly dispersed as shown in FIG. This is because when the thin skin portion 34 is put on, the presence of the sink-preventing meat steal is difficult to manifest. For example, although the aspect of sinking meat stealing is not evenly dispersed, for example, it may be a stripe shape, but a stripe-like pattern is likely to appear on the outer surface of the skin portion 34, and further, during inflation of the airbag. Embedded plate portion 4 of the retaining metal fitting 42
Stress concentration and anisotropy are likely to occur in the portion where the retaining metal fitting boss 48 is formed via 2b, and as a result, the stability of the pull-out load of the retaining metal fitting 42 may be lacking.

Further, the shape of the pin-shaped holes of the pin-shaped hole assembly 33 is not limited to the round hole shape shown in the figure, but may be a polygonal shape, but the round hole shape has a load applied to the portion. At this time, stress concentration is less likely to occur, which is desirable.

The design mode of the pin-shaped hole assembly 33 varies depending on the thickness difference between the thick portion and other general portions and the molding material, but for example, the hole diameter is 1 to 3 mm and the hole pitch is 1 to 3 mm. ,
The depth of the hole is such that a bottom wall thickness of 0.5 to 2 mm is formed between the hole and the embedded plate portion. Naturally, the hole 33a has a draft with a tapered tip (for example, 3 to 5 °).

In the present embodiment, as described above, two other types of fixing means are formed on the back surface of the base portion 36 of the garnish main body 32 in addition to the retaining metal fitting 42. That is, the locking clip 44 and the bolt fastening seat boss 46 are formed toward the roof side rail 26 side.

The locking clip 44 has an anchor shape as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, and is not particularly limited, but in the illustrated example, it projects from a truncated cone-shaped clip boss 45 and is integrally injection-molded.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the bolt fastening seat boss 46 also has a truncated cone shape and is integrally injection-molded on the back surface of the base portion 36. Specifically, the fastening seat boss 46 is capable of receiving the screw fastening force by metal / metal contact by being driven into the sleeve 50 with the metal flange 50a after molding in order to obtain the screw fastening force. ing. Furthermore, in order to prevent the screw head (bolt head) 52 a from protruding from the design surface of the pillar garnish 28, the base portion side of the fastening seat boss 46 is provided with a screw head housing recess 54. Then, after fastening the screws, a design cap 56 that closes the screw head housing recess 54 can be attached in order to conceal the bolt head 52a.

Molding portion 32 of the pillar garnish 28
The molding is performed by using a molding die M having an end face structure as shown in FIG. 7 at a portion where the retaining metal boss 48 is molded. The retaining metal fitting 42 is held by a slide core 61 that slides in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface.

A fixed die 58 and a movable die 60 are provided, and a large number of pins 58a for forming a meat steal are formed so as to project from the fixed die 58 side. The protruding direction of the pin 58a at this time is the same as the mold opening direction of the mold, and intersects with the axial direction of the retaining metal fitting 42 (intersection angle 30 ° in the illustrated example).

When the plastic material is pressure-injected (injected) into the cavity 62 of the molding die M to be cooled and solidified or cured by heating, the movable die 60 is moved to open the die, and the fixed die 58 is used for molding. The body (molding portion) 32 is released.

At this time, the meat stealing pins 58a are formed in a uniformly dispersed manner on the surfaces of the cavities 62 of the fixed shapes 58 of the embedded plate portion 42b of the retaining metal fitting 42 of the retaining boss molding portion 46 that face each other. Sinks caused by the thick portion 35 are unlikely to occur.

As shown in FIG. 5, a sleeve 50 with a flange 50a is driven into the fastening seat boss 46 after molding as shown in FIG.

On the design side surface of the molding portion 32 of this embodiment,
The outer skin portion 34 is covered to form the garnish 28. Due to the presence of the decorative skin portion 34, the sink-preventing meat steal 33 is hidden, and there is no problem in appearance.

The garnish 28 thus prepared is attached to the front pillar 18 constituting the vehicle body as follows.

Here, the front pillar 18 is basically formed of an inner panel 18a, an outer panel 18b, and a lean force 18c. Pillar 18
The metal fitting locking hole 64, the clip locking hole 66, and the nut seat hole 68 are provided corresponding to the retaining metal fitting 42, the locking clip 44, and the bolt fastening seat boss 46. The metal fitting locking hole 64 is in the shape of a keyhole having a wide insertion portion 64a on the lower end side as shown in FIG. The clip locking hole 66 is a round hole into which a clip can be inserted and undercut can be stopped. Further, a weld nut 70 is fixed to the back surface of the inner panel 18a at the position of the nut seat hole 68.

The folded airbag 16 is previously mounted along the roof side rail 26 from the front pillar 18 which constitutes the vehicle body (side member). In particular,
After the airbag 16 is folded, the folded shape of the airbag 16 is temporarily held by the strap 72 or the like (see FIG. 9). Then, it is screwed to each inner panel of the front pillar 18 and the roof side rail 26 via the mounting margins 16a formed at a plurality of positions along the upper edge of the airbag 16 which is folded and held by the strap 72. Install (see Figure 1).

If necessary, the front pillar 18
On the upper side of the line connecting the metal fitting locking hole 64, the clip locking hole 66, and the nut seat hole 68 of the roof side rail 26, that is, on the side opposite to the airbag mounting side, the wire harness 7
Wire 4 etc.

In this state, the locking head 4 of the retaining metal fitting 42
After inserting 2b into the wide insertion portion 64a of the metal fitting locking hole 64, while pushing the pillar garnish 28 toward the roof side rail 26 side, the locking clip 44 is pushed into the clip locking hole 66, and the bolt fastening seat boss 46 is further pushed. Corresponding to the weld nut 70 and the bolt 76 to the weld nut 7
The pillar garnish 28 is fixed to the front pillar 18 by screwing it into 0 (fastening). Then, the mounting is completed. At this time, the bolt head 53 of the bolt 52 is provided with a lower seat portion 53a capable of metal contact with the sleeve 50, and an upper seat portion 53b capable of locking the design cap 56.
Is equipped with. Then, after fastening the bolts, the design cap 5
6 is attached to the screw head housing recess 54 by locking its spring leg portion 56a to the upper stage seat portion 53b.

Finally, a door weather strip 80 having a trim portion 53 for closing the gap between the front pillar 18 and the bag door portion 38 of the pillar garnish 28 is attached to the sheet metal flange portion 19 of the front pillar 18.

The airbag 16 attached to the roof side rail 26 is covered with the side edge portion of the ceiling board 30.

In this way, the pillar garnish 28 has the result that the folded long airbag 16 is housed between the pillar garnish 28 and the inner panel 18a of the front pillar 18. Then, when the airbag device 12 is operated, the airbag 16 is deployed by the gas flowing from the inflator 14.
Bulge. By the expansion and inflation output of the airbag 16,
The door of the molding unit 32 tries to open. At this time, the molding unit 3
Since the bending rigidity of No. 2 is relatively high, both the integral hinge portion 37 and the bending resistance are relatively large. Therefore, the expansion / inflation output of the airbag 16 acts on the back surface of the pillar garnish 28, the locking leg 44a of the locking clip 44 is released from the front pillar 18, and the central portion of the pillar garnish 28 is released. The both ends are fixed and float up, and at the same time, the bag door 38 is forcibly rotated and opened, so that the airbag pops out quickly and smoothly and expands and bulges like a curtain. At this time, since the roof side rail 26 side of the garnish 28 is fixed by screws and does not move,
Small width locking part 64 of metal fitting locking hole 64 on the belt line BL side
The locking head 42b of the retaining metal fitting 42 does not come off from the metal fitting locking hole 64 by moving to the b side. Therefore, in the pillar garnish 28, the opening amount of the pop-out opening of the airbag 16 formed by the forced rotation of the door portion is larger than that in the case where only the bag door portion 38 is opened.
6 develops and swells more smoothly.

At this time, the embedded plate portion 42 of the retaining metal fitting 42
Although stress is generated in the portion where the retaining metal fitting boss portion 48 is formed via b, since the sinkhole preventing burglar 33 is formed of the pin-shaped hole aggregates uniformly dispersed, stress concentration and anisotropy occur. It is difficult to do so, and contributes to improving the stability of the pull-out load of the retaining metal fitting 42.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a mounted state of a pillar garnish molded body which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic rear perspective view of the same.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGS.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGS.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGS.

FIG. 6 is a layout view of a pin-shaped hole aggregate, which is one form of sink-preventing meat stealing, on a design side surface.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the mold at the boss portion for the retaining metal fitting in the molding part of the present invention

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a retaining metal locking hole formed in the front pillar.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing one aspect of maintaining the shape of the airbag after folding.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 Side airbag device 14 inflator 16 airbags 18 front pillar 26 Roof side rail 28 Pillar garnish molding 32 Molding part (garnish molding) 33 Meat stealing to prevent sink marks 34 Decorative skin 36 Base 36 37 Integral hinge 40 mounting means 42 retaining bracket 46 Bolts for Bolt Fastening Seat 50 sleeves 52 volt BL belt line

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identifier FI // B29L 31:30 B29L 31:30 (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Tajima, Nagasawa, Ochiai, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. Company (72) Inventor Fumitake Kobayashi No. 1 Nagahata Ochiai, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akiyoshi Nagano No. 1 Nagahata, Ochiai-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-9-156430 (JP, A) JP-A-7-117572 (JP, A) JP-A-9-240409 (JP, A) JP-A-6-190862 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 5-65694 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 13/02 B29C 45/14 B60R 21/20 B60R 21/22 B62D 25/04

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A molded portion integrally molded by injection molding with a plastic material, and a decorative sheet to be placed on the side surface of the design of the molded portion.
In the pillar garnish, the molding portion includes a long base portion and a bag door portion integrally hinged along one side of the base portion. , The base portion is the skin portion together with the bag door portion.
Is provided on the back surface side of the base portion, and is provided with a metal fitting boss for partially embedding the retaining metal fitting on the back surface of the base portion, and the retaining metal fitting has embedded plate portions and engaging head portions parallel to each other at both ends of the shaft portion. A pillar garnish, comprising: a thick wall portion between the embedded plate portion and a design side surface of the base portion, and the thick wall portion having a sink for preventing sink marks. 2. The pillar garnish according to claim 1, wherein the sink preventive burglar is formed of a pin-shaped hole aggregate having a uniform distribution.