JP5014173B2 - Cover body of airbag device and airbag device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a cover body of an airbag device and an airbag device provided in a boss portion of a steering wheel of a vehicle.

  Conventionally, an airbag device provided in a boss portion of a steering wheel body has been used. The airbag device includes a bag-shaped airbag, an inflator that supplies gas to the airbag, and a cover body that covers and stores the airbag when not deployed. The cover body includes a cover portion that covers the front side of the airbag stored in a folded state, and a tear line that is easily broken is formed in the cover portion. Then, when gas is supplied from the inflator to the airbag at the time of the collision of the automobile, the cover portion of the cover body is broken along the tear line to form a door portion. Inflated and deployed to the occupant side to restrain and protect the occupant.

As for the cover body of such an airbag apparatus, a configuration is known in which a mark is attached to a substantially central portion of the cover body and a tear line is arranged along the mark (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the configuration of this Patent Document 1, the tear line is connected to both ends of an arc-shaped portion that detours the lower side of the mark in an arc shape to form a horizontal tear line, and from the lower end of the mark to the lower side. A vertical tear line is arranged. Therefore, when these tear lines are cleaved when the airbag is deployed, the door portion provided with the mark is deployed upward, and the other two door portions are deployed downward.
JP 2001-163156 A (FIGS. 1 and 3)

  As described above, it is preferable that the cover body of the airbag device provided with a decorative member such as a mark is smoothly deployed in the same manner as other door portions even with respect to the door portion to which the weight of the decorative member is applied. However, if the end portion of the tear line that bypasses the decorative member is bent into an acute angle and connected to another tear line, it is not easy to smoothly deploy the door portion to which the weight of the decorative member is applied in the same manner as the other door portions. Have a problem.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the cover body and airbag apparatus of an airbag apparatus which can expand | deploy smoothly the door part which provided the decoration member.

The cover body of the airbag device according to claim 1 includes a front plate portion that covers the front side of the stored airbag, and a front plate portion that divides the front plate portion and is cleaved when the airbag is inflated and deployed to form a plurality of door portions. a tear line to form a plurality of hinge portions and, decorative member provided above positioned door portion one on the front plate portion to permit deployment of the door portion is arranged along the outer periphery of the front plate portion The tear line is disposed along the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion and is disposed between the hinge portions, and along a part of the outer peripheral portion of the decorative member. The detoured tear line portion that is arranged, and one end of the detour tear line portion smoothly continues without having a corner portion, and extends linearly to the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion as a tangent line that contacts the outer edge of the decorative member. A directly connected tear line portion and the bypass tear It is obtained by a plurality of connecting tear line portion extending continuously in to the outer portion of the front plate portion.

In this configuration, when gas is supplied to the airbag and inflated and deployed, the cover body is cleaved along the tear line by the pressure of the airbag to form a plurality of door portions, and each door portion has a hinge portion. The airbag is deployed so as to rotate, and a protruding port of the airbag is formed. At least one end of the bypass tear line portion that is arranged around the decorative member has a straight connection tear line portion that extends straight to the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion as a tangent line that touches the outer edge of the decorative member without a corner portion. Therefore, the first door portion, which is provided with a decorative member and is heavier than the other door portions, can be easily deployed in the same manner as the other door portions.

  The cover body of the airbag device according to claim 2 is the cover body of the airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the decorative member is disposed at a center portion of the front plate portion, and the bypass tear line portion is an outer periphery of the decorative member. Formed in the shape of an arc arranged along one side of the part, the direct connection tear line part extends from one end of the bypass tear line part to the outer peripheral part of the front plate part, and the connection tear line part of the bypass tear line part A first connection tear line extending from the other end to the outer periphery of the front plate, and a second and third connection tear line extending from an intermediate position of the detour tear line to the outer periphery of the front plate A first door portion on which the decorative member is located, and a second area having a smaller area than the first door portion by the bypass tear line portion, the direct connection tear line portion, and the first to third connection tear line portions. In which the fourth door portions are partitioned.

  And in this structure, since the 4 door parts of 4th without 1st unfold, and the 1st door part in which a decoration member is located made the area larger than other door parts, the 1st door part is others The airbag is subjected to a greater force to deploy than the other door, and is deployed smoothly in the same manner as other doors.

  The airbag device according to claim 3 is a bag-shaped airbag stored in a folded state, a cover body according to claim 1 or 2 that covers the airbag, and a gas is supplied to the airbag to be inflated and deployed. And an inflator.

  And in this structure, since the cover body of Claim 1 or 2 was provided, also about the 1st door part which provided the decoration member, it becomes easy to expand | deploy smoothly similarly to other door parts.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can be made easy to expand | deploy the 1st door part which provided the decoration member smoothly like other door parts.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cover body of an airbag device and an airbag device according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a steering wheel as a steering wheel of an automobile which is a vehicle. The steering wheel 1 includes a steering wheel main body 2 and an airbag device 4 mounted on the passenger side of the steering wheel main body 2. Yes. The steering wheel 1 is normally mounted on a steering shaft provided in the vehicle in an inclined state. Hereinafter, the steering shaft side is defined as the back side and the occupant side is defined as the front side, based on the straight traveling state of the vehicle. The direction toward the windshield (arrow A direction) will be described as the upper side.

  The steering wheel main body 2 connects the rim portion 5 that is a grip portion that is an annular grip portion, the boss portion 6 that is positioned inside the rim portion 5, and the rim portion 5 and the boss portion 6. The plurality of spoke portions 7 in the present embodiment are configured. Here, in order to ensure good visibility with respect to the meters provided on the instrument panel, the three spoke portions 7 are arranged on both sides and the lower side of the boss portion 6 in a straight traveling state. A meter viewing opening B, which is a relatively large opening, is secured on the upper side.

  Although not shown, a substantially cylindrical boss fitted to the steering shaft is provided on the back surface of the boss portion 6, and a boss plate constituting a core body is die-casted with magnesium alloy or the like. It is fixed together by casting. And the core metal of the spoke part 7 is integrally extended from this boss plate, or is fixed by welding or the like. Furthermore, the core metal of the rim part 5 is fixed to the core metal of the spoke part 7 by welding or the like. Further, on the outer peripheral portion of the core metal of the rim portion 5 and the outer peripheral portion of the spoke portion 7 on the rim portion 5 side of the core metal, a skin portion made of soft foamed polyurethane is formed. All or part of the outer periphery of the skin is covered with natural or artificial leather.

  On the other hand, the airbag device 4 is also referred to as an airbag module, and is arranged so as to cover the front side of the boss portion of the steering wheel body 2, and is a base plate as a mounted member made of a metal plate or the like. An air bag, an inflator for injecting gas, and the like, and a resin cover body 20 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are provided. The base plate is attached to the steering wheel body 2 via a horn plate or a bracket portion, and the airbag, the inflator, and the cover body 20 are attached to the base plate. Covered.

  The cover body 20 is also referred to as a case body, a pad, or a module cover, and a front plate portion 21 covering a part of the boss portion 6 and the spoke portion 7 and a front view from the rear surface of the front plate portion 21 are omitted. A peripheral plate portion 22 which is a peripheral wall projecting in a cylindrical shape such as a rectangular tube shape is integrally formed of synthetic resin or the like. The portion surrounded by the front plate portion 21 and the peripheral plate portion 22 of the cover body 20 becomes an airbag storage portion for storing the folded airbag, and the portion facing the front side of the airbag storage portion is the front plate. An emblem 24 serving as a decorative member is provided at the center portion of the front plate portion 23 as well as the portion 23. The front plate portion 21 can take various configurations in terms of design, but in this embodiment, the front plate portion 21 substantially follows the shape of the boss portion 6 and the peripheral plate portion 22 in front view. It is formed slightly larger than. In the present embodiment, the airbag device 4 also serves as a horn switch operation unit, is elastically supported by a horn plate, and the front plate portion 23 functions as a horn pad.

  The emblem 24 is also called an ornament, for example, a circular shape having a diameter L1 when viewed from the front. For example, a resin product such as a soft elastomer that is integrally formed is appropriately subjected to a treatment such as painting or plating. The emblem main body and the metal back plate are provided, and the emblem main body and the back plate are fixed by sandwiching the front plate portion 23 of the cover body 20 or the like.

  The front plate portion 23 faces the airbag storage portion, and is formed with a tear line 28. By tearing the tear line 28, a plurality of door portions 30 are formed when the airbag is deployed. The door part 30 has four asymmetrical first to fourth door parts 31, 32, 33, 34, and the first door part 31 on which the emblem 24 is arranged is the other three sheets. The door portions 32, 33, 34 are larger than the door portions 32, 33, 34, and are disposed below one side (the right side in FIGS. 1 and 2).

  Further, the tear line 28 forming the door portion 30 can be called a planned line portion or a planned fracture portion, and the back side of the front plate portion 23 is recessed in a groove shape, It is formed as a weak part weaker than the part. More specifically, the tear line 28 is formed on both sides of the outer peripheral tear line portions 41 and 41 formed on both sides along the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion 23, and on the lower side portion along the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion 23. The lower outer peripheral tear line portion 42 formed, the semicircular arc-shaped detour tear line portion 44 formed along the other side of the emblem 24 (left side in FIGS. 1 and 2), and the upper end of the detour tear line portion 44 A straight tear line 45 that extends smoothly from the corner to the outer peripheral tear line 41 as a tangent line that touches the outer edge of the emblem 24 and a bypass tear line 44 under the bypass tear line 44. A first connection tear line portion 46 that is bent in a smooth curved line from the end on the side and further linearly extends to the lower outer peripheral tear line portion 42, and an intermediate position between the bypass tear line portion 44 and others Extends linearly from the side to the outer peripheral tear line 41 on the other side A second connection tear line portion 47 and a third connection tear line portion 48 linearly extending from the upper side, which is an intermediate position of the bypass tear line portion 44, to the upper end of the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion 23. ing.

  The bypass tear line portion 44 is formed in an arc shape slightly longer than a semicircle, and the direct connection tear line portion 45 is formed to be inclined downward on one side.

  Further, a portion between the outer peripheral tear line portions 41, 41, 42 adjacent to each other serves as a hinge portion 51 serving as a rotation shaft when the door portion 30 is deployed on the front side. That is, the portion of the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion 23 where the tear line 28 is not formed connects the expanded door portion 30 to the outer peripheral portion of the peripheral plate portion 22 and the front plate portion 21 which are non-expanded portions. ing. Further, the hinge portion 51 connected to the first door portion 31 faces the emblem 24, and a line S extending in the radial direction from the center portion of the emblem 24 is a central portion in the longitudinal direction of the hinge portion 51. It is orthogonal and is orthogonal at least at any location. The hinge portion 51 can be formed to have a smaller thickness dimension than other portions so that it can be easily bent, but in the present embodiment, it is formed to have the same thickness size as the other portions.

  Also, the lower end portions 41a of the outer peripheral tear line portions 41, 41 on both sides and the end portions 42a on both sides of the lower outer peripheral tear line portion 42 are folded back to the inner peripheral side in order to suppress the progress of the cleavage. It is curved. Further, the upper end portion 41b of the outer peripheral tear line portions 41, 41 on both sides and the upper end portion 48a of the third connection tear line portion 48 are formed so as to abut against the peripheral plate portion 22 of the cover body 20, As necessary, weak portions are continuously formed in the peripheral plate portion 22 as well.

  Further, the effective width L2 of the hinge part 51 of the first door part 31 which is the door part 30 provided with the emblem 24, that is, the terminal part 41a along the direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the first door part 31. The dimension between 42a is set larger than the dimension L1 of the emblem 24 in the direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the first door portion 31.

  When the automobile equipped with the steering wheel 1 collides with the airbag device 4 provided with the cover body 20, the control device operates the inflator and supplies gas to the airbag. Then, the airbag rapidly inflates and deploys, and the cover body 20 is broken along the tear line 28 by the inflating and deploying pressure, and the door portion 30, four first to fourth door portions 31 in the present embodiment. , 32, 33, 34 are formed. Furthermore, each door part 31, 32, 33, 34 forms a projecting opening which is an opening for rotating the hinge part 51 as an axis to inflate the air bag, and the air bag is forward of the occupant from this projecting opening. Deploy and protect occupants.

  When the doors 31, 32, 33, 34 are deployed, the first door 31 provided with the emblem 24 is in contrast to the second to fourth doors 32, 33, 34 without the emblem 24. There is a tendency to be heavy and the start of deployment behavior tends to be delayed, and once deployment begins, it tends to move in the same direction with great inertia.

  In this regard, in the present embodiment, there are four door portions 31, 32, 33, and 34 to be deployed, and the first door portion 31 provided with the emblem 24 is the second to fourth portions where the emblem 24 is not provided. Since the door portions 32, 33, and 34 have different shapes and are larger in area than the second to fourth door portions 32, 33, and 34, the first door portion 31 is provided with the other door portions 32, 33. , 34, the airbag is more strongly deployed than the other door portions 32, 33, 34, and can be deployed in a balanced manner in the same manner as the other door portions 32, 33, 34.

  Further, the tear line 28 that divides the first door portion 31 provided with the emblem 24 is constituted by a straight line and a curve that are smoothly continuous with the bypass tear line portion 44, the directly connected tear line portion 45, and the first connection tear line portion 46. However, the tear line 28 connected to at least one end of the bypass tear line portion 44, in the present embodiment, the direct connection tear line portion 45 is smoothly extended from the end portion of the bypass tear line portion 44 without a corner portion, Since the straight line extends to the outer peripheral tear line portion 41 on one side as a tangent line in contact with the outer edge of the emblem 24, the cleavage started from the detour tear line portion 44 is smoothly propagated to the outer peripheral portion, and the first door 31 Can be deployed stably and smoothly.

  Further, the hinge portion 51 of the first door portion 31 is opposed to the emblem 24, and the line S extending radially from the center portion of the emblem 24 is orthogonal to the longitudinal center portion of the hinge portion 51. Therefore, even when the first door portion 31 moves in the same direction with a large inertia compared to the other door portions 32, 33, 34, a force that twists the hinge portion 51 is not applied. The first door 31 can be smoothly and stably deployed without using a special structure for increasing the strength of 51.

  Further, the tear line 28 has outer peripheral tear line portions 41, 41, 42 formed in a substantially polygonal shape surrounding the front plate portion 23 along the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion 23, and further, these outer peripheral tear line portions 41, The terminal portions 41a and 42a of 41 and 42 are curved so as to be folded back to the inner peripheral side, and since the hinge portions 51 are formed on these terminal portions 41a and 42a, the width dimension of the hinge portion 51, in particular, the door portion 30 Although the effective width that is a dimension along the direction orthogonal to the rotation direction is likely to be small, the effective width L2 of the hinge portion 51 of the first door portion 31 that is the door portion 30 provided with the emblem 24 is Since it is set to be larger than the dimension L1, it is possible to stabilize the rotating operation of the first door portion 31 so as to be reversed and to smoothly deploy the first door portion 31 including the emblem 24 with preferable characteristics.

  Moreover, since the door part 30 was divided | segmented into 4 sheets, the arrangement | positioning with sufficient balance which produces said each effect becomes easy.

  Thus, by smoothly deploying the door portions 31, 32, 33, and 34 with desirable characteristics, the airbag can be inflated and deployed smoothly with desirable characteristics.

  In addition, since the first door portion 31 having a large area provided with the emblem 24 is deployed downward, the airbag is deployed while the occupant is close to the steering wheel without closing the meter viewing opening B. The airbag is smoothly introduced into the opening B in a so-called proximity deployment (OOP) state. For this reason, the emblem 24 can be increased in size and the degree of freedom of the setting position can be improved, and the appearance can be easily improved. That is, preferable characteristics can be easily realized as the cover body 20 of the airbag device 4 provided in the steering wheel 1.

  In the above-described embodiment, one end of the bypass tear line portion 44 of the first door portion 31 is smoothly extended without having a corner portion on the bypass tear line portion 44 and is connected as a tangent line that contacts the outer edge of the emblem 24. Although the directly connected tear line portion 45 extending linearly to the outer peripheral tear line portion 41 is provided, the directly connected tear line portion 45 may be provided at both ends of the bypass tear line portion 44. Further, the directly connected tear line portion 45 can be continued to the intermediate position of the outer peripheral tear line portion 41, or can be continued to the end portion of the outer peripheral tear line portion 41, that is, can be continued to the end portion of the hinge portion 51.

  The shape of the emblem 24 is not limited to a circular shape, and may be any shape, such as an elliptical shape or a polygonal shape with rounded corners.

  Moreover, the door part 30 is not restricted to 4 sheets, It can also be made into 3 sheets or 5 sheets or more.

  In addition, the width dimension and depth dimension of the tear line 28 can be changed depending on the location to adjust the speed of propagation of the cleavage.

  In the above-described embodiment, the steering wheel 1 including the three spoke portions 7 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and a configuration including one or two spoke portions 7 or four The present invention can also be applied to the airbag device 4 provided in the handle provided with the spoke portion 7. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the airbag device 4 for the steering wheel 1 but can be applied to an airbag device for a passenger on a passenger seat provided on an instrument panel, or an airbag device provided in a moving body other than an automobile.

  The present invention can be applied to, for example, an airbag apparatus used for a steering wheel of an automobile, as well as an airbag apparatus provided in a handle or other parts of various moving objects.

It is a front view which shows one Embodiment of the cover body of the airbag apparatus of this invention. It is a front view of a steering wheel provided with an airbag device same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

4 Airbag device
20 Cover body
23 Front plate
24 Emblem as decorative material
28 Tearline
30 Door
31 First door
32 Second door
33 Third door
34 Fourth door
41, 42 Peripheral tear line
44 Detour tear line section
45 Directly connected tear line section
46 First connected tear line section
47 Second connected tear line section
48 Third connected tear line section
51 Hinge

Claims (3)

A front plate covering the front side of the stored airbag;
A tear line that divides this front plate portion and cleaves when the airbag is inflated and deployed to form a plurality of door portions,
A plurality of hinge portions arranged along the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion and allowing the door portion to expand ; and
A decorative member provided on the front plate portion located at the one door portion;
The tear line is
A plurality of outer peripheral tear line portions disposed along the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion and disposed between the hinge portions;
A detour tear line portion disposed along a part of the outer peripheral portion of the decorative member;
A straight connection tear line portion that is smoothly continuous without having a corner portion at one end of the bypass tear line portion, and is linearly extended to the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion as a tangent line that contacts the outer edge of the decorative member ;
A cover body for an airbag device, comprising: a plurality of connected tear line portions that are continuous with the bypass tear line and extend to an outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion. The decorative member is arranged at the center of the front plate part,
The bypass tear line portion is formed in an arc shape arranged along one side of the outer peripheral portion of the decorative member,
The directly connected tear line portion extends from one end of the bypass tear line portion to the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion,
The connecting tear line portion extends from the other end of the bypass tear line portion to the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion, and extends from an intermediate position of the bypass tear line portion to the outer peripheral portion of the front plate portion. Second and third connected tear line portions,
The detoured tear line portion, the directly connected tear line portion, and the first to third connected tear line portions, the first door portion where the decorative member is located, and the second to fourth doors having an area smaller than that of the first door portion. The cover body of the airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the cover portion is partitioned. A bag-shaped airbag folded and stored;
The cover body according to claim 1 or 2, which covers the airbag,
An airbag device comprising: an inflator that supplies gas to the airbag to inflate and deploy the airbag.

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