JP5163471B2 - Side airbag device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a side airbag device that inflates and deploys an air bag when an impact is applied to a vehicle from the side and relaxes the impact to protect an occupant.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, when a large impact force acts on the vehicle from the lateral direction such as a side collision, the airbag is inflated and deployed between the side portion of the vehicle and the passenger seated on the seat. Such a side airbag device is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). For example, the airbag is accommodated in a side portion of the seat back in a folded state.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the deployed state, the airbag 100 is partitioned into an upper compartment 102 a and a lower compartment 102 b by a tether 101. The upper compartment 102a is a part that mainly protects the chest of the occupant seated on the vehicle seat when deployed, and the lower compartment 102b is a part that mainly protects the occupant's waist during deployment. Inside the airbag 100, an inner tube 103 communicating with the compartments 102a and 102b is provided. Inside the inner tube 103, an inflator 104 that ejects gas from a gas ejection port 104a is inserted. When a large impact force in the lateral direction acts on the vehicle, such as in a side collision, gas is ejected from the gas ejection port 104a of the inflator 104, and the ejected gas passes through the inner tube 103 and the upper compartment 102a and It flows into the lower compartment 102b.
JP 2007-276522 A

  However, the conventional side airbag device has the following problems. That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the inner tube 103 is a separate component from the airbag body 100a. The inner tube 103 is fixed to a case to be attached on the vehicle side together with the airbag main body 100a through a bolt 106 protruding to the side of the retainer 105 in which the inflator 104 is accommodated. As described above, the inner tube 103 is fixed by being partially clamped between the case by the retainer 105 via the bolt 106, and therefore, when the airbag 101 is deployed, the airbag main body 100a. There is a possibility that the movement of the portion of the inner tube 103 that is not pinched by the retainer 105 (the portion that can move freely) becomes unstable. Here, the length of the inner tube 103 in the vertical direction is determined by product specifications and the like. Then, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 11, as the length of the inner tube 103 increases, the length of the portion that is not clamped by the retainer 105 increases, and thus the unstable movement of the portion that is not clamped further increases. There is concern that it will become prominent. For example, when the freely movable portion of the inner tube 103 is violated inside the airbag main body 100a, the inner tube 103 is crushed. As a result, the gas ejected from the gas ejection port 104a of the inflator 104 flows into the upper compartment 102a and the lower compartment There is a concern that it will not be smoothly supplied into the compartment 102b. Whether or not the gas supply into the upper compartment 102a and the lower compartment 102b is smoothly performed also leads to whether or not the deployment performance of the airbag can be stably maintained.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a side airbag device that can stably ensure the smooth deployment performance of the airbag.

The invention according to claim 1 is a side airbag device in which an airbag is inflated and deployed between a side portion of a vehicle and a passenger by gas ejected from a gas ejection port of an inflator. The inside is divided into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, and an inner tube is provided inside the compartment in such a manner that the opening ends are located in both compartments, and the inflator is inserted into the inner tube. In the side airbag device in which the gas from the inflator is supplied to the two compartments via the inner tube when the airbag is inflated and deployed, the airbag has a base fabric having a predetermined shape at a central portion thereof. And the inner tube is formed by stitching the periphery of the folded portion. The tube cloth is overlaid on the central portion of the surface, and two side edges located on opposite sides of the central portion of the tube cloth are stitched to the base cloth, and then the tube cloth Ri Na is formed by a be away from the inner surface of the base fabric, the inner tube, while being a two-ply folded in a direction along the central portion of the base fabric, towards a portion of the folded upward The gist is that it is provided .

  According to this configuration, the tube cloth is fixed by sewing both side edges to the base cloth. That is, an inner tube that opens to the upper compartment and the lower compartment is formed from the tube cloth and the base cloth. As described above, since the tube cloth is fixed to the base cloth at both side edges thereof, the inner tube including the tube cloth is prevented from being violated when the airbag is deployed. Therefore, when the airbag is deployed, the inner tube is less likely to be crushed, and the gas ejected from the inflator ejection port is smoothly supplied into the two compartments. As a result, the deployment performance of the airbag can be stably maintained.

Tube cloth in order to ensure the strength of that is you to two-ply. In this case, however, the inflator may be erroneously inserted between the two sheets of cloth. In this respect, according to the present invention, the tube cloth is folded to be doubled, and the folded portion is arranged toward the upper side, that is, the inflator insertion side. This avoids erroneous insertion of the inflator between the cloths even when the tube cloths have a two-ply structure.

Invention according to claim 2, in the side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inflator is inserted into the inner tube while being accommodated in the retainer having a bolt projecting laterally, the air The bag is fixed to an object to be attached via the bolt, and the inner tube is formed with a bolt hole through which the bolt is inserted from the inside, and the upper compartment on the upper compartment side of the inner tube and the upper compartment The gist is that a communication hole is formed to communicate with the inside of the inner tube, and the communication hole is provided so as not to overlap with the insertion hole through which the bolt is inserted.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to avoid that the bolt is erroneously inserted into the communication hole.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the smooth deployment performance of an airbag can be ensured stably.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an automobile side airbag device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9A and 9B. The airbag apparatus of the present embodiment is basically configured in the same manner as the apparatus shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 above, but differs from the apparatus in the configuration of the inner tube. Therefore, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the member structure similar to the side airbag apparatus shown by FIGS. 10-12, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag 10 is formed in a bag shape by folding a base fabric 11 having a predetermined shape into two at the center portion and stitching the peripheral portion of the folded portion. Inside the airbag 10, a tube cloth 12 is superimposed on a central portion of the inner surface of the base cloth 11 via a plurality of reinforcing cloths to be described later. Then, two side edges located on opposite sides of the central portion of the tube fabric 12 are stitched to the base fabric 11. Further, the tube cloth 12 is spaced apart from the inner surface 11 a of the base cloth 11 at the center. That is, the inner tube 13 is formed from the tube cloth 12 and a portion of the base cloth 11 corresponding to the tube cloth 12. Both ends of the inner tube 13 are open to the upper compartment 102a and the lower compartment 102b shown in FIG.

The airbag 10 is manufactured through the following steps (S-1) to (S-6).
<S-1>
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the base fabric 11 is formed in a heart shape that is symmetrical with respect to a folding line L1 that extends vertically at the center in the left-right direction. As the base fabric 11, a silicon coated fabric, an uncoated fabric, or the like can be used. In this example, an uncoated fabric is used. This non-coated cloth is lighter than the coated cloth. In addition, the non-coated cloth is superior in flexibility (flexibility) as compared with the silicon-coated cloth, so that it has good foldability and is easy to fold.

  When forming the airbag 10, first, in the base fabric 11, the first reinforcing fabric 21 is stitched to the center upper portion of the side surface that becomes the inner surface of the bag-like airbag 10. The first reinforcing cloth 21 has a rectangular shape and is sewn to the base cloth 11 with its lower end side folded upward as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, the first reinforcing cloth 21 is arranged so that the central axis extending in the vertical direction coincides with the folding line L1, and is indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure. It is sutured along the U-shaped suture line S1. In addition, you may make it the 1st reinforcement cloth 21 fold the upper end side downward.

<S-2>
Next, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the second reinforcing cloth 22 and the third reinforcing cloth 23 are stacked on the base cloth 11 in this order, and the second and third reinforcing cloths 22 are stacked. , 23 are stitched to the base fabric 11. That is, the second reinforcing cloth 22 corresponds to the outer shape of the base cloth 11, and the upper edge of the second reinforcing cloth 22 has a curved shape that protrudes upward so as to cover the folded portion of the first reinforcing cloth 21. It is said that. In addition, a silicon coating is applied to the side surface (the front surface of the paper) opposite to the base fabric 11 in the second reinforcing fabric 22. And this 2nd reinforcement cloth 22 is stitched | sutured along the sewing line S2 along the upper edge part, as shown by the dashed-two dotted line in Fig.3 (a). On the other hand, the third reinforcing cloth 23 has a rectangular shape having substantially the same shape and the same size as the first reinforcing cloth 21 whose lower end is folded back, and the first reinforcing cloth 21 is interposed via the second reinforcing cloth 22. It is piled up corresponding to. And this 3rd reinforcement cloth 23 is a pair of suture line S3a, S3b extended along the fold line L1 of the base fabric 11 in the right-and-left side edge part, as shown by the dashed-two dotted line in Fig.3 (a). Is sutured along.

  Thereafter, in the third reinforcing cloth 23, two bolt holes 24 through which the two bolts 106 of the retainer 105 are inserted are located on the right side of the folding line L <b> 1 and corresponding to the second reinforcing cloth 22. Is formed along the right suture line S3b and through the second reinforcing cloth 22, the first reinforcing cloth 21, and the base cloth 11. Further, the portion of the third reinforcing cloth 23 that protrudes upward with respect to the upper edge of the second reinforcing cloth 22, more precisely, the base cloth 11, the first reinforcing cloth 21, and the third reinforcing cloth 23 is provided. In the overlapping portion (see FIG. 3B), a linear slit SL coinciding with the folding line L1 is formed. The slit SL is formed from a portion corresponding to the upper edge portion of the third reinforcing cloth 23 to a portion corresponding to the upper edge portion of the second reinforcing cloth 22.

<S-3>
Next, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the tube cloth 12 and the two tether cloths 101 described above are stitched to the base cloth 11. The tube cloth 12 is arranged in such a manner that two sheets are overlapped when a rectangular cloth extending along the fold line L1 of the base cloth 11 is folded downward, and the folded portion faces upward. The tube cloth 12 in the folded state has a rectangular shape that covers the lower portion of the third reinforcing cloth 23 with respect to the upper edge of the second reinforcing cloth 22. The tube cloth 12 in the folded state is a pair of sutures extending along the fold line L1 of the base cloth 11 at the left and right side edges as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. It is sewn along the lines S4a and S4b.

  By suturing the tube cloth 12 with the base cloth 11 opened as described above, the tube cloth 12 is placed in an accurate mounting position (position matching the third reinforcing cloth 23) with respect to the base cloth 11. It is attached. Moreover, the strength is ensured by stacking the two tube cloths 12. Furthermore, when the retainer 105 in which the inflator 104 is finally inserted is inserted between the tube cloth 12 and the third reinforcing cloth 23 from above, the tube cloth 12 is folded back as described above. When the retainer 105 is inserted, it is prevented that it is erroneously inserted between the two cloths. As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4A, the retainer 105 is disposed between the tube cloth 12 and the third reinforcing cloth 23 so as to correspond to the two bolt holes 24 and 24.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, three communication holes 25 are formed in the upper part (the folded part side) of the folded tube cloth 12. The communication holes 25 are arranged so as not to overlap the bolt holes 24 formed in the third reinforcing cloth 23. The two tether cloths 101 are formed in a strip shape, and accurately center around the folding line L1 so as to extend from the vicinity of the central part in the vertical direction of the tube cloth 12 to the lower left and lower right in the figure. It arrange | positions so that it may become line symmetry. Then, the two tether cloths 101 are sewn along a stitch line S5 extending along the longitudinal direction thereof.

<S-4>
Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the base fabric 11 is folded inward along the aforementioned folding line L1. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the tube cloth 12 is held in a state pulled (raised) in a direction away from the base cloth 11. And the inner tube 13 is formed from this tube cloth 12 and the part (exactly 3rd reinforcement cloth 23) corresponding to the tube cloth 12 of the base fabric 11. FIG.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the two tether cloths 101 that are coincident with each other are stitched along the stitching line S <b> 6 extending along the longitudinal direction. By stitching the two tether cloths 101 together, the interior of the airbag 10 is divided into an upper compartment 102a located at the upper part thereof and a lower compartment 102b located at the lower part. The upper opening 13a of the inner tube 13 opens into the upper compartment 102a, and the lower opening 13b opens into the lower compartment 102b.

  Thereafter, the outer peripheral edge portion of the base fabric 11 is sewn along the stitch line S7, and further, the center portion of the base fabric 11 folded in two is circularly formed as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The seam portion 26 is formed by stitching.

  Here, the suture line S7 is set along the outer peripheral edge portion of the folded base fabric 11. The lower end of the stitching line S7 corresponds to the lower part of the folded portion of the base fabric 11, and the upper end corresponds to the side edge of the third reinforcing fabric 23. That is, at this stage, the upper part of the folded base fabric 11 on the folded portion side is not stitched. As described above and as shown in FIG. 6A, a slit SL is formed in the upper part of the folded base fabric 11 on the folded portion side. For this reason, the upper part by the side of the folding | turning part of the said base fabric 11 can be opened outside on the slit SL as a boundary, as FIG.6 (b) shows. The upper part of the base fabric 11 on the folded portion side becomes an insertion port 27 of the retainer 105 in which the inflator 104 is accommodated.

<S-5>
Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the retainer 105 in which the inflator 104 is accommodated is inserted into the inner tube 13 through the insertion port 27 of the folded base fabric 11. Here, as described above, the upper portion on the folded portion side of the base fabric 11 can be opened outward with the slit SL as a boundary (see FIG. 6B), and the slit SL is located on the upper side of the inner tube 13. It extends to the vicinity of the opening 13a (the upper edge of the tube cloth 12). For this reason, it is possible to insert the retainer 105 into the inner tube 13 while opening the upper portion of the folded portion side of the base fabric 11 outward. That is, the work for inserting the retainer 105 into the inner tube 13 is facilitated.

  Further, while inserting the retainer 105 into the inner tube 13, the two bolts 106 are inserted into the bolt holes 24 of the base fabric 11 from the inside. At this time, the communication hole 25 of the tube cloth 12 is disposed so as not to overlap the bolt hole 24 penetrating the third reinforcing cloth 23, the second reinforcing cloth 22 and the base cloth 11. Even if the retainer 105 is mistakenly inserted into the outside of the inner tube 13, that is, the portion of the airbag 10 on the expansion chamber (upper compartment 102a or lower compartment 102b) side, the bolt 106 is erroneously inserted into the communication hole 25. Never do. This is because even if the bolt 106 is to be inserted into the communication hole 25, each communication hole 25 does not correspond to the position of the bolt 106, and therefore cannot be inserted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the retainer 105 from being inserted into a wrong part, and the retainer 105 can be reliably inserted into the inner tube 13.

  Further, the inflator 104 is accommodated in the retainer 105 with the gas injection port 104a facing downward, and the electric wire 104b extending from the end of the inflator 104 opposite to the gas injection port 104a is as shown in FIG. Then, it is led out of the base fabric 11 through the slit SL.

<S-6>
Finally, the insertion port 27 formed in the upper part of the base cloth 11 on the folded portion side is closed. That is, as shown in FIG. 9A, the base fabric 11 is stitched along the stitching line S8 set at the upper portion on the folded portion side. The stitching line S8 extends obliquely to the lower right while drawing a circular arc intersecting with a portion located slightly on the left side with respect to the upper end of the stitching line S7 along the outer peripheral edge of the base fabric 11, and intersects with the folding line L1. Set to Therefore, the insertion port 27 is closed by sewing along the suture line S8. As a result, the gas ejected from the gas ejection port 104 a of the inflator 104 is suppressed from leaking from the upper portion on the folded portion side of the base fabric 11, that is, the insertion port 27. As shown in FIG. 9B, the portion below the suture line S8 is not sewn in the slit SL. This portion that is not sewn functions as a lead-out portion 28 that is opened to pull out the electric wire 104b to the outside.

  This completes the manufacture of the airbag 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag 10 is folded from the front end (left side in FIG. 5) toward the rear end, and is attached to the vehicle-side attachment target via the bolt 106 of the retainer 105. Fixed. That is, the airbag 10 is fixed by being pinched between the attachment object by the retainer 105 via the bolt 106. In the event of a side collision with the vehicle, the gas ejected from the gas ejection port 104a of the inflator 104 flows into the upper compartment 102a and the lower compartment 102b via the upper and lower openings 13a and 13b of the inner tube 13. . At this time, the inside of the inner tube 13 communicates with the inside of the upper compartment 102 a via the three communication holes 25 of the tube cloth 12. For this reason, the gas from the inflator 104 is more smoothly supplied into the upper compartment 102 a through the communication holes 25.

<Effect of Embodiment>
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The tube cloth 12 was fixed by sewing both side edges to the base cloth 11. That is, the inner tube 13 that opens from the tube cloth 12 and the base cloth 11 to the upper compartment 102a and the lower compartment 102b is formed. As described above, since the tube cloth 12 is fixed to the base cloth 11 at both side edges, it is possible to prevent the inner tube 13 including the tube cloth 12 from being unfolded when the airbag 10 is deployed. Therefore, when the airbag 10 is deployed, the inner tube 13 is less likely to be crushed, and the gas ejected from the gas ejection port 104a of the inflator 104 is smoothly supplied into the upper compartment 102a and the lower compartment 102b. As a result, the deployment performance of the airbag 10 can be stably maintained.

  In addition, although the length in the up-down direction of the inner tube 13 is determined by the product specification or the like, it is assumed that the length of the inner tube 13 is set larger than the length shown in FIG. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the length in the vertical direction of the portion of the inner tube 13 that is not clamped by the retainer 105 is also increased. However, even in this case, the portion of the inner tube 13 that is not pinched by the retainer 105 will not be violated inside the airbag 10. This is because the tube cloth 12 is sewn to the base cloth 11 over the entire length of both end edges thereof, so that its free movement is restricted and the tube cloth 12 is securely fixed to the base cloth 11.

  (2) In order to ensure strength, it is desirable that the tube cloth 12 is stacked two times. However, in this case, the inflator 104 (more precisely, the retainer 105 in which the inflator 104 is accommodated) may be erroneously inserted between the two pieces of cloth. In this regard, according to the present embodiment, the tube cloth 12 is folded to be overlapped, and the folded portion is arranged toward the upper side, that is, the insertion side of the inflator 104. Thereby, even if it is a case where the structure which piles up the cloth 12 for tubes is employ | adopted, inserting the inflator 104 accidentally between these cloths is avoided.

  (3) The inflator 104 is inserted into the inner tube 13 in a state in which the inflator 104 is accommodated in a retainer 105 having a bolt 106 protruding from the side. And the airbag 10 is fixed to the attachment object (case etc. fixed to the vehicle seat shown in FIG. 6) via the bolt 106. Assuming that the airbag 10 is attached, a bolt hole 24 through which a bolt 106 is inserted from the inner tube 13 is formed in the inner tube 13, and the upper compartment is located in a portion on the upper compartment side of the inner tube 13. A communication hole 25 for communicating the chamber 102a and the inside of the inner tube 13 was formed. The communication hole 25 is provided so as not to overlap the bolt hole 24 through which the bolt 106 is inserted. For this reason, the bolt 106 is not erroneously inserted into the communication hole 25.

The principal part sectional drawing of an airbag. (A) is a front view of the base fabric which shows the 1st manufacturing process of an airbag, (b) is the 1-1 sectional view taken on the line of Fig.2 (a). (A) is a front view of the base fabric which shows the 2nd manufacturing process of an airbag, (b) is the 2-2 sectional view taken on the line of Fig.3 (a). (A) is a front view of the base fabric which shows the 3rd manufacturing process of an airbag, (b) is 3-3 sectional view taken on the line of Fig.4 (a). The front view of the base fabric which shows the 4th manufacturing process of an airbag. (A) is a principal part perspective view which shows the slit formed in the airbag in the middle of manufacture, (b) is a principal part perspective view which shows the insertion aspect of the retainer and the inflator to the airbag in the middle of manufacture. The principal part perspective view which shows the insertion aspect of the retainer and inflator to an inner tube in the 5th manufacturing process of an airbag. The principal part perspective view which shows the state by which the electric wire of the inflator was pulled out of the airbag. (A) is a principal part front view which shows the state by which the insertion port of the retainer and the inflator was stitch | sutured in the 6th manufacturing process of an airbag, (b) slits the airbag of the state by which the insertion port was stitch | sutured. The side view seen from the side. The front view of the side airbag apparatus which shows the state which the airbag expand | deployed. The front view of the airbag of the state which expand | deployed. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Airbag, 11 ... Base fabric, 12 ... Tube cloth, 13 ... Inner tube, 24 ... Bolt hole, 25 ... Communication hole, 102a ... Upper compartment, 102b ... Lower compartment, 104 ... Inflator, 104a ... Gas Spout, 105 ... Retainer, 106 ... Bolt.

Claims (2)

A side airbag device that inflates and deploys an airbag between a side portion of a vehicle and a passenger by gas ejected from a gas ejection port of an inflator, wherein the airbag has an upper compartment and a lower compartment inside. And an inner tube is provided inside the compartments in such a manner that the opening ends are located in the compartments. The inflator is inserted into the inner tube, and the airbag is inflated and deployed. In the side airbag device in which the gas from the inflator is supplied to the two compartments via the inner tube,
The airbag is formed by folding a base fabric having a predetermined shape into two at the central portion and sewing the peripheral portion of the folded portion.
The inner tube overlaps the central portion of the inner surface of the base fabric with the tube fabric, and two side edges located on opposite sides of the central portion of the tube fabric as a boundary. in terms of the suture, Ri Na is formed by separating the said tube fabric to the inner surface of the base fabric,
A side airbag device in which the inner tube is folded in a direction along the center portion of the base fabric to be doubled, and the folded portion is provided upward . In the side airbag device according to claim 1 ,
The inflator is inserted into the inner tube in a state of being accommodated in a retainer having a bolt projecting laterally, and the airbag is fixed to an attachment target via the bolt,
A bolt hole through which the bolt is inserted from the inside is formed in the inner tube, and a communication hole that connects the upper compartment and the inside of the inner tube is formed in a portion on the upper compartment side of the inner tube. ,
The side air bag device in which the communication hole is provided so as not to overlap with the insertion hole through which the bolt is inserted.

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