JP5380210B2 - Airbag device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant in which an inflated and deployed airbag is seated in a normal position in an airbag device capable of suppressing a burden on the occupant due to the airbag when receiving an occupant who is not seated in the regular position with an inflated airbag. It is related with the thing which aims at the stability improvement at the time of catching.

  Here, the state in which the occupant is seated at the normal position refers to a state in which the upper body of the occupant seated on the seat is positioned in the vicinity of the backrest portion of the seat. Further, the state where the occupant is not seated at the normal position refers to a state where the upper body of the occupant seated on the seat is not located near the backrest portion of the seat.

  For example, an airbag device for a passenger seat is attached at a position facing a front window in an instrument panel in front of the passenger seat. When an impact such as a collision is applied to the vehicle, the inflator assembled and fixed to the housing operates to supply high-pressure gas to the airbag. The airbag supplied with the high-pressure gas is inflated and deployed toward the occupant to protect the occupant.

  In the airbag, the occupant restrained surface comes into contact with the occupant seated at the normal position after the inflation and deployment is completed. Therefore, the occupant seated in the normal position is prevented from colliding with the instrument panel, the front window, or the like by the airbag that has been inflated and deployed at the time of a collision, for example.

  By the way, for example, in the case of an infant seated on a child seat attached to the passenger seat, the seating position is closer to the instrument panel than the normal position. Also, the child may stand up without sitting in the passenger seat. Hereinafter, this state is referred to as out-of-position.

  In the case of such an out-of-position, unlike an occupant seated at a normal position, an obstacle may be applied to the occupant due to the inflation and deployment of the airbag. However, in the conventional airbag apparatus, no consideration is given to this point.

  Therefore, the applicant proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 an airbag device that can catch an occupant relatively flexibly even in the case of out-of-position, and the occupant is less likely to be damaged by the airbag.

  This airbag device has a configuration in which one fixed vent with a fixed opening area and one variable vent with a variable opening area are provided on both side walls of the airbag. And, for example, by connecting the cylindrical body attached to the variable vent part and the occupant restraint surface with a string provided in the airbag, the opening area of the variable vent is optimally controlled according to the inflated and deployed state of the airbag Like to do.

  That is, when the occupant is seated at the normal position, the occupant enters the airbag after the airbag has been inflated and deployed, so the string is pulled to close the variable vent. On the other hand, in the case of out-of-position, since the occupant enters the airbag before the inflation and deployment is completed, the string is not pulled until the variable vent is fully closed, and the occupant is received relatively flexibly, There are fewer obstacles to the crew.

  However, in the airbag device proposed in Patent Document 1, since the variable vent closing adjustment is performed by the purse string structure, it is difficult to completely close the variable vent and a gap is generated. Therefore, there is a problem that the stability at the time of receiving the occupant seated at the normal position remains uneasy.

International Publication No. 2008/084605 Pamphlet

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that in the airbag device of Patent Document 1 in which the adjustment adjustment of the variable vent is performed by the purse-string structure, it is difficult to completely close the variable vent, and the occupant seated in the normal position is prevented. It is a point that anxiety remains in the stability when taking it.

The airbag apparatus of the present invention is
An airbag device that inflates and deploys in front of an occupant and absorbs an impact from the front of the vehicle when abnormal,
An inflator that ejects gas in the event of an abnormality,
An airbag that is supplied with the gas from the inflator and inflated and deployed;
The airbag is
A variable vent whose opening area changes from a fully open state to a closed state according to the state of the expansion and deployment;
This variable vent closure means,
A gap closing means for filling a gap formed when the variable vent is closed by the closing means;
The main feature is to have

  The airbag device of the present invention can give an appropriate deployment behavior to an airbag by a variable vent, not only for an occupant seated in a normal position but also for an occupant out of position.

  For example, if the closing means of the variable vent is configured to fix both ends of the string wound around the variable vent to the occupant restraint surface side of the airbag formed at a position facing the occupant seated on the seat, The string is pulled when the airbag is inflated and deployed, and the variable vent is throttled from the fully open position.

  In this way, if the occupant enters the airbag before completion of inflation and deployment, such as an occupant in an out-of-position state, the string will not be pulled until the variable vent is fully closed. The vent is not fully closed. Thereby, a passenger | crew can be received comparatively flexibly and it becomes less likely that a passenger | crew is obstructed by an airbag.

  On the other hand, when the occupant enters the airbag after completion of the inflation and deployment like the occupant seated at the normal position, the string is pulled to close the variable vent. At this time, for example, the gap formed when the variable vent is closed can be filled by a gap closing means constituted by a string that is fixed to the airbag near the variable vent so that the intermediate portion passes through the variable vent. Improves stability when receiving

  According to the present invention, even an occupant in an out-of-position state can be received relatively flexibly, and the occupant is less likely to be damaged by the airbag. In addition, when the occupant seated at the normal position is received, the variable vent can be completely closed, so that the stability when the occupant is received is improved.

It is a figure which shows the state which expanded and deployed the airbag of the airbag apparatus which concerns on this invention applied for passenger seats from the side surface of a vehicle. (A) is the figure which expanded and showed the variable vent part of a full open state, (b) is AA sectional drawing of (a). It is the figure which expanded and showed the variable vent part of the closed state. It is a figure which shows the variable vent closed state at the time of the conventional airbag expansion | swelling inflation. It is a figure similar to Fig.2 (a) which shows the other example of the closing means of a variable vent.

  Since the conventional airbag apparatus performs the adjustment adjustment of the variable vent by the purse-string structure, it is difficult to completely close the variable vent, and there is an anxiety in the stability when receiving the occupant seated in the normal position.

  According to the present invention, by separately providing a gap closing means for filling a gap formed when the variable vent is closed by the closing means, the variable vent can be completely closed, and the occupant seated at the normal position is received. Stability can be improved.

Hereinafter, an example showing the best mode of an airbag apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which an airbag of an airbag device according to the present invention applied to a passenger seat is inflated and deployed from the side of a vehicle, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a variable vent portion in a fully opened state. 3 is an enlarged view showing the variable vent portion in the closed state.

  The airbag device 11 for the passenger seat is attached at a position facing the front window 2 in the instrument panel 1 in front of the passenger seat. In general, the inflator is assembled and fixed to the housing, and the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed by high-pressure gas ejected from the inflator.

  When an impact acts on the vehicle due to a collision or the like, the inflator is activated to generate high-pressure gas, and the high-pressure gas is supplied into the airbag 12 from the high-pressure gas inlet. By supplying the high-pressure gas, the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed toward the occupant 3 seated in the passenger seat and received by the occupant restraint surface 12a, and the occupant 3 is prevented from colliding with the instrument panel 1, the front window 2, and the like. To do.

  In the airbag apparatus 11 of the present invention, substantially circular fixed vents 12c and variable vents 12d are provided on both side walls 12b of the airbag 12 from the occupant restraining surface 12a side, one by one in a substantially bilaterally symmetrical manner.

  Among these, the fixed vent 12c has a constant opening area regardless of the seating position of the occupant 3 and controls the internal pressure of the airbag 12. On the other hand, the opening area of the variable vent 12d changes depending on the seating position of the occupant 3 when the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed. The change in the opening area enables the occupant 3 to be received relatively flexibly even when the occupant 3 is out of position, for example, and the obstacles that the airbag 12 adds to the occupant 3 can be reduced.

  As the closing means 13 for the variable vent 12d, in this example, for example, the inside of the loop portion 13g formed by sewing the end portion of the cylindrical body 13a folded at the center portion to the variable vent 12d portion has a circular or thin cross section. A drawstring structure is shown in which it is squeezed through a belt-like string 13d.

  In this case, the dimension L from the folded portion 13b to the sewing portion 13c is determined so that an area equal to or larger than the opening area of each variable vent 12d can be obtained. Then, one end of the cord 13d is sewn to the central portion in the vicinity of the lowermost end portion of the occupant restraint surface 12a (sewn portion 13f), and the other end is on a line connecting the sewn portion 13f and the approximate center c of the variable vent 12d. It inserts from the opening 13e located in the vicinity of the folding | returning part 13b by the side of the said sewing part 13f. The inserted string 13d makes two turns around the inside of the cylindrical body 13a turned back at the center and is taken out from the opening 13e, and then sewn at the same position as the one end.

  At this time, the length of the other side of the cord 13d taken out from the opening 13e is the cylindrical body attached to the both side walls 12b by fixing one end of the cord 13d when the airbag 12 completes inflating and deploying. The length 13a is narrowed so that both variable vents 12d are fully closed.

  However, in the case of taking out the inside of the cylindrical body 13a by making one round, it is more reliable to provide an opening in the vicinity of the turn-up portion 13b at a position that has passed through the approximate center c of the variable vent 12d. Can be controlled.

  In the closing means 13 having such a configuration, for example, when the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed in a state where a child riding in the passenger seat stands in the forward direction at a position close to the instrument panel, Thus, the opening / closing amount of both variable vents 12d is controlled.

  That is, since the airbag 12 abuts on a child standing at a position close to the instrument panel 1 before being inflated and deployed into the regular shape shown in FIG. 1, the amount of pulling the cord 13d is reduced. Therefore, the variable vent 12d is not fully closed but is kept open, and high-pressure gas is also released from the variable vent 12d. As a result, the airbag 12 cannot be inflated and deployed more than at the time of contact, and the child is flexibly received.

  Even when the occupant 3 (child) is out-of-position, the occupant 3 (child) collides with the instrument panel 1 before the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed into a regular shape. The vicinity of the lowermost end portion of the restraining surface 12b is in an unexpanded state. In this state, the stroke up to the normal inflated and deployed position cannot be obtained at the sewing portion 13f, so that the string 13d cannot fully close the variable vent 12d, and the variable vent 12d maintains the open state. Accordingly, the high-pressure gas from the inflator is released not only from the fixed vent 12c but also from the variable vent 12d, and the airbag 12 is not inflated and deployed to the state shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the occupant 3 is seated at the normal position, the occupant 3 collides with the occupant restraint surface 12a after the airbag 12 is inflated and deployed into the normal shape shown in FIG. Therefore, the occupant 3 is received after the string 13d is pulled until the variable vent 12d is fully closed.

  However, in the case of the purse closing means 13, as shown in FIG. 4, it is difficult to completely close the variable vent 12 d, and a gap 14 is generated.

  Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the closing means 13 for the variable vent 12d, a gap closing means 15 for filling the gap 14 formed when the variable vent 12d is closed by the closing means 13 is provided.

  As the gap closing means 15, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, both ends 15b are fixed to an airbag near the variable vent so that the intermediate portion 15a passes through the variable vent 12d. Is adopted.

  If such a gap closing means 15 is provided, the gap 14 generated when the variable vent 12d is closed can be closed by the gap closing means 15, that is, the string 15, as shown in FIG. The sealing performance at 12d is improved, and stable performance can be obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the above example, and it goes without saying that the embodiments may be changed as appropriate within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims.

  For example, it goes without saying that the closing means 13 of the variable vent 12d is not limited to the example shown in FIG. For example, a tube body may be provided on the proximal end side of the tubular body 13a, and the tubular body 13a may be projected to the outside of the airbag 12 from both side walls 12b. On the contrary, the cylindrical body 13a may be protruded from the both side walls 12b to the inside of the airbag 12.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the cylindrical body 13a is not used, and a loop portion 13g through which the string 13d can be inserted is formed by sewing the periphery of the variable vent 12d of the side wall 12b provided with the variable vent 12d. Things can be used.

  Further, the fixed vent 12c and the variable vent 12d provided on the both side walls 12b may not be provided at positions that are substantially symmetrical. Alternatively, the fixed vent 12c may not be provided, or the fixed vent 12c or the variable vent 12d, or both may be provided only on one side wall 12b.

  In the above example, the airbag device adopting the structure of the present invention is described as being installed in the passenger seat of an automobile. However, the airbag device is installed in a vehicle other than the passenger seat or in a vehicle such as an aircraft or a ship other than the vehicle. May be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 instrument panel 2 front window 3 passenger | crew 11 airbag apparatus 12 airbag 12a passenger | crew restraint surface 12b side wall 12c fixed vent 12d variable vent 13 closing means 13a cylindrical body 13d string 13e opening 13g loop part 14 gap 15 gap closing means ( string)
15a Intermediate part 15b End part

Claims (6)

An airbag device that inflates and deploys in front of an occupant and absorbs an impact from the front of the vehicle when abnormal,
An inflator that ejects gas in the event of an abnormality,
An airbag that is supplied with the gas from the inflator and inflated and deployed;
The airbag is
A variable vent whose opening area changes from a fully open state to a closed state according to the state of the expansion and deployment;
This variable vent closure means,
A gap closing means for filling a gap formed when the variable vent is closed by the closing means;
An air bag apparatus comprising: The airbag is
The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fixed vent whose opening area does not change during the inflation and deployment.   The airbag device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the fixed vents is provided on both side wall portions at positions that are substantially symmetrical.   The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one of the variable vents is provided on both side wall portions at positions that are substantially symmetrical.   The variable vent closing means has a configuration in which both ends of the cord wound around the variable vent are fixed to the occupant restraining surface side of the airbag formed at a position facing the occupant seated on the seat. The airbag device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein   The gap closing means for the variable vent is a string having both ends fixed to an airbag near the variable vent so that an intermediate portion passes through the variable vent. Airbag device.

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