JP5772619B2 - Airbag device for passenger seat - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a passenger seat airbag device for protecting an occupant seated in a passenger seat.

Patent Document 1 below discloses an invention relating to an airbag door structure of a passenger seat airbag device. Briefly, a tear line for deploying the airbag doors in front, rear, left and right is set on the instrument panel base. The tear line is composed of a first cleaving portion extending in the vehicle width direction and a pair of left and right second cleaving portions extending in a V shape from both ends of the first cleaving portion.
JP 2004-359170 A

  However, in the case of the above prior art, when an occupant is seated close to the instrument panel (hereinafter, such a case is referred to as “when the occupant is close”, and the occupant is simply referred to as “close occupant”). In addition, there is a problem that the passenger seat airbag is difficult to deploy to the vehicle lower side. This is because the manner of deployment of the airbag door is dominant in the deployment behavior of the passenger airbag when the passenger is in close proximity. Therefore, the prior art has room for improvement in this respect.

  In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain an airbag device for a passenger seat that can improve the protection performance for a close occupant during a side collision or a front collision prediction.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the airbag device for a passenger seat is configured to generate gas when activated, and to store the gas generated by the gas generating means while being stored in a folded state. An airbag module including a passenger seat airbag that is received and inflated and deployed to the passenger seat side, and is disposed on the passenger seat side of the instrument panel, and is deployed to the front side of the vehicle with the front hinge portion as a center. to towards the area of the front door section, the rear hinge portion possess an air bag door that is set larger than the area of the side door after deployment toward the rear of the vehicle as the center, the a, along the vehicle width direction In a state before extending, when the front door portion and the rear door portion are connected to each other in a state before the opening, and obliquely extending from the both ends of the first opening portion to the vehicle front side and the vehicle rear side, respectively. A left door portion that extends to the left in the vehicle width direction around the left hinge portion, and a second tear portion that forms a right door portion that extends to the right in the vehicle width direction around the right hinge portion. The front door portion and the rear door portion are formed in a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the occupant side, and the angles formed by the left and right second cleavage portions are both set to acute angles, and A reinforcing rib is not formed on the lower surface of the rear hinge portion, and a plurality of reinforcing ribs are formed on the lower surface of the front hinge portion.

Airbag apparatus for a passenger seat according to the present invention described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, wherein the airbag module and the airbag door, the longitudinal vehicle width direction on the back side of the instrument panel It is arranged on the vehicle rear side with respect to the instrument panel reinforcement arranged as a direction and on the vehicle rear side of the air conditioner unit.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the frontal collision or the frontal collision is predicted, the gas generating means is activated to generate gas. The passenger seat airbag stored in the folded state by the gas is inflated and presses the airbag door from the back side. When the inflation pressure acting on the airbag door reaches a predetermined value, the front door portion is deployed centering on the front hinge portion, and the rear door portion is deployed centering on the rear hinge portion. As a result, the passenger seat airbag is inflated and deployed toward the passenger seat.

  Here, in the present invention, the area of the front door portion is set larger than the area of the rear door portion. For this reason, the passenger seat airbag can obtain a larger reaction force from the front door portion, while the reaction force received from the rear door portion becomes smaller. Therefore, compared with the case where the areas of the front door portion and the rear door portion are set to be the same, the passenger seat airbag is easily inflated and deployed downward. As a result, even if the passenger seated in the passenger seat is a close passenger, the lower portion of the passenger seat airbag is firmly interposed between the chest of the adjacent passenger and the instrument panel. Further, the head of the close occupant is caught and firmly restrained by a portion other than the lower portion of the passenger seat airbag that is held in a stable state by the front door portion that can obtain a relatively large reaction force.

Further , according to the present invention, when the inflation pressure of the passenger airbag acting on the back surface of the airbag door reaches a predetermined value, the first tearing portion of the airbag door tearing portion is first cracked, and then left and right The second cleaving part of cleaves. As a result, the front door part is developed around the front hinge part, and the rear door part is developed around the rear hinge part. Further, the left door portion is developed around the left hinge portion, and the right door portion is deployed around the right hinge portion.

  Here, in the present invention, the front door portion and the rear door portion are formed in a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the occupant side, and the angles formed by the left and right second cleavage portions are both set to acute angles. The cleavage rate when the second cleavage part is cleaved after the first cleavage part is cleaved becomes faster. For this reason, a left door part and a right door part can be rapidly developed following a front door part and a rear door part.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the instrument panel reinforcement is arranged on the back side of the instrument panel with the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction. In the present invention, the air conditioner unit is disposed on the vehicle front side of the instrument panel reinforcement, and the airbag module and the airbag door described in claim 1 are disposed on the vehicle rear side. For this reason, an instrument panel can be made thin in a vehicle side view.

As described above, the passenger-seat airbag device according to the present invention according to the first aspect of the present invention has an excellent effect of being able to improve the protection performance for a close passenger at the time of a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction.

In addition, the passenger seat airbag device according to the first aspect of the present invention has an excellent effect that the passenger seat airbag can be rapidly inflated and deployed.

The airbag device for a passenger seat according to the second aspect of the present invention can improve the protection performance against a nearby occupant during a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction even when a thin instrument panel is employed. It has an excellent effect.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which the airbag for passenger seats of the airbag apparatus for passenger seats which concerns on 1st Embodiment inflate-deployed. (A) is an enlarged plan view of an airbag door cleavage part, (B) is a perspective view which shows the state which the airbag door expand | deployed. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the whole structure of the airbag apparatus for passenger seats shown by FIG. 1 by a side sectional view. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which the airbag for passenger seats of the airbag apparatus for passenger seats which concerns on the comparison is inflate-deployed. (A) is an enlarged plan view of the airbag door tearing portion of the airbag device for a passenger seat according to the comparative example, and (B) is a perspective view showing a state in which the airbag door is deployed. (A) is an enlarged plan view of the airbag door cleaving part of the airbag apparatus for passenger seats concerning 2nd Embodiment, (B) is a perspective view which shows the state which the airbag door expand | deployed. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the structure of the front side hinge part of the airbag apparatus for passenger seats concerning 3rd Embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, the airbag device for the passenger seat according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In these drawings, an arrow FR appropriately shown indicates the vehicle front side, an arrow UP indicates the vehicle upper side, and an arrow IN indicates the vehicle width direction inner side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the passenger airbag device 10 is disposed on the passenger seat side of the upper surface portion 12 </ b> A of the instrument panel 12. When supplementing about the instrument panel 12, the pipe-shaped instrument panel reinforcement 14 arrange | positioned by making the vehicle width direction into the longitudinal direction is arrange | positioned at the back surface side of the instrument panel 12. FIG. The instrument panel reinforcement 14 is a high-strength and high-rigidity member, and is spanned between the left and right front pillars. The instrument panel 12 is attached to the instrument panel reinforcement 14. Furthermore, the instrument panel 12 of the present embodiment is a thin instrument panel that is thinner in the vertical direction of the vehicle than an instrument panel 62 (see FIG. 4) according to a comparative example described later. Specifically, an HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) 16 is disposed on the front side of the vehicle with respect to the instrument panel reinforcement 14, and an airbag device 10 for the passenger seat is disposed on the rear side of the vehicle. The height of the instrument panel 12 is suppressed, and a space between the windshield glass 18 and a foot space below the instrument panel 12 is widely secured.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the above-described passenger seat airbag device 10 includes an airbag door 20 disposed on the passenger seat side of the upper surface portion 12 </ b> A of the instrument panel 12, and a vehicle lower side of the airbag door 20. And an air bag module 22 which is disposed on the side and accommodates functional parts.

  The airbag module 22 includes a metal module case 24 formed in a substantially box shape. The front and rear side wall portions 24A of the module case 24 are attached with locking members 26 each having a plurality of hooks 26A each having a substantially L-shaped longitudinal cross-sectional shape provided at a predetermined interval. A cylindrical inflator 28 is disposed at the center of the bottom wall portion 24B of the module case 24. Although the inflator 28 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, the present invention is not limited to this, and a so-called disk type inflator formed in a substantially disk shape may be used. The inflator 28 is of a type in which the gas generating agent is burned and a large amount of gas is generated by energizing an ignition device (squib) (not shown) filled with the gas generating agent. Not limited to this, a type in which high-pressure gas is sealed may be used. Further, a passenger seat airbag 30 is stored in the module case 24 in a state of being folded above the inflator 28.

  Between the passenger seat airbag 30 and the inflator 28, a metal diffuser 32 having a substantially semicircular longitudinal section is interposed. The diffuser 32, which is a rectifying means, includes a frame-shaped portion 32A formed in a rectangular frame shape in plan view, and a rectifying portion 32B formed in a semi-cylindrical shape at the center of the frame-shaped portion 32A. Yes. The frame-like portion 32A is configured such that the base end portion on the opening side of the passenger airbag 30 is sandwiched between the bottom wall portion 24B of the module case 24 and the bottom wall is secured by the stud bolt 34 and the nut 36 (see FIG. 1). It is fastened to the part 24B. The rectifying unit 32B is provided with a supply port (not shown) for supplying gas into the passenger seat airbag 30.

  The above-described airbag module 22 is closed by the airbag door 20. The airbag door 20 includes a top portion 20A disposed on the lower surface side of the upper surface portion 12A of the instrument panel 12, and a leg portion 20B extending from the top portion 20A to the module case 24 side. A plurality of locking holes 38 are formed in the leg portion 20 </ b> B so as to correspond to the hooks 26 </ b> A of the module case 24. By hooking the hooks 26 </ b> A in the locking holes 38, the airbag module 22 is floatingly supported by the instrument panel reinforcement 14.

  Next, the structure of the main part of the passenger seat airbag apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the airbag door 20 of the above-described airbag door 20 has an invisible type (a type in which the tear line cannot be seen from the vehicle interior side) in the rectangular deployment region S. A cleavage portion 40 is formed. The airbag door cleaving portion 40 includes a single first cleaving portion 40A formed along the vehicle width direction, and approximately V from the both ends of the first cleaving portion 40A toward the vehicle diagonally front side and the vehicle diagonally rear side. It is comprised by the left-right paired 2nd cleavage part 40B each extended in the shape of a character. It should be noted that the depth of the groove constituting the cleavage portion is set so that the breaking strength of the first cleavage portion 40A is lower than the breaking strength of the second cleavage portion 40B. It sets so that it may fracture | rupture from the center of 40 A of cleavage parts.

  Further, a front hinge portion 42 is formed on the vehicle front side of the first cleaving portion 40A so as to connect the front ends of the second cleaving portions 40B that are parallel and parallel to the first cleaving portion 40A. Similarly, a rear hinge portion 44 is formed on the vehicle rear side of the first cleaving portion 40A so as to connect rear ends of the second cleaving portions 40B that are parallel and parallel to the first cleaving portion 40A. Further, a left hinge portion 46 is formed between the front and rear ends of the left second cleavage portion 40B so as to be orthogonal to the front hinge portion 42, and the front hinge is provided between the front and rear ends of the right second cleavage portion 40B. A right hinge portion 48 is formed so as to be orthogonal to the portion 42.

As a result, when the passenger seat airbag device 10 is actuated, the airbag door 20 is, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), an isosceles trapezoidal front side that deploys forward with respect to the front hinge portion 42. The rear door portion 52 is an isosceles trapezoidal shape that extends to the vehicle rear side with the door portion 50 and the rear hinge portion 44 as the center, and the triangular left door portion 54 that extends to the left side in the vehicle width direction with the left hinge portion 46 as the center. In addition, a total of four door portions including a right door portion 56 having a triangular shape that extends rightward in the vehicle width direction with the right hinge portion 48 as the center are deployed in four directions, front, rear, left, and right.

Here, in the present embodiment, the first cleaving portion 40A is set at a position offset by a predetermined distance to the vehicle rear side with respect to the center line CL in the left-right direction of the rectangular development region S described above. Thereby, the area S1 of the front door portion 50 is set to be larger than the area S2 of the rear door portion 52. The area S3 of the left door portion 54 and the area S4 of the right door portion 56 are set to be the same. In addition, the angle θ1 formed by the left and right second cleavage parts 40B is set to an acute angle .

(Operation and effect of this embodiment)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  In a normal state, the passenger seat airbag device 10 does not operate, and the passenger seat airbag 30 is stored in the module case 24 in a folded state.

  When a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction occurs from this state, a frontal collision state or a frontal collision prediction state is detected by an airbag sensor (not shown), and the signal is input to an airbag ECU (not shown). The airbag ECU determines whether or not the passenger-seat airbag device 10 should be operated based on the input signal. If it is determined that the airbag is activated, a predetermined current is supplied to the inflator 28. As a result, the inflator 28 is activated to generate gas. The generated gas is rectified by the rectifying unit 32B of the diffuser 32 and supplied into the folded airbag 30 for the passenger seat. When the passenger seat airbag 30 is inflated in the module case 24, the airbag door 20 is pressed from the back side. When the inflation pressure acting on the airbag door 20 reaches a predetermined value, the first cleavage portion 40A is first broken, and then the left and right second cleavage portions 40B are broken. As a result, the front door portion is developed toward the vehicle front side with the front hinge portion 42 as the center, and the rear door portion 52 is deployed toward the vehicle rear side with the rear hinge portion 44 as the center. At the same time, the left door portion 54 is deployed to the left in the vehicle width direction around the left hinge portion 46, and the right door portion 56 is deployed to the right in the vehicle width direction around the right hinge portion 48. As a result, the passenger seat airbag 30 is inflated and deployed toward the passenger seat.

  Here, in this embodiment, the area S1 of the front door portion 50 is set larger than the area S2 of the rear door portion 52. Therefore, the passenger seat airbag 30 can obtain a larger reaction force F (see FIG. 1) from the front door portion 50, while a reaction force received from the rear door portion 52 becomes smaller. That is, the magnitude of the reaction force acting on the passenger seat airbag 30 depends on the areas of the front door portion 50 and the rear door portion 52.

  This will be further explained using the proportionality shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the passenger seat airbag device 60 shown in FIG. 4, the thickness in the vertical direction of the vehicle when viewed from the side of the vehicle is the above. The instrument panel 62 is thicker than the instrument panel 12. In this case, the HVAC 16 is disposed on the vehicle front side of the instrument panel reinforcement 14, but the passenger seat airbag device 60 is disposed on the vehicle upper side of the instrument panel reinforcement 14. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the front door portion 64 and the rear door portion 66 have the same area and the same shape. The left door portion 68 and the right door portion 70 are also set to have the same shape on the left and right.

  In the case of the passenger seat airbag device 60, the front door portion 64 and the rear door portion 66 have the same area, so that the reaction force that the passenger seat airbag 72 receives from the rear door portion 66 is reduced. It becomes larger than the case of this embodiment. On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the area S1 of the front door portion 50 is set larger than the area S2 of the rear door portion 52, so that the passenger seat airbag 30 is located on the rear side. The reaction force received from the door portion 52 is reduced, and the passenger seat airbag 30 is easily inflated and deployed downward. In FIG. 1, the lower end portion 72A of the passenger seat airbag 72 according to the comparative example is shown by a two-dot chain line, but the lower end portion 30A of the passenger seat airbag 30 of the present embodiment is more than this. The vehicle is inflated and deployed toward the vehicle lower side by a distance δ. As a result, even if the occupant seated in the passenger seat is a close occupant, the lower portion 30B of the passenger seat airbag 30 is firmly interposed between the chest of the close occupant and the instrument panel 12. Further, the head of the adjacent occupant is a portion from the upper portion 30C to the intermediate portion 30D other than the lower portion of the passenger seat airbag 30 held in a stable state by the front door portion 50 from which a relatively large reaction force is obtained. It is received and restrained firmly.

  As described above, according to the airbag device 10 for the passenger seat according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the protection performance with respect to a close occupant during a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction.

  In the present embodiment, the front door portion 50 and the rear door portion 52 are formed in a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the passenger side, and the angle θ1 formed by the left and right second cleavage portions 40B is set to an acute angle. Therefore, the cleavage speed when the second cleavage portion 40B is cleaved after the first cleavage portion 40A is cleaved is increased. For this reason, the left door part 54 and the right door part 56 can be rapidly deployed following the front door part 50 and the rear door part 52. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the passenger seat airbag 30 can be rapidly inflated and deployed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the instrument panel 12 is thinned by arranging the HVAC 16 on the front side of the instrument panel reinforcement 14 and the airbag device 10 for the passenger seat on the rear side of the vehicle. However, even when such a thin instrument panel 12 is employed, it is possible to improve the protection performance against a nearby occupant during a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a passenger seat airbag device according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same component as 1st Embodiment mentioned above, the same number is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted. The second embodiment is a reference example.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the passenger seat airbag device 80 according to the second embodiment, the airbag door tearing portion 82 includes a third tearing portion 82 </ b> A extending along the vehicle width direction, and the third tearing portion. A pair of left and right fourth cleaving portions 82B extending in a substantially V shape from both ends of the portion 82A toward the vehicle diagonally forward side and the vehicle width direction side. Thus, the airbag door 88 is formed in an isosceles trapezoidal shape in a plan view and is deployed in a right triangle shape in a plan view when viewed from the front door portion 90 that expands toward the vehicle front side around the front hinge portion 42. A left door 92 that extends to the left in the vehicle width direction around the hinge 46, a right door 94 that is also formed in a right triangle shape in plan view and extends to the right in the vehicle width around the right hinge 48, It is constituted by. The third cleaving portion 82A connects the front door portion 90 and the base material that is the main body of the instrument panel 12 in a state before the cleaving. In addition, the angle θ2 formed by the left and right fourth cleavage parts 82B is set to an acute angle.

(Action / Effect)
When a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction time comes, the inflator 28 is activated to generate gas. The passenger seat airbag 30 stored in a folded state by the gas is inflated and presses the airbag door 88 from the back side. When the inflation pressure acting on the airbag door 88 reaches a predetermined value, the third cleavage portion 82A of the airbag door cleavage portion 82 is first cleaved, and then the left and right fourth cleavage portions 82B are cleaved. As a result, the front door portion 90 is developed around the front hinge portion 42, the left door portion 92 is developed around the left hinge portion 46, and the right door portion 94 is deployed around the right hinge portion 48. As a result, the passenger seat airbag 30 is inflated and deployed toward the passenger seat.

Here, in the present embodiment, since only the front door portion 90 is configured to open to the front side of the vehicle with the front hinge portion 42 as a center, the area S5 of the front door portion 90 is equal to the first embodiment described above. It is larger than the area S1 of the front door part 50, and it can be seen that the area of the rear door part is zero depending on how it is viewed. Therefore, the passenger seat airbag 30 can receive a larger reaction force from the front door portion 90, but does not receive a reaction force from the rear door portion. Therefore, the passenger seat airbag 30 is easier to inflate and deploy downward than in the case of the first embodiment described above. As a result, even if the occupant seated in the passenger seat is a close occupant, the lower portion 30B of the passenger seat airbag 30 is firmly interposed between the chest of the close occupant and the instrument panel 12. Further, the head of the adjacent passenger is received by the portion from the upper portion 30C to the middle portion 30D of the passenger seat airbag 30 that is held in a stable state by the front door portion 90 where a large reaction force can be obtained. Be bound. As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the protection performance for a nearby occupant during a frontal collision or a frontal collision prediction.

  Also in the present embodiment, the front door portion 90 is formed in a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the passenger side, and the angle θ2 formed by the left and right fourth cleavage portions 82B is set to an acute angle. The cleavage speed when the fourth cleavage portion 82B is cleaved after the third cleavage portion 82A is cleaved is increased. For this reason, the left door part 92 and the right door part 94 can be rapidly deployed following the front door part 90. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the passenger seat airbag 30 can be rapidly inflated and deployed.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a passenger seat airbag device according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same component as 1st Embodiment mentioned above, the same number is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted. The third embodiment corresponds to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the third embodiment is characterized in that a plurality of ribs 96 are provided on the lower surface of the front hinge portion 42. Specifically, a plurality of ribs (reinforcing portions) 96 formed in a substantially V shape when viewed in the vehicle width direction are integrally formed on the lower surface of the front hinge portion 42. The plurality of ribs 96 are formed at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the front hinge portion 42. A reinforcing rib is not formed on the lower surface of the rear hinge portion 44.

(Action / Effect)
According to the above configuration, since the plurality of ribs 96 are formed on the lower surface of the front hinge portion 42, the front hinge portion 42 is reinforced. For this reason, when the front door part 50 expand | deploys to the vehicle front side centering on the front side hinge part 42, the reaction force with respect to the airbag 30 for passenger seats can be enlarged more. In other words, the rib 96 may be set according to the reaction force required for the front door portion 50 when the passenger seat airbag 30 is inflated and deployed.

10 Airbag device for passenger seat 12 Instrument panel 14 Instrument panel reinforcement 16 HVAC (air conditioner unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Airbag door 22 Airbag module 28 Inflator 30 Passenger seat airbag 40 Airbag door cleavage part 40A 1st cleavage part 40B 2nd cleavage part 42 Front hinge part 44 Rear hinge part 46 Left hinge part 48 Right hinge part 50 Front door part 52 Rear door part 54 Left door part 56 Right door part
96 multiple ribs

Claims (2)

A gas generating means for generating gas by operating; a passenger seat airbag that is stored in a folded state and is inflated and deployed to the passenger seat side by receiving supply of gas generated by the gas generating means; An airbag module comprising:
The area of the front door portion that is arranged on the passenger seat side of the instrument panel and expands to the front side of the vehicle with the front hinge portion as the center is that of the rear door portion that expands to the rear side of the vehicle with the rear hinge portion as the center. An airbag door set larger than the area;
I have a,
A vehicle front side and a vehicle rear side from each of a first cleaving portion that extends along the vehicle width direction and connects the front door portion and the rear door portion in a state before cleaving, and both ends of the first cleaving portion. A left door portion extending obliquely to the left in the vehicle width direction around the left hinge portion and a second cleaving portion forming a right door portion extending to the right in the vehicle width direction around the right hinge portion. Airbag door tearing part is formed,
The front door part and the rear door part are formed in a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the passenger side, and the angles formed by the left and right second cleavage parts are both set to acute angles,
Further, no reinforcing rib is formed on the lower surface of the rear hinge portion, and a plurality of reinforcing ribs are formed on the lower surface of the front hinge portion.
Airbag device for passenger seat. The airbag module and the airbag door are arranged on the rear side of the instrument panel with respect to an instrument panel reinforcement arranged with the vehicle width direction as a longitudinal direction on the back side of the instrument panel and arranged on the vehicle rear side of the air conditioner unit. Located in the
The airbag device for a passenger seat according to claim 1 .