JP6926771B2 - Leg airbags and automobiles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a leg airbag for restraining a occupant's leg in the event of a vehicle collision and an automobile provided with the leg airbag.

As a leg airbag device for inflating and restraining an airbag in front of a occupant's leg in the event of a vehicle collision, an airbag that inflates in front of the vehicle occupant's leg and the airbag are inflated. There is one provided with an inflator for the purpose (Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 describes that both ends of the airbag in the width direction have a bolster shape protruding toward the seat in order to receive the side surface of the occupant's knee in an offset collision of an automobile.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-500220

In the event of a diagonal collision or an offset collision (small overlap collision), the occupant's legs try to move diagonally forward. In the airbag of Patent Document 1, the left and right bolster-shaped regions restrain the legs that try to move diagonally forward at the time of an offset collision. However, there is no bolster-like region for restraining the oblique movement of the legs in the vicinity of the front of the occupant of the airbag of Patent Document 1.

An object of the present invention is to provide a leg airbag suitable for restraining a occupant's leg in the event of an oblique or offset collision of an automobile.

The leg airbag of the first invention is a leg airbag that expands along an instrument panel of an automobile, and the airbag has a first panel on the occupant side and a second panel on the opposite side. The inside of the airbag is a leg airbag partitioned into a small chamber by a tether panel extending in the left-right direction, and the area where the tether panel is installed in the first panel in a state of being expanded along the instrument panel. Is characterized in that it is slanted with respect to the left-right direction of the vehicle body.

In one aspect of the first invention, the length of the short side on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the tether panel is larger than the length of the short side on the other end side.

In one aspect of the first invention, the length of the short side on one end side is 1.1 times or more the length of the short side on the other end side.

In one aspect of the first invention, an opening is provided in the middle of the tether panel in the longitudinal direction.

In one aspect of the first invention, the tether panel is divided into at least two, a left tether panel and a right tether panel, and there is a gap between these tether panels.

In one aspect of the first invention, the long side of the tether panel on the occupant side is bent in the middle, the width of the tether panel is the smallest in the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the tether panel, and the width of the tether panel is the smallest from the intermediate portion to both ends of the tether panel. The width of the tether panel is expanding.

In one aspect of the first invention, the width of the tether panel on both ends in the longitudinal direction of the tether panel is 1.1 to 5.0 times the width of the intermediate portion.

The automobile of the second invention includes a leg airbag device having the leg airbag of the first invention.

In one aspect of the second invention, in a state where the leg airbag is inflated along the instrument panel, in the area where the tether panel is installed in the first panel, the rear side of the vehicle body is closer to the center side of the vehicle body.

In one aspect of the second invention, the door side of the instrument panel is rearward of the vehicle body with respect to the center side of the vehicle body.

In one aspect of the second invention, in a state where the leg airbag is inflated along the instrument panel, in the area where the tether panel is installed in the first panel, both the vehicle body center side and the door side are It is behind the vehicle body from the intermediate portion.

In the leg airbag of the present invention, the tether panel is trapezoidal or the width is narrowest in the middle of the longitudinal direction, and the surface of the inflated airbag on the occupant side is slanted with respect to the left-right direction of the vehicle body. Even if the tether panel installation area receives the occupant's leg when the vehicle collides diagonally or offset, the occupant's leg trying to move diagonally forward is restrained.

It is a front view from the occupant side in the expanded state of the airbag which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the airbag which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the airbag which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the airbag which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a top view of the airbag inflated along the instrument panel. It is a top view of the airbag inflated along the instrument panel. It is a top view of the airbag inflated along the instrument panel.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described. First, the airbag for the occupant leg restraint device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 7, and 8.

The occupant leg restraint device includes a case arranged on the back side of an instrument panel (instrument panel) 40 in front of the front seat of an automobile, a leg airbag 1 folded and stored in the case, and this air. It has an inflator 2 and the like that inflate the bag 1. The front surface of the case is covered with a lid (not shown). The lid is provided with a tear line (not shown) that opens when the airbag inflates. The lid may be part of the instrument panel 40.

The leg airbag 1 has a first panel 11 on the occupant side and a second panel 12 on the anti-occupant side. The peripheral edges of these panels 11 and 12 are joined by a linear stitched portion 13 to form a bag shape. The panels 11 and 12 may be separate bodies, or one panel may be folded back.

When the expansion is completed along the front surface of the instrument panel 40, the inside of the airbag 1 is divided into horizontally long chambers 31, 32, 33 by the first and second tether panels 21 and 22 extending in the left-right direction. Each chamber 31 to 33 is continuous from the left end to the right end of the airbag 1. Although the inflator 2 is installed in the lowermost chamber 31, the inflator 2 may be installed outside the airbag.

The tether panels 21 and 22 have a pair of long sides 41 and 42 and a pair of short sides 43 and 44. The long sides 41, 42 and the short sides 43, 44 are linear.

The distance between the long sides 41 and 42 is the smallest on one end side (the left end side in FIGS. 1 and 3) of the tether panels 21 and 22 in the longitudinal direction, gradually increases toward the other end side, and is the largest on the other end side. It has become. In this embodiment, the short sides 43 and 44 are parallel, and the tether panels 21 and 22 are trapezoidal.

The long sides 41 of the tether panels 21 and 22 are sewn to the first panel 11 by the suture thread 23, and the long sides 42 are sewn to the second panel 12 by the suture thread 24.

The length L (FIG. 3) of the tether panels 21 and 22 in the longitudinal direction is preferably about 150 to 700 mm, particularly about 250 to 500 mm. The length of the short side 43 (however, the length from the suture thread 23 to the suture thread 24) W ₁ is preferably about 20 to 80 mm, particularly about 30 to 60 mm. The length of the short side 44 (however, the length from the suture 23 to the suture 24) W ₂ is preferably 1.1 to 5.0 times that of W ₁ and particularly about 2.0 to 4.0 times. ..

The left and right ends of the tether panels 21 and 22 are slightly separated from the left and right sides of the airbag 1, and there is a space for gas flow between the left and right ends of the tether panels 21 and 22 and the left and right sides of the airbag 1. 34 and 35 are open.

The airbag 1 of the occupant leg restraint device configured in this way expands and expands as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 7, and 8 when an automobile collides and the inflator 5 is activated.

7 and 8 are schematic top views showing a state in which a leg airbag is installed on the instrument panel 40 in front of the front seat on the left side of the automobile and the airbag 1 is inflated. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the instrument panel 40 extends substantially in the left-right direction, and FIG. 8 shows an example in which the instrument panel 40 is designed so as to be rearward of the vehicle body toward the door side. As shown in FIG. 9, the present invention can also be applied to an automobile designed so that the instrument panel 40 is located rearward of the vehicle body toward the center side of the vehicle body.

In the airbag 1 of this embodiment, the tether panels 21 and 22 are trapezoidal, and the expansion thickness of the airbag 1 gradually increases from the short side 43 side to the short side 44 side. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, of the first panel 11 on the occupant side of the airbag 1 inflated along the instrument panel 40, the area where the tether panels 21 and 22 are provided is closer to the rear of the vehicle body toward the center side of the vehicle body. Become. The surface of the inflated airbag 1 on the occupant side, particularly the central portion of the airbag 1 located in front of the occupant on the surface on the occupant side is slanted with respect to the left-right direction of the vehicle body. Therefore, when the occupant's leg is received by the first panel 11 between the short sides 43 and 44 due to an oblique collision or an offset collision to the right front of the vehicle body, the movement of the occupant's leg to the right diagonally forward is restricted. ..

7 and 8 show an example in which the short side 43 is the door side and the short side 44 is the vehicle body center side, but the short side 43 may be the vehicle body center side and the short side 44 may be the door side. In this case, of the first panel 11 on the occupant side of the airbag 1 inflated along the instrument panel 40, the area where the tether panels 21 and 22 are provided is closer to the rear of the vehicle body toward the door side. Therefore, when the occupant's leg is received by the first panel 11 between the short sides 43 and 44 due to an oblique collision or an offset collision to the left front of the vehicle body, the movement of the occupant's leg to the left oblique front is restricted.

In the above description, both the tether panels 21 and 22 are trapezoidal, but only the lower tether panel 21 is trapezoidal, and the upper tether panel 22 may be a rectangle with long sides 41 and 42 parallel to each other. good.

The leg airbags 1A to 1C according to the second to fourth embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

In the airbag 1A of FIG. 4, the tether panel 21 is provided with an opening 21h, and the chambers 31 and 32 are communicated with each other through the opening 21h. The tether panel 22 is not provided with the opening 21h, but may be provided. The openings 21h are provided only at one central location in the longitudinal direction of the tether panel 21, but may be provided at a plurality of locations.

In the airbag 1B of FIG. 5, the tether panel 21 is divided into two tether panels 21A and 21B, and a gap 25 is provided between the tether panels 21A and 21B. The chambers 31 and 32 communicate with each other through the gap 25. Both the tether panels 21A and 21B are trapezoidal. The long sides 41A and 41B of the tether panels 21A and 21B are located on the same straight line, and the long sides 42A and 43A are located on the same straight line. The distance C between the tether panels 21A and 21B is preferably about 30 to 200 mm, particularly about 50 to 150 mm.

Although not shown, the tether panel 21 may be divided into three or more panels, and a gap may be provided between the tether panels 21. The tether panel 22 may also be divided into two or more.

The airbags 1A and 1B of FIGS. 4 and 5 also restrain the movement of the occupant's legs diagonally forward to the right during an oblique collision or an offset collision.

In the airbag 1C of FIG. 6, a tether panel 21C is used instead of the tether panel 21. The long side 42 of the tether panel 21C is straight, but the long side 41 on the occupant side is bent at an intermediate portion 41 m substantially in the middle in the longitudinal direction. The distance between the long sides 41 and 42, that is, the width of the tether panel 21C is the smallest in the intermediate portion 41 m, and then gradually increases from the left short side 43 to the right short side 44. The length of the short side 43 and the length of the short side 44 may be equal, and one may be longer than the other. The length of the short sides 43 and 44 (however, the distance between the sutures 23 and 24) is 1.1 to 5.0 of the width of the tether panel 21C (however, the distance between the sutures 23 and 24) at the intermediate portion 41 m. In particular, it is preferably 2.0 to 4.0 times.

In the inflated airbag 1C, the area where the tether panel 21C is provided in the first panel 11 on the occupant side, that is, the central portion of the airbag 1C including the occupant front portion on the occupant side surface is oblique with respect to the left-right direction of the vehicle body. It has become. At the time of an oblique collision or an offset collision on the right side, the airbag 1C receives the occupant's leg on the right half side 11R, and the movement of the occupant's leg diagonally forward to the right is restricted. At the time of a left diagonal collision or an offset collision, the occupant leg is received by the left half side 11L, and the movement of the occupant leg diagonally forward to the left is restricted.

The airbag 1C may also be provided with an opening 21h or a gap 25 in the same manner as the airbags 1A and 1B. Further, the long side 42 may be bent in the same manner as the long side 41.

Other configurations of the airbags 1A to 1C of FIGS. 4 to 6 are the same as those of the airbag 1 of FIGS. 1 to 3, and the same reference numerals indicate the same parts.

The occupant leg restraint device having the airbag of the present invention may be installed in front of the passenger seat or in front of the driver's seat.

The above description is an example of the present invention, and the present invention may be in a form other than the above. For example, the tether panels may be provided in three or more stages above and below. Further, a vertical tether panel may be provided so as to divide the inside of the uppermost chamber 33 into a plurality of small chambers. The airbag may have a left-right asymmetric shape.

1 Airbag 11 1st panel 12 2nd panel 21,21A-21C, 22 Tether panel 21h Opening 25 Gap 31-33 Room 34,35 Space 40 Instrument panel 41,42 Long side 43,44 Short side 41m Middle part

Claims (6)

A leg airbag that expands along the instrument panel of an automobile.
The airbag has a first panel on the occupant side and a second panel on the opposite side.
In the airbag for the legs, the inside of the airbag is divided into small chambers by tether panels extending in the left-right direction.
In the state of being expanded along the instrument panel, the area where the tether panel is installed in the first panel is slanted with respect to the left-right direction of the vehicle body .
In at least some tether panels, the length of the short side on one end side in the longitudinal direction is larger than the length of the short side on the other end side.
An airbag for a leg, characterized in that, in a state where the tether panel is installed in the first panel in a state of being expanded along the instrument panel, the airbag is located rearward toward the center of the vehicle body. The leg airbag according to claim 1 , wherein the length of the short side on one end side is 1.1 times or more the length of the short side on the other end side. The leg airbag according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein an opening is provided in the middle of the tether panel in the longitudinal direction. The leg air according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the tether panel is divided into at least two pieces, a left tether panel and a right tether panel, and there is a gap between these tether panels. bag. An automobile provided with a leg airbag device having the leg airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The automobile according to claim 5 , wherein the instrument panel is rearward of the vehicle body with respect to the door side of the vehicle body.

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