JP6950360B2 - Driver airbag - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a driver airbag installed on the steering wheel.

As an airbag device for the driver's seat, an airbag attached to a retainer and folded is often covered with a cover member called a module cover.

When a vehicle collision is detected by the sensor, the inflator is activated and the gas generated from the inflator inflates and deploys the airbag.

Patent Document 1 describes an airbag for a driver's seat that can suppress protrusion to the occupant side at the time of initial expansion and can restrain an occupant moving in an oblique direction. In Patent Document 1, the occupant side of the driver's seat airbag and the inflator opening are connected by a tether.

JP-A-2017-65394

An object of the present invention is to provide a driver's seat airbag capable of increasing the expansion thickness and suppressing the expansion diameter.

The driver's seat airbag of the present invention is a driver's seat airbag including a first chamber and a second chamber orbiting around the first chamber, and is a substantially cylindrical inner panel and the inner panel. It has a plurality of side panels arranged in the circumferential direction surrounding the side circumference of the side panel, and the side sides of the adjacent side panels are connected to each other. The other end of the side panel is connected to the peripheral portion of the inner panel on the anti-occupant side, and the other end of the side panel is coupled to the intermediate portion between the occupant side and the anti-occupant side of the inner panel. It is surrounded by an inner panel and the side panel, and the inner panel is provided with a communication port for communicating the first chamber inside the inner panel and the second chamber on the outer peripheral side of the inner panel. It is characterized by that.

In one aspect of the present invention, an inflator opening is provided in the central portion, and a bottom panel having a peripheral edge connected to a peripheral edge on the anti-occupant side of the inner panel and one end on the anti-occupant side of the side panel, and a peripheral edge. A top panel, the portion of which is coupled to the occupant-side peripheral edge of the inner panel, is further provided.

In one aspect of the present invention, there is a recessed portion between the top panel and the side panel on the occupant facing surface of the inflated driver's seat airbag.

In one aspect of the present invention, the communication port is provided on the counter-occupant side of the inner panel.

In one aspect of the present invention, the communication port has a shape in which the counter-occupant side of the inner panel is cut out.

In one aspect of the present invention, the inner panel has a cylindrical shape in which both ends in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped panel are connected.

In one aspect of the present invention, 6 to 8 side panels are arranged.

In one aspect of the present invention, the side panel has a multi-series shape in which a plurality of single-shaped side panels are connected.

In one aspect of the present invention, the diameter of the inner panel on the occupant side is smaller than the diameter on the anti-occupant side.

In one aspect of the present invention, a tether is provided so as to narrow the diameter between the occupant side and the anti-occupant side of the inner panel.

The driver's seat airbag of the present invention can be made to have a large expansion thickness and not an excessive expansion diameter. In the present invention, the concave portion is formed around the top panel on the surface facing the occupant, which makes it suitable for restraining the occupant in the event of an oblique collision or a minute overlap collision.

It is a perspective view at the time of expansion of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. It is an exploded perspective view of the airbag for a driver's seat which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view of each panel of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the driver's seat airbag which concerns on another embodiment. It is a top view of the multiple side panel.

Hereinafter, the driver airbag 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

The driver's seat airbag (hereinafter, may be referred to as an airbag) 1 is for a driver's seat airbag device installed in the hub portion of the steering wheel, and expands and deploys in front of the driver's seat occupant. ..

The driver airbag 1 is provided on the bottom panel 2 constituting the hub portion side of the airbag 1, the substantially cylindrical inner panel 3 connected to the bottom panel 2, and the inner panel 3 in the expanded and expanded state. It is provided with a top panel 4 that is connected and faces the occupant, and a side panel 5 that constitutes a side circumference of the driver airbag 1.

The bottom panel 2 is a circular panel having a diameter substantially equal to that of the steering wheel, and is provided with an inflator opening 2a in the center and a vent hole 2b (FIG. 3) in the vicinity of the peripheral edge. A bolt insertion hole 2d is provided around the inflator opening 2a.

The inner panel 3 is formed by suturing both ends 3a and 3b of the strip-shaped panel shown in FIG. 5 with sutures to form a substantially cylindrical shape. On the bottom panel 2 side of the inner panel 3, a communication port 3d having an inverted U-shaped notch is provided, and a leg piece portion 3c is provided between the communication ports 3d and 3d. The tip of the leg piece 3c is sutured to the peripheral edge 2c of the bottom panel 2 and the lower end 5b of the side panel 5 by the suture thread 11.

The top panel 4 has a circular shape, and the peripheral edge portion 4f of the top panel 4 is sutured with a suture thread 12 with respect to the tip portion 3f on the occupant side of the inner panel 3.

A plurality of side panels 5 (8 in this embodiment) are arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the inner panel 3. Each side panel 5 includes a side panel outer portion 5a forming a side peripheral surface of the driver airbag 1, a side panel lower edge portion 5b connected to the side panel outer portion 5a, and a occupant side of the side panel outer portion 5a. It has a side panel top portion 5c connected to the side panel top portion 5c and a side panel inner portion 5d connected to the side panel top portion 5c and extending in the counter-occupant direction along the outer peripheral surface of the inner panel 3.

The lower edge portion of the side panel inner portion 5d is sewn to the middle portion of the inner panel 3 in the direction of the tubular axis by the suture thread 13 (FIG. 2). The suture position by the suture thread 13 is slightly closer to the tip portion 3f than the communication port 3d.

The side side portions 5s of the adjacent side panels 5 are sewn together by the suture thread 14 (FIG. 3).

As Figure 2, the inflated airbag 1, the bottom panel 2, and the first chamber C ₁ of the center side which is surrounded by the inner panel 3 and the top panel 4, surrounded by the inner panel 3 and the side panel 5 It is composed of a _{second chamber C 2} on the side peripheral side. The first chambers C ₁ and C ₂ communicate with each other through the communication port 3d. The second chamber C ₂ orbits around the first chamber C ₁ along the steering wheel.

The airbag 1 is attached to the retainer (not shown) of the driver's seat airbag device by a mounting ring (not shown) arranged in the airbag 1 along the inflator opening 2a. A plurality of stud bolts are provided in this mounting ring, and the stud bolts are inserted into the bolt insertion hole 2d, the bolt insertion hole of the flange portion of the inflator, and the bolt insertion hole of the retainer, and are nut-tightened. As a result, the driver's seat airbag 1 and the inflator are fixed to the retainer.

The driver's seat airbag 1 is folded and covered with the driver's seat airbag device module cover.

In the airbag device configured in this way, the inflator operates and gas is ejected into the airbag 1 at the time of a vehicle collision or the like. The airbag 1 expands due to this gas to push open the module cover, expands and deploys between the steering wheel and the occupant, and restrains the driver's seat occupant.

In the airbag 1, the gas from the inflator is supplied to the first chamber C _1, it is first inflated first chamber C _{1. Further, this gas flows into the second chamber C 2} through the communication port 3d and expands the second chamber C _2.

In the airbag 1 which expands the passenger side of the diameter of the inner panel 3 which surrounds the first chamber C ₁ (e.g., the diameter of the suture 12 around) than the diameter of the counter-occupant side (e.g. diameter in the vicinity of suture 11) Is also small. The diameter in the vicinity of the suture thread 11 can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the communication port 3d.

On the occupant facing surface of the inflated airbag 1, the top panel 4 and the side panel top portion 5c bulge in the occupant direction, and a recessed portion R is formed between the two. The recessed portion R orbits around the top panel 4.

In the airbag 1, the expansion thickness L (steering shaft axis core line) shown in FIG. 2 is selected by selecting the short width W of the inner panel 3 shown in FIG. 5 and the length X of the side panel 5 in the longitudinal direction. The dimension in the direction) is large, and the diameter D is slightly larger than the diameter of the steering wheel. The expansion thickness L is preferably 250 to 350 mm, particularly about 300 to 330 mm. The expansion diameter D is preferably 350 to 560 mm, particularly about 500 to 560 mm. The diameter of the inner panel 2 in the plan view of FIG. 5 is preferably about 350 to 450 mm, particularly about 400 to 450 mm, and the diameter of the top panel 4 is preferably about 200 to 350 mm, particularly about 200 to 250 mm.

Further, by selecting the short width W of the inner panel 3 and the length X of the side panel 5 in the longitudinal direction, the surface P1 on the most occupant side of the top panel 4 of the inflated airbag ₁ and the side panel top portion 5c it is possible to reduce the distance ΔL between the surface P ₂ of the outermost occupant side. The ΔL is preferably about 30 to 50 mm, particularly about 30 mm. However, the invention is not limited thereto, the plane P ₁ of the most occupant side of the top panel 4 may be a side panel top portion outermost occupant side surface P ₂ flush of 5c, anti than It may be on the occupant side, and ΔL may be about ± 50 mm.

Inflated expanded thickness L is large airbag 1, also in the side panel top portion 5c of the outermost occupant side surface P ₂ and the top panel 4 spacing ΔL is small between the surface P ₁ of the most occupant side, yet on the top panel 4 Since the recessed portion R is formed between the side panel top portion 5c and the side panel top portion 5c, it becomes suitable for restraining the occupant in the event of an oblique collision or a minute overlap collision.

In the present invention, as in the driver airbag 1'in FIG. 6, the tether 19 may be provided so as to narrow the diameter between the occupant side and the anti-occupant side of the inner panel 3 to form a constricted portion. .. This throttle (neck) size can be adjusted by the notch that forms the communication port 3d of the inner panel 3. In the driver's seat airbag 1'forming the constricted portion, a reaction force is generated at the constricted portion when the occupant enters the bag, so that bottoming can be avoided.

The above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and the present invention can take various forms other than the above. For example, the number of side panels 5 is not limited to eight, and may be about 6 to 12, preferably about 6 to 8. Further, the number of leg piece portions 3c is not limited to 4, and may be about 3 to 8.

In the present invention, instead of the single-shaped side panel 5, a multi-series side panel having a shape in which a plurality of single-shaped side panels 5 are connected may be used. FIG. 7 shows a double-shaped side panel 5W in which two single-shaped side panels 5 are connected. When the multiple side panels are used, it is possible to reduce the time and effort required to sew the side panels together.

1,1'Driver's airbag 2 Bottom panel 3 Inner panel 3c Leg piece 3d Communication port 4 Top panel 5 Side panel 11-14 Suture thread 19 Tether C ₁ 1st chamber C ₂ 2nd chamber

Claims (9)

A driver airbag including a first chamber and a second chamber orbiting around the first chamber.
Approximately cylindrical inner panel and
A plurality of side panels arranged in the circumferential direction surrounding the side circumference of the inner panel, and
Have,
The side sides of the adjacent side panels are connected to each other.
One end of the side panel on the anti-occupant side is connected to the peripheral edge of the inner panel on the anti-occupant side.
The other end of the side panel is coupled to an intermediate portion between the occupant side and the anti-occupant side of the inner panel.
The second chamber is surrounded by the inner panel and the side panel.
The inner panel is provided with a communication port for communicating the first chamber inside the inner panel and the second chamber on the outer peripheral side of the inner panel .
An airbag for a driver's seat, characterized in that a tether is provided so as to narrow the diameter between the occupant side and the anti-occupant side of the inner panel. In the driver airbag of claim 1,
An inflator opening is provided in the central portion, and a bottom panel having a peripheral edge connected to a peripheral edge on the anti-occupant side of the inner panel and one end on the anti-occupant side of the side panel, and a bottom panel.
A top panel whose peripheral edge is connected to the peripheral edge on the occupant side of the inner panel,
An airbag for the driver's seat, which is characterized by being further equipped with. In the driver's seat airbag of claim 2, the driver's seat air is characterized in that a recess is present between the top panel and the side panel on the occupant facing surface of the inflated driver's seat airbag. bag. The driver airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication port is provided on the opposite side of the inner panel. The driver airbag according to claim 4, wherein the communication port has a shape in which the counter-occupant side of the inner panel is cut out. The driver airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the inner panel has a cylindrical shape in which both ends in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped panel are connected to each other. The driver airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein 6 to 8 side panels are arranged. The driver airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the side panel is a multi-layered airbag in which a plurality of single side panels are connected. .. The driver airbag according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the diameter of the inner panel on the occupant side is smaller than the diameter on the non-occupant side.

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