JP7679651B2 - Vehicle occupant protection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant protection device.

The following Patent Document 1 discloses an occupant protection device having webbing that is placed along a seated occupant seated in a vehicle seat. The webbing of the occupant protection device described in this document has a wide shape that covers almost the entire upper body of the seated occupant from the chest to the abdomen. This makes it possible to reduce the surface pressure of the portion of the seated occupant's upper body that is restrained by the webbing, and reduces the load on the upper body of the seated occupant.

JP 2007-186059 A

However, the passenger protection device described in Patent Document 1 is able to reduce the load on the upper body of a seated passenger, but because the webbing is formed in a wide shape, it requires a large space to store the webbing.

In consideration of the above, the present invention aims to provide a vehicle occupant protection device that can reduce the load on the upper body of the occupant while preventing the space required for storing the webbing from becoming too large.

The vehicle occupant protection device described in claim 1 comprises: a belt-shaped webbing that is attached to a seated occupant seated in a vehicle seat and restrains the upper body of the seated occupant; and a chest restraint member that is formed in a belt shape and has one end engaged with a seat back of the vehicle seat and the other end engaged with the seat back, so that it is hung across the chest of the seated occupant in the left-right direction of the seat, the chest restraint member being stored within the seat back and the chest restraint member being pulled out from within the seat back, the seat back having a main portion that forms a central portion in the seat width direction and side support portions that form both side portions in the seat width direction and protrude towards the seated occupant, the chest restraint member being stored within the seat back from a boundary between the main portion and the side support portions, and the chest restraint member being pulled out to the outside of the seat back from the boundary between the main portion and the side support portions.

According to the vehicle occupant protection device of claim 1 , the thoracic restraint member is stored in the seat back from the boundary between the main part and the side support part of the seat back, and the thoracic restraint member is pulled out to the outside of the seat back from the boundary between the main part and the side support part of the seat back. In this way, by providing the part where the thoracic restraint member is stored in the seat back and pulled out from the seat back at the boundary between the main part and the side support part, it is possible to prevent the appearance of the vehicle seat from being marred by said part.

The vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention has the excellent effect of reducing the load on the upper body of the occupant while preventing the space required for storing the webbing from becoming too large.

1 is a front view showing a state in which an occupant seated in a vehicle seat is using the vehicle occupant protection device; FIG. 2 is a front view showing the vehicle seat. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic view of the seat back taken along line 3-3 shown in FIG. 2. 13 is a plan view showing a schematic view of a portion of the chest restraint cloth that is fastened to a buckle. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which a vehicle crashes into a vehicle with an occupant seated in a vehicle seat using a vehicle occupant protection device;

The vehicle occupant protection device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle occupant protection device 10 of this embodiment is for restraining the body of an occupant P seated in a vehicle seat 12 in the event of a vehicle emergency (e.g., a collision). Note that the arrows FR, UP, LH, and RH shown in the figure indicate the front, upper, left, and right sides of the seat as seen by the occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12, respectively. Hereinafter, when the directions of front-rear, up-down, and left-right are used in the description, they refer to front-rear in the front-rear direction of the seat, up-down in the up-down direction of the seat, and left-right in the left-right direction of the seat, unless otherwise specified. The left-right direction also coincides with the width direction of the vehicle seat 12.

As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the vehicle seat 12 includes a seat cushion 14 that supports the buttocks of the seated occupant P from below, and a seat back 16 that is supported by the rear end of the seat cushion 14 and supports the back P1 of the seated occupant P from the rear side. The vehicle seat 12 also includes a headrest 18 that is supported by the upper end of the seat back 16 and supports the head P2 of the seated occupant P from the rear side. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the seat back 16 is configured by attaching a seat back pad 20 covered with a skin material to a seat back frame 22, etc. The seat back frame 22 includes a pair of left and right side frames 24 that are spaced apart in the left-right direction and extend in the up-down direction. A chest restraint device 34, which will be described later, is supported by the pair of left and right side frames 24 via plate-shaped stay members 26. The seat back pad 20 includes a main portion 28 that constitutes the left-right central portion of the seat back 16, and a pair of left and right side support portions 30 that form both left and right side portions and protrude toward the seated occupant P. The cover material covers the main portion 28 and the pair of left and right side support portions 30 from the seated occupant P side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle occupant protection device 10 of this embodiment is composed of two devices: a three-point seat belt device 32 and a chest restraint device 34.

The seat belt device 32 of this embodiment includes a seat belt 36 that is worn around the body of a seated occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12, a retractor (not shown) that winds up the seat belt 36, a tongue plate 38 through which the seat belt 36 is inserted, and a buckle 40 with which the tongue plate 38 engages. The seat belt 36 is also called a webbing.

The seat belt 36 is formed in a belt shape with a width and thickness set to a substantially constant dimension along the longitudinal direction. The tongue plate 38 through which the seat belt 36 is inserted is engaged with a buckle 40 provided on the right side of the seat cushion 14 of the vehicle seat 12, so that the seat belt 36 is attached to the body of the seated occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12. Here, the portion of the seat belt 36 that is stretched in the left-right direction along the waist P3 of the seated occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12 is called a lap belt portion 42. Also, the portion of the seat belt 36 that is stretched diagonally along the chest P4 of the seated occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12 is called a shoulder belt portion 44. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the shoulder belt portion 44 is stretched diagonally along the chest P4 of the seated occupant P in a state in which it is inclined from the left side to the right side as it goes from the upper side to the lower side.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the chest restraint device 34 comprises a chest restraint cloth 46 formed in a belt shape as a chest restraint member, and a storage section 48 to which one end side 46A of the chest restraint cloth 46 is fastened and in which the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored. The chest restraint device 34 also comprises a connection buckle 50 to which the other end side 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is fastened, and a buckle fastening section 52 to which the connection buckle 50 is fastened.

The chest restraining cloth 46 is made of a stretchable cloth. The width dimension W1 of the chest restraining cloth 46 is set to be larger than the width dimension W2 of the seat belt 36. Specifically, the width dimension W1 of the chest restraining cloth 46 is set to overlap almost the entire chest P4 of the seated occupant P in the front-rear direction when viewed from the front of the vehicle seat 12. The chest restraining cloth 46 may be made of a cloth-like material that has almost no stretchability.

The storage section 48 is configured to be able to wind up and store the chest restraint cloth 46, for example. This storage section 48 has a winding section formed in a cylindrical shape with the vertical direction as the axis of rotation. The chest restraint cloth 46 is wound around the winding section, so that the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored in the storage section 48. The storage section 48 is also located at a position corresponding to the boundary 54R between the right side support section 30 and the main section 28 on the inside of the seat back pad 20, and is supported by the right side frame 24 via the stay member 26.

The chest restraint cloth 46 stored in the storage section 48 is adapted to be pulled out towards the seated occupant P from the boundary 54R between the right side support section 30 and the main section 28 of the seatback pad 20. The chest restraint cloth 46 pulled out towards the seated occupant P is adapted to be stored in the storage section 48 from the boundary 54R between the right side support section 30 and the main section 28 of the seatback pad 20. A slit or the like is formed at the boundary 54R between the right side support section 30 and the main section 28 of the seatback pad 20, allowing the chest restraint cloth 46 to pass through.

As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting buckle 50 includes a buckle body 50A that is engaged with a buckle engaging portion 52 described below, and an insertion engaging portion 50B that is engaged when the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is inserted through it. In this embodiment, the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is folded back in the longitudinal direction of the chest restraint cloth 46. As a result, the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is overlapped twice in the thickness direction of the chest restraint cloth 46. This overlapped portion in the thickness direction is referred to as the "other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46". The folded back portion of the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is referred to as the "folded portion 46C".

The other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is inserted into and locked in the insertion locking portion 50B of the connecting buckle 50. Here, the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 is a surplus portion 46E on the folded-back portion 46C side of the portion 46D that is locked into the insertion locking portion 50B of the connecting buckle 50. By adjusting the length of this surplus portion 46E, it is possible to adjust the length of the portion 46F of the chest restraint cloth 46 that is arranged along the chest P4 of the seated occupant P. In addition, a slip-off prevention portion 46G is formed by sewing or the like at the end of the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46. This prevents the other end 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 from coming off the insertion locking portion 50B of the connecting buckle 50.

The buckle locking portion 52 is configured to include a mechanism for locking the buckle body portion 50A of the connecting buckle 50 described above. The buckle locking portion 52 is disposed at a position corresponding to the boundary 54L between the left side support portion 30 and the main portion 28 on the inside of the seat back pad 20, and is supported by the left side frame 24 via the stay member 26. A slit or the like is formed at the boundary 54L between the left side support portion 30 and the main portion 28 of the seat back pad 20, allowing the connecting buckle 50 to pass through.

(Actions and Effects of the Present Embodiment)
Next, the operation and effects of this embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the vehicle occupant protection device 10 described above, first, the seated occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12 engages the tongue plate 38 through which the seat belt 36 is inserted with the buckle 40. This causes the seat belt 36 to be fastened to the body of the seated occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 12.

Next, the seated occupant P pulls out the chest restraint cloth 46 from the storage section 48 and engages the buckle body section 50A of the connecting buckle 50 with the buckle engagement section 52 (see FIG. 3). This causes the chest restraint cloth 46 to be stretched in the left-right direction along the chest P4 of the seated occupant P. In this embodiment, the shoulder belt section 44 of the seat belt 36 is disposed between the chest restraint cloth 46 and the chest P4 of the seated occupant P.

1 and 5, when the vehicle crashes head-on, the upper body P5 of the seated occupant P is restrained by the chest restraining cloth 46 in addition to the lap belt portion 42 and shoulder belt portion 44 of the seat belt 36. In this way, by providing the chest restraining cloth 46 in addition to the seat belt 36, the surface pressure of the chest P4 of the seated occupant P during a vehicle collision is reduced, and the load on the upper body P5 of the seated occupant P can be reduced. In particular, the load on the ribs and clavicle area of the upper body P5 of the seated occupant P can be reduced. This can prevent fractures of the ribs, clavicles, etc. of elderly people who are concerned about a decrease in bone density. In addition, by forming the chest restraining cloth 46 from a stretchable cloth, such fractures can be effectively prevented. In addition, by providing the chest restraining cloth 46 in addition to the seat belt 36, it is not necessary to widen the width of the seat belt 36. This can prevent the space for storing the seat belt 36 from becoming large. In addition, with the configuration of this embodiment, even if the chest restraining cloth 46 is not used, the seat belt 36 can still restrain the upper body P5 of the seated occupant P.

In addition, in this embodiment, the chest restraining cloth 46 is arranged only along the chest P4 of the seated occupant P, and is not arranged along the abdomen P6. In other words, the chest restraining cloth 46 is arranged not to restrain the abdomen P6. This makes it possible to prevent the comfort of the seated occupant P from being impaired by the chest restraining cloth 46.

2, in this embodiment, the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored in the seat back 16 (inside the seat back pad 20), and can be used by pulling out the chest restraint cloth 46 from inside the seat back 16. This prevents the chest restraint cloth 46 from impairing the appearance of the vehicle seat 12 when the chest restraint cloth 46 is not in use. In particular, in this embodiment, the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored in the seat back 16 from the boundary 54R between the main part 28 of the seat back pad 20 and the right side support part 30, and the chest restraint cloth 46 is pulled out to the outside of the seat back 16 from the boundary 54R between the main part 28 of the seat back pad 20 and the right side support part 30. In this way, by providing slits or the like, which are the portions where the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored in and pulled out from the seat back 16, at the boundary 54R between the main part 28 and the right side support part 30, it is possible to prevent the appearance of the vehicle seat 12 from being marred by the slits or the like.

In this embodiment, an example has been described in which the portion of the seat back 16 where the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored and pulled out is provided at the boundary 54R between the main portion 28 of the seat back pad 20 and the right side support portion 30, but the present invention is not limited to this. The portion of the seat back 16 where the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored and pulled out may be set appropriately taking into account the shape of the seat back 16, etc.

In addition, in this embodiment, an example has been described in which the chest restraint cloth 46 is stored within the seat back 16, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the chest restraint cloth 46 may be configured to be removable from the seat back 16. In this case, the seated occupant P uses the chest restraint cloth 46 by engaging one end side 46A and the other end side 46B of the chest restraint cloth 46 with the seat back 16.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it is of course possible to implement the invention in various other modified forms without departing from the spirit of the invention.

10 Vehicle occupant protection device 12 Vehicle seat 16 Seat back 28 Main part 30 Side support part 36 Seat belt (webbing)
46 Chest restraint cloth (chest restraint member)
46A One end side of the chest restraint cloth (one end side of the chest restraint member)
46B Other end side of chest restraint cloth (other end side of chest restraint member)
54R Boundary between the main part and the right side support part (boundary between the main part and the side support part)
P Seat occupant P4 Chest P5 Upper body

Claims (1)

A belt-like webbing that is attached to a seated occupant seated in a vehicle seat and restrains an upper body of the seated occupant;
a chest restraint member formed in a band shape, one end side of which is fastened to a seat back of the vehicle seat and the other end side of which is fastened to the seat back, so as to be hung in the left-right direction of the seat along the chest of the seated occupant;
Equipped with
The thoracic restraint member is stored in the seat back, and the thoracic restraint member is pulled out from within the seat back,
The seat back has a main portion that forms a central portion in a seat width direction, and side support portions that form both side portions in the seat width direction and protrude toward the seated occupant,
The thoracic restraint member is stored within the seat back from a boundary between the main part and the side support part, and the thoracic restraint member is pulled out to an outside of the seat back from the boundary between the main part and the side support part.