JP7699026B2 - Side airbag device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a side airbag device.

When a vehicle is hit from the side, a side airbag device is in practical use that detects the collision and inflates and deploys an airbag between the door trim and the occupant to protect the occupant from the collision.

One such device is a side airbag device that is equipped with a leg airbag that inflates and deploys in the event of a vehicle collision to compress the legs of an occupant who is seated in a passenger seat and whose sides face the vehicle sidewall, and that rotates the occupant's thighs around the occupant's waist as a fulcrum in a direction that moves the occupant's knees away from the vehicle sidewall, thereby protecting the occupant while reducing the load on the occupant's sides (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-37276 A

Incidentally, the body of an occupant seated in a vehicle seat has its heavy chest, head, and arms supported by the spinal cord, abdominal muscles, and back muscles.
On the other hand, although the occupant's lower body is subject to contact friction between the feet and thighs and the floor or the vehicle seat, the lower legs, including the knees, are fixed only by joints.
Therefore, when a side collision of the vehicle occurs, the door is deformed toward the interior of the vehicle compartment due to the side collision, generating a force that tends to push the occupant toward the center of the vehicle.
Here, the chest and head of the occupant, which have many joints and a large inertial mass, are positioned above the door.
As a result, although the chest and head would not be pushed into the center of the vehicle by the force trying to push the occupant's body toward the center of the vehicle, there was a risk that the lower body and abdomen of the occupant, who was left with no way to escape, would be severely compressed by the deformation of the door.

To improve this situation, it is preferable to displace the lower body of the occupant at a constant rate with respect to the side of the occupant at similar timing.
However, while there are safety devices, such as side airbags and curtain airbags, that provide displacement at the same time for the upper body of an occupant, there is a problem in that there is no safety device that provides displacement at the same time for the lower body of an occupant.
In addition, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 rotates the occupant's thighs, using the occupant's waist as a fulcrum, in a direction in which the occupant's knees move away from the vehicle side wall, by the pressure of the leg airbag, and does not cause a constant displacement of the occupant's lower body at the same timing.As a result, even if the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, there is a problem in that it is not possible to avoid the risk of the occupant's lower body and abdomen being strongly compressed due to deformation of the door.

Therefore, the present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a side airbag device that protects an occupant by displacing the lower body of the occupant at the same timing when a side collision occurs to the vehicle.

Form 1: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a side airbag device that includes a bag-shaped outer bag that presses against the knees to thighs of an occupant who is seated in a vehicle seat and faces the door of the vehicle from the door direction, a bag-shaped inner bag that is provided inside the outer bag and presses only the thighs of the occupant from the door direction, an inflator that is provided on a surface of the seat pan that faces the door of the vehicle and supplies gas to the inner bag, a first vent hole that is provided in the inner bag to discharge the gas to the outer bag, and a second vent hole that is provided in the outer bag to discharge the gas to the outside, and is characterized in that the amount of gas discharged from the first vent hole is greater than the amount of gas discharged from the second vent hole.

Mode 2: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a side airbag device in which the inner bag has a first air chamber that presses only the thighs of the occupant from the door direction when inflated and deployed, and a second air chamber that deploys to form a convex air chamber at the upper part of the door side end of the first air chamber in the seat back direction, and the inflator is provided below the first air chamber.

Mode 3: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a side airbag device characterized in that the first vent hole is provided on a surface of the second air chamber that faces the thighs of the occupant.

Function 4: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a side airbag device in which the second vent hole is provided in a lower portion of the outer periphery of the outer bag in front of the vehicle that intersects with a plane in which the first vent hole is located.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, when a side collision occurs to a vehicle, the lower body of the occupant is displaced at the same time, which has the effect of reducing pressure on the lower body and abdomen of the occupant due to deformation of the door, thereby protecting the occupant.

1 is a perspective view of a side airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the left front side of a vehicle interior. 1 is a side view of a side airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the left side in the traveling direction of a vehicle. 1 is a top view of a side airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above a seat on the left side in the traveling direction of a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control block of the side airbag device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a control flow of the side airbag device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a top view of an outer back and an inner back in a side airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing their deployment and deformation behavior when a side collision occurs to the vehicle, as viewed from above the seat on the left side in the traveling direction of the vehicle. FIG.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to Figures 1 to 6.

<Embodiment>
A side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs.
In addition, in Figures 1 to 4 and 6, the front side of the vehicle is indicated by arrow FR, the rear side of the vehicle is indicated by arrow BK, the upper side of the vehicle is indicated by arrow UP, the left side of the vehicle when viewed from above the vehicle (one side in the vehicle width direction) is indicated by arrow LH, and the right side of the vehicle (the other side in the vehicle width direction) is indicated by arrow RH.
In the following description, when the up/down, front/rear, and left/right directions are used, they refer to the up/down direction of the vehicle, the front/rear direction of the vehicle, and the left/right direction of the vehicle, unless otherwise specified.

<Configuration of side airbag device 1>
The configuration of a side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
Here, the side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment is provided in a seat on which an occupant sits in a vehicle.
In this embodiment, a side airbag device 1 provided in a front left seat of a vehicle will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, the side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment includes an outer bag 10, an inner bag 20, and an inflator 30.

The outer bag 10 is a bag-shaped airbag that presses against the knees KN to thighs FE of an occupant CR who is seated in a vehicle seat 40 and faces a vehicle door 50 from the direction of the vehicle door 50.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the outer bag 10 is inflated and deployed between the seat 40 and the door trim 51 to assume a shape that covers the knees KN to the thighs FE of the occupant CR.
An inner bag 20, which will be described later, is provided inside the outer bag 10.
Further, the outer bag 10 is provided with a second vent hole 11 for discharging gas supplied from an inflator 30 (described later) through the inner bag 20 to the outside.
In this embodiment, the outer bag 10 is described as having a rectangular shape, for example, as shown in Figure 1 for convenience. However, the outer bag 10 does not have to be rectangular in shape as long as it has a shape that can press the knee area KN to thigh area FE of an occupant CR who is seated in the vehicle seat 40 and facing the vehicle door 50 from the direction of the vehicle door 50.

The inner bag 20 is provided inside the outer bag 10, and is a bag-shaped airbag that presses only against the thighs FE of the occupant CR from the direction of a door 50 of the vehicle, as shown in Figs.
A first vent hole 21 is provided inside the inner bag 20 for discharging gas supplied from an inflator 30 (described later) to the outer bag 10 .
Here, the amount of gas discharged from the first vent hole 21 is greater than the amount of gas discharged from the second vent hole 11 .
Here, the second vent hole 11 functions to prevent both the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 from bursting.
Specifically, for example, even if pressure is applied to the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 such that the capacity of the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 is halved within about 100 msec, gas is discharged so that both the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 do not burst.
In other words, the second vent hole 11 functions to prevent the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 from bursting even if the bag pressures in both the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 increase due to vehicle body deformation from the start of the collision to the end of the collision.
On the other hand, the first vent hole 21 functions to supply the gas necessary to quickly deploy the outer bag 10 .
Specifically, for example, after a collision, the inner bag 20 starts to deploy in about 5 msec, and the outer bag 10 completes deployment in about 10 msec.
In other words, it functions to deploy the outer bag 10 in about 20 msec from the start of gas supply from the inflator 30 .
Therefore, the first vent hole 21 needs to stably supply gas to both the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 while securing a space to prevent the door from entering the interior of the vehicle due to a collision.
In other words, the first vent hole 21 must have a vent hole size that allows gas to be supplied to the outer bag 10 while maintaining the shape of the inner bag 20. Specifically, for example, the size must allow approximately half of the amount of gas discharged by the inflator 30 per unit time to pass through, i.e., the gas exhaust volume, so it is preferable that the gas exhaust volume of the second vent hole 11 be approximately 1/4 of the gas exhaust volume of the first vent hole 21.

In addition, the inner back 20 is composed of a first air chamber 20A that, when inflated and deployed, presses only the thighs FE of the occupant CR from the direction of the door 50, and a second air chamber 20B that deploys so as to form a convex air chamber at the upper part of the door side end of the first air chamber 20A in the seat back direction.
In addition, the first vent hole 21 is provided on the surface of the second air chamber 20B facing the thigh FE of the occupant CR, and the second vent hole 11 is provided on the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the outer back 10 in the forward direction of the vehicle that intersects with the surface on which the first vent hole 21 is arranged.
In this embodiment, the inner bag 20 is described for convenience as being a combination of, for example, two rectangular air chambers as shown in FIG. 1 , but the shape does not have to be rectangular as long as it is capable of pressing only against the thigh region FE of an occupant CR who is seated in the vehicle seat 40 and facing the vehicle door 50 from the direction of the vehicle door 50.

The inflator 30 is a device that supplies gas, and is provided on a surface of the seat pan 41 that faces a door 50 of the vehicle, and supplies gas to the inner bag 20 .
Specifically, the inflator 30 is disposed connected to the lower first air chamber 20A which is connected to and deployed by the second air chamber 20B.
The inflator 30, together with the folded outer bag 10 and inner bag 20, is stored in a storage box, and the storage box is disposed on the surface of the seat pan 41 facing the door 50 of the vehicle.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the inflator 30 is provided on the surface of the seat pan 41 facing the vehicle door 50, and is connected to a lower first air chamber 20A that is connected to and deployed by a second air chamber 20B that constitutes the inner bag 20.
Then, when the inflator 30 is activated and supplies gas, the supplied gas flows into the first air chamber 20A, inflating and deploying the first air chamber 20A, and then enters the second air chamber 20B, inflating and deploying the second air chamber 20B, forming a convex-shaped air chamber.
Furthermore, the gas supplied to the inside of the second air chamber 20B flows into the inside of the outer bag 10 through the first vent hole 21, causing the outer bag 10 to inflate and deploy more slowly than the inner bag 20.

<Electrical configuration of side airbag device 1>
The electrical configuration of the side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 4, the side airbag device 1 includes a vehicle control unit 100, a vehicle right-side collision sensor 110, a vehicle left-side collision sensor 120, a vehicle right-side inflator 130, and a vehicle left-side inflator 140.

The vehicle control unit 100 is an electronic control unit (ECU) that includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and executes various calculations for vehicle control.
In this embodiment, the vehicle control unit 100 controls the operation of the vehicle left inflator 140 based on a sensing signal from a vehicle left collision sensor 120, which will be described later.

When a collision occurs on the right side of the vehicle, the vehicle left side collision sensor 120 outputs a sensing signal to the vehicle control unit 100 to the effect that a collision has been detected.
A specific example of the vehicle left-side collision sensor 120 is an acceleration sensor that detects impacts or vibrations applied to the vehicle as acceleration.
The acceleration sensor may be either a piezoresistance type that utilizes changes in electrical resistance of a semiconductor, or a capacitance type that detects changes in the gap between the movable and fixed parts of the comb-shaped electrodes as capacitance.
Also, an acceleration sensor for detecting a collision and another acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the floor may be provided, and the occurrence of a collision may be judged based on the acceleration values from both acceleration sensors.
The vehicle right-side collision sensor 110 has a similar configuration, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle left side inflator 140 is disposed on the surface of the seat pan 41 of the front left seat of the vehicle facing the door 50, and is configured to include a folded outer bag 10 and inner bag 20, an ignition device, an ignition agent, a gas generating agent, and a storage box for storing these.
When the ignition device of the vehicle left inflator 140 is activated by a control signal from the vehicle control unit 100, the ignition agent is ignited to generate a large amount of gas, thereby inflating and deploying the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20.
Since the vehicle right side inflator 130 has a similar configuration, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

<Control of Side Airbag Device 1>
As shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle control unit 100 determines whether or not a side collision has occurred on the left side of the vehicle (step S101).
At this time, if the vehicle control unit 100 determines that no side collision has occurred on the left side of the vehicle, that is, that no sensing signal has been received from the vehicle left-side collision sensor 120 ("NO" in step S101), it returns to the original processing and waits.

On the other hand, if the vehicle control unit 100 determines that a side collision has occurred on the left side of the vehicle ("YES" in step S101), more specifically, when the vehicle control unit 100 receives a sensing signal from the vehicle left collision sensor 120 indicating that a side collision has occurred on the left side of the vehicle, the vehicle control unit 100 activates the vehicle left inflator 140 and executes control to inflate and deploy the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 (step S120).

Next, the vehicle control unit 100 determines whether or not the time period during which gas is supplied by the vehicle left inflator 140 has elapsed a predetermined time (step S130).
If the vehicle control unit 100 determines that the time during which gas has been supplied by the vehicle left inflator 140 has not elapsed beyond the predetermined time ("NO" in step S130), the process returns to the original state and goes into standby.
Here, the predetermined time is, for example, a time required for supplying sufficient gas to inflate and deploy the outer bag 10 and the inner bag 20 .

On the other hand, if the vehicle control unit 100 determines that the time that the gas has been supplied by the vehicle left inflator 140 has elapsed the predetermined time ("YES" in step S130), the vehicle control unit 100 controls the vehicle left inflator 140 to stop the supply of gas by the vehicle left inflator 140 (step S140), and ends the process.

<Action and Effects>
As described above, the outer bag 10 in the side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment presses against the knees KN to thighs FE of the occupant CR who is seated in the vehicle seat 40 and faces the vehicle door 50 from the direction of the vehicle door 50.
That is, when a side collision of the vehicle occurs, the outer bag 10 inflates and deploys so as to press against the knees KN to the thighs FE of the occupant CR from the direction of the door 50 of the vehicle.
Therefore, when a side collision of the vehicle occurs, the outer back 10 can displace the knees KN to the thighs FE of the occupant CR at a certain distance in a direction away from the vehicle door 50 at the same timing.

Further, the inner bag 20 in the side airbag device 1 according to this embodiment is provided inside the outer bag 10 and presses only the thighs FE of the occupant CR from the door 50 side.
Specifically, the inner back 20 is composed of a first air chamber 20A which, when inflated and deployed, presses only the thighs FE of the occupant CR from the direction of the door 50, and a second air chamber 20B which deploys so as to form a convex air chamber at the upper part of the door side end of the first air chamber 20A in the seat back direction.
In addition, an inflator 30 is connected to the first air chamber 20A, and a first vent hole 21 having a larger gas emission rate than the second vent hole 11 provided in the outer bag 10 is provided in the surface of the second air chamber 20B facing the thigh region FE of the occupant CR.
In other words, the gas supplied from the inflator 30 provided in the first air chamber 20A of the inner bag 20 inflates and deploys the first air chamber 20A, enters the second air chamber 20B, inflates and deploys the second air chamber 20B, and is supplied to the outer bag 10 through the first vent hole 21, inflating and deploying the outer bag 10.
Therefore, when the inflator 30 is activated, the first air chamber 20A and the second air chamber 20B are quickly deployed into the space between the seat 40 and the door trim 51 of the door 50.
Therefore, in the event of a side collision of the vehicle, the thighs FE of the occupant CR can be protected quickly and stably.

In addition, the amount of gas discharged from the second vent hole 11 provided in the outer bag 10 is less than the amount of gas discharged from the first vent hole 21 provided in the inner bag 20 .
Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 , when a side collision of the vehicle occurs and the door trim 51 surface of the door 50 is significantly deformed and invades the seat 40, the amount of gas discharged from the first vent hole 21 is greater than the amount of gas discharged from the second vent hole 11, and therefore the inner bag 20 is pinched between the door trim 51 surface and the seat 40 as the door trim 51 surface invades.
Then, the gas filled inside is discharged to the outer bag 10 through the first vent hole 21, whereby the inner bag 20 is deformed in a deflated manner.
Therefore, when the door trim 51 surface is significantly deformed and invades the seat 40 side, the inner back 20 is quickly deformed, thereby preventing displacement of only the thighs FE of the occupant CR caused by excessive pressure acting on the thighs FE of the occupant CR.

In addition, while gas flows into the outer bag 10 through the first vent hole 21, the outer bag 10 is subjected to pressure due to the deformation of the door trim 51 surface, and deforms while following the invasion of the door trim 51 surface while discharging gas to the outside from the second vent hole 11 provided in the outer bag 10 more slowly than from the first vent hole 21.
Therefore, when the door trim 51 surface deforms and intrudes into the seat 40, the outer back 10 is deformed more gently than the inner back 20, thereby preventing displacement of the knees KN or thighs FE of the occupant CR at different times caused by excessive pressure acting on the knees KN and thighs FE of the occupant CR, and enabling the knees KN and thighs FE of the occupant CR to be displaced in the same way at the same time.

In addition, the first vent hole 21 is provided, for example, as shown in Figure 1, on a surface of the second air chamber 20B that faces the thigh FE of the occupant CR, and the second air chamber 20B is expanded so as to form a convex air chamber at the upper part of the seat back direction door 50 side end of the first air chamber 20A.
In other words, the first vent hole 21 is provided on a surface opposite to the surface of the second air chamber 20B that receives pressure from the door trim 51 surface during a side collision of the vehicle, and a sufficient gap is provided between the installation surface of the first vent hole 21 in the second air chamber 20B and the opposing inner wall surface of the outer bag 10.
Therefore, in the event of a side collision of the vehicle, the first vent hole 21 receives pressure from the rear surface, and is therefore able to quickly discharge gas.
Furthermore, since there is a sufficient gap between the installation surface of the first vent hole 21 in the second air chamber 20B and the inner wall surface of the outer bag 10 that faces that installation surface, the pressure received from the back of the first vent hole 21 does not cause the exhaust port of the first vent hole 21 to abut against the inner wall surface of the outer bag 10 before the first vent hole 21 has completed discharging sufficient gas, thereby preventing the discharge of gas from being impeded.

The second vent hole 11 is provided in a lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the outer back 10 at the front of the vehicle, which intersects with the surface on which the first vent hole 21 is arranged.
In other words, since the direction of gas discharge from the first vent hole 21 and the direction of gas discharge from the second vent hole 11 intersect, the amount of gas supplied from the inner bag 20 to the outer bag 10 increases, and the amount of gas discharged to the outside from the second vent hole 11 remains constant even if the internal pressure of the outer bag 10 increases.
Therefore, during a side collision of the vehicle, the outer back 10 follows the deformation of the door trim 51 surface and deforms more gently than the inner back 20, and the contact surfaces with the knees KN and thighs FE of the occupant CR can be kept parallel, thereby reducing the pressure applied to the lower body and abdomen of the occupant CR and protecting the occupant CR.

The side airbag device 1 of the present invention can be realized by recording the processing of the vehicle control unit 100 on a recording medium that can be read by a computer system, and having the vehicle control unit 100 read and execute the program recorded on this recording medium. The computer system here includes hardware such as the OS and peripheral devices.

In addition, "computer system" also includes the homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW (World Wide Web) system is used. The above program may be transmitted from a computer system in which the program is stored in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium, or by transmission waves in the transmission medium. Here, the "transmission medium" that transmits the program refers to a medium that has the function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

The above program may also be one that realizes some of the functions described above. Furthermore, it may be one that realizes the functions described above in combination with a program that is already recorded in the computer system, a so-called differential file (differential program).

The above describes an embodiment of the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment and includes designs that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1; side airbag device 10; outer bag 11; second vent hole 20; inner bag 20A; first air chamber 20B; second air chamber 21; first vent hole 30; inflator 40; seat 41; seat pan 50; door 51; door trim 100; vehicle control unit 110; vehicle right side collision sensor 120; vehicle left side collision sensor 130; vehicle right side inflator 140; vehicle left side inflator

Claims (4)

a bag-shaped outer bag that presses against the knees and thighs of an occupant who is seated in a vehicle seat and faces a door of the vehicle from a door direction;
a bag-shaped inner bag provided inside the outer bag and pressing only the thighs of the occupant from the door direction;
an inflator provided on a surface of the seat pan facing the door of the vehicle and configured to supply gas to the inner bag;
a first vent hole provided in the inner bag for discharging the gas to the outer bag;
a second vent hole provided in the outer bag for discharging the gas to the outside;
Equipped with
A side airbag device, wherein the amount of gas discharged from the first vent hole is greater than the amount of gas discharged from the second vent hole. the inner back has a first air chamber that presses only the thighs of the occupant from the door direction when inflated and deployed, and a second air chamber that is deployed so as to form a convex air chamber at an upper portion of an end of the first air chamber on a door side in a seat back direction,
2. The side airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the inflator is provided below the first air chamber. The side airbag device according to claim 2, characterized in that the first vent hole is provided on a surface of the second air chamber that faces the thighs of the occupant. The side airbag device according to claim 3, characterized in that the second vent hole is provided in a lower portion of the outer periphery of the outer bag in front of the vehicle, which intersects with a plane in which the first vent hole is arranged.

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