JP7704080B2 - Occupant protection devices - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an occupant protection device that can protect an occupant seated in a seat when an external force acts during a vehicle collision.

Normally, an airbag device is used to protect the occupant seated in the vehicle seat, using an inflated airbag to protect the occupant's body parts that need to be protected. Recently, there are also vehicles that are single-seater, do not have doors, and have open sides to the left and right of the occupant (driver) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2014-83858 A

As such, in vehicles without doors, simply inflating the airbag makes it difficult to adequately protect the sides of the occupant. Also, in typical airbag devices, the airbag is inflated using an inflator, so there was room for improvement in terms of protecting the occupant in a simpler configuration.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide an occupant protection device that is simply configured and can adequately protect occupants even in vehicles that do not have doors.

The present invention relates to an occupant protection device that can protect an occupant seated in a seat when an external force acts inwardly from the side of a vehicle, and
The seat belt is configured to include an occupant receiving portion that is disposed on the side of the occupant, is fixed to the seat, and is capable of receiving a portion of the occupant that is to be protected, an external force receiving portion that is disposed on the external force acting side and is capable of receiving an external force, and a movement mechanism that is capable of moving the external force receiving portion relative to the occupant receiving portion,
The occupant receiving portion is formed from a material having shape retention, and has a generally flat plate shape arranged generally along the vertical direction so as to close the gap between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the seat and to cover the side of the body part to be protected,
The external force receiving portion is formed from a material having shape retention, and is configured as a substantially flat plate disposed substantially parallel to the occupant receiving portion on the outer side of the occupant receiving portion,
The moving mechanism is configured to arrange a pair of connecting arm parts, each having a pair of arm bodies whose one end side is rotatably connected to each other and whose other end side is rotatably connected to the occupant receiving part or the external force receiving part, side by side at least at two positions on the up-down direction side so as to be substantially aligned along the front-rear direction,
Each connecting arm portion is arranged such that, when viewed from the up-down direction, the connecting ends that rotatably connect the arm bodies to each other are spaced apart from each other on the front side and the rear side.
The external force receiving portion is characterized in that it is movable in parallel with respect to the occupant receiving portion by the moving mechanism.

In the passenger protection device of the present invention, when an external force acts from the side of the vehicle toward the inside, the passenger receiving portion and the external force receiving portion, both of which are formed of a material having shape retention and are flat, are arranged in a mutually overlapping state to cover the side of the part of the passenger that is to be protected. Therefore, in the passenger protection device of the present invention, even if the external force receiving portion comes into contact with the vehicle that applies the external force when it is installed in a type of vehicle that does not have a door that covers the side of the passenger, further intrusion of the vehicle that applies the external force can be suppressed, and the part to be protected can be accurately restrained by the passenger receiving portion. In particular, in the passenger protection device of the present invention, the passenger receiving portion is fixed to the seat and covers the side of the part to be protected of the passenger so as to block the gap between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the seat. Therefore, even if the passenger tries to move outward (toward the external force receiving portion) in reaction, such movement can be accurately restricted by the passenger receiving portion.

In addition, in the occupant protection device of the present invention, although the occupant receiving portion is fixed to the seat, the external force receiving portion is movable in parallel with respect to the occupant receiving portion by a moving mechanism, and the moving mechanism is configured to arrange the connecting arm portion in parallel at least two positions on the up-down direction so as to be approximately aligned in the front-rear direction. Each connecting arm portion is configured to have a pair of arm bodies whose one end side is rotatably connected to each other and whose other end side is rotatably connected to the occupant receiving portion or the external force receiving portion. That is, in the occupant protection device of the present invention, since the occupant receiving portion and the external force receiving portion are connected by the connecting arm portion in the areas that are approximately opposed to each other on the inside-outside direction side (left-right direction side), it is possible to set the sizes of the external force receiving portion and the occupant receiving portion to be equal, and the area of the surface that actually receives the occupant and the area of the surface that actually receives the external force can be secured as large as possible. Furthermore, in the occupant protection device of the present invention, even if the external force receiving portion is disposed in a state spaced apart from the occupant receiving portion, when the occupant receiving portion receives the part to be protected (when an external force from a vehicle or the like acts on the external force receiving portion), it will move toward the occupant receiving portion, but since the connecting arm portions are interposed at two locations, one above and one below, between the external force receiving portion and the occupant receiving portion to close the gap between the external force receiving portion and the occupant receiving portion, the effective plate thickness of the portion that receives the part to be protected while coming into contact with the vehicle or the like can be made thicker by the connecting arm portion (arm body), thereby increasing rigidity and ensuring stable protection performance for the occupant. Also, in the occupant protection device of the present invention, the separation distance between the occupant receiving portion and the external force receiving portion can be appropriately set according to the preference of the occupant when getting in the car, etc. Furthermore, if the external force receiving portion is positioned away from the occupant receiving portion, even if an occupant comes into contact with the external force receiving portion when getting on or off the vehicle, the external force receiving portion can move parallel to the occupant receiving portion to absorb the energy caused by the occupant's contact, and the occupant receiving portion itself can be prevented from moving relative to the seat, so that the occupant receiving portion can be stably maintained fixed to the seat.

Therefore, the passenger protection device of the present invention has a simple configuration and can adequately protect passengers even in vehicles that do not have doors.

In addition, in the occupant protection device of the present invention, if the connecting arm parts are arranged at the upper and lower ends of the occupant receiving part and at the intermediate parts above and below, at least three connecting arm parts are interposed between the occupant receiving part and the external force receiving part, and compared to the case where the connecting arm parts are provided in two places, the gap between the occupant receiving part and the external force receiving part can be reduced, which is preferable as it is possible to further increase the protection performance of the occupant.

Furthermore, in the passenger protection device configured as above, if an even number of connecting arms are arranged with the same number of interconnecting ends arranged separately in the front and rear, the external force receiving part can be moved in a balanced manner in the front and rear, and the gap between the passenger receiving part and the external force receiving part can be further reduced, which is preferable as it further increases the protection performance of the passenger.

1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle on which an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted. 1 is a schematic front view of a vehicle on which an occupant protection device according to an embodiment is mounted; 1 is a side view of an occupant protection device according to an embodiment; 3 is a plan view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, illustrating a state before an external force receiving portion moves. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, illustrating a state after the external force receiving portion has moved. FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, illustrating a state before an external force receiving portion moves. 4 is a front view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, illustrating a state after the external force receiving portion has moved. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an occupant protection device according to an embodiment, illustrating a state before an external force receiving portion moves. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX in FIG. 5. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the XX portion of FIG. 5. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a region between an interconnection end and a separate end of a connecting arm portion in the occupant protection device according to the embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which an external force is applied to an occupant protection device according to an embodiment;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, an occupant protection device S of the embodiment is mounted on a one-person vehicle V. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle V does not have doors, and when a driver MD as an occupant is seated in a seat 1, the left and right sides of the driver MD are open. The occupant protection device S of the embodiment is configured to be able to protect the lower back MW of the driver MD as an occupant as a protected area.

The seat 1 is configured to include a seat portion 3 and a backrest portion 2. Specifically, in the seat 1, the backrest portion 2 is not directly connected to the seat portion 3, but is connected to the seat portion 3 by using connecting pipes 5L, 5R arranged to extend downwardly along the backrest portion 2 at both left and right edges (see FIG. 2). In detail, the backrest portion 2 is configured so that approximately the lower half of each of the left edge region and the right edge region is cut out, and the connecting pipes 5L, 5R are arranged in the cut-out region of the backrest portion 2 so as to generally follow the backrest portion 2 in the up-down direction (more specifically, slightly inclined relative to the vertical direction so that the lower end side is located forward, see FIG. 1). When the driver MD is seated, the connecting pipes 5L, 5R are arranged on the rear left and right sides of the driver MD's waist to back.

The occupant protection device S is disposed to the side of the driver MD as an occupant, and in the embodiment, is disposed to the right of the waist MW of the driver MD so as to be attached to the right connecting pipe 5R (see Figs. 1 and 2). As shown in Figs. 3 to 8, the occupant protection device S includes an occupant receiving portion 15 capable of receiving the waist MW as a part to be protected of the driver MD, an external force receiving portion 20 disposed on the external force acting side (right side in the embodiment), a moving mechanism 25 capable of moving the external force receiving portion 20 relative to the occupant receiving portion 15, and an attachment member 10 that attaches the occupant receiving portion 15 to the seat 1 side. The occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 are formed from a material having shape retention, and in the embodiment, are plate-shaped bodies made of synthetic resin. In addition, in the passenger protection device S of this embodiment, the mounting member 10 and the connecting arm portion 26 (inner arm body 28, outer arm body 29) that constitutes the movement mechanism 25 are also made of synthetic resin, just like the passenger receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20.

The mounting member 10 is attached to the connecting pipe 5R and includes a connecting wall portion 11 that supports the rear side of the occupant receiving portion 15 and connects the occupant receiving portion 15, and mounting ring portions 13U, 13D that are arranged on the inner end side of the connecting wall portion 11 (the left end 11b side in the case of the embodiment) and can be attached to the connecting pipe 5R. The mounting ring portions 13U, 13D can be attached to the connecting pipe 5R by inserting the connecting pipe 5R, and are formed at two locations, the upper end side and the lower end side of the connecting wall portion 11, so as to extend rearward from the connecting wall portion 11. The connecting wall portion 11 is flat and arranged so as to extend rightward from the connecting pipe 5R so as to be roughly aligned along the left-right direction, roughly aligned along the up-down direction (see Figures 3 to 7). An occupant receiving portion 15 is fixed to the base side (the side of the mounting rings 13U and 13D, i.e., the left end 11b side) of the connecting wall portion 11 so as to be approximately perpendicular to the connecting wall portion 11. In this embodiment, the external force receiving portion 20 is configured to move parallel to the occupant receiving portion 15 by sliding the rear end surface 20f against the front surface 11a of the connecting wall portion 11 (see Figures 4 and 5). A stopper is provided on the right edge 11c side of the connecting wall portion 11 (not shown in detail) to restrict further rightward movement of the external force receiving portion 20.

The occupant receiving portion 15 is capable of widely covering the side (right side) of the driver MD's lumbar region MW as the region to be protected by blocking the space near the boundary between the seat portion 3 and the backrest portion 2 of the seat 1. In the embodiment, the outer shape is a substantially rectangular plate with a slightly wider front-rear direction side (see FIG. 3). As described above, the occupant receiving portion 15 is fixed to the seat 1 by being fixed to the left end 11b side of the connecting wall portion 11 of the mounting member 10, and is disposed substantially along the up-down direction while protruding forward substantially along the front-rear direction from the connecting wall portion 11 so as to be substantially perpendicular to the connecting wall portion 11 (see FIGS. 4 to 8). In detail, the occupant receiving portion 15 is disposed at a position substantially directly above the right edge 3a of the seat portion 3 of the seat 1 (see FIG. 6). That is, the occupant receiving portion 15 is disposed near the waist MW of the driver MD seated in the seat 1, with its longitudinal direction generally along the front-rear direction, and generally along the up-down direction generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the driver MD, so as to widely cover the right side of the waist MW. The vertical width of the occupant receiving portion 15 is set to be generally the same as the vertical width of the connecting wall portion 11 (see Figures 6 and 7).

In the passenger receiving portion 15, on the right side surface 15e side, which is the external force receiving portion 20 side, a pivot shaft portion 17 for pivotally supporting a connecting arm portion 26 described later that constitutes the moving mechanism 25 is formed so as to protrude to the right (see Figs. 4, 6, and 8). This pivot shaft portion 17 connects a bearing portion 28ba arranged at the remote side end 28b of the inner arm body 28 described later in each connecting arm portion 26, and is formed at a total of four locations, two each on the front end 15a side and the rear end 15b side of the passenger receiving portion 15, corresponding to the remote side end 28b. Each pivot shaft portion 17 has a connecting piece portion 17a protruding to the right from the passenger receiving portion 15 and a shaft body 17b formed to protrude downward from the connecting piece portion 17a, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11A. The connecting piece 17a is flat and has a semicircular edge at the tip, and the amount of protrusion from the occupant support 15 (width W3 on the left-right side, see A in Figure 11) is set to be approximately the same as the width W2 of the inner arm body 28 (see Figure 9).

The external force receiving portion 20 is disposed on the outer side (right side in the embodiment) of the occupant receiving portion 15, and has an outer shape that is substantially flat and disposed substantially parallel to the occupant receiving portion 15. Specifically, in the embodiment, the external force receiving portion 20 has an outer shape that is substantially the same as the occupant receiving portion 15, and is a substantially rectangular plate that is slightly wider on the front-rear direction side (see Figs. 3 and 8). This external force receiving portion 20 is connected to the occupant receiving portion 15 via a moving mechanism 25 so as to be movable in parallel. In the external force receiving portion 20, a bearing portion 22 for supporting the connecting arm portion 26 is formed so as to protrude leftward on the left side 20e side that is the occupant receiving portion 15 side (see Figs. 4, 6, and 8). The bearings 22 connect the pivot shafts 29ba arranged at the remote end 29b of the outer arm body 29 of each connecting arm 26, and are formed at four locations in total, two at the front end 20a side and two at the rear end 20b side of the external force receiving part 20, corresponding to the remote end 29b. Each bearing 22 is formed to protrude leftward from the external force receiving part 20, and is generally flat, with a tip end edge generally semicircular, and an insertion opening 22a is provided in the center, recessed from above, into which the shaft body 29bb can be inserted, which is formed to protrude from the pivot shafts 29ba of the remote end 29b of the outer arm body 29. The amount of protrusion of the bearings 22 from the external force receiving part 20 (width W4 on the left-right side, see C in FIG. 11) is set to be generally the same as the width W2 (see FIG. 9) of the outer arm body 29.

The movement mechanism 25 connects the external force receiving part 20 to the occupant receiving part 15 so that the external force receiving part 20 can move in parallel with the occupant receiving part 15. In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 6 to 10, the connecting arm parts 26 are arranged in parallel at four locations: the upper ends 15c, 20c and the lower ends 15d, 20d of the occupant receiving part 15 and the external force receiving part 20, and two intermediate locations between the upper and lower parts.

Each connecting arm portion 26 has a pair of arm bodies 28, 29 which are rotatably connected to each other at one end and rotatably connected to the occupant receiving portion 15 or the external force receiving portion 20 at the other end. In the case of the embodiment, each connecting arm portion 26 has one end rotatably connected to each other such that the inner arm body 28 arranged on the inside, which is the occupant receiving portion 15 side, is positioned above the outer arm body 29 arranged on the outside, which is the external force receiving portion 20 side (see FIG. 8). The interconnection ends 28a of the inner arm body 28 are connected to each other, and a rotating shaft portion 28aa having an axle body 28ab protruding downward from the lower surface side is formed at the interconnection ends 28a of the outer arm body 29. The interconnection ends 29a of the outer arm body 29 constitute bearing portions 29aa corresponding to the rotating shaft portion 28aa, and an insertion opening 29ab into which the axle body 28ab formed at the interconnection ends 28a of the inner arm body 28 can be inserted is disposed so as to be recessed from above on the upper surface (see B in Figs. 10 and 11). In each inner arm body 28, the separated end 28b connected to the occupant receiving portion 15 is formed with a bearing portion 28ba connected to the rotating shaft portion 17 formed at the occupant receiving portion 15. In each bearing portion 28ba, an insertion opening 28bb into which the axle body 17b formed at the rotating shaft portion 17 can be inserted is formed so as to be recessed from above on the upper surface (see A in Figs. 10 and 11). In each outer arm body 29, a pivot shaft portion 29ba is formed at a remote end portion 29b connected to the external force receiving portion 20, the pivot shaft portion 29ba being connected to the bearing portion 22 formed in the external force receiving portion 20. Each pivot shaft portion 29ba is formed such that a shaft body 29bb that can be inserted into an insertion opening 22a formed in the bearing portion 22 of the external force receiving portion 20 protrudes downward from the lower surface side (see C in Figs. 10 and 11). In the embodiment, the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 are substantially rod-shaped with a cross-sectional shape that is substantially rectangular and wide on the left and right sides, and as shown in Fig. 9, the width dimension W2 is substantially the same as the plate thickness W1 of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20, and the thickness dimension t is set to about 5/6 of the plate thickness W1 of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20. As shown in FIG. 10, the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 are configured so that their length dimensions are approximately the same as the width dimensions of the front-rear direction sides of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20.

In the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, when the external force receiving portion 20 moves towards the occupant receiving portion 15 during reception of an external force, it comes into contact with the occupant receiving portion 15 via the connecting arm portion 26 (inner arm body 28, outer arm body 29), thereby stopping the movement towards the occupant receiving portion 15 (see Figures 5 and 7). At this time, the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 constituting the connecting arm portion 26 have the same width dimension and their length dimension is set to be approximately the same as the width dimension of the fore-aft side of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20, so that they are interposed between the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 at four separate points above and below, respectively, over approximately the entire fore-aft area (see Figures 5 and 10). In addition, the pivot shaft portion 17 and the bearing portion 22 formed in the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 are formed with a protruding amount that is approximately the same as the width dimensions of the inner arm main body 28 and the outer arm main body 29, and therefore the inner arm main body 28 and the outer arm main body 29 are interposed between the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 so that their left side surfaces 28c, 29c and right side surfaces 28d, 29d abut against the right side surface 15e of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the left side surface 20e of the external force receiving portion 20, respectively, as shown in Figure 9. Although detailed illustration is omitted, the outer circumferential surface 17aa (see FIG. 11A) of the connecting piece portion 17a of each rotating shaft portion 17 abuts against the left side surface 20e of the external force receiving portion 20, and the outer circumferential surface 22b (see FIG. 11C) of each bearing portion 22 abuts against the right side surface 15e of the occupant receiving portion 15.

In the embodiment, the connecting arms 26 constituting the moving mechanism 25 are arranged so that the connecting ends 28a, 29a that rotatably connect the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 to each other are spaced apart from each other on the front and rear sides when viewed from the top and bottom directions so as to be approximately aligned along the front-back direction. In detail, in the case of the embodiment, the upper connecting arm 26U arranged at the top and the intermediate lower connecting arm 26CD arranged third from the top are arranged so that the connecting ends 28a, 29a are located on the front side, and the intermediate upper connecting arm 26CU arranged second from the top and the lower connecting arm 26D arranged at the bottom are arranged so that the connecting ends 28a, 29a are located on the rear side (see FIG. 8). That is, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the connecting arm parts 26 are arranged in four pieces, with the number of the connecting ends 28a, 29a arranged separately in the front and rear being the same (two pieces). In the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the external force receiving portion 20 is movable in parallel with the occupant receiving portion 15 by sliding the rear end surface 20f against the front surface 11a of the connecting wall portion 11 using the movement mechanism 25 (see Figures 4 to 7).

In the embodiment, the shaft bodies 17b, 28ab, 29bb of the pivot shaft portions 17, 28aa, 29ba that rotatably connect each connecting arm portion 26 to the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 are all arranged to protrude downward as shown in Figures 10 and 11, but these shaft bodies 17b, 28ab, 29bb are inserted into the corresponding insertion openings 22a, 28bb, 29ab in such a way that they are slightly forced into the corresponding insertion openings 22a, 28bb, 29ab so that the connection state with the bearing portions 22, 28ba, 29aa can be stably maintained. The degree of fit (fit strength) of the shaft body 17b, 28ab, 29bb with the insertion openings 22a, 28bb, 29ab is set so that the external force receiving part 20 can be easily moved parallel to the occupant receiving part 15 by pulling or pushing it with the driver MD's hand, and the stationary state of the external force receiving part 20 can be maintained by releasing the hand after the movement is complete.

In the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, when an external force T acts on the vehicle V from the right side toward the inside, the external force T presses the external force receiving portion 20 inward, as shown in Fig. 12. In the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, when an external force acts on the vehicle V from the side toward the inside, the passenger receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20, both of which are formed from a material having shape retention and have a flat plate shape, are arranged in a mutually overlapping state to cover the side of the waist region MW, which is the region to be protected, of the driver MD as the passenger. Therefore, the passenger protection device S of the embodiment is mounted on a vehicle V that does not have a door that covers the side of the passenger (driver MD). Even if the external force receiving portion 20 comes into contact with a vehicle that applies an external force, the vehicle can be prevented from entering further, and the passenger receiving portion 15 can accurately restrain the lumbar region MW as the part to be protected. In particular, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the passenger receiving portion 15 is fixed to the seat 1 and covers the side of the lumbar region MW of the driver MD so as to block the space between the seat portion 3 and the backrest portion 2 of the seat 1. Therefore, even if the driver MD tries to move outward (toward the external force receiving portion 20) in reaction, the passenger receiving portion 15 can accurately restrict such movement.

In the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the occupant receiving portion 15 is fixed to the seat 1, but the external force receiving portion 20 is movable in parallel with the occupant receiving portion 15 by a moving mechanism 25, and the moving mechanism 25 is configured to arrange the connecting arm portions 26 side by side at least in two places on the vertical side so as to be approximately aligned in the front-to-rear direction. Each connecting arm portion 26 has a pair of arm bodies 28, 29 whose one end is rotatably connected to each other and whose other end is rotatably connected to the occupant receiving portion 15 or the external force receiving portion 20. In other words, in the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the areas where the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 approximately face each other on the inward/outward side (left/right side) (in the embodiment, this is the pivot shaft portion 17 and the bearing portion 22, which are arranged so as to approximately face each other on the left and right) are connected by the connecting arm portion 26, so that it is also possible to set the sizes of the external force receiving portion 20 and the occupant receiving portion 15 to be equal, and the area of the surface that actually receives the occupant (driver MD) and the area of the surface that actually receives the external force can be ensured to be as large as possible. Furthermore, in the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, even though the external force receiving portion 20 is positioned away from the occupant receiving portion 15, when the occupant receiving portion 15 receives the waist MW (when an external force from a vehicle or the like acts on the external force receiving portion 20), the external force receiving portion 20 moves toward the occupant receiving portion 15. However, since the connecting arm portion 26 is interposed between the external force receiving portion 20 and the occupant receiving portion 15 at least in two places, one above the other (four places in the case of the embodiment), and closes the gap between the external force receiving portion 20 and the occupant receiving portion 15, the actual plate thickness of the portion that receives the waist MW, as the part to be protected while coming into contact with the vehicle or the like, can be made thicker by the amount of the connecting arm portion 26 (arm main bodies 28, 29), thereby increasing rigidity and ensuring stable protection performance for the occupant (driver MD). In addition, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the distance between the passenger receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 can be appropriately set according to the passenger's preference when getting in or out of the vehicle. Furthermore, if the external force receiving portion 20 is arranged in a state where it is separated from the passenger receiving portion 15, even if the passenger (driver MD) comes into contact with the external force receiving portion 20 when getting in or out of the vehicle, the external force receiving portion 20 can move parallel to the passenger receiving portion 15 to absorb the energy caused by the passenger's contact, and the passenger receiving portion 15 itself can be prevented from moving relative to the seat 1, and the fixed state of the passenger receiving portion 15 to the seat 1 can be stably maintained.

Therefore, the passenger protection device S of the embodiment has a simple configuration and can adequately protect the driver MD as a passenger even in a vehicle that does not have doors.

In addition, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the connecting arm portion 26 is arranged at the upper end 15c side and the lower end 15d side of the passenger receiving portion 15 and at the upper and lower intermediate portions. In particular, in the embodiment, the connecting arm portion 26 is arranged in an even number (4 pieces) with the number of interconnecting ends 28a, 29a arranged separately in the front and rear being the same (2 pieces). Therefore, the external force receiving portion 20 can be moved in a balanced manner between the front and rear, and compared to the case where the connecting arm portion 26 is arranged at two locations, upper and lower, it is possible to reduce the gap between the external force receiving portion 20 in the movement completed state and the passenger receiving portion 15, thereby further increasing the protection performance of the passenger (driver MD). Note that if such points are not taken into consideration, the connecting arm portion may be arranged only at two locations, upper and lower, or an odd number of connecting arms may be arranged, including the upper and lower intermediate portions. Of course, the number of connecting arm parts is not limited to four, and can be four or more (preferably an even number such as six or eight).

In particular, in the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 constituting the connecting arm portion 26 have the same width dimension and their length dimension is set to be approximately the same as the width dimension of the fore-aft side of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20, and the pivot shaft portion 17 and the bearing portion 22 formed in the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 are formed with an amount of protrusion approximately the same as the width dimension of the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29. That is, in the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, the connecting arm portion 26 (inner arm body 28, outer arm body 29) interposed between the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 is interposed between the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 such that both side surfaces (left side surfaces 28c, 29c and right side surfaces 28d, 29d) are in contact with the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 when the movement of the external force receiving portion 20 is completed (see FIG. 9 ), and the connecting arm portion 26 (inner arm body 28, outer arm body 29) is disposed over the entire width direction of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 (see FIG. 10 ). Therefore, the left side surface 20e of the external force receiving portion 20 that has received an external force can be received by the entire surfaces of the right side surfaces 28d, 29d of the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 that are arranged side by side at four positions vertically. More specifically, the thickness dimensions of the inner arm main body 28 and the outer arm main body 29 are set to approximately 5/6 of the plate thickness of the occupant receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20, and in the case of the embodiment, when the occupant protection device S is viewed from the fore-aft side, when the external force receiving portion 20 has completed its movement, the four connecting arm portions 26 (inner arm main body 28, outer arm main body 29) and the rotating shaft portions 17 and bearing portions 22 that connect each connecting arm portion 26 to the occupant receiving portion 15 side or the external force receiving portion 20 side are arranged with almost no gaps between the external force receiving portion 20 and the occupant receiving portion 15 (see Figure 7). That is, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the gap between the passenger receiving portion 15 and the external force receiving portion 20 is blocked by the inner arm body 28 and the outer arm body 29 that constitute the connecting arm portion 26, except for the gap between the thickness of the connecting piece portion 17a of the rotating shaft portion 17 and the thickness of the bearing portion 22 (see FIG. 10). Therefore, a member that is similar to a plate material of the same plate thickness is interposed between the passenger receiving portion and the external force receiving portion, which further increases rigidity and ensures stable protection performance for the passenger (driver MD).

In the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the degree of fit (fitting strength) of the pivot shaft parts 17, 28aa, 29ba that rotatably connect each connecting arm part 26 to the passenger receiving part 15 and the external force receiving part 20 with the shaft body 17b, 28ab, 29bb in the insertion opening 22a, 28bb, 29ab is set to a degree that the external force receiving part 20 can be easily moved parallel to the passenger receiving part 15 by pulling or pushing it with the driver MD's hand, but the fitting strength of both can also be set higher. For example, it is also possible to configure it so that energy is absorbed by utilizing the frictional resistance generated between the shaft body and the insertion opening when the external force receiving part moves after receiving an external force (when the connecting arm part rotates).

1...seat, 2...backrest, 3...seat, 15...occupant receiving portion, 15c...upper end, 15d...lower end, 20...external force receiving portion, 25...moving mechanism, 26 (26U, 26CU, 26CD, 26D)...connecting arm portion, 28...inner arm body, 28a...interconnecting end, 28b...separate end, 29...outer arm body, 29a...interconnecting end, 29b...separate end, MD...driver (occupant), MW...lower back (area to be protected), S...occupant protection device, V...vehicle.

Claims (3)

An occupant protection device capable of protecting an occupant seated in a seat when an external force acting inward from the side of a vehicle is applied, comprising:
The seat cushion is configured to include an occupant receiving portion that is disposed on the side of the occupant, is fixed to the seat, and is capable of receiving a portion of the occupant that is to be protected, an external force receiving portion that is disposed on an external force acting side and is capable of receiving the external force, and a movement mechanism that is capable of moving the external force receiving portion relative to the occupant receiving portion,
The occupant receiving portion is formed from a material having shape retention, and has a substantially flat plate shape arranged substantially along the vertical direction so as to close the gap between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the seat and to cover the side of the part to be protected,
The external force receiving portion is formed from a material having shape retention, and is configured as a substantially flat plate disposed substantially parallel to the occupant receiving portion on the outer side of the occupant receiving portion,
the moving mechanism is configured to arrange a pair of arm bodies, one end of which is rotatably connected to each other and the other end of which is rotatably connected to the occupant receiving portion or the external force receiving portion, side by side at least at two positions on the up-down direction side so as to be aligned substantially along the front-rear direction,
each connecting arm portion is arranged such that, when viewed from the up-down direction, the mutual connecting ends that rotatably connect the arm bodies to each other are spaced apart from each other on the front side and the rear side;
The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the external force receiving portion is movable in parallel with the occupant receiving portion by the movement mechanism. The passenger protection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting arm portion is disposed at the upper end side and the lower end side of the passenger receiving portion, and at the upper and lower intermediate portions. The passenger protection device according to claim 2, characterized in that an even number of the connecting arms are arranged with the same number of the interconnecting ends arranged separately in the front and rear.

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