JPH02155855A - Air bag case - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hinder deformation of an instrument panel by an operator when it is contacted by the operator by forming a deformation promoting part at both walls in the car width direction of an accommodation part so that the accommodation part deforms according to deformation of the instrument panel. CONSTITUTION:When the decelerating condition of a car has not yet reached the specified value, an inflator 38 remains out of operation, and an air bag 34 will not expand. Therefore, the operator may directly contact an upper instrument panel 22 and air bag door 36. In this case, a panel 22 and door 36 deform,s and an external force in the D direction is applied to an air bag case 26, which is easy to deform as its opening 40 sides on both side walls 27A, 27B are provided with a U-shaped notch 60 (deformation promoting part), and the case 26 is crushed by external force in the D direction resulting from deformation of the panel 22 and door 36 so as to absorb the kinetic energy of the operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an airbag case used in an airbag device for protecting a passenger sitting in a passenger seat of a vehicle.

[Conventional technology]

An airbag device for protecting a passenger sitting in a passenger seat of a vehicle is generally installed in an instrument panel located in front of the passenger in the vehicle (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-98547).

In these airbag devices, when the vehicle suddenly decelerates to a predetermined value or more, an acceleration sensor is activated to inflate the airbag body in front of the occupant to protect the occupant. However, the rear end edge of the airbag case of this airbag device is disposed close to the back surface of the instrument panel. Therefore, if the occupant hits the instrument panel at a deceleration lower than the deceleration at which the airbag is activated, it is difficult to absorb the occupant's kinetic energy.

Therefore, the airbag case that houses the airbag body and is installed in the instrument panel must be designed so as not to impede the deformation of the instrument panel. Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5120332, when an occupant touches the instrument panel and the instrument panel is deformed, the airbag case is pressed by this deformed portion and moves in the direction of the pressing force. It is known that the deformation of the instrument panel is not hindered by the deformation of the instrument panel.

However, in this airbag case, since the airbag case moves within the instrument panel, a relatively large space is required, and the structure for movably guiding the airbag case is complicated.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide an airbag case that does not prevent the deformation of the instrument panel when an occupant comes into contact with the instrument panel.

[Failure to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an airbag case that stores an airbag body and is installed in an instrument panel of a vehicle. an airbag body protrusion opening formed on the passenger side of the housing section; and a deformation promoting section formed on both side walls in the vehicle width direction of the housing section so that the housing section deforms in accordance with deformation of the instrument panel. ,
It is characterized by having the following.

[Effect]

In the present invention having the above configuration, the airbag case has two walls on both sides.
A deformation accelerating portion is formed and configured to be easily deformed against pressure from the vertical direction of the vehicle. Therefore, when an occupant comes into contact with the instrument panel and the instrument panel deforms, the airbag case is pressed from above the vehicle by the instrument panel and deforms.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle 10 is equipped with an air bag device 18 in an instrument panel 16 located in front of the passenger seat 14 in the driver's cabin 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, the airbag device 18 includes a pipe-shaped instrument panel reinforcement 20, an upper instrument panel 22, a passenger-side instrument panel 24, and an airbag case 26 mounted on a bracket 28.3.
0.32 respectively.

This airbag case 26 includes an airbag body 34,
An airbag door 36 and an inflation flap 38 are attached.

As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag case 26 has an opening 40 facing toward the rear of the vehicle that serves as an airbag bag protrusion, and has a U-shaped box-like cross-sectional shape when viewed from the side of the vehicle. (Longitudinal force facing vehicle lateral direction, direction of arrow 6) Side walls 2 at both ends
7A and 27B are integrally formed. Further, the airbag case 26 is made of, for example, a steel plate, an aluminum plate, or the like.

At the upper part 26Δ of the airbag case 26, there is a base 3 which is one of the bent parts of the plate-like bracket 30 which is bent into an L-shape.
0A is welded along its longitudinal direction in the six directions of arrows. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the tip 30B, which stands upright above the vehicle, is connected to the tip 4 of the insert 46 of the upper instrument panel 22 by means of bolts 42 and nuts 44.
It is fixed to 6A.

A base portion 32A of a plate-shaped bracket 32 bent into an abbreviated shape is welded to the lower portion 26B of the airbag case 26, with the longitudinal direction of the bracket 32 being welded along the direction of arrow A, and the tip extending diagonally downward and forward of the vehicle. The portion 32B is fixed to the tip portion 52A of the insert 52 of the passenger-side instrument panel 24 with a bolt 48 and a nut 50, as shown in FIG.

The vehicle is installed in the state where the airbag case 26 corresponds to the instrument panel reinforcement 20.
The base portion 28A of the plate-shaped bracket 28 bent into an L-shape is welded along the six directions of arrows in the longitudinal direction, and the tip portion 28B extending diagonally downward and forward of the vehicle is secured by a bolt 54 and a nut 50. It is fixed to a bracket 58 welded to the instrument panel reinforcement 20.

Both side walls 27A, 27 in the vehicle width direction of the airbag case 26
In B, the direction from the opening 40 to the bottom 26C, which is the deepest part (
A plurality of U-shaped notches 60 as deformation accelerating portions are formed at predetermined intervals in the direction of arrow C in FIGS. 1 and 2, and both side walls 27A and 27B are comb-shaped. Therefore, when an external force is applied to the upper part of the opening 40 of the airbag case 26 from substantially above the vehicle (in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 2),
The side walls 27A, 27B in which the notches 60 are formed are crushed, and the airbag case 26 is easily deformed as shown in FIG.

Both side walls 27A, 27 in the vehicle width direction of the airbag case 26
A thin plate-like seal 64 made of resin or metal foil and easily bendable is fixed to the facing surfaces 62A and 62B of B by adhesive or the like, and covers the notch 60 from the inside of the airbag case 26.

Therefore, the seal 64 prevents the airbag body 34 from entering the notch 60 when the airbag body 34 is deployed, and does not prevent the airbag case 26 from deforming.

An inflation flake 38 is arranged near the bottom 26C of the airbag case 26. This inflation flake 38 is filled with a gas generating substance, and the gas generating substance is provided with ignition means. When the vehicle 10 suddenly decelerates to a predetermined value or more, the gas generating substance is ignited via the ignition means and starts burning due to the operation of an acceleration sensor (not shown), and the gas generated by the combustion is emitted through a large number of openings. It is designed to eject and inflate the airbag body 34.

The inside of the airbag case 26 is a storage section 26F for the airbag body 34, and the airbag body 34 is folded and stored therein.

An airbag door 36 is arranged on the passenger side (right side in FIG. 4) of the opening 40 of the airbag case 26. This airbag door 36 is attached to the upper instrument panel 22.
and the passenger side instrument panel 24.

Further, the airbag door 36, together with the upper instrument panel 22, is made of a material and in a shape that easily deforms when an occupant hits the door from substantially above the vehicle.

The upper end portion 70A of the insert 70 of the airbag door 36 is fixed to the upper portion 26A of the airbag case 26 with a rivet 72. In addition, the lower end 36 of the airbag door 36
A notch (not shown) is formed in A, and the periphery of this notch is held by a bolt 74 and a nut 76 fixed near the central bent portion of the bracket 32.

Therefore, the airbag door 36 is opened from the front of the vehicle toward the passenger (
(direction C in Figure 4) (airbag body 34
When the airbag door 36 is inflated), the lower end 36A of the airbag door 36 comes off the bolt 74, and the airbag door 36 moves upward (the fifth
It rotates in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure to open.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be explained.

When the vehicle 10 is decelerated to a predetermined value or more, the acceleration sensor is activated and gas is generated from the inflation flakes 38. The airbag body 34 starts to inflate due to this gas pressure. In this case, the airbag door 36 is pressed in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
6 is removed from the bolt 74, and the airbag door 36 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5 and opens. As a result, the airbag body 34 is deployed from the opening 40 of the airbag case 26 toward the occupant (rightward in FIG. 5) to protect the occupant.

Particularly in the case of this embodiment, a notch 60 serving as a deformation accelerating portion is formed on the side wall of the airbag case, but since the inside of the notch 60 is covered with a seal 64, deformation when the airbag is deployed is not hindered and smooth Expansion takes place.

On the other hand, if the deceleration state of the vehicle 10 does not reach a predetermined value, the inflation valve 38 does not operate and the airbag body 34 does not inflate. Therefore, the occupant may come into direct contact with the upper instrument panel 22 and the airbag door 36. In this case, an external force acts on the upper instrument panel 22 and the airbag door 36 in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
and the airbag door 36 is deformed. As a result, an external force acts on the airbag case 26 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. In this case, both side walls 27A, 2 of the airbag case 26
Since notches 60 are formed in each of the openings 40 of the openings 7B, the structure is such that it is easily deformed by external force in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.

Therefore, the airbag case 26 is crushed as shown in FIG. 3 by the external force acting in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 due to the deformation of the upper instrument panel 22 and the airbag door 36, and absorbs the kinetic energy of the occupant.

In the above embodiment, the 0-shaped notch 60 was formed on both side walls 27A and 27B of the airbag case 26 as a deformation accelerating portion, but instead of the 0-shaped notch 60, the notch 60 is shown in FIG. As shown, both side walls 27A of the airbag case 26
, 27B may be provided with a plurality of circular holes 80, and instead of the O-shaped notch 60 and the circular hole 80, the wall thickness at the corresponding positions of the side walls 27A and 27B may be made thinner. , in this case the seal 64 is no longer necessary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, it has an excellent effect of preventing deformation of the instrument panel from being hindered when an occupant contacts the instrument panel.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an airbag case according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of an airbag case according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a deformed state of the airbag case. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line N-IV in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing the airbag device installed in a vehicle, and FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of an airbag case with circular holes formed in both side walls. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16... Instrument panel, 26... Airbag case, 27A, 27B... Side wall, 26F... Accommodation part, 34... Airbag bag body, 40... Opening part, 60...・Notch, 80... circular hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an airbag case that stores an airbag bag and is installed in the instrument panel of a vehicle, there is a storage part that stores the airbag bag in a folded state, and a storage part formed on the passenger side of this storage part. The vehicle is characterized by having an airbag body protrusion opening, and deformation promoting portions formed on both side walls in the vehicle width direction of the storage portion so that the storage portion deforms in accordance with deformation of the instrument panel. airbag case.