JP2006232178A - Airbag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an airbag equipped with an enhanced occupant restraining performance of an occupant restraining surface. <P>SOLUTION: The air bag has an airbag body 1 which is inflated and spread toward the occupant by a high pressure gas jetted from an inflator when automobile has gone in collision, so as to protect the occupant against the shock due to collision, wherein a recess 1n in the shape of ellipse extending in the longitudinal direction is formed at the occupant restraining surface 1m whereto the occupant abuts when the airbag body 1 is inflated and spread, and at the time of collision, the occupant is restrained by the recess 1n formed at the occupant restraining surface 1m and a bank-shaped protrusion 1k formed on both sides of the recess, which prevents the air bag body 1 from being dislocated to the left and right relative to the occupant, to lead to enhancement of the restraining performance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag that protects an occupant from an impact when an automobile collides.

  Conventional automobiles are equipped with airbags for protecting passengers from impacts when they collide.

  These airbags are mounted on the steering wheel, instrument panel, driver and passenger seat bags, inside doors, etc. depending on the seating position of the occupant to be protected. In any case, when the automobile collides, the vehicle is inflated and deployed in a predetermined shape instantaneously by the high-pressure gas ejected from the inflator to protect the occupant from the impact at the time of the collision.

  For example, an airbag installed in front of a passenger seat is formed by sewing a peripheral portion of a plurality of base fabric panels made of woven fabric such as nylon to form a bag-like airbag body. However, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses that an airbag body is formed by sewing two base fabric panels having the smallest number.

  The airbag described in Patent Document 1 has an attachment port formed in a rectangular shape, and one side of the rectangle is formed by one base cloth, and the other three sides are formed by the other base cloth, and the other base is formed. Of the three sides of the fabric, two corners formed by two adjacent sides are reinforced and sewn along the corners, and formed from three or more base fabrics while using two base fabrics A large-capacity airbag having a three-dimensional shape equivalent to that of the manufactured airbag can be obtained at a low cost.

  On the other hand, when a vehicle collides, a surface where an occupant comes into contact with an airbag that is inflated and deployed in a predetermined shape and absorbs an impact is called an occupant restraint surface. For example, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 describe bag devices.

  In the airbag apparatus described in Patent Document 2, a recess is formed in a horizontal direction between an upper portion and a lower portion of an occupant restraint surface (bag front surface) of the airbag, and a pressing force is applied to the lower portion of the airbag. In addition, the concave portion maintains the concave shape, and the concave portion area is at least wider than the area that contacts the occupant's face, and when the lower portion of the airbag is compressed by the occupant, the pressure from the lower portion to the upper portion of the airbag is increased. Will increase the pressure at the top, which will increase the energy absorption effect and reduce the amount of movement until the occupant stops, so the initial restraint of the occupant can be safely performed without increasing the output pressure of the inflator have.

The airbag device described in Patent Document 3 is a three-piece structure airbag formed by sewing two side base fabrics and one central base fabric, and is a deployed airbag. The vertical section of the occupant restraint surface is formed into a corrugated shape by varying the peripheral lengths of a plurality of horizontal sections with different heights, and the form during deployment of the airbag can be stabilized without providing a tether. Has an effect.
JP-A-9-99795 JP 2001-233157 A JP 2000-118341 A

  However, a car may collide not only in the front-rear direction but also from an oblique direction.

  In such a case, the occupant comes into contact with the occupant restraint surface of the inflated airbag body from an oblique direction, but the occupant restraint surface has a convex arc shape like the airbag described in Patent Document 1. In the case where the vehicle is inflated, the restraining force of the occupant is reduced, so that it is impossible to obtain a sufficient shock absorbing effect against a collision in an oblique direction of the automobile.

  Further, in the case where the occupant restraint surface is formed with a recess in the horizontal direction as in the airbag device described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, the upper and lower portions of the occupant restraint surface are projected to the occupant side. Therefore, when the occupant comes into contact with the occupant restraint surface, there is almost no restraining force to prevent the occupant from shifting in the left-right direction. There is a fear.

  Further, in the airbag device described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, since it is necessary to form a recess in the occupant restraint surface using a hanging strap or using three base fabrics, a recess is formed in the occupant restraint surface. Therefore, when trying to improve the occupant restraint performance, the number of parts increases and the part cost increases, and the one of Patent Document 3 in which the airbag body is manufactured using three base fabrics is often used for sewing. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the airbag main body is increased.

  This invention is made | formed in view of this point, and it aims at providing the airbag which improved the passenger | crew restraint performance of the passenger | crew restraint surface.

  An airbag according to the present invention is an airbag that inflates and deploys an airbag main body toward an occupant side by a high-pressure gas ejected from an inflator when an automobile collides, and protects the occupant from an impact at the time of the collision. The airbag main body is formed so that a concave portion extending in the vertical direction is formed on an occupant restraining surface with which the occupant abuts when the airbag is inflated and deployed.

  With the above configuration, an occupant restraint surface of the airbag body that is inflated and deployed to the occupant side by the high-pressure gas ejected from the inflator is formed with an oval recess extending substantially in the longitudinal direction at the center. Since both sides of the occupant restraint surface protrude in a bank shape toward the occupant side, when the occupant comes into contact with the occupant restraint surface of the inflated airbag body, the head and upper body of the occupant are held between the bank-shaped protrusions. As a result, not only when the automobile collides from the front-rear direction, but also when the vehicle collides from an oblique direction, the occupant is restrained by the bank-like protruding portion, and the airbag body may shift in the left-right direction with respect to the occupant. Therefore, stable occupant restraint performance can be obtained.

  The airbag of the present invention is sewn around the periphery in a state in which two base fabric panels each composed of a substantially triangular main portion and a substantially tail-shaped end surface extending from the bottom side of the main portion are overlapped. When the airbag main body is inflated and deployed, a concave portion is formed on the passenger restraint surface.

  With the above-described configuration, when cutting the two base fabric panels forming the airbag body, only the bottom part of the end surface part extending from the bottom part of the main part is cut so as to be curved in an arc shape toward the main part side. Thus, when the airbag body is inflated and deployed, an oval recess extending in the longitudinal direction can be formed on the passenger restraint surface, so that the recess can be formed by a hanging strap, or three base fabric panels As a result, the number of parts can be reduced and the man-hours required for sewing can be reduced as compared with the three-piece airbag in which the airbag body is formed. Thus, the manufacturing cost of the airbag body can be reduced.

  The airbag of the present invention has a substantially triangular main portion and two base fabric panels each composed of an end surface extending from the bottom side of the main portion, and the periphery is sewn together, and By forming the airbag body by sewing the substantially center of the end surface portion in a ridgeline shape, a recess is formed on the occupant restraint surface when the airbag body is inflated and deployed.

  With the above configuration, an oval recess extending in the vertical direction can be formed on the occupant restraint surface when the airbag body is inflated and deployed simply by sewing the substantially center of the end surface portion into a ridgeline shape. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced and the number of man-hours required for sewing can be reduced compared to a three-piece airbag in which a recess is formed by a hanging strap or an airbag body is formed by three base fabric panels. The manufacturing cost of the main body can be reduced.

  According to the airbag of the present invention, when the occupant comes into contact with the occupant restraining surface of the inflated airbag body, the occupant's head and upper body are held between the bank-like protrusions formed on both sides of the recess. Thus, when the automobile collides, the occupant is restrained by the bank-like protrusion, and the airbag body does not shift in the left-right direction with respect to the occupant, so that stable occupant restraint performance can be obtained. become.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a perspective view of an airbag in an inflated state, FIG. 2 is a development view before a base fabric panel constituting the airbag is formed on a bag-like airbag body, and FIG. 3 is a line AA in FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

  An airbag main body 1 shown in FIG. 1 is for protecting passengers seated in, for example, a passenger seat or a rear seat of a vehicle, and sews two base fabric panels 1a and 1b having substantially the same shape in a bag shape. It is formed by doing.

  For the base fabric panels 1a and 1b forming the airbag body 1, for example, woven fabric woven of 315 denier nylon 66 at 62 / inch is used. For example, 72 woven yarns form the woven fabric. Twisted yarn made of fiber is used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the two base fabric panels 1a and 1b includes a substantially triangular main portion 1c and a tail-shaped end surface portion 1e extending from the center of the bottom portion 1d of the main portion 1c. Thus, when the airbag main body 1 is inflated, the end surface portion 1e is an occupant restraint surface 1m that comes into contact with the occupant.

  The top portion of the main portion 1c is an arc-shaped portion 1f, both inclined side portions 1g are connected in a tangential direction from the arc-shaped portion 1f, a bottom side portion 1d having an end surface portion 1e extended, and an end surface Both side edges 1h of the portion 1e are formed in an arc shape having substantially the same curvature, and the lengths of these arc-shaped portions are substantially the same, and the bottom portion 1i of the end surface portion 1e is circular toward the main portion 1c side. Curved in an arc.

  The bottom part 1i of the end face part 1e formed in a tail shape is the main part of the present invention, and the length and curvature of the arcuate part of the bottom part 1e are substantially the same in each of the base fabric panels 1a and 1b. When the airbag body 1 is inflated and deployed as shown in FIG. 1 by sewing the bottom portions 1i of the base fabric panels 1a and 1b together to form the bag-shaped airbag body 1, the occupant An oblong recess 1n that is elongated in the vertical direction is formed in the restraint surface 1m.

  Further, for example, two vent holes 2 are provided on the side of the base fabric panel 1a that is the upper side when the airbag body 1 is inflated, and these vent holes 2 are formed on both inclined side portions 1g of the base fabric panel 1a. It is formed at a position close to the middle part, and the peripheral part is sewn in an annular shape with a sewing thread 4 together with the reinforcing cloth 3 provided between the base fabric panels 1a and 1b.

  On the base fabric panel 1b side which is the lower side when the airbag body 1 is inflated, a gas inlet 5 is opened at a position close to the arc-shaped portion 1f as shown in FIG.

  The gas inlet 5 is for introducing high-pressure gas generated from an inflator (not shown) into the airbag main body 1 when the automobile collides. A plurality of attachment holes 6 are formed to be fitted into stud bolts (not shown) for attaching 1 to the inflator.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of substantially annular reinforcing cloths 7 are provided around the gas inlet 5 so as to overlap each other. The reinforcing cloths 7 are annularly formed around the gas inlet 5. It is sewn to the base fabric panel 1b by the sewn sewing thread 8.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the two base fabric panels 1a and 1b have the arcuate portion 1f of the main portion 1c and both inclined side portions 1g sewn by the sewing thread 9 in a state where they are overlapped with each other. An arc-shaped portion 3 a and both inclined side portions 3 b of the reinforcing cloth 3 provided between the fabric panels 1 a and 1 b are also sewn between the base fabric panels 1 a and 1 b by a sewing thread 9.

  The reinforcing cloth 3 is formed in a substantially triangular shape with a base 3c covering the vent hole 2 formed in the base cloth panel 1a, and the same nylon woven cloth as the base cloth panels 1a and 1b is used. The vent hole 2 is provided along the inner surface of the base fabric panel 1a, and a similar vent hole 2 is formed at a position matching the vent hole 2 formed in the base fabric panel 1a.

  On the other hand, when the reinforcing cloth 3 is sewn in an arc shape with the sewing thread 10 on the base fabric panel 1a, the base 1d and the end face of the main portion 1c of each base fabric panel 1a, 1b are overlapped with each other. The side margins 1h of the portion 1c are sewn with the sewing thread 11, the bottoms 1i are sewn together with the sewing thread 12, and then the base fabric panels 1a and 1b are turned over from the gas inlet port 5 so that the seam allowance becomes inside. The bag-shaped airbag body 1 is sewn, and the obtained airbag body 1 is used with the gas inlet 5 attached to the gas outlet of the inflator.

  In addition, the airbag device configured by attaching the airbag body 1 to the inflator is a state in which the airbag body 1 is folded, in the instrument panel installed in the passenger compartment, and in the driver's seat and the passenger seat seat back (both (Not shown), but when the airbag body 1 is folded, the reinforcing cloth 3 sewn inside the base fabric panel 1a is folded so as to cover the gas outlet of the inflator. The reinforcing cloth 3 also functions as a flameproof cloth.

  Next, the operation of the configured airbag will be described. In the state where the airbag body 1 is folded, for example, an airbag device mounted in an instrument panel, a driver's seat, or a passenger's seat back is The high-temperature and high-pressure gas ejected from the inflator when the automobile collides is introduced from the gas introduction port 5 so that the airbag body 1 starts to expand.

  At this time, since the reinforcing cloth 3 folded so as to cover the gas outlet of the inflator functions as a flameproof cloth that directly receives the high temperature and high pressure gas, the base fabric panels 1a and 1b of the airbag body 1 are damaged by the high temperature gas. Can be prevented.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a longitudinally long oval recess 1n is formed in the center of the occupant restraint surface 1m of the airbag main body 1 inflated and deployed to the occupant side by high-pressure gas, whereby both sides of the recess 1n are formed. The bank-like protruding portion 1k protruding to the passenger side is formed as shown in FIGS.

  For this reason, when the occupant comes into contact with the occupant restraining surface 1m of the inflated airbag body 1, the occupant's head and upper body are held between the bank-like projecting portions 1k, so that the automobile can be Stable occupant restraint performance because the occupant is restrained by the bank-like protruding portion 1k and the airbag body 1 is not displaced in the left-right direction with respect to the occupant even when the vehicle collides from an oblique direction. Can be obtained.

  Further, when the two base fabric panels 1a and 1b forming the airbag body 1 are cut, the bottom 1i of the end face 1e extending from the bottom 1d of the main 1c is formed in an arc shape toward the main 1c. By simply cutting the airbag body 1 so as to bend, when the airbag body 1 is inflated and deployed, the occupant restraint surface 1m can be formed with a vertically long oval recess 1n. Compared to a three-piece airbag in which the airbag body 1 is formed by three base fabric panels, the number of parts can be reduced and the number of man-hours required for sewing can be reduced, so the manufacturing cost of the airbag body 1 is greatly reduced. be able to.

  FIG. 5 shows a modified example of the arcuate curved portion formed on the bottom portion 1i of the end surface portion 1e extending from the bottom portion 1d of the main portion 1c. Even if both ends are formed in an arc shape and the arcuate curved portion is formed by connecting the arcuate portions with a substantially straight line, when the airbag body 1 is inflated and deployed, A vertically long recess 1n can be formed.

  6 and 7, even if the skirt portion of the ridge line portion 1p is sewn with the sewing thread 13 in a state where the substantially central portion of the end surface portion 1e serving as the occupant restraint surface is bent into a ridge line shape. Even in this method, when the airbag body 1 is inflated and deployed, a vertically long oval recess 1n can be formed in the occupant restraint surface 1m.

  The airbag of the present invention is stable in that the occupant is restrained by a bank-like protrusion formed on the occupant restraining surface of the inflated airbag body, and the airbag body does not shift in the left-right direction with respect to the occupant. Therefore, it is suitable for an airbag or the like that protects an occupant from an impact when an automobile collides.

It is a perspective view of the inflated state of the airbag which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is an expanded view before forming the base fabric panel which comprises the airbag which becomes embodiment of this invention in a bag-shaped airbag main body. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG. It is an expanded view of the base fabric panel which shows the modification of the airbag which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is an expanded view of the base fabric panel which shows the modification of the airbag which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the CC line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Airbag main body 1a Base fabric panel 1b Base fabric panel 1c Main part 1d Bottom side part 1e End surface part 1i Bottom side part 1k Protruding part 1m Crew restraint surface 1n Recessed part

Claims (3)

An airbag that inflates and deploys the airbag body to the occupant side by a high-pressure gas ejected from an inflator when the automobile collides, and protects the occupant from the impact at the time of the collision, when the airbag body is inflated and deployed The airbag main body is formed such that a recess extending in the vertical direction is formed on an occupant restraining surface with which the occupant abuts. The airbag main body is sewn together in the state where two base fabric panels composed of a substantially triangular main portion and a substantially tail-shaped end surface extending from the bottom side of the main portion are overlapped with each other. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein when the airbag body is inflated and deployed, the recess is formed in the occupant restraint surface. Two base fabric panels composed of a substantially triangular main part and an end surface part extending from the bottom side of the main part are sewn together in a state where they are overlapped, and the center of the end surface part is substantially centered. 2. The air according to claim 1, wherein the recessed portion is formed in the occupant restraining surface when the airbag body is inflated and deployed by forming the airbag body by sewing in a ridge shape. 3. bag.

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