JP2013184559A - Occupant protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air belt device where an airbag mounted to webbing and brought into a folded state expands upon a collision to softly protect a chest through a shoulder of an occupant.SOLUTION: In an occupant protection device where an airbag expandable by receiving a predetermined operation signal is formed into a belt-like shape and brought into a folded state, and a seat belt arranged at a shoulder belt position of a seat belt is wound by a single winding device, the airbag 20 expands in a shape where a plurality of tubular bags 20A, 20B, 20C arranged in parallel to one another are connected to one another when expanded from the folded state. This expanded shape is regulated by a tether 23 covering an outer peripheral surface of the airbag 20. Thereby, the tether 23 functions to restrain the independent behavior of each of the tubular bags 20A, 20B, 20C when the expanded airbag 20 abuts on an occupant between the seat belt W and the occupant.

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device, and more particularly to an occupant protection device capable of detecting a vehicle collision and inflating an airbag folded in a seat belt from a chest to a shoulder to effectively restrain the occupant.

  In the event of a vehicle collision, the applicant occupant protection that allows the airbag stored in the shoulder belt of the seatbelt to inflate from the chest to the top of the shoulder and to handle two types of accidents: frontal collision and side collision. A device (hereinafter referred to as an air belt device) has been developed (Non-Patent Document 1).

  In this air belt device, the airbag expands in a substantially spindle shape along the shoulder belt worn by the occupant, so that the contact area with the occupant's chest is widened, and the impact on the chest is dispersed and mitigated.

  However, this air belt device is equipped with two retractors that wind up the lap belt side with the tongue fixed on the seat belt and the retractor that winds up the shoulder belt side that contains the airbag as an air belt Therefore, the equipment cost is high and it is assumed that it will be installed in luxury cars.

  On the other hand, development of an inflatable belt device is also underway, in which a retractor can pull out a shoulder belt incorporating an inflatable belt and a lap belt sandwiching a tongue plate and wind it up. However, when a single retractor is used, when the webbing is pulled out from the retractor, a predetermined amount of the lap belt portion is pulled out, and a tong plate and a gas supply port are provided at the end. It is necessary to allow the air belt portion to slide smoothly with respect to the webbing so that the air belt portion (a part of the shoulder belt) is at an appropriate position from the chest to the shoulder.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an air belt device that solves the above-described problems and reliably winds the webbing with a single retractor. In Patent Document 1, in a flat bag assembly 7, a webbing 4, a gas passage 22a, and four elongated gas chambers 22b are formed in parallel in a cover 21 made of warp knitting. An airbag is housed.

JP 2001-260807 A

Takata Corporation, “Automobile Safety System Manufacturer Takata, Airbelt to Exhibit at Good Design Expo 2011”, [online], August 24, 2011, [Search December 15, 2011] Internet <http: // www.takata.com/pdf/110824_EN.pdf>

  Incidentally, the air belt device disclosed in Patent Document 1 expands into four substantially cylindrical shapes in which the above-described four gas chambers 22b constituting the airbag are connected in the longitudinal direction at the time of a collision or the like (see FIG. 8). ). Along with the expanded shape, the knit cover 21 also spreads in the radial direction, and contracts in the longitudinal direction so as to apply an initial tension to the shoulder belt portion. At this time, since the base plate 25 is inserted into the bag assembly 7 to prevent damage when the bag is folded, the webbing 4 that acts to restrain the occupant in the event of a collision is connected via the base plate 25 in quadruplicate. Only the two inside the gas chamber 22b forming the above are pressed. Since each gas chamber of the airbag is divided by only the seam as shown in FIG. 9 and covered with a cover 21 that extends freely in the radial direction, the relative displacement between the gas chambers is reduced. It can hardly be restrained. For this reason, only the two inner gas chambers are deformed by the force applied from the webbing, and the gas chambers 22b at both ends can hardly bear the force. Therefore, there is a possibility that the chest protection effect of the air belt occupant cannot be sufficiently exhibited. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to protect the occupant's chest softly and effectively when restraining the occupant in the air belt apparatus in which the airbag is incorporated in the seat belt. It is to provide an occupant protection device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the seat, wherein an airbag that can be inflated in response to a predetermined operation signal is provided at a shoulder belt position of a seat belt in a folded state. An occupant protection device for winding a belt with a single winding device, wherein the airbag has an inflated shape in which a plurality of parallel cylindrical bags are connected when inflated from the folded state, The inflated shape is regulated by a tether covering the outer peripheral surface of the airbag, and when the airbag inflated between the seat belt and the occupant comes into contact with the occupant, the tether is independent of the individual cylindrical bags. It is characterized by restraining the behavior.

  The tether has a planar shape, the width thereof is shorter than the width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the airbag, and is overlapped on both sides of the airbag, and the edge portion and the edge portion along the longitudinal direction of the airbag Are preferably sewn together.

  When the airbag is overlapped with the tether, it is preferable that a folding margin is provided along the longitudinal direction of the airbag and the width of the tether is aligned.

  It is preferable to attach or sew a slide guide to the surface of the tether. This slide guide is preferably configured by arranging a portal guide for securing a space through which the seat belt passes on a seat surface for displacing the portal guide along the body shape of the occupant. In this case, the tether may have a function as the sheet surface. In this case, it is preferable that the portal guide as the highly rigid portion is bonded or sewn to the surface of the tether.

  It is preferable that the portal guide has high rigidity depending on the material or shape. This prevents deformation that prevents the passage of the seat belt when the seat belt is used. On the other hand, it is preferable that the sheet surface has low rigidity depending on the material or shape. As a result, when the occupant wears the seat belt, the occupant can follow the body shape of the occupant, and the resistance when passing the seat belt can be reduced by using a low friction material.

  According to the present invention, since the airbag mounted on the seat belt is restricted to a predetermined inflated shape as an inflatable device, the upper torso of the occupant can be restrained and protected softly and effectively. .

The perspective view which showed one structural example of the in-vehicle equipment in which the passenger | crew protection device of this invention is integrated. The schematic perspective view which showed the air belt apparatus as a passenger | crew protection apparatus shown in FIG. The schematic perspective view which showed the structure of the airbag of the passenger | crew protection apparatus shown in FIG. The top view before folding of the airbag shown in FIG. 3, sectional drawing at the time of folding, sectional drawing at the time of expansion | swelling. The expanded sectional view which showed the deformation | transformation behavior at the time of inflation of the airbag shown in FIG. Sectional drawing and side view of a slide guide. The top view before folding which showed the other Example of the airbag, sectional drawing at the time of expansion | swelling.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the occupant protection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing a state in which an occupant protection device 10 according to the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as an air belt device 10 in the present invention) is mounted on an occupant seat 1. The figure shows a state in which the seat belt 3 pulled out from the retractor 2 is folded back by a tongue 4 and its end is fixed to the anchor plate 6. The anchor plate 6 is fixed to a fixing portion of a vehicle body (not shown) via fixing bolts 5. In the following description, a “seat belt” is used as a term for restraining an occupant or performing its function, or as a term indicating a part (for example, a shoulder belt), and is wound around a retractor and pulled out with a predetermined pulling force. The woven fabric band constituting the seat belt is called “webbing”.

  The retractor 2 shown in FIG. 1 is accommodated in a part of a seat such as a B-pillar, a C-pillar, a tray behind the rear seat, or in a seatback 1B, for example, corresponding to the target seat to be equipped. And designed to be fixed. The webbing W is in a state of being wound while maintaining a predetermined tension on the side of the seat when the occupant is seated. The webbing W is divided into a shoulder belt 3S and a lap belt 3L with the position of the tongue 4 as a boundary. The webbing W that becomes the lap belt 3L is a part that is wound around the retractor 2 except when in use, and the occupant is seated, and the webbing W is pulled out of the retractor 2 as shown in FIG. By pulling up to the buckle 9, the portion of the lap belt 3L is secured. At this time, the occupant takes the operation of grasping the webbing W on the side of the passenger and pulling it out of the retractor 2 while seated. This position corresponds to the air belt 11 in which the airbag 20 is folded and accommodated in the shoulder belt 3S. One of the technical features of the present invention is that the airbag 20 constituting the air belt 11 has a sufficient impact absorbing function when inflated. The detailed configuration will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  A supplementary description will be given of another configuration of the air belt device 10 disclosed in FIG. 1. A shoulder anchor 7 is installed at the upper right end of the seat back 1B. The shoulder anchor 7 is usually provided at the upper part of the B pillar or the upper end of the seat back 1B, and the shoulder belt 3S is changed in direction by the shoulder anchor 7 and guided to the retractor 2. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the webbing W to be the shoulder belt 3S is extracted. An air belt 11 (the configuration will be described later) is attached. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tongue 4 of the present invention has a shape in which the through anchor 8 is integrated, and a gas supply pipe 4a is provided along with the tongue plate 4b. Yes. The gas supply pipe 4a is a metal cylinder, and a gas supply path (not shown) in the tongue 4 communicating with the gas supply pipe 4a is airtight to the gas inlet 20a of the airbag 20 shown in FIG. It is connected to the.

  FIG. 1 further shows a buckle 9 that holds the gas supply pipe 4a and the tongue plate 4b of the tongue 4. The buckle 9 is fixed to a fixing portion (not shown) of the vehicle body beside the seat via a bracket 9a via a fixing member such as a bolt. A tongue plate support hole 9b and a gas supply pipe connection hole 9a are formed in the buckle 9, and when the tongue 4 is mounted, the tongue plate 4b and the gas supply pipe 4a are simultaneously inserted into the holes of the buckle 9. Further, a gas outlet (not shown) of the inflator G externally attached to the buckle 9 is communicated with the connecting hole into which the gas supply pipe 4a is inserted. Therefore, when an operation signal is sent to the inflator G at the time of a collision or the like, gas is ejected from the gas outlet of the inflator G due to ignition of the igniter in the inflator G, and the airbag 20 is passed through the gas supply pipe 4a. (FIG. 3) expands into a flat shape in which a plurality of cylinders are arranged along the shoulder belt 3S worn by the occupant, and can properly restrain the range from the chest of the occupant to the upper shoulder (see FIG. 3). 1, the expanded shape is displayed in phantom lines).

  Here, the configuration of the air belt 11 slidably mounted on the webbing W of the shoulder belt 3S will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an external view showing the air belt 11 inserted through the webbing W of the shoulder belt 3S. The air belt 11 shown in the figure has the webbing W positioned inside as a core member, and the airbag 20 is folded in a trifold shape as shown in FIGS. It consists of the structure covered with. The exterior cover 21 is formed by sewing a fabric into a cylindrical shape, and when activated, the sewing thread 26 arranged in the longitudinal direction and adjusted to be easily cut is cut to expose the inflated airbag.

  Opening guide rings 22 made of polyurethane resin are attached to openings at both ends of the exterior cover 21. Since the opening guide ring 22 has high rigidity, it is difficult to be deformed, and the flat opening shape keeps the webbing W flat to reduce sliding resistance, and the air belt 11 smoothly moves along the webbing W when the seat belt is mounted. Can slide.

  FIG. 3 shows a state before the airbag 20 attached to the webbing W as the air belt 11 is folded. The configuration of the airbag 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a developed plan view of the airbag 20. The airbag 20 is formed by cutting an airbag base fabric into an elongated shape having a predetermined dimension so as to have a gas supply port 20a at one end, and an outer peripheral seam 27 that forms an outer peripheral shape of the bag slightly inside the outer peripheral edge 20b. It is made of a cloth material sewn in a predetermined bag shape by two rows of divided seams 28 formed along the longitudinal direction inside the outer periphery seam 27. Since each seam portion is bonded in advance to the facing surface of the base fabric and is sewn along the bonded portion, air leakage from the seam is reliably prevented. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the slits 25 a and 25 b through which the webbing W is inserted are formed at positions that are sufficiently separated from each other in the longitudinal direction at the substantially center of the airbag 20 in the width direction. Since one slit 25b is formed in the expansion region of the bag 20, a region for preventing leakage is formed around the slit 25b. The airbag 20 is divided into three sections (20A, 20B, and 20C) by divided seams along the longitudinal direction, but a communication portion 29 that does not include the divided seams 28 is formed. Thereby, gas is also introduced into each divided section through the communication part. That is, when a gas is introduced from the gas supply port 20a, a gas flow as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 4A is generated, and the airbag 20 is almost simultaneously formed by the gas introduced along the gas flow. It expand | swells to three parallel substantially cylindrical shape 20A, 20B, 20C (FIG.4 (d)).

  Here, the configuration and role of the tether, which is one of the technical features of the present invention, will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (b), the airbag 20 is integrally stitched on both sides at the outer circumferential seam position in the longitudinal direction of the airbag 20 so that both ends of the tether 23 cover the airbag. Has been. The tether 23 is made of the same fabric as the base fabric of the airbag 20. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4B, the width B1 of the tether 23 is set slightly shorter than the width B2 when the airbag 20 is deployed. As a result, when the airbag 20 is inflated, the outer circumferential surface of the triple cylindrical airbag 20 inflated in parallel is slightly restrained from expanding in the outer circumferential direction by the tether 23 in a stretched state. As a result, the airbag 20 has a shape close to a flat planar inflatable body in which three cylindrical bags 20A, 20B, and 20C are arranged in parallel and the outer surface shape is regulated by the surface tether 23. It expands (FIG. 4 (d)). The effect on passenger protection by this shape will be described later. In order to sew the airbag 20 having the width B2 in accordance with the width B1 of the narrow tether 23, a tuck (folding) 24 having a predetermined width is secured in the longitudinal direction so as to match the width B1 of the tether 23. It is folded and sewn together with the tether 23 (FIGS. 3 and 4B).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the airbag 20 sewn integrally with the tether 23 has two slits 25 a formed in the vicinity of the longitudinal end of the airbag 20, as shown in FIG. 3. By inserting the webbing W through 25b, the webbing W is slidably held on a part of the shoulder belt 3S. At this time, the webbing W is inserted through a slide guide 30 (see FIG. 5C) having a predetermined rigidity and bending flexibility, and the airbag 20 positioned on both sides of the webbing W is illustrated so as to wrap the slide guide 30. 4 (b) is folded in three as shown by the arrow, and the entire airbag is covered with an outer cover 21 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 (c), and the webbing W of the shoulder belt 3S is covered. The air belt 11 inserted into the is constituted. As a manufacturing procedure, it is also possible to perform stitching with the tether 23 in a state where the airbag 20 is inserted through the webbing W.

  FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the airbag 20 attached to the webbing of the shoulder belt as an air belt device when the airbag 20 is inflated (equivalent to FIG. 4D). The outer surface shape is regulated by the tether 23, and a slide guide 30 that holds the webbing is provided on the surface of the airbag 20 that is inflated to a shape close to a flat planar inflating body (the surface opposite to the occupant side). The webbing W can be smoothly inserted into the slide guide 30. As shown in FIG. 5, the slide guide 30 extends in the longitudinal direction of the webbing W, and a high-rigidity portal guide 35 that forms a space for inserting the webbing W therein to ensure the insertion of the webbing W. , And a low-rigidity soft sheet 32 (see FIG. 6A) that holds the webbing W in the longitudinal direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, in the present embodiment, the portal guide 35 as a high-rigidity portion has an inner dimension slightly larger than the width of the webbing W and has a longitudinal direction of about 1. It has a flat inverted U shape of 5 cm, and its lower end is welded to the soft sheet 32. This portal guide 35 has high rigidity in the width direction of the webbing W, and the interval between the portal guides 35 adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the webbing W is set to 1 cm or less as shown in FIG. A large number of soft sheets 32 as low-rigidity portions are arranged in the length direction. In this embodiment, polyurethane resin is used as a resin material constituting the guide. In addition, as an appropriate material, a thermoplastic elastomer (for example, ester-based or olefin-based), polyamide resin, hard polyurethane resin, polyester resin, metal plate, or the like can be used.

  In this embodiment, the soft sheet 32 is an elongated flexible plate-like body that is substantially equal to the width of the webbing W, and is fixed to the longitudinal range of the tether 23 shown in FIG. 3 by bonding or sewing. The surface of the soft sheet 32 is finished smoothly, and when the webbing W moves in the longitudinal direction, the sliding resistance is minimized. In this embodiment, a thermoplastic elastomer (for example, ester-based or olefin-based) is used as the resin material constituting the soft sheet 32. In addition, soft polyurethane resin, silicone elastomer, rubber (synthetic, natural), etc. can be used as appropriate materials. The portal guide 35 and the soft sheet 32 described above are made of the same material, designed to have different shapes (thickness, width, etc.) and exhibit a difference in rigidity, so that the slide guide 30 is provided. It can also serve as Without fixing the soft sheet 32 to the tether 23, the tether 23 is treated as a low-rigidity part, and the portal guide 35 as a high-rigidity part is used as the high-rigidity part 35 so that the webbing W passes directly along the surface. It can also be glued or sewn to the surface.

  The behavior of the airbag 20 that is held by the slide guide 30 configured as shown in FIG. 6A and functions as an air belt in a portion of the shoulder belt when inflated will be described with reference to FIGS. . FIG. 5A shows a state immediately after the airbag 20 as an air belt is completely inflated, for example, at the position of the chest of an occupant at the time of a collision or the like. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5B, the webbing W that relatively holds the air belt as the webbing W is retracted by the operation of the pretensioner and the occupant moves forward (corresponding to the upper side in the figure). The force in the direction of the arrow acts. As a result, as the webbing W moves in the direction of the arrow, the airbag 20 is deformed as illustrated. At this time, the webbing W presses the tether 23 of the airbag 20 through the soft sheet 32 of the slide guide 30 and only the portion of the tether 23 is pressed. Therefore, the triple air kept in a flat shape by the tether 23. In the bag 20 (20A, 20B, 20C), the central bag 20B is greatly deformed, and the airbags 20A, 20C on both sides follow the deformation of the tether 23 and the deformation of the central airbag 20B to slightly deform the circular cross section. Just do it. Therefore, as shown in the figure, the occupant side surface of the airbag 20 can be kept in close contact with the occupant over the width B3. Thereby, the pressing force applied from the chest of the occupant to the shoulder can be dispersed over a wide range.

  Next, an embodiment in which the number of compartments formed in the airbag, that is, the number of elongated bags in parallel is changed will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 7A-1 and 7A-2 show an embodiment in which three rows of divided seams are provided so as to form a quadruple bag arrangement, and four sections are provided. In this type, the volume of each cylindrical bag (20A to 20D) becomes small, so that it can be inflated and deployed in a short time, and occupant restraint at an early stage is possible. Further, as shown in (a-2), by providing the communication part 29 in a part of the central split seam 28, the cross-sectional area of a part of the bag 20B that comes into contact with the chest of the passenger is reduced (b-2). It is also preferable to make it wide. FIG. 7A-3 shows a type in which one row of divided seams 28 is provided so as to form two cylindrical bags 20A and 20B. In this type, the integrity of the two bags 20A and 20B is enhanced, and the airbag 20 abuts on the chest in a wide area, so that the restraining effect as an air belt can be further exhibited.

  In the above description, an example in which the tether material is the same fabric as the airbag base fabric is shown, but the shape of the airbag when inflated by the tether can be changed by changing the thickness and material of the fabric. Various controls are possible. Needless to say, the configuration of the airbag can be changed by configuring the occupant side surface and the webbing side surface to be different.

  Thus, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope indicated in each claim. In other words, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately changed within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 occupant seat 2 retractor 3 seat belt 3S shoulder belt 3L lap belt 4 tongue 9 buckle 10 occupant protection device (air belt device)
11 Air belt 20 Air bag 23 Tether 30 Slide guide 32 Soft sheet 35 Gate type guide

Claims (7)

  An occupant that winds up the seat belt with a single winding device provided at a shoulder belt position of the seat belt in a state where the airbag that can be inflated in response to a predetermined operation signal is folded in a belt shape When the airbag is inflated from the folded state, the airbag has an inflated shape in which a plurality of parallel cylindrical bags are connected, and the inflated shape covers the outer peripheral surface of the airbag. When the airbag inflated between the seat belt and the occupant comes into contact with the occupant, the tether restrains the independent behavior of the individual cylindrical bags. Crew protection device.   The tether has a planar shape, the width thereof is shorter than the width orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the airbag, and is overlapped on both sides of the airbag, and the edge portion and the edge portion along the longitudinal direction of the airbag The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the two are sewn together.   The occupant protection device according to claim 2, wherein when the airbag is overlapped with the tether, a folding margin is provided along a longitudinal direction of the airbag, and the airbag is sewn together with a width of the tether.   The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein a slide guide is bonded or sewn to the surface of the tether.   The occupant protection device according to claim 4, wherein the slide guide includes a high-rigidity portion that allows the seat belt to pass therethrough and a low-rigidity portion that displaces the high-rigidity portion so that the seat belt follows the occupant's body shape. .   The occupant protection device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the slide guide has a gate-type guide having a high rigidity portion disposed on a seat surface forming a low rigidity portion.   The occupant protection device according to claim 5, wherein the high-rigidity portion is bonded or sewn to the tether surface.

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