JP3402732B2 - Automotive airbag equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile air bag system, and more particularly to a structure of an air bag grid in the air bag system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, JP-A-4-59450.
As in the airbag device for a passenger in the passenger seat described in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2003-264, the airbag device body is disposed inside the instrument panel and the front side of the airbag device body (the airbag deployment of the device body is developed. The air bag grid provided on the bulging outlet side) is located in the opening formed in the instrument panel portion located below the windshield, and a hinge portion is provided on the upper part of the air bag grid.
It is known that when the airbag is inflated and expanded, the airbag bag is rotated about the hinge portion by the inflation pressure of the airbag so that the lower portion of the airbag bag is flipped upward.

In the airbag device having such a structure,
For example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-89449,
When the airbag is swollen and expanded and the airbag collides with the windshield when it collides with the windshield, the airbag is bent easily so that the impact at the time of collision can be mitigated. It has been proposed to form an easy part.

[0004]

By the way, in the recent instrument panel structure, when a head or the like of an occupant collides with the instrument panel from above, an impact greater than a predetermined amount occurs on the head or the like. The rules require that no deceleration, which is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, be generated in the head or the like.

Therefore, a structure is adopted in which the rigidity of the air bag grid is increased and the impact of the head or the like is gently absorbed by the deformation of the air bag grid.

However, when an easily bendable portion is provided to the air bag grid having the increased rigidity in order to reduce the impact at the time of collision with the windshield, the air bag grid is provided with sufficient rigidity. It is desirable that the structure be such that the bending can be easily performed by the above-mentioned easy bending portion.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an air bag device for an automobile, in which sufficient rigidity is imparted to the air bag grid and the bending is easily performed by the easy bending portion. It is in.

[0008]

Airbag apparatus of the present onset automobile according to bright SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, an airbag device body, the instrument panel portion on the front side of the airbag device body An air bag grid which is arranged and whose lower part is flipped up when the air bag is inflated, and the air bag grid is bent upward when the air bag grid is flipped up and collides with the windshield. An airbag device for an automobile, wherein an easy portion is formed, wherein the airbag bag grid extends in a direction intersecting the easy folding portion and is easy to bend.
Air bag grid above and below, respectively
The reinforcing member fixed to the
Is the base and the air bag from the upper and lower ends of the base.
With upper and lower arms extending toward the grid
It has a substantially U shape, and the base of the reinforcing member has the air bar
A flange protruding toward the grid is provided.
The upper end of the flange is connected to the upper arm and the lower end is
It ends before reaching the lower arm, this lower arm and the base
A notch is provided at the corner of the
As for the part, the bending at the easy bending part of the above air bag grid is
It is characterized by forming an easily deformable portion that easily deforms .

[0009]

[0010]

[0011] The reinforcing member is the air bag lid can be constituted by a positioning member for positioning the instrument panel portion. The easy-to-fold portion can be extended in the vehicle width direction.

[0012]

[Operation and effect of the invention an air bag apparatus for an automobile according to the present onset Ming, as described above, the above-mentioned bent to the air bag lid
Extending in a direction intersecting the easy portion, above the easy bending portion, and
The auxiliary parts fixed to the air bag grid below
Since a strong member is attached, the reinforcement member
The rigidity of the abac grid has been improved, and impacts on the head etc.
Is gently absorbed by the deformation of the hook grid and
The impact generated can be reduced. Also this reinforcement
The parts are bent at the easy-to-bend part of the air bag grid.
An easy-to-deform part is formed to follow the beam.
As a result, the air bag grid hits the windshield.
When struck, this reinforcement member bends the air bag grid
Easy deformation at the easy part Deforms easily at the easy part
And thereby prevent the air bag grid from bending
It can be easily performed without doing. And h
Make a cutout on the lunge at the corner with the base
Can further facilitate bending deformation
It

[0013]

[0014]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel portion of an automobile equipped with an embodiment of an airbag device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1 (II in FIG. 3).
3 is a view of the air bag grid in FIG. 2 as seen from the direction of arrow A.

The airbag device of the present embodiment is for protecting an occupant seated in the passenger seat 2, and is provided in a portion of the instrument panel 4 located in front of the passenger seat 2 in the vehicle body. There is. The airbag device 6 includes an airbag device body 8 and a front surface side of the device body 8 attached to the device body 8 (on the side of the airbag inflation display opening 8a of the airbag device body, which is the airbag device body 8). It is composed of an air bag grid 10 located on the rear side of the vehicle).

The airbag device main body 8 is disposed inside the instrument panel 4 with its front side facing the rear of the vehicle body, and the airbag bag grid 10 is a windshield.
It is located inside an opening 4a formed in the instrument panel portion located below 11.

The airbag device body 8 comprises an airbag case 14, an airbag (not shown) housed in the airbag case 14, an inflator and an ignition device.

The air bag grid 10 includes a substrate 16 made of a metal plate such as an iron plate, and a front side of the substrate 16 (rear side of the vehicle body).
Consisting of a synthetic resin skin 18 covering the, and a foam material 20 such as urethane foam filled between the substrate 16 and the skin 18,
One end of a bendable metal plate 24 forming a hinge portion 22 is fixed to the upper portion of the substrate 16 and the metal plate 24 is
The other end of the connecting member 26 is fixed to the upper part of the airbag device body 8, and one end of the connecting member 26, which is made of synthetic resin and has a notch 26a for facilitating breakage, is fixed to the lower part of the substrate 16. At the same time, the other end of the connecting member 26 is fixed to the lower portion of the airbag device body 8, so that the airbag bag 10 is connected to the hinge portion 22 (metal plate 24) and the connecting member.
It is attached to the air bag device body 8 at 26.

An air bag attachment portion 28 is provided in a portion of the instrument panel 4 where the opening 4a is formed, and the air bag attachment portion 28 is integrally formed with the instrument panel 4 in the instrument panel 4. It is fixed to the instrument panel 4. The airbag mounting portion 28 includes an upper plate 30 and an opening 32.
a lower plate 32 formed with a, a frame body (not shown) consisting of right side plate and left side plate whose front and rear surfaces are open, and upper plate 30 and lower plate 32 are formed with flanges 34 and 36, respectively. It is attached to the instrument panel 4 by bolts 38 and 40 from above and below via 34 and 36. Mounting legs 42 are fixedly mounted on the airbag device body 8 by welding or the like, and bolts 44, 46 are inserted into the through holes formed in the lower plate 32 of the airbag mounting portion by the bolts 44, 46. By fixing the leg portions 42 to the lower plate 32, the airbag device body 8 is attached to the airbag attaching portion 28.

Further, inside the instrument panel 4, there is provided a steering support member 48 which is a highly rigid pipe-shaped support member extending in the vehicle width direction and having both ends thereof connected to the left and right side walls of the vehicle body. A support bracket 50 is fixed to the support member 48 by welding or the like, and a bolt insertion hole is formed in the support bracket 50.
Is also inserted through this insertion hole to fasten the leg portion 42, the airbag mounting portion 28, and the locking bracket 50 together, so that the airbag device body 8 and the airbag mounting portion 28 support this support. It is supported by the member 48 with high support strength.

Next, the procedure for disposing the airbag device 6 will be described. First, the support bracket 50 is welded and fixed to the support member 48. Next, air bag grid
The airbag device body 8 to which 10 is attached is inserted into the instrument panel 4 from the instrument panel opening 4a, and the bolt insertion hole of the leg portion 42 is made into the bolt insertion hole of the lower plate 32 of the airbag attachment portion. Align, front leg 42
, The bolts 44 are inserted into both bolt insertion holes, and at the rear leg portion 42, together with these bolt insertion holes, bolts are also inserted into the bolt insertion holes of the support bracket 50 as described above.
The air bag device main body 8 is attached to the air bag attaching portion 28 by inserting 46.

The air bag device 6 detects a collision of the automobile by a signal from an acceleration sensor (not shown) for detecting a sudden deceleration of the automobile, and at the time of the collision, the ignition device is operated to activate the inflator. Gas is supplied into the airbag to inflate the airbag and display the airbag.
8a, the connecting member 26 is broken at the notch portion 26a by the inflation pressure of the airbag, and the lower portion of the air bag grid bounces upward around the hinge portion 22 portion provided on the upper portion. The airbag is rotated in a manner such that it can be raised, and thus the airbag is inflated and deployed toward the passenger side of the passenger behind the vehicle body to restrain and protect the passenger.

Next, the structure of the air bag grid will be described in more detail.

The air bag grid 10 has a foldable portion 56 which is easily bent along a line extending in the vehicle width direction between the hinge disposing portion 52 provided with the hinge portion 22 and the air bag grid lower end portion 54. Are formed. The easy folding part 56
The base plate 16 is provided with a slit 58 extending in the vehicle width direction over substantially the entire length in the vehicle width direction, and is constituted by a weak portion 60 formed by providing the slit 58 and extending in the vehicle width direction.

Further, in the air bag grid 10, a reinforcing portion 61 having increased rigidity is formed in an upper region of the substrate 16 in order to increase rigidity of the lid. The reinforcing portion 61
In this embodiment, the substrate 16 is formed by providing vertical ribs 62 extending in the vertical direction and horizontal ribs 64 extending in the vehicle width direction in a grid pattern. The foldable portion 56 is the reinforcing portion.
In the vicinity of 61 (the upper region where the vertical ribs 62 and the horizontal ribs 64 are provided in a grid pattern), more specifically, a position adjacent to the lower edge of the lower edge of the reinforcing portion 61. Is formed in.

Positioning members 66 and 68 are provided on the rear surface (the surface on the front side of the vehicle body) of the air bag grid 10 as a reinforcing member for reinforcing the air bag grid and improving its rigidity. This positioning member 66, 68
Is for properly positioning the air bag grid 10 in the instrument panel opening 4a,
3 and FIG. 4 which is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 which shows the positioning member in FIG. 4 from the direction of arrow B, as shown in FIG. It is composed of left and right positioning frames provided on both left and right sides. The positioning frames 66, 68 include bases 70, 72, and upper arm parts 70a, 72a and lower arm parts 70b, 72b extending from the base parts 70, 72 toward the back surface of the air bag grid 10 at a substantially right angle.
Is formed in a substantially U-shape (see FIGS. 2 and 4), and is arranged so as to extend in a direction intersecting the folding easy portion 56, and above the folding easy portion 56. Upper arm
The tips of the lower arms 70b and 72b are fixed to the air bag grid 10 at the lower ends of the 70a and 72a, respectively.

A circular hole 76 is formed in the base 72 of the right positioning frame of the positioning frames 66, 68, and an elongated hole 74 extending in the vehicle width direction is formed in the base 70 of the left positioning frame. Further, as shown in FIG. 6 showing the instrument panel core 80 viewed from the direction of arrow C in FIGS. 2 and 4, flanges are formed on both left and right sides of the opening 80a formed in the instrument panel core 80. Part 82 is formed, both flange parts
Each 82 is provided with a protrusion 84. The left and right positioning frames 66, 68 are provided at positions facing the left and right flange portions 82, respectively, and the protrusions 84 are fitted into the round holes 76 and the long holes 74 of the positioning frame, respectively, so that the air bag The grid 10 and the instrument panel opening 4a are aligned. Particularly, by fitting the right protrusion 84 into the round hole 76 of the right positioning frame, the vertical direction and the left-right direction of the right side portion of the lid are aligned, and the left protrusion is inserted into the long hole 74 of the left positioning frame.
By fitting the 84 together, the vertical direction of the left side portion of the lid can be aligned, so that the entire lid can be properly aligned without the horizontal axis tilting vertically.

Further, the positioning frames 66, 68 are also used as a reinforcing member of the air bag grid 10 as described above, and the rigidity of the positioning frame itself must be great in order to exert the function as the reinforcing member. Therefore, in order to increase the rigidity of the positioning frame itself, flanges 70c and 72c projecting toward the back surface of the air bag grid 10 are formed on both sides of the base portions 70 and 72 in the vehicle width direction. , 72c is the upper arm above
70a and 72a are joined together, and the lower end is not joined to the lower arm portions 70b and 72b and ends a little before the lower arm portion 70b,
The area just before 72b, that is, the bases 70 and 72 and the lower arms 70b and 72
The corner areas of b are notches 70d and 72d of the flange. Due to the notches 70d and 72d, an easily deformable portion 86 that easily deforms is formed following the bending at the easily bendable portion 56 of the air bag grid 10. That is, the flange 70
Reinforcing members 70, 72 due to the cutouts of c, 72c
Is easily bent and deformed at the portions where the notches 70d and 72d are formed, and the notches 70d and 72d are provided at the corners, and the corners are originally easily bent and deformed. Combined with this, the bending deformation is even easier. The flanges 70c and 72c are
By increasing the rigidity of the positioning frames 66 and 68,
The deformation of 66, 68 is suppressed, and thereby the frames 66, 68
The positioning accuracy is also improved by.

A hole 90 in FIG. 3 is a bolt insertion hole or hole for connecting one end of the metal plate 24 forming the hinge portion 22.
Reference numeral 92 is a bolt insertion hole for connecting one end of the connecting member 26.

Air bag device 6 constructed as described above
In the air bag grid base plate 16, since the reinforcing portion 61 is formed by increasing the rigidity of the base plate 16, the rigidity of the air bag grid 10 is improved by the reinforcing portion 61. The impact of the head or the like when colliding with is gently absorbed by the deformation of the air bag grid 10,
The impact generated on the head or the like can be reduced.

Further, the board 16 is provided with an easy-to-bend portion 56 which is easily bent along a line extending in the vehicle width direction between the hinge arrangement portion 52 located at the upper portion and the lower end portion 54 of the air bag grid. Therefore, when the air bag grid 10 is flipped up when the airbag is inflated and its lower end 54 collides with the windshield 11, the force acting on the lower end 54 when colliding with the windshield 11. As a result, the air bag grid 10 is bent at the easy-to-bend portion 56, whereby the shock when the air bag grid 10 collides with the windshield 11 is absorbed.

Further, since the foldable portion 56 is formed in the vicinity of the reinforced portion 61, when the air bag grid 10 collides with the windshield 11, the reinforced portion 61 allows the foldable portion 56 to move. Stress concentration is promoted, which makes bending easier.

The airbag device constructed as described above extends to the air bag grid 10 in a direction intersecting the foldable portion 56 and is fixed to the air bag grid 10 above and below the foldable portion 56, respectively. Reinforcement member 66,
Since the 68 is attached, the rigidity of the air bag grid 10 is improved by the reinforcing members 66, 68, and when the head of the occupant collides with the air bag grid, the impact of the head and the like is caused by the deformation of the air bag grid 10. It is gently absorbed, and the impact generated on the head or the like can be reduced.

Further, since the reinforcing members 66 and 68 are provided with the easily deformable portions 86 which are easily deformed in accordance with the bending at the easily bendable portions 56 of the air bag grid 10, as shown in FIG.
As indicated by the chain double-dashed line, when the air bag grid 10 collides with the windshield, the reinforcing members 66, 68
Can be easily bent and deformed at the easy-to-deform portion 86 following the bending at the easy-to-fold portion 56 of the air bag grid, thereby preventing the air-bag grid 10 from being bent.

[0036]

[0037] Of course, bending easily portion of the upper disappeared Aba' grid 10 may be of any kind of embodiment, the reinforcing member 66,
The mode of 68 or the mode of the easily deformable portion 86 of the reinforcing member can be variously changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel portion of an automobile equipped with an embodiment of an airbag device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view of the air bag grid seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

5 is a view of the positioning frame in FIG. 4 viewed from the direction of arrow B.

FIG. 6 is a view of the instrument panel core in FIGS. 2 and 4 as viewed from the direction of arrow C.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the following deformation of the reinforcing member.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Instrument panel 4a Instrument panel opening 6 Airbag device 8 Airbag device body 10 air bag grid 11 windshield 16 board 56 Easy folding section 58 slits 60 fragile part 61 Reinforcement part 62, 64 ribs 66,68 Reinforcement member (positioning member) 70,72 base 70a, 72a Upper arm 70b, 72b Lower arm 70c, 72c flange 70d, 72d Flange notch 86 Deformable part

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-270344 (JP, A) JP-A-6-144141 (JP, A) JP-A-5-155305 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 2540 (JP, A) JP-A-3-281457 (JP, A) JP-A-4-303048 (JP, A) JP-A-4-59450 (JP, A) Actual development 4-89449 (JP, U) Actual development flat 4-22361 (JP, U) Actual development flat 4-22360 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/20

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air bag apparatus main body, and an air bag grid which is disposed in an instrument panel portion on the front side of the air bag apparatus main body and whose lower portion is flipped up when the air bag is inflated and expanded. the grid an airbag apparatus for an automobile which bent easily portion formed bent easier when the airbag lid has collided with the front windshield is flipped upwards, the said airbag lid, the folding reinforcing members fixed to the air bag lid, respectively, above and below the said bent easily portion extending in a direction intersecting the easy part is attached, the reinforcing member includes a base, from upper and lower ends of the base portion
Upper arm and lower arm extending toward the air bag grid
And has a substantially U-shape with a base portion of the reinforcing member facing the air bag grid.
Is provided with a projecting flange, and the upper end of the flange is connected to the upper arm and
The end ends before reaching the above lower arm, and this lower arm and the above
A notch is provided at a corner with the base, and the notch of the flange is formed by bending the air bag grid.
Easy-to-deform part that easily deforms by following bending at the easy part
Airbag of a motor vehicle, characterized by forming the. 2. The airbag device for a vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforcing member is a positioning member for positioning the air bag grid on the instrument panel portion. Wherein said bent easily unit, automotive airbag device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that extending in the vehicle width direction.