JP4779640B2 - Hood airbag device for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle hood airbag device that is inflated and deployed on the upper surface side of a hood at the time of collision with a collision object.

  In Patent Document 1 below, an opening that is long in the hood width direction is formed at the rear end of the hood, the opening is covered with a cover (lid) that can be opened and closed, and an airbag case is disposed below the opening. A vehicle hood airbag device is disclosed in which an inflator and a folded airbag are housed in an airbag case.

According to the above configuration, when a frontal collision with a collision body such as a pedestrian occurs, the inflator is activated to generate gas, and the airbag is inflated. As a result, the cover is deployed outwardly of the hood, and the airbag is deployed on the upper side of the hood. As a result, it is intended to protect a collision object such as a pedestrian's head.
Japanese Patent No. 3245489

  However, according to the above prior art, a pair of front and rear hood inners (frame members) are disposed along the hood width direction on the lower surface side of the hood outer panel, and the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is the longitudinal direction between these hood inners. The structure is such that the stay is passed over and the airbag case (airbag module) is fixed to the stay. However, since the hood inner and the stay are both highly rigid members, the arrangement of these members is sufficient. It is necessary to consider.

  In view of the above facts, the present invention provides a vehicle hood airbag device capable of reducing the load input amount from the high-rigidity member to the collision body when a high-rigidity member is provided on the lower surface of the hood. Is the purpose.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular hood airbag device that is disposed on a lower side of a cover that covers a bag bulge opening formed on the hood rear end side of the hood outer panel so as to be openable. Stored in a folded state between a gas generating means for ejecting gas at the time of collision with a collision body, and a hood outer panel and a hood inner panel spaced apart on the lower surface side of the hood outer panel. The gas generating means is formed in the shape of a box that is inflated upon supply of the generated gas and expands and expands at least on the hood by expanding the cover to the outside of the hood; And the airbag case for housing the airbag, and the airbag case are configured separately from each other, and the hood outer panel and the flap Reinforcing a fixing part to the hood of the airbag module including the gas generating means, the airbag, and the airbag case, and disposed between the inner panel and the vehicle case front side of the airbag case, and the hood possess a reinforcing member fragile portion to buckle the high-rigidity portion by the input of the impact load to the high rigidity high-rigidity area with respect to a collision load from the upper side is provided, and the in the hood inner panel A hood inner side opening for disposing the airbag module from the vehicle lower side is formed at a position facing the bag bulging opening, and the lower end of the reinforcing member is the hood inner. The panel is fixed to the front edge side of the hood inner side opening, and the upper end is fixed to the back surface of the hood outer panel by a fixing means. Is, the high rigidity portion between the upper and the lower end portion is arranged.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the hood airbag apparatus for a vehicle according to the first aspect, the reinforcing member has a vertical wall portion whose height direction is a direction connecting the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel. The vertical wall portion is arranged on the vehicle front side with respect to the protection area by the airbag.
According to a third aspect of the invention, the hood airbag device according to claim 2, those said longitudinal wall supports the stationary portion to have and the hood outer panel height reaching near the bottom of the hood outer panel It is characterized by including a fixed support part and a non-fixed support part which is lower in height than the fixed support part and does not support a fixed part to the hood outer panel.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle hood airbag device according to the third aspect , the fragile portion is provided in the fixed support portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a collision with a collision object such as a pedestrian occurs, gas is ejected by the gas generating means. For this reason, the airbag stored in a folded state between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel is inflated to press the cover from the lower surface side, and deploys this outwardly from the hood. As a result, the bag inflation opening formed on the rear end side of the hood is opened, and the airbag is inflated and deployed at least on the hood. As a result, when the collision body such as a pedestrian is received by the inflated airbag, the collision energy at the time of the collision is absorbed and the reaction force received by the collision body such as the pedestrian can be reduced.

Here, in the present invention, the fixing portion to the hood of the airbag module including the gas generating means and the airbag is reinforced between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel and on the vehicle front side of the airbag case, and the module Since the reinforcing member configured separately from the case is disposed, and the fragile portion is provided in the high-rigidity portion of the reinforcing member, the collision body is placed on the height of the reinforcing member via the hood outer panel from above the hood. When a collision occurs in the vicinity of the rigid portion, the high rigidity portion weakened by the weak portion is easily buckled and deformed in the load acting direction. Since the buckling deformation absorbs the collision energy at the time of the collision, the load reaction force input from the high rigidity portion of the reinforcing member to the collision body is also reduced. Therefore, the collision body does not receive a large reaction force from the highly rigid portion of the reinforcing member.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the airbag module is disposed from the vehicle lower side using the hood inner side opening formed at a position facing the bag bulging opening in the hood inner panel. By forming this hood inner side opening, the rigidity of the hood inner panel is reduced, but in the present invention, the lower end of the reinforcing member is fixed to the front edge side of the hood inner side opening in the hood inner panel, The upper end portion of the reinforcing member is fixed to the back surface of the hood outer panel by a fixing means, and the high-rigidity portion is disposed between the upper end portion and the lower end portion.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reinforcing member includes the vertical wall portion, and the vertical wall portion is a high-rigidity portion. And in this invention, the vertical wall part of the said reinforcement member is arrange | positioned rather than the protection area by an airbag at the vehicle front side.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the fixed support portion and the non-fixed support portion are provided on the vertical wall portion, the fixing support portion having a relatively high height is used to support the fixing portion to the hood outer panel, and In addition, since the non-fixed support portion having a low height does not support the portion fixed to the hood outer panel, a gap is formed between the non-fixed support portion and the hood outer panel. Therefore, this gap can be used as an energy absorption stroke of the hood outer panel. In other words, the hood outer panel is easily deformed when subjected to a collision load, as compared with a configuration in which the reinforcing member is fixed to the hood outer panel over the entire length in the longitudinal direction.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the fragile portion is provided in the fixed support portion, not only when the collision object collides with the position corresponding to the non-fixed support portion of the hood outer panel, but also the fixed support of the hood outer panel. Even when a collision object collides with a position corresponding to the portion, the fixed support portion is easily buckled and deformed. Therefore, the load reaction force input to the collision body from the fixed support portion of the reinforcing member is also reduced. As a result, the load reaction force input to the collision body is reduced no matter which part of the longitudinal wall portion of the reinforcing member collides with the collision body via the hood outer panel.

As described above, the vehicle hood airbag device according to claim 1 is configured separately from the airbag case between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel and on the vehicle front side of the airbag case. In addition, a reinforcing member that reinforces the fixing portion of the airbag module including the gas generating means and the airbag to the hood is disposed, and the high-rigidity portion provided in the reinforcing member is buckled by inputting a collision load. Since the fragile portion is provided, when a highly rigid member is provided on the lower surface side of the hood, there is an excellent effect that the amount of load input from the highly rigid member to the collision body can be reduced.
In the hood airbag device for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention, a hood inner side opening for arranging the airbag module from the vehicle lower side is formed in the hood inner panel. Since the reinforcing member is arranged on the front edge side of the side opening, it has an excellent effect that the rigidity reduction of the hood inner panel can be reinforced.

In the vehicle hood airbag device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the reinforcing member includes a vertical wall portion having a height direction in a direction connecting the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel as a highly rigid portion. Since the wall portion is disposed on the vehicle front side of the protection area by the airbag, when a high-rigidity member is provided on the lower surface side of the hood outer panel, the load input amount from the high-rigidity member to the collision body It has the outstanding effect that it can reduce.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle hood airbag device having a height that reaches the vicinity of the lower surface of the hood outer panel, and a fixed support portion that supports a fixed portion to the hood outer panel, and is lower than the fixed portion. Since the vertical wall portion is configured to include a non-fixed support portion that is height and does not support a fixed portion to the hood outer panel, the hood outer panel is easily deformed in the non-fixed support portion. It has the outstanding effect that the pedestrian protection performance when it is a pedestrian can be improved.

In the hood airbag device for a vehicle according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the fragile portion is provided in the fixed support portion, it is assumed that the colliding body collides with the vertical wall portion of the reinforcing member via the hood outer panel. In addition, the load input amount to the collision body can be reduced, and as a result, the pedestrian protection performance when the collision body is a pedestrian can be further enhanced.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a vehicle hood airbag device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In these drawings, an arrow FR appropriately shown indicates the vehicle front side, an arrow UP indicates the vehicle upper side, and an arrow IN indicates the vehicle width direction inner side.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the vehicle 12 on which the vehicle hood airbag device 10 according to this embodiment is mounted. As shown in this figure, the vehicle hood airbag device 10 is disposed along the vehicle width direction on the rear end side of the hood 14 that opens and closes the engine room 72 (see FIG. 1).

  FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a state in which the vehicle hood airbag device 10 in the assembled state is cut along the vehicle longitudinal direction from the side. As shown in this figure, the hood 14 includes a hood outer panel 16 that constitutes a hood outer plate and a design surface of the hood 14. A substantially rectangular bag bulging opening 18 is formed in a substantially central portion on the rear end side of the hood outer panel 16 in a plan view with the vehicle width direction as the long side direction.

  On the back side of the hood outer panel 16, a hood inner panel 20 constituting an inner plate of the hood is disposed at a position separated from the hood outer panel 16 by a predetermined distance on the vehicle lower side. A hood inner side opening 26 having the same shape as the bag bulging opening 18 is formed in the hood inner panel 20 at a position facing the bag bulging opening 18. The airbag module 22 of the vehicle hood airbag device 10 is disposed by using the hood inner side opening 26.

  The airbag module 22 includes a high-strength lower plate 24 that closes the hood inner side opening 26 from below. The lower plate 24 is formed to be slightly larger than the hood inner side opening 26 in plan view, and is disposed in contact with the hood inner side opening 26 from the vehicle lower side, whereby the hood inner side opening 26. Is blocked.

  On the front edge side of the hood inner side opening 26 in the hood inner panel 20, a lower end portion 28 </ b> A of a front reinforcement 28 as a reinforcing member formed in a substantially Z shape in a side view is disposed in contact with the lower plate 24. Together with the front end 24A, the hood inner panel 20 is fastened together with bolts 30 and nuts 32. Similarly, a lower end portion 34 </ b> A of a rear reinforcement 34 formed in a substantially Z shape in a side view is disposed in contact with the rear edge side of the hood inner side opening 26 in the hood inner panel 20. The bolt 30 and the nut 32 together with the rear end 24B are fastened to the hood inner panel 20 together. The upper end portion 28B of the front reinforcement 28 and the upper end portion 34B of the rear reinforcement 34 are fixed to the back surface of the hood outer panel 16 by fixing means such as an adhesive (mastic) 36.

  In addition, these front side reinforcement 28 and rear side reinforcement 34 reinforce the part for rigidity reduction by having formed the hood inner side opening part 26 in the hood inner panel 20, and the airbag module 22 is made into the hood outer panel 16 and the hood inner panel 20 It installs in order to fix to the closed space of the hood 14 which consists of.

  The portion of the lower plate 24 facing the hood inner side opening 26 has a shape that is slightly recessed toward the vehicle lower side, and the upper side is opened to the slightly recessed portion so that the front wall 46A and the rear wall 46B are formed. A substantially box-shaped airbag case 46 provided is attached.

  In the airbag case 46, an inflator 58 as a gas generating means formed in a substantially cylindrical shape is disposed with the vehicle width direction as a longitudinal direction, and an airbag 60 folded by a predetermined folding method is accommodated. ing. To be exact, the inflator 58 is fixed to the airbag case 46 and the lower plate 24 while being accommodated in the folded airbag 60.

  As the inflator 58, either a mechanical ignition type or an electric ignition type may be used, and either a gas generating agent enclosure type or a high pressure gas enclosure type can be applied. A plurality of gas ejection holes are formed in the circumferential direction of the inflator 58 at predetermined positions on the peripheral wall portion of the inflator 58.

  Further, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, the inflated and deployed airbag 60 is flattened in the vehicle width direction so as to cover the rear end of the hood, the cowl, the lower end of the windshield glass 64, and the like. A portion 60A and an extension portion 60B that communicates with the main body portion 60A and extends from both sides of the main body portion 60A along the front pillar 66 and covers the lower portion of the front pillar 66 are provided.

  The opening side end portion of the airbag case 46, that is, the bag inflation opening 18 is closed so as to be opened by a metal airbag door 48 as a cover. Specifically, the bag inflating opening 18 is formed in a step shape that is stepped downward from the general surface 16A of the hood outer panel 16 to the vehicle lower side, and the airbag door 48 has a thickness that can be accommodated in the step 50. And is formed in a size. A deployment hinge portion 48B formed in a substantially bow shape including the rear end portion 48A is integrally formed at the rear end portion 48A of the airbag door 48. The deployment hinge portions 48B are provided at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the airbag door 48. Correspondingly, a bracket 52 is fixed at a position facing the deployment hinge portion 48B in the rear reinforcement 34 described above, and a lower end portion 48B1 of the deployment hinge portion 48B is secured to the bracket 52 by a bolt 54 and a nut 56. It is fixed. Therefore, when the front door collides, the airbag door 48 plastically deforms the hinge intermediate portion 48B2 that forms a U-shape opposite to the front and rear of the deployment hinge portion 48B with the fastening point of the bolt 54 and the nut 56 as the deployment center due to the bag inflation pressure. While being deformed, it is configured to be opened to the vehicle rear side in a single-open manner.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the front side reinforcement 28 as the reinforcing member has a substantially Z-shaped longitudinal section as described above, and is manufactured by press molding. The front reinforcement 28 includes a vertical wall portion 28C as a highly rigid portion extending substantially along the vehicle vertical direction between the lower end portion 28A and the upper end portion 28B. Incidentally, the vertical wall portion 28 </ b> C is disposed on the vehicle front side with respect to a collision load from the obliquely upper side of the hood 14 (a load acting direction of the collision load is indicated by an arrow F in FIG. 1).

  Openings 70 as fragile portions are formed at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the front reinforcement 28 in the intermediate portion in the height direction of the vertical wall portion 28C. Therefore, the rigidity of the vertical wall portion 28 </ b> C is reduced with respect to the collision load from the obliquely upper side by forming the opening 70.

(Action / Effect)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  When a frontal collision with a collision object such as a pedestrian occurs, the inflator 58 is activated and gas is ejected from the plurality of gas ejection holes. For this reason, the airbag 60 stored in the airbag case 46 in a folded state is inflated, and the airbag door 48 is pressed from the lower surface side. When the bag inflation pressure acting on the airbag door 48 reaches a predetermined position, the airbag door 48 is deployed toward the hood outward side (windshield glass 64 side) around the deployment hinge portion 48B. As a result, the bag inflation opening 18 formed on the rear end side of the hood is opened, and the airbag 60 is inflated and deployed as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. As a result, a collision force such as a pedestrian is received by the body portion 60A or the extension portion 60B of the inflated airbag 60, so that a collision energy such as a pedestrian is absorbed by the collision energy at the time of a frontal collision. Can be lowered.

  Here, in the present embodiment, a front reinforcement 28 and a rear reinforcement 34 that reinforce the fixing portion of the airbag module 22 to the hood 14 are disposed between the hood outer panel 16 and the hood inner panel 20. Since the opening 70 is formed in the intermediate portion in the height direction of the vertical wall portion 28C of the front reinforcement 28, the rigidity of the portion where the opening 70 is formed is reduced. Therefore, when the vertical wall portion 28C of the front reinforcement 28 is disposed on the front side of the vehicle with respect to the protection area by the airbag 60, and the collision body collides with the portion where the vertical wall portion 28C is disposed, the vertical wall The portion 28C is easily buckled and deformed. Therefore, the collision body does not receive a large reaction force from the vertical wall portion 28 </ b> C of the front reinforcement 28. As a result, according to the present embodiment, when a highly rigid member is provided on the lower surface side of the hood outer panel 16, the load input amount from the highly rigid member to the collision body can be reduced.

  Note that the rear reinforcement 34 is completely covered by the main body 60A of the airbag 60 in plan view, and thus it is not necessary to consider the above.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the vehicle hood airbag device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same component as 1st Embodiment mentioned above, the same number is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the front reinforcement 80 according to the main part of the vehicle hood airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, in the second embodiment, recesses 82 are formed at predetermined intervals on the upper part of the front reinforcement 80, and as a result, the protrusions as a fixed support portion having an isosceles trapezoid shape as a whole. 84 and concave portions 82 as non-fixed support portions having an inverted isosceles trapezoidal shape are alternately formed. The front reinforcement 80 also has a Z-shaped vertical cross-section similar to the front reinforcement 28 described above, and includes a lower end 80A, an upper end 80B, and a vertical wall 80C.

  The convex portion 84 is higher than the concave portion 82, and corresponds to the upper end portion 80B ("fixed portion to the hood outer panel") located at the upper end of the convex portion 84 when the front reinforcement 80 is assembled to the hood inner panel 20. ) Has a height that is close to the lower surface of the hood outer panel 16. The upper end portion 80B is bonded to the back surface of the hood outer panel 16 with an adhesive (mastic) 36, and the upper end portion 80B is supported by the convex portion 84. In this state, a gap 86 having a predetermined height is formed between the lower surface of the hood outer panel 16 and the bottom portion 82 </ b> A of the recess 82.

(Action / Effect)
According to the above configuration, the convex portions 84 and the concave portions 82 are alternately formed on the upper portion of the front reinforcement 80, and the upper end portion 80B located at the upper end of the convex portion 84 is fixed to the back surface of the hood outer panel 16 with the adhesive 36. Since the recess 82 is spaced apart from the back surface of the hood outer panel 16 in the recess 82, the outer panel 16 is deformed in a direction in which the recess 86 is crushed at the position where the recess 82 is formed when the collision body collides from above the hood. be able to. That is, the gap 86 can be used as an energy absorption stroke (stroke) of the hood outer panel 16. Therefore, the pedestrian protection performance when the collision body is a pedestrian can be enhanced.

[Third Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the vehicle hood airbag device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same component as 1st Embodiment mentioned above and 2nd Embodiment, the same number is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the front reinforcement 90 according to the main part of the vehicle hood airbag device 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, in the third embodiment, the shape of the front reinforcement 80 of the second embodiment is followed as it is, and a substantially rectangular opening 92 as a fragile portion is further formed in the center of the convex portion 84. Is formed. The opening 92 is formed only at the position where the convex portion 84 is formed, and is not formed at the position where the concave portion 82 is formed.

  The front reinforcement 90 also has a Z-shaped vertical cross-section, similar to the front reinforcement 80 described above, and includes a lower end 90A, an upper end 90B, and a vertical wall 90C.

(Action / Effect)
According to the above configuration, when the collision body collides from the upper side of the hood, buckling deformation is actively generated even on the convex portion 84 side that is weakened (lower rigidity) by forming the opening 92. Energy is absorbed. Further, at the position where the recess 82 is formed, the outer panel 16 can be deformed in a direction in which the gap 86 is crushed. Therefore, the energy absorption stroke of the hood outer panel 16 can be substantially ensured over the entire area of the front reinforcement 90 in the longitudinal direction. As a result, according to this embodiment, the pedestrian protection performance when the collision body is a pedestrian can be enhanced.

[Supplementary explanation of this embodiment]
In the first to third embodiments described above, the opening 70 or the opening 92 is formed in the vertical wall portions 28C, 80C, and 90C of the front reinforcements 28, 80, and 90. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various configurations are adopted. be able to. For example, a method of reducing the thickness of the portion where the openings 70 and 92 are formed, or a recess recessed in the thickness direction (vehicle front-rear direction) in the vicinity of an intermediate portion in the height direction of the vertical wall portion 28C is formed on the entire length of the vertical wall portion 28C. You may take the structure provided over. In this case, when a collision load is input, the thin-walled portion or the concave portion becomes the deformation starting point of the vertical wall portion 28C and acts as a fragile portion.

It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view (1-1 line sectional drawing of FIG. 2) which looked at the state which cut | disconnected the vehicle hood airbag apparatus of the assembly | attachment state along the vehicle front-back direction. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the vehicle by which the hood airbag apparatus for vehicles shown by FIG. 1 is mounted including the state which the airbag expand | deployed. It is a whole perspective view of the front side reinforcement shown by FIG. It is a whole perspective view of the front side reinforcement which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a whole perspective view of the front side reinforcement which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle hood airbag apparatus 12 Vehicle 14 Hood 16 Hood outer panel 18 Opening part for bag expansion 20 Hood inner panel 22 Air bag module 28 Front side reinforcement (reinforcing member)
28A lower end
28B upper end part 28C vertical wall part (high rigidity part)
30 bolt 32 nut 36 adhesive
46 Airbag case 48 Airbag door (cover)
58 Inflator (gas generating means)
60 Airbag 70 Opening (fragile part)
80 Front reinforcement (reinforcing member)
80A lower end
80B upper end 80C vertical wall (high rigidity part)
82 Concavity (non-fixed support)
84 Convex (fixed support)
90 Front reinforcement (reinforcing member)
90A lower end
90B upper end 90C vertical wall (high rigidity part)
92 Opening (fragile part)

Claims (4)

A cover for releasably opening a bag bulging opening formed on the hood rear end side of the hood outer panel;
A gas generating means disposed on the lower side of the cover and ejecting a gas upon collision with a collision body;
The hood outer panel is stored in a folded state between the hood outer panel and a hood inner panel spaced apart on the lower surface side of the hood outer panel. The hood outer panel is expanded by receiving the supply of gas generated from the gas generating means. An airbag that is expanded toward and expanded at least on the hood,
An air bag case that is formed in a box shape with the hood upper side open, and that accommodates the gas generating means and the air bag;
The airbag case is configured separately from the airbag case, and is disposed between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel and on the vehicle front side of the airbag case, and the gas generating means, the airbag, and the air Reinforcing the fixing part of the airbag module including the bag case to the hood, and buckling the high-rigidity part by inputting the collision load to the high-rigidity part having high rigidity against the collision load from above the hood A reinforcing member provided with a fragile part;
I have a,
A hood inner side opening for disposing the airbag module from the vehicle lower side is formed at a position facing the bag bulging opening in the hood inner panel,
The reinforcing member has a lower end fixed to a front edge side of the hood inner side opening in the hood inner panel, and an upper end fixed to a back surface of the hood outer panel by a fixing means. The upper end and the lower end The high-rigidity part is disposed between the parts,
A vehicle hood airbag device. The reinforcing member includes a vertical wall portion as a high-rigidity portion whose height direction is a direction connecting the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel,
The vertical wall portion is disposed on the vehicle front side from the protection area by the airbag.
The vehicle hood airbag device according to claim 1. The vertical wall portion has a height that reaches the vicinity of the lower surface of the hood outer panel, and a fixing support portion that supports a fixing portion to the hood outer panel, a height that is lower than the fixing support portion, and a fixing portion to the hood outer panel. A non-fixing support portion that does not support,
The vehicle hood airbag device according to claim 2 . The fragile portion is provided in the fixed support portion,
The hood airbag device for vehicles according to claim 3 characterized by things.

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