The present invention relates to a side airbag device equipped in a vehicle seat.
The provision of a vehicle with one or more airbags in order to protect the occupants thereof in the event of a vehicle accident is well known. These airbags include, for example, various forms such as: a so-called driver airbag which is deployed from near the center of the steering wheel so as to protect the driver; a curtain airbag which is deployed downward on the inner side of the window of an automobile so as to protect occupants during collisions in the transverse direction of a vehicle, as well as when overturning and during rollover accidents; and a side airbag which is deployed between the occupant and the side panel so as to protect the occupant upon impact in the transverse direction of a vehicle. The present invention relates to a side airbag device provided in a vehicle seat.
The side airbag device is stowed in the side support part of a seat, and thus the restriction in the installation region is large, and the compactness of the device is an important problem. Moreover, there is a demand for appropriate passenger protection performance due to improved deployment speed and stabilization of the deployed shape.
In recent years, side airbag devices have been proposed that combine a plurality of chambers to form an airbag. For example, there are systems with a pre-chamber with a relatively small capacity inside the main chamber (on the occupant side), as described in Patent Document 1.
In this manner of side airbag device, improving the initial restraint performance of the pre-chamber on the occupant is a problem.
There is also demand to reduce injury to occupants in so-called out-of-position (OOP) situations. For example, when a child leans his or her head on the side support part of the seat, impact is anticipated to be applied thereto from the airbag that deploys forward, particularly from the large-capacity main chamber. However, a conventional side airbag device can not be said to be sufficiently compatible with OOP.
Patent Document 1: WO 2017/209192
In light of the conditions described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a side airbag device that contributes to improving initial restraint performance of the occupant.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a side airbag device capable of reducing the injury value to an OOP occupant.
The following describes means for solving the problem described above and the effect thereof. In the present invention, when an occupant is seated in a seat in a regular posture, the direction the occupant faces (vehicle traveling direction) is referred to as the “front,” the opposite direction is referred to as the “rear,” and the direction indicating the coordinate axis is referred to as the “front-to-back direction. Moreover, when the passenger is seated in the seat in a regular posture, the right of the passenger is referred to as the “right direction,” the left of the passenger is referred to as the “left direction,” and the direction indicating the coordinate axis is referred to as the “left and right direction.” Similarly, when the occupant is seated in the seat in a regular posture, the head direction (vertical up direction) of the occupant is referred to as “up,” the waist direction (vertical down direction) of the passenger is referred to as “down,” and the direction indicating the coordinate axis is referred to as the “vertical direction.”
In order to achieve the purpose as described above the present invention is a side airbag device stowed in the seatback of a vehicle seat, comprising:
Here, “main chamber that deploys towards the front of the seatback” is indicated but it goes without saying that while the main chamber deploys primarily toward the front, the bag expands so naturally there is expansion in the left and right width direction as well. In addition, “a pre-chamber connected to the occupant side of the main chamber” means that the pre-chamber is deployed between the main chamber and the occupant.
Note that in the present invention, the occupant is represented by a side impact dummy world SID (an adult male (175 cm in height and approximately 74 kg in weight) 50th percentile male side impact dummy).
In the present invention configured as described above, the internal tether extending in the front-rear direction is provided inside the pre-chamber. Therefore, when the airbag is deployed, broadening in the left and right width direction of the pre-chamber is restricted enabling ensuring sufficient width in the left-right direction of the pre-chamber. As a result, the pre-chamber quickly comes into contact with the occupant at the initial stage of airbag deployment, and movement of the occupant in the left-right direction can be reliably restrained. In addition, restriction of deployment of the pre-chamber toward the front by the internal tether also affects the main chamber, and the forward deployment of the main chamber is also restricted. Therefore, even in a so-called out-of-position (OOP) situation where the occupant is at the front of the side support portion of the seat, the injury value to the occupant can be reduced.
A front end part of the internal tether can be connected near a front edge of the pre-chamber.
The pre-chamber is configured with at least two panels including a first panel connected to the main chamber by a coupling part and a second panel provided on the occupant side, where the front edge of the pre-chamber is a sewn portion in the vehicle forward direction of the first panel and second panel, and this sewn portion is sewn together with the front end part of the internal tether.
A front end part of the internal tether can be connected near the center of the pre-chamber in the vertical direction. In this case, the forward deployment of the pre-chamber near the center is restricted, and the thickness in the left-right direction increases at that location enabling quickly restraining, for example, from the chest to the waist of the occupant.
The internal tether can be configured so as to extend diagonally upwards from the rear end part to the front end part with the front end part of this internal tether connected near the upper end of the pre-chamber. In this case, the forward deployment of the pre-chamber near the upper part is restricted, and the thickness in the left-right direction increases at that location enabling quickly restraining, for example, the shoulders of the occupant.
In addition, the internal tether can extend diagonally downwards from the rear end part to the front end part with the front end part of this internal tether connected near the lower end of the pre-chamber. In this case, the forward deployment of the pre-chamber near the lower part is restricted, and the thickness in the left-right direction increases at that location enabling quickly restraining, for example, the waist of the occupant.
A rear end part of the internal tether can be connected near a rear end of the pre-chamber.
A rear end part of the internal tether can be connected to the inflator.
The inflator is formed in a cylinder shape (columnar shape), and the rear end part of the internal tether can be connected so as to surround the periphery of the inflator.
A rectifying member for restricting the flow of the expansion gas can be arranged on the periphery of the inflator, and the rear end part of the internal tether can be arranged so as to surround the periphery of the rectifying member.
A rear end part of the internal tether connected to the inflator may be configured to function as a rectifying member that restricts flow of the expansion gas.
The width of the internal tether in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is smaller than the length of the inflator in the longitudinal direction.
The inflator can be configured so as to be secured to the side frame by a fastener and the rear end part of the internal tether can be fastened to the fastener of the inflator.
The length from the front end part to the rear end part of the internal tether is preferably shorter than the length of the pre-chamber before deployment in the extending direction of the internal tether. By setting the length of the internal tether shorter than the length of the corresponding portion of the pre-chamber in this manner, expansion of the pre-chamber can reliably be restricted in the front-rear direction.
The configuration can have the main chamber partitioned into a front chamber and a rear chamber and have the expansion gas pass from the pre-chamber through the rear chamber of the main chamber to reach the front chamber.
The configuration (resolution means) and action/effect of the present invention have been described above. The side airbag according to the present invention can be applied to the type that deploys to the door side (outside) of the seat or to the type that deploys to the side of the seat at the center of the vehicle. Note that a side airbag device of a type which is deployed on the vehicle center side of the seat, for example, is referred to as a far side airbag device, front center airbag, rear center airbag, and the like.
A vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings. Note that “front” indicated in the drawings indicates the front side (in the traveling direction) of a vehicle, “rear” indicates the rear of the vehicle (side opposite the traveling direction), “inside” indicates the inner side in the vehicle width direction (occupant side), and “outside” indicates the outer side in the vehicle width direction (door panel side).
As illustrated in
A seatback frame 1f that forms that framework of the seat is provided in the inner portion of the seatback 1, a pad made of urethane foam or the like is provided on the surface and periphery thereof, and a surface skin (not illustrated) is provided. As for the seat cushion 2, similar to the seatback 1, a pad made of urethane foam or the like is provided on the upper surface and periphery of the seating frame 2f, and a surface skin (not illustrated) is provided. The seating frame 2f and the seatback frame 1f are connected via a reclining mechanism 4.
As illustrated in
The airbag device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is arranged on the occupant side of the side frame 10 positioned on the side portion inside the seatback 1 and is provided with an inflator 35 that generates expansion gas and the airbag 30 that is expanded by the expansion gas and protects the occupant seated on the vehicle seat. The airbag 30 includes a main chamber 32 that deploys toward the front of the seatback 1, and a pre-chamber 34 that houses the inflator 35 inside and is connected to the occupant side of the main chamber 32. Furthermore, an internal tether 50 having a front end part 50a connected to the front portion of the pre-chamber 34 and a rear end part 50b connected to the rear portion of the pre-chamber 34 are provided inside the pre-chamber 34.
For example, a cylinder-type inflator having a cylindrical shape may be used as the inflator 35. Two stud bolts 37 protrude from the periphery of the inflator 35 toward the outside in the vehicle width direction. These stud bolts 37 are attached (fastened and secured) to the side frame 10 using nuts. The inflator 35 has a plurality of circumferentially aligned gas jets (not shown), and gas is radially emitted from these gas jets.
An airbag control ECU (not shown) mounted on the vehicle is electrically connected to this inflator 35. A satellite sensor (not shown) for detecting side collisions is electrically connected to this airbag control ECU. The inflator 35 can be configured to operate when the airbag control ECU detects a side collision based on a signal from this satellite sensor.
As illustrated in
The pre-chamber 34 is formed into a bag-like shape by, for example, overlapping two pre-chamber panels 34a and 34b of the same shape and sewing the periphery. A first panel 34b is connected to the inner main panel 32a by sewing at least around the inner vent V1. Note, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Also, an opening for inserting the inflator 35 and openings to allow the stud bolts 37 of the inflator 35 to pass through are formed near the rear edge part of the outer main panel 32b.
As illustrated in
A second inner vent V2 is formed in the buffer panel 38 and expansion gas flows from the rear main chamber 32r through this second inner vent V2 to the front main chamber 32f. Note, reinforcement sewing is formed around the inner vent V2.
The front end part 50a of the internal tether 50 is connected to the front edge of the pre-chamber 34, and the rear end part 50b is connected so as to surround the periphery of the inflator 35.
As illustrated in
The deployment shape of a front portion 34x of the pre-chamber 34 differs between the aspect illustrated in
In the aspect illustrated in
In the aspect illustrated in
In the aspect illustrated in
In the present invention, when the front end part 50a of the internal tether 50 (250, 350, 450) is connected near the center of the pre-chamber 34 in the vertical direction, the thickness in the horizontal direction increases at that location, and, for example, the occupant can quickly be restrained from the abdomen to the chest.
On the other hand, if configured such that the internal tether 50 (250, 350, 450) extends diagonally upward from the rear end part 50b to the front end part 50a, and the front end 50a of the internal tether 50 (250, 350, 450) is connected near the upper end of the pre-chamber 34 (234, 334, 434), the thickness in the left-right direction increases at this location of the pre-chamber 34 (234, 334, 434), and, for example, the area near the shoulder of the occupant can quickly be restrained.
In addition, if configured such that the internal tether 50 (250, 350, 450) extends diagonally downward from the rear end part 50b to the front end part 50a, and the front end 50a of the internal tether 50 (250, 350, 450) is connected near the lower end of the pre-chamber 34 (234, 334, 434), the thickness in the left-right direction increases at this location of the pre-chamber 34 (234, 334, 434), and, for example, the area near the waist of the occupant can quickly be restrained.
The aspect illustrated in
Similar to the aspect of
The aspect in
The difference between the present Embodiment and Embodiment 1 lies in the method of securing the front end part 50a of the internal tether 50 arranged in the pre-chamber 34. In the present Embodiment, the front edges of two panels 34a and 34b that constitute the pre-chamber 34 are connected to each other by sewing 90, and the front end part 50a of the internal tether 50 is sewn together with the sewing 90. In other words, the front edges of the two panels 34a, 34b and the front end part 50a of the internal tether 50 are sewn together. Thus, the manufacturing process (sewing process) can be simplified.
The deployment shape of a front portion 34x of the pre-chamber 34 differs between the aspect illustrated in
Note, in the present Embodiment, similar to Embodiment 1, it goes without saying that the variations illustrated in
In the aspect illustrated in
The deployment shape of the front portion 34x of the pre-chamber 34 differs between the aspect illustrated in
The deployment shape of the front portion 34x of the pre-chamber 34 differs between the aspect illustrated in
Note that in the present Embodiment, similar to Embodiment 2 illustrated in
The deployment shape of the front portion 34x of the pre-chamber 34 differs between the aspect illustrated in
Note that in the present Embodiment, similar to Embodiment 2 illustrated in
Embodiments of the present invention have been described and in the present invention configured as described above, the internal tether 50 extending in the front-rear direction is provided inside the pre-chamber 34. Therefore, when the airbag 30 is deployed, broadening in the left and right width direction of the pre-chamber 34 is restricted enabling ensuring sufficient width in the left-right direction of the pre-chamber 34. As a result, the pre-chamber 34 quickly comes into contact with the occupant at the initial stage of airbag 30 deployment, and movement of the occupant in the left-right direction can be reliably restrained. In addition, restriction of deployment of the pre-chamber 34 toward the front by the internal tether 50 also affects the main chamber 32, and the forward deployment of the main chamber 32 is also restricted. Therefore, even in a so-called out-of-position (OOP) situation where the occupant is at the front of the side support portion of the seat, the injury value to the occupant can be reduced.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the abovementioned illustrative embodiments, many equivalent changes and variations will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure. Therefore, the abovementioned illustrative embodiments of the present invention are presumably illustrative and not limiting. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the described embodiments may take on various modifications. For example, while a side airbag on the near side has been predominantly mentioned in the Description of the Preferred Embodiment, use is also possible with a far side airbag (surface on the far side from a vehicle door of a vehicle seat), in very small vehicles such as a single seat vehicle (irrespective of the presence of a door, a vehicle including parts with only one seat in a single row), and the like.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2020-027753 | Feb 2020 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2021/001846 | 1/20/2021 | WO |