Occupant protection device

Abstract

To provide an occupant protection device which can suppress deterioration of aesthetic quality of a lap belt part in a configuration where the lap belt part is provided with an airbag.SOLUTION: An occupant protection device 10 comprises an airbag 30 provided on a lap belt part 13 of a seat belt 11, and an airbag cover 59 which is attached to the lap belt part 13 and houses a bag body part 30a of the airbag 30 in a folded state. A surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 is configured to have a high brightness area 59a1 which includes a center part of the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 in the width direction of the lap belt part 13 and extends along the longitudinal direction of the lap belt part 13, and low brightness areas 59a2 which are areas on one side and on the other side of the high brightness area 59a1 in the width direction of the lap belt 13 and of which color is lower in brightness than the high brightness area 59a1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a vehicle seat. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant, a configuration in which a seat belt is provided to restrain the occupant to the seat is widely known. Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which an airbag is provided in a lap belt portion of the seat belt that restrains the waist of the occupant. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2002-506401 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the configuration of Patent Document 1, the airbag is stored in an airbag cover in a folded state, but compared to a configuration in which an airbag is not provided in the lap belt portion, the lap belt portion is substantially larger due to the volume of the airbag, etc. This may reduce the design quality of the lap belt portion.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device that can suppress deterioration in the design of a lap belt portion in a configuration in which an airbag is provided in the lap belt portion. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A representative configuration of an occupant protection device according to the present invention for solving the above problems is an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a seat, comprising: a seat belt having a lap belt portion for restraining a waist region of the occupant seated in the seat; an inflator for releasing inflation gas; an airbag provided on the lap belt portion, the airbag comprising: a bag main body portion which is inflated when the inflation gas is supplied thereto and which receives the occupant; and a conduit portion connected to the inflator for guiding the inflation gas released from the inflator to the bag main body portion and causing the inflation gas to flow into the bag main body portion. and an airbag cover attached to the lap belt portion and accommodating the bag main body portion in a folded state, wherein the surface of the airbag cover opposite the occupant-facing surface when the seat belt is fastened to the occupant is provided with a first region including a central portion of the surface in the width direction of the lap belt portion and extending along the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion, and a second region which is an area on one end side and the other end side of the first region in the width direction and which includes both ends of the surface in the width direction, the second region having a color brightness lower than that of the first region.

[0007] According to the present invention, in an occupant protection device in which an airbag is provided in a lap belt portion, deterioration in the design of the lap belt portion can be suppressed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a seat equipped with an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a left side view of a seat equipped with an occupant protection device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a front view of a seat equipped with an occupant protection device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a left side view of the seat with the airbag inflated. [Diagram 5] 4 is a cross-sectional view of the bag assembly taken along the line AA shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 6]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bag assembly in an inflated state of the airbag, as viewed from below. [Figure 7] 3A and 3B are plan views of the front and back surfaces of the airbag cover. [Figure 8] 13A and 13B are plan views of the front and back surfaces of an airbag cover having another configuration. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, the overall configuration of an occupant protection device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, and the like of components described below are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified. In addition, in the following description, the left-right direction means the left and right directions of the seat 1 on which the occupant protection device 10 is mounted, specifically the left and right directions as seen from the occupant M seated in the seat 1. The front-rear direction means the front and rear directions of the seat 1, specifically the front and rear directions as seen from the occupant M seated in the seat 1. The up-down direction means the vertical upward and downward directions.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat 1 equipped with an occupant protection device 10. FIG. 2 is a left side view of the seat 1. FIG. 3 is a front view of the seat 1, and shows an occupant M seated in the seat 1 and fastening a seat belt 11, and an airbag 30 of the occupant protection device 10 in an inflated state, by a two-dot chain line. FIG. 4 is a left side view of the seat 1 with the airbag 30 inflated, and shows an occupant M seated in the seat 1 and fastening a seat belt 11, by a two-dot chain line. For ease of explanation, an airbag cover 59 of the occupant protection device 10 is shown in white in FIGS. 1 to 4. A detailed configuration of the airbag cover 59 will be described later with reference to other drawings.

[0011] 1 to 4, an occupant protection device 10 is mounted on a vehicle seat 1 to protect an occupant M seated on the seat 1. The occupant protection device 10 comprises a seat belt 11, a bag assembly 29 having an airbag 30, and an inflator 24 that supplies inflation gas to the airbag 30. The seat 1 comprises a backrest portion 2 and a seat portion 5.

[0012] The seat belt 11 is a belt-shaped member that restrains the occupant M to the seat 1. The seat belt 11 is configured to be retractable from a winding mechanism 15 provided inside the backrest 2 near the upper left edge. The lower end of the seat belt 11 is a fixed end that is fixed to an anchor member 17 provided on the left side of the seat portion 5. A tongue 20 is provided in an intermediate portion of the seat belt 11. The tongue 20 is fastened to a buckle 19 provided on the right side of the seat portion 5 of the seat 1. When the occupant M is seated in the seat 1 and the tongue 20 is fastened to the buckle 19, the seat belt 11 is worn by the occupant M.

[0013] The seat belt 11 in a state where it is worn by the occupant M includes a shoulder belt portion 12 that extends from the tongue 20 toward the retracting mechanism 15 side, is positioned on the front side of the upper body MU of the occupant M, and is a portion that restrains the upper body MU of the occupant M, and a lap belt portion 13 that extends from the tongue 20 toward the lower end 11b side, is positioned on the front side of the waist region MW of the occupant M, and is a portion that restrains the waist region MW. In other words, the lap belt portion 13 is configured to restrain the waist region MW of the occupant M. The occupant M can release the fastening state of the tongue 20 to the buckle 19 and remove the tongue 20 from the buckle 19 by pressing a release button (not shown) provided on the buckle 19.

[0014] The retracting mechanism 15 has a pretensioner mechanism 16 configured to stop the seat belt 11 from being pulled out suddenly if the seat belt 11 is suddenly pulled out, and to retract the pulled out seat belt 11 if a vehicle collision occurs, etc. The pretensioner mechanism 16 operates a built-in gas generator to rotate the shaft around which the seat belt 11 is wound, thereby retracting the seat belt 11 instantly.

[0015] The inflator 24 is composed of an inflator body 25 that releases inflation gas, and a pipe section 26 that guides the inflation gas released from the inflator body 25 to the airbag 30. The inflator body 25 is attached to a seat frame 4 that supports the seat portion 5 of the seat 1. The pipe section 26 extends from the inflator body 25 and is bent in a substantially L-shape so as to run from the bottom surface of the seat portion 5 along the side surface.

[0016] The bag assembly 29 is composed of an airbag 30 having a bag body 30a and a conduit 30b, a bag connecting portion 52 that connects the airbag 30 to the lap belt portion 13, and an airbag cover 59. The bag body 30a is folded and stored inside the airbag cover 59 before inflation gas is supplied from the inflator 24. The conduit 30b of the airbag 30 is connected to the pipe 26 of the inflator 24, and takes in the inflation gas released from the inflator 24 and guides it to the bag body 30a. The base end 30b2 of the conduit 30b of the airbag 30 and the pipe 26 of the inflator 24 are connected by being fastened with a clamp 27. The detailed configuration of each member that constitutes the bag assembly 29 will be described later.

[0017] Next, a description will be given of the protective operation of the occupant M by the occupant protection device 10. First, when the vehicle collides, the pretensioner mechanism 16 of the retraction mechanism 15 is activated, and the seat belt 11 worn by the occupant M is retracted to stabilize the seating position of the occupant M in the seat 1. As a result, the lap belt portion 13 of the seat belt 11 is retracted toward the tongue 20, and the shoulder belt portion 12 connected to the lap belt portion 13 is retracted toward the shoulder of the occupant M.

[0018] Next, the inflator 24 is activated, and inflation gas is supplied from the inflator body 25 through the pipe portion 26 and the conduit portion 30b of the airbag 30 to the bag body portion 30a of the airbag 30. This causes the bag body portion 30a to inflate. Thereafter, the upper body MU of the occupant M, which moves forward due to the impact of the vehicle collision, is received by the bag body portion 30a. In this manner, the occupant protection device 10 protects the occupant M.

[0019] Next, each member constituting the bag assembly 29 will be described. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the bag assembly 29 taken along the line AA shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the bag assembly 29 from below with the airbag 30 inflated, with the airbag cover 59 omitted. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a front surface 59a and a back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59.

[0020] 5 and 6, the airbag 30 is composed of a bag body 30a that is inflated by being supplied with inflation gas to receive the occupant M, and a conduit 30b that is connected to the pipe 26 of the inflator 24 and guides the inflation gas released from the inflator 24 to an inlet 30a3a of the bag body 30a, causing the inflation gas to flow into the bag body 30a. The bag body 30a and the conduit 30b are each made of a base fabric for the bag, which is a woven fabric formed by plain weaving polyester fibers, and are connected by sewing.

[0021] When fully inflated, the bag main body 30a has a rear wall 30a1 disposed immediately in front of the occupant M and adapted to receive the upper body MU of the occupant M moving forward, a front wall 30a2 disposed on the front side opposite the rear wall 30a1, a lower wall 30a3 disposed on the lower side and supported by the thighs MF of the occupant M, and a left wall 30a4 and a right wall 30a5 disposed on the left and right sides, respectively. A bending seam 30a1a is provided in the vertical middle portion of the rear wall 30a1 of the bag main body 30a, which is sewn to bend the upper part of the rear wall 30a1 closer to the occupant M when the bag main body 30a is fully inflated.

[0022] The lower wall 30a3 of the bag body 30a is provided with two inlets 30a3a, which are openings for allowing the inflation gas in the conduit 30b to flow in. The left wall 30a4 and the right wall 30a5 of the bag body 30a are further provided with vent holes 30a4a and 30a5a, which are openings for discharging excess inflation gas that has flowed into the bag body 30a.

[0023] Conduit portion 30b is a tubular member that is connected to pipe portion 26 of inflator 24 and bag body portion 30a, respectively, and extends along the longitudinal direction of lap belt portion 13. Conduit portion 30b has communication port 30b1 that communicates with inlet 30a3a of bag body portion 30a. The inflation gas inside conduit portion 30b flows into bag body portion 30a through communication port 30b1 and inlet 30a3a.

[0024] The bag connecting portion 52 is a tubular member made of the same material as the bag base fabric forming the airbag 30, and connects the airbag 30 to the lap belt portion 13. The upper surface of the bag connecting portion 52 and the lower surface of the conduit portion 30b of the airbag 30 are connected by sewing. The space inside the tube of the bag connecting portion 52 serves as a belt insertion portion 52a through which the lap belt portion 13 is inserted. The airbag 30 is connected to the lap belt portion 13 via the bag connecting portion 52 by inserting the lap belt portion 13 into the belt insertion portion 52a.

[0025] The airbag cover 59 is a cylindrical member attached to the lap belt portion 13, and accommodates within the cylinder the entire bag body portion 30a of the airbag 30 in a folded state, part of the conduit portion 30b, the bag connecting portion 52, and part of the lap belt portion 13. When the bag body portion 30a inflates, the airbag cover 59 receives pressure from the bag body portion 30a and breaks to form an opening, through which the bag body portion 30a is unrolled.

[0026] 7, the airbag cover 59 is in the shape of a band whose long dimension is the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13, and the width dimension L1 of the central portion in the longitudinal direction is set to be larger than the width dimensions L2 of each of the one end 59m and the other end 59n. In other words, the width dimension of the airbag cover 59 narrows from the longitudinal central portion of the airbag cover 59 toward the one end 59m and the other end 59n. Here, the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 and the longitudinal direction of the airbag cover 59 almost coincide with each other. Also, the width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and thickness direction of the lap belt portion 13 and the width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and thickness direction of the airbag cover 59 almost coincide with each other.

[0027] The airbag cover 59 is formed by sewing together a synthetic leather 59v constituting a part of the front surface 59a and a synthetic leather 59w constituting the entire back surface 59b and a part of the front surface 59a. Specifically, the airbag cover 59 is formed by bending the leather 59w into a U-shape, arranging the leather 59v in the opening of the U-shape to form a cylindrical shape, sewing one end 59v1 of the leather 59v to one end 59w1 of the leather 59w, and sewing the other end 59v2 of the leather 59v to the other end 59w2 of the leather 59w. The airbag cover 59 is attached to the lap belt portion 13 by accommodating the above-mentioned members such as the lap belt portion 13 and the bag body portion 30a of the airbag 30 in the cylindrical airbag cover 59 thus formed.

[0028] The surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 referred to here is the surface opposite to the surface of the airbag cover 59 facing the occupant M when the seat belt 11 is fastened to the occupant M without twisting, and is the surface visible in Fig. 3. The back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59 is the surface of the airbag cover 59 facing the occupant M when the seat belt 11 is fastened to the occupant M without twisting, and is the surface visible in Fig. 1, is the surface opposite to the surface 59a, and is the surface that comes into contact with the occupant M in normal use.

[0029] Moreover, the leather 59v and the leather 59w are synthetic leathers with different colors, and the color brightness of the leather 59w is set lower than the color brightness of the leather 59v with respect to the brightness L* in the L*a*b* color space. As a result, the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 is divided into a high brightness area 59a1 (first area) with a relatively high brightness color and a low brightness area 59a2 (second area) with a relatively low brightness color. The high brightness area 59a1 is the leather 59v part of the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59, and the low brightness area 59a2 is the leather 59w part of the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59.

[0030] The high brightness region 59a1 includes a central portion C of the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 in the width direction of the lap belt portion 13, and is a region extending linearly along the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13. In the width direction of the lap belt portion 13, the width dimension L3 of the high brightness region 59a1 is set narrower than the width dimension L4 of the lap belt portion 13. In this embodiment, the high brightness region 59a1 is milky white with a brightness L* set in the range of 7.0 to 10.0. As described above, the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 and the longitudinal direction of the airbag cover 59 are almost the same, and the width direction of the lap belt portion 13 and the width direction of the airbag cover 59 are almost the same, so the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the lap belt portion 13 in the above definition of the high brightness region 59a1 are synonymous with the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the airbag cover 59.

[0031] The low-brightness region 59a2 is a region on one end side and the other end side (both sides) of the high-brightness region 59a1 of the surface 59a in the width direction of the lap belt portion 13, and is a region including one end 59a3 and the other end 59a4 (both ends) in the width direction of the surface 59a. In this embodiment, the low-brightness region 59a2 is black with a lightness L* set in the range of 0 to 3.0. As described above, the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 and the longitudinal direction of the airbag cover 59 are almost the same, and the width direction of the lap belt portion 13 and the width direction of the airbag cover 59 are almost the same, so the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the lap belt portion 13 in the above definition of the low-brightness region 59a2 can be read as the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the airbag cover 59.

[0032] This configuration provides the following effects. That is, the lightness L* in the L*a*b* color space is a scale for determining the expanding color that appears to expand and the contracting color that appears to contract, and the lower the lightness, the closer the color is to the contracting color and the easier it is to look small and contracted. Therefore, the effect of the contracting color of the low lightness area 59a2 makes the periphery of one end 59a3 and the other end 59a4 in the width direction of the surface 59a less noticeable, and the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 is more likely to look thin. Therefore, although the lap belt portion 13 is substantially enlarged by the attachment of the airbag 30, the enlargement is less noticeable. Therefore, according to the occupant protection device 10 of this embodiment, even if the airbag 30 is provided on the lap belt portion 13, the design of the lap belt portion 13 can be prevented from being deteriorated.

[0033] In addition, the width dimension L3 of the high-brightness region 59a1 of the expanding color, which is easily noticeable due to the contrast with the contracting color of the low-brightness region 59a2, is set narrower than the width dimension L4 of the lap belt portion 13. Therefore, the surface 59a of the airbag cover 59 is easily seen to be thinner than the lap belt portion 13. Therefore, this configuration can further enhance the effect of suppressing the deterioration of the design of the lap belt portion 13 described above.

[0034] It is more preferable that the width dimension L3 of the high-brightness region 59a1 is set narrower than the width dimension L4 of the lap belt portion 13 as in this embodiment. However, if the width dimension L3 is set to be at least equal to or smaller than the width dimension L4 of the lap belt portion 13, the highly noticeable high-brightness region 59a1 appears to be at least as thin as the lap belt portion 13, thereby improving the effect of suppressing deterioration in the design of the lap belt portion 13.

[0035] In addition, the back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59 faces the occupant M when the seat belt 11 is fastened and is therefore difficult to see, but is located on the outside when the seat belt 11 is not fastened and is therefore easily seen (see FIG. 1). In contrast, in this embodiment, the entire back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59 and the low-brightness area 59a2 of the front surface 59a are formed from a single piece of leather 59w, and therefore the brightness of the colors of these areas is configured to be the same, and therefore the brightness of the color of the entire back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59 is set lower than the brightness of the color of the high-brightness area 59a1 of the front surface 59a. This makes it possible to prevent the airbag cover 59 from becoming conspicuous and reducing the design when the seat belt 11 is not fastened.

[0036] Also, the brightness difference between the front and back surfaces 59a and 59b of the airbag cover 59 may be used to detect the twisting of the front and back surfaces of the lap belt portion 13 and the airbag cover 59. That is, for example, a sensor such as a camera that detects the airbag cover 59 as an image from the outside and a CPU electrically connected to the sensor may be provided, and the CPU may determine that there is no twisting of the front and back surfaces of the lap belt portion 13 and the airbag cover 59 when the sensor detects the color of the high brightness area 59a1 of the front surface 59a, and determine that there is a twist when the sensor does not detect the color. Also, when the CPU determines that there is a twist in the lap belt portion 13 or the airbag cover 59, it may be configured to control a speaker, monitor, lighting, etc. mounted on the vehicle to notify the occupant M of the twisting by sound, image, light, etc.

[0037] In this embodiment, the color of the entire back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59 is the same as the color of the low-brightness region 59a2 of the front surface 59a, but it may be another color as long as it is a color with a lower brightness than the high-brightness region 59a1 of the front surface 59a. However, by making them the same color, the entire back surface 59b and the low-brightness region 59a2 of the front surface 59a can be formed from one material, the high-brightness region 59a1 can be formed from one material with a different color, and the airbag cover 59 can be formed by combining them, as in the configuration of this embodiment, so that the airbag cover 59 can be easily manufactured, which is preferable.

[0038] In order to suppress deterioration in design due to substantial increase in size of lap belt portion 13 when seat belt 11 is not fastened, back surface 59b may be configured to be color-coded into high-brightness and low-brightness regions in the same manner as front surface 59a. In this case, as with front surface 59a, the high-brightness and low-brightness regions of front surface 59a and back surface 59b may have the same pattern or different patterns, provided that the width dimension of the high-brightness region of back surface 59b is equal to or smaller than width dimension L4 of lap belt portion 13.

[0039] In addition, although the present embodiment has been described with respect to a configuration in which the high lightness region 59a1 of the airbag cover 59 extends linearly along the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, for example, as shown in Fig. 8, the same effect as described above can be obtained by configuring the width of the high lightness region 59a1 to narrow from the center of the airbag cover 59 in the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 toward one end 59m and the other end 59n in accordance with the width dimension of the airbag cover 59.

[0040] 8, the high-brightness region 59a1 has the same width from the center of the airbag cover 59 in the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 to a predetermined position on the one end 59m side and the other end 59n side, and the width of the high-brightness region 59a1 narrows from the predetermined position toward the one end 59m and the other end 59n, respectively. However, the high-brightness region 59a1 may have a width that narrows stepwise from the center of the airbag cover 59 in the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 to the one end 59m and the other end 59n. The center of the airbag cover 59 in the longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion 13 refers to a portion of the airbag cover 59 where the longitudinal distance to the one end 59m is equal to the longitudinal distance to the other end 59n.

[0041] In addition, in this embodiment, the airbag cover 59 is formed using leather 59v, 59w of two different colors, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, as long as the brightness of the colors of the front surface 59a and the back surface 59b of the airbag cover 59 are in the above-mentioned relationship, the same effect as above can be obtained even if the airbag cover 59 is formed using other materials and methods. For example, the airbag cover 59 may be formed using the same base fabric as the airbag 30, and the high brightness area 59a1 and the low brightness area 59a2 may be formed by applying paint to this base fabric. Also, the low brightness area 59a2 may be formed using multiple colors that are lower in brightness than the high brightness area 59a1.

[0042] In addition, in the present embodiment, the occupant protection device 10 has been described using as an example a so-called three-point seat belt 11 having a shoulder belt portion 12 and a lap belt portion 13, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, even if the present invention is applied to a so-called two-point seat belt 11 having a lap belt portion 13 without a shoulder belt portion 12, the same effects as those described above can be obtained. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1...seat, 10...occupant protection device, 11...seat belt, 13...lap belt portion, 24...inflator, 30...airbag, 30a...bag main body portion, 30b...duct portion, 59...airbag cover, 59a...surface, 59a1...high-brightness region (first region), 59a2...low-brightness region (second region), 59b...back surface

Claims

1. An occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a seat, a seat belt having a lap belt portion for restraining a waist of an occupant seated in the seat; an inflator that releases inflation gas; an airbag provided on the lap belt portion, the airbag having a bag body portion which is inflated by being supplied with the inflation gas to receive an occupant, and a conduit portion which is connected to the inflator and guides the inflation gas discharged from the inflator to the bag body portion to cause the inflation gas to flow into the bag body portion; an airbag cover attached to the lap belt portion and housing the bag body portion in a folded state; Equipped with The surface of the airbag cover opposite to the surface facing the occupant when the seat belt is fastened to the occupant is provided with: a first region including a central portion of the surface in a width direction of the lap belt portion and extending along a longitudinal direction of the lap belt portion; a second region that is a region on one end side and the other end side of the first region in the width direction and includes both ends of the surface in the width direction, the second region having a color lightness lower than that of the first region; An occupant protection device comprising:

2. 2. The passenger protection device according to claim 1, wherein the first region extends linearly along the longitudinal direction.

3. 2. The passenger protection device according to claim 1, wherein the width of the first region narrows from a central portion of the airbag cover toward one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction.

4. 2. The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the width of the first region is equal to or smaller than the width of the lap belt portion.

5. 5. The passenger protection device according to claim 1, wherein the lightness of the color of the entire rear surface of the airbag cover that faces the passenger is lower than the lightness of the color of the first region.

Images