Occupant protection device

Abstract

To provide an occupant protection device that can solve or reduce the problem that workability deteriorates during attachment of a side cover due to arranging a conduit part of the occupant protection device at a side of a seating part.SOLUTION: An occupant protection device S comprises an airbag 25, arranged in a region of a lap belt 10, which can inflate sufficiently to protect an upper body of an occupant MP, and an inflator 17 that supplies gas for inflation to the airbag 25, which further comprises a position adjusting mechanism 80 that adjusts a position of the conduit part 40 with flexibility through which the gas for inflation is flown into a bag main body 26 of the airbag 25. The position adjusting mechanism 80 comprises a pair of bulkhead parts 82A and 82B erected inside a side cover 5 covering a side part of a seating part 3 and a storage recessed part 83 formed between the bulkhead parts to store the conduit part 40. Guide surfaces 84, which incline to expand from the side cover 5 toward tips of the bulkhead parts 82A and 82B, are provided on inner surfaces opposing to each other, of the pair of bulkhead parts 82A and 82B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, there has been an occupant protection device that is configured to include an airbag that is placed in the area of ​​the lap belt that restrains the occupant's waist when the seat belt is fastened (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this occupant protection device, the airbag inflates forward and upward from the lap belt when deployed and inflated, and protects the occupant's upper body when fully inflated. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-66425 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the passenger protection device described in Patent Document 1, inflation gas generated by an inflator body attached to the back side of the seat below the sitting portion is guided through a metal pipe and a flexible conduit to above the sitting portion and to the front side of the backrest, and is supplied to an airbag (more specifically, to the bag body that deploys and inflates) located in the lap belt area. In a passenger protection device configured in this manner, when a side cover is attached to the side of the sitting portion, part of the conduit connecting the inflator body and the airbag body is disposed inside the side cover. However, the conduit itself is weak and prone to swinging, making it difficult to maintain its position. As a result, when attaching the side cover to the seat, care must be taken to ensure that the conduit, which may be out of position, does not get caught between the conduit and surrounding components, which makes it difficult to attach the side cover.

[0005] The present invention aims to solve such problems and to provide an occupant protection device that can eliminate or reduce the problem of reduced workability when installing side covers, which is caused by arranging the conduit portion of the occupant protection device on the side of the seat. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The occupant protection device according to the present invention comprises a seat belt and an airbag disposed in a region of a lap belt of the seat belt that restrains the waist of the occupant when the seat belt is fastened, the airbag inflating to protect the upper body of the occupant; an inflator that supplies inflation gas to the airbag; Equipped with The airbag, a bag body that is disposed to cover the front of the occupant when inflation is complete; a flexible conduit portion that allows the inflation gas discharged from the inflator to flow into the bag body; An occupant protection device configured to include: a position adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the conduit portion located on the side of the seat portion; The position adjustment mechanism comprises a pair of partition walls erected on the inside of the side covers covering the sides of the seat, and a storage recess formed between the pair of partition walls to store the conduit section, and the pair of partition walls are characterized in that their opposing inner surfaces are provided with guide surfaces that are inclined so as to expand from the side cover side toward the tip of the partition wall.

[0007] According to the occupant protection device of the present invention, when the side cover is brought close to the seat to be attached to the seat, the guide surfaces formed on the opposing inner surfaces of a pair of partitions erected on the inside of the side cover guide the conduit in a direction that corrects misalignment with the side cover, allowing the conduit to be housed and retained in the accommodating recess formed on the inside of the side cover. By housing and retaining the conduit in the accommodating recess, subsequent whirling of the conduit is prevented, thereby avoiding the problem of the conduit becoming caught during installation of the side cover. Therefore, the occupant protection device of the present invention can eliminate or reduce the problem of impaired workability during installation of the side cover caused by arranging the conduit of the occupant protection device to the side of the seat. [Brief explanation 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; [Figure 2] A is a side view of the seat in Fig. 1. B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in Fig. 2A, showing the conduit portion and the position adjustment mechanism of the occupant protection device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a front view of the seat of FIG. 1, showing the state in which the seat belt is fastened. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the inflator is attached to a seat frame. [Figure 5] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating how to attach a side cover to the side of the seat portion. FIG. [Figure 6] 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which an airbag used in the occupant protection device of FIG. 1 is inflated by itself. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the airbag of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a base fabric constituting the airbag of FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 3 is a side view of the seat in the passenger protection device of the embodiment, in a state where the airbag has completed inflation. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, an occupant protection device S of this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle seat 1 and includes a seat belt 7, an airbag 25, and an inflator 17. The seat 1 equipped with this occupant protection device S includes a backrest 2 and a seat 3, and a resin side cover 5 is provided on the left side of the seat 3 to cover the side of the seat 3. The side cover 5 is fixed to the skeleton frame (seat frame 4) of the seat 3 using a fixing tool (not shown).

[0010] The seat belt 7 is configured to include a belt body 8 for restraining an occupant MP seated in the seat 1, a tongue plate 12 attached to the belt body 8, and a buckle 13 for connecting the tongue plate 12. One end of the belt body 8 is fastened to a winding shaft of a retractor (not shown) disposed in the backrest 2, and the other end is fastened to an anchor member 14 (see FIG. 2) disposed on the left side of the rear end 3b of the seat portion 3 of the seat 1. More specifically, the belt body 8 is disposed so as to be exposed to the outside from the upper left edge side of the backrest 2. In this embodiment, when an occupant is not seated, the lap belt 10 for deploying the airbag 25 is exposed in front of the backrest 2 as shown in FIGS. The belt main body 8 has a lap belt 10 and a shoulder belt 9 stored in the backrest 2. When the occupant is seated, with the tongue plate 12 connected to the buckle 13, the lap belt 10, which is disposed between the anchor member 14 and the buckle 13 and extends substantially along the left-right direction, restrains the lower body MD (waist) of the occupant MP, and the shoulder belt 9, which extends from the upper left edge of the backrest 2 and is disposed diagonally to the buckle 13, restrains the upper body MU (head MH and area from the shoulders to the chest MB) of the occupant MP (see FIG. 3). Note that in the seatbelt 7, a retractor (not shown) disposed in the backrest 2 has a pretensioner mechanism. In addition, the occupant MP can release the fastening state of the tongue plate 12 with respect to the buckle 13 by pressing a release button (not shown) provided on the buckle 13, thereby removing the tongue plate 12 from the buckle 13.

[0011] The inflator 17 supplies inflation gas to the airbag 25. In this embodiment, the inflator 17 includes an inflator body 18 that generates inflation gas, and a pipe portion 19 that extends from the inflator body 18 and guides the inflation gas into the airbag 25. In this embodiment, the inflator 17 is set to start operating later than the pretensioner mechanism of the seatbelt 7 in order to restrict the belt body 8 of the seatbelt 7 from being pulled out as the airbag 25 is inflated. Specifically, the inflator 17 is set to start operating 5 ms after the pretensioner mechanism of the seatbelt 7 is activated.

[0012] The inflator 17 is attached to the seat frame 4 that supports the seat 1 (more specifically, the seat portion 3) at a position below the seat surface 3a of the seat 1, and is capable of moving together with the seat 1, even when the seat 1 is slid back and forth or rotated, for example.

[0013] 4 shows the inflator 17 attached to the seat frame 4. As shown in the figure, the inflator body 18 is a generally cylindrical cylinder type, and is provided on the rear side below the seat 3 with its axial direction generally aligned with the left-right direction.

[0014] The inflator body 18 is fixed to a mounting plate portion 70 of the seat frame 4 at two axially spaced locations using fixing members 65. The fixing members 65 are bolted clamps that include a ring-shaped clamp 66 that can be contracted in diameter and a bolt (not shown) that protrudes radially outward from the outer circumferential surface of the clamp 66.

[0015] The pipe portion 19 is a metal tube formed by bending in multiple stages, one end 19a of which is connected to the inflator body 18. The end 19a connected to the inflator body 18 is an enlarged diameter portion, and is crimped while fitted onto the gas discharge port provided on one end of the inflator body 18, forming a crimped joint 76. At the crimped joint 76, the end 19a of the pipe portion 19 is connected to the inflator body 18.

[0016] The pipe portion 19 includes a first extending portion 20a that includes an end portion 19a and extends horizontally, as well as a second extending portion 20b and a third extending portion 20c that extend in different directions. As shown in FIG. 4, the pipe portion 19 extends horizontally from the inflator body 18, then changes direction forward at a first bent portion 19b, so that the second extending portion 20b extends forward. The second extending portion 20b then changes direction upward at a second bent portion 19c on the side of the seat 3, so that the third extending portion 20c extends upward. The tip of the bent pipe portion 19 is connected to the flexible conduit 40 of the airbag 25 using a clamp 62.

[0017] 2A, the upstream portion of the conduit 40 (the portion close to the connection with the pipe 19) is disposed in an area covered by the side cover 5 on the side of the seat 3. Here, the conduit 40 is in a weak state and is prone to swinging in the area covered by the side cover 5. For this reason, the occupant protection device S of this embodiment is provided with a position adjustment mechanism 80 that adjusts the position of the conduit 40 when the conduit 40 swings and deviates from its predetermined position.

[0018] 2B, the position adjustment mechanism 80 includes a pair of partition walls 82A, 82B erected on the inner side 5a of the side cover 5 that covers the sides of the seat portion 3. The area between the pair of partition walls 82A, 82B spaced apart in the front-to-rear direction of the seat 1 is an accommodation recess 83 that is open toward the side surface 3c of the seat portion 3, and the conduit portion 40 can be accommodated and held in this accommodation recess 83. Furthermore, guide surfaces 84 are provided on the mutually facing inner surfaces of the pair of partitions 82A, 82B, which are inclined so as to widen from the base ends joined to the main body 5b of the side cover 5 toward the respective tips of the partitions 82A, 82B. As a result, openings 85 that are wide in the front-to-rear direction of the seat 1 are formed on the tip sides of the pair of partitions 82A, 82B. Note that the width of opening 85 preferably corresponds to the width of misalignment of conduit 40 that occurs due to whirling.

[0019] Even if the conduit 40 between the side cover 5 and the seat 3 is misaligned in the fore-and-aft direction of the seat 1 relative to the side cover 5 as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 5A when the side cover 5 is attached to the seat 3, the position adjustment mechanism 80 configured as described above can guide the conduit 40 along the slope of the guide surface 84 in a direction that corrects the misalignment with the side cover 5 (specifically, in a direction toward the center of the accommodation recess 83 as shown by the arrow line in Fig. 5A) during the process of bringing the side cover 5 closer to the seat 3. After the conduit 40 is accommodated and held in the accommodation recess 83, as shown in Fig. 5B, the side cover 5 is attached to the seat 3 with the pair of partitions 82A, 82B preventing the conduit 40 from swinging, thereby avoiding the problem of the conduit 40 being misaligned and getting caught in surrounding components during the side cover attachment work.

[0020] Next, the airbag 25 will be described. The airbag 25 is folded into a long shape and placed in the area of ​​the lap belt 10 so as to overlap the upper surface of the lap belt 10 when the seat belt 7 is fastened (see FIG. 3). That is, in the unfastened state as shown in FIG. 1, the airbag 25 is placed on the rear side of the lap belt 10 (the side of the backrest 2). In this embodiment, the airbag 25 and the lap belt 10 are covered and integrated with each other by a cover 22 that can be broken when the airbag 25 is deployed and inflated, as shown in FIG. That is, in this embodiment, the gap between the lap belt 10 and the cover 22 forms a storage area for storing the airbag 25.

[0021] As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the airbag 25 includes a bag body 26, a conduit portion 40 connected to the inflator 17 to allow inflation gas to flow into the bag body 26, and a belt attachment portion 47 through which the lap belt 10 is inserted.

[0022] The bag body 26 has an outer shape, when fully inflated, that is a substantially triangular prism with its axial direction aligned substantially along the left-right direction. More specifically, the bag body 26 is configured so that, when viewed from the left or right side, the fully inflated shape is a substantially right-angled triangle with its hypotenuse at the front, and when viewed from the front-rear direction, the fully inflated shape is a substantially rectangular shape that is wider in the vertical direction (see FIGS. 3 and 9). The bag body 26 includes a front wall 27 that is positioned in front and away from the occupant MP when fully inflated, a rear upper wall 28 and a rear lower wall 29 that are positioned toward the occupant MP when fully inflated, and a left wall 30 and a right wall 31 that are positioned opposite each other in the left-right direction when fully inflated. 6 and 7 , the bag body 26 has a communication hole 33 communicating with the conduit 40 on the underside of the rear end 29a of the rear lower wall 29, and is connected to the conduit 40 at the periphery of the communication hole 33. In this embodiment, the communication holes 33 are circular, and two are arranged side by side on the left and right sides of the bag body 26, approximately symmetrically, about the left and right center of the bag body 26. Vent holes 34, 34 are formed near the top and bottom centers on both left and right edges of the front wall 27 for venting excess inflation gas. In the bag body 26 of this embodiment, the rear lower wall 29 defines a leg contact surface 36 that can contact the upper surfaces of the legs (thighs) of the occupant MP when fully inflated, and the rear upper wall 28 defines an upper body restraint surface 37 that is positioned in front of the occupant MP when fully inflated and can restrain the occupant MP from the chest to the head. In this embodiment, the rear upper wall portion 28 and the rear lower wall portion 29 have an outer shape when the bag body 26 is fully inflated that is generally rectangular with its longitudinal direction generally aligned along the front-rear direction or the up-down direction, and are configured so that their width dimensions in the longitudinal direction are the same, as shown in Fig. 7. The rear upper wall portion 28 is configured so that its upper end 28a is positioned in front of the head MH of the occupant when the bag body is fully inflated (see Fig. 9). Furthermore, the rear upper wall portion 28 and the rear lower wall portion 29 are configured to be positioned generally perpendicular to each other in the cross-sectional shape of the bag body 26 when it is fully inflated (see Fig. 7).

[0023] Conduit 40 is connected to pipe 19 of inflator 17, has a closed tip 40b connected to bag body 26, and an open base 40a connectable to pipe 19. Conduit 40 is arranged in the left-right direction substantially along lap belt 10 when airbag 25 is fully inflated. As shown in FIG. 6 , the region of conduit 40 on the tip 40b side is arranged on the underside of bag body 26 when airbag 25 is fully inflated. This region on the tip 40b side is wider to form gas reservoir 41 that temporarily stores inflation gas that has flowed into it. Conduit 40 is connected at its base 40a side to pipe 19 of inflator 17 using clamp 62, as described above. The width of gas reservoir 41 is set to be approximately twice the width of the portion of conduit 40 on the base 40a side. The gas storage section 41 is configured so that its width in the left-right direction is approximately the same as the width in the left-right direction of a portion of the bag body 26 on the rear lower edge side (near the portion where the communication hole 33 is located) (see FIG. 6). The gas storage section 41 is formed with an opening 41a that corresponds to the communication hole 33 formed in the bag body 26. In this embodiment, the conduit section 40 is formed in a cylindrical shape by joining the peripheries of an upper wall section 43 and a lower wall section 44, which have the same outer shape, and the opening 41a is formed in the region of the upper wall section 43. The entire periphery of the opening 41a is joined (sewn) to the periphery of the communication hole 33.

[0024] The belt attachment portion 47 is disposed on the lower surface (lower wall 44 side) of the gas storage portion 41 area of ​​the conduit 40, and is sewn to the lower wall 44 in a generally cylindrical shape with both ends open so that the lap belt 10 can be inserted therethrough (see FIGS. 6 and 7). The length of the belt attachment portion 47 is set slightly smaller than the width of the gas storage portion 41 in the left-right direction. In other words, the length of the belt attachment portion 47 in the direction parallel to the lap belt 10 is set larger so that the bag main body 26 does not rise excessively above the lap belt 10 when deployed and inflated.

[0025] 7 and 8, the airbag 25 of this embodiment is formed by joining the peripheral edges of a base fabric of a predetermined shape, and in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, is composed of two occupant-side panels 50 and a front panel 55 that constitute the bag body 26, two conduit panels 57 and 58 that constitute the conduit 40, and a belt attachment panel 60 that constitutes the belt attachment part 47. The occupant-side panel 50, the front panel 55, the conduit panels 57 and 58, and the belt attachment panel 60 are each formed from flexible woven fabric made of polyester yarn, polyamide yarn, or the like.

[0026] In the occupant protection device S of this embodiment, when the inflator 17 is activated while the device is mounted in the vehicle, inflation gas discharged from the inflator 17 flows into the bag body 26 via the pipe portion 19 and the conduit portion 40. The bag body 26 into which the inflation gas has flowed then breaks the cover 22, protruding forward and upward from the lap belt 10, and completing inflation as shown in FIG.

[0027] The occupant protection device S of this embodiment configured as described above includes a position adjustment mechanism 80 for adjusting the position of the conduit portion 40 located on the side of the seat portion 3. During the process of moving the side cover 5 closer to the seat portion 3 to attach the side cover 5 to the seat portion 3, the conduit portion 40 is guided in a direction that corrects misalignment with respect to the side cover 5 by guide surfaces 84 formed on the opposing inner surfaces of a pair of partition walls 82A, 82B erected on the inside of the side cover 5, and the conduit portion 40 can be accommodated and held in the accommodating recess 83 formed on the inside of the side cover 5. After the conduit portion 40 is accommodated and held in the accommodating recess 83, the conduit portion 40 is prevented from swinging, thereby avoiding the problem of the conduit portion 40 being caught during attachment of the side cover. Therefore, the occupant protection device S of this embodiment can eliminate or reduce the problem of impaired workability during attachment of the side cover caused by disposing the conduit portion 40 of the occupant protection device S on the side of the seat portion 3.

[0028] Although the above describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention, this is merely an example. For example, while the above embodiment illustrates an example in which a position adjustment mechanism is provided at one location, position adjustment mechanisms may be provided at multiple locations along the direction of the conduit. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the inclination angle of the guide surface provided on the inner surface of the partition is substantially constant from the base end to the tip of the partition. However, the inclination angle of the guide surface on the base end side and the tip end side of the partition may be different. In some cases, a guide surface may be provided only on the tip end side of the partition. For example, the present invention can be embodied in various modified forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1...seat, 3...seat portion, 3c...side surface, 5...side cover, 10...lap belt, 17...inflator, 19...pipe portion, 25...airbag, 26...airbag body, 40...duct portion, 80...position adjustment mechanism, 82A, 82B...partition wall portion, 83...accommodating recess, 84...guide surface, MP...occupant, S...occupant protection device

Claims

[Claim 1] Seat belts and an airbag disposed in a region of a lap belt of the seat belt that restrains the waist of the occupant when the seat belt is fastened, the airbag inflating to protect the upper body of the occupant; an inflator that supplies inflation gas to the airbag; Equipped with The airbag, a bag body that is disposed to cover the front of the occupant when inflation is complete; a flexible conduit portion that allows the inflation gas discharged from the inflator to flow into the bag body; An occupant protection device configured to include: a position adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the conduit portion located on the side of the seat portion; The position adjustment mechanism comprises a pair of partition walls erected on the inside of a side cover covering the sides of the seat, and an accommodating recess formed between the pair of partition walls to accommodate the conduit portion, and the pair of partition walls have guide surfaces on their opposing inner surfaces that are inclined so as to expand from the side cover side toward the tip of the partition wall, characterized in that this occupant protection device.

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