Side airbag device for vehicle

Abstract

To provide a vehicular side airbag device that can improve restraining performance of the waist of an occupant at the time of side collision.SOLUTION: A vehicular side airbag device 10 comprises a bag main body 12, which is stored inside a seat back 18, and receives supply of gas from an inflator 42 to be inflates and expanded beside an occupant when a side collision is predicted or detected. The bag main body comprises: an upper chamber 12A that covers a side of a head H of the occupant in an inflated and expanded state; and a lower chamber 12B that covers a side of a portion lower than the head of the occupant. Further, a diffuser 44 enclosing a gas jet part of the inflator and extending in a vertical direction of the seat back is arranged inside the bag main body. The diffuser distributes gas supplied from the inflator to the upper chamber and the lower chamber, where a diffuser enlarged part 44B opposing to a region including a center G of gravity of a waist L of the occupant when viewed from a seat width direction is provided integrally in a lower end part of the diffuser. Further, a gas jet port 48 open toward an upper side of a seat is formed in the diffuser enlarged part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a side airbag device for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a side airbag that is inflated and deployed to the side of an occupant in the event of a side collision. The side airbag disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a head protection inflatable portion that restrains the occupant's head, a lumbar protection inflatable portion that restrains the occupant's lumbar region, and an intermediate inflatable portion that connects the head protection inflatable portion and the lumbar protection inflatable portion. Patent Document 1 also discloses that an inner tube (duct member) is disposed inside the intermediate inflatable portion. This inner tube is formed in a cylindrical shape that extends in the vertical direction of the seat back, and a gas ejection portion of an inflator is inserted inside. This allows gas generated by the inflator to be distributed to the head protection inflatable portion and the lumbar protection inflatable portion via the inner tube. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-105107 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, due to its weight and size, the lumbar region of an occupant requires a greater restraining force than other parts of the body such as the head and chest.

[0005] However, in the side airbag described in Patent Document 1, the lumbar protection inflation portion swings due to the high-pressure gas supplied from the inner tube, causing the deployment behavior to be unstable, leaving room for improvement in terms of improving the lumbar restraint performance during a side collision.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVETION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a side airbag device for a vehicle that can improve the hip restraining performance during a side collision. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The vehicle side airbag device according to the present invention described in claim 1 is stored inside a seat back, and is inflated and deployed on the side of an occupant by receiving gas from an inflator when a side collision is predicted or detected, and includes a bag body having an upper chamber that covers the side of the occupant's head in an inflated and deployed state and a lower chamber that covers the side below the occupant's head, and a gas ejection portion of the inflator that extends in the vertical direction of the seat back inside the bag body. Be and a sock for distributing gas supplied from the inflator to the upper chamber and the lower chamber, the sock comprising: A cylindrical sock base portion arranged in a vertical direction; Bottom end of protrudes from the seat forward, Facing the area including the center of gravity of the occupant's hips when viewed from the seat width direction At the same time, at the front of the seat Towards the top of the seat Get An open gas outlet is formed. and an inflator insertion portion that includes the gas ejection portion and is provided at the boundary between the sock base portion and the sock expansion portion. .

[0008] In the vehicle side airbag device according to the present invention described in claim 1, a bag body is stored inside a vehicle seat, and this bag body is inflated and deployed on the side of the occupant by receiving gas from an inflator when a side collision is predicted or detected. The bag body also has an upper chamber and a lower chamber, and the side of the occupant's head is covered by the upper chamber, and the lower chamber covers the lower side of the occupant's head. This makes it possible to protect the occupant in the event of a side collision.

[0009] In addition, a sock extending in the vertical direction of the seat back is disposed inside the bag body. 。 Sock is The seat cushion includes a cylindrical sock base, a sock expansion, and an inflator insertion portion, which are arranged in the vertical direction. The sock expansion portion protrudes from the lower end of the sock base toward the front of the seat and faces an area including the center of gravity of the occupant's hips when viewed from the seat width direction, and has a gas outlet opening toward the upper side of the seat on the front side of the seat. The inflator insertion portion is provided at the boundary between the sock base and the sock expansion portion, Gas outlet but Intended This allows Sock to: The gas supplied from the inflator is distributed to the upper and lower chambers of the bag body. The sock expansion partFacing the area including the center of gravity of the occupant's hips when viewed from the seat width direction By being In the event of a side collision , sock expansion section The gas pressure inside the seat can quickly restrain the center of gravity of the waist. , Waist Initial restraint performance of the part but improvement Will be .

[0010] Furthermore, the sock expansion portion is formed with a gas outlet that opens toward the upper side of the seat, so that the gas supplied from the inflator is ejected toward the upper side of the seat from the gas outlet of the sock expansion portion and distributed to the lower chamber. As a result, the sock expansion portion is pressed toward the lower side of the seat in reaction to the ejection of gas, effectively suppressing the rocking of the lower chamber. As a result, the deployment behavior of the lower chamber can be stabilized, and the lumbar restraint performance of the vehicle side airbag device can be improved. Effect of the Invention

[0011] As described above, the vehicle side airbag device according to the present invention has the excellent effect of improving the lumbar restraining performance during a side collision. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing a vehicle seat to which a vehicle side airbag device according to an embodiment is applied, showing a state in which a bag body is inflated and deployed; [Diagram 2] 1 is a front view showing a vehicle seat to which a vehicle side airbag device according to an embodiment is applied, showing a state in which a bag body is inflated and deployed; [Diagram 3] 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing the sock according to the embodiment, illustrating a state in which the bag body is inflated and deployed. [Diagram 5] 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining the lumbar restraint performance of the vehicle side airbag device according to the embodiment. [Figure 6]13 is an enlarged side view showing a bag body of a vehicle side airbag device according to another embodiment, illustrating a state in which the bag body is inflated and deployed. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] [First embodiment] Hereinafter, a vehicle side airbag device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 5. Note that the arrows FR, UP, and RH in each drawing indicate the seat front side, seat upper side, and seat right side of a vehicle seat 14 on which the vehicle side airbag device 10 is mounted, respectively. When describing using front-rear, left-right, top-bottom directions, these directions indicate front-rear in the seat front-rear direction, left-right in the seat width direction, and top-bottom in the seat up-down direction, unless otherwise specified.

[0014] In addition, a dummy P for a crash test is seated in the vehicle seat 14 shown in Figs. 1 to 3 in place of an actual occupant. The dummy P is, for example, an AM50 (50th percentile of adult American males) of the World Side Impact Dummy (WorldSID). In the following description, the dummy is referred to as "occupant P."

[0015] (Vehicle seat 14) As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a vehicle seat 14 equipped with a vehicle side airbag device 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as "side airbag device 10") includes a seat cushion 16, a seat back 18, and a headrest 20. As an example, the vehicle seat 14 is disposed in the driver's seat on the left side of the vehicle, so that the front of the seat coincides with the front of the vehicle. In addition, the left and right sides of the seat width direction coincide with the left and right sides of the vehicle width direction.

[0016] The seat cushion 16 extends in the front-rear direction and the width direction of the seat, and is configured to be able to support the buttocks and thighs of the occupant P. The seat back 18 is rotatably connected to a rear end of the seat cushion 16, extends in the up-down direction of the seat, and is configured to be able to support the back of the occupant P. The headrest 20 is provided at the upper end of the seat back 18, and is configured to be able to support the head H of the occupant P.

[0017] (Seatbelt device 24) As shown in Fig. 2, an occupant P is restrained in the vehicle seat 14 by a seat belt device 24. The seat belt device 24 includes a webbing 26 that restrains the upper body and waist L of the occupant. Note that the seat belt device 24 is omitted in Figs. 1 and 3.

[0018] The webbing 26 is formed in a long belt shape and includes a shoulder belt 26A that restrains the upper body of the occupant P to the seat back 18 when worn, and a lap belt 26B that restrains the occupant's waist L. The shoulder belt 26A extends obliquely from the left shoulder S to the right waist L of the occupant P. The lower end of the shoulder belt 26A is passed through a tongue plate 30.

[0019] The tongue plate 30 is configured to be detachable from a buckle (not shown) provided on the left side of the seat. When the tongue plate 30 is attached to the buckle, the occupant P is restrained by the webbing 26.

[0020] One end of the webbing 26 is passed through the tongue plate 30 and folded back to extend to the left side of the seat, and this portion extending in the seat width direction constitutes a lap belt 26B. Therefore, the right end of the lap belt 26B is connected to the lower end of the shoulder belt 26A. In addition, the left end of the lap belt 26B is fixed to a belt anchor (not shown) provided on the floor panel.

[0021] An upper end of the shoulder belt 26A is wound around a shoulder anchor (not shown) provided on the vehicle body, and an end of the webbing 26 is wound around a retractor (not shown).

[0022] (Vehicle side airbag device 10) As shown in FIG. 2, the side airbag device 10 includes a bag body 12, an inflator 42, and a sock 44.

[0023] The bag body 12 is stored inside the seat back 18, and is inflated by being supplied with gas generated by the inflator 42. The bag body 12 is inflated and deployed laterally outward in the seat width direction relative to the occupant P by breaking the surface of the seat back 18 due to the inflation pressure.

[0024] The bag body 12 includes an upper chamber 12A that is inflated and deployed on the seat width direction outer side of the head H of the occupant P to cover the sides of the head H, and a lower chamber 12B that is inflated and deployed below the head H of the occupant to cover the seat width direction outer side of the shoulders S to the waist L. The bag body 12 is configured as an integrated bag body in which the upper chamber 12A and the lower chamber 12B are connected to each other. Details of the bag body 12 will be described later.

[0025] The inflator 42 is a cylindrical gas generating device formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, with its axial direction aligned with a side frame 54 (see FIG. 3) that constitutes the framework of the seat back 18. A gas ejection part 42A is provided at the lower end of the inflator 42, and gas is generated from the gas ejection part 42A and supplied to the bag body 12 when a side collision of the vehicle is detected or predicted.

[0026] 3, the inflator 42 is disposed inside the bag body 12 with the gas ejection portion 42A contained in a sock 44, which will be described later. A stud bolt (not shown) extends from the outer surface of the inflator 42 toward the inside in the seat width direction, and the inflator 42 is fastened to the side frame 54 by inserting the stud bolt into the side frame 54 and tightening it with a nut.

[0027] (Bag body 12) As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the bag body 12 is formed into a bag shape by sewing the outer peripheries of two base fabrics 50, 52 arranged in the seat width direction. In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the sewing portion where the outer peripheries of the base fabrics 50, 52 are sewn is indicated by the symbol "S1". The upper part of the bag body 12 is an upper chamber 12A that covers the sides of the head H of the occupant P in the inflated and deployed state. The upper chamber 12A is formed into a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the seat width direction. In addition, the upper chamber 12A restrains the head H of the occupant P in a state where it is sandwiched between the head H of the occupant P and the shoulder belt 26A in the inflated and deployed state.

[0028] The lower part of the bag body 12, when inflated and deployed, forms a lower chamber 12B that covers the sides of the occupant below the head H. The lower chamber 12B is formed in a teardrop shape that bulges downward when viewed in the seat width direction, and extends in the up-down direction along the seat back 18.

[0029] (Sock 44) 1 and 2, a sock 44 is provided inside the bag body 12. The sock 44 is also called a duct, an inner tube, a flow straightening cloth, or a diffuser.

[0030] The sock 44 is formed in a generally cylindrical shape with gas outlets 46, 48 formed at the top and bottom in the vertical direction of the seat, and extends in the vertical direction along the seat back 18. Specifically, the sock 44 has a sock base portion 44A extending in the vertical direction of the seat back 18, and a sock expansion portion 44B integrally provided at the lower end of the sock base portion 44A.

[0031] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the sock 44 is formed by sewing two pieces of base fabric 60, 62 arranged in the seat width direction. Specifically, the two pieces of base fabric 60, 62 constituting the sock 44 have their outer peripheries sewn together at a sewing portion S1. In addition, gas outlets 46, 48 of the sock 44, which will be described later, are openings formed by not joining a part of the outer peripheries of the two pieces of base fabric 60, 62 at the sewing portion S1. Although not shown, the base fabric 60 on the inner side in the seat width direction constituting the sock 44 is sewn to the bag body 12 at multiple points.

[0032] The sock base portion 44A is formed in a long cylindrical shape extending from the upper chamber 12A to the lower chamber 12B, and its upper end portion communicates with the upper chamber 12A via a gas outlet 46.

[0033] The sock expansion portion 44B is a bag body that protrudes from the lower end of the sock base portion 44A toward the seat front side and is connected to the sock base portion 44A. When the bag body 12 is inflated and deployed, the sock expansion portion 44B is disposed opposite to an area including the center of gravity G of the lumbar region L of the occupant P as viewed from the seat width direction. In this embodiment, the lumbar region L of the occupant P refers to the area from the hip bone to the hip joint. The center of gravity G of the lumbar region L is located near the hip joint when the occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 14 is viewed from the seat width direction (see FIG. 1).

[0034] Further, the sock expansion portion 44B has a gas outlet 48 formed at the upper end on the front side of the seat. The gas outlet 48 opens toward the upper side of the seat and connects the lower chamber 12B and the sock expansion portion 44B.

[0035] Further, the sock 44 is provided with a bag-shaped inflator insertion portion 44C integral with the sock base portion 44A. This inflator insertion portion 44C is fixed to the side frame 54 together with the inflator 42 with the lower end portion of the inflator 42 inserted therein. In other words, the gas ejection portion 42A of the inflator 42 is contained within the sock 44. As a result, the gas generated from the inflator 42 is distributed through the sock 44 to the upper chamber 12A and the lower chamber 12B.

[0036] More specifically, the inflator insert 44C of this embodiment is integrally provided at the lower end and rear end of the sock base 44A, and the gas generated by the inflator 42 is supplied to the vicinity of the boundary between the sock base 44A and the sock expansion 44B through the inflator insert 44C. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the inflation of the bag-shaped sock expansion 44B is completed first. Then, the gas GA1 is ejected from the gas outlet 48 of the sock expansion 44B toward the upper side of the seat. At the same time, the inflation of the sock base 44A is completed, and the gas GA2 is supplied to the upper chamber 12A from the gas outlet 46 of the sock base 44A. The sock expansion 44B is pressed toward the lower side of the seat by the reaction of the gas GA1 ejected upward. The gas GA1 ejected from the gas outlet 48 is supplied to the lower chamber 12B. In this manner, in the side airbag device 10 of this embodiment, the sock expansion portion 44B completes inflation and deployment at the beginning of a side collision, and then the upper chamber 12A and the lower chamber 12B complete inflation and deployment.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a graph comparing the lumbar restraining performance of the occupant P between the side airbag device 10 of this embodiment and a comparative example in which the configuration corresponding to the sock expansion portion 44B is removed from this embodiment. The vertical axis of the graph is the lumbar restraining force F, and the horizontal axis of the graph is the lumbar movement amount M. As shown in this figure, in the comparative example shown by the dashed line, it can be seen that the lumbar part of the occupant is completely restrained after the lumbar restraining force F of the side airbag device reaches a peak. In contrast, in the present embodiment shown by the solid line, it can be seen that the lumbar restraining force F of the side airbag device 10 reaches a peak at the beginning when the lumbar part L of the occupant P starts to move due to inertia, and the lumbar movement amount M until the movement of the lumbar part L of the occupant P completely stops is reduced compared to the comparative example.

[0038] That is, in this embodiment, the lumbar region L can be restrained by the inflation pressure of the sock expansion portion 44B before the lower chamber 12B is fully inflated and deployed. Furthermore, the sock expansion portion 44B presses the lower chamber 12B toward the seat lower side by the reaction of the ejected gas GA1, stabilizing the deployment behavior of the lower chamber 12B. As a result, in this embodiment, the time until the lumbar restraining force reaches its peak after the side airbag device 10 is activated is shortened, which is considered to contribute to improving the lumbar restraining performance.

[0039] (Action and Effects) Next, the operation and effects of this embodiment will be described.

[0040] In the vehicle side airbag device 10 according to this embodiment, a bag body 12 is stored inside a vehicle seat 14, and when a side collision is predicted or detected, the bag body 12 is supplied with gas from an inflator 42 and inflated and deployed to the side of an occupant P. The bag body 12 also includes an upper chamber 12A and a lower chamber 12B, and the side of the head H of the occupant P is covered by the upper chamber 12A, and the lower side of the head H of the occupant P is covered by the lower chamber 12B. This makes it possible to protect the occupant P in the event of a side collision.

[0041] A sock 44 extending in the vertical direction of the seat back 18 is disposed inside the bag body 12. The sock 44 distributes the gas supplied from the inflator 42 to the upper chamber 12A and the lower chamber 12B of the bag body 12. A sock expansion portion 44B facing an area including the center of gravity G of the hips L of the occupant P as viewed from the seat width direction is integrally provided at the lower end of the sock 44. This allows the pressure of the gas in the sock 44 to quickly restrain the center of gravity G of the hips during a side collision, improving the initial restraint performance of the side airbag device 10 for the hips L.

[0042] Furthermore, the sock expansion portion 44B is formed with a gas outlet 48 that opens toward the upper side of the seat, so that the gas supplied from the inflator 42 is ejected toward the upper side of the seat from the gas outlet 48 of the sock expansion portion 44B and distributed to the lower chamber 12B. As a result, the sock expansion portion 44B is pressed toward the lower side of the seat in reaction to the ejection of the gas, and the rocking of the lower chamber 12B can be effectively suppressed. As a result, the deployment behavior of the lower chamber 12B can be stabilized, and the lumbar restraint performance of the side airbag device 10 can be improved.

[0043] Second Embodiment Hereinafter, a vehicle side airbag device 70 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. The same components as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described. The second embodiment is characterized in that the base cloth 50 on the inner side in the seat width direction of the lower chamber 12B and the base cloth 52 on the outer side in the seat width direction are joined above the sock expansion portion 44B in the inflated and deployed state. The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 6, the base fabric 50 constituting the side surface on the inner side in the seat width direction of the lower chamber 12B in the inflated and deployed state and the base fabric 52 constituting the side surface on the outer side in the seat width direction of the lower chamber 12B are sewn and joined at the center in the front-rear and up-down directions by a sewn part S2. The sewn part S2 is a long hole-shaped sewing line that is long in the up-down direction when viewed from the seat width direction, and is formed on the seat upper side of the sock expansion part 44B. In Fig. 5, the sewn part that sews the outer periphery of the base fabrics 50, 52 of the bag body 12 is indicated by the reference symbol S3.

[0045] In the vehicle side airbag device 70 according to the second embodiment described above, the base fabric of the lower chamber 12B is joined by the sewn portion S2 above the gas outlet 48 of the sock expansion portion 44B. This effectively prevents the base fabric of the lower chamber 12B from being swung by the gas supplied from the gas outlet 48. This further stabilizes the deployment behavior of the lower chamber 12B, and improves the lumbar restraining performance of the vehicle side airbag device 70.

[0046] Although the vehicle side airbag devices 10 and 70 according to the above-mentioned embodiments have been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the sock 44 extends from the upper part of the upper chamber 12A to the lower part of the lower chamber 12B, but is not limited thereto. For example, the upper end of the sock 44 may be positioned at the shoulder S of the occupant P. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10. Vehicle side airbag device 12 Bag body 12A Upper Chamber 12B Lower chamber 14 Vehicle seats 18 Seat back 42 Inflator 44 Sock 44B Sock expansion part 48 Gas outlet 70 Vehicle side airbag device P Crew H head L waist G Center of gravity of the waist

Claims

[Claim 1] a bag body that is stored inside the seat back, receives gas from an inflator when a side collision is predicted or detected, and is inflated and deployed at the side of the occupant, and has an upper chamber that covers the side of the occupant's head when inflated and deployed, and a lower chamber that covers the side below the occupant's head; a sock that contains a gas ejection portion of the inflator, extends in a vertical direction of the seat back inside the bag body, and distributes gas supplied from the inflator to the upper chamber and the lower chamber, The sock includes a cylindrical sock base portion arranged in a vertical direction, a sock expansion portion that protrudes from a lower end of the sock base portion toward the seat front side, faces an area including the center of gravity of the occupant's hips when viewed from the seat width direction, and has a gas outlet formed on the seat front side and opening toward the seat upper side; an inflator insertion portion that includes the gas ejection portion and is provided at a boundary between the sock base portion and the sock expansion portion; A side airbag device comprising:

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