Occupant protection devices

Abstract

To provide an occupant protection device which suppresses flapping of a conduit part when an inflation gas is generated, and can quickly perform expansion and inflation of an air bag.SOLUTION: An occupant protection device S for protecting an occupant MP seated on a seat 1 has: a seat belt 7; an air bag 25 which is arranged in a region of a lap belt 10, which arrests a lumbar part of the occupant when wearing, in the seat belt 7, and so inflates as to be capable of protecting an upper body MU of the occupant MP; an inflator body 18 for generating an inflation gas; and a pipe part 19 which extends from the inflator body 18, and guides the inflation gas into the air bag 25. The air bag 25 has a flexible conduit part 40 connected to the pipe part 19, and the pipe part 19 is connected to the conduit part 40 in the state that a gas discharge port 21 at a tip thereof faces a center side of a seat longitudinal direction at a position above a seating face 3a of the seat 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

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 a passenger protection device that includes an airbag disposed in the area of ​​the lap belt that restrains the waist of the passenger when the seat belt is fastened (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this passenger protection device, the airbag inflates from the lap belt toward the front and upper side when deployed, and protects the upper body of the passenger when the inflation is completed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-66425 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the passenger protection device described in the above Patent Document 1, inflation gas generated by an inflator body attached to the back side of the seat below the sitting portion is guided to above the sitting portion and to the front side of the backrest through a metal pipe portion and a flexible conduit portion, and is filled into an airbag (more specifically, into the bag body that deploys and inflates) located in the lap belt area. In the passenger protection device configured in this manner, flapping occurs in the flexible conduit portion during the process of guiding the inflation gas discharged from the tip of the pipe portion to the bag body, which causes a delay in the flow of gas into the bag body, and there is a concern that the rapid deployment and inflation of the bag body is hindered.

[0005] The present invention is devised to solve such problems, and has an object to provide an occupant protection device that can quickly deploy and inflate an airbag by suppressing flapping of the conduit portion when inflation gas is generated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The occupant protection device according to the present invention is an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a seat, comprising a seat belt, an airbag that is disposed in an area of ​​a lap belt of the seat belt that restrains the waist of the occupant when the seat belt is worn and that inflates to protect the upper body of the occupant, an inflator body that generates inflation gas, and a metal pipe portion that extends from the inflator body and guides the inflation gas into the airbag, The airbag has a flexible conduit portion connected to the pipe portion, and the pipe portion is connected to the conduit portion at a position above the seat surface of the seat with a gas outlet at its tip facing toward the center of the seat in the left-right direction.

[0007] According to the passenger protection device of the present invention, the flexible conduit portion, which is prone to flapping, can be shortened by extending the rigid metal pipe portion to a position above the seat surface of the seat. In addition, since the direction of the inflation gas discharged from the gas discharge port of the pipe portion is toward the center of the seat in the left-right direction, the conduit portion is less likely to be inflated forward, which is believed to be the cause of flapping. Therefore, according to the passenger protection device of the present invention, flapping of the conduit portion when inflation gas is generated is suppressed, and the airbag can be deployed and inflated quickly.

[0008] In addition, in the occupant protection device of the present invention, the seat is configured with an armrest portion that stands upward along the side of the seat portion, and the upwardly extending portion of the pipe portion can be arranged inside the armrest portion. This makes it possible to prevent passengers from touching the pipe portion extending upward, and also to avoid the poor appearance caused by the pipe portion being directly visible. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [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 side view of the seat of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a front view of the seat of FIG. 1, showing the seat belt fastened. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the inflator is attached to a seat frame. [Diagram 5] 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 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the airbag of FIG. 5. [Figure 7] FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a base fabric constituting the airbag of FIG. 5. [Figure 8] 1 is a front view of a seat in a state where an airbag has completed inflation in an occupant protection device according to an embodiment; [Figure 9] 1 is a side view of a seat in a state where an airbag has completed inflation in the occupant protection device according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] 1 is a side view showing a state in which an occupant is restrained by an airbag that has completed inflation in the occupant protection device according to the embodiment; [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing a modified example in which the inflator body is installed at a different position. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, an occupant protection device S of the embodiment is mounted on a vehicle seat 1 and is configured to include a seat belt 7, an airbag 25, and an inflator 17. The seat 1 on which the occupant protection device S is provided includes a backrest portion 2, a seat portion 3, and an armrest portion 5. The armrest portion 5 is a wall-like portion that stands upward along the side surface 3c of the seat portion 3, and its upper surface 5a is configured as an armrest (armrest portion).

[0011] The seat belt 7 includes a belt body 8 for restraining an occupant MP seated on 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) arranged in the backrest 2, and the other end is fastened to an anchor member 14 (see FIG. 3) arranged on the rear end 3b side and the left side of the seat part 3 of the seat 1. In detail, the belt body 8 is arranged so as to be exposed to the outside from the upper left edge side of the backrest 2, and in the case of the embodiment, when the occupant is not seated, the lap belt 10 for disposing the airbag 25 is exposed to the front surface of the backrest 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The belt body 8 has a lap belt 10 and a shoulder belt 9 stored in the backrest 2, and when an occupant is seated, the lap belt 10, which is disposed substantially along the left-right direction between the anchor member 14 and the buckle 13, restrains the lower body MD (waist) of the occupant MP, and the shoulder belt 9, which extends from the upper left edge side of the backrest 2 and is disposed obliquely to the buckle 13, restrains the upper body MU (head MH and from the shoulders to the chest MB) of the occupant MP (see FIG. 3). Note that in the seat belt 7, a retractor (not shown) disposed in the backrest 2 has a pretensioner mechanism.

[0012] 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. The inflator 17 in this embodiment is set to start operating later than the pretensioner mechanism of the seatbelt 7 in order to regulate the withdrawal of the belt body 8 of the seatbelt 7 accompanying the inflation of the airbag 25. Specifically, the inflator 17 is set to operate 5 ms after the operation of the pretensioner mechanism of the seatbelt 7.

[0013] The inflator 17 is attached to a seat frame 4 that supports the seat 1 (more specifically, the seat portion 3) at a position lower than the seat surface 3a of the seat 1. For example, even if the seat 1 is slid significantly back and forth or rotated, the inflator 17 can move together with the seat 1.

[0014] 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 portion 3 with its axial direction generally aligned in the left-right direction.

[0015] The inflator body 18 is fixed to a mounting plate portion 70 of the seat frame 4 at two axially spaced locations by utilizing fixing members 65. As the fixing member 65, a bolted clamp including a ring-shaped clamp 66 that can be contracted in diameter and a bolt (not shown) protruding radially outward from the outer circumferential surface of the clamp 66 is used.

[0016] 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, which is crimped while fitted onto the gas discharge port 61 provided on one end of the inflator body 18, to form a crimped joint 76. At the crimped joint 76, the end 19a of the pipe portion 19 is connected to the inflator body 18.

[0017] The pipe portion 19 includes a first extending portion 20a including an end portion 19a and extending horizontally, and a second extending portion 20b and a third extending portion 20c extending in different directions. As shown in Fig. 4, the pipe portion 19 extends horizontally from the inflator body 18, then changes its direction to a front-upper direction at the first bent portion 19b, and the second extending portion 20b extends in the front-upper direction. Then, as shown in Fig. 3, when viewed from the front of the seat, the pipe portion 19 extends to a position above the seat surface 3a on the side of the seat portion 3, then changes its direction to the center in the left-right direction of the seat (seat width direction) at the second bent portion 19c, and the third extending portion 20c extends to the center in the left-right direction of the seat.

[0018] 3, a tip 19d of the pipe portion 19 bent in this manner is connected to a conduit portion 40 of the airbag 25, described later, by using a clamp 62. At this time, inflation gas is discharged from the gas discharge port 21 formed at the tip 19d of the pipe portion 19 toward the center in the left-right direction of the seat (i.e., toward the occupant) and sent into the conduit portion 40. The discharge direction of the inflation gas can be tilted to some extent with respect to the horizontal direction when the seat 1 is viewed from the front as shown in FIG.

[0019] 3, the upwardly extending portions 20b, 20c of the pipe portion 19 and the connection portion with the conduit portion 40 are disposed inside the armrest portion 5 located on the side of the seat 1. The conduit portion 40 connected to the pipe portion 19 is led out to the occupant MP side through an opening 5b formed in the inner wall surface of the armrest portion 5.

[0020] The airbag 25 is folded into a long shape and arranged in the area of ​​the lap belt 10 so as to be overlapped on the upper surface side of the lap belt 10 when the seat belt 7 is worn (see FIG. 3). That is, in the unworn state as shown in FIG. 1, the airbag 25 is arranged on the rear side (the backrest 2 side) of the lap belt 10. In the case of the 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 the embodiment, the gap between the lap belt 10 and the cover 22 forms a storage portion for storing the airbag 25.

[0021] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the airbag 25 comprises 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 at the time of completion of inflation that is a substantially triangular prism with the axial direction substantially aligned with the left-right direction. More specifically, the bag body 26 is configured so that the shape at the time of completion of inflation when viewed from the left and right sides is a substantially right-angled triangle with a hypotenuse at the front, and the shape at the time of completion of inflation when viewed from the front-rear direction is a substantially rectangular shape that is wider in the vertical direction (see Figs. 8 and 9). The bag body 26 includes a front wall portion 27 disposed at the front side away from the occupant MP at the time of completion of inflation, a rear upper wall portion 28 and a rear lower wall portion 29 disposed on the occupant MP side at the time of completion of inflation, and a left wall portion 30 and a right wall portion 31 disposed opposite each other in the left-right direction at the time of completion of inflation. The bag body 26 has a communication hole 33 that communicates with the conduit portion 40 on the lower surface side of the rear end 29a of the rear lower wall portion 29, and is connected to the conduit portion 40 at the peripheral portion of the communication hole 33. In the embodiment, the communication holes 33 are circularly opened and arranged side by side in two on the left and right sides so as to sandwich the left and right center of the bag body 26 and be substantially symmetrical. In addition, vent holes 34, 34 for discharging excess inflation gas are formed near the upper and lower centers on both left and right edge sides of the front wall portion 27. In the bag body 26 of the embodiment, the rear lower wall portion 29 forms a leg contact surface 36 that can contact the upper surface of the legs (thighs) of the occupant MP when inflation is complete, and the rear upper wall portion 28 forms an upper body restraint surface 37 that is disposed in front of the occupant MP when inflation is complete and can restrain the occupant MP from the chest to the head. In the embodiment, the rear upper wall portion 28 and the rear lower wall portion 29 are configured such that the outer shape of the bag body 26 in the fully inflated state is substantially rectangular with the longitudinal direction substantially aligned along the front-rear direction side or the vertical direction side, respectively, and the width dimensions of the longitudinal side are made equal as shown in FIG. 6. The rear upper wall portion 28 is configured so that an upper end 28a is positioned in front of the head MH of the occupant when the bag body is fully inflated (see FIG. 9). The rear upper wall portion 28 and the rear lower wall portion 29 are configured to be disposed so as to be substantially perpendicular to each other in the cross-sectional shape of the bag body 26 when it is fully inflated (see FIG. 6).

[0023] The conduit 40 is connected to the pipe 19 of the inflator 17, and is configured such that the tip 40b side connected to the bag body 26 is closed and the base 40a side is open so as to be connectable to the pipe 19, and is configured to be arranged along the left-right direction so as to be substantially aligned with the lap belt 10 when the airbag 25 is fully inflated. As shown in FIG. 5, the region on the tip 40b side of the conduit 40 is arranged on the lower surface side of the bag body 26 when the airbag 25 is fully inflated, and the region on the tip 40b side is made wider to serve as a gas storage section 41 for temporarily storing the inflation gas that has flowed inside. The base 40a side of the conduit 40 is connected to the pipe 19 of the inflator 17 by using the clamp 62 as described above. The width of the gas storage section 41 is set to be approximately twice the width of the portion of the conduit 40 on the base 40a side. The gas storage section 41 is configured such that the width dimension in the left-right direction is substantially the same as the width dimension in the left-right direction of a portion of the bag body 26 at the rear lower edge (near the portion where the communication hole 33 is disposed) (see Figs. 5 and 7). The gas storage section 41 is formed with an opening 41a corresponding to the communication hole 33 formed in the bag body 26. In the 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 opening 41a is joined (sewn) to the periphery of the communication hole 33 around the entire periphery.

[0024] The belt attachment portion 47 is disposed on the lower surface side (lower wall portion 44 side) of the gas storage portion 41 area of ​​the conduit portion 40, and is sewn to the lower wall portion 44 in a generally cylindrical shape with both ends open so that the lap belt 10 can be inserted therethrough (see Figs. 5 and 6). The length of the belt attachment portion 47 is set to be slightly smaller than the width of the gas storage portion 41 in the left and right directions. In other words, the length of the belt attachment portion 47 in the direction along the lap belt 10 is set to be larger so that the bag body 26 does not rise excessively from the lap belt 10 when deployed and inflated.

[0025] 6 and 7, the airbag 25 of this embodiment is formed by joining the peripheral edges of a base fabric of a predetermined shape, and is composed of two occupant-side panels 50 and a front panel 55 constituting the bag body 26, two conduit panels 57 and 58 constituting the conduit 40, and a belt attachment panel 60 constituting the belt attachment section 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 the embodiment, when the inflator 17 is activated while the device is mounted in the vehicle, the inflation gas discharged from the inflator 17 flows into the bag body 26 via the pipe portion 19 and the conduit portion 40, and the bag body 26 protrudes upward and forward from the lap belt 10, breaking the cover 22, and completes inflation as shown in Figures 8 and 9.

[0027] In the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, the airbag 25 (bag body 26) is shaped like a substantially triangular prism with its axial direction aligned substantially along the left-right direction when fully inflated, and is disposed in front of the upper body MU of the occupant MP with the leg contact surface 36 in contact with the upper surface of the leg MT. Therefore, even if the occupant MP moves the upper body MU significantly to approach the lower body MD when the airbag 25 is fully inflated, the leg contact surface 36 is supported by the leg MT over a wide area as shown in Fig. 10, so that the upper body MU of the occupant MP (from the chest MB to the head MH) is restrained from collapsing or being compressed, and the upper body MU of the occupant MP (from the chest MB to the head MH) can be appropriately restrained by the upper body restraining surface 37 disposed in opposition to the front of the upper body MU. Furthermore, in the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the fully inflated shape of the airbag 25 (bag main body 26) is approximately triangular prism-shaped, so that even when the occupant MP is seated in a seat with the backrest inclined, the upper body MU can be appropriately restrained by the upper body restraint surface 37.

[0028] According to the passenger protection device S of the embodiment configured as described above, the flexible conduit 40, which is prone to flapping, can be shortened by extending the rigid metal pipe 19 to a position above the seating surface 3a of the seat 1. In addition, since the direction of the inflation gas discharged from the gas discharge port 21 of the pipe 19 is toward the center in the left-right direction of the seat, the conduit 40 is less likely to be subjected to a force that causes it to inflate forward. Therefore, according to the passenger protection device S, flapping of the conduit 40 when inflation gas is generated is suppressed, and the airbag 25 can be deployed and inflated quickly. In addition, in the occupant protection device S of this embodiment, since the gas flow that has flowed through the conduit portion 40 is bent in an approximately perpendicular direction and introduced into the bag body 26, a gas storage portion 41 for temporarily storing the inflation gas is provided in the area on the side of the tip 40b of the conduit portion 40 that communicates with the bag body 26, which also serves to suppress flapping when the inflation gas is generated.

[0029] In the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, the seat 1 is provided with an armrest portion 5 that stands upward so as to follow the side surface 3c of the seat portion 3, and the portions 20b, 20c of the pipe portion 19 that extend upward are housed inside the armrest portion 5. This makes it possible to prevent the occupant MP from touching the pipe portion 19 that extends upward. It is also possible to avoid the pipe portion 19 being directly visible, which would result in poor appearance.

[0030] Next, a modified example in which the mounting position of the inflator body 18 is changed will be described. In the above embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, the inflator body 18 is provided on the rear side below the seat portion 3, but the installation location of the inflator body 18 can be changed as appropriate. For example, as shown in Fig. 11, the inflator body 18 can be provided inside the armrest portion 5. In this way, the length of the pipe portion 19 connecting the inflator body 18 and the conduit portion 40 can be shortened while avoiding the deterioration of the appearance caused by the pipe portion 19 and the inflator body 18 being directly visible.

[0031] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is merely an example. For example, the bent shape of the pipe section before it is connected to the conduit section can be appropriately changed as necessary, and the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1...seat, 2...backrest, 3...seat, 3c...side, 4...seat frame, 5...armrest, 7...seat belt, 10...lap belt, 18...inflator body, 19...pipe, 21...gas outlet, 25...airbag, 40...duct, MP...occupant, MU...upper body, S...occupant protection device.

Claims

1. An occupant protection device for protecting an occupant seated in a seat, Seat belt and an airbag disposed in a region of a lap belt that restrains a waist of the occupant when the seat belt is fastened, the airbag inflating to protect an upper body of the occupant; An inflator body that generates inflation gas; a metal pipe portion extending from the inflator body to guide the inflation gas into the airbag; The configuration has the airbag has a flexible conduit portion connected to the pipe portion, The pipe portion is connected to the conduit portion at a position above the seat surface of the seat, with a gas outlet at its tip facing toward the center of the seat in the left-right direction.

2. The seat includes an armrest portion that stands upward along a side surface of the seat portion, 2. The passenger protection device according to claim 1, wherein the pipe portion has an upwardly extending portion disposed inside the armrest portion.

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