JPH05105021A - Crew member protective device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the perception of the front of a car body from damage by providing a regulating member for regulating a crew member protecting bag moving to the front of the car body. CONSTITUTION:An air bag 15 expands downward toward the upper section of a a steering 8 to fill a space between a crew member CR seated on a seat 8, a front windshield 3 and the upper portion of the steering 8. Then, an air bag guide 21 has end held by a stopper 22 at a predetermined angle, while having the other end bent forward within the range of angle of a V-shaped groove 21B to abut against the air bag 15. As a result, the forward movement of the air bag 15 is regulated by the air bag guide 21 and the directivity of the air bag 15 in the expansion is properly improved so that the air bag 15 is effectively utilized to protect the crew member CR seated on the seat 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant in a vehicle by absorbing a relatively large impact applied to the vehicle body from the outside.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle, in the event of a collision in which a relatively large impact is applied to the interior of the vehicle, an occupant protection bag called a so-called airbag, which is normally in a contracted state, is inflated instantaneously. An occupant protection device that protects an occupant in a vehicle is put into practical use by absorbing the impact energy by the inflated occupant protection bag to reduce the impact.

In a vehicle equipped with such an occupant protection device, the occupant protection bag generally has a relatively large storage portion to be stored in the central portion of the steering wheel and is normally arranged in front of the vehicle body. Since the visibility of the above instruments will deteriorate, for example,
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-159240,
An occupant protection bag is stored in the upper part of the vehicle body in order to improve the visibility of the instruments on the meter panel arranged in front of the vehicle body, and in the event of a collision, the addition device and inert gas are activated to protect the occupant. It has been proposed that the occupant protection bag be rapidly inflated toward the occupant's head below by inflowing an inert gas into the bag.

[0004]

However, in the occupant protection device as described above, at the time of a collision, the occupant protection bag is rapidly inflated toward the occupant below and is quickly brought into contact with the occupant's body. However, since the direction in which the occupant protection bag is inflated is not regulated when the occupant protection bag collides, until the occupant protection bag is moved to the front side of the vehicle body and abuts the occupant's body when inflated. And the directivity of the occupant protection bag to an appropriate part of the occupant's body cannot be said to be good, and therefore the occupant protection bag may not be sufficiently effective in terms of protecting the occupant. ..

In view of this point, the present invention provides an occupant protection bag which is inflated between the vehicle body and an occupant seated inside the vehicle body when an impact is applied to the vehicle body from the outside. In absorbing the impact energy that is generated, the visibility of the front side of the vehicle body is not impaired under normal circumstances, and the directivity of the occupant protection bag that is inflated at the time of a collision to an appropriate part of the occupant's body is improved. An object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device that can do the above.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an occupant protection device according to the present invention is provided in a vehicle compartment upper side portion of a vehicle body, and an occupant protection bag is stored in a contracted state. A bag storage section in which the bag inflating means is arranged, an impact detecting means for detecting an impact applied to the vehicle body, an operation control section for operating the bag inflating means in accordance with a detection output from the impact detecting means, and an operation control When the bag inflating means is activated by the section and the occupant protection bag is inflated toward the lower side of the vehicle interior side portion of the upper part of the vehicle body, the occupant protection bag may be moved to the front of the vehicle body. And a regulating member for regulating.

[0007]

In the occupant protection system according to the present invention constructed as described above, when the impact detection means detects that an impact is applied to the vehicle body from the outside, the operation control section activates the bag inflating means. When the occupant protection bag is inflated toward the lower side of the vehicle body upper part of the vehicle body, the restricting member restricts the occupant protection bag from being moved to the front of the vehicle body. And the occupant seated inside the vehicle body, the occupant protection bag is rapidly inflated with a proper directivity and brought into contact with an appropriate part of the occupant's body, and the impact energy applied to the occupant by the occupant protection bag Is reliably absorbed. Also,
Since the occupant protection bag is normally stored in the upper part of the vehicle body in the vehicle compartment side in a contracted state, the visibility in front of the vehicle body is not deteriorated by the bag storage portion.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An example of an occupant protection system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an occupant protection device according to the present invention together with a part of a passenger compartment of a cab-over vehicle to which the occupant protection device is applied.

In FIG. 2, there are provided a front panel 2 and a roof panel 4 which are vehicle body panel members for isolating the vehicle interior R from the outside of the vehicle. The front panel 2 is arranged below the front windshield 3 and is provided with a front grill. 5
Is bound to. The roof panel 4 is arranged above the front windshield 3 and extends toward the rear of the vehicle body. Inside the front panel 2, a floor panel 6 that forms the lower end of the vehicle interior R is arranged. A seat 7 is arranged on the upper surface side of the portion extending rearward of the floor panel 6, and in front of the seat 7 in the vehicle interior R, a steering wheel 8 is provided along with a steering shaft 9 extending through the floor panel 6. It is provided.

A head console box portion 10 is arranged above the steering wheel 8 in the vehicle compartment R so as to extend in the vehicle width direction and project downward. Head console box section 10
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the front slope portion 11 facing the front windshield 3, the bottom portion 12 connected to the front slope portion 11, and the rear slope portion 1 connected to the bottom portion 12.
It is formed by being surrounded by 3. An opening 11a is provided in a part of the front slope portion 11, and a notch 12a is formed in the bottom portion 12 on the front slope portion 11 side. An airbag unit 14 provided with an opening 12 b facing the inner surface of the bottom portion 12 is provided at a substantially central portion of the inner surface of the bottom portion 12. Inside the airbag unit 14, an airbag 15 that is folded and contracted is stored at a position above the opening 12b, and an inflator 16 is attached to the airbag 15. The operation of the inflator 16 is controlled by a control unit 20 electrically connected with a shock sensor 17 arranged inside the front panel 2, and when the control unit 20 is supplied with a shock detection output from the shock sensor 17. A drive signal for actuating the inflator 16 is formed and delivered to the inflator 16.

Further, in the head console box portion 10, an airbag guide 21 which is inserted into the opening 11a and the cutout portion 12a and forms a part of the front sloped surface portion 11 and a part of the rear sloped surface portion 13 is provided. It is provided as a regulating member. The airbag guide 21 is made of, for example, the same resin as that of the head console box section 10, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, one end of the airbag guide 21 is rotatably supported by a bearing member 11b in the head console box section 10. The peripheral portion of the other end that is supported is the bent portion 21C.
And is formed along the rear slope 13 by being integrated with other portions with a groove having a relatively small width sandwiched in the rear slope 13. The one end portion and the other end portion of the airbag guide 21 are continuously formed via two connecting portions 21A. A V-shaped groove portion 21B is formed in the two connecting portions 21A so as to extend in the vehicle width direction at a predetermined angle. A stopper 22 is provided at one end of the airbag guide 21 at a predetermined angle with respect to the inner surface of the front sloped portion 11 to regulate the rotation angle of the airbag guide 21.

With such a structure, when a relatively large impact is applied to the front portion of the vehicle body including the front panel 2 and the like, the impact detection output from the impact sensor 17 is supplied to the control unit 20 for control. The unit 20 forms a drive signal according to the shock detection output and supplies the inflator 16. The heater in the inflator 16 to which the drive signal is supplied heats up, and thereby the ignition agent is ignited and the gas generating agent is burned, and a large amount of inert gas is generated. It quickly flows into the airbag 15 connected to. As a result, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIGS. 2 and 3, the airbag 15 is rapidly inflated downward through the opening 12b thereof, and the airbag guide 21 is pressed against the groove portion at the peripheral edge of the other end. It is broken by and is rotated downward about the bearing portion 11b. Therefore, the airbag 15 inflates downward toward the upper portion of the steering wheel 8 and the seat 7
The space between the occupant CR seated on the front windshield 3 and the upper portion of the steering wheel 8 is filled.

At this time, one end of the airbag guide 21 is held at a predetermined angle by the stopper 22 and the other end bends forward in the range of the angle of the V-shaped groove 21B to hit the airbag 15. Be treated. As a result, the forward movement of the airbag 15 is restricted by the airbag guide 21, and the airbag 15 is prevented from expanding when inflated.
The appropriate directivity is improved and the airbag 15 is effectively used for protecting the occupant CR seated on the seat 7.

In the above example, one example of the occupant protection device according to the present invention is applied to a cab-over vehicle, but the present invention is not limited to such an example and is applied to other vehicles of different vehicle types. May be done.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the occupant protection device of the present invention, when the vehicle body is impacted from the outside, the bag inflating means is activated to protect the occupant. When the bag is inflated toward the lower side of the passenger compartment side of the upper part of the vehicle body, the restricting member restricts the occupant protection bag from being moved to the front of the vehicle body. The impact energy applied to the occupant can be reliably absorbed by the occupant protection bag inflated between the vehicle body and the occupant seated inside the vehicle body by abruptly abutting the occupant's body. Further, since the occupant protection bag is stored in the upper part of the vehicle body on the vehicle compartment side in a contracted state, there is an advantage that the visibility in front of the vehicle body is not deteriorated by the bag storage portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view schematically showing an example of an occupant protection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an occupant protection device according to the present invention together with a part of a vehicle body to which the device is applied.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view provided for explaining an operation in the example shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Head Console Box 14 Airbag Unit 15 Airbag 17 Impact Sensor 20 Control Unit 21 Airbag Guide

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bag storage portion provided in a vehicle interior side portion of an upper portion of a vehicle body, in which an occupant protection bag is stored in a contracted state, and a bag inflating means is arranged, and an impact applied to the vehicle body. Impact detecting means for detecting, an operation control section for operating the bag inflating means in response to the detection output from the impact detecting means, and the bag inflating means being activated by the operation control section for protecting the occupant. When the vehicle is inflated toward the lower side of the vehicle body side portion of the upper part of the vehicle body, the occupant protection provided with a restricting member for restricting the occupant protection bag from being moved forward of the vehicle body apparatus.