JPH03284443A - Energy absorption structure of vehicle body side - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To protect the head of a driver or passenger completely at the time of side collision by disposing an air bag unit with an air bag stored, on the belt line part of a cabin side wall, and constructing the air bag so that the air bag expanded at the time of side collision may be developed upwards. CONSTITUTION:An air bag unit EU is disposed on the belt line part 6a of an inner panel 6 in a door 2, and is covered with a door trim 9. In other words, a shelf part 6b is formed at the belt line part 6a in the inner panel 6, and the air bag EU is bolt-tightened for the shelf part 6b. The air bag unit EU accommodates an air bag 12 and an inflator 13 in a case 11 open upwards to cover the open part of the case 11 with a covering member 14. In the door trim 9, an open part 9a is formed upwards at a position for the covering member 14. In the open part 9a, its lower end is covered with a rid 15 connected to the door trim 9 through a hinge 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an energy absorbing structure for a side portion of a vehicle body that protects occupants from impact energy in the event of a side collision of a vehicle.

(Prior Art) In recent years, there has been a tendency for vehicles to be equipped with airbags to protect occupants in the event of a collision.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-1) 7957 discloses an air bag unit disposed in the armrest of a side door. That is, an airbag that inflates in the event of a side collision is deployed toward the occupant's body, and the impact energy applied to the occupant in the event of a side collision is absorbed by the airbag.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even if the occupant's body side is protected by an airbag, the head will still swing significantly from side to side.

Even if the airbag placed in the armrest were to be deployed to the occupant's head, there is a problem in that it takes time for the airbag to be deployed to the occupant's head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an energy absorption structure for a side portion of a vehicle body that protects the head of an occupant.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a side glass that can be opened and closed is provided on a car window formed on a side wall of a passenger compartment, and a belt line portion of the side wall includes the following: An airbag unit containing an airbag is disposed, and the airbag is inflated and deployed upward in the event of a side collision.

According to this, the airbag unit is located on the side wall of the vehicle cabin at the belt line part closest to the occupant's head, so it can be deployed to the occupant's head in a short period of time. Become.

Further, in a preferable aspect, a glass opening/closing detection means for detecting opening/closing of the side glass, a side collision detection means for detecting a side collision, a timing adjustment means for adjusting the deployment timing of the airbag, and a side glass opening/closing detection means for detecting opening/closing of the side glass; It is desirable to include a deployment control means for delaying the deployment timing of the airbag when the side glass is opened compared to when the side glass is closed.

That is, when the side glass is closed, it is desirable that the airbag be deployed quickly between the side glass and the occupant's head. On the other hand, when the side glass is open, there is nothing like a side glass to support the deployed airbag, so even if the airbag were to deploy instantly after a side collision, the impact from the occupant's head could cause the head to be damaged. This causes the airbag to collapse out of the vehicle. For this reason, when the side window is open, the airbag deployment timing is delayed so that the airbag starts deploying when the occupant's head approaches the belt line, thereby increasing the airbag deployment force. The airbag is designed to receive impact from the occupant's head by using a gas flow that fills the airbag upward.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below based on the attached drawings.

In FIG. 2, the symbol l is a car, and this car 1 is:
The vehicle is of a so-called two-door type, with doors 2 on the driver's seat side and the passenger's seat side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the door 2 is roughly composed of a door body 3 and a door glass 4 provided within the door body 3 so as to be movable up and down. More specifically, in the door body 3, a door glass storage space 7 is formed by an outer panel 5 and an inner panel 6, and an impact parr 8 is disposed in this door glass storage space 7, and this impact parr 8 is connected to the outer panel. 5 and extends in the front-rear direction.

The door body 3 has a door trim 9 on its interior surface facing the vehicle interior. That is, a door trim 9 is attached to the inner panel 6 on the inner surface thereof toward the vehicle interior, and an armrest 10 is formed on the door trim 9.

In such a door 2, an airbag unit EtJ is disposed in the belt line portion 6a of the inner panel 6, and the airbag unit EU is covered by the door trim 9. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner panel 6 has a shelf 6b formed in its belt line portion 6a, and the airbag EU is bolted to this shelf 6b. The airbag unit EU has a case 1) that opens upward, and an airbag 12 and an inflation flake 13 are housed in this case 11, as shown in FIG. is covered by a lid member 14. This airbag unit EU is covered by a door trim 9, and this door trim 9 includes an airbag unit EL.
An opening 9a is opened upward at a position corresponding to the lid member 14 of I.
is formed, and this opening 9a is covered by a lid 15. The lower end of the lid 15 is connected to the door trim 9 via a hinge 16, and the lid 15 is covered with a skin 17 that covers the entire door trim 9, and a perforation 17a is formed in the skin 17 at a position corresponding to the lid 15. (see Figure 6), and when the lid 15 is opened, the perforations 17
a is to be broken.

The airbag unit EU has its inflation flake 13 detonated by a signal from the control unit U. A signal from a sensor 20 disposed on the impact par 8 and a signal from a touch sensor 22 disposed on the glass guide 21 are input to the control unit U. The sensor 20 detects a side collision based on the deformation of the outer panel 5. Moreover, the sensor 22 is
As shown in FIG. 7, the glass guide 21 is disposed at the lower end of the glass guide 21 that guides the door glass, and the door glass 4 is opened by a predetermined amount or more (the door glass 4 is almost accommodated in the door body 3). status) and outputs an ON signal.

The control unit U controls the timing of detonation of the inflator 13. That is, when a side collision is detected by the sensor 20, the presence or absence of a signal from the touch sensor 22 is determined, and when it is an OFF signal, that is, the door glass 4
When the inflator is closed (the state shown in FIG. 8), a detonation signal is immediately output to the inflator 13. This results in
The airbag 12 is instantaneously deployed upward to prevent the occupant's head from colliding with the door glass 4 (in the figure, arrow A indicates the movement of the head). On the other hand, touch sensor 2
2 is outputting an ON signal, a detonation signal is output to the inflator 13 after a predetermined delay time.

As a result, the airbag 1
2 is deployed, and as shown in Figure 9, it catches the passenger's head in the middle of deployment (in the figure, arrow B
indicates head movement). Therefore, the head of the occupant is firmly received by the gas flow C within the airbag 12.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, protection of the occupant's head can be ensured in the event of a side collision.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the door seen from the passenger compartment side, Fig. 2 is a side view of the automobile to which the embodiment is applied, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the ■-m line shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is An exploded perspective view of the belt line section of the door body and the airbag unit. Figure 5 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the belt line section of the door body. Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the belt line section of the door body from the passenger compartment side. Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of the touch sensor; Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the action of the airbag when the door glass is closed; Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the operation of the airbag when the door glass is opened. An explanatory diagram of the action of the airbag when the airbag is a 2 3 5 0 2 l ・Door body ・Door glass ・Inner panel ・Belt line section ・Airbag ・Inflator ・Lid ・Side window sensor ・Opening/closing sensor ・Airbag unit ・Control unit 2... ・Door

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A side glass that can be opened and closed is provided in the car window formed on the side wall of the vehicle compartment, and an airbag unit containing an airbag is disposed in the belt line portion of the side wall, and the airbag unit that is inflated in the event of a side collision is installed. The airbag is an energy absorbing structure on the side of the vehicle body that deploys upward. (2) Claim (1), further comprising: glass opening/closing detection means for detecting opening/closing of the side glass; side collision detection means for detecting a side collision; timing adjustment means for adjusting deployment timing of the airbag; and side collision. and a deployment control means for delaying the deployment timing of the airbag when the side glass is opened compared to when the side glass is closed.