KR20220151456A - Curtain airbag for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A curtain airbag for a vehicle includes a front seat protection area for protecting occupants seated in a front seat and a rear seat protection area for protecting occupants seated in a rear seat seat in the event of a vehicle collision, wherein the rear seat protection area protects rear seat occupants. In order to improve performance, it is formed to extend to the rear, and to correspond to the roof side rail of the vehicle, the rear end is folded in a state of being folded multiple times and installed inside the vehicle, and the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded multiple times. When the curtain airbag is inflated and deployed by folding in the vertical direction, interference with the occupant, seat, and seat belt can be prevented.

Description

Automotive curtain airbag {CURTAIN AIRBAG FOR VEHICLE}

The present invention relates to a curtain airbag of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a curtain airbag of a vehicle that inflates and deploys between an occupant and an inner surface of the vehicle to protect the occupant when a side collision of the vehicle occurs.

In general, an airbag device for a vehicle is a safety device that protects occupants by rapidly inflating the airbag by injecting gas into the airbag according to a signal from an impact sensor when a vehicle crashes.

Such an airbag device is installed in a steering wheel, dashboard, seat, side wall, etc. provided in a vehicle, and is inflated toward the front or side of the occupant when the vehicle collides to protect the occupant.

That is, a front airbag deployed in front of a driver's seat and a front passenger seat, a curtain airbag and a side airbag deployed at a side of a passenger to protect passengers, a knee airbag to protect a knee of a passenger, and the like may be provided in an automobile.

Among such airbag devices for vehicles, a curtain airbag device is installed along the entire side surface of a roof liner portion of the vehicle to protect occupants from an impact applied to the side of the vehicle.

The curtain airbag device is accommodated along the corner portion where the roof of the vehicle meets the side windows and the pillars. Such a curtain airbag may be stowed behind the headliner trim at the edge of the headliner, a fabric that covers the roof of a vehicle.

The present applicant discloses the configuration of a curtain airbag device in a number of patent documents 1 and 2 below, and has applied for and registered a patent.

Meanwhile, recently, in order to effectively protect a rear seat passenger using a curtain airbag, a rear end of a curtain airbag corresponding to a rear seat passenger is extended rearward.

In this way, as the rear end of the curtain airbag is extended, the area for protecting the rear seat occupants can be expanded to improve the protection effect for the rear seat occupants.

On the other hand, if the length of the rear end of the curtain airbag increases, it may be difficult to install it on the roof side rail of the vehicle.

For this reason, conventionally, a method of installing the curtain airbag on the roof side rail in a folded state by folding the rear end of the curtain airbag forward has been used.

However, when the rear end of the curtain airbag is installed on the roof side rail in a folded state by folding the rear end of the curtain airbag forward, interference occurs with the head of the occupant, the upper part of the seat, and the seat belt during the process of inflating and deploying the curtain airbag in the event of a side collision of the vehicle. There was a problem with

For this reason, the curtain airbag device according to the prior art has a problem in that an occupant's protective performance is deteriorated due to an impact applied to the occupant's head during the inflation and deployment process of the curtain airbag or incomplete deployment of the curtain airbag.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-2005750 (published on July 31, 2019) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-2096841 (published on April 6, 2020)

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a curtain airbag for a vehicle that can safely protect the occupant by inflating and deploying between the occupant and the inner surface of the vehicle in the event of a side collision of the vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a curtain airbag for a vehicle that can safely protect a rear seat occupant by expanding an area to protect a rear seat occupant and prevent interference with a rear seat occupant, a seat, and a belt when inflated and deployed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a curtain airbag capable of minimizing the diameter of a folded rear seat occupant protection area.

In order to achieve the above object, a curtain airbag for a vehicle according to the present invention includes a front seat protection area for protecting occupants seated in a front seat and a rear seat protection area for protecting occupants seated in a rear seat seat in the event of a vehicle collision. And, the rear seat protection area is formed to extend rearward to increase the protection performance of the rear seat occupant, and to correspond to the roof side rail of the vehicle, the rear end is folded in a state of being folded multiple times and installed inside the vehicle. .

As described above, according to the automotive curtain airbag according to the present invention, in order to enhance the protection performance of the rear seat passengers, the rear seat protection area extended rearward is folded in the vertical direction in a state of being folded multiple times and mounted on the roof side rail of the vehicle. The effect that can be obtained is obtained.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, an effect of preventing interference with an occupant, a seat, and a seat belt in the process of rearward rotation of the rear end of the rear seat protection area folded multiple times during inflation and deployment of the curtain airbag is obtained.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the rear end of the rear seat protection area rotates, safety accidents such as collision of rear seat passengers can be prevented, and rear seat passengers can be safely protected by completely inflating and deploying the curtain airbag.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the diameter of the curtain airbag folded in the vertical direction by folding the folded portion around the folding line in the rear seat protection area secondarily once or more along the inclination direction.

1 is a view showing a state in which a curtain airbag of a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is accommodated in a structure of a vehicle;
2 is a view showing a deployed state of the curtain airbag shown in FIG. 1;
3 is a view illustrating a state in which a part of the rear seat protection area shown in FIG. 2 is folded forward;
4 is a view illustrating a state in which the rear seat protection area shown in FIG. 2 is folded twice;
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A′ shown in FIG. 4;
6 is a view illustrating a state in which the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded multiple times in various ways;
7 is a view illustrating a state in which a rear seat protection area of a curtain airbag of a vehicle is folded multiple times according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, a curtain airbag for a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this specification, reference numeral F denotes the front of the vehicle to which the curtain airbag of the present invention is applied, reference numeral B denotes the rear of the vehicle, reference numeral U denotes the upper side of the vehicle, and reference numeral D denotes the lower side of the vehicle. Reference numeral I denotes the interior direction of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction. The front and rear (F, B) directions of the vehicle may be expressed as a horizontal direction, and the up and down (U, D) directions of the vehicle may be expressed as a vertical direction.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a state in which a curtain airbag of a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is accommodated in a vehicle structure, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a deployed state of the curtain airbag shown in FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the curtain airbag 10 of a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is mounted in a roof side rail 1 of a vehicle in a folded state in a folding or winding manner.

Generally, the roof side rails 1 are covered with roof trim and are not visible from the interior of the vehicle.

A plurality of pillars supporting the roof are connected to the roof side rails 1 . These pillars are called a front pillar 2, a center pillar 3, and a rear pillar 4 called 'A-pillar', 'B-pillar', and 'C-pillar', respectively, from the front of the vehicle. The pillar may further include an additional pillar (referred to as 'D pillar') on the rear side of the rear pillar 4 as needed.

The curtain airbag 10 is formed into a bag shape by a sewing or one-piece woven process of an outer panel facing the side of the vehicle and an inner panel facing the occupant.

An inflator 30 generating gas through a gas inlet 25 is connected to the curtain airbag 10 . When a side collision or rollover of the vehicle occurs, first, a sensor (not shown) provided in the vehicle detects the impact, and an ignition signal is transmitted to the inflator 30 . The igniter in the inflator 30 is ignited to generate gas, and the gas generated from the inflator 30 is supplied into the curtain airbag 10 .

Upon receiving gas from the inflator 30, the curtain airbag 10 inflates and deploys downward along the inner surface of the vehicle to protect occupants.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the curtain airbag 10 includes a main chamber 21 including an outer panel facing the side of the vehicle and an inner panel facing the occupant when deployed.

At the same time, the curtain airbag 10 is connected to the main chamber 21 and is deployed above the space between the pillar and the pillar trim to avoid interference with the pillar and pillar trim of the vehicle when the main chamber 21 is deployed. It may further include a guide chamber (not shown) to be.

The main chamber 21 can simultaneously protect occupants of the front seat 21 and the rear seat 23 .

The main chamber 21 may have a front seat protection area 23 and a rear seat protection area 24 to protect front seat and rear seat occupants when deployed.

The front seat protection area 23 can entirely cover side surfaces of the car from the front pillar 2 of the car to the center pillar 3 of the car, and the rear seat protection area 24 extends from the center pillar 3 of the car to the car. The side surfaces of the vehicle up to the rear pillar 4 of the vehicle can be entirely covered.

The curtain airbag 10 has a bag shape defining an inflatable space therein by upper and lower walls and front and rear walls.

Also, the front seat protection area 23 and the rear seat protection area 24 of the curtain airbag 10 may each include a plurality of chambers defined by the chamber wall.

The upper, lower, front, and rear walls and the chamber wall may be formed by sewing the inner and outer panels of the curtain airbag 10 or weaving them using a one-piece woven method.

Of course, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and may be modified to form the upper, lower, front, and rear walls and the chamber wall by selecting an appropriate method from among various bonding methods such as adhesive, RF welding, and ultrasonic welding.

The guide chamber may be connected to an upper end of the rear seat protection area 24 of the main chamber 21 .

When the curtain airbag 10 is folded, the guide chamber may be folded toward an outer panel or an inner panel of the curtain airbag 10 .

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the rear seat protection area 24 may be formed to extend rearward with respect to the rear seat seat to improve the protection performance of the rear seat occupants.

Therefore, the rear seat protection area 24 is inflated and deployed in a state of being expanded forward and rearward, respectively, centering on the rear seat passenger sitting on the rear seat.

As such, the present invention can improve the protection performance of rear seat passengers by sufficiently extending the rear seat protection area of the curtain airbag to the rear.

However, when the rear seat protection area 24 extends rearward, the rear seat protection area 24 may protrude rearward from the rear end of the roof side rail 1 .

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 below, the rear seat protection area 24 can be folded by folding or rolling it up and down in a state of being folded forward by a certain length.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a state in which a portion of the rear seat protection area shown in FIG. 2 is folded forward.

As shown in FIG. 3 , when the rear seat protection area 24 is folded forward about the folding line 26 provided at the center, the entire length of the curtain airbag 10 is equal to the length of the roof side rail 1. reduced to match.

Here, the folding line 26 may be virtually set along the vertical direction to be positioned at the same position as the rear end of the roof side rails 1 or positioned in front of the rear end of the roof side rails 1 .

Therefore, the rearmost end of the rear seat protection area 24 with the rear end folded may be disposed at the same position as the folding line 26 .

Meanwhile, when the curtain airbag 10 is inflated and deployed, the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 folded forward should rotate rearward about the folding line 26 again.

While the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 rotates backward, interference may occur with a rear seat passenger, seat, headrest, or seat belt.

Therefore, a safety accident may occur when an impact is applied to the head or the front face of a rear seat passenger, or the rear seat protection area 24 may be caught on a seat or headrest and incompletely inflated and deployed. For this reason, a case may occur in which the curtain airbag 10 does not sufficiently protect the side of the rear seat passenger, particularly the side of the head.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention folds or rolls the rear seat protection area in the vertical direction in a folded state multiple times.

For example, FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a state in which the rear seat protection area shown in FIG. 2 is folded twice, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA′ shown in FIG. 4 .

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the rear seat protection area 24 is folded forward once around the fold line 26 and then folded backward once around the center of the folded portion in the up and down direction. It can be folded by folding or rolling.

As described above, according to the present invention, the rear seat protection area of the curtain airbag extends rearward to improve protection performance for rear seat passengers, and the rear end of the rear seat protection area can be folded forward multiple times.

Accordingly, in the present invention, interference between an occupant, a seat, and a seat belt can be effectively prevented while the rear seat protection area rotates rearward while the curtain airbag is inflated and deployed.

In FIG. 5 , the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 is folded forward once so that the inner surfaces of the rear seat protection area 24 overlap each other based on the folding line 26, and then the rear end is folded secondly so that the outer surfaces overlap again. A folded state is shown.

Of course, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

For example, FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a state in which the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded multiple times in various ways.

That is, in (a) of FIG. 6 , the inner surface of the rear seat protection area 24 is in contact with the fold line 26 in a state where the inner surface is folded once and then folded secondly around the fold line 26 again. is shown.

In (b) of FIG. 6 , a state in which the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 is folded once with the inner surface overlapping around the fold line 26 is folded a second time with the outer surface overlapping around the center again. is shown

In (c) of FIG. 6, in a state where the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 is folded once so that the inner surface overlaps around the fold line 24, the outer surface overlaps the rear two times so that the folded portion is divided into thirds. A folded state is shown.

In (d) of FIG. 6 , the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 is folded once so that the inner surface overlaps with the fold line 26 as the center, and then the folded portion is divided into thirds and folded two more times backwards and forwards. is shown

6(e) shows a state in which the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 is folded once so that the outer surface overlaps with the fold line 26 at the center, and then is folded a second time around the center.

As described above, in the present invention, after folding the rear end of the rear seat protection area inward or outward so that the inner or outer surface overlaps the fold line, the folded portion may be folded inward or outward one or more times.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the length of the rear seat protection area may be reduced to correspond to the roof side rail, and the rear seat protection area may be installed on the roof side rail.

Here, the position of the folding line 26 is not limited to the center of the rear seat protection area 24, and may be set by moving from the center of the rear seat protection area 24 forward or backward according to the folding method.

In addition, the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 is first folded forward around the fold line 26 and then folded back again, or folded forward so that the rear end comes into contact with the fold line 26 and then folds again along the fold line 26. It may be folded outward or inward around the .

That is, the order and number of folds of the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 may be variously changed according to the final folded state to be implemented.

Accordingly, the present invention can prevent interference with occupants, that is, rear seat passengers, seats, and seat belts while the rear end of the rear seat protection area rotates rearward about the folding line when the curtain airbag is inflated and deployed.

Due to this, the present invention can prevent safety accidents such as a collision of a rear seat passenger during a rotation operation of the rear end of the rear seat protection area, and completely inflate and deploy the curtain airbag to safely protect rear seat passengers.

As described above, after folding the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 forward or backward based on the vertical folding line 26, the curtain airbag 10 is folded or rolled up and down in a state of being folded one or more times. When folding, the diameter of the rear end of the folded curtain airbag 10 may increase excessively.

Accordingly, the present invention may be changed so that the folded portion around the fold line is secondarily folded along the inclination direction instead of the front-back direction.

7 is a view illustrating a state in which a rear seat protection area of a curtain airbag of a vehicle is folded multiple times according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, a curtain airbag 10 for a vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the curtain airbag 10 described with reference to FIG. After being folded once, the front top and rear ends of the folded portion may be folded secondly at an angle.

Here, the portion folded once around the fold line 26 has a substantially rectangular shape.

Therefore, the front upper end of the portion folded once around the fold line 26 may be secondarily folded at an inclination downward toward the rear side around an imaginary line inclined upward toward the rear side from approximately the center of the front end of the folded portion.

In addition, the front lower end of the folded portion may be folded three times at an inclination toward the rear side with respect to an imaginary line inclined toward the lower rear side from approximately the center of the front end of the folded portion.

Then, the folded portion may finally form a triangular shape with a pointed front center portion.

As described above, according to the present invention, the diameter of the curtain airbag folded in the vertical direction can be reduced by folding the folded portion around the folding line in the rear seat protection area secondarily one or more times along the inclination direction.

Of course, the rear seat protection area 24 is folded so that the rear end is first folded once or twice or more first along the inclination direction, and then the folded portion is folded secondly along the outer or inner direction around the folding line 26. The order may change.

As a result of testing the deployment performance by mounting the folded curtain airbag 10 on the roof side rail 1 of the vehicle with the rear end of the rear seat protection area 24 folded multiple times, the curtain airbag 10 is inflated and deployed. During the process, it was confirmed that the vehicle was inflated and deployed without interference with rear seat passengers, seats, and seat belts.

Although the invention made by the present inventors has been specifically described according to the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

The present invention is applied to a curtain airbag technology of a vehicle in which a rear seat protection area extending rearward is folded in a vertical direction in a state of being folded multiple times in order to enhance protection performance for a rear seat occupant.

1: Roof side rail 2: Front pillar
3: center pillar 4: rear pillar
10: Curtain airbags in cars
21: main chamber 22: guide chamber
23,24: front seat, rear seat protection area 25: gas inlet
26: fold line
30: Inflator

Claims (10)

A front seat protection area that protects the occupants seated in the front seat in the event of a car collision, and
Includes a rear seat protection area that protects occupants seated in the rear seat,
The rear seat protection area is formed to extend backward to increase the protection performance of the rear seat occupant,
A curtain airbag for a vehicle, characterized in that the rear end is folded in a state of being folded multiple times to correspond to a roof side rail of the vehicle and mounted inside the vehicle. According to claim 1,
The curtain airbag for a vehicle, characterized in that the rear seat protection area is folded in the vertical direction in a state in which a fold line virtually set along the vertical direction to correspond to the rear end position of the roof side rail is folded multiple times so that the rear end is disposed. According to claim 2,
The automotive curtain airbag of claim 1 , wherein the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded forward around the fold line and then folded backward around the center of the folded portion. According to claim 2,
The curtain airbag of a vehicle, characterized in that the rear seat protection area is folded in a state in which the inner surface is folded once so that the inner surface is in contact with a folding line set in the vertical direction and then folded again around the folding line in a second state. . According to claim 2,
The rear seat protection area is folded in a state in which the rear end portion is folded once with the inner surface overlapping around the fold line and then folded again in a state where the outer surface overlaps the center portion in a second folded state. According to claim 2,
The rear seat protection area is folded in a state in which the rear end is folded rearward two more times so that the outer surface overlaps so that the folded portion is divided into three parts in a state where the inner surface is folded once around the fold line. of curtain airbags. According to claim 2,
The rear seat protection area is folded once after the rear end is folded so that the inner surface overlaps with the center of the fold line, and then the folded portion is divided into thirds and folded back and forth twice more. According to claim 2,
The curtain airbag for a vehicle, characterized in that the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded in a state where the rear end is folded once so that the outer surface overlaps with the center of the fold line, and then the rear end is folded secondly around the center of the folded portion. According to claim 2,
The curtain airbag for a vehicle, characterized in that the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded once around the fold line, and then folded in a state where the folded portion is again folded one or more times along an inclination direction. According to claim 2,
The curtain airbag for a vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the rear end of the rear seat protection area is folded one or more times along an inclination direction, and then the folded portion is folded forward around the folding line.

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