JP3105022B2 - Automotive airbag equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle airbag in which an airbag unit is disposed on a headrest of a front seat or on the back of a seatback, and the airbag of the airbag unit restrains a rear occupant in the event of a collision. It concerns the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an automobile is provided with an airbag device having an inflator and an airbag, and when a relatively large impact force is applied to a vehicle body during a collision or the like, an airbag which is normally folded is inflated. It is known that the inflated airbag alleviates the impact force acting on the occupant in the passenger compartment to protect the occupant.

[0003] In such a vehicle, particularly as a countermeasure for collision of a rear seat occupant, as described in, for example, US Pat. No. 3,779,577 and drawings, an airbag unit is provided on the back surface of the left and right front seats. Is known.

[0004]

In the case of a front seat occupant, the knee protector normally prevents the knee of the front seat occupant from moving upward during a collision, and the front seat occupant is effectively deployed by deploying the airbag. Can be bound,
For rear occupants, there is no such knee protector,
Since a so-called submarine phenomenon in which the knee moves upward during a collision occurs, the position of the occupant changes, and the occupant cannot be restrained effectively.

More specifically, when the rear occupant is seated, the toe of the rear occupant is determined in relation to the front seat.
A so-called submarine phenomenon occurs in which the legs bend and move upward.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an airbag device for a motor vehicle in which a submarine phenomenon at the time of a collision is prevented and the rear seat occupant restraint performance is improved.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a front seat.
And a seat cushion disposed behind the front seat.
And the angle to the seat cushion can be changed back and forth
And a rear seat having a seat back provided in
An airbag unit is provided on the headrest of the front seat or on the back of the seatback, and the airbag of the airbag unit sits on the rear seat at the time of collision.
It is assumed that the vehicle is an airbag device that restrains rear passengers.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a collision of an automobile is detected.
Receiving the output of the collision detecting means,
Is detected, the seat back of the rear seat is
Moved forward in comparison to when no collision was detected
Configuration having means for causing

[0009]

According to the invention of the effects] claim 1, at the time of collision, rear-seat occupant knee even tries to move upward, the rear seat seat
When the back rotates forward, the upper body of the rear passenger
The rear passenger's knees are displaced upward by standing forward
And the submarine phenomenon is suppressed. Therefore,
The rear passenger is restrained by the airbag of the airbag unit.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a part of a roof part of an automobile is cut away, and 1 is an automobile, and front seats 2 on the left and right sides thereof are shown.
2, the headrest 3, on the upper part of the seat back 2a, 2a.
3 is provided detachably. An airbag unit 4 is provided inside the headrest 3. Left and right rear seats 5
A seat sensor 6 that is turned on when an occupant is seated is embedded in a substantially central portion of the seat cushion 5a.

A pair of acceleration-sensitive first impact detection sensors 7 and 7 are provided at the front end of the vehicle body, and another pair of acceleration-sensitive second impact detection sensors are provided at the vehicle body near the instrument panel 6. Sensors 8, 8 are provided respectively. The first impact detection sensor 7 is set to have relatively low sensitivity and is turned on even with a small impact force, while the second impact detection sensor 8 is set to have relatively high sensitivity and the impact force at the time of collision is equal to or more than a predetermined value. In this case, it is turned ON.

As shown in FIG. 2, at the time of a collision, ON signals from the first impact detection sensor 7 and the second impact detection sensor 8 are both input to the control unit 10 and one or both of the left and right sheet sensors 6 are provided. When the ON signal from is input to the control unit 10,
The control unit 10 activates the airbag unit 4 at a predetermined timing, and the airbag 4 of the airbag unit 4 corresponding to the rear seat 5 in which the occupant is seated.
b expands and expands.

Next, the airbag unit 4 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the airbag unit 4 includes a metal inner casing member 21 having a rectangular opening 21a in rear view, and a synthetic resin outer casing member 22 having a U-shape in side view. Casing 20 made of
And an inflator 4 a provided in the casing 20.
And the airbag 4b and the like housed in the casing 20 in a folded state.

The outer casing member 22 is formed of a flexible film material, and is externally fitted and fixed to the inner casing member 21 so as to close the opening 21a of the inner casing member 21 with the vertical wall portion 22a. The lower wall portion is fixed to the inner casing member 21 by a plurality of screws 24, and the upper, lower, left and right edges of the airbag 4 b are air-tightly fixed to the inner casing member 21 by the screws 24.

A perforation 22b is formed in the vertical wall portion 22a of the outer casing member 22 as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. Are provided with brackets 25, 25 having bolt holes 25a, 25a, respectively.

The inflator 4a is fixed to the left and right side walls of the inner casing member 21, and a fire device (not shown) which is activated by an output signal from the control unit 10 is provided inside the inflator 4a. When activated, a large amount of gas is instantaneously generated from the inflator 4a, and the pressure of the gas breaks through the perforations 22b of the outer casing member 22 to inflate and deploy the airbag 4b. A plurality of vent holes are formed in the airbag 4b, and the gas is exhausted through the vent holes, so that the airbag 15 contracts in a predetermined time after the inflation and deployment.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Brackets 27, 27 each having a bolt hole 27a, 27a are fixed to the upper end of a pair of left and right headrest poles 23 for mounting the airbag unit 10. When the airbag unit 10 is disposed in the headrest 3, With the headrest cover 28 removed, the left and right brackets 25, 25 of the airbag unit 10 are
27, and then the headrest cover 28 is attached. The headrest cover 28
On the rear surface, a perforation 28a corresponding to the perforation 22b of the outer casing member 22, as shown by a dashed line.
Are formed.

Next, a description will be given of a means for preventing a submarine phenomenon of a rear passenger at the time of a collision.

Embodiment In this embodiment, the rear seat back is raised when a collision occurs. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, by rotating the seat back 5b of the rear seat 5 forward to raise the upper body of the rear occupant, the rear occupant is prevented from moving forward. Thus, the knee of the rear passenger is prevented from moving upward.

A mechanism for rotating the seat back 5b in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle will be described with reference to FIG.

A fixed arm 51 is attached to the seat cushion 5a of the rear seat 5, and a tilting arm 52 is attached to the seat back 5b. A seat back driving mechanism 53 is interposed between the joints of the arms 51 and 52. I have.

The seat back driving mechanism 53 has a normal rotation,
A worm 55 connected to the main shaft end of the knuckle motor 54 that rotates in reverse meshes with a worm gear 56 that is supported by the fixed arm 51, and a displacement gear 57 meshes with a gear portion on the opposite surface side of the worm gear 56. . This displacement gear 57
Is provided with a large-diameter gear 58 and a small-diameter gear 59, and is pivotally supported by the tilting arm 52.
6 and the small-diameter gear 59 meshes with the arcuate gear 60 formed on the fixed arm 51. This arc-shaped gear 60 is
A gear is formed on one side of the arc-shaped long hole, and the displacement gear 57 is formed.
Are displaceably provided on an arc line.

As a result, based on the output of the knuckle motor 54, the displacement gear 57 rotates and is displaced on an arc line along the arc gear 60 around the axis of the worm gear 56 as a fulcrum. Accordingly, the seat back 5b via the tilt arm 52 integrated with the displacement gear 57 can be freely tilted in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

The knuckle motor 54 is electrically linked to the control unit 10A. The control unit 10A detects, for example, a first vehicle speed sensor 61 for detecting the vehicle speed of an oncoming vehicle and a second vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. 2
The vehicle includes a collision prediction unit 10a that receives a signal from the vehicle speed sensor 62 and predicts a collision, and a drive control unit 10b that receives an output of the collision prediction unit 10a and drives the knuckle motor 54 when a collision is predicted. When a collision is predicted, the knuckle motor 54 is driven to drive the seat back 5.
b is rotated forward, thereby raising the rear body of the rear passenger.

With the above configuration, when a collision is predicted, the knuckle motor 54 rotates forward by a signal from the control unit 10A, and tilts the seat back 5b forward in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. As a result, the upper body of the rear seat occupant is raised in the forward direction, and the knee of the rear seat occupant is suppressed from being displaced upward.

Reference Example 1—In this example, the knees of the rear passenger are actively restrained by a part of the inflated airbag.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the airbag unit 4 incorporated in the headrest 2c, the intermediate portion of the folded airbag 4b is fastened with a string 31 having a fixed length in a substantially front-rear direction. The inflating of the middle portion of the airbag 4b is suppressed by the string 31, so that the upper portion 4c and the lower portion 4d of the airbag 4b inflate in particular, so that the airbag 4b is inflated and deployed quickly in the upward and downward directions. It is.

Therefore, at the time of a collision, the lower portion 4d of the airbag 4b is inflated and deployed downward at substantially the same time as the upper portion 4c, so that the lower portion 4d suppresses the upward movement of the knee P1 of the occupant P. The upper part 4c restrains the chest P2 of the occupant P.

As shown in FIG. 7, the airbag 4b is fastened with a string 32 in a substantially vertical direction so that the folded part of the folded airbag 4b is not released.
Only the upper part 4c and the lower part 4d may be freely expanded and deployed.

Reference Example 2 In this example, an auxiliary airbag unit for restraining a knee of a rear passenger is provided separately from a normal airbag unit.

As shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, a bracket 36 having an inclined surface 36a facing the knee of the rear passenger P is provided on the upper portion of the seat back frame 35, and the bracket 36 has a rectangular surface 36a. The opening 36b is provided with a knee portion P of the lower occupant P at the time of a collision.
Auxiliary airbag unit 37 inflating and deploying toward 2
However, it is provided separately from the normal airbag unit 4.

Therefore, in the event of a collision, the airbag 37a is moved from the auxiliary airbag unit 37 to the knee P2 of the occupant P.
To restrain the occupant P from moving upward of the knee P2, and at the same time, the airbag 4b is inflated and deployed by the airbag unit 4 to restrain the occupant P's chest P1.

Reference Example 3 In this example, a knee protector for a rear passenger is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the seat frame 41 has an inclined portion 4 corresponding to the knee P2 of the rear passenger P.
A knee protector 42 having 2a is fixedly provided.

In this way, in the event of a collision, the upward movement of the occupant P from the knee P2 is suppressed by the knee protector 42, and the occupant P's chest is restrained by the airbag 4b inflated and deployed from the airbag unit 4. P1 is bound.

Although not specifically shown, for example,
The seat back 2b of the front seat 2 is rotated rearward by using the above-described seat back drive mechanism or the like, so that the rear passenger P
May be restrained, and the airbag 4b is inflated and deployed in the restrained state.

Reference Example 4 In this example, a front portion of a seat cushion of a rear seat is displaced upward upon collision. That is, as shown in FIG. 16, the front part of the seat cushion 5a is displaced upward with respect to the rear part, thereby lowering the relative position of the waist of the rear seat occupant, and preventing the rear occupant from moving forward. Is difficult to climb.

As shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, the seat cushion 5a is pivotally supported by brackets 72 of the left and right seat rail uppers 71 at a lower portion near the rear end, and the seat lifter 73 is pivoted about this pivot. Allows angle adjustment. The seat rail upper 71 is
It is slidably engaged with the seat rail inner 74 fixed to the floor.

In order to lift the front end of the seat cushion 5a upward, a lift mechanism and a spring-type driving device for driving the lift mechanism are provided.

The lift mechanism is provided with a release device 7 for releasing the restraint between the lift member 75 having a U-shaped cross section and the seat lifter 73.
6 and so on. The lift member 75 is integrally formed by a pair of left and right side plates 75a and a top plate 75b, and the rear ends of the left and right side plates 75a are common to the upper ends of the brackets 77 erected on the support plate 76. About the pivot shaft 78, and about 6
It is designed to rotate from 0 to 70 degrees. The lift member 75 illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 19 indicates a normal posture when the driving device does not operate, that is, in a normal state when the vehicle does not collide, and the lift member 75 illustrated by a phantom line moves upward by the driving device during a collision. The rotated lift posture is shown.

The top plate 75 of the lift member 75 in the normal posture
A pair of left and right brackets 79 project below the bottom plate 75a of the seat cushion 5a so as to face a position slightly higher than the upper surface of the top plate 75b so that the lift member 75 can rotate slightly upward. A predetermined gap 80 is provided between the bracket 79 and the lower surface of the bracket 79.

Then, as is well known, when a collision is predicted and the driving device is operated, the driving device activates the lift member 75.
Is rotated upward within the range permitted by the gap 80, the release of the release device 7
6 is released.

The releasing device 76 is configured as follows. A pair of left and right swing arms 76 a of the seat lifter 73 are pivotally supported by pivot brackets 81 at the upper front end of the seat rail upper 71 via pivot rods 82, respectively. Side plate 7
The contact plate 8 extends horizontally toward 5a and is provided at its inner end.
3 abuts against the side plate 75a from the outside, and in this state, the outer end of the pivot rod 82 slightly projects outside the pivot bracket 81, and the vicinity of the inner end of each pivot rod 82 is the seat rail upper 71. Are supported by a pivotal portion 85 of a U-shaped notch of a support member 84 extended from the support member 84.

Further, a spring receiving plate 86 is fixed to the pivoting rod 82 at a substantially intermediate position between the pivoting bracket 81 and the pivoting portion 85, and the spring receiving plate 86 and the swing arm 7 are fixed.
6a, a compression coil spring 87 is provided on the pivot rod 82, and the pivot rod 82 is urged toward the lift member 75 by the coil spring 87.
5a.

Below the abutting plate 83, the side plate 75a
Is formed with a notch 88 larger than the abutment plate 83, the upper edge of the notch 88 is located near the abutment plate 83, and the lift member 75 swings upward within the allowable range of the gap 80. At times, the notch 88 moves upward to release the engagement of the contact plate 83, and the pivot rod 82 is moved by the spring force to the pivot bracket 81.
From the seat cushion 1 by the seat lifter 73
Is released, and thus the seat cushion 1 can freely swing upward.

The spring-type driving device for driving the lift mechanism is configured as follows.

At a position forward of the pivot portion of the lift member 75, a slit-shaped insertion hole 8 which is elongated in the front-rear direction is provided at a front portion and a center portion in the width direction of the top plate 75b of the lift member 75.
Right below the rear part of the insertion hole 89, a hinge pin 9 is provided on the bracket 90 of the support plate 76.
The spring receiving rod 92, which is pivotally connected via the first through-hole 1, extends vertically upward and the insertion hole 89 and the bottom plate 75 of the seat cushion 5a.
a through the opening 93.

A spring receiving portion 92a having a substantially inverted conical shape is formed in the spring receiving rod 92 near the lower portion of the insertion hole 89, and a spring receiving plate 94 which can be freely inserted into and removed from the middle of the spring receiving portion 25a from the front. Is locked so that it does not come off, and a strong compression coil spring 95 is externally mounted on the spring receiving rod 92 below the spring receiving portion 94a. The lower end of the coil spring 95 is supported by the support plate 76 and the upper end thereof. Are received by a spring receiving plate 94.

The spring receiving plate 94 has a U-shaped notch 94a cut forward from the rear end thereof, and the notch 94a is fitted into the spring receiving portion 92a to form a left and right side of the notch 94a. The portion is in line contact with the spring receiving portion 25a.

Further, a solenoid 96 is provided in front of the spring receiving plate 94, and the solenoid 96 is fixed to a mounting plate 97 erected at the front end of the support plate 76.
The operating shaft 96a of the solenoid 96 is fixed to the spring receiving plate 94. When the solenoid 96 is energized, the operating shaft 94a is driven forward, the spring receiving plate 94 is pulled forward, and the coil spring 95 The spring force acts directly on the top plate 75b of the lift member 75.

The solenoid 96 is linked to the control unit 10B.
A collision prediction means 10a for predicting a collision by receiving signals from a first vehicle speed sensor 61 for detecting the vehicle speed of an oncoming vehicle and a second vehicle speed sensor 62 for detecting the vehicle speed of the own vehicle; And an exciting means 10c for exciting the solenoid 96 when a collision is predicted.

Therefore, the solenoid 96 is not normally excited, so that the spring receiving plate 94 and the spring receiving rod 9 are not excited.
The upper end of the coil spring 95 is received by the second spring receiving portion 92a, the lift member 75 maintains a normal posture as shown by a solid line in FIG. 19, and the contact plate 83 of the pivot rod 82 is received by the side plate 75a. Have been.

When it is predicted that the vehicle will collide, the solenoid 9 is controlled by a signal from the control unit 10B.
6 is excited, the spring receiving plate 94 is pulled forward by the magnetic force of the solenoid 96, and at the next moment, the coil spring 95 pushes the top plate 75b of the lift member 75 upward. Immediately after the start of swinging, the contact plate 83 of the pivot rod 82 comes off the side plate 75a, the pivot rod 82 comes off the pivot bracket 81, and the seat lifter 7
3 is released from the seat cushion 5a.

At the same time, the lift member 75 is rapidly swung upward by the spring force of the coil spring 95, the bracket 79 is pushed upward by the lift member 75, and the seat cushion 5a is moved around the pivotal support. As shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 19, the swing of the rear seat occupant seated on the seat cushion 5a is instantly pushed upward, whereby the submarine phenomenon is prevented.

Although not shown specifically, FIG.
By using the same device as in FIGS. 6 to 19 and using a tension spring instead of a compression spring, as shown in FIG. 20, the rear part of the seat cushion 5b is lowered with respect to the front part, thereby directly It is also possible to lower the relative position of the waist of the rear passenger, thereby preventing the submarine phenomenon.

Reference Example 5 In this example, the front seat is retracted in the event of a collision, and the rear occupant is prevented from moving forward, whereby the knee of the rear occupant moves upward. Is to suppress.

That is, as shown in FIG.
A pair of lower rails 101 are disposed in parallel on the left and right side edges of the seat cushion 2b in the vehicle front-rear direction, and each of the seat cushions 2b is provided with an elastic support member 102 that supports the front and rear ends of the lower rail 101. The lower rail 101 is fixed to a floor panel.

The lower rail 101 is formed by integrally forming a flange portion along both sides of the upper end of the groove-shaped cross section. Each lower rail 101 has an upper rail 103 having a C-shaped cross section so as to cover the upper surface and both flange portions. Are slidably engaged with each other via bearings and rollers, and the seat cushion 2b of the front seat 2 is fixedly supported on the pair of left and right upper rails 103.

In order to drive the upper rail 103 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, screw shafts 104 are arranged in parallel near the inside of each lower rail 101 along the entire length of the lower rail 101. Both ends of each screw shaft 104 are elastically supported via each elastic support member 102.

Further, a box-shaped gear mounting portion 105 is provided inside a longitudinally intermediate portion of each of the upper rails 103, and a screw shaft 104 is provided in the gear mounting portion 105.
Is screwed with a nut. Gears are screwed to the front end surface and the rear end surface of the nut, and a rotation transmission shaft 106 for rotating and driving the nut is provided between the gear mounting portions 35 of the left and right upper rails 103. The provided worm gear meshes with each nut so as to be rotationally transmittable, and both shaft ends of the rotary transmission shaft 106 are supported by a pair of left and right upper rails 103, respectively.

A slide motor 107 for rotating the rotary transmission shaft 106 is interposed on the rotary transmission shaft 106. The slide motor 107 is a fixed member 108 through which the rotary transmission shaft 106 is inserted. Gear mounting part 10
5 is non-rotatably connected to the side wall.

The slide motor 107 is linked to the control unit 10C, and
A collision prediction means 10a for predicting a collision by receiving signals from a first vehicle speed sensor 61 for detecting the vehicle speed of an oncoming vehicle and a second vehicle speed sensor 62 for detecting the vehicle speed of the own vehicle; Drive control means 1 for driving the slide motor 107 when the collision is predicted by receiving the output of the
0d.

As in the case described above, when the collision of the vehicle is predicted, the control unit 10
C rotates the slide motor 107 forward, and accordingly, the rotation transmission shaft 106 rotates forward, and the left and right upper rails 1 via the worm gear, the nut, and the non-rotatable shaft 104.
03 is driven forward or backward at a constant speed, and the seat cushion 2b integral with the upper rail 33 is slid backward. Thus, the rear seat occupant is restrained by the front seat 2, so-called submarine phenomenon is prevented, and the restraint by the airbag 4b is ensured.

[0066]

[Effect of the Invention] The invention of claim 1, as described above, the collision
Sometimes the back of the rear seat moves in the forward leaning direction
In the event of a collision, the rear passenger's knees move upward
If you try to do so, the seat back raises the upper body of the rear passenger.
Standing to suppress knee movement and suppress submarine phenomenon
be able to. Therefore, the rear passenger is restrained by the airbag inflated and deployed from the airbag unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an automobile.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the airbag unit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an upper part of a front seat.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of Reference Example 1 .

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of Reference Example 2 .

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a seat frame of the seat back.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of an attached state of the airbag unit.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view showing an attached state of the airbag unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of Reference Example 3 .

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a seat frame of the seat back.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the embodiment .

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a seat back drive mechanism.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of Reference Example 4 .

FIG. 17 is a side view in which a part of a rear seat is cut away.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a main part of a rear seat.

FIG. 19 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a rear seat.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a modification.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of a seat slide mechanism of Reference Example 5 .

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Car 2 Front seat 2a Seat back 3 Headrest 4 Airbag unit 4a Airbag 4d Lower part (knee movement suppression means) 7,8 Impact detection sensor 10,10A, 10B, 10C Control unit 10a Collision prediction means (collision detection Means) 10b, 10d Drive control means (knee movement suppression control means) 10c Excitation control means (knee movement suppression control means) 37 Auxiliary airbag unit (knee movement suppression means) 42 Knee protector (knee movement suppression means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigefumi Takano 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Inside Mazda Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-212239 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 49-28026 (JP, A) JP-A-62-64650 (JP, A) JP-A-62-20736 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/16 -21/32 B60N 2/00-2/54

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A front seat and a rear seat behind the front seat;
Installed on the seat cushion and the seat cushion.
The seat back is provided so that the angle
An airbag unit is provided on the headrest of the front seat or on the back of the seatback, and the airbag of the airbag unit is used in the event of a collision.
In an airbag device for a vehicle that restrains a rear-seat occupant seated in the rear seat, a collision detection unit that detects a collision of the vehicle and an output of the collision detection unit , and when a collision is detected,
Has detected a collision with the back seat of the rear seat
An airbag device for an automobile, comprising: means for moving the vehicle in a forward leaning direction compared to when the vehicle is not present .