JPH0728751U - Airbag device with inflator cover - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In an airbag device having an inflator cover for fixing an end portion of an inflator, the number of parts to be attached to the inflator cover and the number of working steps are reduced. An airbag device in which a head 8 of an inflator 4 is fitted into an insertion hole 7 in a side wall of a case, and a bolt of a foot portion is penetrated and fastened to another side wall, is provided. The sleeve 14 of the inflator cover 13 is interposed between the sleeve 8 and the portion 8, and the sleeve front portion 17 is expanded by the inflator 4 through the raised portion 18,
The inflator cover 13 is fixed by sandwiching the insertion hole 7 between the expanded sleeve and the flange portion 16 at the rear portion of the sleeve.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an airbag device, which is mounted on a vehicle and protects an occupant by inflating when the impact is more than a predetermined value in the event of a vehicle collision. Related to the improvement of.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 An airbag device is a safety device that protects an occupant by inflating the airbag instantaneously with the assistance of a seat belt when the impact is more than a predetermined value when the vehicle is in frontal collision, and is usually a gas generator. An inflator, an airbag that is inflated by the gas of the inflator, and an airbag case that encloses the inflator together with the airbag in a substantially airtight manner. When the airbag device is operated, the gas instantly ejected from the inflator fills the airbag case and the airbag to generate an internal pressure, and the internal pressure causes the bag to be deployed.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned airbag device has been developed not only for the driver's seat but also for the passenger seat in recent years. Such an airbag device has a substantially U-shaped cross section and an opening of the case. It is generally provided with an airbag that is folded and housed in a portion and a cylindrical inflator that is fixed in the case behind the airbag. Then, the attachment of the inflator to the airbag case is usually performed by providing an insertion hole in one of the side walls of the case and inserting the head portion of the inflator into the other side wall opposite to the side wall. This is done by inserting a stud bolt axially protruding from the edge of the foot of the inflator and tightening the bolt with a nut.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, since the conventional inflator mounting structure requires a plurality of parts to be fixed to the case side wall, there is still room for improvement in terms of the number of parts and the number of mounting work steps.

The present invention addresses the above situation and aims to reduce the man-hours for mounting the cover and the number of mounting parts by the inflator cover as described above.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 That is, the feature of the airbag device of the present invention which meets the above-mentioned purpose is that the head part of the inflator is fitted into the side wall of the case, and the bolt of the foot part is passed through the other side wall and fastened. A short cylindrical sleeve fitted in the insertion hole, a flange portion that extends integrally outward from the insertion rear portion of the sleeve and abuts the periphery of the insertion hole, and an inside or outside portion from the insertion front portion of the sleeve. The inflator cover is formed of an elastic material and has a ridge that protrudes to both sides and is pressed by the peripheral surface of the inflator inserted into the sleeve to expand the insertion front portion of the sleeve. The sleeve is inserted into the insertion hole of the case, the inflator head is inserted into the inserted sleeve, and the sleeve expanded through the raised portion is inserted into the case. It is in the position where it is engaged with the edge portion of the insertion hole of the spout.

Further, in order to fix the harness extending from the head of the inflator, the harness is covered with a corrugated tube, and a rib is meshed with a groove of the corrugated tube on the front side of the flange portion. It is possible to form a harness fixing part for holding the tube, and further to project an engaging part from the back side of the flange part, and to penetrate the side wall of the case with which the flange part abuts. It is also possible to prevent the inflator cover from rotating.

[0008]

[Action]

 Thus, in the airbag device of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the inflator inserted in the sleeve of the inflator cover presses the ridges provided on the inner side, outer side, or both sides of the sleeve, whereby the insertion front part of the sleeve. Push it to engage the edge of the case insertion hole. That is, according to the present invention, the inflator cover is fixed to the airbag case by sandwiching the edges of the case insertion hole from the front and back sides with the sleeve expanded and the flange portion. It is possible to significantly reduce the number of attachment parts and work man-hours for fixing the inflator cover.

[0009]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of an inflator head of an airbag apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing the same embodiment as a whole, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inflator cover of the embodiment. 1 is a view showing an airbag case 1 made of a metal box having a substantially U-shaped (or U-shaped) cross section, an airbag 3 folded and stored in an opening 2 of the case 1, and an airbag It has an inflator 4 fixed to the inside of the airbag case 1 behind the bag.

The attachment of the inflator 4 and the airbag case 1 is basically performed by providing an insertion hole 7 in one of the opposite side walls 5 of the case 1 and inserting the head 8 of the inflator 4 into the case. The other side wall 6 is provided with a bolt hole 12, a stud bolt 10 projecting in the axial direction in a foot portion 9 of the inflator 4 is penetrated, and a nut 11 is tightened.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the inflator head 8 is inserted into the insertion hole 7 through the inflator cover 13 shown in each drawing. The inflator cover 13 is made of an elastic resin such as nylon, and is integrally molded. The inflator cover 13 has a short cylindrical sleeve 14 to be inserted into the insertion hole 7 and an outer rear portion 15 of the sleeve 14 that extends integrally. The flange portion 16 that is ejected and abuts the periphery of the insertion hole 7 and the insertion front portion 17 of the sleeve 14 that protrudes inward and is pressed against the peripheral surface of the inflator 4 that is inserted into the sleeve 14 as shown in FIG. 6 of the protrusions 18 that pushes and expands the insertion front portion 17 of the sleeve 14. Further, the sleeve 14 is provided with slits 19 in the axial direction over a part of the flange portion 16, and the slits 19 divide the raised portion 18 into six pieces.

In the above embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve 14 of the inflator cover 13 is fitted into the insertion hole 7 of the airbag case 1, and the inflator head is fitted into the fitted sleeve 14. 8 is inserted, and as shown in FIG. 1, the sleeve 14 radially expanded through the raised portion 18 is engaged with the edge portion of the insertion hole 7 of the case. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the insertion hole 7 of the case 1 is formed in a cylindrical shape by the case flange 20, and the sleeve 14 expanded by the raised portion 18 is The case flange 20 is hooked on the lower end of the figure.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the inflator cover 13 has an engaging portion 21 having a claw portion protruding from the back side of the flange portion 16, and the engaging portion 21 is flanged. The inflator cover 13 before insertion of the inflator is temporarily fixed by penetrating the hole 22 of the case side wall 5 with which the portion 16 abuts. The engaging portion 21 also serves to prevent the inflator cover 13 from rotating.

Further, a harness covering lead wires and the like extends from the head of the inflator. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the harness is covered with a corrugated tube 23 having a bellows shape. On the front side of the flange portion 16, there is formed a harness fixing portion 25 which holds the tube 23 by engaging the rib 24 with the groove of the corrugated tube 23. As shown in FIG. 5, the harness fixing portion 25 includes a fixing portion main body 26 that is integrated with the flange portion 16 and a lid 27 that has a base portion connected to the fixing portion main body 26 by an integral hinge. By inserting the claw portion 28 at the tip of the body 27 into the insertion portion 29 of the fixed portion main body 27 and elastically fitting the engaging portion 30 of the claw portion 28 into the concave portion 31 of the insertion portion 29, one-touch operation is possible. The lid can be closed as shown in FIG. Thus, in this embodiment, the harness of the inflator can be fixed to the airbag case 1 via the inflator cover 13, and the vibration of the harness itself and the action of tension on the lead wire can be prevented. Is possible.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the harness of the inflator is provided with the connector 32, the connector fixing portion 33 for holding the connector 32 is formed on the front side of the flange portion 16 and the inflator cover 13 is interposed therebetween. Then, the connector 32 can be fixed to the airbag case 1. In this case, since the connector can be fixed to the airbag cover via the inflator cover, the harness path length can be minimized and the reliability of the airbag device can be improved.

However, in the airbag device of the embodiment of the present invention, the inflator 4 inserted into the inflator cover 13 presses the six ridges 18 provided on the inner surface of the sleeve 14 of the cover, thereby The insertion front portion 17 of the sleeve 14 is radially expanded and engaged with the edge portion of the case insertion hole 7 as shown in FIG. That is, in the present invention, the inflator cover is sandwiched between the pushed-out sleeve 14 and the flange portion 16 provided at the rear portion of the sleeve 14 so as to sandwich the edges of the cylindrical case insertion hole 7 from the front and back sides. 13 is fixed to the airbag case 1, whereby the number of attachment parts for fixing the inflator cover 13 and the number of work steps can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the airbag device can be reduced.

Furthermore, the inflator 4 inserted into the sleeve 14 of the inflator cover 13 is elastically held by the reaction force of the sleeve front portion 17 when the raised portion 18 is pressed.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the slit 19 is formed in the inflator cover so that the sleeve 14 can be easily opened. However, for example, the elasticity of the sleeve itself can be used. Alternatively, the slit 19 can be omitted by providing a thin portion to make it easier to expand and spread.

The ridges 18 may be formed on the outer side or both the inner and outer sides of the sleeve 14. In this case, the ridges 18 are pushed inward when the sleeve 14 is inserted. After passing through the case insertion hole 7, the inflator 4 presses the raised piece 18 from the inside, and the raised piece 18 is engaged with the edge portion of the case insertion hole 7 as in the above-described embodiment.

[0021]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, the airbag device of the present invention is a device in which the head of the inflator is fitted into the insertion hole of the case side wall, and the bolt of the foot portion is passed through the other side wall and fastened. The sleeve of the inflator cover is interposed between the insertion hole and the head of the inflator, and the front portion of the sleeve for insertion is expanded by the inflator through the raised portion, and the expanded sleeve and the insertion of the sleeve. The inflator cover is fixed by sandwiching the insertion hole with the rear flange, and the inflator can be elastically held by the reaction force of the sleeve to absorb dimensional variations and obtain proper fixing. it can. The above fixing structure has a remarkable effect of reducing the number of parts to be mounted on the inflator cover and the number of man-hours for mounting the inflator cover, which contributes to cost reduction of the airbag device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing the vicinity of an inflator head of an airbag apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the entire embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inflator cover of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an engaging portion of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a harness fixing portion of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a connector fixing part instead of the harness fixing part of the embodiment and a connector of the inflator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Airbag Case 2 Opening 3 Airbag 4 Inflator 5 Sidewall 6 Sidewall 8 Inflator Head 9 Inflator Foot 10 Stud Bolt 11 Nut 12 Bolt Hole 13 Inflator Cover 14 Sleeve 15 Rear Insertion of Sleeve 16 Flange 17 Sleeve Insertion front part 18 Raised part 19 Slit 20 Case flange 21 Engagement part 22 Hole 23 Corrugated tube 24 Rib 25 Harness fixing part 26 Fixing part main body 27 Lid body 28 Claw part 29 Inserting part 30 Engaging part 31 Recess 32 Connector 33 Connector fixing Department

Front page continued (72) Inventor Koji Sugiura, Miyoshi-cho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi, Ochi, 3rd Ikuyama, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. Automotive Parts Technology Center (72) Inventor Takeshi Yamachi, Miyoshi-cho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi Uchikoshi 3 Igayama Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. Automotive Parts Technology Center (72) Inventor Toru Ozaki Aichi Prefecture Nishikamo-gun Miyoshi-cho Ochi 3

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An inflator having a box-shaped airbag case with a part of the opening and a tubular inflator fixed in the case, wherein an insertion hole is provided in one of opposite side walls of the case. In an airbag device in which the head is fitted and the foot of the inflator is fixed to the other of the side walls, a short tubular sleeve fitted into the insertion hole and an outer rear portion of the sleeve. A flange portion that extends integrally and abuts the periphery of the insertion hole, and protrudes inward or outward or both sides from the insertion front portion of the sleeve, and is pressed against the peripheral surface of the inflator inserted into the sleeve, thereby the sleeve. Forming an inflator cover made of an elastic material having a raised portion that pushes and expands the insertion front part of the case, and the sleeve of the cover is fitted into the insertion hole of the case and An airbag device having an inflator cover, characterized in that a head of an inflator is inserted into a sleeve, and a sleeve expanded by the raised portion is engaged with an edge portion of an insertion hole of the case. 2. The airbag apparatus having an inflator cover according to claim 1, wherein an engaging portion is provided so as to project from the back side of the flange portion, and the engaging portion is penetrated through a side wall of the case with which the flange portion abuts. 3. A harness extending from the head of the inflator is formed of a corrugated tube, and a harness fixing portion for holding the tube is formed on the front side of the flange portion by engaging a rib with a groove of the corrugated tube. An airbag device comprising the inflator cover according to claim 1 or 2. 4. An airbag provided with an inflator cover according to claim 1, wherein the harness extending from the inflator head has a connector, and a connector fixing portion for holding the connector is formed on the front side of the flange portion. apparatus.