JPH07291082A - Air bag device for front passenger seat - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent breakage of a windshield and to make an air bag smoothly work to expand even at the time when a cover works to open. CONSTITUTION:A guide groove 5 is formed on both sides of an opening part 4 of an instrument panel 2, and a cover 8 is arranged free to slide against the guide groove 5. A pin 9 on both side parts of the cover 8 is engaged with a cross L letter shaped lock part 6. A lever 12 provided on the lower surface of the instrument panel 2 is constantly energized to revolve in the counterclockwise direction by a twisted coil spring 14, and the head end part of the lever 12 is connected to both side parts of the cover 8 free to revolve. When an ignition device in an inflator 19 is ignited and gas is generated, the gas expands an air bag 21, and the air bag 21 pushes up the cover 8 above it. The pin 9 of the cover 8 is disconnected from the lock part 6 of the guide groove 5, the lever 12 is revolved in the counterclockwise direction by energizing force of the twisted coil spring 14, and the cover 8 is driven in the direction of a front passenger seat.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device for a passenger seat, which is provided in a vehicle and protects an occupant in the passenger seat by inflating the airbag in the event of a vehicle collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, airbag devices have been installed in a driver's seat and a passenger's seat in order to protect an occupant in a vehicle in the event of a vehicle collision. In particular, a passenger airbag device for protecting an occupant sitting in the passenger seat must be provided on the instrument panel side. The passenger-side airbag device that has been conventionally proposed is embedded in the instrument panel, and the lid of the module that constitutes the airbag device is provided on the upper surface side of the instrument panel, and the seat side of the instrument panel. There is one in which the lid of the module is arranged at the location facing the. The lid is opened when the airbag arranged in the module case is inflated and pressed by the airbag.

The latter sacrifices the volume for arranging the glove box normally provided on the passenger side of the instrument panel, so that the lid having the lid on the upper surface of the instrument panel as in the former is preferable.

Therefore, as this type, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-2 has been proposed.
The technology of No. 04838 has been proposed (see FIG. 5). In this conventional technique, the lid 33 of the module case 32 provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel 31 is arranged on the upper side of the instrument panel 31, and the inflating airbag 34 does not interfere with the lid 33 in the open state. The airbag 34 is smoothly inflated toward the passenger side of the passenger seat. On the other hand, it is conceivable that the lid 33, which is actuated by the pressure due to the expansion of the airbag 34, vigorously hits the front window panel 35, and the front window panel 35 is damaged, and the airbag 34 is damaged by the damaged glass. For this reason, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the module case 32 and the lid 33 are connected by the band 36 to suppress the opening angle of the lid 33.

[0005]

However, as described above, the structure in which the rotation angle of the lid 33 is restrained by the band 36 as described above has sufficient tensile strength to withstand the impact when the lid is opened.
Is required as a characteristic of. Therefore, the band 36 is required to have a special quality, which causes a problem of high cost. Therefore, there is a demand for a structure that allows the airbag to inflate smoothly without contacting the lid with the front window panel.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent the front window panel from being opened even when the lid is opened without restricting the opening and rotation of the lid like a band. An object of the present invention is to provide an airbag device for a passenger seat, which is capable of preventing damage and smoothly inflating the airbag.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air bag which is provided in an instrument panel and opens a module case with a lid facing the upper surface of the instrument panel and inflates in the module case. In a passenger seat airbag device in which a lid is opened, a lid is provided slidably, and a biasing means for biasing the lid in the opening direction is connected to the lid, and the lid is always subjected to the biasing force of the biasing means. The gist of the present invention is an airbag device for a passenger seat, which is provided with a locking means that is held in a closed state against the pressure and that is unlocked when pressed by an inflating airbag.

The invention of claim 2 is summarized as the airbag device for a passenger seat according to claim 1, wherein the lid is provided slidably toward the passenger seat side.

[0009]

According to the invention of claim 1, when the airbag inflates in the module case, the lid of the module case is pressed against the airbag. This pressing unlocks the locking means, and the lid is opened by the urging force of the urging means. The airbag expands outward from the opened module case.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the lock of the lock means is released, the lid slides toward the passenger seat.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an air bag device for a passenger seat of an automobile will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, an instrument panel 2 made of a synthetic resin such as soft vinyl chloride resin is provided in front of the passenger seat of the automobile 1. A front window panel 3 made of laminated glass is arranged above and above the instrument panel 2. An opening 4 is formed on the upper surface of the instrument panel 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, guide grooves 5 are formed on both sides of the opening 4 along the traveling direction of the vehicle. The guide groove 5 has a horizontal L-shaped lock portion 6 provided in the front portion (on the left side in FIG. 2), and a slide formed in parallel with the upper surface of the instrument panel 2 in communication with the lock portion 6. The contact portion 7 is provided. The lock part 6 constitutes a locking means. The lower end of the lock portion 6 is formed with a recess 6a that is slightly recessed rearward. The rear end of the sliding contact portion 7 extends obliquely downward. The lock portion 6 constitutes the lock means of the present invention. A rectangular plate-shaped lid 8 is arranged in the opening 4. Cylindrical pins 9 are provided on both sides of the front end of the lid 8.
Is projected and is slidably engaged in the guide groove 5. Therefore, the lid 8 is slidably supported on both sides of the opening 4. Further, the lid 8 always has the pin 9 engaged with the lock portion 6. That is, the rear portion of the pin 9 is biased by the twist coil spring 14 as a biasing means described later and is engaged in the recess 6a as shown in FIG. 3, and the closed state of the lid 8 is maintained.

A pair of step portions 11 are formed on the lower surface of the instrument panel 2 along both sides of the opening portion 4, and levers 12 are rotatably supported on the inner side surfaces of the step portions 11 facing each other. Has been done. A twist coil spring 14 is wound around a shaft portion 13 that rotatably supports the lever 12, one end of the twist coil spring 14 is hooked to the lever 12, and the other end is locked to the step portion 11. Therefore, the lever 12 is always urged to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by the twist coil spring 14. Shafts 10 are projectingly provided on both side surfaces of the rear portion of the lid 8. The tip of the lever 12 is rotatably connected to the shaft 10. Therefore,
The lid 8 closes the opening 4 while being biased in the opening direction (rightward in FIG. 1) by the biasing of the lever 12 in the rotating direction.

A locking recess 8a is formed on the rear end surface of the lid 8 (passenger seat side end surface). The end surface of the opening portion 4 of the instrument panel 2 corresponding to the rear end surface of the lid 8 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the locking step portion 2a is formed, and in the state where the lid 8 closes the opening portion 4, the locking step portions 2a are locked in a concave-convex relationship with each other. Therefore, the rear end portion of the lid 8 is pressed downward by the biasing force of the twist coil spring 14, but the downward movement is prevented by the engagement with the two 2a, 8a. The amount of engagement between the two 2a and 8a is substantially equal to the amount of engagement between the pin 9 and the recess 6a shown in FIG.
When is moved forward so that the engagement with the recess 6a of the lock portion 6 is released, the engagement between the engagement step portion 2a and the engagement recess 8a is also released.

An air bag device 15 is arranged in the instrument panel 2 so as to correspond to the opening 4, and is located below the closed lid 8 as shown in FIG. The airbag device 15 includes a module case 16. The module case 16 is made of metal and has a rectangular box shape with a bottom. A notch 16b is formed in a part of the side plate of the module case 16 on the passenger seat side so as not to interfere with the opening trajectory of the lid 8. Instrument panel 2
A stay 17 is fixed to the inside of the vehicle body, and the lower part of the module case 16 is fixed to the stay 17 via a bracket 18.

An inflator 19 is inserted into the module case 16 through a mounting hole 16a at the bottom center thereof.
The inflator 19 is attached and fixed to the peripheral edge of the attachment hole 16a with a bolt 20. The inflator 19 includes an ignition device, and the gas generating agent is rapidly decomposed by operation of the ignition device to generate nitrogen gas. A lower opening of an airbag 21 is fixed to the outer periphery of the inflator 19 by a retainer 22 with the bolt 20. The airbag 21 is folded and stored in the module case 16. The airbag 21 is inflated by the nitrogen gas generated when the ignition device of the inflator 19 is activated.

Now, the operation of the passenger seat airbag apparatus constructed as described above will be described. When a collision of the automobile is detected, the ignition device in the inflator 19 is ignited, and the gas generating agent is burned to generate nitrogen gas. This nitrogen gas is ejected into the airbag 21. As a result, the folded airbag 21 inflates and pushes up the lid 8 located above it. Therefore, the pin 9 of the lid 8 moves slightly forward from the concave portion 6a of the lock portion 6 and moves toward the sliding contact portion 7.
Move to the start side of. By slightly moving the pin 9 forward, the engaging recess 8a of the lid 8 and the locking step 2a of the opening 4 are formed.
Is disengaged, and the rear end of the lid 8 is allowed to move downward. When the pin 9 moves to the start end of the sliding contact portion 7,
Due to the biasing force of the twist coil spring 14,
In the counterclockwise direction, the lid 8
Is followed by the rear end as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1, and the lid 8 is driven rearward (toward the front passenger seat). As a result, the lid 8 moves until the pin 9 is locked at the end of the sliding contact portion 7 (FIG. 2).
reference). Note that, in FIG. 2, the airbag 21 is illustrated in a non-inflated state, that is, in a folded state for convenience of description. The movement of the lid 8 is instantaneously performed by the biasing force of the twist coil spring 14. By the movement of the lid 8, the upper part of the module case 16 is opened, and the airbag 21 inflates to the outside of the instrument panel 2.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the lid 8 is opened and moved toward the passenger seat side, unlike the conventional technique in which the lid 8 is opened and rotated to the front window panel 3, the front window panel 3 is opened. By 8 it is possible to prevent collision and damage. Therefore, the airbag 2 in the inflated state
0 is not scratched by the front window panel 3 which is damaged by the lid 8.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be carried out as follows. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the twist coil spring 14 is used as the biasing means and the lever 12 biases the lid 8 in the opening direction. However, instead of this, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. One or more tension coil springs 25 are locked to the rear end portion as biasing means, and the tension coil springs 25 are
The other end may be locked to the instrument panel side.
In this case, the notch 16a of the lever 12, the shaft portion 13 and the module case 16 can be omitted in the configuration of the above embodiment. (2) In the above embodiment, the guide groove 5 of the lid 8 is provided on both sides of the opening 4 of the instrument panel 2, but instead, a guide groove may be formed on the side wall of the upper opening of the module case 16. good. (3) Although the front window panel 3 is made of laminated glass in the above-mentioned embodiment, it may be embodied in an automobile provided with the front window panel 3 made of tempered glass. (4) In the above embodiment, the lid 8 is slidable toward the passenger seat, but instead, the lid 8 is slidable in the right and left direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle body, and the tension coil spring is used as described in (1) above. The lid 8 may be laterally slidable.

[0021]

As described above in detail, according to the invention of claim 1, the front wind panel is prevented from being damaged even when the lid is opened without restricting the opening and rotation of the lid like a band. The airbag can be inflated smoothly.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the locking means is unlocked, the lid is slid to the passenger seat side, whereby the inflation operation of the airbag can be smoothly performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an arrangement state of an airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of the airbag device.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of an essential part showing the start end of the guide groove, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing the engagement relationship between the lid and the end face of the opening.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the arrangement of each member that similarly drives the lid to open.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automotive, 2 ... Instrument panel, 3 ... Front window panel, 4 ... Opening part, 5 ... Guide groove, 6 ... Lock part as locking means, 7 ... Sliding contact part, 8 ... Lid, 11 ...
Steps, 12 ... Lever, 14 ... Twisted coil springs as biasing means, 15 ... Airbag device, 16 ... Module case, 19 ... Inflator, 21 ... Airbag.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Provided in an instrument panel,
In the passenger airbag device in which the lid that opens the module case faces the upper side of the instrument panel, and the lid is opened by the airbag that expands in the module case, the lid is slidably provided. The urging means for urging the lid in the opening direction to keep the lid in the closed state against the urging force of the urging means at all times, and when the air bag is inflated, the lock is locked. An airbag device for a passenger seat provided with a locking means to be released. 2. The airbag apparatus for a passenger seat according to claim 1, wherein the lid is provided slidably toward the passenger seat side.