JPH0930368A - Pedestrian protection airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Problem] To reduce the reaction force generated when an airbag is deployed. SOLUTION: A plurality of airbags 13a, 14a and an airbag deploying device are configured so that an upper surface of a hood 12 against which a pedestrian is secondarily collided is divided into a plurality of regions 12a, 12b, and can be deployed in each of these divided regions. And a laser receiver / receiver 17 for detecting the presence and position of an object in the sensor area 17a near the front end of the vehicle body,
Based on the position of the object detected by the laser receiver / receiver 17, an airbag to be deployed is selected from the airbags 13a and 14a, and an airbag deployment means for deploying the airbag is controlled. A development signal is output from the device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention deploys an airbag on a hood or the like at the front of the vehicle when a running vehicle collides with a pedestrian, and the pedestrian makes a secondary collision with the hood or the like. The present invention relates to an airbag device that protects a pedestrian by absorbing the impact of the collision with the airbag.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that when a running vehicle collides with a pedestrian, the collided pedestrian is secondarily collided with the lower half of the body by the front portion of the vehicle body and the upper surface of the hood at the front portion of the vehicle body. There is. Therefore, the applicants have already developed an airbag on the hood or the like at the front of the vehicle body to absorb the impact of a secondary collision on the hood or the like with this airbag, and have already protected the pedestrian. is suggesting.

FIG. 7 shows a safety device for protecting a pedestrian disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,249,632, in which a pedestrian is detected by a sensor 3 provided on a bumper 2 at a front end of a vehicle 1. When a collision of 4 is detected, the hood 5
The airbag 6 installed at the lower rear end inflates and expands, lifts the rear end of the hood 5 upward, and elastically supports the rear end of the hood 5 by the cushioning action of the airbag 6,
The impact when the pedestrian 4 collides with the hood 5 for the second time is mitigated.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional safety device for protecting pedestrians, by inflating the airbag provided at the rear end of the hood 5,
In order to lift the rear end side of the hood 5 upward, a large amount of gas is required and the inflator needs to be upsized.
The reaction force generated when the bag was deployed was also large. Therefore, in order to allow the inflator attachment portion to withstand this large reaction force, it is necessary to increase the members of the cowl top portion of the vehicle body and the strength member of the hood portion, which increases the weight of the hood and also increases the cost. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and reduces the reaction force generated when the airbag is deployed,
The purpose of the invention is to reduce the required strength of the air bag device mounting portion to reduce the weight and cost.

This is because the upper surface of the vehicle body is divided into a plurality of regions,
Install small airbags in each divided area,
This is achieved by reducing the reaction force generated when the individual airbags are deployed.

[0007]

As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention deploys an airbag on the upper surface of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, so In a pedestrian protection airbag device that protects the pedestrian from the impact of a collision, a plurality of airbags that are provided so as to divide the upper surface of the vehicle body into a plurality of regions and to deploy each of these divided regions, An air bag deployment device, an object detection means for detecting the presence and position of an object in a space above the front end of the vehicle body, and an air bag deployment from the plurality of air bags based on the position of the object detected by the object detection means. An airbag control means for selecting a desired airbag and outputting a deployment signal for deploying the airbag to the airbag deployment device. It is a symptom.

That is, as described above, the upper surface of the vehicle body such as the hood upper surface of the vehicle body, the windshield front surface or the roof upper surface is divided into a plurality of areas, and a plurality of airbags are provided so as to cover the respective divided areas. Therefore, each airbag and each airbag deployment device are downsized.
Then, when a pedestrian is detected by the object detection means, the area where the secondary collision occurs on the upper surface of the vehicle body is determined from the position where the pedestrian is detected, and a predetermined area on the upper surface of the vehicle body, that is, this detected area is detected. The airbag required to protect the pedestrian is selected from a plurality of airbags, and the airbag control means outputs a deployment signal to the selected airbag. Therefore, since each airbag is miniaturized, the airbag deployment device can be miniaturized, and the reaction force generated when the airbag is deployed is also reduced.

Further, when the detected position of the pedestrian straddles a plurality of regions, the airbags are simultaneously deployed in a plurality of divided regions corresponding to the respective upper surfaces of the vehicle body. Since the portions to which the reaction force generated at times is applied are dispersed in a plurality of places, stress concentration on the strength member does not occur, and the required member strength can be kept low.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a first embodiment of a pedestrian protection airbag device according to the present invention.
The airbag device for pedestrian protection mounted on the vehicle is divided into a left half area 1 and a left half area 1 on the hood 12 at the front of the vehicle body.
2b and a right half region 12a, and in the hood 12, a right half airbag module is arranged on the front right side and a left half airbag module 14 is arranged on the front left side. There is.

The right half airbag module has a right half airbag 13a which expands to cover the right half region 12a on the hood 12 when inflated, and an inflator which inflates and deploys the right half airbag 13a. And are integrally housed in a case. Further, the left half airbag module 14 expands so as to cover the left half region 12b on the hood 12 when inflated.
a and an inflator for inflating and deploying the left half airbag 14a are integrally provided in the case.

A bumper sensor 15a is embedded in the front surface of the front bumper 15 at the front end of the vehicle body, and a pair of laser receivers / receivers 17, 17 are provided on the fenders 16, 16 on both sides near the front end of the vehicle body.

The bumper sensor 15a is arranged almost at the full width of the bumper 15 and detects a collision by an input from the front of the vehicle, and detects a collision with a pedestrian or an obstacle. Further, the laser receivers / receivers 17, 17 are
The hoods 12 are arranged on both sides in the vicinity of the front end of the hood 12 so as to irradiate the laser light substantially at right angles to the center line of the vehicle body and obliquely upward from the horizontal within a predetermined angle range.
By receiving the reflected light, an object in the detection area above the hood 12 is detected, and the distances from the laser receivers / emitters 17, 17 to the object are also measured.

Further, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 18 is an airbag control device, which receives a detection signal output by the bumper sensor 15a after detecting a collision with an obstacle or a pedestrian,
When the laser receivers / receivers 17, 17 detect an object in the detection area (hatched portion in FIG. 1) 17a and receive the detection signal output within a certain time, it is determined to be a collision with a pedestrian. In addition, the laser receivers / receivers 17, 1
The collision position of the pedestrian is indexed based on the detection data of 7, and either the right half airbag 13a or the left half airbag 14b is selected based on the indexed position, or It is designed to output a deployment signal for both airbags.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When the vehicle 10 collides with an obstacle or a pedestrian while the vehicle is running and the bumper sensor 15a is turned on, the detection signal is sent to the airbag control device 18. The airbag control device 18 determines a collision based on the input detection signal, and determines the fenders 16 on both sides of the front part of the vehicle body.
The laser receivers / light-emitters 17, 17 installed in the above are turned on, and the laser light is emitted from each laser receiver / emitter 17 toward the space above the hood 12 for a certain period of time. Then, within a certain period of time during which the laser light is irradiated, the detection area 17a,
When the object passes through the inside of 17a, the reflected light of the laser light is received by the laser receivers / receivers 17 and 17, and respective detection signals are sent to the airbag control device 18.

Then, in the air bag control device 18, the distance from each of the laser receivers / receivers 17, 17 to the detection position is calculated by the detection signal from each of the laser receivers / receivers 17, 17 on the left and right, and the pedestrian is detected from this distance. The position is determined whether the collision position is the left half, the right half, or near the center of the front end of the vehicle body.

When the collision position is in the left half of the front end of the vehicle body, an ignition signal is sent to the inflator of the left half airbag module 14, and the gas generated in the inflator causes the left half airbag 14a to Deploy in the area on the left side of the hood 12. Therefore, when a pedestrian who collides with the front end of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 secondarily collides with the left half portion of the hood 12, the left half airbag 14a that is deployed so as to cover the left half portion of the hood 12 can surely be used. Buffered and protected.

When the collision position is in the right half of the front end of the vehicle body, an ignition signal is sent to the inflator of the right half airbag module, and the right half airbag 13a moves to the hood 1.
Expand to the area to the right of 2. Therefore, when a pedestrian who collides with the front end of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 makes a secondary collision with the right half portion of the hood 12, the right half airbag 13a deployed so as to cover the right half portion of the hood 12 ensures that Buffered and protected.

Further, when the collision position is substantially in the center of the front end of the vehicle body, an ignition signal is sent to both the right half airbag module and the left half airbag module 14 and the right half airbag 13a. Left half airbag 14
a and expand so as to cover the entire surface of the hood 12. Therefore, when a pedestrian who collides with the front end of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 makes a secondary collision with substantially the center of the hood 12, the hood 12
Both left and right airbags 13a, 14 deployed so as to cover the top
It is securely buffered and protected by a.

Therefore, as described above, according to the airbag apparatus of this embodiment, the hood 12 is divided into two regions, and the right half airbag 13a or the left half airbag 14a is deployed in each divided region. As a result, the capacity of each airbag can be reduced, and the inflator for deploying the airbag can be downsized, so that the reaction force generated when deploying the airbags 13a and 14a by the inflator can be reduced.

As a result, the inflator can be downsized as compared with an air bag of the type in which the entire surface of the hood 12 is covered with a single air bag, the inflator for generating gas can also be downsized, and is generated when the air bag is deployed. Since the reaction force can be suppressed small, the bracket (not shown) installed on the hood 12 and the member of the strength member of the hood 12 for fixing the bracket can be made small, and the weight of the hood 12 can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. Can be down. In this embodiment, when the bumper sensor 15a detects a collision, the laser receivers / receivers 17, 1
7 is switched on for a certain period of time to detect an object passing above the front part of the vehicle body. However, the laser receivers 17 and 17 are constantly turned on while the ignition key is on. The effective time of the pedestrian collision determination can be configured to be measured by using a separate timer by irradiating.

Further, in this embodiment, the hood 12
Although the laser receiver / transmitter 17 is used as a means for detecting an object passing through the space above, another optical obstacle sensor such as an infrared receiver / transmitter or an ultrasonic obstacle is used instead of the laser receiver / transmitter 17. A sensor or the like can be used.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show a second embodiment of the device of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The pedestrian protection airbag device mounted on the vehicle includes a bumper sensor 25 embedded in a front bumper 24 at the front of the vehicle body. Further, the upper surface of the hood 22 at the front of the vehicle body is divided into four regions 22 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction.
It is divided into a, 22b, 22c and 22d. Also,
A rear right airbag module including a rear right airbag sa and an inflator is disposed in the region 22a of the hood 22. A rear left airbag module including a rear left airbag sb and an inflator is arranged in the region 22b. In the area 2
A front right airbag module including a front right airbag sc and an inflator is disposed in 2c. Further, a front left airbag module including a front left airbag sd and an inflator is arranged in the region 22d.

A laser receiver / emitter 27 is installed inside the windshield 21 at the center of the lower surface of the front end of the roof 20a, which is the passenger compartment. Then, laser light is emitted from the laser receiver / receiver 27 toward the space above the hood 22 in the front of the vehicle so that the optical axis thereof becomes substantially horizontal. From the vicinity of the front end of the hood 22 closer than the distance L1 from the laser receiver / receiver 27, the laser receiver / receiver 2
The space from 7 to the vicinity of the center of the hood 22 which is farther than the distance L2 is defined as a pedestrian detection effective range, and the pedestrian detection effective range is cut by a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, and the vertical plane is lengthwise and crosswise Into four sensor areas, that is, an upper right area SA, an upper left area SB, and a lower right area SC.
And a lower left area SD.

When an object passes through one or more of these four areas, the laser light emitted hits the object, and the reflected light is received by the laser receiver / receiver 27, whereby the object (L1 − When detected within the range of L2), a detection signal is sent from the laser receiver / receiver 27 to the airbag control device 28. At this time, if the bumper sensor 25 detects a collision with an object and then receives a detection signal from the laser receiver / transmitter 27 within a fixed time, the airbag control device 28 determines that the collision is with a pedestrian, and the object of the object is detected. A deployment signal is output to a predetermined airbag module installed in a divided area on the hood corresponding to the area of which presence is detected.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 5 and the chart showing the correspondence between the detection pattern and the deployment airbag of FIG. In FIG. 5, first, the timer T and the flag F are initialized (T = 0, F = 0) (step 101).
). Then, the sensor information is input (step 102).
). That is, the ON signal or the OFF signal of the bumper sensor 25 is read, and the distance measurement values LA, L by the laser receiver / receiver 27 in each of the areas SA, SD are read.
Read B, LC, LD. Next, the presence or absence of a pedestrian in each area SA, SD is determined based on the read distance measurement values LA, LD. Specifically, the flags A, B, C, and D are provided in association with the respective areas SA, to SD, and the distance measurement values LA,
~ LD is the pedestrian detection effective range (measurement values L1 to L2
If it is within the range (up to <L1), the corresponding flag A (to D) is set to "1", and if it is not within the range, it is set to "0".

In the subsequent step 104, it is determined whether or not the bumper sensor 25 is ON. If the determination in step 104 is negative because it is OFF, flag F
Reset to zero (step 105) and then step 10
Return to 2. On the other hand, when the affirmative determination is made in step 104 that the bumper sensor 25 is ON, the timer T
Flag F indicating whether or not the count is being performed by
(Step 106). That is, the flag F
Is "1", and if the flag F is "0" and the timer T has not started counting ("NO" in step 106), the timer T starts counting time (step 106). 107). In this case, the flag F is set to "1" by starting the counting by the timer T (step 108), and then the airbag deployment control based on FIG. 6 is executed (step 109).

In FIG. 6, if the values of the flags A and D provided corresponding to the respective areas SA and SD are "1", they are indicated by a circle, and if the values are "0", they are blank. Flag A, ~
The combination of the values of D is shown in 15 patterns, and the deployment airbag for each pattern is shown. As is known from FIG. 6, when an object (pedestrian) is detected only in the high position areas SA and SB, neither of the airbags is inflated, but the low position areas SC and SD and the high position are detected. When an object is detected in the areas SA and SB of, the airbag sa, which is basically the side corresponding to the head,
sb is deployed, and in addition to this, airbags sc and sd on the front side of the vehicle are deployed depending on the situation.

More specifically, in the case of pattern 1, pattern 2 and pattern 9, an object is detected in either or both of the upper right area SA and the upper left area SB of the detection area 27 shown in FIG. Since it is not detected in the lower right area SC and the lower left area SD below, it is determined that the detected object is an article other than a pedestrian, such as a soccer ball, and the airbag deployment signal is not output. Controlled.

In the case of pattern 3, the upper right area S
Since an object is detected in A and the lower right area SC, and the detection area straddles the upper and lower right sides, it is determined that a collision with a pedestrian occurs,
A deployment signal is sent to the inflator of the rear right airbag module, and the rear right airbag sa is controlled to deploy so as to cover the area 22a on the hood 22.

Pattern 4 (when an object is detected in the upper right area SA and lower left area SD), pattern 5 (when an object is detected in the upper right area SA, upper left area SB, and lower right area SC), Pattern 6 (upper right area SA and upper left area S
B and an object is detected in the lower left area SD), pattern 7 (when an object is detected in the upper right area SA, lower right area SC and lower left area SD), pattern 8 (upper right area SA and upper left area SB). , An object is detected in all four areas of a lower right area SC and a lower left area SD), a pattern 10 (when an object is detected in an upper left area SB and a lower right area SC), a pattern 12 (an upper left area SB). And lower right area SC and lower left area S
In the case of 7 patterns (when an object is detected in D and D), the rear right airbag sa and the rear left airbag sb are used.
And two airbags are controlled so as to output deployment signals respectively.

The pattern 11 (when an object is detected in the upper left area SB and the lower left area SD) is controlled so that only the rear left airbag sb is deployed.

The pattern 13 (when an object is detected in the lower right area SC) is controlled so that only the front right airbag sc is deployed.

Further, in the pattern 14 (when an object is detected in the lower right area SC and the lower left area SD), two airbags of the front right airbag sc and the front left airbag sd are deployed. Each is controlled.

Furthermore, the pattern 15 (when an object is detected in the lower left area SD) is controlled so as to deploy the front left airbag sd.

On the other hand, when the timer T has already started counting the time and the determination in step 106 is affirmative, it is determined whether or not the count value exceeds the predetermined "pedestrian collision effective time upper limit value α". Is judged (Step 11
0). This pedestrian collision effective time upper limit value α is an upper limit value at which it is considered that the bumper sensor 25 will continue to be in the ON state due to a collision with a pedestrian. Therefore, if a negative determination is made in step 110, it is a collision with a pedestrian. Since it is certain that this is the case, proceed to step 109 to continue the airbag deployment control. On the other hand, if the count value of the timer T exceeds the upper limit value α, it is considered that there is no collision with a pedestrian, so the flag F is reset to zero (step 111) and the timer T is stopped. Zero reset (step 112).

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the upper surface of the hood 22 is divided into four areas corresponding to the four divided sensor areas of the laser receiver / transmitter 27, and the airbag modules are arranged in the respective areas. Since it is installed and only the airbags in the area corresponding to the sensor area where the pedestrian is detected are deployed, each airbag is downsized,
The reaction force at the time of deploying the airbag is also suppressed to a small level, so that the required strength of the portion such as the hood where the airbag module is mounted can be reduced, and the weight and cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the case where the upper part of the vehicle body is divided into two or four areas and the airbags are respectively installed has been described. However, the airbags are respectively installed into four or more areas. You may do it. In addition to the hood, the airbag can be installed on the windshield and the roof.

[0041]

As described above, in the pedestrian protection airbag device of the present invention, the upper surface of the vehicle body is divided into a plurality of regions, and a plurality of airbags are provided so as to cover the respective divided regions. Since each airbag and each airbag deploying device are downsized, the reaction force generated when the airbag is deployed can be reduced, and therefore, the mounting portion on the vehicle body side that receives the reaction force when deploying the airbag can be reduced. The strength can be reduced, and by using a small member, the weight can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle equipped with a pedestrian protection airbag device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of a pedestrian protection airbag device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the sensor area and the area on the hood in the device of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an area on a hood and an airbag in the device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control process performed by an airbag control device in the device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a chart showing a correspondence relationship between a detection pattern and a deployment airbag in the apparatus of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional pedestrian protection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 hood 12a right half area 12b left half area 13a right half airbag 14 left half airbag module 14b left half airbag 15a bumper sensor 17 laser receiver / receiver 18 airbag control device 22 hoods 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d Divided area 25 Bumper sensor 27 Laser receiver / emitter 28 Air bag control device SA, SB, SC, SD Divided sensor area sa, sb, sc, sd Air bag

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akio Matsuoka 1 Toyota-cho, Toyota-shi, Aichi Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroki Ohara 2-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya, Aichi Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kouji Aiki 2-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya city, Aichi Prefecture Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Michio Inoue 1 Ochiai, Nagahata, Kasuga-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pedestrian protection airbag device for deploying an airbag on the upper surface of a vehicle body when a collision with a pedestrian is detected to protect the pedestrian from the impact of a secondary collision on the upper surface of the vehicle body. Dividing the upper surface of the vehicle body into a plurality of regions and deploying a plurality of airbags and airbags provided so as to deploy each of the divided regions, and the presence of an object in a space above the front end of the vehicle body and An object detecting means for detecting a position, an airbag to be deployed from the plurality of airbags based on the position of the object detected by the object detecting means, and a deployment signal for deploying the airbag An airbag device for pedestrian protection, comprising: an airbag control means for outputting to a bag deploying device.