Head protection airbag device

• US 10,000,174 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2016
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Okuhara, Masaaki, Kawamura, Koji, Sato, Yuji, Hiraiwa, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Dickson, Paul N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wilhelm, Timothy
• Application Number:
  US15/263,429
• Publication Number:
  US 20170088082A1
• Time in Patent Office: 644 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0048 Head
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23386 External tether means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/213 in vehicle roof frames or pillars
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/23138 specially adapted for side protection B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers

Abstract

In a head protection airbag device equipped with an airbag, a boundary closing portion is disposed between a main inflation portion and an end-side inflation portion of the airbag at the time of completion of inflation so as to partition the main inflation portion and the end-side inflation portion; the boundary closing portion is provided with a distribution port that is configured to allow the inflating gas from the main inflation portion to flow to the end-side inflation portion, between the upper edge and the lower edge of the peripheral portion; and the boundary closing portion is equipped with a vertical closing portion disposed along a substantially vertical direction on the lower side, and an inclined closing portion that extends in an obliquely upward direction of the main inflation portion from the vicinity of the upper end of the vertical closing portion.

Claims

1. A head protection airbag device equipped with an airbag, the airbag being stored in a folded state on an upper edge of a window on a vehicle interior side of a vehicle side surface, and being deployed and inflated downward at the time of inflow of an inflating gas to cover the vehicle interior side of the window, wherein:

the airbag is equipped with a gas inflow portion configured to be swelled to separate a vehicle inner wall portion and a vehicle outer wall portion by introducing the inflating gas, and a non-inflow portion which does not introduce the inflating gas by coupling the vehicle inner wall portion and the vehicle outer wall portion;

the gas inflow portion is equipped with, as an inflation part for introducing the inflating gas and inflating, a main inflation portion that covers the vehicle interior side of the window, an end-side inflation portion which is disposed at an end portion in a front-rear direction of the airbag in adjacent to the main inflation portion and is disposed on a downstream side of the inflating gas from the main inflation portion, and a supply passage portion which is disposed along the front-rear direction of an upper edge of the airbag to supply the inflating gas to an upper side of the main inflation portion;

the non-inflow portion is equipped with a peripheral portion disposed on a peripheral edge of the gas inflow portion, a closing portion which is disposed to regulate the thickness of the inflation portion of the gas inflow portion or partition the inflating site, and a plurality of mounting piece portions mounted to the upper edge of the window, wherein the mounting piece portions are disposed to extend upward on the upper edge of the airbag;

a boundary closing portion as the closing portion is disposed between the main inflation portion and the end-side inflation portion of the airbag at the time of completion of inflation to partition the main inflation portion and the end-side inflation portion;

the boundary closing portion is equipped with a vertical closing portion disposed along a substantially vertical direction on the lower side, and an inclined closing portion that extends in an obliquely upward direction of the main inflation portion from the vicinity of the upper end of the vertical closing portion, and

the boundary closing portion defines an upper distribution port and a lower distribution port, which are configured to allow the inflating gas from the main inflation portion to flow to the end-side inflation portion, wherein the upper distribution port is located between the upper edge of the airbag and an upper end of the boundary closing portion, and the lower distribution port is located between a lower edge of the airbag and a lower end of the vertical closing portion.

2. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the boundary closing portion of the airbag integrally and continuously disposes the vertical closing portion and the inclined closing portion.

3. The head protection airbag device according to claim 2, wherein the boundary closing portion of the airbag is configured to have a shape such that, as the edge of the main inflation portion, the edge of the vertical closing portion extends in a vertical direction and the edge of the inclined closing portion extends in the front-rear direction.

4. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein:

the folded shape of the end-side inflation portion to the upper edge of the window in the airbag is set to a folded shape in a state in which a fold is provided in the vertical closing portion of the boundary closing portion or in the end-side inflation portion in the vicinity of the vertical closing portion, the end-side inflation portion is folded to the side of the vehicle inner wall portion of the main inflation portion, and the lower edge of the airbag is brought close to the upper edge;

a mounting piece portion provided on the end portion of the end-side inflation portion on the upper edge of the airbag is disposed in a just upper area of the vertical closing portion, or near the boundary closing portion of the main inflation portion direction from the just upper area, so as to form the fold in the folded shape,

the mounting piece portion is attachably disposed in a roof side rail portion of the vehicle;

a vertical length dimension of the mounting piece portion is formed to be longer than other mounting piece portions; and

the end-side inflation portion of the inflated airbag is disposed to cover the vehicle interior side of a pillar portion which extends from the roof side rail portion and is connected to the lower edge of the window.

5. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein:

the airbag connects the side of the vehicle outer wall portion of the boundary closing portion and a pillar portion, which extends from the roof side rail portion and is connected to the lower edge of the window, to exert tension to the lower edge at the time of completion of inflation of the airbag along the front-rear direction; and

the airbag includes a tension cloth configured to support the vehicle exterior side of the end-side inflation portion.

6. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the end-side inflation portion, at the time of completion of inflation of the airbag, includes an extending portion which extends below a belt line of the lower edge of the window of the vehicle and is supported on the lower edge of the window.

7. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the inclined closing portion extends into the main inflation portion from the upper end of the vertical closing portion.

8. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the inclined closing portion extends away from the end-side inflation portion and into the main inflation portion from the upper end of the vertical closing portion.

9. The head protection airbag device according to claim 1, wherein the inclined closing portion extends in a rearward direction of the vehicle side surface.