Airbag

• US 10,507,781 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2017
• Issued: 12/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakanishi, Hiroyuki, Miura, Wataru, Ishida, Ryotaro, Ishiguro, Naohiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Beck, Karen
• Application Number:
  US15/691,997
• Publication Number:
  US 20180086298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23308 the individual compartments defining the external shape of the bag
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/203 in steering wheels or steering columns
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/233 comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other B60R21/232 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/261 with means other than bag structure to diffuse or guide inflation fluid
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/04 Hand wheels

Abstract

An airbag includes a driver side portion having an outer peripheral wall to receive a driver at the time of completion of inflation; and a steering wheel side portion. The steering wheel side portion is provided with an inflow opening to allow inflation gas to flow in, and an attaching seat which is disposed on a peripheral edge of the inflow opening and attached to the central portion of the steering wheel; a support inflation portion protruding from a front side of the attaching seat toward a front side of the steering wheel is arranged on the steering wheel side portion; and a support surface portion. The support surface portion is abutted to and supported by a front surface side of the steering wheel and is arranged on a region on a rear surface side of the support inflation portion from a base portion to a tip end portion.

Claims

1. An airbag comprising:

a driver side portion which is stored and held in a central portion of a steering wheel for vehicular steering and has an outer peripheral wall configured to receive a driver at the time of completion of inflation; and

a steering wheel side portion which has an outer peripheral edge connected to an outer peripheral edge of the driver side portion and is supported by the steering wheel, wherein;

the steering wheel side portion is provided with an inflow opening to allow inflation gas to flow in, in the vicinity of the center, and an attaching seat which is disposed on a peripheral edge of the inflow opening and attached to the central portion of the steering wheel;

a support inflation portion protruding from a front side of the attaching seat toward a front side of the steering wheel is arranged on the steering wheel side portion at the time of completion of inflation; and

a support surface portion abutted to a front surface side of the steering wheel and supported by the central portion of the steering wheel at the time of tilting the driver side portion in a forward direction when the airbag receives a driver is arranged on a region on a rear surface side of the support inflation portion from a base portion to a tip end portion.

2. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein:

a rear support inflation portion protruding from a rear side of the attaching seat toward a rear side of the steering wheel is arranged on the steering wheel side portion at the time of completion of inflation; and

a rear support surface portion abutted to the rear surface side of the steering wheel and supported by the central portion of the steering wheel at the time of tilting the driver side portion in a backward direction when the airbag receives a driver is arranged on a region on a rear surface side of the rear support inflation portion from a base portion to a tip end portion.

3. The airbag according to claim 2, wherein

the steering wheel side portion at the time of completion of inflation includes:

general sections which are disposed on both of right and left sides between the front and rear support inflation portions and supported on an upper surface side of the steering wheel; and

extension sections which are extended from the general section to an upper sides of the front and rear support inflation portions.

4. The airbag according to claim 3, wherein

a second support inflation portion configured to support each of the front and rear support inflation portions, at the time of relative approaching to the extension section side when the front and rear support inflation portions are abutted to the corresponding front surface side or rear surface side of the steering wheel, is arranged on the extension section of the steering wheel side portion at the time of completion of inflation.

5. The airbag according to claim 3, wherein:

the steering wheel side portion is formed of a bag material having flexibility;

the bag material includes;

an attaching seat part for forming the attaching seat;

a general section part extending from the attaching seat part in a right and left direction and forming the general section; and

a protrusion section part which extends from the attaching seat part in a forward and backward direction and forms each of the front and rear support inflation portions;

each of the front and rear support inflation portions has a folding section along the right and left direction on the tip end portion and is formed of a sheet-shaped part joining overlapped right and left edges extending from the folding section to each other;

each of the front and rear protrusion section parts has the sheet-shaped part disposed on the attaching seat side and a tip end part disposed on a tip end side;

tip edges of the front and rear tip end parts and tip edges of the right and left general section parts constitute a driver side joining portion joined to the outer peripheral edge of the driver side portion; and

parts opposing in front and rear edges of right and left side edges extending from both ends of the tip edge to the sheet-shaped part on an inner side and the front and rear side edges of the general section part, in outer peripheral edges of the front and rear tip end parts, constitute joining sections for forming a steering wheel side portion joining to each other.

6. The airbag according to claim 5, wherein

each of the front and rear sheet-shaped parts is provided with the two folding sections so that the two support inflation portions are formed.

7. The airbag according to claim 5, wherein:

each of the tip edges of the front and rear tip end parts is provided with a recessed groove joining edges opposed in the right and left direction to each other at the center of the right and left direction; and

parts of the front edges extending from the recessed groove in the right and left direction constitute the driver side joining portion.

8. The airbag according to claim 5, wherein

the bag material which forms the steering wheel side portion and has flexibility is formed from a single sheet including the attaching seat part, the right and left general section parts, and the front and rear protrusion section parts.

9. The airbag according to claim 1, further comprising:

a primary inflation portion which first allows inflation gas to flow in to be inflated; and

a secondary inflation portion which completes inflation by allowing the inflation gas to flow in from a supply port of the primary inflation portion, wherein;

the primary inflation portion includes a base portion which is configured to inflate by allowing inflation gas from the inflow opening to flow in and provided with the supply port, and a tip end portion which forms the support inflation portion by extending from the base portion; and

the secondary inflation portion forms an outer peripheral wall of the airbag excluding an outer peripheral wall of the support inflation portion.

10. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein

a strap having flexibility is configured to be pulled in a direction in which the support surface portion in the support inflation portion at the time of completion of inflation is pressed against the front surface side of the steering wheel, and arranged so as to couple the support inflation portion to a part of an outer peripheral wall of the airbag on a rear side of the support inflation portion.

11. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein

in the support inflation portion at the time of completion of inflation, the vicinity of the approximately center of the support surface portion in at least a vertical direction is abutted to and supported by the front surface side of the steering wheel.

12. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein:

the support inflation portion at the time of completion of inflation protrudes downward from a front edge of the steering wheel side portion;

the support surface portion of the support inflation portion at the time of completion of inflation has a bent section along a right and left direction on a front side of the attaching seat, and has an approximately planar shape extending downward from a front portion side of the attaching seat; and

the bent section at the time of completion of inflation is arranged in the vicinity of an intersection part between a front surface and an upper surface of a front portion side of the steering wheel.

13. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein

the steering wheel side portion at the time of completion of inflation includes:

a general section which is disposed on both of right and left sides and a rear side of the attaching seat and supported by an upper surface side of the steering wheel; and

the support inflation portion;

the support inflation portion is configured such that the front surface side is connected to a front edge side of the steering wheel side portion;

the steering wheel side portion is formed of a bag material having flexibility;

the bag material includes;

an attaching seat part for forming the attaching seat;

a general section part extending from the attaching seat part to the both of right and left sides and the rear side and forming the general section; and

a protrusion section part extending from the attaching seat part to the front side and forming the support inflation portion;

the support inflation portion has a folding section along the right and left direction on the tip end portion and is formed of a sheet-shaped part joining overlapped right and left edges extending from the folding section to each other;

the protrusion section part has the sheet-shaped part disposed on the attaching seat side and a tip end part disposed on a tip end side;

a tip edge of the tip end part and tip edges of the right and left general section parts constitute a driver side joining portion joined to the outer peripheral edge of the driver side portion;

parts opposing in front and rear of right and left side edges extending from both ends of the tip edge to the sheet-shaped part on an inner side and the front edge on the front side of the general section part, in outer peripheral edges of the tip end part, constitute joining sections for forming the steering wheel side portion joining to each other;

the tip edge of the tip end part is provided with a recessed groove joining edges opposed in the right and left direction to each other at the center of the right and left direction, and parts of the tip edges extending from the recessed groove in the right and left direction constitute the driver side joining portion; and

a joining site of the joining section for forming the steering wheel side portion to the driver side portion is arranged in the vicinity of an upper part of a direction along a steering shaft of the steering wheel on the front surface side of the steering wheel, in a side view observed from the right and left direction at the time of completion of inflation.

14. The airbag according to claim 13, wherein

the joining site of the joining section for forming the steering wheel side portion to the driver side portion is arranged within a range of being shifted by 50 mm in a forward and backward direction when a reference line of a direction along the steering shaft of the steering wheel on the front surface side of the steering wheel is set to a center, in a side view observed from the right and left direction at the time of completion of inflation.

15. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein:

in the support inflation portion at the time of completion of inflation, the vicinity of the approximately center of the support surface portion in at least a vertical direction is abutted to the front surface of the steering wheel and supported by the central portion of the steering wheel.

16. The airbag according to claim 1, wherein:

the steering wheel side portion is formed of a bag material having flexibility;

the bag material includes;

an attaching seat part for forming the attaching seat;

a general section part extending from the attaching seat part in a right and left direction and forming the general section; and

a protrusion section part which extends from the attaching seat part in a forward and backward direction and forms the support inflation portion;

the support inflation portion has a folding section along the right and left direction on the tip end portion and is formed of a sheet-shaped part joining overlapped right and left edges extending from the folding section to each other;

the protrusion section part has the sheet-shaped part disposed on the attaching seat side and a tip end part disposed on a tip end side;

tip edges of the tip end part and tip edges of the right and left general section parts constitute a driver side joining portion joined to the outer peripheral edge of the driver side portion; and

parts opposing in front and rear edges of right and left side edges extending from both ends of the tip edge to the sheet-shaped part on an inner side and the front and rear side edges of the general section part, in outer peripheral edges of the tip end part, constitute joining sections for forming a steering wheel side portion joining to each other.