Air bag apparatus

• US 20040070184A1
• Filed: 06/17/2003
• Published: 04/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahara, Isamu
• Granted Patent: US 7,147,244 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/2617 Curtain bag nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/26 characterised by the inflation fluid source or means to control inflation fluid flow arrangement or mounting thereof to the vehicle B60R21/20; blasting cartridges for producing gas under pressure in general F42B3/04; initiators or igniters therefor F42B3/10

Abstract

In an air bag apparatus structured such that an air bag (11) housed in a part of a vehicle in a folded manner is inflated and deployed by a gas supplied from an inflator (14) so as to protect an occupant, the gas supplied from the inflator (14) is dispersed in a three-dimensional direction by a shower head (13a) so as to be supplied to a gas passage (11b) of the air bag (11).

Claims

1. An air bag apparatus (10) wherein an air bag (11) is housed along a roof side rail (21) and is inflated and deployed in a curtain-like shape along a vehicle compartment side wall due to gas supplied from an inflator (14) so as to protect a head portion of an occupant, the air bag is provided with an inflating portion for a front seat (11c) and an inflating portion for a rear seat (11d) and a gas passage (11b) for communicating upper portions of both of these inflating portions, and wherein a shower head (13a) for dispersing the gas supplied from the inflator (14) in a three-dimensional direction is disposed so as to face the gas passage (11b) of the air bag (11).

2. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower head (13a) has a plurality of injection holes (13a1).

3. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed in a semispherical shape and has the plurality of injection holes (13a1) on a spherical surface thereof.

4. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the injection holes (13a1) of the shower head (13a) are provided in symmetric with respect to a point of a center (O1) of the shower head (13a).

5. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein opening areas of an injection hole for the front seat and an injection hole for the rear seat provided in the shower head (13a) are set according to capacities of expansion chambers in the front seat inflating portion (11c) and the rear seat inflating portion (11b).

6. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed by a mesh.

7. An air bag apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed in a semispherical shape.

8. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed by a porous body.

9. An air bag apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed in a semispherical shape.

10. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower head (13a) is provided in a front end of a diffuser pipe 13 assembled in the inflator (14).

11. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower head (13a) is integrally provided in the inflator.

12. An air bag apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the air bag is housed along the roof side rail and is inflated and deployed in the curtain-like shape along the vehicle compartment side wall due to the gas supplied from the inflator so as to protect the head portion of the occupant, the air bag is provided with a front seat inflating portion, a rear seat inflating portion and a gas passage for communicating upper portions of both of these inflating portions, and the shower head (13a) is disposed so that the gas can flow into the gas passage (11b) in a crossing manner.

13. An air bag apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the shower, head (13a) does not protrude within the gas passage (13c) of the air bag (11).

14. An air bag apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the inflator (14) is arranged in a center portion in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle.

15. An air bag apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the inflator (14) is arranged in a longitudinal direction along the roof side rail (21) above the air bag (11).

16. An air bag apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the inflator (14) is arranged in a vehicle width direction along a roof panel (25) above the air bag (11).

17. An air bag apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the diffuser pipe (13) is formed in a substantially J shape.

18. An air bag apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the shower head (13a) is coaxially arranged with respect to the longitudinal direction of the gas passage (11b) communicating with the inflating chamber (11c, 11d) of the air bag (11).

19. An air bag apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the inflator (14) is arranged in front of or at the rear of the vehicle of the air bag (11).

20. An air bag apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the shower head (13a) is arranged in the gas passage (11b) at a portion of the air bag communicating with the inflating chamber (11c, 11d).

21. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of injection holes (13a1) provided in the shower head (13a) are concentrically arranged with a center of the front end of the shower head so as to form a plurality of lines.

22. An air bag apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a plurality of inner and outer injection holes (13a1) concentrically arranged and being adjacent to each other in a radial direction are arranged in a circumferential direction so as to form a zigzag form.

23. An air bag apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed in a stepped shape having multiple steps which become smaller toward the front end, and the plurality of injection holes (13a1) is formed in the respective step portions in an inclined manner.

24. An air bag apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the injection holes (13a4) are formed in a fan shape expanding toward the front end.

25. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the front end of the shower head (13a) is formed in an asymmetrical shape with respect to a center axis thereof and the injection holes (13a1) are formed in the asymmetrical surface.

26. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the injection hole (13a1) is formed in a stepped shape and a thickness of a minimum hole portion is made small.

27. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the injection holes (13a1) formed in the front end wall of the shower head (13a) are inclined with respect to the wall surface of the front end wall.

28. An air bag apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the shower head (13a) is formed in a closed-end cylindrical shape or a closed-end polygonal tubular shape, the injection holes (13a1) are formed in the front end wall of the shower head (13a), and the injection holes are formed so as to ride over the front wall of the shower head and a peripheral wall.

29. An air bag apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the front end portion of the diffuser pipe (13) is formed so as to have a small diameter and the shower head (13a) is fitted and fixed to an outer periphery of the front end portion of the diffuser pipe (13).

30. An air bag apparatus according to claim 29, wherein a gas supply port (11a) forming portion of the air bag (11) is fixed to the step portion formed by the front end portion of the diffuser pipe (13) and the shower head (13a).

31. An air bag apparatus according to claim 5, wherein hole diameters are made different between the front seat injection hole and the rear seat injection hole which are provided in the shower head (13a), whereby it is possible to set the opening areas of the front seat injection hole and the rear seat injection hole according to the capacities of the inflating chambers in the front seat inflating portion (11c)and the rear seat inflating portion (11d).

32. An air bag apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the front seat injection holes and the rear seat injection holes are respectively constituted by the plurality of injection holes (13a1), and a hole diameter of any one thereof is gradually reduced toward the center of the front end in the shower head (13a).

33. An air bag apparatus according to claim 5, wherein numbers of holes are made different between the front seat injection hole and the rear seat injection hole which are provided in the shower head (13a), whereby it is possible to set the opening areas of the front seat injection hole and the rear seat injection hole according to the capacities of the inflating chambers in the front seat inflating portion (11c) and the rear seat inflating portion (11d).

34. An air bag apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an auxiliary inflating chamber (11h) communicating with the gas passage (11b) at an upper end below the front end of the shower head (13a) so as to extend in a vertical direction is provided in the air bag

35. An air bag apparatus according to claim 34, wherein a lower end of the auxiliary inflating chamber (11h) is communicated with at least one of the front seat inflating portion (11c) and the rear seat inflating portion (11d).

36. An air bag apparatus according to claim 34 or 35, wherein an opening area of a passage (11i) for communicating the auxiliary inflating chamber (11h) with the front seat inflating portion (11c) and an opening area of a passage (11i) for communicating the auxiliary inflating chamber (11h) with the rear seat inflating portion (11d) are set according to the capacities of the inflating chambers in the front seat inflating portion and the rear seat inflating portion.

37. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein distribution in a longitudinal direction with respect to the center of the front end in the shower head (13a) is made different between the front seat injection hole and the rear seat injection hole which are provided in the shower head (13a).

38. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the injection hole (13a5) provided in the shower head (13a) is formed in a long hole longer in the longitudinal direction.

39. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an opening area of the injection hole being most apart in the longitudinal direction from the center of the front end of the shower head among the plurality of injection holes (13a1)provided in the shower head is made larger than an opening area of the other injection holes.

40. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein opening areas of the injection holes provided in the shower head (13a)are made different between an inner portion and an outer portion in the vehicle width direction.

41. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein numbers of the injection holes (13a1) provided in the shower head (13a) are made different between an inner portion and an outer portion in the vehicle width direction.

42. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas supply port (11a) of the air bag (11) to which the shower head (13a) is inserted is formed in a shape expanding at a predetermined angle (θ

o) toward the gas passage (11b) and an angle of diffusion (θ

f+θ

r) of the gas supplied from the shower head is made equal to or less than the predetermined angle.

43. An air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary inflating chamber (11h) communicating with the gas passage (11b) at an upper end below the front end of the shower head (13a) and extending in a vertical direction is provided in the air bag (11), and an angle of diffusion (θ

r+θ

f) in the longitudinal direction of the gas supplied from the shower head (13a) is set to be equal to or greater than a predetermined value (θ

o) so that the gas is injected farther forward than an R end point (Pf) disposed in a forward portion of the upper end of the auxiliary inflating chamber (11h) and farther rearward than an R end point (Pr) disposed in a rearward portion of the upper end.

44. An air bag apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the angle of forward diffusion (θ

f) of the gas from the shower head (13a) is made different from the angle of rearward diffusion (θ

r).