Knee-protecting airbag device

• US 20080116669A1
• Filed: 11/08/2007
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Bito, Kazuaki, Adachi, Yuichi
• Application Number:
  US11/979,752
• Publication Number:
  US 20080116669A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/730.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0051 Knees
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23169 specially adapted for knee protection
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23382 Internal tether means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/203 in steering wheels or steering columns
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/206 in the lower part of dashboards, e.g. for protecting the knees
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/231 characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers

Abstract

A knee-protecting airbag device is configured so that a folded airbag is accommodated and held in an accommodation part at the side of a lower portion in a column cover. An outer peripheral wall at completion of inflation of the airbag includes a driver-side wall portion and a column-sidewall portion. At the completion of inflation of the airbag, the column-side wall portion covers a bottom surface of a periphery of the accommodation part of the column cover, and areas of a panel surface, which are located at both left and right sides of the column cover from below the column cover. A front-side portion and a rear-side portion of the column-side wall portion are set so that at the completion of inflation of the single airbag, the intersection angle between a front surface of the front-side part and a front surface of the rear-side part is substantially equal to the intersection angle between the panel surface and a bottom surface of the column cover protruded from the panel surface.

Claims

1. A knee-protecting airbag device mounted in a lower portion side of a column cover which covers a steering column and protrudes obliquely upwardly and backwardly from an instrument panel so that a folded airbag is accommodated and mounted in an accommodation part in said lower portion side of said column cover, that when operated, inflation gas is supplied to said airbag which is then protruded obliquely backwardly and downwardly from said accommodation part in said lower portion side of said column cover while expanding and inflating, so as to be disposed to cover a bottom surface of a periphery of said accommodation part of said column cover and a rear surface of said instrument panel, which is placed in a periphery of said column cover, in front of knees of a driver, said knee-protecting airbag device,

wherein a panel surface placed at each of lateral sides of said column cover from below said column cover in said rear surface of said instrument panel covered with said airbag at completion of inflation thereof is provided as a substantially flat surface extending in a lateral direction so that an upper portion thereof protrudes backwardly;

said column cover is provided as a substantially flat surface so that a vicinity of a front end of a projection opening of said airbag at the completion of inflation thereof in said accommodation part is detached backwardly from said panel surface, and that said bottom surface is extended obliquely upwardly and backwardly, as viewed from a side, to approach closer to a horizontal plane from said panel surface so as to intersect with said panel surface at an angle;

an outer peripheral wall of said airbag at completion of inflation thereof includes a driver-side wall portion disposed at a driver side and a column side wall portion configured so that a mounting part thereof to be mounted in said accommodation part is disposed in proximity of a center in anteroposterior and lateral directions, and that the entirety of an outer peripheral edge thereof continues to an outer peripheral edge of said driver-side wall portion;

said column-side wall portion of said airbag is configured to cover, at completion of inflation of said airbag, said bottom surface of said periphery of said accommodation part of said column cover and said panel surface which is placed at each of said lateral sides of said column cover from below said column cover; and

said airbag is configured so that at completion of inflation of said single airbag, an intersection angle between front surfaces of a front-side part and a rear-side part placed in anteroposterior positions in a vicinity of a center in an anteroposterior direction of said column-side wall portion is substantially equal to an intersection angle between said panel surface and a bottom surface of said column cover protruding from said panel surface.

2. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 1, wherein said intersection angle between said front surfaces of said front-side part and said rear-side part of said column-side wall portion of said airbag is set by a front tether and a rear tether which are disposed in said airbag and extend from said front-side part and said rear-side part and are connected to said driver-side wall portion to determine a thickness of said airbag at completion of inflation thereof.

3. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 2, wherein said airbag is configured to be of a flat airbag type in which said driver-side wall portion and said column-side wall portion have a substantially same outer shape, and that said front tether and said rear tether are provided so that a span between connection parts of said front tether and said rear tether, which are connected to said driver-side wall portion, is set to be shorter than a span between connection parts of said front tether and said rear tether, which are connected to said column-side wall portion.

4. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 1, wherein said column cover is configured so that said projection opening, from which said airbag at inflation thereof is protruded, is disposed from a bottom surface of said column cover to both lateral side surfaces thereof so as to extend from below said accommodation part to each of both lateral sides of said accommodation part.

5. An airbag device comprising:

an airbag adapted to expand and inflate while protruding from a mounting part, in which said airbag is folded and accommodated, when inflation gas flows thereinto; and

an inflator attached to said mounting part by placing one end thereof outside said airbag and inserting the other end having a gas discharge port, which is enabled to discharge inflation gas, into said airbag through an insertion hole, an attaching part of said airbag being attached to said mounting part so that a tensile force acts upon a periphery of said insertion hole, whose position is restricted to the other end of said inflator at expansion/inflation of said airbag, said airbag device, wherein said airbag comprises;

an airbag body having said insertion hole, and being configured to inflate when the inflation gas is flowed thereinto, to constitute an outer peripheral wall of said airbag; and

a flexible seal cloth having a fitting hole, into which the other end of said inflator to be inserted into said insertion hole is fittable, and being placed on a periphery of said insertion hole of said airbag body; and

said seal cloth is attached to said periphery of said insertion hole of said airbag body in a state in which a looseness enabling relative displacement movement between a periphery of said fitting hole of said seal cloth and said periphery of said insertion hole is provided at a side in a direction of application of the tensile force in said periphery of said fitting hole and in which the other end of said inflator to be inserted into said insertion hole is fit into said fitting hole.

6. The airbag device according to claim 5, wherein said seal cloth of the airbag is provided on an inner peripheral surface side of said airbag body.

7. The airbag device according to claim 6, wherein only both edges of said seal cloth of said airbag, which are intervened by said fitting hole and extend along a direction of action of the tensile force.

8. A knee-protecting airbag device comprising:

an airbag placed in front of left and right knees of a seated occupant at completion of expansion/inflation by being supplied with inflation gas at completion of inflation by being supplied with inflation gas,

said airbag being folded by bringing both lateral edges thereof at completion of inflation thereof close to a center thereof so as to set a lateral width dimension to be less than a width dimension thereof at the completion of inflation thereof, said airbag being accommodated in a mounting part placed in an area in front of a space between both left and right knees of the occupant, said airbag device,

wherein said airbag comprises;

an airbag body which is inflated like a plate and which has an occupant side wall portion placed at an occupant-side at completion of inflation, and a vehicle-body side wall portion placed at a vehicle-body-side wall portion; and

a slip cloth which has flexibility and is placed at an occupant-side of said airbag body at expansion/inflation;

said slip cloth is configured so that a front surface of said slip cloth is made to abut against said left and right knees of the occupant at an occupant side of said airbag body protruding from said accommodation part so as to close a space between both said knees by said front surface, that said airbag body is slid on a rear surface of said slip cloth so as to be able to guide the expansion of said airbag body in both lateral directions;

said slip close is such that a loosened portion folded only with said slip cloth is provided therein so as to shorten a lateral length thereof, and that said slip cloth is accommodated together with said airbag body in said accommodation part so as to cover at least both lateral side surfaces from an occupant side surface of said folded airbag body; and

a lateral length dimension of said slip cloth expanded flat is set at a dimension enabling said front surface to abut against said left and right knees of the occupant at the occupant side of said airbag body which projects from said accommodation part at expansion/inflation of said airbag, so as to close said space between said left and right knees of the occupant.

9. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 8, wherein a convolution part, into which only a part of each of both lateral edge portions of said slip cloth is convolved, is formed in a folding portion folded closer toward a center in a lateral direction of an associated one of both lateral edges of said airbag body in a state in which said occupant-side wall portion of said airbag body is overlapped with both associated lateral edges of said slip cloth, with the occupant-side wall portion of said airbag body only a part of said slip cloth, and that said convolution parts are accommodated in said accommodation part together with airbag body.

10. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 9, wherein said slip cloth is provided so that a central part in a lateral direction is connected to a central part in a lateral direction of said occupant-side wall portion of said airbag body.

11. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 9, wherein said slip cloth is provided so that at least one of lateral edges of said slip cloth is connected to an associated lateral edge of said airbag body.

12. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 8, wherein, by being mounted in a lower portion side of a column cover covering a steering column projected backwardly from an instrument panel so that when operated, said accommodated airbag is protruded downwardly from said accommodation part and is expanded and inflated toward both lateral sides thereof when operated, inflation gas is supplied to said airbag which

13. The knee-protecting airbag device according to claim 12, wherein an inflator for supplying inflation gas is accommodated in said airbag body, and that said airbag is accommodated in said accommodation part by adjacently providing at least apart of said folding portions, which fold said slip cloth close to a center in the lateral direction of both lateral edge sides of said airbag body at the expansion/inflation, side by side below said inflator.