INTERIOR STRUCTURE OF VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH CURTAIN AIRBAG

• US 20100032928A1
• Filed: 06/08/2009
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: AMANO, Fumio, YAMANISHI, Mitsutoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,033,569 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/728.300
• 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 21/232 Curtain-type airbags deploying mainly in a vertical direction from their top edge
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2338 Tethers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/237 characterised by the way they are folded
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/195 with means to tension the belt in an emergency, e.g. means of the through-anchor or splitted reel typeelectrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01

Abstract

A second tether member is made of a long cloth member. Its rear end is fixed to a specified lower-side position of a fifth pillar which is located below the middle portion of this pillar in the vertical direction (i.e., at the position which is away from the top end of the fifth pillar by a distance of about 100 mm or greater) via a fixing pin. Its front end is fixed to a body portion of a curtain member via a seam portion. Accordingly, there can be provided the interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag which can properly form the tension line at the curtain member.

Claims

1. An interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag, comprising:

a roof trim provided to form a ceiling portion of a vehicle compartment below a roof panel;

a pillar trim provided to cover a vehicle-body pillar from an inside of the vehicle compartment and extend vertically, the pillar trim being made from synthetic resin;

a vehicle-body opening provided beside the vehicle-body pillar, an upper edge of which is positioned near an outer end portion of the roof trim; and

a curtain-airbag means provided to be fixed to a vehicle body along the upper edge of the vehicle-body opening, the curtain-airbag means including a curtain member which has an inflatable portion to be inflated by gas supplied, the curtain member inflating into the vehicle compartment from a stored state thereof, deforming the roof trim, so as to cover the vehicle-body opening when the gas is supplied into the inflatable portion on a specified condition,

wherein said curtain member has a bending portion near the vehicle-body pillar in the stored state, the bending portion being formed so as to bend toward a specified side, and there is provided a connecting member which connects a specified portion of the curtain member to a specified middle portion of the vehicle-body pillar or connects two separate specified portions of the curtain member.

2. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 1, wherein said bending portion bends toward an opposite side to the vehicle-body pillar or toward the vehicle compartment, and said connecting member connects the specified portion of the curtain member to a specified lower-side position of the vehicle-body pillar.

3. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 2, wherein said specified portion of the curtain member to be connected by said connecting member is configured to be located on the opposite side to the vehicle-body pillar relative to a bend position of said bending portion of the curtain member when the curtain member inflates.

4. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 3, wherein said specified portion of the curtain member is located near said bend position.

5. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 2, wherein said specified portion of the curtain member is configured to be located substantially at the same height as said specified lower-side position of the vehicle-body pillar to be connected by said connecting member when the curtain member inflates.

6. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 2, wherein said connecting member is configured to be located on a vehicle-body outward side relative to the curtain member when the curtain member inflates.

7. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 1, wherein said bending portion bends toward an opposite side to the vehicle-body pillar or toward the vehicle compartment, and said connecting member connects a first specified portion which is positioned at said bending portion of the curtain member to a second specified portion of the curtain member which is positioned at another portion than the bending portion.

8. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 7, wherein said first specified portion is set near a free end of said bending portion of the curtain member in the stored state.

9. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 7, wherein said second specified portion is set at a portion of the curtain member in the stored state which moves away from the vehicle-body pillar when the curtain member inflates.

10. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 7, wherein said second specified portion is set so as to be positioned below a middle portion of the inflating curtain member in the vertical direction.

11. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 7, wherein said curtain member has an inflation-restraint portion near the vehicle-body pillar, said second specified portion is set at a portion of the inflating curtain member which is closer to a gas supply port than the inflation-restraint portion of the inflating curtain member is, and said first specified portion is set at a portion of the inflating curtain member which is downstream of the inflation-restraint portion of the inflating curtain member.

12. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 1, wherein at least part of area of said curtain member which is from an upper-edge end of the curtain member to said specified portion of the curtain member which is connected by the connecting member is folded in a bellows shape.

13. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 12, wherein an area of said curtain member which is from said part of area of the curtain member which is from the upper edge end to the specified portion to a lower-edge end of the curtain member is substantially folded in a roll shape.

14. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 7, wherein at least part of area of said curtain member which is from an upper-edge end of the curtain member to a portion which includes said first and second specified portions of the curtain member which are connected by the connecting member is folded in a bellows shape.

15. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 14, wherein an area of said curtain member which is from said part of area of the curtain member which is from the upper edge end to the portion including the first and second specified portions to a lower-edge end of the curtain member is substantially folded in a roll shape.

16. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 1, wherein said pillar trim is a pillar trim to cover a pair of rear vehicle-body pillars which are provided at a vehicle rear portion, said vehicle-body opening is a rear opening which is provided between the pair of rear vehicle-body pillars, and said bending portion is provided at the rear vehicle-body pillars.

17. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 16, wherein there is provided a deformation-restraint means to restrain an amount of deformation of the pillar trim which is caused by contact with said connecting member or curtain member when the curtain member inflates at an upper end portion or an inward end portion of the pillar trim.

18. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 16, wherein part of the curtain member in the stored state is positioned between an upper-side rear end portion of the pillar trim and the vehicle body.

19. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 18, wherein a connecting position of the connecting member to the curtain member is set at said part of the curtain member which is located between the upper-side rear end portion of the pillar trim and the vehicle body.

20. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 17, wherein there is provided a back door to open and close the rear opening, and a vertical wall portion which has a substantially L-shaped cross section is provided at a rear end of the pillar trim so as to face to a front end of the back door in a plan view.

21. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 16, wherein said bending portion of the curtain member is provided near an upper end portion of the rear vehicle-body pillar so as to be directed forward.

22. The interior structure of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag of claim 16, wherein a rear seat is provided in front of the rear opening, and said bending portion of the curtain member is provided along the upper edge of the rear opening so as to be directed inward.