VEHICLE SIDE AIR BAG APPARATUS AND VEHICLE SEAT

• US 20150076803A1
• Filed: 09/12/2014
• Published: 03/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: FUJIWARA, Yusuke
• Granted Patent: US 9,126,560 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23146 seat mounted
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/207 in vehicle seats
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/23138 specially adapted for side protection B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence
• 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 21/239 characterised by their venting means

Abstract

A vehicle side air bag apparatus includes: a bag that is housed within a side portion outside in a seat back in a vehicle width direction and inflates and expands to a vehicle front side of the side portion by supplying gas; an up-down partition that partitions the bag into lower and upper bag portions; a right-left partition which partitions the lower bag portion into left and right chambers, to which a right-left communication port is provided and which inhibits inflation of the lower bag portion in an upper and lower direction by being extended in the inflation and expansion state; an inflator provided in the upper bag portion; and a flow regulating portion that distributes gas into one of the left and right chambers and the upper bag portion and limits gas flow from the one chambers to the upper bag portion by a check valve portion.

Claims

1. A vehicle side air bag apparatus comprising:

a bag that is housed within a side portion which is outside in a seat back of a vehicle seat in a vehicle width direction and inflates and expands to a vehicle front side of the side portion by supplying gas in an inner portion of the bag;

an up-down partition that partitions the bag into a lower bag portion for lumbar constraint and an upper bag portion for upper body constraint;

a right-left partition which partitions the lower bag portion into left and right chambers aligned in the vehicle width direction in an inflation and expansion state, to which a right-left communication port that allows mutual communication between the left and right chambers is provided and which inhibits inflation of the lower hag portion in an upper and lower direction by being extended in the inflation and expansion state;

an inflator provided in the upper bag portion; and

a flow regulating portion that distributes gas from the inflator into one of the left and right chambers and the upper bag portion and limits gas flow from the one of the left and right chambers to the upper bag portion by a check valve portion that protrudes to the one of the left and right chambers.

2. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a front-rear partition which partitions the upper bag portion into a front chamber and a rear chamber aligned in a front-rear direction of the vehicle in the inflation and expansion state and to which a front-rear communication port that allows mutual communication between the front chamber and the rear chamber is provided, wherein

gas from the inflator is distributed to the rear chamber by the flow regulating portion and at an upper portion of the rear chamber, a forward extending portion for shoulder constraint that extends to an upper side of the front chamber in the inflation and expansion state is provided.

3. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the one of the left and right chambers is positioned outside in the vehicle width direction to the other of the left and right chambers in the inflation and expansion state.

4. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the up-down partition is set to be inclined forwardly downward to a front-rear direction of the seat back when the inflation and expansion state is seen from the vehicle width direction.

5. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the flow regulating portion is disposed outside than a center portion of the rear chamber in the vehicle width direction after inflation and expansion.

6. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

a vent hole is formed on a front end edge portion of the upper bag portion.

7. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the right-left partition is a right-left dividing tether, and

in an inflation and expansion state of the lower bag portion, a dimension in the upper and lower direction of the right-left dividing tether is set such that inflation of the lower bag portion in the upper and lower direction is inhibited by extending the right-left dividing tether in the upper and lower direction.

8. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the bag is two-folded to protrude to the lower bag portion along a folding line in a center portion of the up-down partition in a longitudinal direction in a non-inflation and expansion state.

9. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the up-down partition and the right-left partition are constituted by a part of a same foundation cloth respectively,

the right-left partition is formed by sewing a pair of superimposed foundation clothes at upper and lower portions,

the up-down partition is formed by allowing an upper end portion of a sewing portion to be two-forked and sewing each two-forked portion to one side portion and the other side portion of the foundation cloth of the bag.

10. The vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

an inflation width of one of the partitioned left and right chambers is larger than that of the other of the partitioned left and right chambers.

11. A vehicle seat comprising:

a seat main body including a seat cushion and a seat back; and

the vehicle side air bag apparatus according to claim 1 provided in the seat back.