HEAD PROTECTION AIRBAG APPARATUS

• US 20150084316A1
• Filed: 09/08/2014
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: OKUHARA, Masaaki, KAWAMURA, Koji, HASHIDO, Tatsuya
• Granted Patent: US 9,067,563 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/729
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0009 Oblique collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0048 Head
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23386 External tether means
• 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

Abstract

In a head protection airbag apparatus, an airbag includes an airbag body and a tension cloth. The airbag body has an end side inflation portion which is arranged in an end portion on the tension cloth side. The end side inflation portion is divided from other general inflation sections in the airbag body by a division portion. The tension cloth is in an arranged state so as to cover an inner vehicle side of the end side inflation portion, allows the base portion side to be joined to an front edge side of the end side inflation portion, is inserted into a slit formed in the division portion while being inverted so as to cover an outer vehicle side of the end side inflation portion, and allows the leading end side to be fixed to the vehicle body side.

Claims

1. A head protection airbag apparatus comprising:

an airbag which is configured to be folded and accommodated on an upper edge side of a window on an inner vehicle side, of which the upper edge side is fixedly attached onto a vehicle body side, and which allows inflation gas to flow in to deploy and inflate so as to protrude downward and cover the inner vehicle side of the window; and

an inflator which supplies the inflation gas to the airbag,

wherein the airbag includes a flexible bag-like airbag body of which the upper edge side is fixed to the vehicle body side on the upper edge side of the window at a plurality of places along a front-rear direction, and a flexible sheet material-made tension cloth of which a base portion side is joined to one end portion side in the front-rear direction in the airbag body and of which a leading end side is fixed to the vehicle body side on a peripheral edge of the window away from the end portion of the airbag body,

wherein the airbag body includes an end side inflation portion arranged at an end portion in the front-rear direction which becomes the tension cloth side at the time of completion of inflation,

wherein the end side inflation portion is divided from other general inflation sections in the airbag body by a division portion which is positioned on a central side of the airbag body in the front-rear direction and arranged substantially along a vertical direction, and

wherein the tension cloth is disposed in an arranged state so as to cover the inner vehicle side of the end side inflation portion, allows the base portion side to be joined to an end edge side of the end side inflation portion in the front-rear direction, is inserted into a slit formed in the division portion while being inverted so as to cover an outer vehicle side of the end side inflation portion, and allows the leading end side to be fixed to the vehicle body side.

2. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the tension cloth is arranged at a position upwardly away from a lower edge of the end side inflation portion at the time of completion of inflation.

3. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the airbag is folded and accommodated from a flatly deployed state by folding the airbag body which is in a state of being folded back at a folding line substantially along the vertical direction together with the tension cloth which is arranged while maintaining a state of extending from a joining portion joined to the airbag body to the central side in the front-rear direction so as to cause a lower edge side to approach the upper edge side so that a portion on the end edge side of the end side inflation portion in the front-rear direction is oriented toward the inner vehicle side.

4. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the tension cloth allows the base portion side to be joined to the end edge side of the end side inflation portion in the front-rear direction so as to cause the leading end side to be oriented toward a direction side separated from the airbag body in a state before inversion.

5. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the airbag body includes a protrusion piece portion which is partially protruded in order to join the base portion side of the tension cloth onto the end edge side of the end side inflation portion in the front-rear direction, and

wherein the airbag body is folded back at the folding line in a portion which becomes the base portion side of the protrusion piece portion rather than the joining portion to which the base portion side of the tension cloth is joined in the protrusion piece portion.

6. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein, on the inner vehicle side of the folded-back end side inflation portion, the tension cloth is configured to be distant from the folding line at which the end side inflation portion is folded back and to cause an extension portion extending to a fixing portion side toward the body side of the tension cloth to extend from the base portion side, and

wherein the leading end side of the extension portion is away from the folding line to be temporarily joined to the fixing portion side toward the body side of the tension cloth, and the temporarily joined state can be released at the time of deployment and inflation of the airbag.

7. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein an end side attachment portion fixing a portion of the end side inflation portion side on the upper edge side of the airbag body onto the vehicle body side is arranged at a position which becomes the central side of the airbag body in the front-rear direction rather than the end edge side of the end side inflation portion in the front-rear direction, to cause an attachment position onto the body side to be positioned further upward than other attachment portions.

8. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein an end side attachment portion fixing a portion of the end side inflation portion side on the upper edge side of the airbag body onto the vehicle body side is arranged at a position which becomes the central side of the airbag body in the front-rear direction rather than the end edge side of the end side inflation portion in the front-rear direction.

9. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the end side attachment portion is arranged at the position which becomes the central side of the airbag body in the front-rear direction rather than the slit.

10. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the end side inflation portion is configured to be occluded on a lower end side and to cause the lower end side to be positioned on the end edge side in the front-rear direction rather than the slit.

11. The head protection airbag apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the end side inflation portion is configured to have a peripheral length on a direction side substantially along the front-rear direction of a tension cloth arrangement region in which the tension cloth is arranged to be smaller than a peripheral length on a direction side substantially along the front-rear direction of other regions which are vertically deviated from the tension cloth arrangement region at the time of completion of inflation.