Head protecting airbag device

• US 7,374,200 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2005
• Issued: 05/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsuo Industries, Inc., Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsuo Industries, Inc., Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Hamamoto, Yoji, Yajima, Masanori, Yamamoto, Tadashi, Ikeda, Takanobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng; Joe H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): VERLEY, NICOLE T
• Application Number:
  US11/233,484
• Publication Number:
  US 20060066080A1
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 280/728.2, 280/730.2, 280/749, 411 45- 48, 411508-510, 411/913, 411901-903
• US Class Current: 280/728.2
• 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: F16B 19/1081 fastened by a drive-pin F16B19/109 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 21/075 the socket having resilient parts on its inside and outside
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 21/08 in which the stud, pin, or spigot has a resilient part F16B21/065, F16B21/125, F16B21/165, F16B37/043 take precedence; wall-dowels F16B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 5/065 the plates being one on top of the other and distanced from each other, e.g. by using protrusions to keep contact and distance
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 411/903 Resinous exterior

Abstract

In a head protecting air bag device according to the present invention, a clip for attaching an attaching portion of an air bag to a fixing part on the side of a vehicle body includes a clip body and a locking part. The clip body has a shaft having a pair of securing legs protruded. The pair of securing legs are inserted in the fixing slot of the fixing part from an in-vehicle side via the attaching slot of the attaching portion and secured to the peripheral edge on an out-vehicle side of the fixing slot. The shaft is composed of a shell member of a metallic plate on the outer periphery and a core member of synthetic resin on the inner periphery. The core member is arranged on the opposite sides of a pair of securing lugs of the shell member. The core member has an inserting space in which a spacer of the locking part is inserted between the pair of securing lugs. The spacer limits the mutual approaching of the pair of securing legs. In the head protecting air bag according to this invention, using the clip, the attaching portion of the air bag can be easily attached to the vehicle body side with assured attaching stability.

Claims

1. A head protecting air bag device mounted on vehicle, the device including an air bag and a plurality of clips, wherein:

the air bag is housed on an upper side of a side window in a folded state, and when expansion gas flows in, the airbag developing and expanding to cover the side window;

the air bag is provided with a plurality of attaching portions to be attached to fixing part on part of vehicle body, each of the attaching portions including an attaching slot;

each of the clips is inserted in a fixing slot formed in the fixing part of the vehicle body and secured thereat, each of the clips including a clip body and a locking part detachably engaged with the clip body;

the clip body includes;

a shaft having a pair of securing legs protruded from tip side to base side of the shaft, the securing legs being inserted into the attaching slot of the airbag, and then into the fixing slot of vehicle body, from in-vehicle side, while warping to approach each other, and then restoring from mutually approaching state, whereby secured to an out-vehicle side periphery of the fixing slot; and

a head coupled with the base side of the shaft, the head attaching the attaching portion of the air bag to the fixing part of vehicle body by holding down and position limiting a periphery of the attaching slot of the air bag onto in-vehicle side periphery of the fixing slot, when the pair of securing legs are secured to the out-vehicle side periphery of the fixing slot;

the locking part includes;

a spacer to be inserted in between the pair of securing legs so as to prevent the pair of securing legs secured at the out-vehicle side periphery of the fixing slot from approaching each other; and

an engagement area serving to engage the locking part with the clip body, the engagement area allowing the locking part to be detached from the clip body when an insertion of the spacer in between the pair of securing legs is completed;

the shaft is formed as a double layer structure including;

a shell member of metallic plate extending toward both sides from tip side of the shaft to continuously constitute an outer surface of the pair of securing legs; and

a core member of synthetic resin arranged in inner periphery of the shell member;

the shell member includes a pair of securing lugs each of which includes;

a securing step engageable in the out-vehicle side periphery of the fixing slot; and

a supporting rod extending toward tip side of the shaft from the securing step;

the core member includes a pair of supporting pieces;

the pair of supporting pieces are arranged in such a manner as to extend toward both sides from tip side of the shaft to continuously constitute an inner periphery of the pair of securing legs;

the pair of supporting pieces are arranged in opposite sides of the securing lugs in such a manner as to support rear sides of the securing steps of the shell member; and

the pair of supporting pieces has an inserting space therebetween into which the spacer of the locking part is inserted, whereby, when the spacer is inserted into the inserting space, the supporting pieces are brought into contact with the spacer and the securing lugs, and the securing lugs are prevented from moving toward each other.

2. The head protecting air bag device according to claim 1, wherein:

the air bag device further includes a hold-down plate having an assembling slot with an opening shape similar to that of the fixing slot, the hold-down plate having an outer shape larger than that of the attaching slot of air bag attaching portion; and

the clip is combined with the attaching portion of the air bag before attachment of the air bag to the fixing part of the vehicle body, in such a manner that the pair of securing legs are penetrated through the attaching slot of the attaching portion of the air bag, and then through the assembling slot of the hold-down plate so as to be secured to a periphery of the assembling slot, and the periphery of the attaching slot and the periphery of the assembling slot are arranged between the securing legs and the head of the clip.

3. The head protecting air bag according to claim 2, wherein:

the hold-down plate is made of spring steel, and includes;

a hold-down plate segment having the assembling slot; and

a ring-shaped deformed plate segment arranged around the hold-down plate segment, the hold-down plate segment and the deformed plate segment being coupled with a coupling piece; and

the deformed plate segment is arranged at a position displaced toward out-vehicle side from the hold-down plate segment with respect to the coupling piece.

4. The head protecting air bag device according to claim 1, wherein the locking part is provisionally held by the clip body before the spacer is inserted in between the pair of securing legs.

5. The head protecting air bag device according to claim 4, wherein the locking part includes a securing part, the securing part, while the locking part is provisionally held by the clip body, holding the pair of securing legs in a mutually approached state so as to allow the securing legs to pass through the fixing slot;

and the securing part releasing the securing legs from the mutually approached state when the spacer is inserted into the inserting space.

6. The head protecting air bag device according to claim 5, wherein:

the airbag device further includes a hold-down plate of spring steel having an assembling slot with an opening similar to that of the fixing slot, the hold-down plate having an outer shape larger than that of the attaching slot of airbag attaching portion;

the hold-down plate includes a hold-down plate segment having the assembling slot, and a ring-shaped deformed plate segment arranged around the hold-down plate segment, the hold-down plate segment and the deformed plate segment being coupled with a coupling piece;

the hold-down plate segment is constructed to be retained by the head of the clip;

the deformed plate segment is arranged at a position displaced toward out-vehicle side from the hold-down plate segment with respect to the coupling piece; and

the clip is combined with the attaching portion of said air bag before attachment of the airbag to the fixing part of the vehicle body, in such a manner that the pair of securing legs are penetrated through the attaching slot of the attaching portion of said air bag, and then through the assembling slot of the hold-down plate segment, and the hold-down plate segment is retained by the head of the clip.