Side airbag apparatus

• US 8,033,570 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2010
• Issued: 10/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Shibayama, Koji, Sato, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming; Faye M.
• Application Number:
  US12/801,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20110012330A1
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• Field of Search: 280/730.2
• US Class Current: 280/730.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23146 seat mounted
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/23138 specially adapted for side protection B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence

Abstract

An airbag 40 is partitioned into a shoulder protecting portion 57 and a lower region protecting portion 56 by a partition portion 45. The shoulder protecting portion 57 is inflated in a space that is beside the shoulder PS of an occupant P and beside and in the vicinity of the top 16 of a door trim 14, thereby protecting the shoulder PS. The lower region protecting portion 56 is inflated below the shoulder protecting portion 57, thereby protecting a part below the shoulder PS of the occupant P. The shoulder protecting portion 57 has a support portion 66 and a shoulder receiving portion 67. When the inflated shoulder protecting portion 57 falls outward of the vehicle while pivoting on the partition portion 45, the support portion 66 contacts a part that is inward of and below the top 16, thereby supporting the shoulder protecting portion 57. When the shoulder protecting portion 57 is supported by the door trim 14 at the support portion 66, at least a part of the shoulder receiving portion 67 is located above the top 16 and contacts the shoulder PS of the occupant P at a position inward of an end 45A of the partition portion 45 on the vehicle outer side. In this manner, the shoulder receiving portion 67 receives the shoulder PS.

Claims

1. A side airbag apparatus comprising:

an inflator that generates inflation gas in response to an impact applied to a vehicle from a side; and

an airbag that is inflated in a space between an occupant seated in a vehicle seat and a side door of the vehicle by the inflation gas supplied by the inflator,

wherein the airbag includes a shoulder protecting portion and a lower region protecting portion, which are defined by a partition portion that is located below a top of a door trim of the side door,

wherein the shoulder protecting portion protects a shoulder of the occupant by being inflated in a space that is beside the shoulder and beside and in the vicinity of the door trim of the side door,

wherein the lower region protecting portion protects a part below the shoulder of the occupant by being inflated in a space below the shoulder protecting portion, and

wherein the shoulder protecting portion includes;

a support portion, wherein, when the shoulder protecting portion is inflated and falls outward of the vehicle while pivoting on the partition portion, the support portion contacts part of the shoulder protecting portion that is inward of the top of the door trim in the vehicle widthwise direction and below the top, thereby supporting the shoulder protecting portion; and

a shoulder receiving portion, wherein, when the shoulder protecting portion is supported by the door trim at the support portion, the shoulder receiving portion is at least partly located above the top of the door trim and contacts the shoulder of the occupant at a position inward of the outer end of the partition portion in the vehicle widthwise direction, thereby receiving the shoulder.

2. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the shoulder protecting portion has a substantially inverted trapezoidal cross section or a substantially inverted triangular cross section as viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle.

3. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the shoulder protecting portion includes:

an inner wall portion that forms a part of the shoulder protecting portion on the vehicle inner side;

an outer wall portion that forms a part of the shoulder protecting portion on the vehicle outer side;

wherein the inner wall portion and the outer wall portion are formed such that the space therebetween narrows toward the lower ends of the inner and outer wall portions, and

a ceiling portion extend between the upper end of the inner wall portion and the upper end of the outer wall portion.

4. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ceiling portion is formed by a member separate from the inner wall portion and the outer wall portion, and

wherein the ceiling portion is joined, at its periphery, to the upper edges of the inner wall portion and the outer wall portion.

5. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the support portion is formed by an upper end of a vehicle outer part of the cross-sectional shape or a part in the vicinity of the upper end.

6. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the airbag includes a fabric portion on a vehicle inner side and a fabric portion on a vehicle outer side, which are joined to each other by peripheral joint portion located at the peripheries of the fabric portions, and

wherein the partition portion is formed by an inner joint portion that is located between the fabric portions and inside of the peripheral joint portion, and extends in a front-rear direction, the partition portion joining the fabric portions to each other in a state where the fabric portions are spaced apart from each other in the vehicle widthwise direction.

7. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the airbag includes a fabric portion on a vehicle inner side and a fabric portion on a vehicle outer side, which are joined to each other by peripheral joint portion located at the peripheries of the fabric portions, and

wherein the partition portion is formed by an inner joint portion that is located inside of the peripheral joint portion, and extends in a front-rear direction, the partition portion joining the fabric portions to each other in a state where the fabric portions contact each other.

8. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the inner joint portion joins the fabric portions to each other in a state where the shoulder protecting portion and the lower region protection portions are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction, and wherein the shoulder protecting portion and the lower region protecting portions are non-inflation portions.

9. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partition portion has a communication portion that allows the shoulder protecting portion and the lower region protection portion to communicate with each other, and functions as a passage for the inflation gas, and

wherein the communication portion is located rearward of a part of the partition portion that is beside the shoulder.

10. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the communication portion is located at a rear end of the partition portion.

11. The side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an entirety of the partition portion that separates the shoulder protecting portion and the lower region protecting portion is located entirely below a topmost portion of the door trim of the side door.