Vehicle occupant restraint apparatus

• US 8,038,170 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2009
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Haraoka, Mutsumu, Nezaki, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): CULBRETH, ERIC D
• Application Number:
  US12/351,034
• Publication Number:
  US 20090179406A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 280/733, 280/729, 244/122.R, 244/122.B, 244/122.AG
• US Class Current: 280/733
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/027 Four-point seat belt systems, e.g. with the two upper points connected together
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/18 the inflatable member formed as a belt or harness or combined with a belt or harness arrangement

Abstract

A vehicle occupant restraint apparatus includes a four-point seat belt that has a pair of right and left shoulder webbings; and air belt portions that are respectively provided for the pair of right and left shoulder webbings. The air belt portions receive gas supplied from an inflator and then deploy so as to restrain a head H of an occupant P from moving forward in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

Claims

1. A vehicle occupant restraint apparatus comprising:

a four-point seat belt that has a pair of right and left upper body restraint webbings; and

a pair of inflatable portions that are respectively provided for the pair of right and left upper body restraint webbings, wherein the pair of inflatable portions inflate with gas supplied from a gas supply device and then deploy so as to restrain a head of an occupant from moving forward in a vehicle longitudinal direction,

wherein portions of bag elements that inflate with the gas supplied from the gas supply device, the portions being the occupant'"'"'s head-sides in a vehicle width direction in a deployed state are folded inward along longitudinal directions of the respective webbings, the folded portions being sewed with tear seams that break at an internal pressure in the bag elements, which is higher than or equal to a predetermined value, to form the pair of inflatable portions.

2. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas supply device is arranged below the inflatable portions in a vehicle vertical direction, and supplies gas from lower sides of the inflatable portions in the vehicle vertical direction.

3. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 2, wherein portions corresponding to a chest of the occupant in the pair of inflatable portions when deployed are thicker in the vehicle longitudinal direction than the other portions of the pair of inflatable portions.

4. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 2, wherein middle portions of the pair of inflatable portions are thicker in the vehicle longitudinal direction than the other portions of the pair of inflatable portions in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

5. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

an airbag that is applied to a driver'"'"'s seat and that is provided inside a steering wheel so as not to follow rotation of the steering wheel, wherein

the airbag inflates with gas supplied from the gas supply device and then deploys so as to cover only an upper portion of the steering wheel in the vehicle vertical direction or deploy in such a manner that an upper portion of the airbag in the vehicle vertical direction is thicker than a lower portion of the airbag.

6. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

guide portions that are provided on an upper portion of a seat back and that restrict movement of the inflatable portions in a seat width direction, wherein

the guide portions each have a support portion that supports a corresponding one of the inflatable portions from a side opposite to an occupant side in a state where the guide portion is deployed as the inflatable portion inflates.

7. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the guide portions are deployed as the inflatable portions inflate and restrict deployment of the inflatable portions in such a manner that a cross-sectional shape of each inflatable portion when deployed is oblong in the vehicle vertical direction.

8. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

guide portions that are provided on an upper portion of a seat back and that restrict movement of the inflatable portions in a seat width direction, wherein

each guide portion includes a guide body that is formed in an inverted U shape and that is arranged in such a manner that a concave of the guide body faces an upper end surface of the seat back, and a pivot support portion that supports an outer end of the guide body in the seat width direction in such a manner that the guide body is allowed to pivot about an axis that extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

9. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a stopper is formed at one end of the guide body adjacent to the pivot support portion.

10. A vehicle occupant restraint apparatus comprising:

a four-point seat belt that has a pair of right and left upper body restraint webbings; and

a pair of inflatable portions that are respectively provided for the pair of right and left upper body restraint webbings, wherein the pair of inflatable portions inflate with gas supplied from a gas supply device and then deploy so as to position a portion of a head of an occupant above a jaw between the pair of inflatable portions and restrain the head of the occupant from moving in a vehicle width direction,

wherein the pair of inflatable portions each include a partition member inside a bag element that inflates with the gas supplied from the gas supply device, and the partition member partitions an inside of the bag element into an occupant-side chamber and an anti-occupant-side chamber in such a manner that the occupant-side chamber and the anti-occupant-side chamber are next to each other in a vehicle width direction, the occupant-side chamber deploying in such a manner that a portion of an inner portion of the bag element faces toward and extends above the jaw of the occupant, and the anti-occupant-side chamber deploying so as to face a side opposite the head of the occupant.

11. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the pair of inflatable portions inflate with gas supplied from the gas supply device and then deploy so as to place a face of the occupant in between from both sides.

12. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

the gas supply device supplies gas to the anti-occupant-side chamber in each bag element, and

each partition member has a communication hole that provides communication between the occupant-side chamber and the anti-occupant-side chamber that deploys so as to face the side opposite to the head of the occupant.

13. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

the gas supply device supplies gas to the anti-occupant-side chamber in each bag element, and

each partition member has a plurality of communication holes that are spaced apart from one another and arranged in the vehicle vertical direction when the bag element is deployed.

14. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

the plurality of communication holes are formed so that the communication holes located at a lower side in the vehicle vertical direction are larger than the communication holes located at an upper side in the vehicle vertical direction.

15. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

the gas supply device supplies gas to the anti-occupant-side chamber in each bag element, and

each partition member is formed in such a manner that an internal pressure in an upper portion of the occupant-side chamber is lower than an internal pressure in a lower portion of the occupant-side chamber or an internal pressure in the anti-occupant-side chamber that deploys so as to face the side opposite to the head of the occupant at initial and middle stages of a deployment process of each inflatable portion.

16. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the gas supply device is arranged below the inflatable portions in a vehicle vertical direction, and supplies gas from lower sides of the inflatable portions in the vehicle vertical direction.

17. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

portions of bag elements that inflate with gas supplied from the gas supply device are folded inward along longitudinal directions of the respective webbings so as to deploy to face the head of the occupant, and the folded portions are sewed with tear seams that break at an internal pressure in the bag elements, which is higher than or equal to a predetermined value, to form the pair of inflatable portions.

18. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:

guide portions that are provided on an upper portion of a seat back and that restrict movement of the inflatable portions in a seat width direction, wherein

the guide portions each have a support portion that supports a corresponding one of the inflatable portions from a side opposite to an occupant side in a state where the guide portion is deployed as the inflatable portion inflates.

19. The vehicle occupant restraint apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:

guide portions that are provided on an upper portion of a seat back and that restrict movement of the inflatable portions in a seat width direction, wherein

each guide portion includes a guide body that is formed in an inverted U shape and that is arranged in such a manner that a concave of the guide body faces an upper end surface of the seat back, and a pivot support portion that supports an outer end of the guide body in the seat width direction in such a manner that the guide body is allowed to pivot about an axis that extends in a vehicle longitudinal direction.

20. A vehicle occupant restraint apparatus comprising:

a four-point seat belt that has a pair of right and left upper body restraint webbings; and

a pair of inflatable portions that are respectively provided for the pair of right and left upper body restraint webbings, wherein the pair of inflatable portions inflate with gas supplied from a gas supply device and then deploy so as to restrain a head of an occupant from moving forward in a vehicle longitudinal direction,

wherein the pair of inflatable portions are formed by sewing portions of bag elements with tear seams that break at an internal pressure in the bag elements, which is higher than or equal to a predetermined value.