Vehicle side airbag device and vehicle seat

• US 9,533,605 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2014
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Fujiwara, Yusuke
• Primary Examiner(s): ENGLISH, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US14/428,414
• Publication Number:
  US 20160200280A1
• Time in Patent Office: 888 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/42 the seat constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats for protecting children B60N2/26; arm-rests B60N2/75; head-rests B60N2/888
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4235 transversal
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4279 electric or electronic triggering
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0006 Lateral collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0032 Position of passenger
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23107 the bag being integrated in a multi-bag system
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23146 seat mounted
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23308 the individual compartments defining the external shape of the bag
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23324 Inner walls crating separate compartments, e.g. communicating with vents
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/26094 characterised by fluid flow controlling valves
• 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 21/2346 Soft diffusers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/239 characterised by their venting means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/264 using instantaneous generation of gas, e.g. pyrotechnic B60R21/268 takes precedence

Abstract

In a vehicle side airbag device, when inflator operates, gas is supplied to left and right chambers of rear bag portion, and gas is supplied from communication opening through between a left and right side partitioning portions directly into a front bag portion. When inflation and expansion of the chambers are completed, the left and ride side partitioning portions are pushed against one another by internal pressures of the chambers, and the communication opening is closed-off. A valley, that is recessed toward a vehicle rear side, is formed at a front surface of the rear bag portion. At a time when the rear bag portion interferes with a vehicle occupant who is at an improper position, this valley is expanded due to the left and right chambers moving apart from one another in a vehicle left-right direction.

Claims

1. A vehicle side airbag device comprising:

a bag body that is formed in a shape of a bag, that, in a folded-up state, is accommodated within a side support portion of a seat back of a vehicle seat, and that inflates and expands toward a vehicle front side of the side support portion due to gas being supplied to an interior of the bag body;

a tubular flow regulating portion that is provided at a rear end portion of the interior of the bag body;

a front-rear partitioning portion that partitions the bag body into a front bag portion and a rear bag portion, and that partitions the rear bag portion into a left chamber and a right chamber, and that communicates the left and right chambers with an interior of the flow regulating portion, the front-rear partitioning portion including a left side partitioning portion and a right side partitioning portion that extend from the flow regulating portion, a front end edge portion of the left side partitioning portion being sewn to a front-rear direction intermediate portion of a left side portion of the bag body, and a front end edge portion of the right side partitioning portion being sewn to a front-rear direction intermediate portion of a right side portion of the bag body;

an inflator that is provided within the flow regulating portion, and that generates the gas that is supplied to the interior of the bag body; and

a communication opening that is provided at a vertical direction intermediate portion of the flow regulating portion, that passes-through between the left side partitioning portion and the right side partitioning portion, and that communicates the interior of the flow regulating portion and an interior of the front bag portion.

2. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein a first portion of a border portion between the flow regulating portion and the left and right side partitioning portions is sewn together, and the communication opening is formed at a second portion of the border portion at which the flow regulating portion and the left and right side partitioning portions are not sewn together.

3. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein the vehicle side airbag device is structured such that inflation and expansion of the front bag portion and the rear bag portion are completed before the inflator finishes generating the gas.

4. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, further comprising a top-bottom partitioning portion that further partitions the bag body into a lower bag portion, and the interior of the flow regulating portion and an interior of the lower bag portion communicate via a lower end opening of the flow regulating portion.

5. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 4, wherein a check valve, that limits flow of the gas from the lower bag portion to the rear bag portion, is provided at a lower end portion of the flow regulating portion.

6. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein an upper portion of the rear bag portion is not partitioned into the left and right chambers, and an upper end opening of the flow regulating portion opens at a non-partitioned region at which the upper portion of the rear bag portion is not partitioned, and the left and right chambers and the interior of the flow regulating portion communicate via the upper end opening.

7. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 4, wherein a vent hole is formed in each of or in some of the front bag portion, the rear bag portion, and the lower bag portion.

8. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein the left and right chambers are formed so as to be left-right asymmetric.

9. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein an additional communication opening, that communicates the interior of the front bag portion and an interior of the rear bag portion, is formed at the front-rear partitioning portion.

10. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein

the flow regulating portion is disposed at a vertical direction intermediate portion of the rear end portion of the interior of the bag body,

dimensions in a vertical direction of the left side partitioning portion and the right side partitioning portion become larger further toward the front end edge portions that are sewn to the bag body,

regions that are not partitioned into the left and right chambers are provided respectively at an upper portion and a lower portion of the rear bag portion, and an upper end opening and a lower end opening of the flow regulating portion open at the regions, and

the left and right chambers and the interior of the flow regulating portion communicate via the upper end opening and the lower end opening.

11. The vehicle side airbag device of claim 1, wherein

portions, that are further toward an upper end side than the flow regulating portion, of the left side partitioning portion and the right side partitioning portion are configured to be forwardly extending portions that are tilted obliquely toward a side opposite the flow regulating portion, and

a front extension portion, that is disposed above the front bag portion in inflated and expanded state, is provided at an upper portion of the rear bag portion.

12. A vehicle seat comprising:

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

the vehicle side airbag device of claim 1 that is provided at the seat back.