Side airbag device for vehicle

• US 9,789,841 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2014
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2013
• 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): Fleming, Faye M
• Application Number:
  US14/912,671
• Publication Number:
  US 20160264091A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,149 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23146 seat mounted
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23324 Inner walls crating separate compartments, e.g. communicating with vents
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23332 using independent bags, one within the other
• 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 21/237 characterised by the way they are folded

Abstract

To contribute to stabilizing the restraining of a head portion. When an air bag inflates and expands in a side airbag device for a vehicle, a rear bag portion accommodating an inflator inflates and expands earlier than and at a higher pressure than a front bag portion. The front bag portion, that is low pressure and inflates and expands later, can be supported by the rear bag portion that is high pressure, and the front bag portion does not shake greatly. Moreover, the flow of gas from the rear bag portion that is high pressure to the front bag portion that is low pressure can be regulated by the upper and lower communication ports formed in a tether. Due to the above, the expansion behavior of the front bag portion can be stabilized, which can therefore contribute to the restraining of the head portion by the front bag portion.

Claims

1. A side airbag device for a vehicle comprising:

an inflator that generates gas by activating;

an airbag that is provided at a side portion of a seatback of a vehicle seat, the airbag inflates and expands toward a vehicle front side of the side portion due to gas being supplied to an interior of the airbag by the inflator, the airbag being configured to retrain at least from a chest portion to a head portion of a vehicle occupant located in the vehicle seat; and

a partitioning portion that partitions the airbag into;

(i) a rear bag portion that restrains at least a rear portion of the chest portion of the vehicle occupant, and (ii) a front bag portion that restrains a front portion of the chest portion of the vehicle occupant, the partitioning portion including;

a laterally extending portion extending toward a front side of the seatback from a vertical direction intermediate portion of a rear end portion of the airbag that has inflated and expanded;

a vertically extending portion extending toward an upper side of the seatback from a longitudinal direction intermediate portion of a lower end portion of the airbag that has inflated and expanded, and,

a plurality of communication ports formed at the partitioning portion to supply gas from the inflator that is accommodated within the rear bag portion into the front bag portion.

2. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a shoulder restraining portion that restrains at least a portion of a shoulder portion of the vehicle occupant, the shoulder restraining portion being provided at an upper portion of the rear bag portion.

3. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 2, wherein the shoulder restraining portion is structured so as to, in an inflated and expanded state of the airbag, project-out further toward the front side of the seatback than a lower portion of the rear bag portion.

4. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 3, further comprising a flow regulating member that distributes gas, that is generated from the inflator, to the upper portion and the lower portion of the rear bag portion, wherein

a front end portion of the shoulder restraining portion is structured so as to be formed in an arc shape that is convex toward the vehicle front side, as seen in a side view of the airbag that is in the inflated and expanded state.

5. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 2, wherein the partitioning portion is structured by a tether in which the plurality of communication ports are formed, and a width dimension of the tether, at a region that is positioned between the shoulder restraining portion and the front bag portion, is reduced.

6. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the partitioning portion partitions the airbag into the front bag portion and the rear bag portion by a sewn portion at which a base cloth of the airbag is sewn, and the plurality of communication ports are formed due to the sewn portion being partially omitted between the front bag portion and the rear bag portion.

7. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the plurality of communication ports includes:

(i) an upper side communication port that communicates the upper portion of the rear bag portion and an upper portion of the front bag portion in a vertical direction of the airbag, and (ii) a lower side communication port that communicates a lower portion of the rear bag portion and a lower portion of the front bag portion in a longitudinal direction of the airbag.

8. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 7, further comprising:

a flow regulating member that is provided within the rear bag portion, the flow regulating member distributes gas, that is generated from the inflator, from an upper end opening and a lower end opening to the upper portion and the lower portion of the rear bag portion,

wherein the flow regulating member is formed in a tubular shape having a diameter that increases from the upper end opening toward the lower end opening.

9. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 8, wherein the upper side communication port of the partitioning portion is set so as to face the upper end opening of the flow regulating member, and the lower side communication port of the partitioning portion is set so as to face the lower end opening of the flow regulating member.

10. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 9, wherein:

a shoulder restraining portion that restrains a shoulder portion of the vehicle occupant is provided at the upper portion of the rear bag portion, and

the upper end opening of the flow regulating member is set further toward an upper end side of the rear bag portion than a region that restrains a center of the shoulder portion of the vehicle occupant at the shoulder restraining portion.

11. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 7, wherein an opening surface area of the lower side communication port is set to be greater than an opening surface area of the upper side communication port.

12. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 7, wherein

at the airbag, a head restraining region that is further toward an upper side than the partitioning portion is folded-up by roll-folding or bellows-folding toward a lower side of the airbag, and a region that is further toward a lower side than the head restraining region is folded-up by roll-folding or bellows-folding toward the lower side of the airbag and a rear side of the airbag, and the airbag is accommodated in the side portion of the seatback in a folded-up state, and

an upper end of the airbag in an accommodated state is structured so as to be positioned further toward an upper end side of the seatback than the upper side communication port in the inflated and expanded state of the airbag.

13. The side airbag device for a vehicle of claim 12, further comprising:

a flow regulating member that is provided within the rear bag portion, the flow regulating member distributes gas, that is generated from the inflator, from an upper end opening and a lower end opening to the upper portion and the lower portion of the rear bag portion, wherein the upper side communication port of the partitioning portion is set so as to face the upper end opening of the flow regulating member; and

a shoulder restraining portion that restrains at least a portion of a shoulder portion of the vehicle occupant, the shoulder restraining portion being provided at the upper portion of the rear bag portion.