JP7635745B2 - Occupant protection devices - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an occupant protection device that can protect an occupant seated in a seat when an external force acts during a vehicle collision.

Normally, an airbag device is used to protect the occupant seated in the vehicle seat, using an inflated airbag to protect the occupant's body parts that need to be protected. Recently, there are also vehicles that are single-seater, do not have doors, and have open sides on both sides of the occupant (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2014-83858 A

As such, in vehicles without doors, simply inflating the airbag makes it difficult to adequately protect the sides of the occupant. Also, in typical airbag devices, the airbag is inflated using an inflator, so there was room for improvement in terms of protecting the occupant in a simpler configuration.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide an occupant protection device that is simply configured and can adequately protect occupants even in vehicles that do not have doors.

The present invention relates to an occupant protection device that can protect an occupant seated in a seat when an external force acts inwardly from the side of a vehicle, and
Located to the side of the occupant,
an occupant receiving portion that can be arranged from a standby position to a receiving position where the occupant's body part to be protected can be received;
an external force receiving portion disposed on an external force acting side of the seat and capable of receiving an external force;
a moving mechanism that can move the occupant receiving portion from a standby position to a receiving position when the external force receiving portion receives an external force;
,
The occupant receiving portion is formed from a material having shape retention properties, and is positioned on the side of the seat in the standby position. When an external force is received by the external force receiving portion, the moving mechanism moves the occupant receiving portion to the receiving position so as to close the space between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the seat and cover the side of the area to be protected.

In the passenger protection device of the present invention, when an external force acts from the side of the vehicle, the passenger receiving portion is moved to a receiving position so as to cover the side of the part of the passenger to be protected, and the passenger receiving portion is made of a material having shape retention. Therefore, even if the passenger protection device of the present invention is installed in a type of vehicle that does not have a door that covers the side of the passenger, the passenger receiving portion can quickly cover the side of the passenger, and the passenger receiving portion can accurately restrain the part to be protected. As a result, the passenger can be accurately prevented from moving toward the side where the external force is applied. Furthermore, in the passenger protection device of the present invention, the external force acting from the side of the vehicle is directly received by the external force receiving portion, and the external force acting on the external force receiving portion is used to move the passenger receiving portion from the standby position to the receiving position by the moving mechanism, so there is no need to provide a separate drive source, and the device can be manufactured inexpensively as a simple configuration.

Therefore, the passenger protection device of the present invention has a simple configuration and can adequately protect passengers even in vehicles that do not have doors.

In addition, if the occupant protection device of the present invention is configured to include a protective wall portion arranged to cover the side of the occupant receiving portion on which the external force acts at the receiving position, this can prevent the occupant receiving portion from coming into direct contact with the vehicle or the like that applies the external force, making it possible for the occupant receiving portion to more accurately restrain the area to be protected, which is preferable.

Furthermore, in the passenger protection device having the above configuration, the four-joint link mechanism is formed by connecting the front wall portion, the rear wall portion, the inner wall portion, and the outer wall portion to each other by a rotating pair, the front wall portion, the rear wall portion, the inner wall portion, and the outer wall portion each having a substantially rectangular tubular shape with an axial direction substantially aligned along the vertical direction,
The rear wall portion is provided as a fixed link fixed to the seat side,
The inner wall portion constitutes an occupant receiving portion,
The outer wall portion constitutes a protective wall portion,
The front wall portion, the rear wall portion, the inner wall portion, and the outer wall portion are arranged on the side of the seat in a substantially flat plate shape in which the front outer turning pair connecting the outer wall portion and the front wall portion faces outward in the standby position,
The area near the front outer pair constitutes the external force receiving part,
It is preferable that the outer wall portion and the front wall portion form a movement mechanism.

The passenger protection device configured as above can be compactly mounted because the front wall, rear wall, inner wall, and outer wall, which are generally rectangular tubular in the receiving position, are arranged on the side of the seat as flat plates stacked on top of each other in the standby position. In addition, in the passenger protection device configured as above, the portion near the front outer circumferential pair, which is located on the outermost side in the standby position, constitutes the external force receiving portion, and the outer wall and front wall constitute the moving mechanism. Therefore, when an external force acts on the portion near the front outer circumferential pair, which pushes inward, the front wall and outer wall receive this external force and move while rising from the flat deployed state. The inner wall also moves with the movement of the front wall and outer wall. This makes it possible to move from the standby position to the receiving position without the need for a separate drive source, resulting in an even simpler configuration.

Furthermore, in the occupant protection device configured as described above, if an airbag filled with air is disposed between the occupant receiving portion and the protective wall portion at the receiving position, even if the protective wall portion comes into contact with a vehicle or the like exerting an external force, the reaction force from the airbag, which is filled with air and inflated, will prevent the airbag from approaching the occupant receiving portion, thereby preventing the vehicle or the like exerting an external force from entering further. Even if the occupant attempts to move toward the protective wall portion (outward) due to the reaction force, the occupant receiving portion, which is arranged to cover the side of the part to be protected, will be able to restrain the part to be protected, thereby more accurately preventing the occupant from moving toward the protective wall portion. In addition, when installing an airbag, if the airbag is configured so that the peripheral wall is connected to the occupant receiving portion and the protective wall portion and has an intake hole that allows air to flow into the interior when the occupant receiving portion moves, the airbag will inflate when the occupant receiving portion moves, allowing air to flow into the interior through the intake hole. This eliminates the need for a gas supply member such as an inflator to inflate the airbag, and the airbag can be manufactured inexpensively as a simple configuration, even when the airbag is installed.

1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle on which an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted. 1 is a schematic front view of a vehicle on which an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted; 3A and 3B are side views of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, illustrating a standby position and a receiving position. 3 is a plan view of the passenger protection device according to the embodiment, showing a standby position and a receiving position; FIG. 3A and 3B are front views of the passenger protection device according to the embodiment, illustrating a standby position and a receiving position. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, which corresponds to a portion taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5. 7 is a schematic end view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, which corresponds to a portion VII-VII in FIG. 5. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a standby position and a receiving position of a protection main body in the occupant protection device according to the embodiment; FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment, which corresponds to a portion taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is a schematic bottom view of the occupant protection device according to the embodiment in a receiving position. 2 is a schematic bottom view showing the vicinity of an intake hole in the airbag used in the occupant protection device of the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the XII-XII portion of FIG. 11. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an open and closed state of an intake hole. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of an occupant protection device according to an embodiment in a receiving position;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, an occupant protection device S of the embodiment is mounted on a one-person vehicle V. As shown in Fig. 1, this vehicle V does not have doors, and when a driver MD as an occupant is seated in a seat 1, the left and right sides of the driver MD are open.

The seat 1 is configured to include a seat portion 3 and a backrest portion 2. Specifically, in the seat 1, the backrest portion 2 is not directly connected to the seat portion 3, but is connected to the seat portion 3 by using connecting pipes 5L, 5R arranged to extend downward so as to generally follow the backrest portion 2 on both the left and right edge sides (see FIG. 2). In detail, the backrest portion 2 is configured so that approximately the lower half is cut out in the left edge region and the right edge region, and the connecting pipes 5L, 5R are arranged in the cut-out region of the backrest portion 2 so as to generally follow the backrest portion 2 in the up-down direction (more specifically, slightly inclined with respect to the vertical direction so that the lower end side is located forward, see FIG. 1). When the driver MD is seated, the connecting pipes 5L, 5R are arranged on the rear left and right sides of the driver MD's waist to back.

The occupant protection device S is disposed to the side of the driver MD, who is an occupant, and in this embodiment, is disposed to the right of the driver MD's waist MW so as to be attached to the right-side connecting pipe 5R (see Figures 1 and 2). As shown in Figures 3 to 7, the occupant protection device S includes a protection main body 10 as a four-joint link mechanism, an armrest portion 30, and an inner airbag 35A and an outer airbag 35B disposed within the protection main body 10.

The protective body 10 as a four-joint link mechanism is configured to have a substantially rectangular tubular shape with the axial direction substantially aligned along the up-down direction (vertical direction), and includes a front wall 12, a rear wall 13, an inner wall 14, and an outer wall 15. The front wall 12, the rear wall 13, the inner wall 14, and the outer wall 15 are mutually connected by turn pairs 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D. The protective body 10 is configured to move while deforming from the standby position P1 (standby state) to the receiving position P2 (receiving state) when an external force T acts from the side (right side) of the vehicle V toward the inside (left side), and the external shape at the receiving position P2 is substantially rectangular tubular shape with the axial direction substantially aligned along the up-down direction (vertical direction) (see B in FIG. 3, B in FIG. 4, and B in FIG. 5). Specifically, the protection main body 10 is configured to have an outer shape at the receiving position P2 as a substantially rectangular tube with a wide front-rear direction and an axial direction substantially along the vertical direction so as to cover a wide side (right side) of the waist MW of the driver MD as a part to be protected by closing the space near the boundary between the seat portion 3 and the backrest portion 2 of the seat 1. In the protection main body 10 of the embodiment, in the receiving position P2 state (movement completion state), the inner wall portion 14 and the outer wall portion 15 facing each other on the left-right side are arranged substantially parallel to each other and substantially along the front-rear direction, and the front wall portion 12 and the rear wall portion 13 facing each other on the front-rear direction are arranged substantially along the left-right direction so as to be substantially perpendicular to the inner wall portion 14 and the outer wall portion 15 (see B in Fig. 4, B in Fig. 8, and B and 9 in Fig. 4). The protective body 10 (front wall 12, rear wall 13, inner wall 14, and outer wall 15) is made of a material that has shape retention properties, and in this embodiment, it is a plate-shaped body made of synthetic resin (specifically, soft synthetic resin such as polystyrene foam).

In the protection body 10, the rear wall 13 is attached to the connecting pipe 5R. Specifically, the inner end of the rear wall 13 has mounting portions 25, 25 that can be attached to the connecting pipe 5R by inserting the connecting pipe 5R and extending rearward from the rear wall 13, and are formed on the upper and lower ends. That is, in the protection body 10 of the embodiment, the rear wall 13 is arranged as a fixed link that is fixed to the seat 1. In addition, in the protection body 10, the inner wall 14 arranged on the inside, which is the driver MD side, at the receiving position P2 constitutes an occupant receiving portion that covers the side (right side) of the waist MW as the protected area, and the outer wall 15 arranged to cover the outside (external force acting side) of the inner wall 14 constitutes a protective wall. Both the inner wall 14 constituting the occupant receiving portion and the outer wall 15 constituting the protective wall portion move while rotating about 90° when moving from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2. The front outer joint 20A, front inner joint 20B, rear outer joint 20C, and rear inner joint 20D that respectively connect the front wall 12, rear wall 13, inner wall 14, and outer wall 15 to each other are disposed on the upper end 10a side and the lower end 10b side of the protective body 10.

When in a standby state in which it is disposed at standby position P1, the protective main body 10 is configured to be disposed on the right side of the seat 1 so that the front wall 12, rear wall 13, inner wall 14, and outer wall 15 are substantially flat and overlap each other, extending substantially along the left-right direction (see A in Figures 3A, 4A, and 5A). Specifically, in the standby position P1, the protective main body 10 is positioned in series outside (to the right) of the rear wall 13, with the rear side 15a of the outer wall 15 abutting against the outer side 13a of the rear wall 13, and the inner side 12a of the front wall 12 abutting against the front side 14a of the inner wall 14 in the receiving state, so that the inner wall 14 and the front wall 12 are stacked in series on the front side of the rear wall 13 and outer wall 15, and the front outer pair 20A connecting the outer wall 15 and the front wall 12 is facing outward (to the right) (see Figure 6). That is, in the standby position P1, the outer side surface 13a of the rear wall portion 13, the rear side surface 15a of the outer wall portion 15, the front side surface 14a of the inner wall portion 14, and the inner side surface 12a of the front wall portion 12 are in contact with each other to form stopper surfaces capable of maintaining a flat state (standby state). In the protection main body portion 10 of the embodiment, in the standby position P1, the portion near the front outer pair 20A located on the outermost side (the side on which the external force is applied in the seat 1, which is the right side in the embodiment) forms the external force receiving portion. In detail, in the protection main body portion 10 of the embodiment, in the standby position P1, the front wall portion 12 is configured so that the outer side surface 12b is positioned outward from the front side surface 15b in the receiving state of the outer wall portion 15 (see FIGS. 6 and 8), and the outer side surface 12b of the front wall portion 12 forms the external force receiving portion. In addition, in the protective body 10 of this embodiment, the front wall 12 and the outer wall 15 form a movement mechanism.

At the receiving position P2, the protective body 10 is formed into a rectangular tube shape by abutting the rear side surface 14b of the inner wall 14 against the front inner edge 13b of the rear wall 13 and abutting the front side surface 15b of the outer wall 15 against the rear outer edge 12c of the front wall 12 (see FIG. 9). At the receiving position P2, the front inner edge 13b of the rear wall 13, the rear side surface 14b of the inner wall 14, and the rear outer edge 12c of the front wall 12 and the front side surface 15b of the outer wall 15 are abutted against each other, forming stopper surfaces that can restrict further rotational movement and maintain the rectangular tube shape (receiving state). In addition, in the embodiment, magnets 24 (specifically, neodymium magnets) that can be attracted to each other are arranged on the front inner edge 13b side of the rear wall 13, the rear side 14b side of the inner wall 14, the rear outer edge 12c side of the front wall 12, and the front side 15b side of the outer wall 15, which are in contact with each other at the receiving position P2, so as to maintain the external shape (square tube shape) in the receiving state. In the embodiment, each magnet 24 is arranged on the upper end 10a side and the lower end 10b side of the protective main body 10 (see Figures 3 and 5).

In the embodiment of the protective body 10, when in a standby state arranged at standby position P1, when an external force T acts from the side of the vehicle V toward the inside, the portion near the front outer pair 20A constituting the external force receiving portion (more specifically, the portion near the outer surface 12b of the front wall portion 12) is pushed inward by the external force T, and the outer wall portion 15 and front wall portion 12 constituting the moving mechanism move under the pressure, and the inner wall portion 14 moves accordingly. As a result, the inner wall portion 14, outer wall portion 15 and front wall portion 12, excluding the rear wall portion 13 constituting the fixed link, move from standby position P1 and are arranged at receiving position P2 so as to form a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape (see FIG. 8). Specifically, the front wall 12 moves inward and forward while maintaining a state in which it is generally aligned with the left-right direction, and the inner wall 14 and the outer wall 15 move in a manner that rotates them by approximately 90° from a state in which it is generally aligned with the left-right direction to a state in which it is generally aligned with the front-rear direction. As described above, the protective main body 10 is maintained in a state in which it is disposed at the receiving position P2 (a state in which it is generally rectangular and cylindrical) by the magnet 24.

An armrest portion 30 is disposed on the upper side of the protective body 10. The armrest portion 30 is a long plate-like member extending approximately along the front-rear direction and is attached to the upper side of the front wall portion 12. Specifically, the armrest portion 30 is disposed so as to extend forward and backward from the protective body 10 in the standby state. As described above, the front wall portion 12 is configured to extend along the left-right direction in both the standby state and the receiving state of the protective body 10 (see A and B in FIG. 4). In other words, when the protective body 10 is deformed from the standby state to the receiving state (when moving from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2), the armrest portion 30 is translated so as to move slightly forward and inward in accordance with the deformation of the protective body 10. The armrest portion 30 is made of synthetic resin (specifically, soft synthetic resin such as polystyrene foam) like the protective body 10.

The inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B arranged in the protective body 10 are made of flexible sheets and are arranged in a bag shape, and are filled with air (in the embodiment, the atmosphere) inside the protective body 10, which is approximately a square tube in the receiving state, so as to fill the space inside the protective body 10. In the embodiment, two inner airbags 35A and outer airbags 35B are used, which inflate so as to overlap on the inside-outside (left-right) side inside the protective body 10 at the receiving position P2. In the embodiment, these inner airbags 35A and outer airbags 35B are arranged so as to overlap on the front-rear side inside the protective body 10 at the standby position P1 in a flat deployed state (see Figures 6 and 7). Specifically, each of the inner airbags 35A and the outer airbags 35B has an outer shape in a flat deployed state that is substantially rectangular with a width dimension substantially equal to that of the rear wall portion 13 and the outer wall portion 15 (or the inner wall portion 14 and the front wall portion 12) arranged in series at the waiting position P1, and is arranged so as to cover substantially the entire inside of the protection main body portion 10 except for the arrangement areas of the front outer pair 20A, the front inner pair 20B, the rear outer pair 20C, and the rear inner pair 20D arranged on the upper end 10a side and the lower end 10b side (i.e., except for the upper end 10a side and the lower end 10b side) (see Figs. 5 to 7). Although detailed illustrations are omitted, each of the inner airbags 35A and the outer airbags 35B has a peripheral wall 37A, 37B connected (bonded with an adhesive or the like) to the protection main body portion 10 side. Specifically, the inner airbag 35A has a separated side region 37a (specifically, a portion excluding both upper and lower ends of the separated side region 37a of the peripheral wall 37A) separated from the outer airbag 35B in the peripheral wall 37A connected to the inner wall 14 (occupant receiving portion) and the front wall 12, and the outer airbag 35B has a separated side region 37a (a region at a vertical middle portion of the separated side region 37a of the peripheral wall 37B) separated from the inner airbag 35A in the peripheral wall 37B connected to the outer wall 15 (protective wall portion) and the rear wall 13. In addition, intake holes 40A, 40B that allow air to flow into the inside when the protection main body 10 is deformed from the standby state to the receiving state (when moving from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2) are formed on the lower end side of each of the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B when inflation is completed. The air intake holes 40A, 40B are closed in the standby position P1 (see FIG. 5), and open when the airbags change from the standby state to the receiving state (when the airbags move from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2) to allow air to flow inside. The air intake holes 40A, 40B are located on the underside of each of the inner airbags 35A and the outer airbags 35B when the airbags are fully inflated (after the protective body 10 moves to the receiving position P2), near the intersection of the inner wall 14 and the front wall 12, and near the intersection of the outer wall 15 and the rear wall 13 (see FIG. 10).

In the embodiment, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, each intake hole 40A, 40B is provided with a hole body 41A, 41B formed by opening into the peripheral wall 37A, 37B of the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, and a check valve mechanism 43A, 43B that can block the hole body 41A, 41B from the inner peripheral surface side after the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are inflated to restrict the outflow of the inflation gas from the hole body 41A, 41B. The hole body 41A, 41B is formed in a substantially elliptical shape with a wider width on the longitudinal side of the protection body part 10, i.e., the front-rear direction side (see Figure 10). The check valve mechanism 43A, 43B is configured to have two valve bodies 44A, 44B, 45A, 45B that are long and can block the hole body 41A, 41B, and are arranged so that they are stacked on the vertical side when inflation is completed. The valve bodies 44A, 44B, 45A, 45B are formed of a flexible sheet body similar to the base material constituting the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, and one end 44a, 45a of each of the valve bodies 44A, 44B, 45A, 45B facing each other in the overlapped state is connected to the peripheral walls 37A, 37B of the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, and the other end 44b, 45b is a free end. In the standby state of the protection body 10, each of the intake holes 40A, 40B is sandwiched and blocked between the inner wall 14 and the outer wall 15, and when the protection body 10 is transformed from the standby state to the receiving state (when moving from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2), the hole bodies 41A, 41B are opened as the inner wall 14 as the occupant receiving part and the outer wall 15 as the protection wall part move away from each other. When the protection body 10 is transformed from the standby state to the receiving state (when moving from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2), the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are inflated by allowing the air A to flow into the inside from the hole bodies 41A and 41B of the intake holes 40A and 40B opened on the underside (see A in FIG. 13). When the protection body 10 is transformed to the receiving state (when moving to the receiving position P2 is completed), the hole bodies 41A and 41B of the intake holes 40A and 40B are closed by the two valve bodies 44A, 44B, 45A, and 45B under the pressure of the air A that has flowed into the inside (see B in FIG. 13), and the air A that has flowed into the inside is prevented from flowing back to the outside, and the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are maintained in an inflated state.

In the peripheral walls 37A, 37B of the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, the opposing side regions 37b, 37b (i.e., the regions not connected to the protective main body part 10) that are arranged opposite each other in the non-inflated state have a membrane length in a cross section generally along the horizontal direction that is set to be approximately the same as the width dimension on the left-right side of the protective main body part 10 at the waiting position P1, that is, set to be greater than the diagonal length dimension when the protective main body part 10 at the receiving position P2 is viewed from the top-bottom side (see Figures 6 and 9). Therefore, the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B fill the inside of the protective body 10 by connecting the mutually separated separated side regions 37a, 37a of the peripheral walls 37A, 37B to the protective body 10, while causing the mutually opposed opposed side regions 37b, 37b to wrinkle and bringing the opposed side regions 37b, 37b into close contact with each other (see FIG. 9).

In the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, when an external force T acts on the vehicle V from the right side toward the inside, the external force T directly presses the protection main body 10 inward, causing the protection main body 10 to move while deforming from the standby position P1 (standby state) to the receiving position P2 (receiving state), and the protection main body 10 in the receiving state is positioned to cover the right side of the waist MW of the driver MD, as shown in FIG. 14. At this time, the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are positioned inside the protection main body 10 in a state in which the air is flowing in and filling the inside.

In the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, when an external force T acts from the side of the vehicle V (the right side in the case of the embodiment), the external force T is used to move the inner wall portion 14 of the protection main body portion 10 constituting the passenger receiving portion so as to be positioned so as to cover the side of the waist MW, which is the part to be protected of the driver MD as an occupant, and the inner wall portion 14 is formed from a material having shape retention. Therefore, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, even if it is installed in a type of vehicle V that does not have a door that covers the side of the occupant (driver MD), the right side of the driver MD can be quickly covered by the inner wall portion 14 of the protection main body portion 10, and the waist MW can be appropriately restrained by the inner wall portion 14 of the protection main body portion 10. As a result, the driver MD can be appropriately restrained from moving toward the side where the external force acts (to the right). Furthermore, in the embodiment of the passenger protection device S, the external force T acting from the right side of the vehicle V is directly received by the area near the front outer pair 20A (specifically, the outer surface 12c of the front wall 12), which constitutes the external force receiving portion, and the external force T acting on the area near the front outer pair 20A is used to move the inner wall 14 from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2 by the front wall 12 and the outer wall 15, which constitute the moving mechanism. This eliminates the need for a separate drive source, and the simple configuration can be manufactured at low cost.

Therefore, the passenger protection device S of the embodiment has a simple configuration and can adequately protect the driver MD as a passenger even in a vehicle V that does not have doors.

In addition, in the occupant protection device S of the embodiment, the outer wall portion 15 serving as a protective wall is disposed so as to cover the action of an external force (right side) of the inner wall portion 14 serving as the occupant receiving portion in the receiving position P2 (receiving state). This prevents the inner wall portion 14 from coming into direct contact with a colliding vehicle or the like that applies an external force, and allows the inner wall portion 14 to more accurately restrain the waist region MW. If this point is not taken into consideration, the device may be configured to have only the occupant receiving portion and no protective wall portion.

Furthermore, in the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the wall portion 12, rear wall portion 13, inner wall portion 14, and outer wall portion 15, which are approximately rectangular cylindrical in shape at the receiving position P2, are arranged on the side of the seat 1 as approximately flat plates stacked on top of each other at the standby position P1, allowing for compact installation. In addition, in the embodiment of the passenger protection device S, the area near the front outer circumferential pair 20A, which is located at the outermost (right) position in the standby position P1 (specifically, the outer surface 12c of the front wall portion 12), constitutes the external force receiving portion, and the front wall portion 12 and the outer wall portion 15 constitute the drive mechanism. Therefore, when an external force T acts on the area near the front outer circumferential pair 20A, the front wall portion 12 and the outer wall portion 15 move while rising from the flat deployed state in response to the external force T, and the inner wall portion 14 also moves along with the movement of the front wall portion 12 and the outer wall portion 15. This means that a separate drive source is not required, and the device can be moved from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2, resulting in an even simpler configuration.

Furthermore, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, airbags (inner airbag 35A, outer airbag 35B) filled with air are arranged between the inner wall 14 as the passenger receiving portion and the outer wall 15 as the protective wall at the receiving position P2. Therefore, even if the outer wall 15 comes into contact with a colliding vehicle or the like that applies an external force, the reaction force from the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, which are filled with air and inflated, prevents the outer wall 15 from approaching the inner wall 14, so that the vehicle or the like that applies the external force T can be prevented from entering further. Even if the driver MD tries to move toward the outer wall 15 (outward) due to the reaction force, the inner wall 14, which is arranged to cover the sides of the waist MW, can restrain the waist MW, so that the movement of the driver MD toward the outer wall 15 (outward) can be more accurately prevented.

Furthermore, in the embodiment of the occupant protection device S, the airbags (inner airbag 35A, outer airbag 35B) have peripheral walls connected to the inner wall portion 14 (occupant receiving portion) and the outer wall portion 15 (protective wall portion), and are configured to have air intake holes 40A, 40B that allow air to flow into the interior when the inner wall portion 14 moves. Therefore, when the inner wall portion 14 (occupant receiving portion) moves, the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B inflate so that air flows into the interior through the air intake holes 40A, 40B. This eliminates the need for a gas supply member such as an inflator for inflating the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, and allows the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B to be manufactured inexpensively as a simple configuration, even if the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are arranged.

Specifically, in the case of this embodiment, an inner airbag 35A and an outer airbag 35B are arranged within the protective main body 10. The inner airbag 35A connects the separated side region 37a of the peripheral wall 37A to the inner wall portion 14 and the front wall portion 12, and the outer airbag 35B connects the separated side region 37a of the peripheral wall 37B to the outer wall portion 15 and the rear wall portion 13. The inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are configured to have a substantially rectangular outer shape and to cover substantially the entire inside of the protection main body 10 when deployed flat inside the protection main body 10 at the standby position P1, so that in the protection main body 10 in a deformed receiving state while moving to the receiving position P2, the opposing side regions 37b, 37b arranged opposite each other in the peripheral walls 37A, 37B are wrinkled and tightly fitted without gaps, so that the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are arranged to fill the inside of the protection main body 10. In addition, the intake holes 40A, 40B formed in the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B have check valve mechanisms 43A, 43B, so that the atmosphere A (air) that once flows inside is unlikely to escape, and the internal pressure of the inflated inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B can be maintained. Therefore, even if the protective body 10 is pressed from both the inside (driver MD side) and the outside (external force acting side), the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B are kept in an inflated state by preventing the atmosphere (air) from escaping from the inside, so that the inner wall 14 and the outer wall 15 are prevented from being compressed so as to approach each other, and the waist MW of the driver MD can be appropriately restrained.

In the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the moving mechanism that moves the protection body part 10 from the standby position P1 to the receiving position P2 is composed of the front wall part 12 and the outer wall part 15 themselves that constitute the protection body part 10, and the deformation movement of this protection body part 10 is a reversible deformation movement. In addition, the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B arranged in the protection body part 10 are also configured to inflate by letting air flow into the inside through the intake holes 40A, 40B when the protection body part 10 moves. Therefore, after moving to the receiving position (deforming into the receiving state), the protection body part 10 can be returned to the standby position (standby state). The intake holes 40A, 40B are configured to have check valve mechanisms 43A, 43B, but they cannot completely prevent the air (air) that has flowed into the inside from flowing out, and after a predetermined time has passed, the air can be released from the inside of the inner airbag 35A and the outer airbag 35B, allowing them to be deployed flat.

In the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, the protective body 10 (front wall 12, rear wall 13, inner wall 14 (passenger receiving portion), outer wall 15 (protective wall portion)) is made of soft synthetic resin, but the material of the protective body is not limited to the embodiment, and any material capable of absorbing energy by plastic deformation or brittle fracture may be used, for example, it may be made of hard synthetic resin or metal plate. In addition, in the passenger protection device S of the embodiment, two airbags, an inner airbag 35A and an outer airbag 35B, are arranged inside the protective body 10, but the number of airbags arranged is not limited to the embodiment, and it may be configured to arrange only one airbag.

1...seat, 2...backrest, 3...seat, 10...protective body (four-bar link mechanism), 12...front wall, 13...rear wall, 14...inner wall (occupant receiving section), 15...outer wall (protective wall), 20A...front outer pair (external force receiving section), 20B...front inner pair, 20C...rear outer pair, 20D...rear inner pair, 35A...inner airbag, 35B...outer airbag, 40A, 40B...air intake, MD...driver (occupant), MW...waist (area to be protected), V...vehicle, S...occupant protection device.

Claims (5)

An occupant protection device capable of protecting an occupant seated in a seat when an external force acts inward from the side of a vehicle,
Located to the side of the occupant,
an occupant receiving portion that can be arranged from a standby position to a receiving position where the occupant's part to be protected can be received;
an external force receiving portion disposed on an external force acting side of the seat and capable of receiving the external force;
a moving mechanism that moves the occupant receiving portion from the standby position to the receiving position when the external force is received by the external force receiving portion;
,
An occupant protection device characterized in that the occupant receiving portion is formed from a material having shape retention properties and is positioned on the side of the seat in the standby position, and when the external force receiving portion receives the external force, the moving mechanism causes the occupant receiving portion to be positioned at the receiving position so as to close the space between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the seat and cover the side of the area to be protected. The passenger protection device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided with a protective wall portion arranged to cover the side of the passenger receiving portion to which an external force is applied at the receiving position. The four-joint link mechanism is connected to each other by a rotating pair to form a four-joint link mechanism. The four-joint link mechanism has a generally rectangular tubular shape with an axial direction generally aligned along the vertical direction, and includes a front wall portion, a rear wall portion, an inner wall portion, and an outer wall portion.
The rear wall portion is disposed as a fixed link fixed to the seat side,
The inner wall portion constitutes the occupant receiving portion,
The outer wall portion constitutes the protective wall portion,
The front wall portion, the rear wall portion, the inner wall portion, and the outer wall portion are configured to be arranged on the side of the seat in a substantially flat plate shape in which the front outer turning pair connecting the outer wall portion and the front wall portion is facing outward in the standby position,
A portion near the front outer circumferential pair constitutes the external force receiving portion,
3. The passenger protection device according to claim 2, wherein the outer wall portion and the front wall portion constitute the movement mechanism. The passenger protection device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that an airbag filled with air is disposed between the passenger receiving portion and the protective wall portion at the receiving position. The passenger protection device according to claim 4, characterized in that the airbag has a peripheral wall connected to the passenger receiving portion and the protective wall portion, and has an intake hole that allows air to flow into the interior when the passenger receiving portion moves.

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