Mounting structure for curtain airbag device
10730561 ยท 2020-08-04
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B62D25/04
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B60R13/0206
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B60R21/213
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B62D25/04
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B60R21/213
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
A mounting structure for a curtain airbag device includes: a first pillar extending along a vehicle upper-lower direction; a second pillar disposed on a vehicle rear side at a predetermined interval with respect to the first pillar, and extending along the vehicle upper-lower direction; a transparent member interposed between the first pillar and the second pillar; a front pillar garnish covering the first pillar and the second pillar and having a lower end portion protruding along at least one of a vehicle front-rear direction and a vehicle width direction; and a curtain airbag device configured to include a curtain airbag, configured to be inflation-deployed in a curtain shape in a vehicle cabin side portion, and having a front end portion fixed at a position in the first pillar or the second pillar corresponding to the lower end portion of the front pillar garnish.
Claims
1. A mounting structure for a curtain airbag device, the mounting structure comprising: a first pillar constituting a part of a front pillar and extending along a vehicle upper-lower direction; a second pillar constituting another part of the front pillar, disposed on a vehicle rear side at a predetermined interval with respect to the first pillar, and extending along the vehicle upper-lower direction; a transparent member interposed between the first pillar and the second pillar and allowing an outside of a vehicle to be visually recognized from a driver's seat side; a front pillar garnish covering the first pillar and the second pillar from a vehicle cabin side and having a lower end portion protruding along at least one of a vehicle front-rear direction and a vehicle width direction; and a curtain airbag device configured to include a curtain airbag and being stored along the first pillar or the second pillar, the curtain airbag being configured to be able to be inflation-deployed in a curtain shape in a vehicle cabin side portion by receiving gas supply during a vehicle collision, and having a front end portion fixed at a position in the first pillar or the second pillar corresponding to the lower end portion of the front pillar garnish.
2. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein: the curtain airbag device is stored along the second pillar; and the front end portion of the curtain airbag is fixed at a position in the second pillar corresponding to the lower end portion of the front pillar garnish.
3. The mounting structure according to claim 2, wherein the front pillar garnish includes: a front side garnish attached to the first pillar; and a rear side garnish configured as a body separate from the front side garnish, attached to the second pillar, covering the curtain airbag from a vehicle cabin inner side, and configured to be able to hold the curtain airbag in a state where the curtain airbag is apart from the second pillar.
4. The mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein the rear side garnish is attached to the second pillar via a tether clip.
5. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the curtain airbag is formed such that the lower end portion at a time of inflation deployment is positioned at the same height in the vehicle upper-lower direction as or is positioned above an upper edge portion of a front door trim covering a front side door from the vehicle cabin side.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, and wherein:
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
(7) Hereinafter, an embodiment of a mounting structure for a curtain airbag device will be described with reference to
(8) As illustrated in
(9) The windshield 16 is formed to have a constant plate thickness. The intermediate part of the windshield 16 in the vehicle width direction is gently curved and convex to the vehicle front side. A pair of right and left front pillars 26 is disposed on the vehicle width direction outer sides of the windshield 16 and the vehicle front sides of front side doors (hereinafter, simply referred to as front doors) 24 that have front side windows 22, respectively.
(10) Each of the right and left front pillars 26 extends along a vehicle width direction end portion 16A of the windshield 16 with the longitudinal direction thereof corresponding to the vehicle upper-lower direction. In other words, each of the right and left front pillars 26 is inclined to the rear upper side of the vehicle. The front pillar 26 on the driver's seat side will be described below. The front pillar 26 on the side opposite to the driver's seat side (on the passenger seat side) has the same configuration as the front pillar 26 on the driver's seat side.
(11) The front pillar 26 has a first pillar 28 and a second pillar 30. The first pillar 28 extends along the vehicle upper-lower direction. The vehicle width direction end portion 16A of the windshield 16 is joined to the first pillar 28 via a urethane adhesive (not illustrated) and cushion rubber (not illustrated). The first pillar 28 is configured to include a steel plate-based first pillar inner panel 28A as a pillar inner panel and a steel plate-based first pillar outer panel (not illustrated) as a pillar outer panel. End portions of the first pillar inner panel 28A orthogonal to the longitudinal direction are respectively joined to end portions of the first pillar outer panel orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. As a result, a configuration is achieved in which a section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is a closed section.
(12) The second pillar 30 is disposed on the vehicle rear side of the first pillar 28 (in this specification, the vehicle rear side also means a substantially rear side of the vehicle). Specifically, the second pillar 30 is disposed at a predetermined interval in the vehicle front-rear direction with respect to the first pillar 28. The predetermined interval is set to at least the inter-pupil center distance of a driver sitting on a vehicle seat (not illustrated). The inter-pupil center distance means the distance between the pupil center of the driver's right eye (not illustrated) and the pupil center of the driver's left eye (not illustrated) and is, for example, approximately 60 mm to 65 mm in the case of normal Japanese adults. In the present embodiment, the predetermined interval is set to 65 mm as an example.
(13) The second pillar 30 extends in parallel to the first pillar 28 (along the vehicle upper-lower direction) (in this specification, parallel also means substantially parallel). As illustrated in
(14) Front pillar outer glass 32 (refer to
(15) As illustrated in
(16) The front side garnish 36 extends in the vehicle upper-lower direction along the first pillar 28 (in
(17) The shape of the section of the front side garnish 36 that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is formed in a U-shape open toward the vehicle width direction outer side (in this specification, the U-shape also means a substantially U-shape). An accommodating space (not illustrated) is formed between the front side garnish 36 and the first pillar inner panel 28A. A wire harness (not illustrated) and a hose (not illustrated) are an example of what is arranged in the accommodating space.
(18) The rear side garnish 38 has a body portion 38A extending in the vehicle upper-lower direction along the second pillar 30 and an extending portion 38B disposed on the vehicle upper side of the body portion 38A. The shape of the section of the body portion 38A that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is formed in a U-shape open toward the vehicle width direction outer side (not illustrated). As illustrated in
(19) The longitudinal direction intermediate portion of the body portion 38A is provided with a clip seat (not illustrated) that is the same in configuration as the front side garnish 36 and a clip (not illustrated) attached to the clip seat (in this specification, the intermediate portion also means a substantially intermediate portion).
(20) The tether clip 42 attached to the clip seat 38C disposed on the rear side garnish 38 is inserted in a through-hole 30B, which is formed to penetrate a flat wall 30AA of the second pillar inner panel 30A in the plate thickness direction. Likewise, the clip attached to the clip seat of the rear side garnish 38 other than the clip seat 38C is inserted in another through-hole (not illustrated) formed to penetrate the flat wall 30AA of the second pillar inner panel 30A in the plate thickness direction. The rear side garnish 38 is attached to the second pillar 30 as a result of the above-described configuration. As illustrated in
(21) The extending portion 38B of the rear side garnish 38 is formed integrally with the rear side garnish 38. The vehicle upper side end portion of the extending portion 38B abuts against the roof head liner. The vehicle front side end portion of the extending portion 38B is assembled to overlap an assembly portion 36B, which is formed in the upper end portion 36A of the front side garnish 36, from the vehicle cabin side (refer to
(22) As illustrated in
(23) The curtain airbag 46 is, for example, formed in a bag shape by sewing of a base cloth 46A (refer to
(24) As illustrated in
(25) As illustrated in
(26) An anti-rotation unit 54A is disposed in the tip portion of the bracket 54. The anti-rotation unit 54A protrudes to the vehicle width direction outer side along the plate thickness direction. The anti-rotation unit 54A is inserted in the through-hole (not illustrated) that is formed in the second pillar inner panel 30A. As a result, rotation of the bracket 54 is suppressed during fastening of the fastener 56.
(27) The tether strap 48 is for (the posture of) the curtain airbag 46 to be held by tension with respect to the body of the vehicle when the curtain airbag 46 restrains an occupant. In other words, as illustrated in
(28) The curtain airbag 46 is formed such that the curtain airbag 46 covers the front side window 22 during inflation deployment and the lower end portion 38D is positioned above an upper edge portion 58A of a door trim 58, which is an interior member covering the front door 24 from the vehicle cabin side (in this specification, to cover also means to substantially cover).
Action and Effect
(29) The action and effect of the present embodiment will be described below.
(30) Once a lateral collision of the vehicle is detected by an airbag sensor (not illustrated) and a collision signal is output to a controller (not illustrated), the controller allows a predetermined current to flow to the inflator in a case where the controller determines based on the input collision signal that the current flow is needed. As a result, the inflator is operated and gas flows into the folded curtain airbag 46. This results in initial inflation of the curtain airbag 46, and then the curtain airbag 46 takes a reaction force from the flat wall 30AA illustrated in
(31) As illustrated in
(32) As illustrated in
(33) The curtain airbag device 44 is stored along the second pillar 30 and the bracket 54 of the curtain airbag 46 is fixed at a position in the second pillar 30 that corresponds to the lower end portion 38D of the front pillar garnish 34. In a case where the curtain airbag 46 is stored along the first pillar 28, for example, the curtain airbag 46 is inflation-deployed in a curtain shape in the vehicle cabin side portion, and thus the second pillar 30 behind the first pillar 28 may suppress smooth inflation deployment of the curtain airbag 46. In the configuration of the disclosure, however, the curtain airbag 46 is stored along the second pillar 30, and thus the curtain airbag 46 can be smoothly inflation-deployed without being affected by the second pillar 30. As a result, the deployment performance of the curtain airbag 46 can be improved.
(34) The front pillar garnish 34 is attached to the vehicle cabin inner side of the front pillar 26. The front pillar garnish 34 is configured to include the front side garnish 36 attached to the first pillar 28 and the rear side garnish 38 attached to the second pillar 30 and configured as a body separate from the front side garnish 36. The rear side garnish 38 is configured to cover the curtain airbag 46 from the vehicle cabin inner side and be able to hold the curtain airbag 46 apart from the second pillar 30. Accordingly, during inflation deployment of the curtain airbag 46, the deployment load of the curtain airbag 46 is transmitted solely to the rear side garnish 38 and the deployment load causes the rear side garnish 38 to be held apart from the second pillar 30. Accordingly, the curtain airbag 46 can be smoothly inflation-deployed into the vehicle cabin from the space between the second pillar 30 and the rear side garnish 38 with damage attributable to local deployment load application to the front pillar garnish 34 and scattering of the front pillar garnish 34 into the vehicle cabin suppressed.
(35) As illustrated in
(36) As illustrated in
(37) In the present embodiment, in contrast, the bracket 54 of the curtain airbag 46 is fixed at a position corresponding to the lower end portion 38D of the rear side garnish 38 as illustrated in
(38) Although the curtain airbag 46 is stored along the second pillar 30 in the present embodiment described above, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the curtain airbag 46 may be stored along the first pillar 28. In this case, the lower end portion (not illustrated) of the front side garnish 36 may protrude along the vehicle front-rear direction. Although the lower end portion 38D of the rear side garnish 38 protrudes along the vehicle front-rear direction in the present embodiment described above, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the front side garnish 36 also may protrude along the vehicle front-rear direction in accordance therewith.
(39) Although the lower end portion 38D of the rear side garnish 38 protrudes along the vehicle front-rear direction in the present embodiment described above, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the lower end portion 38D of the rear side garnish 38 may protrude toward the vehicle width direction inner side along the vehicle width direction or protrude along each of the vehicle front-rear direction and the vehicle width direction. Likewise, the front side garnish 36 may protrude toward the vehicle width direction inner side along the vehicle width direction or protrude along each of the vehicle front-rear direction and the vehicle width direction.
(40) Although the lower end portion 46B of the curtain airbag 46 is configured to be positioned above the upper edge portion 58A of the door trim 58 at a time of inflation deployment in the present embodiment described above, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the lower end portion 46B of the curtain airbag 46 may be configured to be positioned at the same height in the upper-lower vehicle direction as the upper edge portion 58A.
(41) Although the rear side garnish 38 is attached to the second pillar 30 via the tether clip 42 in the present embodiment described above, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the rear side garnish 38 may be configured to be attached to the vehicle body side by a clip (such as a metallic clip) other than the tether clip 42.
(42) Although an embodiment of the disclosure has been described above, the disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is a matter of course that various other modifications can be implemented within the scope of the disclosure.