Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-27
2001-08-28
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S730200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279941
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head-protecting air bag device in which gas is ejected from an inflator when a predetermined high load acts on a side portion of a vehicle body, so as to allow an air bag body accommodated along a pillar portion and a roof side rail portion to expand similarly to a curtain.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has already been proposed a head-protecting air bag device in which, in order to improve the ability to protect the head of a vehicle occupant seated in a front seat when a predetermined high load acts on a side portion of a vehicle body, an air bag body accommodated in a folded state over a region from a front pillar portion to a roof side rail portion is caused to expand along a side window glass similarly to a curtain. This type of head-protecting air bag device is disclosed in International Publication No. WO 96/26087 and will be described hereinafter.
As shown in
FIG. 11
, a head-protecting air bag device
100
is structured to include, as main components, an elongated duct
106
disposed to extend from a front pillar portion
102
to a roof side rail portion
104
, an air bag body
112
accommodated in the duct
106
in a folded manner and fixed to the side of a vehicle body at a front-end fixed point
108
and at a rear-end fixed point
110
, an inflator
116
, which is connected via a hose
114
to the rear end of the duct
106
and when a predetermined high load acts on the side portion of the vehicle body, which the inflator ejects gas, and a band-shaped strap
118
of which one end is fixed to the side of the vehicle body and the other end is fixed to the rear end of the air bag body
112
. The air bag device
112
is provided in such a manner that a plurality of cells
120
, which are each formed substantially into a cylinder and are disposed with longitudinal direction thereof coinciding with the substantially vertical direction of the vehicle, are connected together.
According to the above-described structure, when a predetermined high load acts on the side portion of the vehicle body, gas is ejected from the inflator
116
. For this reason, ejected gas is allowed to flow into each cell
120
of the folded air bag body
112
via the hose
114
and the duct
106
. As a result, each cell
120
expands substantially into a cylinder with the longitudinal direction thereof coinciding with the substantially vertical direction of the vehicle, and the air bag body
112
is thereby inflated along a window glass
122
similarly to a curtain. Further, the rear end of the air bag body
112
is connected via the strap
118
to the side of the vehicle body, and therefore, the rear-end side of the air bag body
112
is reliably disposed at an inner side of the upper portion of a center pillar portion
124
.
In such a head-protecting air bag device, in order that an upper end portion of the air bag body is fixed to the pillar and to the roof side rail at a plurality of positions, it is preferable to provide, from the viewpoint of assembling efficiency, a structure in which a plurality of tongue-shaped mounting portions are formed projecting in the upper end portion of the air bag body at predetermined intervals, and bolts are inserted into mounting holes respectively formed in the mounting portions so as to fasten the air bag body to a vehicle body.
However, as described above, in the above structure in which the tongue-shaped mounting portions are formed projecting in the upper end portion of the air bag body, and the bolts are inserted into the mounting holes respectively formed in the mounting portions so as to fasten the air bag body to the vehicle body, when the mounting portions are fastened to the vehicle body, each mounting portion may rotate in a direction in which the bolt is fastened and assembling efficiency is thereby deteriorated. Further, when the mounting portion rotates to apply tension to a portion between the rotated mounting portion and an adjacent mounting portion in the air bag body, there arises a drawback in that large tension acts on the portion between the adjacent mounting portions due to expansion force of the air bag body during expansion of the air bag body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-described facts, it is an object of the present invention to provide a head-protecting air bag device which can prevent rotation of mounting portions of an air bag body in a direction in which each mounting portion is fastened, which is caused when the air bag body is mounted on a vehicle body.
Accordingly, there is provided a head-protecting air bag device according to a first aspect of the present invention, in which an air bag body caused to expand similarly to a curtain is accommodated over a region from a pillar to a roof side rail and a plurality of mounting portions formed to project from an upper end portion of the air bag body are fastened and fixed to a side portion of a vehicle body, and in this head-protecting air bag device, the mounting portions are fastened and fixed to the side portion of the vehicle body using rotation stopping means.
The operation of the head-protecting air bag device according to the first aspect of the present invention will be described hereinafter.
When the air bag body is fastened to the vehicle body by a bolt or the like, even if the mounting portions are each about to rotate in a direction of being fastened, rotation of the mounting portions in the direction of being fastened can be prevented by the rotation stopping means. As a result, it is possible to prevent rotation of the air bag body in the direction in which the mounting portions are fastened, which the rotation is caused when the air bag body is mounted to the vehicle body, and therefore, no tension is applied to a region between adjacent mounting portions of the air bag body during mounting of the air bag body to the vehicle body and no large tension acts on the region between the adjacent mounting portions due to expanding force of the air bag body during expansion of the air bag body. Accordingly, breakage of the mounting portions can effectively be prevented.
A second aspect of the present invention is constructed in such a manner that, in the head-protecting air bag device according to the first aspect, the rotation stopping means is comprised of a positioning plate fixed in advance to the mounting portions of the air bag body, and engaging means which prevents relative rotation of the positioning plate and the vehicle body.
Accordingly, when the air bag body is fastened to the vehicle body by a bolt or the like, even if the mounting portions are each about to rotate in the direction of being fastened, relative rotation of the positioning plate fixed in advance to the mounting portions of the air bag body and the vehicle body can reliably be prevented by the engaging means. For this reason, there is no possibility that a tension is applied to the region between the adjacent mounting portions of the air bag body during mounting of the air bag body to the vehicle body, and during expansion of the air bag body, a large tension acts on the region between the adjacent mounting portions due to expanding force of the air bag body. Accordingly, breakage of the mounting portions can effectively be prevented.
A third aspect of the present invention is constructed in such a manner that, in the head-protecting air bag device according to the second aspect, the engaging means is comprised of a hole or a concave portion, which is formed in one of the positioning plate and the vehicle body, and a convex portion formed in the other of the positioning plate and the vehicle body and engaging with the hole or the concave portion.
Accordingly, when the air bag body is fastened to the vehicle body by a bolt or the like, even if the mounting portions are each about to rotate in the direction of being fastened, relative rotation of the mounting portions of the air bag body and the vehicle body can reliably be prevented by using a simple structure in which the hole or th
Ishiyama Hiroshi
Nakajima Hiroki
Ochiai Yasuo
Tanase Toshinori
Fischmann Bryan
Johnson Brian L.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Toyota-Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
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