Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-06
2002-01-01
English, Peter C. (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C296S097100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334626
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interior equipment mounting structure for a vehicle incorporating a head-protecting air bag body, wherein a head-protecting air bag body accommodated along a pillar portion and a roof side rail portion unfolds similarly to a curtain due to gas jetted by an inflator when a predetermined high load acts on a side portion of a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has 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 unfold 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. 9
, 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 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 jets out gas when a predetermined high load acts on the side portion of the vehicle body, and a band-shaped strap
118
whose one end is fixed to the vehicle body and other end is fixed to the rear end of the air bag body
112
. The air bag body
112
is formed by a plurality of cells
120
, which are each formed substantially into a cylinder and are disposed with the longitudinal directions thereof substantially coinciding with the vertical direction of the vehicle, being 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
. The ejected gas flows 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 cylindrical configuration with the longitudinal direction thereof substantially coinciding with the vertical direction of the vehicle. The air bag body
112
is thereby inflated similarly to a curtain along a window glass
122
. Further, the rear end of the air bag body
112
is connected via the strap
118
to 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
.
However, in this head-protecting air bag device
100
, the air bag body
112
accommodated in the duct
106
in a folded state is disposed over a region from the front pillar portion
102
to the roof side rail portion
104
, and therefore, the air bag body
112
is covered by, for example, a front pillar garnish and a roof head lining. As a result, when the air bag body unfolds, the front pillar garnish and the roof head lining deform, and the air bag body comes out from the respective deformed portions of the front pillar garnish and the roof head lining so as to expand toward the interior side of the vehicle. For this reason, in a case in which a sun visor or other interior equipment is provided in the vicinity of the front pillar garnish or the roof head lining, there is the possibility that the deformed portion of the front pillar garnish or the deformed portion of the roof head lining interferes with the sun visor or the other interior equipment such that the sun visor or other interior equipment is badly damaged due to the large load applied thereto.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-described circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interior equipment mounting structure for a vehicle incorporating a head-protecting air bag body, which can reduce damage caused to a sun visor or other interior equipment during expansion of an air bag body.
A first aspect of the present invention relates to a sun visor which is provided as an interior equipment mounting structure for a vehicle incorporating a head-protecting air bag body which unfolds and forms an air-filled cushion in a region from a front pillar to a roof side rail. The sun visor is connected to a vehicle body via an arm and provided to be movable from an accommodated state, in which the sun visor is disposed along a vehicle transverse direction and near to a front end of a roof head lining and substantially parallel to the roof head lining, to at least one predetermined position for use. The sun visor is formed by a main body portion, which is, in the accommodated state of the sun visor, disposed further toward a vehicle-interior side than a point at which the arm is mounted to the vehicle body, and by an overhang portion which is, in the accommodated state of the sun visor, projects further toward a vehicle-exterior side than the mounting point of the arm, and when load of a predetermined value or more acts on the overhang portion, the overhang portion is easily deformable with respect to the main body portion.
Accordingly, even if, at the time of expansion of the air bag body, the roof head lining deforms and interferes with the overhang portion of the sun visor which is in an accommodated state, when the load acting on the overhang portion is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the overhang portion easily deforms with respect to the main body portion. As a result, load transmitted to the main body portion and the arm of the sun visor can be minimized, and damage to the sun visor can thereby be reduced.
A second aspect of the present invention is that a frame of the sun visor according to the first aspect is divided into two parts, one part being at the overhang portion and the other part being at the main body portion, and the two separated parts are partially connected to one another.
Accordingly, when load of a predetermined value or more is applied to the overhang portion via the roof head lining during expansion of the air bag body, the portion at which the frames for the overhang portion and the main body portion are connected together breaks so that load transmitted to the main body portion and to the arm can be minimized. For this reason, damage to the sun visor can be reduced by using a simple structure.
A third aspect of the present invention relates to roof head lining deformation limiting means which is provided as an interior equipment mounting structure for a vehicle incorporating a head-protecting air bag body which expands similarly to a curtain in a region from a pillar to a roof side rail. The roof head lining deformation limiting means is provided at the roof side rail such that at the time of expansion of the air bag body, it restricts deformation of a roof head lining to reduce impact load acting on an interior equipment disposed in the vicinity of the roof head lining.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, deformation of the roof head lining is restricted by the roof head lining deformation limiting means during expansion of the air bag body, so that the impact load acting on the interior equipment disposed in the vicinity of the roof head lining can be reduced. Accordingly, damage caused to the sun visor or other interior equipment at the time of expansion of the air bag body can be reduced.
A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to the roof head lining deformation limiting means according to the third aspect. The roof head lining deformation limiting means is an interior equipment of the roof side rail, which interior equipment is disposed at an intermediate portion of the roof side rail between a portion where the roof side rail is connected to a front pillar and a portion where the roof side rail is connected to a center pillar.
As a result, in
Nakajima Hiroki
Watanabe Toshimitu
English Peter C.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Toyota Jidosha & Kabushiki Kaisha
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