Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Etsuji Saito

Minoru Chida

Hiroshi Hasegawa

Hiroshi Ishiyama

Katsuya Shimazu

Norio Urushi

Yoshiharu Furukawa

Kazuhiro Nagai

Kenichi Nakajima

Toshiyuki Asano

Hiroyuki Okamoto

In a head-protecting airbag apparatus where an airbag body inflated in a curtain configuration is mounted in a folded state along a roof side rail across at least a center pillar, the airbag body includes an upper portion folded in a bellows, and a lower portion subjected to one of turning-back performed toward an occupant compartment inner side and rolling-up performed towards the occupant compartment inner side. Accordingly, even when there is a vehicle occupant compartment inner side protrusion such as a slip joint in a vehicle, the airbag body is inflated and expanded so as to cover the vehicle occupant compartment inner side protrusion from the above or ride on the same. As a result, the lower portion of the airbag body is hard to be caught up by the vehicle occupant compartment inner side protrusion, thereby improving a expanding performance of the airbag body.

Airbag apparatus for head-protecting

A head-protection air-bag device includes a head-protection air-bag body that can be mounted in a folded state along a roof side rail, and is deployed like a curtain so as to cover at least a center pillar from the inside of a vehicle compartment. A deployment-direction regulator (e.g., a projecting portion of a center-pillar garnish) that regulates the deployment direction of the head-protection air-bag body toward the inside of the vehicle compartment is provided at a position above and adjacent to an interior projection of the vehicle compartment such as a slip joint at the center pillar. Alternatively, or in addition to the deployment-direction regulator, a lower end of a portion of the air-bag body that covers the center pillar can be shaped so as not to project downward from an inflation chamber, and/or can be provided with a longitudinal inflation chamber at its lower end that inflates during an early stage of inflation and deployment to prevent that portion of the air-bag body from catching on the interior projection of the vehicle compartment.

Head-protection air-bag device

A structure for mounting a head-protecting airbag body which inflates in the form of a curtain at least along a roof side rail across a B pillar is provided with an airbag body expansion direction restricting member which is disposed on the roof side rail in the vicinity of a upper end portion of a B pillar garnish covering the B pillar and has a guide wall extending toward the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish, and moving restricting portions which are disposed on the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish and the airbag body expansion direction restricting member and engage each other when a side collision occurs so as to restrict movement of the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish. When a vehicle body is deformed upon a slide collision, the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish attempts to move in a vehicle occupant compartment inner direction. However, when the movement restricting means disposed on the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish and airbag body expansion direction restricting means engage each other, the movement of the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish in a vehicle occupant compartment inner direction is restricted, so that the airbag body during inflation is never caught by the upper end portion of the B pillar garnish.

Mounting structure for use with a head-protecting airbag body

Growing community of inventors

Nissin, Japan

Etsuji Saito