Airbag device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10814820-B2
Application number	US-201816207455-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2018
Priority date	Dec 28, 2017
Publication date	Oct 27, 2020
Grant date	Oct 27, 2020

Abstract

An airbag device includes an airbag, an airbag case that is made from metal and includes a base wall and a tubular wall, and an airbag cover that is made from synthetic resin and includes a covering wall and a joint wall. The case and cover are coupled together by insertion of hooks of the tubular wall of the case into joint holes of the joint wall of the cover. An approximation-limiting region suppresses the cover as coupled with the case from moving further towards the base wall of the case, and a separation-limiting region suppresses the cover as coupled with the case from moving further away from the base wall of the case. The approximation-limiting region includes an abutment region and a receiving region engageable with the abutment region. The separation-limiting region includes a retaining hole and a projection engageable with an inner surface of the retaining hole.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An airbag device adapted to be mounted on a vehicle, comprising:
an airbag which is folded up;
a case for storing the airbag, the case being made from metal and including a base wall, a tubular wall that extends from an outer circumferential edge of the base wall, an emergence opening that is enclosed by the tubular wall for allowing the airbag to be deployed there through, and a plurality of hooks disposed on the tubular wall, each of the hooks being formed into such a hook shape that rises outwardly from a position of the tubular wall apart from the base wall and extends towards the base wall;
an airbag cover that is made from synthetic resin and coupled with the case, the airbag cover including a covering wall that covers the emergence opening of the case, a door that is formed on the covering wall and openable when pushed by the airbag as inflated, a joint wall that extends from a periphery of the door on a backside of the covering wall, a plurality of joint holes that are formed through the joint wall for receiving the hooks of the case such that the joint wall of the airbag cover is coupled with the tubular wall of the case;
an approximation-limiting region that suppresses the covering wall of the airbag cover as coupled with the case from moving further towards a direction approximating the base wall of the case, the approximation-limiting region including at least one abutment region which is disposed in either one of the case and the airbag cover and a corresponding number of receiving region which is disposed in the other of the case and the airbag cover and abuts against the abutment region; and
a separation-limiting region that suppresses the covering wall of the airbag cover as coupled with the case from moving further towards a direction drawing away from the base wall of the case, the separation-limiting region includes at least one retaining hole which is formed in either one of the tubular wall of the case or the joint wall of the airbag cover and a corresponding number of retaining projection which is formed in the other of the tubular wall of the case or the joint wall of the airbag cover and inserted into the retaining hole for engagement with an oncoming portion of an inner surface of the retaining hole when the airbag cover moves towards the direction drawing away from the base wall, wherein:
the tubular wall of the case is formed into a generally square tubular contour including a pair of first opposing walls that are opposed to each other in a first direction and a pair of second opposing walls that are opposed to each other in a second direction which is orthogonal to the first direction;
the joint wall of the airbag cover is formed into a generally square tubular contour including a pair of first opposing walls that are opposed to each other in the first direction and a pair of second opposing walls that are opposed to each other in the second direction;
the approximation-limiting region is disposed on both sides of the emergence opening in or in a vicinity of either one of the first opposing walls and the second opposing walls of the case and in or in a vicinity of corresponding opposing walls of the airbag cover; and
the separation-limiting region is disposed on both sides of the emergence opening in the other of the first opposing walls and the second opposing walls of the case and in corresponding opposing walls of the airbag cover.

2. The airbag device of claim 1 , wherein:
the abutment region of the approximation-limiting region is composed of a leading end region of each of the opposing walls of the joint wall of the airbag cover;
the receiving region of the approximation-limiting region is disposed in the case; and
the opposing walls of the joint wall of the airbag cover having the abutment regions of the approximation-limiting region are disposed outside of corresponding opposing walls of the tubular wall of the case.

3. The airbag device of claim 1 , wherein:
the retaining projection of the separation-limiting region protrudes outwardly from each of the opposing walls of the tubular wall of the case and inserted into the retaining hole disposed in each of corresponding opposing walls of the joint wall of the airbag cover; and
the opposing walls of the joint wall of the airbag cover having the retaining holes are disposed outside of the opposing walls of the tubular wall of the case having the retaining projections.

4. The airbag device of claim 3 , wherein:
the joint wall of the airbag cover has a generally rectangular annular cross-sectional contour having opposite long sides and opposite short sides; and
the retaining hole is disposed in each of the opposing walls constituting the long sides and receives therein the retaining projection which is disposed in each of corresponding opposing walls of the case.

5. The airbag device of claim 4 , wherein:
the joint holes are disposed in the opposing walls of the airbag cover that have the retaining holes;
the hooks are disposed in the opposing walls of the case that have the retaining projections;
the retaining hole is disposed between two of the joint holes in each of the opposing walls of the airbag cover; and
a protruding amount from the opposing wall of the retaining projection is smaller than that of each of the hooks.

6. An airbag device adapted to be mounted on a vehicle, comprising:
an airbag which is folded up;
a case for storing the airbag, the case being made from metal and including a base wall, a tubular wall that extends from an outer circumferential edge of the base wall and that includes a pair of case-side opposing walls, an emergence opening that is enclosed by the tubular wall for allowing the airbag to be deployed there through, and a plurality of hooks which are disposed in each of the case-side opposing walls, each of the hooks being formed into such a hook shape that rises outwardly from a position of each of the case-side opposing walls apart from the base wall and extends towards the base wall;
an airbag cover that is made from synthetic resin and coupled with the case, the airbag cover including a covering wall that covers the emergence opening of the case, a tearable region that is formed on the covering wall and tearable when pushed by the airbag as inflated, a door that is formed in an area surrounded by the tearable region on the covering wall and openable when the tearable region tears, a joint wall that extends from a periphery of the door on a backside of the covering wall and that includes a pair of cover-side opposing walls each of which overlap with each of the case-side opposing walls, a plurality of joint holes that are formed through each of the cover-side opposing walls for receiving the hooks of the case such that each of the cover-side opposing walls is coupled with each of the case-side opposing walls;
a position-limiting region that is disposed in or in a vicinity of an inner surface of at least one of the joint holes in at least one of the cover-side opposing walls of the airbag cover and that is in engagement with a corresponding one of the hooks in order to prevent a slipping movement of the hooks as inserted in the joint holes in a direction in which the hooks line up; and
an insertion-permitting region that is disposed adjacent the position-limiting region and permits an insertion of the corresponding one of the hooks into the joint hole before the hook is brought into engagement with the position-limiting region, wherein the joint hole provided with the position-limiting region and the insertion-permitting region includes:
a wide portion that is greater in width in the direction in which the hooks line up than each of the hooks and constitutes the insertion-permitting region; and
a narrow portion that adjoins the wide porti

Assignees

• Toyoda Gosei Kk

Inventors

• Ono Minoru
• Ogata Tetsuya

Classifications

• B60R2021/23169

  specially adapted for knee protection · CPC title

• B60R21/206

  in the lower part of dashboards, e.g. for protecting the knees · CPC title

• B60R21/215 Primary

  characterised by the covers for the inflatable member {(B60R21/2176 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60R2021/21537

  characterised by hinges · CPC title

• B60R21/2334

  Expansion control features · CPC title