Airbag apparatus for a driver's seat

摘要

In a driver seat airbag apparatus, an airbag includes a belt member and a vent mechanism. The belt member includes two connecting sections extending from opposite sides of a cover portion for covering a vent hole. The vent mechanism includes an outer panel that has a vent hole and is located outside of the cover portion, an inner panel that has an inner opening and is located on an inner side of the cover portion, and a guide. The connecting sections run through the guide and move toward the vent hole for letting the cover portion open the vent hole. The guide holds the connecting sections such that the connecting sections serve as the tethers. A joint of the tethers to the driver side wall is located toward a center of the driver side wall relative to the vent hole as viewed from a side of the driver side wall.

主权项

1. An airbag apparatus for a driver's seat adapted to be mounted on a boss section located in a vicinity of a generally center of a ring section of a steering wheel for holding by a driver, the airbag apparatus having an airbag that is adapted to be housed in the boss section in a folded-up configuration and is so inflatable as to separate a driver side wall which is deployable toward the driver and a vehicle body side wall which is deployable toward the ring section and includes at a generally center of the vehicle body side wall an inlet opening for introducing an inflation gas, the airbag comprising:
a vent hole that is formed in a circumference of the inlet opening on the vehicle body side wall for exhausting an inflation gas; and a vent mechanism for opening the vent hole, comprising: a belt member including:
a cover portion that covers the vent hole in an openable fashion; andtwo connecting sections that extend from opposite sides of the cover portion in a continuous fashion and are connected to the driver side wall by a joint that is located toward a central region of the driver side wall relative to the vent hole as viewed from a side of the driver side wall at full inflation of the airbag, thus the connecting sections functioning as first tethers that connect the vehicle body side wall and the driver side wall for controlling a clearance between a vicinity of the vent hole on the vehicle body side wall and the joint to the driver side wall at airbag inflation; an outer panel that is composed of a part of the vehicle body side wall, the outer panel is located on an outer side of the cover portion and provided with the vent hole; an inner panel that is located on an inner side of the cover portion and provided with an inner opening which allows an internal pressure of the airbag to act on the cover portion therethrough; and a guide section which the two connecting sections run through in a movable fashion toward the vent hole in order to allow the cover portion to loosen and open the vent hole for releasing an inflation gas when the driver side wall cushions the driver and moves toward the vehicle body side wall, the guide section holding the two connecting sections such that the connecting sections function as the first tethers at airbag inflation, wherein: the vent hole is so designed as to be located in front of the inlet opening and at a space between the boss section and the ring section of the steering wheel at airbag deployment; and the connecting sections are located at left and right sides of the cover portion and an outer edge deployable at a front side in a width direction and in a front and rear direction of the cover portion is connected neither to the outer panel that is composed of the part of the vehicle body side wall nor to the inner panel, whereas an inner edge located at a rear side in a width direction of the cover portion is connected at least to the inner panel.