Compact vehicle

ES 2 276 992 T3

DESCRIPTION

Compact vehicle.

The present invention relates to a compact vehicle provided with a seat arranged at the rear of a vehicle body and an airbag that can retain a rider in the seat so that it does not roll forward when the airbag inflates and deploys. .

Such a compact vehicle is described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-219884 for example, or in the closest prior art GB 2130150.

In a four-wheeled vehicle, to improve the impact absorption effect by an inflated and extended airbag, a seat belt must be used tightened by the impact action, and in a compact vehicle such as a motorcycle it is also considered that the The effect of an airbag can be further enhanced by using a seat belt described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 8-239073. However, in the compact vehicle such as a motorcycle, secondary movement such as rollover and skid may occur after the collision and secondary collision, and when such secondary movement occurs, it is desirable that the restraint effected by a seat belt.

The invention is carried out in view of such a situation and the object is to provide a compact vehicle in which, to further improve the impact absorption effect by an airbag, a rider is restrained by a seat belt and when secondary movement occurs in Relative to the vehicle body, the rider restraint can be released.

To achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 provides a compact vehicle provided with a seat arranged at the rear of a vehicle body and an airbag which can restrain a motorist in the seat so that he does not go forward when the airbag inflates and deploys, where: one end of a seat belt that can be passed around the waist of the rider in the seat, is coupled to the vehicle body by means of a retractor provided with an emergency locking function; and between the other end of the seat belt and the vehicle body, coupling means are arranged in which the coupling and the coupling release can be switched manually and the coupling is automatically released when a predetermined time elapses since the airbag inflates and unfolds.

According to such a configuration, when the airbag is inflated and deployed due to the collision of the compact vehicle, the rider is restrained by the tensioned seat belt when the retractor is locked keeping the coupling means in the coupled state by manual operation and impact. it can be effectively released because the inflated and extended airbag receives the rider restrained by the seat belt. Furthermore, since the engagement of the engagement means is automatically released when a predetermined time elapses after the airbag inflates and deploys, the restraint of the rider by the seat belt is released.

As described above, according to the invention according to claim 1, the inflated and extended airbag receives the rider restrained by the safety pole, and the impact can be effectively released respectively by keeping the coupling means in the coupled state by manual operation. and furthermore, when secondary movement occurs relative to the vehicle body, the rider's retention on the vehicle body can be released.

Furthermore, the invention according to claim 2 is based on the configuration according to the invention according to claim 1 and is characterized in that the coupling of the coupling means is released when a rollover detector sensor for detecting rollover of the vehicle body detects the overturn. According to such a configuration, when the motorcycle individually overturns due to a reason other than collision, the rider's restraint on the vehicle body can be released, which may cause a skid or secondary collision.

Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 2, when the motorcycle individually overturns due to a reason other than collision, the rider's restraint on the body can be released, which may lead to a skid or secondary collision.

Embodiments of the invention represented in the accompanying drawings will now be described.

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a motorcycle equivalent to a first embodiment.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view seen from the direction represented by arrow 2 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view corresponding to Figure 2 when an airbag is inflated and deployed.

Figure 4 represents the simple configuration of a seat belt.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing the motorcycle in a state in which the predetermined time elapses after the air bag is inflated and deployed.

And Fig. 6 is a side view showing a motorcycle equivalent to a second embodiment.

Figures 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the invention.

First, as shown in figure 1, a front fork 7 for supporting a front wheel WF is supported by a front tube 6 with which a body frame 5 of the motorcycle is provided at its front end so that the front fork can be steered, and a steering handle 8 is attached to an upper bridge 7a with which the front fork 7 is provided on its upper side. A swing arm 9 is supported by the rear of the body frame 5 so that the swing arm can swing vertically and a rear wheel WR is supported by the rear end of the swing arm 9.

A fuel tank 10 is mounted on a front half of the body frame 5 and a tandem type seat 12 arranged at the rear of the fuel tank 10 is arranged on a seat rail 11 with which the body frame 5 is arranged. at the rear of the body frame.

Most of the body frame 5 is covered with a body cover 15 made of synthetic resin and which forms the vehicle body 16 together with the body frame 5, and the body cover 15 is composed of a front cowl 13 and a rear cowl 14.

ES 2 276 992 T3

As shown in figure 2, an airbag module 17 is arranged in the body frame 5 between the front pipe 6 and the fuel tank 10 for example, and the airbag module 17 is provided with an airbag case 18, an airbag 19 housed in the airbag case 18 and an inflator 20 that generates gas to inflate and deploy the airbag 19.

The airbag case 18 is provided with a housing barrel 18a that can house the airbag 19 in a folded state, and a flap 18b that closes a hole in the upper end of the housing barrel 18a, is formed of lightweight material made of resin. synthetic analogous to a plug and the underside of the receiving barrel 18a is attached to the body frame 5 by a connecting piece 21 fixed to the body frame 5.

The fin 18b is coupled to the housing barrel 18a by a hinge 18c arranged in a position around the fin 18b, for example in a position on the reverse side of the fuel tank 10 and a weak part 18d arranged in a part except the hinge 18c around the fin 18b, and the weak part 18d is formed so that it can be easily burned.

A hole 22 of the airbag 19 is hermetically closed by a connector 23 fixed to the connection piece 21 and the inflator 20 is connected to the interior of the connector 23.

A crash sensor (not shown) such as an acceleration sensor is attached to the body frame 5, the inflator 20 operates when the crash sensor detects a crash equal to or greater than a predetermined value and supplies high pressure gas to the airbag 19 .

When the high pressure gas is supplied from the inflator 20, the airbag 19 explodes the weak part 18d of the airbag case 18, inflates immediately and extends upward, opens the flap 18b as shown in Figure 3, and a rider seated in the seat 12 is restrained by the inflated and extended airbag 19 so that it does not roll in the forward direction.

The motorcycle is provided with the seat belt 24 wrapped around the rider's waist to retain the rider in the seat 12 on the vehicle body 16 and, as shown in Figure 4, one end of the seat belt 24 is coupled to the vehicle body 16 by a retractor 25 provided with an emergency locking function so that the retractor returns to a locked state by the action of excessive impact produced by collision and others.

A tab 27 provided with a fitting hole 26 is fixed to the other end of the seat belt 24, and a buckle 28 which forms a coupling means 29 arranged between the other end of the seat belt 24 and the vehicle body 16 together with the tongue 27 is arranged on the side of the vehicle body 16. The other end of the seat belt 24 is coupled to the vehicle body 16 when the side of the buckle 28 is mounted to the snap hole 26 by inserting the tab 27 into the buckle 28, the buckle side snap 28 into the hole The latch 26 is released by exerting pressure on an operating part 28a with which the buckle 28 is provided, and the coupling between the other end of the seat belt 24 and the vehicle body 16 is released. That is, the coupling means 29 couples the other end of the seat belt 24 and the vehicle body 16 by coupling by manual operation.

Furthermore, on the side of the buckle 28 of the coupling means 29, an actuator 30 is provided to release the coupling without manual operation when the coupling means 29 is in an engaged state, and the actuator 30 is actuated when the time elapses. predetermined since the airbag 19 inflates and deploys in the coupled state, for example when 0.5 second elapses since the inflator 20 is actuated and releases the coupling of the coupling means 29.

Next, to explain the action of the first embodiment, an end of the seat belt 24 that can be passed around the waist of the rider on the seat 12, is coupled to the vehicle body 16 by means of the retractor 25 provided with the function of emergency locking and coupling means 29 in which coupling and coupling release can be switched manually, and in the coupled state, the coupling is automatically released when the predetermined time (eg 0.5 second) elapses since the airbag 19 inflates and deploys, they are arranged between the other end of the seat belt 24 and the vehicle body 16.

Therefore, since the retractor 25 is locked by keeping the coupling means 29 in the coupled state by manual operation when the airbag 19 is inflated and deployed by the collision of the motorcycle and others, the rider is restrained by the seat belt 24. tensioned when the retractor is locked, the rider is greeted by the inflated and extended airbag 19 and the impact can be effectively mitigated.

Furthermore, since the coupling means 29 automatically releases the coupling as shown in Figure 5 and the tab 27 is removed from the buckle 28 when the predetermined time elapses since the airbag 19 inflates and deploys, the rider restraint is released. through the seat belt 24.

Figure 6 represents a second embodiment of the invention and the same reference numerals are assigned to a part corresponding to that of the first embodiment.

For example, a rollover detecting sensor 31 consisting of a tilt sensor or a lateral acceleration sensor is attached to the center in the width direction of the body 16 under the seat 12, and the rollover of the body 16 is detected by roll detection sensor 31.

Furthermore, the coupling means 29 is configured so as to release the coupling when the rollover detecting sensor 31 detects rollover.

According to the second embodiment, when the motorcycle individually overturns due to a reason other than collision, the rider's restraint on the vehicle body 16 can be released, which may lead to a skid or secondary collision.

The invention can be widely applied not only to the motorcycle described in the embodiments, but to a compact vehicle such as a scooter type motorcycle and a three-wheeled vehicle.

The aim is to protect a motorist by a seat belt in order to further enhance the impact absorption effect by an airbag and to

ES 2 276 992 T3 release the rider restraint when secondary movement occurs relative to a vehicle body in a compact vehicle provided with a seat arranged at the rear of the vehicle body and the airbag that can protect the rider in the seat so that it does not roll forward when the air bag inflates and deploys.

To achieve this, one end of a seat belt 24 that can be passed over the waist of a rider in a seat 12, is coupled to a bodywork 16 by means of a retractor provided with an emergency locking function, and between the other end of the seat belt 24 and the vehicle body 16 have provided a coupling means 29 in which the coupling and coupling release can be switched manually and in the coupled state, the coupling is automatically released when a predetermined time elapses since an airbag 19 inflates and deploys.