JP2007186054A - Seat belt device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a seat belt device capable of ensuring a desired voltage necessary for driving an electric motor regardless of various operations of an in-vehicle device when a collision is predicted.
A seat belt device according to the present invention includes an electric motor that winds up a seat belt, a collision prediction unit that predicts a collision of a vehicle, and one end connected to the seat belt via a connecting portion. The elastic means 13 to be connected, the electric biasing means (electric motor) 8 for electrically biasing the other end of the elastic means 13 so that the elastic means 13 expands, and the electric attachment based on the prediction of the collision prediction means 4 The seat belt apparatus includes a control means 10 for controlling the biasing means 8 and a fixing means 14 for releasably fixing the connecting portion 11. When the collision prediction means 4 predicts a vehicle collision, the control means 10 After driving the electric biasing means 8 and biasing the other end of the elastic means 13, the fixing means 14 releases the connecting portion 11 when the collision prediction means 4 predicts a more likely collision of the vehicle. And shorten the elastic means 13 It was characterized by tightening the seat belt 2.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a seat belt device suitable for application to automobiles such as passenger cars, trucks, and buses.

Conventionally, when a collision is predicted by a collision prediction means such as a radar, an apparatus that winds up a seat belt with an electric motor and forcibly tightens the seat belt to restrain an occupant on the seat has been proposed.
JP 2004-224263 A

  However, when a collision is predicted, the operation of the electronically controlled brake system (ECB) by sudden braking, the operation of the electric steering device (EPS) by sudden steering, the rigidity change of the suspension device, the position adjustment of the headrest, etc. In-vehicle device operation (pre-crash system operation) is also involved, and the inrush current due to the operation of these other in-vehicle devices overlaps with the inrush current timing due to the operation of the electric motor, thereby reducing the voltage of the vehicle power supply. Thus, there is a possibility that a desired voltage for driving the electric motor cannot be secured.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a seat belt device capable of ensuring a desired voltage necessary for driving an electric motor regardless of various operations of in-vehicle devices when a collision is predicted. Objective.

In order to solve the above problems, a seat belt device according to the present invention includes an electric motor that winds up a seat belt, a collision prediction unit that predicts a vehicle collision, and one end connected to the seat belt via a connecting portion. Elastic means, electric urging means for electrically urging the other end of the elastic means so that the elastic means expands, and control means for controlling the electric urging means based on the prediction of the collision prediction means And a seat belt device comprising a fixing means for releasably fixing the connecting portion,
When the collision prediction means predicts a vehicle collision, the control means drives the electric biasing means to bias the other end of the elastic means, and then the collision prediction means has a higher probability of the vehicle. When the collision is predicted, the fixing means releases the connecting portion, shortens the elastic means, and tightens the seat belt.

  Note that “prediction of vehicle collision” performed by the collision prediction means can be rephrased as “detecting the possibility of a vehicle collision”, and “predicting collision of a vehicle with higher probability” is “vehicle prediction”. In other words, it can be determined that the collision is impossible to avoid. In view of this, instead of the collision prediction means, a collision possibility detection means for detecting the possibility of a vehicle collision and a collision prediction means for determining that a vehicle collision cannot be avoided are provided as separate means. You may prepare.

That is, as another means for solving the above problem, a seat belt device according to the present invention includes an electric motor that winds up the seat belt, a collision possibility detection means that detects a possibility that the vehicle will collide, A collision avoidance deciding means for judging that a vehicle collision cannot be avoided, an elastic means having one end connected to the seat belt via a connecting portion, and the other end of the elastic means connected to the elastic means An electric biasing means for electrically biasing so as to extend, a control means for controlling the electric biasing means based on detection by the collision possibility detection means, and a fixing means for releasably fixing the connecting portion. A seat belt device comprising:
When the collision possibility detection means detects the possibility that the vehicle will collide, after the control means drives the electric urging means to urge the other end of the elastic means, the collision avoidance determination is made When the means determines that the collision of the vehicle is unavoidable, the fixing means releases the connecting portion, shortens the elastic means, and tightens the seat belt.

  Here, the electric urging means may be the electric motor or an actuator such as a dedicated solenoid. The former is advantageous in reducing the number of parts.

  According to the present invention, when a vehicle collision with a higher probability is predicted, the timing of the inrush current of the seat belt device and the inrush current of other in-vehicle devices is shifted to prevent a voltage drop of the vehicle power supply. The desired voltage required for driving the electric motor of the seat belt device can be ensured.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a seat belt device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a part of the operation of the seat belt device according to the present invention shown in FIG. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the seat belt device 1 restrains a seated occupant M on a seat (not shown) located on the back surface, and is a so-called three-point type.

  The seat belt device 1 includes a through anchor 4 that extends upward from a retractor 3 that is provided on a center pillar (not shown) on the outside of the passenger compartment with respect to a seat (not shown) and that is supported on an upper portion of the center pillar. While being inserted, the front end of the seat belt 2 is attached to the vehicle body floor side via an outer anchor 5 positioned on the lower side outside the passenger compartment with respect to the seat.

  A tongue plate 6 is inserted into a portion of the seat belt 2 located between the through anchor 4 and the outer anchor 5, and the tongue plate 6 is located on the vehicle interior side with respect to the seat and is attached to the vehicle body floor. 7 is detachable.

  Then, when the occupant M seated on the seat pulls the tongue plate 6 toward the interior of the vehicle interior, the seat belt 2 is pulled out of the retractor 3, and the tongue plate 6 is inserted into the buckle 7 and fixed. The portion from 4 to the tongue plate 6 restrains the occupant M mainly by pressing the chest from the shoulder against the seat, and the portion from the tongue plate 6 to the outer anchor 5 restrains the occupant M mainly by pressing the abdomen against the seat. .

  An electric motor 8 for driving the retractor 3 is provided on the back surface of the retractor 3. By driving the electric motor 8, the retractor 3 is rotated and the seat belt 2 is wound up. In addition, a radar 9 as a collision prediction unit for predicting a vehicle collision, and a control unit 10 for controlling the electric motor 8 as an electric biasing unit based on the prediction of the radar 9 are provided, and further, one end is a connecting portion. As an elastic means connected to the seat belt 2 located between the through anchor 4 and the retractor 3 via 11, and the other end is connected to a gear 12 meshed with the rotor of the electric motor 8 so as to be wound up. The coil spring 13 is provided, and fixing means 14 for releasably fixing the connecting portion 11 is provided. That is, the other end of the coil spring 13 is drivingly connected to the electric motor 8 so as to be able to be wound. Here, the other end of the coil spring 13 may be directly wound around the gear 12, or the other end may be connected to a belt (not shown) and the belt may be wound around the gear 12. In addition to the configuration using the electric motor 8 as the electric biasing means, a configuration using an actuator such as a dedicated solenoid may be used.

  The fixing means 14 may be of any specific form as long as the connecting portion 11 can be releasably fixed. For example, when two elements driven by an actuator or the like are provided so as to be able to approach and separate from the connecting portion 11 and are fixed, the two elements are moved close to each other and fixed with the connecting portion 11 sandwiched therebetween, When releasing, the two elements are displaced away from each other.

  Here, when the radar 9 as the collision predicting means predicts the collision of the vehicle, the control means 10 drives the electric motor 8 to rotate the retractor 3 to wind up the seat belt 2, and the gear 12 corresponds to the electric motor 8. After being rotated by driving, the other end of the coil spring 13 as the elastic means is wound up and the coil spring 12 as the elastic means is expanded to store elastic energy, and then the radar 9 as the collision prediction means has a higher probability. When predicting the collision of the vehicle, the fixing means 14 releases the connecting portion 11 to shorten the coil spring 13 which is an elastic means, and winds up and tightens the seat belt 2.

  As a result, when a vehicle collision is predicted, first, as shown in FIG. 2A, the seat belt 2 is wound up by driving the electric motor 8 to warn the occupant M and elastic means. The other end of the coil spring 13 is wound by the gear 12 and its length is extended to store elastic energy. As shown in FIG. 2 (b), a vehicle collision with higher probability is predicted. Since the fixing means 14 releases the connecting portion 11 at the time, the coil spring 13 as the elastic means can be shortened by its elastic energy and wound up and tightened without depending on the driving force of the electric motor 8. .

  That is, before a collision with higher probability is predicted, electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy and stored in the coil spring 13 as an elastic means in advance, and when a collision with higher probability is predicted (pre-crash) Since the seat belt 2 can be wound up and the occupant M can be restrained by utilizing the mechanical energy at the time of starting the system, the timing of the operation of the other in-vehicle devices and the operation of the seat belt device is shifted and entered. It is possible to secure a desired voltage required by the electric motor 8 by superimposing current to cause a voltage drop of the power source of the vehicle.

  Note that when the seat belt is inserted through the connecting portion 11 and the seat belt 2 is wound around the retractor 3, the connecting portion 11 does not restrain the seat belt 2, but the connecting portion 11 is moved in the extending direction of the coil spring 13. In this case, the seat belt 2 is restrained by the friction and restrained so as to move in the extending direction of the coil spring 13, that is, in the shortening direction. There must be moderate friction between them. Further, the coil spring 13 needs to have the other end positioned below the one end in order to shorten the coil spring 13 and wind the seat belt 2 when the connecting portion 11 is released.

  Furthermore, when a collision with higher probability is not predicted, the fixing means 14 maintains the connection portion 11 and the drive of the electric motor 8 is stopped, so that the extended coil spring 13 is shortened, As a result, the gear 12 is rotated in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 2A, and accordingly, the electric motor 8 is also rotated in the opposite direction to generate regenerative energy, and the regenerative energy charges a vehicle power source (not shown). To do.

  The case where the collision of the vehicle is predicted is a case where the distance to the preceding vehicle is measured by, for example, a radar as a collision prediction means, and the distance becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value α. When a high collision is predicted, the distance to the preceding vehicle is measured by the radar as the collision prediction means, and the distance is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold β (α> β) smaller than the threshold α. This is the case.

  Further, as described above, the collision prediction performed by the collision prediction means can be rephrased as “detecting the possibility that the vehicle will collide”. It can be rephrased as “determining that it is impossible”. In view of this, the collision prediction means is a combination of a collision possibility detection means for detecting the possibility of a vehicle collision and a collision avoidance impossible determination means for determining that a vehicle collision cannot be avoided. Also good. In other words, the collision avoidance determination means is means for predicting a collision with higher probability than the collision possibility detection means.

  Further, the relative speed of the vehicle may be used as a parameter instead of the inter-vehicle distance. Further, the radar as the collision prediction means may be a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar, and a stereo camera, a clearance sonar (gap ultrasonic detector) or the like may be used instead of the radar.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the seat belt device according to the present invention.

  In S1, the above-described collision prediction means predicts the collision of the vehicle (detects the possibility that the vehicle will collide). In S2, the electric motor 8 is driven to rotate the retractor 3 to wind up the seat belt, and the occupant M (driver) is warned to that effect, and the other end of the coil spring 13 is wound up by the gear 12 meshed with the rotor of the electric motor 8, and elastic energy is accumulated in the coil spring 13.

  Further, when a more likely vehicle collision is predicted in S3 (determining that the vehicle collision cannot be avoided), the process proceeds to S4, where the fixing of the connecting portion 11 by the fixing means 14 is released, and the coil spring is released. The seat belt 2 is wound up by the elastic energy stored in 13 and the occupant M is restrained. In addition, when a vehicle collision with higher probability is not predicted in S3 (determined that the vehicle collision cannot be avoided), the gear 12 and the electric motor 8 are rotated by the shortening of the extended coil spring 13. The vehicle power source (not shown) is charged by the regenerative energy generated thereby.

  In the present invention, when a highly probable vehicle collision is predicted (when the pre-crash system is operating), the inrush current between the seat belt device and other in-vehicle devices is superimposed to cause a voltage drop in the vehicle power supply. In order to prevent the predetermined voltage required by the electric motor for driving the seat belt device from being obtained, elastic means for storing electrical energy as mechanical energy is provided. As a means for obtaining, the configuration shown in FIG. 4 can be considered.

  That is, when a capacitor 16 (capacitor or secondary battery is acceptable) is provided in parallel with a power source 15 for driving the electric motor 8 of the seat belt device 1 and a vehicle collision is predicted, the electric energy is previously stored in the capacitor 16. It is stored in. According to this, when a vehicle collision with a higher probability is predicted (when the pre-crash system is operating), the switching means 17 is turned on, so that the electric motor is driven by the discharge power of the capacitor 16 as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a predetermined voltage required by the electric motor for driving the seat belt device from being obtained due to a voltage drop of the vehicle power source. .

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions are made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. be able to.

  The present invention relates to a seat belt device for a vehicle, and can be applied to various vehicles such as a passenger car, a truck, and a bus.

It is a mimetic diagram showing one embodiment of a seat belt device concerning the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which expands and shows a part of operation | movement of the seatbelt apparatus based on this invention shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the control content of the seatbelt apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows other embodiment of the seatbelt apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the effect by other embodiment of the seatbelt apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Seat belt apparatus 2 Seat belt 3 Retractor 4 Through anchor 5 Outer anchor 6 Tang plate 7 Buckle 8 Electric motor 9 Radar 10 Control means 11 Connection part 12 Gear 13 Coil spring 14 Fixing means

Claims (2)

An electric motor that winds up the seat belt, a collision predicting unit that predicts a vehicle collision, an elastic unit having one end connected to the seat belt via a connecting portion, and the elastic unit connecting the other end of the elastic unit An electrical urging means for electrically urging so as to extend; a control means for controlling the electric urging means based on the prediction of the collision prediction means; and a fixing means for releasably fixing the connecting portion. A seat belt device,
When the collision prediction means predicts a vehicle collision, the control means drives the electric biasing means to bias the other end of the elastic means, and then the collision prediction means has a higher probability of the vehicle. The seat belt device according to claim 1, wherein when the collision is predicted, the fixing means releases the connecting portion and shortens the elastic means to fasten the seat belt. One end is connected to an electric motor that winds up the seat belt, a collision possibility detection unit that detects the possibility of a vehicle collision, and a collision avoidance determination unit that determines that a vehicle collision cannot be avoided. Elastic means connected to the seat belt via a portion; electrical urging means for electrically urging the other end of the elastic means so that the elastic means extends; and detection by the collision possibility detecting means A seat belt device comprising: control means for controlling the electric urging means based on; and fixing means for releasably fixing the connecting portion;
When the collision possibility detection means detects the possibility that the vehicle will collide, after the control means drives the electric urging means to urge the other end of the elastic means, the collision avoidance determination is made When the means determines that the collision of the vehicle cannot be avoided, the fixing means releases the connecting portion and shortens the elastic means to fasten the seat belt.

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