Patent ID: 7527121
Filing Date: 2009-05-05
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. A pedestrian protection air bag system comprising cases and air bags folded and accommodated, respectively, in the cases, which cases and air bags are provided and mounted on a cowl of a vehicle in locations lying below left and right edges of a hood panel near a rear end thereof, respectively, each air bag being configured to cover a front side of a front pillar of the vehicle which lies in the vicinity of the case when the air bag projects rearwards from the case by introducing inflation gas thereinto, the hood panel being provided in such a manner that a rear end side is raised so as to form a projection space between the cowl and the rear end of the hood panel for the air bag to project therethrough when the air bag deploys and inflates while when in normal use, a front end side can be raised to open upwards by hinge mechanisms provided near the left and right edges at the rear thereof, respectively, wherein the hinge mechanisms which are provided on left and right sides of the hood panel near the rear end thereof each comprise: a hinge base which is fixed to a body of the vehicle to lie at the rear and transversely slightly outboards of the left or right side edge of the hood panel as viewed from the top; a mounting bracket which is fixed to the hood panel to be disposed at the front of the hinge base within the region of the hood panel as viewed from the top; and a hinge arm which is pivotally supported on the hinge base on a rear end side and is pivotally supported on the mounting bracket on a front end side thereof and in which a rear end side pivot portion which is pivotally supported on the hinge base is made to be a normal rotation pivot portion which is made to rotate both when the hood panel is in normal use and when the hood panel is raised to form the projection space and a front end side pivot portion which is pivotally supported on the mounting bracket is made to be a push-up rotation pivot portion which is made to rotate only when the hood panel is raised to form the projection space, wherein actuators which are adapted, when in operation, to raise push-up rods which are brought into abutment with a lower surface of the hood panel with their axes made to follow a vertical direction so as to form the projection space are provided, respectively, at the front of the push-up rotation pivot portions of the left and right hinge arms below a lower side of the hood panel near the left and right edges thereof, wherein the cases in which the air bags are accommodated and held are provided, respectively, at the front of the hinge bases and at the rear of the push-up rods of the actuators within the region of the hood panel as viewed from the top with their lateral outer edges disposed near the left and right edges, respectively, near the rear end of the hood panel, and wherein the air bags each comprise as a shape formed when the air bag completes inflation a proximal portion which is disposed on the air bag which faces the case and a main body portion which extends rearwards from the proximal portion so as to cover the front side of the front pillar and comprise on the main body portion which faces the proximal portion a recessed portion which is made to follow inner edges of the hinge base and the hinge arm which has raised its side where the push-up rotation pivot portion resides.