FR3071207B1 - SAFETY STORAGE DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE AND INTERIOR VEHICLE CLOSURE MEMBER INCORPORATING SUCH A DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a storage device for a motor vehicle comprising two adjoining storage compartments (21, 22) each provided with a respective access opening (25, 26), and closing means (27) slidably mounted on the along at least one said opening between a first position in which they are away from the opening (25) of said first compartment (21) so as to allow access thereto, and a second position where they completely cover the opening (25) of this first compartment (21) so as to condemn access; said device also comprising locking means able to securely lock said sliding closure means in said second position. The invention also relates to an interior trim element for a motor vehicle incorporating such a storage device.

Description

SAFETY STORAGE DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE AND INTERIOR VEHICLE CLAMPING ELEMENT INTEGRATING SUCH A DEVICE.

Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to storage devices for a motor vehicle.

Background of the invention

Passengers of vehicles including automotive type are increasingly demanding internal storage spaces able to receive all kinds of objects such as for example sunglasses, smartphones, personal navigation assistants, maps and / or documents, pens, parts etc.

These storage spaces that must be easy to access are usually located in the dashboard or the side door trim and called storage pockets or glove boxes.

The US patent application US 7,287,885 thus describes a motor vehicle door trim insert incorporating a storage device comprising a hollow body of substantially parallelepiped shape, open on the top and defining a storage compartment.

The storage device also comprises a hinged lid pivotally mounted on the hollow body between an open position in which the storage cavity is accessible, and a closed position where the cover covers the access opening of the same body, so to prevent that in the event of an accident or of braking, the objects contained in the cavity are ejected into the passenger compartment and can not inflict injury on the passengers of the vehicle.

Due to its deployment kinematics, this type of pivoting cover can interfere with functional areas or passenger reception, especially when the storage device is integrated with a side door trim element.

In order to overcome this disadvantage, it is known from the European patent application EP 1612104 A motor vehicle door trim insert incorporating a storage device comprising two parallelepipedal storage compartments adjoining longitudinally and each being provided with an opening access respective formed on its inner wall overlooking the passenger compartment.

The storage device also comprises two rigid cover panels each mounted vertically sliding on the inner face of the inner wall of a respective compartment between a low position in which it is extending under the opening of this compartment so as to allow access to the latter, and a high position where it completely covers the opening of the compartment so as to condemn access.

Moreover, in recent years have been marked by an evolution of uses of motor vehicles and in particular by the strong development of car-sharing between individuals.

As a result, more and more vehicle owners tend to offer, occasionally and for financial or environmental reasons, the opportunity for other individuals to rent their vehicle for free or for a fee.

To avoid any risk of damage or theft of personal items stored in the vehicle, the owners usually tend to remove before each rental which is particularly restrictive.

In addition, after having recovered their vehicle, they may forget to reintroduce some of their objects (such as for example their personal navigation assistant or their road maps) and be caught off guard when their use is necessary.

It is known from the patent application FR 2 989 650 a safe box in the form of a cup mounted after-sales in the cup holder of a motor vehicle for car-sharing or rental .

The box comprises a generally cylindrical shaped housing and adapted to be fixed in the cup holder, and a hinged lid relative to the housing between an open position and a closed position.

This trunk which is intended to house the ignition key or more generally the elements necessary for the use of the vehicle by the tenant, further comprises a lock for securely locking the lid in the closed position and controllable at the opening by a command order from a badge reader. The installation of such a safe in the second cabin in the passenger carries a significant additional cost for the owner of the vehicle and its particularly small storage volume does not allow to use it to house his personal belongings during rental periods of this vehicle.

Object and summary of the invention

The present invention therefore aims to improve the situation.

It proposes for this purpose a storage device for a motor vehicle comprising two adjacent storage compartments each provided with a respective access opening, and closure means mounted sliding along at least one said opening between a first position in which they are away from the opening of said first compartment so as to allow access, and a second position where they completely cover the opening of the first compartment so as to condemn access; characterized in that it comprises locking means adapted to securely lock said sliding closure means in said second position.

The storage device according to the invention thus allows the owner of the vehicle to prevent access, during the periods of rental or lending of his vehicle, to at least a portion of his personal belongings (such as for example his assistant of personal navigation and / or road maps) stored in the first compartment while allowing the occasional users of this vehicle to store their own personal items in the second compartment remaining accessible.

The rest of the time, this device also allows the owner to benefit from all the space offered by the two adjoining storage compartments.

According to preferred features taken alone or in combination: said secure locking means comprise an electric lock; said electric lock is controllable via a code to be dialed on a touchpad displayed on the screen of the infotainment device of the vehicle; said secure locking means comprise a mechanical lock with manual control by key or combination; said closure means comprise a slat curtain slidably mounted along two guide rails respectively extending along two opposite edges of the opening of said first compartment, between a first said position in which said curtain is wrapped around a winder away from this opening so as to allow access to said first compartment, and a second said position where it is unwound along this opening that it completely covers so as to condemn access to this same compartment; - Said storage device also comprises a second sliding shutter curtain slats adapted to cover the opening of the second compartment but not lockable in a secure manner; the openings of the two said compartments extend in the continuity of one another, said closure means comprising a rigid panel slidably mounted along two guide rails respectively extending along two opposite continuous edges of said openings, between a first said position in which said panel completely covers and only the opening of the second compartment so as to allow access to only the first compartment, and a second said position where this panel completely covers and only the opening of the first compartment to allow access to only the second compartment; and / or - said closure means comprise a gripping member designed to facilitate their sliding manipulation. The invention also aims in a second aspect, an interior trim element for a motor vehicle incorporating such a storage device and being advantageously constituted by a door trim lining.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The description of the invention will now be continued by the detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, given below by way of illustration but without limitation, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. a perspective view of a motor vehicle side door trim insert incorporating a storage device according to a first embodiment of the invention; - Figure 2 shows a partial schematic sectional view of the trim of Figure 1 taken according to a horizontal sectional plane located at the openings of the compartments; and FIGS. 3 and 4 are similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 of a motor vehicle side door trim insert incorporating a storage device according to a second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A NUMBER OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following description and by convention, the terms "lower", "upper", "longitudinal" "lateral" and "transverse" will be defined with respect to the mounting position of the side door trim element in a motor vehicle.

The terms "external" and "internal" will be used to define the relative position of an element by reference to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The element closest to this axis will thus be described as internal as opposed to the other element farther from this same axis which will be qualified as external.

Figures 1 and 2 show a motor vehicle side door trim lining 10 to be fixed on a not shown door box and comprising: - a carrier panel 11 advantageously molded in one piece from a thermoplastic material optionally reinforced with natural or synthetic fibers; an upper band 12 formed by a block of foam covered with a coating skin and applied for example on the carrier panel 11 by heat-sheathing in a manner well known to those skilled in the art; and a plurality of hubcaps 13, 14, 15, 16 each consisting of a panel made of thermoplastic material possibly covered with a skin of coating and being attached to the carrier panel 11 by means of snapping so as to cover at least partially the face of this panel overlooking the passenger compartment of said vehicle.

According to the invention, the trim lining 10 further comprises in its lower part an empty-pocket type storage device 20 comprising two parallelepipedal storage compartments of the same dimensions 21, 22.

These two storage compartments 21, 22, advantageously at least partially constituted by the carrier panel 11, extend adjacently in a substantially longitudinal elongation direction while being separated by a transverse vertical partition 23.

Each of them is provided with a respective lateral access opening 25, 26 formed in the upper part of its inner wall overlooking the passenger compartment 21A, 22A, so as to allow users to introduce all kinds of objects such as, for example, sunglasses, smartphones, personal navigation aids, maps and / or documents, pens, parts, etc.

The storage device 10 also comprises sliding closing means comprising a curtain with rigid lamellae 27 capable of wrapping around a vertical winder 28 formed on the inner face of the carrier panel 11 along and near the vertical edge before the the opening 25 of the compartment 21 (Figure 2).

The slat curtain 27 is further slidably mounted along two guide rails (not visible in the figures) formed on the inner face of the inner wall 21A of the compartment 21 and extending respectively along the two upper and lower edges. opposite of the opening 25, between a first position in which it is wrapped around the reel 28 away from this opening 25 so as to allow access to the compartment 21 by the latter, and a second position where it is unrolled along the opening 25 that it completely covers so as to condemn access to the same compartment 21.

The curtain 27 advantageously comprises near its free end a gripping member 29 (for example, a handle) intended to facilitate its sliding manipulation by the passengers of the vehicle.

The storage device 20 further comprises locking means not shown in the figures and making it possible to securely lock the slat curtain 27 in its second unwound position, so as to prevent access to the compartment 21 for occasional users of the vehicle during the loan or rental periods of the vehicle.

These secure locking means are preferably constituted by an electric lock controllable at the opening for example via the key or start card of the vehicle (different rights then being associated with the key intended for the owner and that intended for the renter of the vehicle) , via a code to dial on a touchpad displayed on the screen of the infotainment device of the vehicle, or even via a fingerprint sensor.

According to alternative embodiments not shown, the storage device comprises a second sliding shutter curtain slats adapted to cover the opening 26 of the second compartment 22 but not being lockable in a secure manner.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a vehicle side door trim lining 10 'incorporating a storage device 20' according to a second embodiment of the invention.

In the following and in these figures, we kept the same references for the elements identical to the first embodiment and we added a bonus for similar elements.

The storage device 20 'has two storage compartments 21', 22 'formed at least partially by the carrier panel 11' of the covering element 10 ', and being separated by a transverse vertical partition 23'.

The compartments 21 ', 22' are similar to those 21, 22 of the device 20 described above with the exception of their two openings 25 ', 26' which extend longitudinally in continuity with one another.

This device 20 'also comprises closing sliding means comprising a rigid panel 30' slidably mounted along two guide rails (not visible in the figures) formed on the inner faces of the inner walls 21Ά, 22Ά of the compartments 21 ', 22 and respectively extending continuously along the two opposed opposite edges (upper and lower) of the two openings 25 ', 26', between a first position in which this panel 30 'completely and exclusively covers the opening 26' so that to allow access to the single compartment 21 'through the opening 25', and a second position where it covers completely and only the opening 25 'so as to allow access to the single compartment 22' through the opening 26 ' .

The panel 30 'advantageously comprises near one of its longitudinal ends a gripping member 31' intended to facilitate its sliding handling by the passengers of the vehicle.

The storage device 20 'further comprises locking means (not shown in the figures) similar to those of the device 20 and for locking securely the panel 30' in its second position, so as to prevent access to the compartment 21 'to unauthorized persons such as tenants of the vehicle.

According to alternative embodiments not shown, the sliding closure means comprise a rigid cover panel mounted vertically sliding on the inner face of the inner wall of the first compartment between a low position in which it is extending under the opening of this compartment to allow access to the latter, and a high position where it completely covers the opening of the compartment so as to condemn access. Locking means are further associated with one of these cover panels to allow secure locking in its upper closed position.

According to still further embodiments particularly suited to vehicles of entry or mid-range, the locking means are constituted by a mechanical lock with manual control by key or combination such as those that can be found on glove boxes. In general, it is recalled that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but encompasses any embodiment within the scope of those skilled in the art.

In particular, the storage device according to the invention could be integrated into other interior trim elements of the vehicle, such as for example the dashboard or the central console located between the two front seats.

Claims (10)

A storage device for a motor vehicle comprising two adjoining storage compartments (21, 22; 21 ', 22') each provided with a respective access opening (25, 26; 25 ', 26') and closing means (27; 30 ') slidably mounted along at least one said opening between a first position in which they are away from the opening (25; 25') of said first compartment (21; 21 ') ) so as to allow access, and a second position where they completely cover the opening (25; 25 ') of the first compartment (21; 21') so as to deny access; characterized in that it comprises locking means adapted to securely lock said sliding closure means in said second position. 2. Storage device according to claim 1, characterized in that said secure locking means comprise an electric lock. 3. Storage device according to claim 2, characterized in that said electric lock is controllable via a code dial on a touchpad displayed on the screen of the infotainment device of the vehicle. 4. Storage device according to claim 1, characterized in that said secure locking means comprise a mechanical lock with manual control key or combination. 5. Storage device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said closure means comprise a slat curtain (27) slidably mounted along two guide rails extending respectively along two opposite edges. the opening (25) of said first compartment (21), between a first said position in which said curtain (27) is wound around a reel (28) away from this opening (25) so as to allow access to said first compartment (21), and a second said position where it is unwound along the opening (25) it completely covers so as to condemn access to the same compartment (21). 6. Storage device according to claim 5, characterized in that it also comprises a second slidable closing curtain curtain adapted to cover the opening of the second compartment but not lockable in a secure manner. 7. Storage device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the openings (25 ', 26') of said two compartments (21 ', 22') extend in continuity one of the other, and in that said closing means comprise a rigid panel (30 ') slidably mounted along two guide rails extending respectively along two opposite continuous edges of said openings (25', 26 '), between a first said position in which said panel (30 ') completely and exclusively covers the opening (26') of the second compartment (22 ') so as to allow access to only the first compartment (2Γ), and a second said position where this panel (30 ') completely covers and only the opening (26') of the first compartment (2Γ) so as to allow access to only the second compartment (22 '). 8. Storage device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said closure means comprise a gripping member (29; 31 ') for facilitating their sliding manipulation. 9. Interior trim element for a motor vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a storage device according to one of claims 1 to 8. 10. Interior trim element according to claim 9, characterized in that it is constituted by a cover trim of a motor vehicle side door.