JP2000127799A - Instrument panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain deformation of a corner part of a resin panel having an opening lower end and formed between a side opening of an instrument panel in which a grove box or the like is arranged, and a center opening thereof in which an air-condition control part or the like is arranged, and to enhance the designing property of the instrument panel. SOLUTION: A corner part 7 defined in a resin panel which is formed between a forward projecting center opening 2 and an opening on one side of the opening 2 and which is opened at its lower end, is integrally molded at its rear surface with a reinforcing rib 9. The resin panels of the rib 9 and the corner part 7 define therebetween an inverted V-like space which is used as a die drawing space after molding the corner part 7 and the rib 9 with resin. A gouge opening 8 for die-drawing, formed in the lower end of the corner part 7 is blocked by the lower end of the rib 9. With this arrangement, the mechanical part or the like located inward of the gouge opening 8 is concealed from the outside so as to enhance the designing property of the instrument panel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instrument panel on which various instruments and an air conditioner operating section of an automobile are arranged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional automobile instrument panel will be described with reference to FIG. The instrument panel 1 is integrally molded of resin as a whole, and has a central opening 2 protruding forward (toward the front side) at the center and side openings 3 and 3 opening downward on both sides thereof. Having. An air conditioner operation unit, audio equipment, an ashtray, and the like are mounted in the central opening 2. In FIG. 4, a steering column (not shown) is disposed obliquely in the front-rear direction at the right side opening 3, and a glove box (not shown) is disposed at the left side opening 3.

Referring to FIG. 5, a partially enlarged view of the lower portion of the central opening 2 and one side opening 3 will be described. A substantially flat panel whose lower end is open, a front wall panel portion 5 bent substantially at right angles from the rear edge of the side wall panel portion 4 toward the side opening portion 3 and integrally extends. The flange panel portion 6 extends integrally in a rim shape slightly rearward from the extending front edge of the portion 5 (in the direction toward the backside of the instrument panel) to form the side opening 3. The corner portion 7 where the side wall panel portion 4 and the front wall panel portion 5 are connected at a substantially right angle has a substantially L-shaped cross section and a lower end release shape. The corner 7
In the above, an oblique V-shaped die-cutting opening 8 is formed between the open lower end of the side wall panel part 4 and the open lower end of the front wall panel part 5 because of the necessity of die cutting after the die molding. You.

[0004]

The conventional instrument panel 1 has a central opening 2 and a side opening 3 as described above.
Is formed with a recessed opening 8 at the lower end thereof, so that the open lower end of the side wall panel portion 4 has low rigidity in the plate thickness direction (the direction of arrow MM in FIG. 5). On the other hand, the open lower end of the front wall panel portion 5 is also in the plate thickness direction (arrows nn in FIG. 5).
Direction), it is difficult to form the corner portion 7 according to the shape designed before molding. Even if the corner portion 7 can be formed according to the design shape, the corner portion 7 may be deformed after the molding due to low rigidity.

If the corner portion 7 is deformed from the designed shape as described above, a problem occurs in that the clearance with the steering column is not properly secured in the side opening 3 on the steering column side, and a glove box is also generated. In the side opening 3 on the side, the lid of the glove box interferes, and problems such as the lid not opening and closing smoothly occur. As a means for preventing such troubles, fixing a reinforcing member such as metal to the back surface of the corner portion 7 is performed in part, but it is preferable in terms of productivity, assemblability, number of parts, and cost. Absent.

[0009] The recessed opening 8 in the corner portion 7 is in the field of view of the occupant sitting on the front seat, and through the recessed opening 8, the built-in components such as mechanical parts and electric components inside the instrument panel are seen by the occupant. This makes the instrument panel 1 practically unsightly. Therefore, it has been considered to cover the hollow opening 8 with a decorative cover or the like, but this is also not preferable in terms of productivity, assemblability, number of parts, cost, and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an instrument panel which suppresses the deformation of the open bottom corner between the central opening and the side opening and improves the design.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a molded resin instrument panel having a side opening in which a steering column and / or a glove box is installed beside a central opening protruding forward. A back surface of a corner portion having a substantially L-shaped cross section formed by integrating a side wall panel portion of a center opening and a front wall panel portion extending from the side opening to the center opening at a substantially right angle, and having a lower end opened. The above object is achieved by integrally forming a rib for reinforcing the open lower end portion of the side wall panel portion and the front wall panel portion forming the corner portion.

Here, it is desirable that the rib on the back surface of the corner portion be formed simultaneously with the molding of the corner portion, and in the present invention, the longitudinal sectional shape of the side wall panel portion and the front wall panel portion forming the rib and the corner portion is preferred. Is a substantially inverted V-shape with a lower end opening.

Further, in the present invention, the lower end of the rib is formed so as to close a recessed die opening formed between the side wall panel portion of the corner portion and the open lower portion of the front wall panel portion from the back side. It is characterized in that it is formed close to the hollow opening.

[0011] By closing the gore opening at the lower end portion of the rib from the back side as described above, even if the occupant tries to look inside the instrument panel from the gore opening, the occupant is hidden by the rib and cannot peep. It looks better.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an instrument panel 1 shown in FIG. 4 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1A and FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, a reinforcing rib 9 is integrally formed on the back surface of the corner portion 7. 1 to 3 in FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

The above-mentioned rib 9 is provided on the instrument panel 1.
Are formed at the same time as the resin ribs are formed, and are formed in a shape that reinforces the open lower end portions of the side wall panel portion 4 and the front wall panel portion 5 forming the corner portion 7. Also,
The ribs 9 are formed in such a shape that they do not hinder die-cutting when the corner portion 7 is die-formed and die-cut as in the conventional case.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the front side of the corner portion 7, in which the rib 9 on the back side is mostly hidden by the corner portion 7 as shown by a broken line, and a part (exposed rib surface 9 ') is recessed. The opening 8 is partially closed. FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the back side of the corner portion 7, and FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of only the rib 9 viewed from the front side of the corner portion 7. In FIG. It is a connection cross section with respect to 4-6.

The rib 9 is a resin panel in which, for example, a square plate-shaped end plate 9a and a central plate 9b, and a triangular plate-shaped end plate 9c are consecutively formed. The outer end of the square end plate portion 9a which is one end of the rib 9 is integrally connected to the back surface of the flange panel portion 6 of the corner portion 7 in a vertically and oblique direction, and the triangular end plate portion 9c which is the other end of the rib 9 is provided. Is connected to and integrated with the rear surface of the side wall panel portion 4 in the vertical direction. Further, the upper end of the square end plate portion 9a is laterally connected and integrated with the back surface of the front wall panel portion 5, and the upper end of the square central plate portion 9b is laterally connected and integrated with the back surface of the side wall panel portion 4.

As shown in FIGS. 2 (A) and 2 (B), the ribs 9 are formed so as to form die-cut spaces 10 and 11 having a triangular longitudinal section between the ribs 9 and the back surface of the corner portion 7. 7 is formed integrally with the back surface. That is, FIG. 2A is a vertical cross section of the center plate portion 9b of the rib 9 and the side wall panel portion 4 of the corner portion 7, and a die-cut space 10 having a lower end opening is formed therebetween. FIG. 2B is a longitudinal section of the square end plate portion 9a of the rib 9 and the front wall panel portion 5 of the corner portion 7, and a die-cut space 11 having a lower end opening is formed between the two.

As described above, the die-cutting space 1 having a triangular cross section with a lower end opening is provided between the back surface of the open lower portion of the corner portion 7 and the rib 9.
By molding 0 and 11, it becomes possible to mold the corner portion 7 and the rib 9 simultaneously with a resin and to remove the mold.
The mold for molding the instrument panel 1 is a V-shaped bent groove for forming a rib 9 on a portion forming the back surface of the corner portion 7 of the back mold, of the existing front mold and back mold. The instrument panel 1 having the ribs 9 at the corners 7 can be easily modified by simply engraving the ribs 9 at the corners 7 using the partially modified back mold and the existing front mold. It can be molded with the same equipment and workability as before.

The ribs 9 are formed to have a vertical length sufficiently reaching the punching opening 8 in the corner portion 7. For example, the lower end position of the square end plate portion 9a of the rib 9 is set closer to the open lower end position of the flange panel portion 6, and the lower end position of the triangular end plate portion 9c is set at a position lower than the recessed opening 8 of the side wall panel portion 4. If the dimensions are set so that the lower ends of the square end plate portion 9a and the center plate portion 9b are close to the recessed opening 8, the square end plate portion 9a
Then, the lower part of the central plate portion 9b is hollowed out so as to cover more than half of the depth of the opening 8. The lower part of the rib 9 closing the recess 8 is shown by an exposed rib surface 9 ′ in FIG. 1 (A). In this way, the recessed opening 8 of the corner portion 7 is closed by the exposed rib surface 9 ′ from the back side. By doing so, the occupant cannot look into the inside of the instrument panel 1 from the gouge opening 8, and therefore, the substantial appearance of the instrument panel 1 is improved.

By forming the rib 9 having the above-mentioned shape integrally with the back surface of the corner portion 7, the open lower end portion of the corner portion 7 is reinforced by the rib 9, so that the corner portion 7 is formed into a shape almost as designed. Thus, deformation of the open lower end portions of the side wall panel portion 4 and the front wall panel portion 6 after the molding in the thickness direction is suppressed. Therefore, the clearance with the steering column becomes normal, and the so-called buildability of the glove box becomes accurate.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and is integrally formed on the back surface of the corner portion corresponding to the shape of the corner portion with the lower end opened between the central opening and the side opening of the instrument panel. Various shapes of ribs are selected.

[0021]

According to the present invention, a corner with a gouge opening which is formed between the central opening and the side opening of the instrument panel and which is easily deformed when the lower end is released is integrally formed on the back surface thereof. Since the ribs are reinforced, it is possible to provide a high-quality instrument panel without interference with a steering column or a glove box due to deformation of a corner portion.

Further, by forming an inverted V-shaped space suitable for die cutting between the corner portion and the rib on the back surface, the corner portion and the rib can be molded at the same time. Has the advantage of capital investment because it can be achieved by only partially modifying the existing mold.

In addition, a gouge opening for forming a die is formed in the corner part where the lower end is opened. By arranging the lower end of the rib behind this gouge opening, the gouge opening is formed by a rib. The closed shape improves the design of the instrument panel at the corners.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a main part of an instrument panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the same main part as viewed from the back side.

2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line xx of FIG. 1A, FIG.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line yy of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of only a rib shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional instrument panel.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a corner portion of the instrument panel of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2 Central opening 3 Side opening 4 Side wall panel 5 Front wall panel 7 Corner 8 Gouge opening 9 Rib

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A molded resin instrument panel having a side opening in which a steering column and / or a glove box is installed on a side of a center opening protruding forward, wherein a side wall panel portion of the center opening is provided. A front wall panel portion extending from the side opening to the central opening is formed on the back surface of the corner portion having a substantially L-shaped cross section formed by being integrated at a substantially right angle and having a lower end opened.
An instrument panel, wherein ribs for reinforcing the open lower end of the side wall panel and the front wall panel forming the corner are integrally formed. 2. The vertical cross-sectional shape of a side wall panel portion and a front wall panel portion forming the rib and the corner portion is substantially reverse V of a lower end opening.
The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the instrument panel is shaped. 3. A lower end portion of the rib is approached to the recessed opening so as to close a recessed opening formed between the side wall panel portion of the corner portion and the open lower portion of the front wall panel portion from the back side. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the instrument panel is formed by being formed.