JP2003285666A - Instrument panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle instrument panel which is light in weight and requires only a short sub-assembling line. <P>SOLUTION: The instrument panel comprises at least a structure 31 integrally formed with a hollow, synthetic-resin-made air conditioning duct 19 that can be mounted firmly on a steering member 11 supported on a vehicle body and with boxes 37, 38 arranged at positions of embracement by the air conditioning duct 19, and a cover covering the structure 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle instrument panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional automobile instrument panel, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-152833 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-155271, a steel plate reinforcement is provided inside a synthetic resin instrument panel. Is installed to secure the strength, and the duct body connected to the air conditioner is installed around it to support it with reinforcement, etc., or the wire harness is supported along with reinforcement with resin clips, etc. .

[0003]

However, in the structure of the above-mentioned conventional example, the instrument panel is a decorative member, and the reinforcement and the like arranged inside is a skeleton member made of an iron plate, so that it becomes heavy. , Improvement is required. In addition, since a flexible air-conditioning duct body and a wire harness are provided along the reinforcement, a sub-assembly line before it is put on the assembly line of an automobile is required for a long time, which may cause a cost increase. Improvement is required.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an instrument panel for an automobile which is lightweight and requires a short sub-assembly line.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioning duct body made of synthetic resin which can be fixedly mounted on a steering member supported by a vehicle body, and a position for holding the air conditioning duct body. At least a structural body integrally formed by the box and a cover covering the structural body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the air-conditioning duct body according to the first aspect includes a connecting portion connected to the air conditioner, and left and right duct bodies extending left and right from the connecting portion. It is composed of

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the air-conditioning duct body according to the first or second aspect of the present invention has an accessory component supported thereon.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the duct for air conditioning is formed integrally by holding the box, so that the duct for air conditioning is remarkably improved in strength and is supported by the vehicle body. As a skeleton member that can be fixedly attached to the steering member, a lightweight and simple instrument panel can be obtained.

According to the invention described in claim 2, claim 1
In addition to the effects of the invention described in, the air-conditioning duct body,
Since the connecting portion arranged in the substantially center of the vehicle is connected to the air conditioner, it becomes integral with the air conditioner, and the strength is further improved.

According to the invention of claim 3, claim 1
Alternatively, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 2, since the strength of the air conditioning duct body is remarkably improved, the auxiliary component can be reliably supported.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
It will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an automobile instrument panel, which is composed of a module instrument 2 and a garnish molding 3. The width dimension is larger than the door opening 4. The door opening 4 is an opening formed in a vehicle body for opening and closing a well-known door (not shown), and includes a front pillar 6, an upper side rail 7, a center pillar 8, a side sill 9, and a front pillar lower panel 10. It is formed of constituent members.

The module instrument 2 is preassembled by a structure 31 which can be fixedly mounted on the steering member 11 and on which the auxiliary equipment component 21 is previously supported, and a synthetic resin cover 41 which covers the structure 31. In addition, the front-rear width dimension of the entire structure 31 and the cover 41 is smaller than the front-rear width dimension of the door opening 4.

The steering member 11 is formed in the shape of a hollow round rod having a length bridging between the front pillar lower panels 10 and 10, and both ends 11a and 11 thereof.
The brackets 12 and 13 are supported by welding on b,
The brackets 12 and 13 are fastened and supported to the front pillar lower panel 10 by bolts or the like not shown. Reference numeral 14 denotes a stay, and the stay 14 has an upper end fixed to substantially the left and right connecting portions of the steering member 11,
The lower end portion of the steering member 11 is supported from the lower LWR by being fastened and supported by bolts or the like in the tunnel 15 on the floor of the vehicle body. Reference numeral 18 denotes a bracket that supports the steering member 11 from the upper side UP on the upper side edge portion 16a of the known cowl box 16.

The front end 42 of the cover 41, which is the "front end" of the module instrument 2, and the cowl box 1
The garnish molding 3 is detachably bridged between the upper edge portions 16a of the garnish 6 so as to cover it from the upper side UP. That is, the front end portion 42 of the cover 41 and the upper edge portion 16a of the cowl box 16 are provided with a plurality of engaging portions 43 and 17, respectively, and the bosses (not shown) of the garnish molding 3 are attached to the engaging portions 43, 17. 17
It is supported by engaging with. The engaging portions 43, 1
7, a spring-shaped stopper (not shown) that holds the boss is arranged.

The garnish molding 3 comprises a synthetic resin main body 51 formed in a flat plate shape,
A defroster outlet 53 is formed at the front end portion 52 of the front side FR of the main body 51, and a rear end portion 58 of the rear side RR of the main body 51 is arranged so as to ride from the upper side UP of the front end portion 42 of the cover 41. It will be arranged. On the rear sides RR of the left and right ends of the main body 51, protruding members 54 are formed. The push-out member 54 has a side defroster outlet 55 formed therein. On the back side of the garnish molding 3, there is a front differential nozzle 5
6 and a side differential nozzle 57 are supported, the front differential nozzle 56 is connected to the defroster outlet 53, and the side defroster outlet 55 is connected.
The side differential nozzle 57 is communicated with. If necessary, a head-up display unit, a head-up display controller, and a unit-integrated ETC are provided on the back side of the garnish molding 3.
It is possible to mount an electronic device such as an antenna.

The structure 31 is a synthetic resin air conditioning duct body 19 which can be fixedly mounted on the steering member 11.
Also, the auxiliary parts 21 can be supported while being integrally formed by the boxes 37 and 38 arranged at a position to be held by the air conditioning duct body 19.

The air-conditioning duct body 19 includes a connecting portion 20 connected to the air-conditioning device 5 arranged substantially in the center of the vehicle in the left-right direction, and a left-right duct body extending left and right from the connecting portion 20. 34 and 35.

Reference numeral 32 is a pedestal portion, and the pedestal portion 32 is
The central vent outlet 61 and the left and right vent outlets 62, 62 of the air conditioner 5 arranged in the left and right center of the automobile
Is connected to the lower part thereof, and the upper central opening 32a and the left and right openings 32b, 32b are connected to the vent outlets 61,
It is connected to 62.

The connecting portion 20 is connected to the left and right duct bodies 34, 35 at the central vent outlet 61 and the central defroster outlet 63 of the air conditioner 5 through the pedestal portion 32.
Connecting member 36 connected to each other, the central vent outlet 61 and the left and right vent outlets 6 of the air conditioner 5.
Central vent outlet 33, 33 communicating with 2, 62
And a plurality of ribs 60 formed by bridging the space between the left and right duct bodies 34 and 35, and integrally formed in front of the central vent outlet 33 and extending forward and backward with respect to the strength member 59. And the lower end portion is connected to the central differential air outlet 63 of the air conditioner 5 via the connecting member 36, and the upper end portion is connected to the front differential nozzle 56 so as to be more integrally formed with the ventilation passage 40. . Code 9
Reference numeral 0 is a through hole formed in the strength member 59.
A branch line 88a of a wire harness (not shown) disposed on the back side of the is for coming out from the through hole 90 to the front side.

On the other hand, after the left and right duct bodies 34, 35 extend from the connecting member 36 of the connecting portion 20 to the front side FR,
Each is branched in the left-right direction and further extended, and the tip opening is bent so that it faces the rear side RR (front side), and the rear side RR is formed in a substantially U shape in plan view. U
The boxes 37 and 38 with P opened are the duct body 3
By integrally forming 4, 35, the left and right duct bodies 34,
35 is configured to hold the boxes 37 and 38. The strength member 59 of the connecting portion 20 is the box 3
7 and 38 are positioned so as to be substantially aligned with the vehicle width direction to enhance the bending rigidity of the connecting portion 20 in the vehicle width direction, and further, a plurality of ribs 60 intersecting with the strength member 59 have front ends thereof. On the rear wall of the air passage 40, the rear end is the central vent outlet 3
3 are respectively connected to the front wall, and the bending rigidity of the connecting portion 20 in the front-rear direction is enhanced.

In the rear RR of the left box 38,
A storage 39 of the airbag device 27 is arranged, and the storage 3
An airbag device 27 is housed in the interior 9.

Since the duct bodies 34 and 35 are formed as a reinforcing member, the support rigidity of the front end portion 42 of the cover 41 is improved, and the garnish molding 3 is placed on the upper side U.
Not affected when worn from P. In addition, the duct body 3
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, reference numerals 4 and 35 are mounting pieces 79 that are mounted on a bracket 77 that is fixed to the upper portion of the steering member 11 by welding and are supported by screws 78, or directly. A mounting piece 8 which is placed on the upper portion of the steering member 11 and supported by screws 78.
It consists of zero.

The cover 41 comprises a flat upper member 44 having the front end portion 42 formed therein and a vertical member 45 on the side facing the occupant. The upper member 44 has the boxes 37, 38. A monitor housing 48 having lids 46 and 47 for opening and closing the opening of the center monitor 22 and an exposed opening 48a of the center monitor 22 of the accessory component 21 and having the center monitor 22 for navigation and character communication.
And a meter 49 arranged on the rear side RR (front side) of the lid body 46, and an opening 50 for communicating with the left and right openings of the duct bodies 34, 35.

The lower side L of the vertical member 45 is attached to the cover 41.
An instroyer panel 82 is arranged in the WR, a glove box 83 and a parcel tray 85 are formed in the instroyer panel 82, and a glove lid 84 can be opened and closed in the glove box 83. An acoustic device 86 is arranged on the upper side UP of the glove box 83, and the tuning portion 86 a of the acoustic device 86 is always covered with the glove lid 84.

The air conditioner 5 has a housing 6 containing well-known air temperature adjusting means such as an evaporator and a heater.
4, the central vent outlet 61 and the left and right vent outlets 62, 62 arranged on the upper side UP and the rear side RR of the housing 64, and the upper side U of the housing 64.
It is composed of a central differential outlet 63 arranged in P. Reference numeral 65 indicates an indoor air intake port, and FIG. 5 shows a state in which the indoor air intake port 65 is open. Reference numeral 66 is a recess that surrounds the steering member 11 from the lower side LWR, and is upright walls 67 and 68 by the central vent outlet 61 and the left and right vent outlets 62 and 62, and the center differential outlet 63, and the rising walls 67 and 68. The bracket 69 that is pushed out from the rising wall 68 of the central differential outlet 63,
The upper side UP of the steering member 11 is surrounded by 69.

On the rear side RR of the pedestal portion 32,
The second support members 71 and 72 are integrally formed, and the first
The support member 71 supports the operation means 24 capable of operating a well-known automatic transmission (not shown), which is one of the accessory parts 21, and the rear side of the second support member 72 and the housing 64 of the air conditioner 5. Bracket 69 supported on the surface of RR
The audio 25 and the communication device 26, which are one of the accessory parts 21, are supported by the support means 76 between the two.

Other than the above, the auxiliary component 21 includes a steering column 23 supported by the steering member 11 and an airbag device 27 accommodated in an airbag storage 38.

Next, a method of mounting the module instrument 2 on a vehicle will be described. First, the module instrument 2 is supported by a jig (not shown). Since the front-rear width dimension of the module instrument 2 and the supporting jig in that state is smaller than the front-rear width dimension of the door opening 4, the door opening 4
Then, the module instrument 2 is put into the vehicle as it is, and the module inst 2 is mounted at a predetermined position in the vehicle. After the attachment, the support jig is carried out of the vehicle. Next, the garnish molding 3 is attached to the engaging portion 43 of the front end portion 42 of the module instrument 2 and the engaging portion 17 of the upper edge portion 16a of the cowl box 16 by bridging from the upper side UP.

Since this embodiment is constituted as described above, the operation will be described below.

Left and right duct bodies 34 of the air conditioning duct body 19,
35 is formed integrally by holding the boxes 37 and 38, so that the strength of the air conditioning duct body 19 is significantly improved, and the frame member 35 can be fixed to the steering member 11 supported by the front pillar lower panel 10. The lightweight and simple instrument panel 1 can be made up of two parts, the cover 41 which is a decorative member and the left and right duct bodies 34 and 35 of the air conditioning duct body 19 which is a skeleton member.

Left and right duct bodies 3 of the air conditioning duct body 19
Reference numerals 4 and 35 denote connection portions 20 arranged substantially in the left and right centers of the vehicle.
However, since it is connected to the air conditioner 5, it becomes integral with the air conditioner 5 and the strength is further improved.

Since the strength of the air-conditioning duct body 5 is remarkably improved, even though the structure 31 is made of synthetic resin,
Various accessory parts 21 can be reliably supported.

Further, the connecting portion 20 of the air conditioning duct body 19
However, since the connection member 36 connected to the air conditioner 5, the strength member 59, and the rib 60 are formed in a lattice shape, the strength of the connection portion 20 is significantly improved. In addition, since the member that adds this strength does not require any other component integrally with the air conditioning duct body 19, the manufacturing cost is low.

The left and right duct bodies 34 of the air conditioning duct body 19,
35 is a mounting piece 7 on the upper part of the steering member 11.
Since it is placed and supported by the air conditioning duct members 9, 80, the left and right duct members 34, 35 of the air conditioning duct member 19 can be temporarily held only by being placed on the upper portion of the steering member 11, and the air conditioning duct member 19 at the time of support can be held. Left and right duct bodies 34, 35
The stability of is significantly improved.

Before the module instrument 2 is installed in the vehicle, only the module instrument 2 that is smaller than the front-rear width of the door opening 4 is used, so that the insertability of the instrument panel 1 from the door opening 4 into the room can be improved. Also,
The garnish molding 3 includes the front end portion 42 of the cover 41 of the module instrument 2 and the cowl box 1.
6 is detachably cross-linked between the upper edge portions 16a of the garnish 6 and the garnish molding 3 when the repair is required after the instrument panel 1 is mounted on the vehicle body.
Since the back side of the cover 41 and the vehicle front part of the module instrument 2 are exposed only by removing the cover 41, the repair can be performed without removing the instrument panel 1, that is, the cover 41, and the repairability is improved.

On one piece of garnish molding 3,
Since the defroster blow-out port 53 and the side defroster blow-out port 55 are formed, the manufacturing cost is reduced because other parts are not required.

The rear end 51a of the main body 51 of the garnish molding 3 is supported so as to cover the front end 42 of the cover 41 of the module instrument 2 from the upper side UP, so that the main body 51 of the garnish molding 3 is supported. It can be supported by tapping from the upper side UP.

In the color tone design of the instrument panel 1, by dividing the upper surface and the front surface of the cover 41 of the instrument panel, a two-tone color (for example, the upper surface is a color in which light is difficult to reflect Can be a bright color). Also,
By making the shapes different, various combinations are possible and parts can be shared among different vehicle models.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an instrument panel mounted on a vehicle showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the relationship between the instrument panel of FIG. 1 and a door opening.

3 is an exploded perspective view of the instrument panel of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the module instrument of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along the line SA-SA in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Car instrument panel 5 air conditioner 10 Front pillar lower panel (car body) 11 Steering member 19 Air conditioning duct body 20 connection 21 Auxiliary parts 31 structure 34, 35 duct body 36 Connection member 37, 38 boxes 41 cover 59 Strength member 60 ribs 61 Central vent outlet of air conditioner 63 Central defroster outlet of air conditioner

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Toshio Ohashi             Carso 5-24-15 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo             Nick Kansei Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D044 BA03 BA05 BA07 BA11 BA14                       BB01 BC13 BC15 BC22 BC28                       BC30 BD11                 3L011 BL00

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A structure integrally formed of an air-conditioning duct body made of synthetic resin, which can be fixedly mounted on a steering member supported by a vehicle body, and a box arranged at a position held by the air-conditioning duct body. An instrument panel comprising at least a cover for covering the structure. 2. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the air-conditioning duct body includes a connecting portion connected to an air-conditioning device, and left and right duct bodies extending left and right from the connecting portion. An instrument panel characterized by comprising the following. 3. The instrument panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an accessory component is supported by the air conditioning duct body.