JP2005231471A - Vehicle door structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle door structure furnished with an arm rest normally used for supporting an arm of an occupant and free from an inputting part of an impact load to the abdomen and chest part of the occupant in the case when the impact load is inputted from outside to a side door and the side door is displaced to the side of a car room. <P>SOLUTION: The arm rest 12 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to support the arm 33 of the occupant seated in a seat 2 is mounted on an inner wall surface of the side door 5 on the side of the seat 2. Additionally, the arm rest 12 is mounted on the inner wall surface free to go downward by a specified quantity from a use position to support the arm 33 when the impact load larger than a specified value is inputted to the side door 5 from outside. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle door structure provided with an armrest.

  Conventionally, a vehicle door provided with various energy absorption structures in order to improve the occupant protection performance when the interior material (door trim) of the automobile door abuts the occupant when a predetermined load is applied to the outer panel of the automobile door. A structure has been proposed.

  As this type of vehicle door structure, for example, an interior material is attached to a door inner panel of a side door of a vehicle body, and a chest impact absorbing member corresponding to the occupant's chest and a waist impact absorbing member corresponding to the occupant's waist are used as the interior material. In addition to providing the waist impact absorbing member thicker than the chest impact absorbing member, the protrusion amount of the waist impact absorbing member into the vehicle interior is larger than that of the chest impact absorbing member (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

In this vehicle door structure, when an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input from the outside to the side door, the waist impact absorbing member first comes into contact with the occupant's waist to absorb energy.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-49111

  However, as for the waist | hip | lumbar part impact-absorbing member, while the upper part respond | corresponds to the position corresponding to a passenger | crew's abdomen, the lower part side is located in the side of the seat cushion. For this reason, when an impact load is input from the outside to the side door, the lower side of the waist impact absorbing member abuts against the seat cushion, and then the upper side of the side door is deformed to the passenger compartment side. There is a possibility that the upper side comes into contact with the abdomen of the occupant and the input of the impact load to the abdomen increases.

  Further, in the vehicle door structure described above, since the chest impact absorbing member protrudes toward the passenger compartment, the chest impact absorbing member may contact the occupant's chest early after the waist impact absorbing member contacts first. Conceivable.

  The timing at which the chest shock absorbing member comes into contact with the chest of the occupant is earlier than when there is no chest shock absorbing member. For this reason, it may be desirable not to have this chest impact absorbing member.

  Therefore, the present invention is usually used to support an occupant's arm, and when an impact load is input from the outside to the side door and the side door is shifted to the passenger compartment side, the impact load is input to the abdomen. And it aims at providing the vehicle door structure provided with the armrest which is not an input part of the impact load to a passenger | crew's chest.

  In order to achieve this object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a vehicle door structure in which an armrest that extends forward and backward of a vehicle and supports an occupant's arm seated on a seat is attached to an inner wall surface of a side door on the side of the seat. The armrest is attached to the inner wall surface so that a predetermined amount can be lowered downward from a use position for supporting the arm when an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input from the outside to the side door. And

  According to this configuration, when an impact load is input from the outside to the side door, the armrest descends downward from the use position, so that the side door is deformed into the vehicle interior by the impact load, and the armrest is Even if the armrest is moved to the center side, the armrest abuts against the occupant's waist, so that it is possible to avoid hitting the occupant's abdomen and the chest with low occupant tolerance.

  Further, before the armrest is lowered, a sufficient clearance can be secured for a seat device such as a seat anchor that should normally be in the area near the waist, so that the device operation is easy.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1A, 1 is a vehicle compartment of a vehicle such as an automobile, 2 is a seat disposed in the vehicle compartment 1, and 3 is a seat 1 A seat cushion 4 is a seat back attached to the rear edge of the seat cushion 3, and 5 is a side door located on the side of the seat 1.

  The side door 5 includes a door outer panel 6, a door inner panel 7, and a door trim 8 which is an interior material. A part disposition space 9 is formed between the door inner panel 7 and the door trim 8.

  A door pocket 10 is provided below the inner surface of the door trim 8 as shown in FIG. In addition, a pair of guide slits (insertion holes) 11, 11 extending in the vertical direction and opening to the component arrangement space 8 and the vehicle compartment 1 are formed on the rear side of the door trim 8.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the door trim 8 includes an armrest 12 disposed in the passenger compartment 1, an armrest support device 13 that supports the armrest 12 so that the armrest 12 can be lowered and adjusted in height, and an armrest. An armrest forced lowering device (drive device) 14 for forcibly lowering 12 is attached. The armrest support device 13 and the armrest forced lowering device (drive device) 14 are arranged in the component arrangement space 9.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the armrest 12 has an elbow rest 12a capable of absorbing energy of impact load, and an armrest body 12b attached to the front side of the elbow rest 12a.

  An energy absorbing member 15 that absorbs impact load energy from the side is provided in the elbow rest 12a. Further, plate-like armrest fixing members 16, 16 facing the guide slits 11, 11 are attached to the surface of the elbow rest portion 12 a on the door trim 8 side. Further, the protruding amount of the elbow rest portion 12a is larger than the protruding amount of the armrest body 12b. Moreover, the elbow rest portion 12a is disposed so as to slightly overlap the seat cushion 3 as shown in FIG.

  The armrest support device 13 is inserted into the plate-shaped guide rails 17 and 17 extending vertically along the pair of guide slits 11 and 11 as shown in FIGS. Includes support shafts 18 and 18 fixed to the armrest fixing members 16 and 16 and a connecting member 19 fixed to the other end of the support shafts 18 and 18.

  The guide rails 17 and 17 are provided in parallel to each other as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and are attached to the door trim 8 via a plurality of brackets 20 as shown in FIG. . The support shafts 18 and 18 are provided in parallel to each other and are disposed between the guide rails 17 and 17.

  The armrest fixing members 16, 16 are in contact with the surface of the door trim 8 on the side of the vehicle compartment 1, and both ends of the connecting member 19 are in contact with the guide rails 17, 17. As a result, the support shafts 18 and 18 are prevented from moving in the axial direction.

  Moreover, the support shafts 18 and 18 are disposed close to the opposing surfaces of the guide rails 17 and 17, respectively. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, locking teeth 21, 21 are provided at the upper ends of the opposing surfaces of the guide rails 17, 17, and rack teeth meshing with the locking teeth 21, 21 are provided on the support shafts 18, 18. 22 and 22 are provided. The locking teeth 21 and the rack teeth 22 hold the armrest 12 in the use position.

  The armrest forced lowering device (drive device) 14 includes a cylinder-shaped inflator 23 disposed vertically below the connecting member 19, a plurality of brackets 24 that fix the inflator 23 to the door trim 8, and an upper end portion Has a wire 25 fixed to the connecting member 19 and forcibly pulled downward by the operation of the inflator 23.

  The inflator 23 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 1B, a cylinder 26 whose upper end is closed by an end wall 26a and whose lower end is opened downward, and a piston 27 disposed in the cylinder 26 so as to be movable up and down. And a coil spring 28 interposed between the end wall 26 a and the piston 27, and a gas generator 29 that generates high-pressure gas and supplies it to the chamber 26 b formed between the end wall 26 a and the piston 27. Have. The lower end portion of the wire 25 penetrating the end wall 26 a is fixed to the piston 27.

  The door inner panel 7 is provided with a sensor 30 that detects that an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input from the outside to the side door 5 and outputs a detection signal as a detection means. An acceleration sensor can be used as the sensor 30.

  A detection signal output from the sensor 30 is input to the control circuit 31. When the detection signal from the sensor 30 is input, the control circuit 31 supplies an operation signal to the gas generation unit 29 so that high-pressure gas is rapidly generated from the gas generation unit 29.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle door structure having such a configuration will be described.

  In the state shown in FIG. 1A, the occupant 32 seated on the seat 2 can place the arm 33 on the armrest 12 and support the arm 33 on the armrest 12.

  When an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input to the side door 5 from the direction indicated by the arrow A1 in FIG. 1A, the sensor 30 detects that the impact load has been input and outputs a detection signal. . A detection signal output from the sensor 30 is input to the control circuit 31.

  Then, when the detection signal from the sensor 30 is input, the control circuit 31 supplies an operation signal to the gas generation unit 29 so as to rapidly generate high-pressure gas from the gas generation unit 29. The high-pressure gas generated from the gas generator 29 is supplied into the chamber 26b at a high speed, and the piston 27 is rapidly lowered downward. As a result, the wire 25 is suddenly pulled downward by the piston 27, the engagement between the rack teeth 22 of the support shaft 18 and the locking teeth 21 of the guide rail 17 is released, and the armrest 12 is shown as a solid line from the position of the broken line in FIG. Is quickly lowered to the position of

  The armrest 12 a of the armrest 12 is positioned on the seat cushion 3 and corresponds to the waist 34 of the occupant 32. In this state, when the side door 5 is moved to the occupant 32 side, the elbow rest portion 12a of the armrest 12 comes into contact with the waist portion 34 of the occupant 32 and is impacted by the energy absorbing member 15 in the elbow rest portion 12a. The load is absorbed and the occupant 32 is moved to the center side of the passenger compartment 1. At this time, since the armrest 12 descends downward and does not face the occupant's abdomen 35 or the like, it can be avoided that the impact load from the armrest 12 acts on the abdomen 35.

  Moreover, since the armrest support device 13 and the armrest forced lowering device (drive device) 14 are attached to the door trim 8, the assembly of the armrest 12, the armrest support device 13 and the armrest forced lowering device (drive device) 14 is simple and easy. It is.

In the embodiment described above, the armrest support device 13 and the armrest forced lowering device (drive device) 14 are attached to the door trim 8, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the armrest support device 13 and the armrest forced lowering device 14 may be attached to the door inner panel 7.
<Modification>
In the embodiment described above, the configuration in which the height of the armrest 12 cannot be adjusted is shown, but the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, in order to make the height of the armrest 12 described above adjustable, the armrest 12 may be configured as shown in FIGS. In addition, since the basic part is the same as FIGS. 1-6, the illustration is abbreviate | omitted. Hereinafter, modifications of the present invention will be described.

  In FIG. 7, racks 40, 40 arranged vertically are provided on the opposing surfaces of the guide rails 17, 17. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, both end portions of each support shaft 18 are rotatably held by the armrest fixing member 16 and the connecting member 19. Gears 41 a and 41 b that mesh with the racks 40 and 40 are provided on the support shafts 18 and 18, respectively.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, support plate portions 19a and 19b facing the space 42 between the guide rails 17 and 17 are integrally formed on the upper and lower edges of the connecting member 19 shown in FIG. Is formed.

  The upper and lower end portions of the worm 43 meshing with the gear 41a are rotatably held by the support plate portions 19a and 19b. Moreover, the worm 43 is rotationally driven by a drive motor 44 such as a pulse motor mounted on the support plate portion 19a. The drive motor 44 and the worm 43 constitute a gear drive means B.

  The drive motor 44 is driven and controlled by the control circuit 31. The control circuit 31 is supplied with operation signals for the up switch 45 and the down switch 46. The raising switch 45 and the lowering switch 46 are provided on the armrest body 12b of the armrest 12 shown in FIG.

  When the up switch 45 is pressed, the control circuit 31 causes the drive motor 44 to rotate normally only while the up switch 45 is pressed, and when the down switch 46 is pressed, the down switch 46 is pressed. Only the drive motor 44 is reversed.

  In addition, when the drive motor 44 is rotated in the forward direction and the worm 43 is rotated in the forward direction, the gear 41a is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7 by the forward rotation of the worm 43, and the connecting member 19 is raised. ing. On the other hand, when the drive motor 44 is reversed to reverse the worm 43, the gear 41a is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 7 by the reverse rotation of the worm 43, and the connecting member 19 is lowered.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, the occupant 32 seated on the seat 2 places the arm 33 on the armrest 12 to support the arm 33 on the armrest 12, and the lift switch 45 provided on the armrest body 12b in FIG. By operating the switch 46, the connecting member 19 is raised and lowered, the armrest 12 integrated with the connecting member 19 is raised and lowered, and the height of the armrest 12 can be adjusted.

  When an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input to the side door 5 from the direction indicated by the arrow A1 in FIG. 1A, the sensor 30 in FIG. Is output. A detection signal output from the sensor 30 is input to the control circuit 31.

  Then, when the detection signal from the sensor 30 is input, the control circuit 31 supplies an operation signal to the gas generation unit 29 so as to rapidly generate high-pressure gas from the gas generation unit 29. The high-pressure gas generated from the gas generator 29 is supplied into the chamber 26b at a high speed, and the piston 27 is rapidly lowered downward.

  As a result, when the wire 25 is suddenly pulled downward by the piston 27, the meshing portion between the worm 43 and the gear 41a is damaged, the connecting member 19 is lowered, and the support plate portion 19a of the connecting member 19 is damaged. Thus, the connecting member 19 is rapidly lowered integrally with the armrest 12 from the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. Since the subsequent operation is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, in the vehicle door structure according to the embodiment of the present invention, the armrest 12 that extends forward and backward of the vehicle and supports the occupant's arm 33 seated on the seat 2 is provided on the side door 5 on the side of the seat 2. It is attached to the inner wall surface. In addition, the armrest 12 is attached to the inner wall surface so as to be able to descend a predetermined amount downward from a use position for supporting the arm 33 when an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input from the outside to the side door 5. .

  According to this configuration, when an impact load is input to the side door 5 from the outside, the armrest 12 descends from the use position, so that the side door 5 is deformed into the vehicle compartment 1 by the impact load. Even if the armrest 12 is moved to the center side of the passenger compartment 1, the armrest 12 abuts against the waist 34 of the occupant 32, so that the abdomen 34 of the occupant 32 and the chest 36 with low resistance value of the occupant 32 are directly hit This can be avoided in advance.

  Further, before the armrest 12 is lowered, a sufficient clearance can be secured for a seat device such as a seat anchor that should normally be in the area near the waist 34, so that the device operation is easy.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, a detecting means (sensor 30) that detects that an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input from the outside to the side door 5 and outputs a detection signal to the side door 5. An armrest forced lowering device 14 is provided that is actuated by the detection signal to forcibly lower the armrest 12 downward.

  According to this configuration, when an impact load is input from the outside to the side door 5, the armrest 12 is reliably lowered downward from the use position by the armrest forced lowering device 14. Even if the armrest 12 is deformed into the passenger compartment 1 and moved to the center side of the passenger compartment 1, it can be reliably avoided that the armrest 12 hits the chest 36 having a low resistance value for the occupant.

  Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, guide rails 17 and 17 that extend vertically and guide the armrest 12 downward are provided on the side door 5, and between the armrest 12 and the guide rails 17 and 17. The armrest holding means (armrest support device 13) is interposed in the armrest, and the armrest forced lowering device 14 releases the holding state of the armrest 12 by the armrest holding means (armrest support device 13) by the detection signal. The armrest 12 is forcibly lowered.

  According to this configuration, when an impact load is input to the side door 5 from the outside, when the armrest 12 is reliably lowered downward from the use position by the armrest forced lowering device 14, the armrest 12 is kept in a stable state. Can be lowered downward.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the armrest holding means 13 includes a rack 40, 40 provided on the guide rails 17, 17, and a gear held on the armrest 12 and meshing with the rack 40, 40. 41a, 41b and gear driving means B for rotating the gear 41a.

  According to this configuration, the height of the armrest 12 can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the user.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, an energy absorbing member 15 that absorbs energy of impact load is stored in the armrest 12.

  According to this configuration, the thickness of the energy absorbing member 15 in the vehicle left-right direction (vehicle width direction) can be sufficiently taken, and the input impact load can be sufficiently absorbed.

(A) is schematic explanatory drawing of the vehicle door structure concerning this invention, (b) is explanatory drawing of the inflator of (a). It is the perspective view which looked at the door trim of the side door shown to Fig.1 (a) from the vehicle interior side. It is the perspective view which looked at the door trim of Fig.1 (a) from the door inner panel side. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the relationship between the guide rail of FIG. 5, and a rack. It is action | operation explanatory drawing of the armrest of FIG. It is principal part explanatory drawing which shows the modification of this invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the A2-A2 line | wire of FIG. It is a perspective view of the connection member of FIG. 7, FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows A3-A3 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... Seat 5 ... Side door 12 ... Armrest 13 ... Armrest support device (armrest holding means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Armrest forced descent device 15 ... Energy absorption member 17 ... Guide rail 32 ... Passenger 33 ... Arm 40 ... Rack 41a, 41b ... Gear B ... Gear drive means

Claims (5)

In a vehicle door structure in which an armrest that extends forward and backward of a vehicle and supports an arm of a passenger seated on a seat is attached to an inner wall surface of a side door on the side of the seat,
The armrest is attached to the inner wall surface so that a predetermined amount can be lowered downward from a use position for supporting the arm when an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input to the side door from the outside. Vehicle door structure.   The side door is provided with a detecting means for detecting that an impact load of a predetermined value or more is input from the outside to the side door, and the armrest is forced downward by being actuated by the detection signal. The vehicle door structure according to claim 1, further comprising an armrest forced lowering device that lowers automatically.   A guide rail that extends vertically and guides the armrest downward is provided on the side door, armrest holding means is interposed between the armrest and the guide rail, and the armrest forced lowering device is configured to detect the detection signal. 3. The vehicle door structure according to claim 2, wherein the armrest is held by the armrest holding means to release the armrest and the armrest is forcibly lowered.   The armrest holding means includes a rack provided on the guide rail, a gear held on the armrest and meshing with the rack, and a gear driving means for rotating the gear. Vehicle door structure as described. The vehicle door structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an energy absorbing member that absorbs energy of an impact load is stored in the armrest.

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