JP2007320380A - Vehicular knee protector structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save cost and reduce weight beyond a previous limit. <P>SOLUTION: A knee protecting bracket 25 is attached to a vehicle body side member 24. The knee protecting bracket 25 has a bracket main body portion 31 extending generally downward from the vehicle body side member 24, a knee receiving portion 32 extending diagonally upward from a lower end portion of the bracket body portion 31, and a bending prospective portion 34 provided near a border part 33 between the bracket body portion 31 and the knee receiving portion 32 and capable of absorbing knee input energy by bending due to the invasion of an occupant's knee. At a position under an invasion point of the knee of the smallish occupant in the knee receiving portion 32, a shin receiving shape portion 37 capable of receiving the shin of the occupant having an average physique earlier than the knee thereof is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle knee protector structure.

  A vehicle such as an automobile is provided with an instrument panel in the front part of the vehicle interior.

  In order to protect an occupant's knee in an emergency, providing a knee protector with respect to such an instrument panel is examined. This knee protector requires a driver seat and a passenger seat depending on the installation situation.

  Among these, for example, a knee protector for a passenger seat is disclosed in Patent Document 1. However, since the knee protector for the passenger seat has a complicated structure and costs, the following has been developed so that the structure is simpler and the cost is lower.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a knee protection bracket 2 capable of absorbing the occupant's knee input energy is provided on the passenger seat side portion of the vehicle body side member 1. Since this example has a left handle specification, the knee protector for the passenger seat is provided on the right side of the vehicle body side member 1 in FIG. The description of the knee protector for the driver's seat is omitted.

  The knee protect bracket 2 is divided into a lower bracket 3 and an upper bracket 4 for different functions.

  Among these, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower bracket 3 jumps from a lower bracket main body portion 5 extending substantially downward from the vehicle body side member 1 and substantially rearward and obliquely upward from a lower end portion of the lower bracket main body portion 5. By providing the knee support portion 6 that extends so as to be raised, it has a substantially “letter” shape or “shi” shape in a side view. On the other hand, the upper bracket 4 is provided so as to connect the upper position of the lower bracket body 5 and the upper end of the knee support 6.

  One knee protection bracket 2 is provided on each side of the glove box 8 (only the lid portion is shown in FIG. 6). The upper ends of the knee support portions 6 of the lower bracket 3 of the left and right knee protect brackets 2 are connected by a connecting member 9. The left and right knee protect brackets 2 may be slightly different in size and shape due to the difference in the shape of the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction.

  In the event of an emergency, when the occupant's knee moves toward the instrument panel, the knee protection bracket 2 provided inside the instrument panel is crushed to absorb the occupant's knee input energy and Protect.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, in the case of an occupant having an average physique, the knee penetrates into a high position of the knee receiving portion 6 (the entry point 11, and the arrow indicates the knee entry direction). ) Since both the lower bracket 3 and the upper bracket 4 are crushed, the reaction force obtained is increased.

  On the other hand, in the case of a small occupant, the knee penetrates into a lower position of the knee support 6 (the entry point 12, the arrow indicates the knee entry direction). Since it will be crushed, the reaction force obtained will become small.

In this way, by using the lower bracket 3 and the upper bracket 4 properly, the reaction force obtained can be optimized according to the physique.
JP-A-11-180238

  However, in the above-described vehicle knee protector structure, in order to optimize the reaction force obtained in accordance with the occupant's physique, the two types of members of the lower bracket 3 and the upper bracket 4 are used separately. Since various types of members are required, there is a problem that cost and weight can be reduced only to a certain extent.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the invention described in claim 1, a knee protect bracket is attached to the vehicle body side member, and the knee protect bracket extends substantially downward from the vehicle body side member. A knee support portion extending obliquely upward and rearward from the lower end portion of the bracket main body portion, and a knee provided by being bent by the intrusion of the occupant's knee provided in the vicinity of a boundary portion between the bracket main body portion and the knee support portion. And an occupant's shin of an average physique can be received earlier than the knee at a position below the knee entry point of the small occupant's knee with respect to the knee receiving portion. It is characterized by a knee protector structure for a vehicle provided with a tibial support portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the knee protect bracket is attached to the vehicle body side member, and the knee protect bracket extends substantially downward from the vehicle body side member, and the lower end of the bracket main body portion. A knee receiving portion extending obliquely upward rearward, and a planned bending portion that is provided in the vicinity of a boundary portion between the bracket main body portion and the knee receiving portion and can absorb knee input energy by bending when the occupant enters the knee. And a tibial receiving shape portion capable of receiving an occupant's shin of an average physique earlier than the knee is provided at a position below the knee intrusion point of the small occupant relative to the knee receiving portion. This makes it possible to achieve the function of optimizing the reaction force to be obtained according to the physique with only one type of member. It is possible to achieve and capacity.

  For the purpose of enabling cost reduction and weight reduction beyond the limits so far, a knee protection bracket is attached to the body side member, and the knee protection bracket extends almost downward from the body side member And a knee support portion extending obliquely upward and rearward from the lower end portion of the bracket body portion, and a knee by being bent by the intrusion of the occupant's knee, provided in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the bracket body portion and the knee support portion A shin that can absorb the input energy and can receive an occupant's shin of an average physique earlier than the knee at a position below the knee entry point of the small occupant's knee with respect to the knee support This was realized by means of providing a receiving shape portion.

  Hereinafter, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described together with illustrated examples.

  1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the configuration will be described. In a vehicle such as an automobile, an instrument panel 21 as shown in FIG.

  For such an instrument panel 21, knee protectors 22 and 23 as shown in FIG. 2 are provided to protect the occupant's knees in an emergency. The knee protectors 22 and 23 need a driver seat (knee protector 22) and a passenger seat (knee protector 23), respectively, depending on the installation situation.

  Among these, as the knee protector 23 for the passenger seat, a knee protect bracket 25 capable of absorbing the occupant's knee input energy is provided on the passenger seat side portion of the vehicle body side member 24. Since this example has a left-hand drive specification, the knee protector 23 for the passenger seat is provided on the right side of the vehicle body side member 24 in FIG. The description of the knee protector 22 for the driver's seat is omitted.

  Here, the vehicle body side member 24 is a strength member that is provided inside the instrument panel 21 and connects the left and right vehicle body panels. The vehicle body side member 24 includes a member main body 27 extending substantially in the vehicle width direction, and side brackets 28 provided at both ends of the member main body 27. The member main body 27 is usually composed of a metal pipe or the like, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the member main body 27 may adopt a detour / bend shape because of the routing around the inside of the instrument panel 21. The side bracket 28 is for attaching the vehicle body side member 24 to the left and right vehicle body panels. The vehicle body side member 24 is used as a steering support member by supporting a steering column, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the above-described knee protect bracket 25 has a bracket main body portion 31 extending substantially downward from the vehicle body side member 24, and a substantially rearward and upward direction from the lower end portion of the bracket main body portion 31. By including the knee receiving portion 32 extending so as to be flipped up, a substantially “let” shape or “shi” shape is exhibited in a side view. Each of the bracket body 31 and the knee support 32 is made of a metal member having a U-shaped cross section. The bracket body part 31 and the knee support part 32 are combined so that the U-shaped opening part faces each other.

  Further, in the vicinity of the boundary portion 33 between the bracket main body portion 31 and the knee receiving portion 32, a planned bending portion 34 capable of absorbing knee input energy by being bent by the intrusion of the occupant's knee is provided. In this case, the planned bending portion 34 is provided on the knee receiving portion 32 side. The planned bending portion 34 is formed by partially notching both side flange portions having a U-shaped cross section of the knee receiving portion 32.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the occupant's shin with an average physique is placed at a position below the knee entry point 36 of the small occupant relative to the knee support 32 (the arrow indicates the direction of knee entry). A tibial receiving portion 37 that can be received earlier than the knee is provided.

  For example, the shin receiving portion 37 is slightly inflated so as to protrude from the line 40 perpendicular to the intrusion direction 39 through the intrusion point 38 of the average occupant's knee into the knee receiving portion 32. And so on.

  Note that the small passenger's knee intrusion point 36 and the average occupant's knee intrusion point 38 are set in accordance with US standards.

  One knee protect bracket 25 is provided on each side of the glove box 41 (see FIGS. 1 and 3; only the lid portion is shown). The upper ends of the knee support portions 32 in the left and right knee protect brackets 25 are connected by a connecting member 42. The left and right knee protect brackets 25 may be slightly different in size and shape due to the difference in the shape of the instrument panel 21 in the vehicle width direction.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

  When an occupant's knee moves toward the instrument panel 21 in an emergency, the knee protector bracket 25 provided inside the instrument panel 21 has the knee support portion 32 rotated to the back side with the planned bending portion 34 as the center. By being crushed so as to be dynamically deformed, the knee input energy of the occupant is absorbed to protect the occupant's knee.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, if the knee receiving portion 32 does not have a support rod such as the upper bracket 4 in FIG. 7, the moment arm becomes longer as the distance from the planned bending portion 34 increases. Get smaller.

  That is, in the case of an occupant having an average physique, the knee penetrates into a high position of the knee receiving portion 32 (invasion point 38), so that the moment arm becomes long and the receiving force may be reduced. However, in this embodiment, a shin receiving portion 37 is provided at a position below the knee entry point 36 of the small occupant with respect to the knee receiving portion 32, and the shin receiving shape portion 37 allows the occupant of an average physique to be used. Since the moment arm can be shortened by receiving the shin, the receiving force can be increased.

  On the other hand, in the case of a small occupant, the intrusion point 36 of the knee is on the upper side of the tibial support shape portion 37, so that the moment arm becomes longer, and the obtained reaction force is reduced accordingly. be able to.

  In this way, by allowing the occupant having an average physique to be received by the shin, it is possible to optimize the received reaction force according to the physique.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the knee protect bracket 25 is attached to the vehicle body side member 24, the bracket main body portion 31 that extends substantially downward from the vehicle body side member 24, and the bracket main body. A knee support 32 extending obliquely upward and rearward from the lower end of the portion 31, and a knee provided by being bent by the intrusion of the knee of the occupant provided near the boundary portion 33 between the bracket main body 31 and the knee support 32 And a bendable portion 34 capable of absorbing input energy, and the occupant's shin of an average physique is placed at a position below the knee entry point 36 of the small occupant in the knee receiving portion 32 earlier than the knee. By providing the shin receiving shape portion 37 that can be received, the function of optimizing the reaction force to be obtained according to the physique can be achieved with only one type of member. Becomes ability correspondingly, it is possible to achieve a cost reduction and weight reduction that exceeds the limit so far.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the embodiments are only examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments. Needless to say, design changes and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the invention are included in the present invention. Further, when a plurality of embodiments and modifications are shown, it is a matter of course that these possible combinations are included.

It is a front view of the instrument panel explaining the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the vehicle body side member arrange | positioned inside the instrument panel of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the passenger seat side portion of the instrument panel of FIG. It is a figure explaining the action | operation of this Example. It is a perspective view of the vehicle body side member concerning a prior art example. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the passenger seat side portion of FIG. 5. It is a figure explaining the action | operation of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

24 Car body side member 25 Knee protect bracket 31 Bracket main body part 32 Knee support part 33 Boundary part 34 Bending planned part 36 Knee penetration point 37 Tibial receiving part

Claims (1)

A knee protection bracket is attached to the vehicle body side member, the knee protection bracket extends substantially downward from the vehicle body side member, and a knee support extending obliquely upward rearward from the lower end of the bracket body portion. And a bent portion that is provided in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the bracket main body portion and the knee receiving portion and can absorb knee input energy by bending due to intrusion of the knee of the occupant,
A vehicle having a tibial-shaped portion capable of receiving an occupant's shin of an average physique earlier than the knee at a position below an intrusion point of a small occupant's knee with respect to the knee support. For knee protector structure.

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