JP2008143414A - Structure of knee protector for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a knee protector for a vehicle, which knee protector can generate an optimum reaction force according to the physique of a crew member, and further can be simply designed. <P>SOLUTION: In the structure of the knee protector for the vehicle, car body side mounting brackets 24, 25 are attached to a strengthening member 23 of a car body, the strengthening member 23 being extended nearly in the width direction 22 of the vehicle, and a knee receiving plate 26 is attached to the car body side mounting brackets 24, 25. Knee protecting portions 35 capable of absorbing the force to be input to the knee of the crew member are arranged at the portions between the car body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee receiving plate 26. The knee protecting portions 35 have rod hole portions 36 formed at least on the car body side mounting brackets 24, 25, and connecting rods 37 capable of connecting the car body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee receiving plate 26 via the rod hole portions 36. The rod hole portions 36 are formed so as to be connected to scooped groove portions 38 which elongate along the car body side mounting brackets 24, 25 nearly in the forward direction of the vehicle, and have the width narrower than the diameter of the connecting rods 37. <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 be able to protect a passenger | crew's knee at the time of an emergency with respect to such an instrument panel part, providing a knee protector is examined (refer patent document 1).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, such a knee protector has a pair of left and right knee protect brackets 2 attached to a vehicle body strength member 1 extending substantially in the vehicle width direction, and a pair of left and right knee protect brackets 2. A knee support plate 3 is installed to receive the occupant's knee and transmit the knee input to the knee protection bracket 2.

  Here, the knee protect bracket 2 includes a main bracket 4 and a reinforcing bracket 5 that reinforces the main bracket 4 so as to be able to absorb an occupant's knee input (energy). The main bracket 4 and the reinforcing bracket 5 are appropriately provided with a reinforcing bead or the like so that a required reaction force can be generated. Moreover, the knee support plate 3 is normally comprised by the iron plate press-molded. The knee support plate 3 is appropriately provided with a reinforcing bead or the like so as to have required strength and rigidity. Further, when provided on the driver's seat side, an arch-shaped curved portion that bypasses the steering column is provided in the middle portion of the knee support plate 3. This arcuate curved portion also greatly contributes to an increase in strength and rigidity.

  According to such a configuration, when an occupant's knee moves toward the instrument panel in an emergency, the knee support plate 3 provided inside the instrument panel receives the occupant's knee, and the knee support plate 3 By transmitting knee input (energy) to the knee protect bracket 2 and the knee protect bracket 2 being crushed, the knee input of the occupant is absorbed and the occupant's knee is protected.

  However, this knee protector has a problem that it does not have a function / structure that can optimally absorb the knee input of the occupant according to its physique. Things are being developed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, each knee protection bracket 2 includes an upper bracket 7 that can mainly absorb the knee input of an average occupant and a lower that can absorb mainly the knee input of a small occupant. The bracket 8 is divided into functions and structures so that each is provided separately.

  The upper bracket 7 and the lower bracket 8 are arranged vertically, and there is a required interval 9 between the rear end portion 7a of the upper bracket 7 and the rear end portion 8a of the lower bracket 8. Thus, the side portions of the knee support plate 3 are separated from each other and connected separately.

  According to such a configuration, in the case of an occupant having an average physique, the knee 10a enters a higher position of the knee receiving plate 3, so that the upper bracket 7 is mainly crushed as shown in FIG. In addition, since the lower bracket 8 is also crushed, a large reaction force is generated to optimally absorb a relatively large knee input by a passenger with an average physique.

  On the other hand, in the case of a small occupant, the knee 10b enters a lower position of the knee receiving plate 3, so that the lower bracket 8 is mainly crushed as shown in FIG. A reaction force is generated to optimally absorb relatively small knee input by a small occupant.

In this way, by dividing the knee protect bracket 2 into the upper bracket 7 and the lower bracket 8 so that both can be used properly depending on the situation, the generated reaction force can be optimized according to the physique. it can. That is, it is possible to realize a function corresponding to the physique.
JP 10-169687 A

  However, the above-described vehicle knee protector structure has the following problems.

  That is, in order to realize the physique response function, the knee protect bracket 2 is divided into an upper bracket 7 and a lower bracket 8 so that the operation is switched according to the difference in the knee entry height. In this case, the absorption characteristics of the knee input are roughly duplicated as shown in the graph of FIG. In FIG. 8, the vertical axis represents the reaction force (F), the horizontal axis represents the crushing stroke (S), and the AM50 is an average occupant, and the AF05 is a small occupant. .

  According to this graph, the small occupant has a much smaller upper limit of the reaction force than the occupant of average physique, and the amount of knee approach (collapse stroke) is considerably short, so the required amount of energy absorption It can be seen that there are few. This is thought to be the case because a small passenger is literally small in body and the seating position is close to the instrument panel, resulting in a short running distance.

  When the operation is switched according to the difference in the knee entry height, the knee position of the small occupant and the shin position of the average sized occupant are substantially the same, but the lower bracket 8 is the small occupant. Therefore, there is a problem that the receiving force tends to be insufficient with respect to the shin input of the occupant having an average physique.

  In addition, the upper bracket 7 and the lower bracket 8 are not clearly used properly, but the lower bracket 8 is incidentally crushed even in the case of an average occupant, and the upper bracket 7 is partially also in the case of a small occupant. There is a problem that the phenomenon is complicated and the design is very difficult because it collapses.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention described in claim 1, a vehicle body strength mounting member is attached to a vehicle body strength member extending substantially in the vehicle width direction, and a knee support plate that receives a passenger's knee in the vehicle body side mounting bracket. In the vehicle knee protector structure to which the vehicle body is attached, a knee protect portion capable of absorbing the knee input of the occupant is provided at a mounting portion between the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee receiving plate, and the knee protect portion is at least on the vehicle body side. There is a shaft hole portion formed in the mounting bracket, and a connecting shaft portion that can connect the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee support plate using the shaft hole portion, and the vehicle body side mounting bracket is connected to the shaft hole portion. And a vehicle knee protector structure that is provided with a knurling groove portion that extends substantially in front of the vehicle and is narrower than the diameter of the connecting shaft portion.

  In the invention described in claim 2, the turning groove portion has a relatively wide small reaction force generating groove portion on the near side and a relatively narrow large reaction force generating groove portion on the back side. The vehicle knee protector structure according to claim 1 having the above-mentioned features.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, in the vehicle knee protector structure in which the vehicle body side mounting bracket is attached to the vehicle body strength member extending substantially in the vehicle width direction, and the knee support plate for receiving the passenger's knee is attached to the vehicle body side mounting bracket. A knee protect portion capable of absorbing a passenger's knee input is provided at a mounting portion between the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee support plate, and the knee protect portion is at least a shaft hole portion formed in the vehicle body side mounting bracket. And a connecting shaft portion that can connect the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee support plate using the shaft hole portion, and extends substantially forward from the shaft hole portion along the vehicle body side mounting bracket. When the knee of the occupant moves toward the instrument panel in the event of an emergency, the instrument panel is provided by providing a turning groove that is narrower than the diameter of the connecting shaft. The knee support plate provided inside the vehicle receives the occupant's knees, and the connecting shaft portion scoops the groove for turning at the knee protect portion provided at the mounting portion between the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee support plate. By sliding, it absorbs the occupant's knee input and protects the occupant's knee. As described above, the knee input is absorbed by utilizing the twisting of the connecting shaft portion and the turning groove portion, so that the reaction force generated can be constantly made constant and the turning direction can be made constant. This simplifies the structure and operation, thus facilitating the design.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the turning groove portion has a relatively wide small reaction force generating groove portion on the front side, and a relatively narrow large reaction force generating groove portion on the back side. By having it, it becomes possible to change the reaction force generated on the way. Then, the small reaction force generating groove is made to correspond to the approach area of the small occupant's knee, and the large reaction force generating groove is made to correspond to the approach area of the occupant's knee of the average physique after the above entry area, It is possible to switch the operation using the difference in the amount of approach.

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

  1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the configuration will be described. A vehicle such as an automobile is provided with an instrument panel in the front part of the vehicle interior. A knee protector 21 is provided for such an instrument panel portion so that the occupant's knee can be protected in an emergency. The knee protector 21 can be provided on the driver seat side or the passenger seat side.

  In such a knee protector 21, vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 are attached to a vehicle body strength member 23 that extends substantially in the vehicle width direction 22, and a knee support plate 26 that receives an occupant's knee is attached to the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25. Consists of.

  Here, the vehicle body strength member 23 is a connecting member that connects the left and right vehicle body panels, and is called a cross car beam, a steering support member, or the like. The vehicle body strength member 23 usually has a vehicle body strength member main body 28 made of a metal round pipe. And this vehicle body strength member main body 28 has the side bracket 29 for attaching to a vehicle body panel on either side in the both ends. Further, the vehicle body strength member main body 28 has a stay (not shown) for supporting it on the floor panel at the center thereof. The vehicle body strength member main body 28 includes a linear body and a bent body.

  The vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 are attached to the vehicle body strength member main body 28, the side bracket 29, and the like. In this case, the vehicle body side mounting bracket 24 disposed on the upper side extends from the vehicle body strength member main body 28 substantially rearward in the vehicle front-rear direction 31 and supports two positions on the upper part of the knee support plate 26. Yes. Further, the vehicle body side mounting bracket 25 disposed on the lower side extends substantially rearward in the vehicle front-rear direction 31 from the side bracket 29 or the like, and supports the lower side portion of the knee receiving plate 26. In order to optimize the mounting position of the vehicle body side mounting bracket 25, the side bracket 29 may be extended downward (extension portion 29a). Although not particularly shown, a vehicle body side mounting bracket 25 that supports the lower side portion on the opposite side of the knee support plate 26 is also provided. The vehicle body side mounting bracket 25 is mounted on, for example, the above-described stay. The vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 are provided with strength and rigidity that are not deformed by an occupant's knee input. For this purpose, the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 are made of thick metal plates or appropriately provided with reinforcing shapes such as flanges and beads.

  Further, the knee support plate 26 is of a size that can receive the knees of both an average sized passenger and a small passenger. The knee support plate 26 is configured by, for example, a press-formed iron plate. The knee support plate 26 is provided with strength and rigidity so as not to be deformed by an occupant's knee input. For this purpose, the knee receiving plate 26 is appropriately provided with a reinforcing shape portion such as a flange or a bead. The knee support plate 26 is disposed so as to incline forward and downward, corresponding to the shape of the corresponding portion of the instrument panel (rear side lower shape).

  In this embodiment, the knee protector 35 that can absorb the occupant's knee input is attached to the mounting portion between the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee support plate 26, in contrast to the basic configuration described above. Is provided.

  The knee protect portion 35 can connect at least the shaft hole portion 36 formed in the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 and the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 and the knee support plate 26 using the shaft hole portion 36. Connecting shaft portion 37.

  Here, the shaft hole portion 36 has substantially the same diameter as the shaft portion of the connecting shaft portion 37. The connecting shaft portion 37 is directly attached to the knee receiving plate 26 or attached to the bracket 27 attached at a position corresponding to the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 of the knee receiving plate 26. To. The connecting shaft portion 37 is also provided as a fastener such as a bolt for fastening the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee receiving plate 26, and protrudes integrally from the knee receiving plate 26 and the bracket 27 to the shaft hole portion 36. It is good also as a shaft part passed. In addition, the connection shaft part 37 shall have the securing part which can prevent the removal from the shaft hole part 36 in the head.

  Then, a knurling groove 38 having a width narrower than the diameter of the connecting shaft portion 37 is provided along the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 from the shaft hole portion 36 in the forward and backward directions of the vehicle. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the turning groove portion 38 has a relatively wide small reaction force generating groove portion 39 on the front side (in this case, the rear portion in the vehicle front-rear direction 31) and a rear portion. On the side (in this case, the front portion of the vehicle longitudinal direction 31), a relatively small reaction force generating groove 40 is provided.

  Then, the small reaction force generating groove 39 is made to correspond to the small occupant's knee approaching area 41, and the large reaction force generating groove part 40 is made to correspond to the approaching area 42 of the occupant's knee having an average physique after the approaching area 41. I will let you.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

  According to this embodiment, the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25 are attached to the vehicle body strength member 23 that extends substantially in the vehicle width direction 22, and the knee support plate 26 that receives the occupant's knees is attached to the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24 and 25. In the knee protector structure for a vehicle, a knee protect portion 35 capable of absorbing a passenger's knee input is provided at a mounting portion between the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee support plate 26, and the knee protect portion 35 is at least a vehicle body. A shaft hole portion 36 formed in the side mounting brackets 24, 25, and a connecting shaft portion 37 capable of connecting the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee support plate 26 using the shaft hole portion 36; From the shaft hole portion 36, it is provided with a turning groove portion 38 that extends substantially forward of the vehicle along the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and is narrower than the diameter of the connecting shaft portion 37. Ri, it is possible to obtain the following effects.

  That is, when an occupant's knee moves toward the instrument panel in an emergency, the knee support plate 26 provided inside the instrument panel receives the occupant's knee, and the vehicle body side mounting brackets 24, 25 and the knee support plate 26, the connecting shaft portion 37 slides while turning the turning groove portion 38 at the knee protection portion 35 provided at the mounting portion between the occupant 26 and the occupant's knee input is absorbed to protect the occupant's knee. .

  The knee input is absorbed by utilizing the twisting of the connecting shaft part 37 and the turning groove part 38, so that the generated reaction force can be made constant at all times and the turning direction is made constant. This simplifies the structure and operation, thus simplifying and facilitating the design.

  Further, the turning groove portion 38 has a relatively wide small reaction force generating groove portion 39 on the front side and a relatively narrow large reaction force generating groove portion 40 on the back side, so that It is possible to change the reaction force generated by the.

  Then, the small reaction force generating groove 39 is made to correspond to the small occupant's knee approaching area 41, and the large reaction force generating groove part 40 is made to correspond to the approaching area 42 of the occupant's knee having an average physique after the approaching area 41. By doing so, the knee input of the small occupant is absorbed in the first half of the sword, and the knee input of the occupant of the average physique is absorbed in the second half, and the operation is switched using the difference in the knee approach amount. It becomes possible to do so. Thus, by associating the difference of the occupant's knee approach amount and the groove width of the groining groove portion 38 according to the physique, the physique response function is made more complete and the structure is simple. be able to.

  That is, as described above, in order to realize the physique-corresponding function, the knee protection unit 35 is switched depending on the amount of knee approach, but the absorption characteristics of the knee input in this case are as follows: The outline is a continuous step as shown in the graph of FIG. In FIG. 3, the vertical axis represents the reaction force (F), the horizontal axis represents the rolling stroke (S), AM50 represents an average occupant, and AF05 represents a small occupant.

  According to this graph, it is possible to generate an optimum reaction force for both the knee input of a small occupant and the knee input of an average occupant.

  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. For example, when each embodiment includes a plurality of configurations, it goes without saying that possible combinations of these configurations are included. In addition, when a plurality of embodiments and modifications are shown, it is needless to say that possible combinations of configurations straddling these are included.

It is a perspective view of the knee protector structure for vehicles concerning the example of the present invention. It is the elements on larger scale of the knee protect part (vehicle body side mounting bracket) of FIG. It is a graph which shows the absorption characteristic of the knee input in the knee protector structure for vehicles of FIG. It is a perspective view of the knee protector structure for vehicles concerning a prior art example. It is a side view of the conventional vehicle knee protector structure provided with the physique correspondence function. FIG. 6 is an operation diagram of FIG. 5 when a knee of an average occupant is received. FIG. 6 is an operation diagram of FIG. 5 when a small passenger's knee is received. It is a graph which shows the absorption characteristic of the knee input in the knee protector structure for vehicles of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

22 Vehicle width direction 23 Car body strength member 24 Car body side mounting bracket 25 Car body side mounting bracket 26 Knee support plate 35 Knee protect part 36 Shaft hole part 37 Connecting shaft part 38 Turning groove part 39 Small reaction force generating groove part 40 Large reaction force generation Groove part

Claims (2)

In a vehicle knee protector structure in which a vehicle body side mounting bracket is attached to a vehicle body strength member that extends substantially in the vehicle width direction, and a knee support plate that receives an occupant's knee is attached to the vehicle body side mounting bracket.
In the mounting portion between the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee support plate, a knee protect portion capable of absorbing a passenger's knee input is provided,
The knee protect portion has at least a shaft hole portion formed in the vehicle body side mounting bracket, and a connecting shaft portion capable of connecting the vehicle body side mounting bracket and the knee support plate using the shaft hole portion,
A vehicle knee protector structure characterized in that a turning groove portion extending substantially forward of the vehicle along the vehicle body side mounting bracket from the shaft hole portion and having a narrower width than the diameter of the connecting shaft portion is provided.   2. The turning groove portion has a relatively wide small reaction force generating groove portion on the front side and a relatively narrow large reaction force generating groove portion on the back side. The knee protector structure for vehicles as described.

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