JP2013124026A - Knee bolster for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent decrease in withstand load by inhibiting crumble or crack of front face opposed to knees of an occupant who sits on the front seat.SOLUTION: A knee bolster 1' for vehicle is provided on an inner side of an instrument panel provided in front of a front seat arranged within a cabin, and when an occupant who sits on a front seat moves forward at the time of vehicle collision and thereby the knee of the occupant strikes sharply, buffers the shock to the knee, and restricts forward movement of lumbar of the occupant. The knee bolster 1' for vehicle is constituted by a bolster body 1 that is formed in a block shape by plastically deformable material, and buffers the shock to the knee by being plastically deformed, and a body cover 5 that is covered by front side region 1A on the occupant side of the bolster body 1, and is formed with a material having higher rigidity strength than the material of the bolster body 1. The body cover 5 is covered so that rear side region 1B of the bolster body 1 is plastically deformed with a predetermined deformation amount.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle knee bolster, and in particular, when an occupant seated in a front seat moves forward and the knee of the occupant hits strongly, the impact on the knee is buffered and the occupant's hips are supported. The present invention relates to a vehicle knee bolster that restricts forward movement of the vehicle.

  The automobile is equipped with a seat belt and a knee bolster together with an airbag in order to reduce the injury value of the chest by restraining the knee and the waist in the event of a collision. In the event of a collision, the seat belt restrains the occupant's body seated in the front seat and alleviates the impact together with the airbag. In order to enhance the effect, the seat belt as shown in FIGS. 3 (A) and 3 (B) A vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided.

  The vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided inside the instrument panel 2 so as to correspond to each of the knees M1 of the occupant M seated in a driver seat (not shown) which is a front seat disposed in the passenger compartment. It has been. Specifically, the vehicle knee bolster 1 is mounted on a bracket 31 that is fixed so as to protrude toward the occupant side with respect to an instrument panel reinforcement 3 that is spanned between left and right front pillars (not shown). It is fixed.

  Such a vehicle knee bolster 1 is a thick block-shaped molded product made of a urethane material, and as shown in FIG. 4A, the lower side retracts so that the shin M2 of the occupant M seated in the driver's seat does not hit. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). That is, the vehicle knee bolster 1 is formed such that the upper side 1a protrudes toward the occupant side so that the gap between the knee M1 of the occupant M sitting on the driver's seat is the narrowest, and the lower side 1b from the upper side 1a. It is formed so as to gradually approach the instrument panel reinforcement side as it goes to.

  The instrument panel 2 provided in the vehicle interior so as to cover the vehicle knee bolster 1 is generally an upper instrument panel upper 2A as shown in FIGS. 4B and 5. And a lower half instrument panel lower 2B, which are joined by a resin clip 4. This resin clip 4 presses a locking piece 4a having an elastic force that can be bent by an external pressure into the clip hole 2a of the instrument panel 2, whereby the locking piece 4a is locked to the clip hole 2a. It is configured to be. In addition, the joint between the instrument panel upper 2A and the instrument panel lower 2B may be screwed in addition to the clip fastening.

  When the position of the clip stop or screw stop of the instrument panel 2 is the position where the vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided, the clip stop or screw stop portion of the instrument panel 2 is placed on the vehicle knee bolster 1. The vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided with a recess 1c that avoids the portion.

  Also, the instrument panel 2 is provided with various operation switches and the like at locations where the passenger M seated in the driver's seat can easily operate, but the position of the panel to which such operation switches and the like are attached. Is located at the position where the vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided, the portion to which the operation switch or the like is attached projects toward the vehicle knee bolster 1, so that the vehicle knee bolster 1 is the same as described above. Is provided with a recess 1d for avoiding the portion.

JP 2007-176268 A

  However, since the vehicle knee bolster 1 described in the background art described above is a thick block-shaped molded product made of a urethane material, the occupant M seated in the front seat moves forward when the vehicle collides. When the knee M1 strongly hits the upper side 1a formed thinly through the instrument panel 2, there is a difficulty that the portion easily collapses.

  Further, the vehicle knee bolster 1 described in the background art described above is attached to the instrument panel 2 when the position of the clip stop or screw stop of the instrument panel 2 is the position where the vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided. When the position of the operation switch or the like is the position where the vehicle knee bolster 1 is provided, the occupants seated in the front seat at the time of a vehicle collision are provided with the recesses 1c and 1d that avoid that portion. When the knee M1 of the occupant M strongly hits the instrument panel 2 due to the movement of the M forward, there is a part where the clip or screw fixing part or the operation switch of the instrument panel 2 is attached. Since it is hard, there existed a difficulty that the part of the recessed part 1c, 1d became easy to break.

  When the vehicle knee bolster 1 collapses or cracks in this way, the vehicle knee bolster 1 has a reduced load resistance and cannot effectively exhibit the shock absorbing performance of the original impact and the performance of restricting the movement of the waist forward. .

  The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional difficulty, and can prevent a decrease in load resistance by suppressing the collapse and cracking of the front surface facing the knee of the occupant seated in the front seat. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle knee bolster.

  A vehicle knee bolster according to a first aspect for achieving the above-described object is provided inside an instrument panel provided in front of a front seat arranged in a passenger compartment, and is seated in the front seat at the time of a vehicle collision. The vehicle knee bolster blocks the impact of the occupant's waist when the occupant's knee hits strongly as a result of the forward movement of the occupant. The bolster body that is formed into a shape and cushions by plastic deformation of the impact on the knee, and the front side part that is the occupant side of the bolster body is covered, and is formed of a material having higher rigidity than the material of the bolster body The main body cover is covered so that the rear side portion of the bolster main body is plastically deformed by a predetermined deformation amount.

  According to the vehicle knee bolster which is such a first aspect, when the occupant seated in the front seat moves forward and the knee of the occupant hits when the vehicle collides, the knee first hits the main body cover strongly. The bolster body that is formed in a block shape with a plastically deformable material does not plastically deform the front side portion that is covered with the body cover that is formed of a material having higher rigidity and strength than the material of the bolster body. The rear side portion that is not covered with the main body cover can be plastically deformed. Although the amount of movement of the knee that moves forward varies depending on the vehicle type, the main body cover can be covered so that the rear side part of the bolster main body is plastically deformed with a predetermined deformation amount. Can be made.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle knee bolster according to the first aspect, the bolster body is fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement provided inside the instrument panel.
According to the vehicle knee bolster according to the second aspect as described above, the instrument panel reinforcement reliably prevents the knee from moving more than necessary, and the bolster body and the body cover face the occupant's knee seated in the front seat. The front surface can be prevented from collapsing and cracking.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle knee bolster according to the first aspect or the second aspect, the main body cover is formed along the shape of the front portion of the bolster main body.
According to the vehicle knee bolster which is the third aspect as described above, the position of the bolster main body where the cover end surface of the main body cover is located can be a pressure receiving area, so that it is opposed to the knee of the occupant seated in the front seat without fail. The front surface of the bolster body can be prevented from collapsing and cracking.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle knee bolster according to any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, the size of the main body cover is such that when the knee strongly hits the main body cover, the bolster main body Is set to have a pressure-receiving area that undergoes plastic deformation with a predetermined deformation amount.
According to the vehicle knee bolster that is the fourth aspect as described above, since it is possible to plastically deform the bolster body at a portion where the pressure receiving area of the bolster body is large, the amount of deformation of the bolster body can be reduced. The load resistance can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle knee bolster according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the material of the bolster body is a urethane material.
According to the vehicle knee bolster according to the fifth aspect as described above, when the occupant seated in the front seat moves forward and the knee of the occupant hits the vehicle, it is compressed and crushed and deformed. It is possible to efficiently buffer the impact of the passenger and to restrict the movement of the occupant's waist forward.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle knee bolster according to the fifth aspect, the material of the main body cover is polypropylene.
According to the vehicle knee bolster which is such a sixth aspect, since the rigidity strength is higher than that of the urethane material, the main body cover is covered without reliably plastically deforming the front side portion where the main body cover is covered. It becomes possible to plastically deform the rear part that is not present.

  According to the vehicle knee bolster of the present invention, the front side of the bolster body on the occupant side of the bolster body is formed with a narrow upper side, and the front seat on the occupant side of the bolster body is provided with a recess. Since the collapse and cracking of the front surface facing the knee of the occupant seated in the seat can be reliably suppressed, a decrease in load resistance can be prevented.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a vehicle knee bolster according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the knee load-displacement characteristic in the knee bolster for vehicles of this invention, and the conventional knee bolster. (A) is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an instrument panel provided with a vehicle knee bolster, and (B) is a relationship between a vehicle knee bolster fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement and a knee of an occupant seated in the front seat FIG. It is a figure which shows the conventional vehicle knee bolster, (A) is the perspective view seen from the front side site | part used as a passenger | crew, (B) is the perspective view seen from the back side site | part used as the instrument panel reinforcement side. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the conventional vehicle knee bolster.

Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out a vehicle knee bolster of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Since the bolster body of the vehicle knee bolster of the present invention has the same shape as a conventional vehicle knee bolster, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and the description is omitted. In addition to the bolster body, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements throughout the present specification.
Like the conventional vehicle knee bolster, the vehicle knee bolster of the present invention is provided inside the instrument panel provided in front of the driver seat, which is the front seat arranged in the passenger compartment, and is used as a front seat in the event of a vehicle collision. When the seated occupant moves forward and the occupant's knee hits strongly, an impact on the knee is buffered and movement of the occupant's waist forward is restricted.

As shown in FIG. 1, such a vehicle knee bolster is formed in a thick block shape with a plastically deformable material, and a bolster body 1 for buffering an impact on a knee by plastic deformation, and a bolster body 1 The main body cover 5 is formed of a material that is covered with the front portion 1A on the occupant side and is higher in rigidity than the material of the bolster main body 1.
The bolster body 1 is clipped with a resin clip 6 to a bracket 31 fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement 3. The clip 6 made of resin is engaged with the clip piece 31a by press-fitting an engagement piece 6a having an elastic force that can be bent by an external pressure into the clip hole 31a provided in the bracket 31. It is configured to be stopped.

  The body cover 5 is covered so that the rear side portion 1B of the bolster body 1 is plastically deformed with a predetermined deformation amount. That is, the main body cover 5 is formed in a concave shape so as to cover the front side portion 1A of the bolster main body 1, and plastic deformation occurs from the location of the bolster main body 1 where the cover end surface 5a is located to the root 1e of the bolster main body 1. It will be. Here, the root 1 e of the bolster body 1 refers to a place where the bolster body 1 is in contact with a bracket 31 fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement 3. Therefore, since the pressure receiving area of the bolster body 1 can be changed by changing the location of the bolster body 1 where the cover end surface 5a of the body cover 5 is located, the rear portion 1B of the bolster body 1 is plastically deformed by a predetermined deformation amount. Can do.

  In addition, the instrument panel 2 in which the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′ of the present invention is provided is, for example, a urethane foam layer on a synthetic resin panel substrate formed in a required shape from polypropylene (PP) or the like. It is a laminated structure provided with a skin made of TPO (Thermoplastic Olefin) through (not shown). The reason why the foam layer is interposed between the skin for improving the appearance and the panel base material is to serve as a safety pad.

The operation of the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′ of the present invention configured as described above will be described below.
When the occupant seated in the driver's seat moves forward in the event of a vehicle collision, the lap of the occupant strongly hits the instrument panel lower 2B of the instrument panel 2, so that the instrument panel lower 2B is deformed to the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′. It will be a strong hit. At this time, since the knee strongly hits the main body cover 5 via the instrument panel lower 2B, the bolster main body 1 formed in a block shape with a plastically deformable material has higher rigidity than the material of the bolster main body 1. It becomes possible to plastically deform the rear side portion 1B not covered with the main body cover 5 without plastically deforming the front side portion 1A covered with the main body cover 5 formed of the material.

  Therefore, even if the upper side 1a of the front portion 1A that is the occupant side of the bolster body 1 is formed thin, it can be prevented from collapsing due to the strong contact with the knee. Even if the recesses 1c and 1d are provided in the front side part 1A, the parts where the clip and screw fixing parts and operation switches of the instrument panel 2 are attached to the parts of the recesses 1c and 1d are strong. It is possible to prevent cracking by hitting.

  Further, although the amount of movement of the knee that moves forward varies depending on the vehicle type, the body cover 5 can be covered so that the rear side portion 1B of the bolster body 1 is plastically deformed with a predetermined deformation amount. It can correspond to a vehicle.

  Therefore, even if the upper side 1a of the front side portion 1A that becomes the occupant side of the bolster body 1 is formed thin, and the recesses 1c and 1d are provided in the front side portion 1A that becomes the occupant side of the bolster main body 1. Since the front surface facing the occupant's knee seated in the front seat can be reliably prevented from collapsing or cracking, it is possible to prevent a decrease in load resistance. Therefore, the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′ of the present invention can effectively exhibit the performance of buffering the impact on the knee and the performance of regulating the movement of the waist forward.

  Since the bolster body 1 is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement 3 provided inside the instrument panel 2 in the same manner as the conventional vehicle knee bolster 1, the instrument panel reinforcement 3 is more than necessary for the knee. The movement can be reliably prevented, and the bolster main body 1 and the main body cover 5 can suppress the collapse and cracking of the front surface facing the knee of the occupant seated in the front seat.

  Moreover, the main body cover 5 is good to be formed along the shape of 1 A of front side site | parts of the bolster main body 1. FIG. By forming the main body cover 5 along the shape of the front portion 1A of the bolster main body 1, the location of the bolster main body 1 where the cover end surface 5a of the main body cover 5 is located can be used as a pressure receiving area. It is possible to suppress the collapse and cracking of the front surface of the bolster body 1 facing the knees of the occupant seated in the seat.

  Furthermore, the size of the main body cover 5 may be set so as to have a pressure receiving area that causes the bolster main body 1 to be plastically deformed by a predetermined deformation amount when the knee hits the main body cover 5 strongly. The size of the main body cover 5 is set so as to have a pressure-receiving area that causes the bolster main body 1 to be plastically deformed with a predetermined amount of deformation when the knee hits the main body cover 5 strongly. 1 can be plastically deformed at a portion having a large pressure receiving area, so that the amount of deformation of the bolster body 1 can be reduced, so that the load resistance of the bolster body 1 can be improved.

  When the material of the main body cover 5 is, for example, a urethane material, a synthetic resin that is easy to follow the uneven shape and has a higher strength than the urethane material is preferable, and a polypropylene resin is more preferable. The polypropylene resin is more preferable because it is lightweight and excellent in strength, and the body cover 5 can be easily joined to the bolster body 1 even in adhesion or plastic molding. That is, when the material of the bolster body 1 is made of urethane, the occupant seated on the front seat moves forward and the knee of the occupant hits and is compressed and crushed and deformed. It is possible to efficiently cushion the impact of the passenger and to restrict the movement of the occupant's waist forward. In this case, the material of the main body cover 5 is made of synthetic resin, so the rigidity strength is higher than the urethane material. The rear side portion 1B not covered with the main body cover 5 can be plastically deformed without plastically deforming the front side portion 1A covered with the main body cover 5.

When the material of the bolster body 1 is, for example, a urethane material, the material of the body cover 5 is not limited to the synthetic resin as described above, and the front side portion 1A covered with the body cover 5 is securely plastically deformed. Instead, metal or wood may be used as long as the rear part 1B not covered with the main body cover 5 can be plastically deformed.

  Next, a comparative test between the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′ of the present invention and the conventional vehicle knee bolster 1 was performed, which will be described below with reference to FIG. 2. The comparative test is an impactor test that simulates the input from the occupant's knee during a vehicle collision using a dummy doll that simulates the occupant placed on the vehicle seat, and is analyzed using collision analysis software. . The bolster body 1 of the vehicle knee bolster 1 'according to the present invention has the same shape as the conventional vehicle knee bolster 1 and is made of a urethane material. The material of the main body cover 5 is polypropylene. FIG. 2 is a graph in which the horizontal axis represents the deformation amount (crush amount) of the vehicle knee bolster, and the vertical axis represents the knee load received by the occupant's knee, where C1 is a curve showing the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′ of the present invention, C2 is a curve showing the conventional vehicle knee bolster 1. As a comparison result, it was confirmed that the load resistance of the vehicle knee bolster 1 ′ according to the present invention is higher than that of the conventional vehicle knee bolster 1.

  The vehicle knee bolster 1 'of the present invention is provided inside the instrument panel 2 on the driver's seat side of the automobile. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be on the passenger seat side as long as it can be installed. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to any vehicle in which an occupant can sit in the front seat if it can be installed.

  Although the present invention has been described with the specific embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and is known so far as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved. It goes without saying that any configuration can be adopted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 '…… Nee bolster for vehicles of the present invention 1 …… Nee bolster body 1A …… Front side part 1B …… Rear side part 2 …… Instrument panel 3 …… Instrument panel reinforcement 5 …… Main body cover

Claims (6)

When an occupant seated in the front seat moves forward and the knee of the occupant hits strongly during a vehicle collision, provided inside the instrument panel provided in front of the front seat in the passenger compartment In addition, in the vehicle knee bolster that buffers the impact on the knee and restricts the movement of the occupant's waist forward,
A bolster body that is formed into a block shape with a plastically deformable material and cushions the plastic arm by shock-transforming the impact on the knee;
The bolster body is covered with a front side portion that is the occupant side, and is composed of a body cover that is formed of a material having higher rigidity and strength than the material of the bolster body,
The vehicle body bolster, wherein the body cover is covered so that a rear side portion of the bolster body is plastically deformed by a predetermined deformation amount.   The vehicle bolster according to claim 1, wherein the bolster body is fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement provided inside the instrument panel.   The vehicle body bolster according to claim 1, wherein the main body cover is formed along a shape of the front side portion of the bolster main body.   The size of the main body cover is set so as to have a pressure receiving area that causes the bolster main body to be plastically deformed by the predetermined deformation amount when the knee hits the main body cover strongly. The vehicle knee bolster according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The vehicle knee bolster according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a material of the bolster body is a urethane material.   6. The vehicle knee bolster according to claim 5, wherein the material of the main body cover is polypropylene.

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