JP2017039402A - Vehicle footrest structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a vehicle footrest structure which secures the ease of getting on and off a vehicle without complicating a seat cushion structure and achieves improvement of car sickness inhibitory effect and impact absorption performance during a collision.SOLUTION: A footrest 42 is provided at a vehicle front side of a seat cushion 20 of a front passenger seat 16. The footrest 42 includes: a support mechanism 49 which is formed including a pair of left and right arms 48; and a footrest part 50 supported by tips of the arms 48. The arms 48 may be stored in a storage part 40 formed at a vehicle body floor side. Further, each arm 48 may rotate around a base end part thereof in a predetermined range. The base end part side of the arm 48 is deformed or the like to absorb collision energy during a collision.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a footrest structure for a vehicle.

  In advanced driving assistance vehicles including automatic driving, it is considered effective to fix the body with a footrest as a countermeasure against car sickness during automatic driving.

  Here, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle seat applicable to this need. Briefly, the vehicle seat includes a support member formed in a U shape in a plan view extending from the seat cushion portion to the front side of the seat, and a footrest portion is attached to the horizontal bar portion of the support member. It has been. The support member can be stored on the seat cushion portion side. Thereby, while being able to use a footrest part according to a passenger | crew's physique, a support member can be made not to become obstructive at the time of boarding / alighting. Furthermore, the footrest portion is disposed at a position separated from the front plate portion such as the toe board and the dashboard toward the vehicle rear side. As a result, even if the front plate part retreats at the time of a collision, it does not come into contact with the footrest part, or even if it comes into contact, the collision energy is absorbed by the deformation of the front plate part so far, and the impact acting on the occupant's feet Is alleviated.

JP-A-10-323258

  However, in the case of the configuration described in Patent Document 1, since the footrest portion is connected to the seat cushion portion via the support member, the structure of the seat cushion portion is complicated. Further, at the time of a frontal collision, an inertial force toward the front side of the vehicle acts on the footrest part. Therefore, if the footrest part is simply disposed at a position separated from the front plate part toward the rear side of the vehicle, the inertial force There is a possibility that the reaction force from the footrest portion to the occupant's foot due to the above cannot be fully absorbed. Therefore, the prior art has room for improvement in these respects.

  In consideration of the above-mentioned fact, the present invention secures a good boarding / exiting property without causing complication of the seat cushion structure, and can improve a vehicle sickness suppressing effect and an impact absorbing performance at the time of a collision. Is the purpose.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a footrest structure for a vehicle which is supported so as to be rotatable about a footrest portion for placing a foot of an occupant and a rotation shaft disposed at a predetermined position of a vehicle body floor and the foot. A support having an arm that supports the mounting portion and is rotated between a storage position stored on the vehicle body floor and a standing position standing on the vehicle body floor and held at a predetermined or arbitrary rotation position. A mechanism and shock absorbing means that is provided on at least one of the footrest and the support mechanism and absorbs energy by deformation or by a damper by a load input to the footrest during a collision.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the occupant does not use the footrest portion, the arm of the support mechanism is positioned at the storage position set on the vehicle body floor. Therefore, the arm is stored on the vehicle body floor. Therefore, the arm does not get in the way when getting on and off.

  On the other hand, when the occupant uses the footrest, the arm in the storage position is rotated around the rotation axis to hold the arm at a predetermined or arbitrary rotation position. Thus, the arm and the footrest can be held at a position desired by the occupant in accordance with the physique and posture of the occupant. As a result, for example, in an advanced driving assistance vehicle, it is possible to fix the body with the footrest part during automatic driving, and vehicle sickness is suppressed.

  Furthermore, since the arm of the support mechanism is configured to rotate around the rotation axis provided on the vehicle body floor side, the seat cushion is not complicated.

  Here, when a collision occurs, the occupant attempts to move inertially, so a relatively large load may be input from the occupant's feet to the footrest. In such a case, the energy of the shock absorbing means provided on at least one of the footrest and the support mechanism is absorbed by deformation or by the damper.

  As described above, the vehicle footrest structure according to the present invention according to the first aspect of the present invention ensures good boarding / exiting performance without complicating the seat cushion structure, and also has a vehicle sickness suppressing effect and impact absorption at the time of collision. It has an excellent effect that the performance can be improved.

1 is an overall perspective view in a vehicle cabin to which a vehicle footrest structure according to a first embodiment is applied in a normal posture. It is a whole perspective view in the vehicle passenger room where the footrest structure for vehicles shown in Drawing 1 was applied at the time of reclining. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the vehicle footrest structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is a whole perspective view of the locking member which comprises the footrest structure for vehicles shown by FIG. It is sectional drawing of the locking member shown by FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view of the footrest structure for vehicles which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a vehicle footrest structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. In these drawings, an arrow FR appropriately shown indicates the vehicle front side, an arrow UP indicates the vehicle upper side, and an arrow IN indicates the vehicle width direction inner side.

(Overall configuration in vehicle cabin)
First, the overall configuration in the vehicle cabin will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a driver's seat 14 is disposed on the front right side, a passenger seat 16 is disposed on the front left side, and a rear seat 18 is disposed on both rear sides in the passenger compartment 12 of the vehicle 10 so that a passenger can be seated. .

  The passenger seat 16 includes a seat cushion 20 on which an occupant is seated, a seat back 22 that is tiltably provided at the rear end of the seat cushion 20 and supports the upper body of the occupant, and a headrest 24 that supports the head of the occupant. , Including.

  The seat cushion 20 is supported by a floor panel 34 (see FIG. 5) described later via a slide mechanism (not shown). Thereby, the passenger seat 16 can slide within a predetermined range in the vehicle front-rear direction along the slide rail. On the other hand, the seat back 22 is supported by the reclining mechanism 26 so as to be tiltable with respect to the seat cushion 20. The headrest 24 is provided at the upper end portion of the seat back 22 and can be adjusted in the vehicle vertical direction and can be removed.

  On the vehicle front side of the passenger seat 16 described above, an instrument panel 28 that is an interior member is disposed so as to be separated in the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, on the upper surface of the floor panel 34 positioned between the passenger seat 16 and the instrument panel 28, for example, a raising material 36 formed of a thermoplastic resin foam such as polypropylene, polystyrene, or polyethylene is placed. The height of the vehicle floor is adjusted. Furthermore, a carpet 38 made of a nonwoven fabric or the like is laid on the upper surface of the raising material 36 as an example. The floor panel 34, the raising member 36 and the carpet 38 correspond to the “body floor” in the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the raising member 36 and the carpet 38 are formed with a storage portion 40 formed in a substantially U shape with the vehicle rear side opened in a plan view. The storage portion 40 is configured by a pair of left and right vertical grooves 44 that extend along the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a horizontal groove 46 that connects the front ends of the vertical grooves 44 in the vehicle width direction. That is, the storage part 40 is configured by a concave groove.

  In the storage section 40 described above, a footrest 42 for storing a foot of an occupant seated on the passenger seat 16 is stored. First, a schematic configuration of the footrest 42 will be described. The footrest 42 includes a support mechanism 49 that includes a pair of left and right arms 48 that are spaced apart in the vehicle width direction, and a columnar footrest portion 50 that is supported by these arms 48. Yes. The pair of left and right arms 48 are accommodated in the vertical groove 44 described above, and the footrest portion 50 is accommodated in the horizontal groove 46. However, the footrest portion 50 is not completely stored in the lateral groove 46, and the upper half is exposed from the carpet 38 (see FIG. 1).

  The footrest portion 50 is made of a foam material such as urethane foam, but may be made of a resin material having a predetermined hardness. For example, when the columnar footrest portion is viewed in the axial direction, the structure is a honeycomb structure, and when the columnar footrest portion is axially viewed, the first radial ribs are erected and adjacent to each other. A configuration in which a second rib that connects the one rib in the circumferential direction is formed can be employed. Thus, the footrest portion 50 constitutes one of the “impact absorbing means” in the present invention. A core member 62 made of a material having higher strength and rigidity than the footrest portion 50 is inserted through the shaft core portion of the footrest portion 50.

(Detailed structure of the support mechanism 49 of the footrest 42)
Next, the structure of the support mechanism 49 of the footrest 42 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the arm 48 includes a main body 58 made of a long plate material and bent at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction. The distal ends of the left and right arms 48 are welded to the outer peripheral surface of the core member 62. Thus, the tip portions of the pair of left and right arms 48 are connected to each other in the vehicle width direction by the footrest portion 50. In addition, the connection structure of the arm 48 and the footrest part 50 may be another structure. For example, the tip portions of the pair of left and right arms 48 are arranged outside the both ends in the axial direction of the footrest portion 50, and both end portions in the axial direction of the core member 62 are protruded more in the axial direction than those shown in FIG. The projecting end may be joined to the tip of the arm 48.

  In addition, a disc-shaped shaft support portion 60 is formed integrally with the base end portion of the main body portion 58. Note that the outer diameter of the shaft support portion 60 is set larger than the width dimension of the main body portion 58. A shaft support hole 61 formed of a circular hole is formed in the shaft core portion of the shaft support portion 60. A straight rod-like connecting member 52 is disposed between the shaft support portions 60 of the left and right arms 48. The outer diameter of the connecting member 52 is set larger than the inner diameter of the shaft support hole 61. Further, female screws 53 are formed coaxially with the shaft support hole 61 at both ends in the axial direction of the connecting member 52. On the other hand, an L-shaped base member 54 is disposed on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the shaft support portion 60. The base member 54 includes a bottom wall portion 76 and a side wall portion 78. The bottom wall portion 76 is fixed to the floor panel 34 by fixing means (not shown) (see FIG. 5). A bolt insertion hole 82 is formed in the upper portion of the side wall portion 78 coaxially with the shaft support hole 61 of the arm 48. Then, a stepped bolt 92 as a rotation shaft is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 82 and the shaft support hole 61 from the outside of the side wall portion 78 of the base member 54, and is further screwed into the female screw 53. Thus, the shaft support hole 61 of the arm 48 is pivotally supported by the stepped portion of the stepped bolt 92 in a state where the connecting member 52 is disposed between the shaft support portions 60 of the pair of left and right arms 48.

  In addition, a locking hole 64 including a first locking hole 66, a second locking hole 68, a third locking hole 70, and a fourth locking hole 72 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the shaft supporting hole 61 in the shaft supporting portion 60. They are formed on the same circumference. The first locking hole 66 is used to fix the footrest 42 at a position where the footrest 42 is stored in the storage unit 40. Further, the fourth locking hole 72 is used for fixing the arm 48 of the footrest 42 at the raised position. Furthermore, the second locking hole 68 and the third locking hole 70 are used for fixing at an intermediate position between the storage position and the standing position.

  Furthermore, a notch 74 as an energy absorbing structure is formed on a part of the outer periphery of the above-described shaft support 60. The notch 74 cuts radially inward from the outer periphery of the shaft support 60 and communicates with the shaft support hole 61. The notch 74 is disposed on the opposite side of the first locking hole 66 in the radial direction with respect to the shaft support hole 61 (the rear side of the vehicle in the standing position of the arm 48). Thus, when a load generated by the forward movement due to the inertia force of the occupant is input to the footrest portion 50, the load is transmitted to the shaft support portion 60 via the main body portion 58, and the notch portion 74 is plastically deformed so as to widen the notch width. By doing so, predetermined energy absorption is performed.

  Further, the footrest 42 described above includes a lock mechanism 56 for holding (fixing) the arm 48 (and the footrest portion 50) at a predetermined rotation position. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the lock mechanism 56 includes members such as a mounting plate 98, a lock pin 90, a support portion 100, a lever 102, and a spring material 104.

  The mounting plate 98 is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape. A pin insertion hole 108 is formed in the middle portion of the attachment plate 98 in the longitudinal direction, and a pair of attachment holes 110 and 112 are provided on both front and rear sides of the attachment plate 98 with the pin insertion hole 108 interposed therebetween. Is formed. Correspondingly, a pin insertion hole 84 is formed coaxially with the pin insertion hole 108 at the lower portion of the side wall portion 78 of the base member 54 described above. Similarly, a pair of mounting holes 86 and 88 are formed on the lower portion of the side wall portion 78 coaxially with the pair of mounting holes 110 and 112. The pair of bolts 94 and 96 are inserted into the pair of mounting holes 110 and 112 of the mounting plate 98 and the pair of mounting holes 86 and 88 of the side wall portion 78 of the base member 54, and then screwed into a weld nut (not shown). Thus, the attachment plate 98 is attached to the side wall portion 78 of the base member 54. Further, a cylindrical lock pin 90 having a tip end formed in a substantially hemispherical shape is inserted into the pin insertion hole 108 of the mounting plate 98 and the pin insertion hole 84 of the side wall portion 78 of the base member 54.

  The lock pin 90 is accommodated in the support part 100 formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape so as to be movable in the axial direction. Between the bottom part of the support part 100 and the bottom face of the lock pin 90, a spring material 104 composed of a compression coil spring is interposed. For this reason, the lock pin 90 is always pressed and biased in a direction protruding from the support portion 100. Thereby, the tip end portion of the lock pin 90 is selectively inserted (engaged) into any of the first locking hole 66, the second locking hole 68, the third locking hole 70, and the fourth locking hole 72. It is configured to be.

  Furthermore, a rectangular opening 116 is formed along the axis of the upper peripheral wall of the support portion 100 described above. The main body 122 of the lever 102 is inserted into the opening 116. Specifically, the lever 102 includes a prismatic main body portion 122 and a block-shaped operation portion 124 provided at the distal end portion (upper end portion) of the main body portion 122. The main body 122 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the lock pin 90 on the base end side. Therefore, the lever 102 is integrated with the lock pin 90. A main body 122 erected from the base end side of the lock pin 90 is erected through the opening 116. Since the spring material 104 is interposed in the support portion 100, it resists the locking position where one side surface of the main body portion 122 abuts on one short side portion of the opening portion 116 and the biasing force of the spring material 104. Thus, the lever 102 is movable in the vehicle width direction between the other side surface of the main body portion 122 and the unlocking position where the other side surface of the opening portion 116 abuts against the other short side portion.

  When the main body 122 is in the locked position, the distal end portion of the lock pin 90 goes to one of the first locking hole 66, the second locking hole 68, the third locking hole 70, and the fourth locking hole 72. The arm 48 is selectively inserted (engaged), and in this state, the arm 48 is not rotatable around the stepped bolt 92. On the other hand, when the main body 122 is in the unlocked position, the distal end portion of the lock pin 90 is connected to the first locking hole 66, the second locking hole 68, the third locking hole 70, and the fourth locking hole 72. In this state, the arm 48 can be rotated around the stepped bolt 92.

(Function and effect)
Next, the operation and effect of the vehicle footrest structure of this embodiment will be described.

  The state shown in FIG. 1 is a use state of the footrest 42 in the normal posture. In this state, the lock pin 90 is engaged with the first locking hole 66 of the arm 48. Further, the footrest 42 is stored in the storage portion 40, and the upper half of the footrest portion 50 is exposed from the carpet 38. In this use state, the footrest portion 50 is fixed at a position where the foot joint can be placed at an angle at which the ankle joint does not buckle or buckle. As a result, for example, in an advanced driving support vehicle, it is possible to fix the body with the footrest portion 50 during automatic driving, and vehicle sickness is suppressed.

  Here, when a frontal collision occurs with the foot placed on the footrest portion 50, a load generated by the forward movement due to the inertial force of the occupant at that time is applied to the footrest portion 50. For this reason, the footrest 50 is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the lateral groove 46 of the raising member 36. As a result, if the raising material 36 is made of a foam material or the like, it is elastically deformed, and if the raising material 36 is constituted as a resin member with a built-in resin rib, it is crushed. As a result, energy at the time of collision is absorbed. Since the raising material 36 is also made of a foam material or the like, the raising material 36 is also elastically deformed to absorb a predetermined energy. Further, when a load more than that is input to the arm 48, the shaft support portion 60 is plastically deformed at the notch portion 74, and further energy absorption is performed.

  Further, when getting on and off, the arm 48 that is long in the vehicle front-rear direction is accommodated in the vertical groove 44 of the accommodating portion 40, so the arm 48 does not get in the way.

  On the other hand, the state shown in FIG. 2 is a use state of the footrest 42 at the time of reclining. To achieve this state, the lever 102 is moved from the locked position of the opening 116 to the unlocked position against the urging force of the spring material 104, and then the lever 48 is rotated around the stepped bolt 92. When the second locking hole 68, the third locking hole 70, or the fourth locking hole 72 corresponds to the lock pin 90, the lever 102 is returned to the locked position by the biasing force of the spring material 104. Thus, the arm 48 and thus the footrest portion 50 can be held at a desired rotational position. For example, when the arm 48 is engaged with the fourth locking hole 72, the arm 48 and the footrest portion 50 are in an upright state with respect to the floor panel 34 at approximately 90 °. In this case, since the footrest portion 50 is fixed at a position that supports the sole of the occupant in the resting position, by placing the foot on the footrest portion 50, the shin portion of the occupant is extended forward in the floor. Can fix the ankle joint. The arm 48 and the footrest portion 50 can be adjusted to any selectable rotation angle according to the physique and preference of the occupant.

  When a frontal collision occurs in this state, the occupant tries to move inertially toward the front side of the vehicle, and a large load is input to the footrest portion 50. In this case, the load input to the footrest portion 50 is transmitted to the shaft support portion 60 via the main body portion 58 of the arm 48. For this reason, the notch 74 communicated with the shaft support hole 61 is plastically deformed so as to be expanded, and energy at the time of collision is absorbed at that time. When the plastic deformation of the notch 74 further proceeds, the shaft support hole 61 of the arm 48 is detached from the step of the stepped bolt 92.

  Furthermore, since the footrest 42 of the present embodiment is configured to be rotated on the floor panel 34 side, the seat cushion 20 is not complicated.

  As described above, the footrest structure for a vehicle according to the present embodiment ensures good boarding / exiting performance without complicating the seat cushion structure, and also improves vehicle sickness suppression effect and impact absorption performance at the time of collision. Can be planned.

Second Embodiment
Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the footrest structure for a vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same component as 1st Embodiment mentioned above, the same number is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of a main part of the footrest structure for a vehicle according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the present embodiment is characterized in that a damper 128 as an impact absorbing means is used as the impact absorbing means instead of the notch 74 of the first embodiment.

  The damper 128 includes a cylinder 130 and a piston rod 132 that moves in the axial direction with respect to the cylinder 130. A mounting portion 134 to the vehicle body is provided at the base end portion of the cylinder 130. In FIG. 6, the attachment portion 134 is schematically drawn in a ring plate shape, but in reality, the base end portion of the cylinder 130 is supported so as to be swingable around the support shaft, or supported swingably by a ball joint. Has been. In addition, a U-shaped clevis 136 is attached to the tip of the piston rod 132 in the axial direction in a plan view. A main body 58 of the arm 48 is inserted and disposed between both side portions of the clevis 136, and both are coupled to each other by a coupling pin (not shown) so as to be relatively rotatable.

  In addition, the footrest part 50 is used similarly also in 2nd Embodiment.

(Function and effect)
According to the above configuration, when a frontal collision occurs when the pair of left and right arms 48 and the footrest portion 50 have a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the floor panel 34 of the vehicle 10, the load generated by the forward movement due to the occupant's inertial force. Is input to the footrest unit 50. This load is input to the piston rod 132 of the damper 128 via the footrest 50 and the arm 48. As a result, the piston rod 132 moves in the axial direction into the cylinder 130. At this time, a flow resistance is generated in the movement of the fluid sealed in the cylinder 130, and the energy at the time of collision is converted into the flow resistance and absorbed. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to ensure good boarding / exiting performance without complicating the seat cushion structure, and to improve the vehicle sickness suppressing effect and the impact absorbing performance at the time of collision.

<Supplementary explanation of this embodiment>
In the first and second embodiments described above, the present invention is applied to the passenger seat 16 of the sedan-based vehicle 10. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be applied to the rear seat 18 of the vehicle 10, If the vehicle has a three-row seat, it may be applied to the second-row seat.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shock absorbing means is set for both the footrest portion 50 and the support mechanism 49. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shock absorbing means may be set for only one of them.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the arm 48 is moved at a predetermined rotational position corresponding to the first locking hole 66, the second locking hole 68, the third locking hole 70, and the fourth locking hole 72. Although it was comprised so that it may be hold | maintained, you may make it hold | maintain not only in this but in arbitrary rotation positions. For example, a ratchet tooth is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the shaft support portion formed at the base end portion of the arm, and a lock lever that engages with the ratchet tooth instead of the lock pin 90 is pivotable to the side wall portion 78 of the base member 54. Let me support you. Then, the urging means is urged so that the claw of the lock lever is engaged with the ratchet teeth, and when the lock is released, the lock lever may be forcibly swung. In this way, since the rotation angle of the arm can be made stepless, it is possible to hold the arm at an arbitrary rotation position.

10 Vehicle 34 Floor panel (body floor)
36 Raising material (body floor)
38 Carpet (body floor)
42 Footrest 48 Arm 49 Support mechanism 50 Foot rest (shock absorbing means)
74 Notch (impact absorbing means)
92 Stepped bolt (Rotating shaft)
128 damper (impact absorbing means)

Claims (1)

A footrest part for placing the occupant's feet,
A stowed position that is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft disposed at a predetermined position on the vehicle body floor and supports the footrest, and a standing position that is stood with respect to the vehicle body floor. A support mechanism including an arm that is rotated between and held at a predetermined or arbitrary rotation position;
Shock absorbing means that is provided in at least one of the footrest and the support mechanism and absorbs energy by deformation or by a damper by a load input to the footrest during a collision;
A vehicle footrest structure.