JP2514795Y2 - Car knee protector structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a knee protector structure for an automobile.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in an automobile in general, from the viewpoint of protecting the knees of an occupant in the event of a collision, for example, in Japanese
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 36434, a plate-shaped knee protector is attached to a position in front of the occupant's knees to catch and restrain the occupant's knee part that has jumped forward due to a collision, and absorbs and relieves the impact force. I am trying.

And such a knee protector generally has a structure as shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 15 shows the knee protector 51 for the right knee provided to protect the right knee of the driver in the left-hand drive vehicle.
The knee protector 51 has one end portion 51a connected to a steering support member 55 provided laterally on the vehicle body side through a bracket 52 curved in a substantially U shape, while the other end portion 51a is connected.
Reference numeral b denotes a flange portion 53 formed by bending this into a substantially L shape, and the flange portion 53 is parallel to the vehicle body front-rear direction of the leg member 54 standingly arranged on the vehicle body side to support the steering support member 55. It is fixed to the side surface 54a by welding.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) By the way, according to such a conventional knee protector structure, for example, when the knee portion of the occupant collides with the knee protector 51 at a position near the one end 51a, The impact force is absorbed and relaxed well by the elastic deformation of the substantially U-shaped bracket 52. However, when the knee portion collides with the position near the other end 51b, the other end 51b causes the leg member 54 to move.
The knee protector 51 can take only a small deformation stroke as shown by the chain line in the figure when it receives an impact force, because absorption of the impact force is insufficient and the knee part of the occupant is consequently absorbed. There is room for improvement in terms of occupant knee restraint performance, such as a large initial load being applied to the vehicle.

In view of this, the present invention has a simple structure that reliably reduces the initial load that acts on the occupant's knees during a collision, enhances the occupant's knee restraint performance, and improves its protective function. The purpose was to propose a knee protector structure.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In the present invention, as a concrete means for solving the problem, the occupant's knee is received at the time of a collision at a portion located in front of the occupant's knee seated on the seat in the front part of the vehicle body. In an automobile provided with a knee protector, the knee protector has a bracket that is fixed at one end portion in the vehicle width direction over the entire area in the vertical direction of the one end portion and is displaceable by inputting a predetermined load. While being supported by a steering support member extending in the vehicle width direction via the other end, the other end portion in the vehicle width direction is continuous with the other end portion and is bent into a substantially L shape with respect to the other end portion. The front end of the bent portion is supported by fixing it to the side surface of the leg member for fixing the steering support member to the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, and moreover, the bent portion is fixed to the leg member. It is characterized in that a control portion for adjusting the displacement of the knee protector by being deformed by the input of a predetermined load is provided at a portion located closer to the occupant.

(Operation) Since the present invention has such a configuration, when the knee portion of the occupant collides with the knee protector at the time of a collision, when the collision position is a position close to one end of the knee protector in the vehicle width direction, The knee protector is positively activated by the displacement of the bracket at any position of the one end in the vertical direction and by the deformation of the control part provided at the bent portion when the position is near the other end in the vehicle width direction. By being displaced, the impact force is effectively absorbed and relaxed, and in any case, the initial load acting on the knees of the occupant is reliably reduced.

(Effects of the Invention) Therefore, according to the knee protector structure for an automobile of the present invention, the knee protector is supported by the two members of the bracket provided at one end side in the vehicle width direction and the bent portion provided at the other end side. By doing so, even if the knee of the occupant collides with any position of the knee protector, the knee protector is reliably absorbed and reduced by the appropriate displacement of the knee protector to reduce the initial load acting on the knee of the occupant. It is possible to improve the occupant protection function by the knee protector and to simplify the knee protector structure.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, some preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows an essential part of an automobile equipped with a knee protector 1 to which a knee protector structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. This knee protector 1 is for protecting the right knee of the driver of a left-hand drive vehicle, and as will be described later in detail, one end 1a thereof in the vehicle width direction is attached to the front of the vehicle body via a bracket 2 described later. Is attached to a steering support member 30 provided laterally in the vehicle body, and the other end portion 1b in the vehicle width direction has a bent portion described later on a side surface 31a of a leg member 31 for fixedly supporting the steering support member 30 on the vehicle body side. Three
Is fixed through.

A steering column 33 is provided at a position closer to the outer side of the vehicle than the position where the knee protector 1 is attached to the steering support member 30 via a steering column support member 4.
Is attached. Further, the leg member 31 is arranged with its side surface 31a substantially along the vehicle body front-rear direction,
The lower end portion 31b is fastened and fixed to the vehicle body side member.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the knee protector 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

The knee protector 1 is integrally formed of a steel plate,
The upper part 1c and the lower part 1d are slightly bent to have a substantially flat plate shape as a whole. And this knee protector 1
As shown in FIG. 4, the upper portion 1c is arranged in a descending slope toward the front side of the vehicle body with the upper portion 1c positioned on the vehicle compartment side (passenger side). One end 1a is supported by the steering support member 30 via a bracket 2 described below, and the other end 1b in the vehicle width direction is supported by the leg member 31 via a bent portion 3 described below.

The bracket 2 is formed by bending a steel member having a substantially sectional shape into a substantially U shape in the longitudinal direction. And this bracket 2 has one arm part
2a is welded to the back surface of the one end 1a of the knee protector 1 in the vertical direction, while the other end 2c of the arm 2b is welded to the steering support member 30. It is fixed (see Fig. 1). Therefore,
The bracket 2 is appropriately elastically deformed by receiving a load on the side of the one arm portion 2a, and the movement (displacement) of the knee protector 1 to the front side of the vehicle body can be permitted.

In addition, in this embodiment, from the viewpoint of ensuring the rigidity of the one end portion 1a of the knee protector 1 when the knee portion of the occupant is hit by the collision, the one end portion 1a is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As described above, the reinforcing plate 6 is attached from above the one arm portion 2a of the bracket 2 and the bracket 2
A closed cross-section portion is formed in this portion by utilizing the cross-sectional shape of.

The bent portion 3 is configured by bending and extending a part of the other end portion 1b of the knee protector 1 in the vehicle width direction into a substantially L shape and extending the end portion 3a thereof by welding. Is fixed to the side surface 31a of the leg member 31.

In this case, in this embodiment, the bent portion 3 functions as a control portion in the scope of claims for utility model registration, that is, the knee protector 1 is positively activated when a predetermined load is applied to the knee protector 1. The unique structure is adopted to give the function of displacing it automatically.
That is, in this embodiment, the length of the bent portion 3 between the weld fixing portion 3a and the connecting portion 3b with the knee protector 3 is set to be relatively long, and The curved portion 3 itself is inclined in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (in other words, in the load direction of the impact force due to the collision) (see FIG. 12). Then, the displacement characteristic of the knee protector 1 is adjusted by appropriately setting the length dimension of the bent portion 3 or the inclination angle thereof.

The knee protector structure having such a structure operates as follows. That is, when an occupant jumps forward due to a collision of an automobile and the right knee collides with the knee protector 1, if the collision position is closer to one end 1a of the knee protector 1 in the vehicle width direction, the knee protector rises and falls. At any position in the direction, the bracket 2 is mainly elastically deformed appropriately to allow the knee protector 1 to be displaced to the front side of the vehicle body. It acts so as to restrain the load while reducing the load, and to prevent the knee portion from colliding with another vehicle body side member and being damaged.

On the other hand, when the collision position is closer to the other end 1b of the knee protector 1 in the vehicle width direction, the initial load acting on the knees of the occupant is reduced mainly by the deformation of the knee protector 1 toward the front side of the vehicle body. However, in this embodiment, as described above, since the bending portion 3 is relatively long and is provided in an inclined state, the bending portion 3 impacts the knee protector 1 in a substantially vertical state. The rigidity is low with respect to the force, and as a result, the bending portion 3 is largely deformed as shown by the chain line in FIG. 12, whereby the displacement stroke of the knee protector 1 is also increased. Therefore, compared to the conventional structure (see FIG. 15), the knee protector 1 has a higher impact absorbing and absorbing performance of the impact force, and the initial load acting on the knees of the occupant can be reduced accordingly. .

As described above, in this embodiment, the length of the non-restraint portion of the bent portion 3 supporting the other end 1b of the knee protector 1 is set to be relatively long, and the bent portion 3 itself is impacted. With an extremely simple configuration of inclining with respect to the direction of force, it is possible to reliably reduce the initial load that acts on the occupant's knee while maintaining the restraint performance for the occupant's knee. It is possible to further improve the protection performance against.

Second Embodiment FIGS. 6 to 8 show a knee protector structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the structure of the bent portion 3 for fixing and supporting the other end 1b of the knee protector 1 to the leg member 31, and the other structures are the same as those in the first embodiment. Therefore, only the structure and operation of the bent portion 3 will be described in detail here, and the other portions will be denoted by the reference numerals corresponding to FIGS. 2 to 4 in the above drawings. Therefore, the description thereof will be omitted.

The bent portion 3 is formed by extending a part of the other end 1b of the knee protector 1 as it is and bending it in a direction orthogonal to the side surface 31a of the leg member 31. Therefore,
The extending direction of the bent portion 3 is substantially parallel to the direction of the load applied to the knee protector 1, and the rigidity against the impact force is higher than that of the first embodiment. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to allow the bent portion 3 to have a function as a control portion, a cutout hole 10 of an appropriate size is formed at a position closer to the fixed portion 3a than the bent position, and the bent portion 3 is formed. The rigidity of is adjusted.

By doing so, when an impact force is applied to the knee protector 1 at the time of a collision, as shown in FIG. 13, the bending portion is largely deformed by 3 at the initial stage, and the displacement stroke of the knee protector 1 is increased. The impact force is effectively absorbed and relaxed, and the initial load acting on the knees of the occupant is reduced as much as possible.

Third Embodiment FIGS. 9 to 11 show a knee protector structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the rigidity of the first embodiment is adjusted by inclining the bent portion 3 with respect to the load direction, and the second embodiment is parallel to the load direction. It is a little different from that the rigidity is adjusted by forming a cutout hole in the bent portion 3. That is, in this one, the bent portion 3 is made to extend in parallel to the load applying direction, and the bent portion 3 is set by setting the length dimension in the load applying direction to be longer. The buckling strength of No. 3 is reduced, and the rigidity is adjusted accordingly.

By doing so, even though the bent portion 3 is bent in the load applying direction, the bent portion 3 is largely deformed by the impact force as shown in FIG. 14, and the knee protector is deformed. Increase the displacement stroke of 1. Therefore, the impact force due to the collision is effectively absorbed and relaxed, the initial load acting on the knees of the occupant is reliably reduced, and the protection function thereof is further improved.

The members shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 are designated by the reference numerals corresponding to FIGS. 2 to 4, and the description thereof is omitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part of an automobile equipped with a knee protector structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is II of FIG.
FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a knee protector structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 9 is a front view showing a knee protector structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a view taken in the direction of arrow XX in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is X in FIG.
12 to 14 are views for explaining the deformed state of the bent portion of the knee protector, and FIG. 15 is a view for explaining the structure of the conventional knee protector. 1 …… Knee protector 2 …… Bracket 3 …… Bend 5 …… Steering column 6 …… Reinforcement plate 10 …… Notch hole 30 …… Steering support member 31 …… Legs

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A vehicle having a knee protector for receiving the occupant's knee at the time of a collision at a portion located in front of the occupant's knees seated on the front seat of the vehicle body, wherein the knee protector has one end in the vehicle width direction. In the portion, the one end is fixed over the entire area in the vertical direction and is supported by a steering support member extending in the vehicle width direction via a bracket that is displaceable by inputting a predetermined load, while in the vehicle width direction. A leg member for fixing the steering support member to the vehicle body side at the other end of the steering support member, which is continuous with the other end and is bent substantially L-shaped with respect to the other end. Is supported by being fixed to the side surface of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction, and moreover, the portion of the bent portion located closer to the occupant than the fixed portion of the leg member is deformed by the input of a predetermined load, and the knee plate is deformed. A knee protector structure for automobiles, which is provided with a control section for adjusting the displacement of the protector.