JP2591917Y2 - Knee panel mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a knee panel which is provided in front of a seat of an automobile equipped with an airbag device to prevent a occupant's knee from jumping forward and to absorb the impact energy. Regarding the structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle equipped with an airbag device, a knee panel mounting structure as shown in FIG. 3 has been used. This is an automobile having a structure in which an instrument panel reinforcement (hereinafter referred to as an instrument reinforcing member) 52 for reinforcing an instrument panel 51 is provided on a dash panel 50 of a vehicle body.
Knee panel cushion 53 for absorbing impact energy
Is fixed to an instrument reinforcing member 52, an airbag body 54 is attached to a substantially central portion of the knee panel buffer 53, and a knee panel 56 is attached to a rear end of the knee panel cushioning member 55 via a knee panel reinforcing member 55, so that the knee of the seated person It is arranged so as to face the portion.

As another example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-1
Mounting structure described in 45754 JP and real-Open 1-109462 discloses the like are known. In the former, an impact energy absorbing frame plate is attached to an instrument support member (steering support member) corresponding to the instrument reinforcing member via a bracket, and a lid-shaped lower part is fastened to and supported by the frame plate.
In the latter case, a part of a steering support member corresponding to the instrument reinforcing member is bent and extended, and a knee protector is supported on this.

[0004]

By the way, in the vehicle body structure of a wagon or the like, the instrument reinforcing member is not provided, and the strength member corresponding to the instrument reinforcing member is not arranged at an appropriate position. Is common. Therefore, in such a vehicle type, the knee panel buffer 53 is directly fixed to the dash panel 50 of the vehicle body shown in FIG.
If a structure in which the knee panel 56 is mounted is adopted, the total length of the knee panel buffer 53 becomes too long, so that the amount of energy that can be absorbed greatly differs depending on the direction of the impact force applied to the tip. As a result, there is a possibility that it is not possible to stably catch the occupant's knees protruding forward.

[0005] This is the real-Open No. 1-145754
Also circumstances the same in No. and mounting structure shown in Japanese real-Open No. 1-109462, in the instrument support member and the steering support member body structure not provided in place, each of the mounting structure intact If it is applied, it is necessary to extend the bracket or add a new bracket member to support the lower part or the knee protector. There is a possibility that the knee may not be able to stably catch the forward jump. Further, if the rigidity of the bracket itself is increased in order to avoid this, problems such as an increase in the complexity of the structure as a whole, an increase in weight, and an increase in manufacturing cost are inevitable.

In view of the above, the present invention solves the problem of providing a knee panel mounting structure which can prevent a occupant's knee from protruding forward and stably absorb the impact energy in a vehicle body structure having no instrument reinforcing member. Technical issues to be addressed.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the following knee panel mounting structure was created. Sand
In addition, the present invention is a mounting structure of a knee panel provided in front of a seat of an automobile having an airbag body and configured to receive a forward jump of a knee portion of a seated person, and a front end of the knee panel is fixed to a vehicle body side fixing portion. A pair of left and right support brackets that are coupled and protruded toward the seat with a length suitable for supporting the lower portion of the airbag body at a predetermined position are provided. the front end upper surface air bag book knee panel takes the front portions of the pair of left and right rod-shaped buffer member provided at the rear end <br/> with Rutotomoni the buffer member
It is characterized in that the upper part of the body is supported at a predetermined position .

[0008]

The mounting structure of the knee panel according to the present invention uses a pair of left and right support brackets fixed to the vehicle body and protruding forward of the seat in order to mount the airbag body, and the cushioning member of the knee panel is mounted. Thus, the overall length of the cushioning member can be set short within an allowable range, and the knee panel can be disposed at a suitable position in front of the seated person's knee.

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a mounting structure of a knee panel implemented on a passenger seat side as viewed from the rear of the vehicle, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the mounting structure of the knee panel. As shown in both figures, a front end 3 of the left cowl bracket 2 and a front end 5 of the right cowl bracket 4 are provided at predetermined intervals at rear ends of the dash panel 1 of the vehicle body via bolts 6 and 7, respectively. Installed. A left mounting portion 9 of a leg provided on the left cowl bracket 2 is fastened to a fixing portion 8 provided at a lower portion of the dash panel 1 by a bolt 10, while a right cowl is fixed to a suspension tower fixing portion 11 of the vehicle body. The right mounting seat 12 provided on the bracket 4 is fastened by bolts 13. The cowl brackets 2 and 4 constitute a support bracket referred to in the present invention, and a lower mounting portion 1 for mounting an airbag body 14 and a knee panel assembly 28 described below is provided at each rear end extending in the seat direction.
The upper and lower mounting parts 6 and 17 and the upper mounting parts 18 and 19 are formed in steps parallel to each other and in a symmetrical shape.

An airbag body 14 for expanding when a shock equal to or more than a predetermined value acts on the vehicle to reduce the shock to the occupant is provided at a position corresponding to the lower mounting portions 16 and 17. , 21 are provided, and the mounting bolt 2
4 and 25 are fastened together. Thus, the cowl brackets 2 and 4 and the airbag body 14 are disposed at predetermined positions facing the occupant in an assembled state.

On the other hand, a knee panel assembly 28 provided for protecting the knees of the occupant comprises a pair of left and right knee panel cushions 29, 30 having the same shape and a knee panel reinforcing member 31.
And a knee panel 32. The knee panel shock absorbers 29 and 30 constitute an energy absorbing member and are formed in a rod shape, and are provided with mounting holes 33 and 3 provided at the front end thereof.
By being fastened to the upper mounting portions 18 and 19 of the cowl brackets 2 and 4 by mounting bolts 35 and 36 inserted through the vehicle body 4, the rear ends extend substantially horizontally to the rear of the vehicle body. Further, these knee panel shock absorbers 29, 30 are provided with mounting bolts 2 inserted into mounting holes provided in the upper surface of the front end thereof.
6 and 27 are fastened to the attachment portions 22 and 23 provided on the airbag body 14. The knee panel reinforcing member 31 is formed in a rectangular frame shape when viewed from the front, and the upper frame piece 37 is integrally attached to the rear ends of the knee panel cushions 29 and 30 by welding or the like. A striker 38 for engaging a hook 47 of a grab box 45 described below is engaged with the upper frame piece 37 of the knee panel reinforcing member 31.
Is provided.

The knee panel 32 also serves as a lid of the grab box 45, and is composed of upper and lower plates 42, 43 which are rotatably connected by hinges 44, and the lower plate 42 serves as the knee panel. The reinforcing member 31 is fastened to the lower frame piece 39 by a bolt 41. However, the upper plate 43 is formed with a larger vertical width than the lower plate 42. And the instrument panel of the car body
As shown in the figure, a grab box 45 is provided in a space substantially L-shaped by the knee panel buffer bodies 29, 30 and the knee panel reinforcing member 31, and the opening thereof passes through the central window of the knee panel reinforcing member 31. , Slightly projecting to the seat side. Further, a grab box lid 46 is attached to the knee panel 32, and a hook 4 provided on the back of the grab box lid 46 is provided.
7 is configured to be detachable from the striker 38 of the knee panel reinforcing member 31.

The mounting structure of the knee panel according to this embodiment is as follows.
In short, the front end is connected to the dash panel 1 of the vehicle body,
The two cowl brackets 2, 4 projecting forward of the seat in order to support the airbag body 14 at a predetermined position are considered as vehicle body-side fixing portions, and the knee panel assembly 2 is provided at the fixing portion.
8 is attached. That is,
By attaching the knee panel cushions 29, 30 to the dash panel 1 via the cowl brackets 2, 4, it becomes easy to arrange the knee panel 32 at a predetermined position in front of the seat, and the knee panel cushions 29, 30 are provided.
Can be set short within an allowable range.
Then, when a shock equal to or more than a predetermined value acts on the vehicle, the knee of the seated person is firmly received, and the shock energy can be stably absorbed. Therefore, even in a wagon vehicle or the like having no instrument reinforcing member in the dash panel of the vehicle body, factors such as addition of a support member or a significant structural change of the knee panel cushions 29 and 30 and the like increase the weight and increase the manufacturing cost. Therefore, the knee panel 32 can be effectively arranged.

[0014]

[Effect of the Invention] With the knee panel mounting structure of the present invention, even if the vehicle body does not have an instrument reinforcing member, the overall length of the cushioning member can be set within an allowable range, so that the occupant's knee protrudes forward. The effect is that the impact energy can be firmly received and the impact energy can be stably absorbed. In addition, since the support bracket for supporting the airbag body is also used as a fixing portion of the knee panel assembly, the structure can be simplified, and an increase in weight and cost can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting structure of a knee panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a mounting structure of the knee panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional knee panel mounting structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dash panel 2, 4 Cowling bracket (support bracket) 14 Airbag main body 16, 17 Lower mounting part 18, 19 Upper mounting part 28 Knee panel assembly 29, 30 Knee panel buffer (buffer member) 31 Knee panel reinforcing member 32 Knee panel

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A knee panel mounting structure which is provided in front of a seat of an automobile having an airbag body and receives a knee portion of a seated person from jumping forward, wherein a front end is connected to a fixing portion on a vehicle body side. And a pair of left and right support brackets protruding toward the seat and having a length suitable for supporting the lower portion of the airbag body at a predetermined position. The rear end of the support bracket includes the knee panel. the front end upper surface air bag book but <br/> with Rutotomoni the buffer member takes the front end portion of the cushioning member of the pair of left and right bar-like provided at the rear end
An installation structure for a knee panel, wherein an upper part of a body is supported at a predetermined position .