JP2600435Y2 - Car knee collision protection device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for protecting an occupant's knee provided in a passenger seat of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows an outline of a front seat of an automobile. An automobile 10 has a driver seat 12 and a passenger seat 14, and a center concourse 16, for example, is arranged between both seats. At the front of the driver's seat 12, a steering column 22 is provided.
The front portions of the driver's seat and the passenger seat are covered with an instrument panel 20. Below the instrument panel 20 at the front of the driver's seat, a knee protector 24 that protects the driver's knee from impact is mounted. A glove box 30 is provided at the front of the passenger seat 14, and the glove box 30 also serves as a knee protector for protecting the knees of the passenger in the passenger seat from impact. For example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 3-25353 proposes a knee protector that also serves as a glove box, and its outline is shown in FIG. Glove box 3
The lid 32, which is a front member of No. 0, is formed by reinforcing a hard resin with a metal plate and laminating a skin. Will be arranged. A first load support member 36 and a second load support member 38 fixed to a rigid member of the vehicle body are disposed behind the reinforcing member 34.

In this device, the occupant's knee input due to an automobile collision is absorbed by deformation of a plate-like shock absorbing member juxtaposed to a lid 32 of a glove box, and the load is arranged on the periphery of an opening of an instrument panel. This is distributed and transmitted to the reinforcing plate 34. Further, when the support cannot be completely supported by the reinforcing plate 34, the load is transmitted to the vehicle body via the load supporting members 36 and 38 abutting on the back surface of the reinforcing plate.
Further, a hard urethane base material constituting the instrument panel is interposed between the lid 32 of the glove box and the reinforcing plate 34 to improve the shock absorbing effect (increased rigidity). It is integrally molded with hard urethane as an insert material for the ment panel.

[0004]

The apparatus disclosed in the above publication needs to be provided with a frame-shaped reinforcing plate. The present invention provides a device that maintains sufficient strength with a simplified configuration.

[0005]

The knee collision protection device according to the present invention has an opening provided in the instrument panel, and an opening provided above the opening and perpendicular to the axle.
Two arms fixed to the instrument beam
An upper reinforcing member is supported by, a bottom of the opening
Is arranged in the direction perpendicular to the axle and fixed to the vehicle body side
The lower reinforcing member and the upper end on both sides of the opening
The lower end is fixed to the lower reinforcement member.
A lid provided on the front side of the glove box, comprising a side reinforcing member to be worn and a glove box attached to the opening, has a structure in which a reinforcing plate is inserted into synthetic resin, and a load applied to the lid is reduced by the reinforcing member. It has a structure to support directly.

[0006]

When the occupant's knee collides with the lid, the input is dispersed and transmitted to each reinforcing member via the lid. The reinforcing members on both sides buckle and deform, and the upper reinforcing members are bent inward. The impact force is effectively absorbed by these deformations.

[0007]

1 is a perspective view showing the entire knee protection device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a support structure of the knee protection device. Inside the instrument panel 20 of the automobile 10, a pipe-shaped instrument beam is disposed in a direction orthogonal to the axle, and both ends are connected to rigid members of the vehicle body via brackets 51. 2 extends downward from the center of the instrument beam 50
The stays 52 are connected, and the lower end of the stay 52 is fixed to a support member of the center console. The instrument beam 50 has two arms 7 projecting toward the passenger seat.
0 is fixed by a bolt 90, and the arm 70 supports the upper reinforcing member 72. At the center of the upper reinforcing member 72, a striker 74 that engages with the lock of the glove box by a screw 92 is attached.

[0008] Two brackets 80 serving as side reinforcing members are fixed to the instrument beam 50 by bolts 90, and the brackets 80 support a lower reinforcing member 82. Center end 82A of the lower reinforcing member 82
Is fixed to the stay 52. A glove box generally denoted by reference numeral 100 has a lid 1 on the front of the box 110.
20 are arranged. An iron plate insert 122 is mounted in the lid 120 to reinforce the lid 120. A glove box lock 130 is attached to the center of the upper part of the lid 120. Further, a hinge 140 is provided at a lower portion of the glove box.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a core member 210 is disposed on the back surface of the instrument panel 20. A part of the core member 210 is screwed through a boss 212 by an upper reinforcing member. 72. Core member 21 disposed on the front side of bracket 80 of the lower reinforcing member
0 is fixed to the bracket 80 by screws 92 and bolts 90. Therefore, the glove box lid 12
When the “0” is closed, the rear surface of the lid 120 is supported by the core member 210.
That is, the upper and lower portions of the lid 120 of the glove box 100 are supported by the upper reinforcing member 72 and the lower reinforcing member 82, respectively, and both sides of the lid 120 are supported by the bracket 80.

The vehicle-side end of the lower reinforcing member 82 is fixed to the vehicle body-side member 18 by a bolt 90. Since the core member 210 of the instrument panel is fastened to upper and lower reinforcing members and brackets serving as load supporting members via screws and bolts, the rigidity around the glove box opening of the instrument panel 20 is improved. Can be.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the present invention.
In the event of a car collision, the occupant's knee is
20, the input F is applied to the upper reinforcing member 72, the lower reinforcing member 82, and the bracket 80 via the lid 120.
Is transmitted to The upper reinforcing member 72 is bent and deformed in the direction of arrow B by the input. The lower reinforcing member 82 is similarly deformed. However, since the lower reinforcing member 82 is supported at both ends by the rigid members, the rigidity is high and the amount of deformation is relatively small. When input is applied to the bracket 80 from both sides of the lid 120, the bracket 80 buckles due to its shape, and is deformed as shown by a chain line 80a. The knee input is absorbed by the load supporting member deforming as described above,
The impact on the occupant's knee can be reduced.

[0012]

[Effects of the Invention] In the protection device of the present invention, the impact force applied to the lid of the glove box is received by the entire reinforced lid, and the reinforcing members on the upper and lower sides and on both sides arranged on the back side of the lid uniformly. A structure is adopted in which the transmission is performed in a dispersed manner and the deformation is absorbed by the deformation of the reinforcing member. Then, the reaction force of the reinforcement member is increased by screwing together the reinforcement member and the core member of the instrument panel with screws or bolts, and the minimum iron plate insert and reinforcement member make it possible to protect the knee collision with light weight and high energy absorption efficiency. A device can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an opening of the instrument panel.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a conventional device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a vehicle embodying the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Automobile 20 Instrument panel 50 Instrument beam 52 Stay 70 Arm 72 Upper reinforcement member 80 Side reinforcement member 82 Lower reinforcement member 100 Glove box 120 Lid 122 Reinforcement plate 130 Lock

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A device for protecting an occupant's knee mounted on an instrument panel of an automobile, comprising: an opening provided in the instrument panel; and an upper portion of the opening provided in a direction perpendicular to the axle. Ins
Two arms fixed to the torque beam
An upper reinforcing member supported Ri, cars In the bottom of the opening
Lower part that is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the axis and fixed to the vehicle body side
The reinforcing member and the upper end are on both sides of the opening.
The lower end is fixed to the lower reinforcement member.
A lid provided on the front surface of the glove box has a structure in which a reinforcing plate is inserted into synthetic resin, and a load applied to the lid is directly applied by the reinforcing member. A knee collision protection device for a vehicle, characterized in that the device is supported by a vehicle. 2. Impact on the lid of the glove box
The force is such that the upper reinforcing member bends inward and the side reinforcing members
The knee collision protection device for a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is absorbed by buckling deformation .