JP2787347B2 - Car knee protector structure - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a knee protector structure for an automobile having an airbag unit and a knee protector.

(Prior Art) In recent years, airbag units have been mounted in order to provide thorough protection of occupants in the event of a vehicle collision, and airbag units for protecting occupants in a passenger seat have been proposed. I have. The airbag unit for the passenger seat is disposed at a relatively high position on the front side of the vehicle interior of the vehicle body as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-23756. May be in a standing position without sitting, so as to reduce the impact when the airbag of the airbag unit is inflated, as disclosed in the above publication, A shelf-shaped projecting member that projects rearward from the airbag unit is provided so that a required distance is secured between the airbag unit and the occupant.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in an automobile that also has a knee protector to further ensure occupant protection in the event of a vehicle collision, the knee protector is provided below the shelf-shaped overhang member. Therefore, the following inconvenience occurs. That is, the knee in contact with the knee protector during a vehicle collision may cause the knee protector to be displaced upward as well as forward, or even when the knee protector itself is not displaced upward, The occupant's knee may be displaced upward while displacing the knee protector forward or after displacing the knee protector. When the knee protector or the occupant's knee is displaced upward as described above, the shelf-shaped overhang member is also displaced or deformed upward depending on the degree of the displacement. It is conceivable that the airbag inflated above and restraining the occupant's upper body is also pressed by the shelf-shaped overhanging member, and in such a case, the airbag deployment angle changes, Inconvenience arises in sufficiently exhibiting the occupant protection performance of the airbag unit.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a knee protector structure of an automobile that can sufficiently exhibit the occupant protection performance of an airbag unit at the time of a vehicle collision. Things.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The knee protector structure for an automobile according to the present invention achieves the above object by providing a predetermined upward displacement suppressing means inside a shelf-shaped overhang member. .

That is, an airbag unit, a knee protector located below the airbag unit, a rear protector located between the knee protector and the airbag unit and rearward of the airbag unit, at a front portion of the vehicle interior of the vehicle body. A knee protector structure in an automobile provided with a shelf-shaped overhanging member that projects, wherein a knee protector or a knee of an occupant abutting on the knee protector at the time of a vehicle collision is provided inside the shelf-shaped overhanging member. An upward displacement suppressing means for suppressing an upper displacement equal to or more than a predetermined amount is provided.

The above “predetermined amount” means that the knee-shaped protector or the knee of the occupant displaced upwardly displaces or deforms the shelf-shaped overhang member so as to cause a change in the deployment angle of the airbag during occupant restraint. It means the amount of displacement.

(Operation and Effect of the Invention) As shown in the above configuration, the knee protector or the knee of the occupant in contact with the knee protector is restrained from being displaced upward by a predetermined amount or more inside the shelf-shaped projecting member. Since the upper displacement suppressing means is provided, it is possible to prevent the shelf-shaped overhanging member above the knee protector from being displaced or deformed due to a vehicle collision and changing the deployment angle of the airbag during occupant restraint. Thereby, the occupant protection performance of the airbag unit at the time of a vehicle collision can be sufficiently exhibited.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 2 showing an embodiment of a knee protector structure for an automobile according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a main part of a vehicle body having the above-described embodiment. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, an instrument panel 10 extends in the vehicle width direction on the front side of the vehicle interior of the vehicle body.
A front portion of the passenger seat of the instrument panel 10 is formed to be recessed forward, and an airbag unit 12 is provided in the recessed portion. A knee protector 14 is provided below the instrument panel 10, and extends below the airbag unit 12 below the airbag unit 12 of the instrument panel 10. A shelf-shaped overhang 10a, which is a shelf-like overhang member, is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag unit 12 includes an airbag 16, a housing 18 for accommodating the airbag 16 in a folded state, and a gas supplied to the housing 18 to inflate the airbag 16. The gas generator 20 includes a lid 22 that divides up and down at a thin-walled fragile portion 22a by abutting the inflated airbag 16, and includes a dash upper panel 30 and a vehicle width direction via brackets 24, 26, and 28. Pipe-shaped instrument panel member 32
It is fixed to. And this airbag unit 12
Is activated by a detection signal from a collision sensor at the time of a vehicle collision, and inflates the airbag 16 at a deployment angle as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure.

The shelf-shaped overhang 10a of the instrument panel 10 is formed to have a substantially C-shaped cross section, and its rear end is connected to an airbag unit.
12 Activate the airbag 16 In order to protect the occupant from the high pressure at the beginning of deployment and the lid 22 that splits at this time, the lid 22
Is located a predetermined length behind the position.

The knee protector 14 is supported by the instrument panel member 32 via an S-shaped member 36. The knee protector plate 34 extends obliquely downward toward the front, substantially flush with the lower end of the shelf-shaped overhang 10a of the instrument panel 10. When a vehicle crashes,
When the occupant's knee comes into contact with the knee protector plate 34, the S-shaped member 36 is crushed to absorb impact energy. At this time, the occupant's knee is displaced forward together with the knee protector plate 34 due to the collapse of the S-shaped member 36, but may be displaced upward at that time or immediately thereafter.

Inside the shelf-shaped overhang 10a of the instrument panel 10,
That is, in the C-shaped space on the front side of the shelf-shaped overhang 10a,
An arc-shaped honeycomb member 38 is provided as an upper displacement suppressing means for suppressing the occupant's knee from displacing upward by a predetermined amount or more at the time of a vehicle collision. The arc-shaped honeycomb material 38 includes a honeycomb core 40, an upper plate 42, and a lower plate which are formed in an upwardly convex arc shape.
44, the front end of the upper surface plate 42 is formed so as to extend downward to the lower surface plate 44, and is fixed to the instrument panel member 32 at the front end of the upper surface plate 42.
Extends to the vicinity of the rear end.

As shown in FIG. 3, the honeycomb core 40 of the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38 has cells formed in the radial direction of the arc, and the radius of curvature of the arc of the lower surface plate 44 is the radius of curvature of the occupant's kneecap. It is set to a larger value. The honeycomb core 40 and the lower plate 44 are made of a material such as aluminum or resin, and are crushed by a load of a predetermined value or more, while the upper plate 42 is made of a material such as iron, aluminum, or FRP and has a large thickness. It is formed and has high rigidity so that it is not easily deformed.

First, the upper surface plate 42 is assembled.
Is welded to the instrument panel member 32, and thereafter, the honeycomb core 40 to which the lower surface plate 44 is bonded in advance is mounted on the upper surface plate 42.

 Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a vehicle collision occurs, the airbag unit 12 is activated by a detection signal from the collision sensor, and the airbag 16 is inflated at a predetermined deployment angle, thereby trying to inertially move forward. To catch the upper body of the passenger in the passenger seat. On the other hand, at this time, the lower body of the occupant also moves forward by inertia, and its knees abut against the knee protector plate 34. Then, the knee is displaced forward together with the knee protector plate 34 while crushing the S-shaped member 36, and the knee is also displaced upward.

However, the shelf overhang 10 above the knee protector 14
Since the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38 is provided inside a, the knee displaced upward is received by the lower surface plate 44 of the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38. Since the lower plate 44 is formed in an arc shape, the knee can be reliably received without slipping. Then, the reaction force acting on the knee from the lower surface plate 44 is reduced by the impact energy absorbing effect due to the collapse of the honeycomb core 40, thereby protecting the knee. In addition, since the upper surface plate 42 of the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38 is provided with high rigidity, it hardly deforms even when an upward load is applied from the knee, and hardly displaces from the illustrated position. Accordingly, the shelf-shaped overhang 10a of the instrument panel 10 and the airbag unit 12 are also held at positions substantially as shown in the drawing, whereby the shelf-like overhang 10a is separated from the airbag 16 or the divided lid 22 or the like. The airbag unit no longer changes the deployment angle of the airbag 16 during occupant restraint due to interference with the airbag unit.
The occupant protection performance of 12 can be fully exhibited.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the upper surface member 42 of the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38 extends to the vicinity of the rear end of the shelf-shaped protrusion 10a, the occupant is restrained by the airbag 16 at the time of the vehicle collision. Even when the occupant's upper body abuts on the ledge 10a, a required distance between the occupant and the lid 22 of the airbag unit 12 can be ensured.

In the present embodiment, the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38 has been described as suppressing the upward displacement of the occupant's knee.However, depending on the structure of the knee protector, the knee protector itself may be significantly displaced upward during a vehicle collision. Conceivable. Even in such a case, by providing the arc-shaped honeycomb member 38, it is needless to say that the upward displacement of the knee protector can be suppressed, and the occupant protection performance of the airbag unit 12 is sufficiently exhibited as in the above-described embodiment. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 2 showing an embodiment of a knee protector structure for an automobile according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of a vehicle body having the above embodiment FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the arc-shaped honeycomb material of the above embodiment as a single item. 10 Instrument panel 10a Shelf-shaped projection (shelf-shaped projection member) 12 Airbag unit 14 Knee protector 38 Arc-shaped honeycomb material (upward displacement suppressing means)

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60R 21/045 B60R 21/16-21/32

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An airbag unit, a knee protector located below the airbag unit, and a knee protector located between the knee protector and the airbag unit and located on the front side of the vehicle interior of the vehicle body and located above the airbag unit. A knee protector structure for a motor vehicle provided with a shelf-like overhanging member that projects rearward, wherein the knee protector or an occupant in contact with the knee protector during a vehicle collision is provided inside the shelf-like overhanging member. A knee protector structure for an automobile, further comprising an upward displacement suppressing means for suppressing an upward displacement of the knee by a predetermined amount or more.