JP2894094B2 - Air bag grid mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mounting structure of an airbag lid arranged on a passenger side of an instrument panel of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some automobiles include, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-81.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 154, an airbag unit is known that is provided inside an instrument panel on a passenger seat side in order to protect a passenger in a passenger seat at the time of a collision.

[0003] Specifically, an airbag unit is formed by forming an opening from the top surface on the passenger seat side of the instrument panel to the rear surface, and providing a steering member provided in the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction. And fix
The airbag unit is disposed facing the opening, and an airbag lid is aligned and attached to the opening.

The air bag lid has a front end movably mounted by a hinge member, and a rear end detachably engages and supports a locking means provided directly on a rear edge of the opening.
By operating the airbag unit in an emergency such as a vehicle collision, the bag body in the airbag unit is rapidly inflated to release the engagement with the locking means at the rear end of the airbag grid, and the airbag grid is hinged. By closing the lid around the member, the bag body is inflated and deployed from the opening into the vehicle cabin, thereby restricting the forward movement of the passenger in the passenger seat.

[0005]

The locking means is directly fixed to the edge of the opening of the instrument panel, and the free end of the air bag grid is engaged with the locking means and attached to the locking means. In the attachment to the opening, the direction and position of engagement with the locking means are dominant, that is, the position of engagement between the locking means and the free end of the airbag lid must first be determined.

For this reason, the molding error of both the air bag grid and the instrument panel cannot be corrected by shifting the air bag grid due to the determination of the engagement position between the locking means and the free end of the air bag grid. It becomes difficult to align the front and rear end surfaces with the front and rear edges of the opening.

In addition to the above-mentioned problem in mounting the air bag grid, an opening is formed to be large from the upper surface to the rear surface of the instrument panel.
Since the instrument panel is injection-molded so that the locking means can be fixed directly to the edge of this opening, the instrument panel core material must be molded exclusively for the airbag mounted specification and the airbag-less specification. This is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

Therefore, normally, in the case of the specification without an airbag, a dummy lid is mounted on the opening to close the opening. Even in this case, a dedicated lid must be prepared, so that cost is still low. The disadvantage cannot be dispelled.

Furthermore, since a parting line is formed between the rear end of the airbag lid and the opening at the rear surface of the instrument panel, the appearance of the parting line is noticeably deteriorated.

Therefore, the present invention facilitates the surface alignment between the front and rear end faces of the air bag grid and the opening of the instrument panel without impairing the deployment performance of the air bag grid, improves the mounting accuracy, and improves the mounting accuracy after the air bag grid. The airbag grid is designed so that the parting part between the end and the opening is not noticeable to the occupant, and the instrument panel core material can be shared between the airbag mounted specification and the airbagless specification. An attachment structure is provided.

[0011]

The instrument panel is formed on the upper surface of the instrument panel on the passenger seat side , and has at least a front edge at the front edge.
An opening having a flange substantially horizontal to the upper surface, and the opening;
Formed on the back of the instrument panel near the rear edge of the
A boss portion which is an airbag lid having a locking hook at a rear end portion, is engaged removably with the locking hook, and
Locking means fixed to the boss portion , wherein the air
The front edge of the badge is overlapped with the flange and joined
Engaging the locking means with the locking hook,
In this state, the lock means is fixed to the boss .

[0012]

By fixing the bolts and nuts to the front edge of the opening at the front end of the airbag lid in a direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the instrument panel, the front and rear end faces of the airbag lid and the opening are defined. The mating surfaces of the front and rear edges can be formed substantially perpendicular to each other to perform the surface matching. Prior to the surface matching, the airbag lid can be attached to the opening.

After the front end of the airbag lid is fastened with a bolt and a nut, the lid lock of the bracket is engaged with the locking hook from the inside of the instrument panel,
By aligning the hook entrance of the lid lock with the tangential direction of the rotation trajectory of the locking hook around the rotation fulcrum of the airbag grid, and fixing the bracket to the back of the instrument panel in this state, the airbag unit The releasing performance of the locking hook during operation is ensured.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an instrument panel, which is an injection-molded instrument panel core material 2.
The instrument panel core 2 is set in a foaming mold (not shown), and a pad material 3 is integrally foamed on the outer surface thereof.

An opening 4 for arranging an airbag unit is provided on the upper surface 1a of the instrument panel 1 on the passenger seat side.
In addition, an opening 5 for disposing a glove box is formed in the lower surface 1c, and a glove box 6 is attached to the opening 5 so as to be freely opened and closed.

The opening 4 for arranging the airbag unit is
A rear edge portion is formed along a ridge line which is a boundary between the upper surface portion 1a and the rear surface portion 1b of the instrument panel 1, and a peripheral portion of the opening 4 has a flange portion 7 on the upper surface side.
In particular, the flange portion 7a on the front edge side of the opening 4 is formed in a wide shelf shape in the front-rear direction to secure a mounting area for fastening bolts and nuts of an air backgrid described later. I have.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an airbag lid which is disposed in the opening 4 so as to be substantially flush with the upper surface 1a of the instrument panel 1 and closes the opening 4, and is a lid made of a thin plate of aluminum light alloy. A pad material 10 is integrally formed on a core material 9, and a plurality of weld bolts 11 are formed on a lower surface of a front end portion thereof in a direction substantially perpendicular to a front edge of the opening 4, that is, a shelf-like flange 7 a. Are provided at appropriate intervals in the vehicle width direction.

A reinforcing bead 12 is formed in the center of the lid of the lid core material 9 at a position close to the weld bolt 11 in the vehicle width direction. Reinforce the side with stiffeners 13,
An easily bendable portion 14 is formed at the base of the rear end edge of the reinforcing bead 12 at the rear end edge of the stiffener 13 so as to be thickened. 14 can be turned and deployed as a turning fulcrum P.

On both sides in the vehicle width direction of the lower surface of the rear end portion of the airbag lid 8, locking hooks 15 made of a hard resin material whose front ends are formed in a columnar shape in the vehicle width direction are protrudingly provided.

The locking hook 15 projects tangentially to a rotation locus a of the hook center Pa about the rotation fulcrum P when the lid is deployed.

Front and rear end faces of the airbag lid 8;
The mating surfaces of the front and rear edges of the opening 4 corresponding to these are substantially perpendicular to the upper surface 1a, and therefore the flange 7
And the mating surfaces thereof are substantially parallel to the direction in which the weld bolt 11 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 16 formed in the shelf-like flange portion 7a.

In the airbag lid 8, the weld bolt 11 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 16, fitted and arranged on the flange 7 of the opening 4, and the reinforcement 17 is pushed from the back of the shelf-like flange 7a. The nut 18 is tightened and fixed.

The reinforcement 17 is provided with a plurality of screws 20 on a plurality of bosses 19 projecting from the back surface of the instrument panel 1.
It is fixed and superposed on the back surface of the flange portion 7a.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a lid lock 2 as locking means.
A bracket that supports the airbag unit 4 and extends from the rear edge of the opening 4 to the inside of the instrument panel 1. A plurality of boss portions projecting from the back surface of the instrument panel 1 are constituted by a bag deployment guide 21a to be inflated and deployed, and a lid lock support portion 21b integrally formed at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the bag deployment guide 21a. A screw 23 is fixed to 22.

The lid lock 24 includes a clip 25 made of a leaf spring material that removably engages with the locking hook 15,
Box-shaped casing 2 holding this clip 25
6 is comprised.

The clip 25 has an annular locking portion 25c on the lower side.
And a cylindrical support pin 27 fixed to the locking portion 25c by penetrating both side walls of the casing 26 in the vehicle width direction.
Is inserted and engaged.

An auxiliary spring piece 26a for supporting and fixing the leg 25b of the clip 25 in opposition is integrally formed on each inner surface of both sides in the front-rear direction of the casing 26.

The lid lock 24 includes a casing 26
The bottom flange 26b of the bracket 21 is overlapped on the lid lock support 21b, and the bolt / nut 28 is fixed.
After the airbag lid 8 is attached to the opening 4 as described above, the clip 25 is engaged with the locking hook 15 from the inside of the instrument panel 1 and the legs 25b, 25b With the center line of the hook entrance 25a aligned with the tangent direction of the rotation trajectory a about the rotation fulcrum P of the locking hook 15, that is, aligned with the projecting center line of the locking hook 15, The bracket 21 is fixed to the boss portion 22 with a screw 23 so that the bracket 21 is arranged on the back surface of the instrument panel 1.

The hook entrance 25 of the lid lock 24
When the boss portion 22 and the mounting seat 21c of the bracket 21 overlap the end face of the boss portion 22 and the mounting seat 21c, the center line of the hook entrance 25a and the locking hook 15a are aligned. The predetermined forming angle is set so that the center line of the fifteen pieces coincides with each other.

The screws 23 between the boss portion 22 and the mounting seat 21c of the bracket 21 are fixed by, for example, as shown in FIG. The bracket 21 is connected to the airbag lid 8 by engaging the lid lock 24 with the locking hook 15 of the airbag lid 8, and the floating on the free end side of the airbag lid 8 is corrected. In this state, the mounting seat 21c of the bracket 21 is overlapped on the surface of the boss 22 and the screw 23 is fixed.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 29 denotes an airbag unit which is fixed to a steering member 30 arranged in the vehicle width direction inside the instrument panel 1 and is disposed facing the opening 4; Show.

According to the structure of the above-described embodiment, when the airbag lid 8 is mounted, the weld bolt 11 is not restricted by the engagement direction and the engagement position between the locking hook 15 and the lid lock 24, and the weld bolt 11 is formed in a shelf shape. The airbag lid 8 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 16 of the flange portion 7a, and the front and rear end surfaces of the airbag lid 8 are aligned with the front and rear end surfaces of the opening 4 before the airbag lid 8 is displaced in the front-back direction. The nut 18 can be screwed and fastened to the weld bolt 11 at the same time.
, Ie, the mounting accuracy can be increased to improve the appearance.

Here, the weld bolt 11 is connected to the upper surface 1a of the instrument panel 1 so as to be advantageous in terms of fastening strength.
The front and rear end faces of the airbag lid 8 and the opening 4
Are formed substantially perpendicular to the flange 7 in accordance with the direction of insertion of the weld bolt 11 into the bolt insertion hole 16, and in particular, the rear edge of the opening 4 and the air back grid 8. The parting portion with the rear edge of the instrument panel is directed upward so that it is difficult for the occupant to see it, and is located at the ridgeline at the boundary between the upper surface portion 1a and the rear surface portion 1b of the instrument panel 1. The appearance can be further improved in combination with the improvement of the alignment accuracy.

On the other hand, the lid lock 24 is
After the airbag lid 8 is attached to the opening 4 without being restricted by the mounting direction of the airbag lid 8, the lid lock 24 is engaged with the locking hook 15.
When the bracket 21 is fixed to the boss portion 22 on the back surface of the instrument panel 1 by the screw 23, the center line of the hook entrance 25 a of the lid lock 24 is tangent to the rotation locus a of the locking hook 15. Can be matched to the direction.

Therefore, when the inflation pressure of the bag body is applied to the lower surface side of the airbag lid 8 during the operation of the airbag unit 29, the locking hook 15 is smoothly detached from the lid lock 24 to rotate the airbag lid 8. Movement and deployment, and inflation and deployment of the bag body into the vehicle interior can be quickly performed.

In addition to such an effect on the mounting operation of the airbag grid 8 and on the detachment performance of the locking hook 15 when the airbag unit 29 is operated, the opening 4 is formed on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1. 1a, and a lid lock 2 on the edge thereof.
Because there is no special structure to fix 4 directly,
The instrument panel core 2 can be used in both the airbag mounted specification having the opening 2a and the airbagless specification having the opening 2a.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, in the air bag mounting specification, an opening 2a is trimmed at a predetermined portion of the instrument panel core material 2, and the instrument panel core material 2 is removed from the drawing. In this case, the instrument panel 1 having the opening 4 in the upper surface 1a may be configured by integrally foaming the pad material 3 on the outer surface of the instrument panel 1 in the predetermined foaming mold. As shown in FIG. 7, the opening 2a is not trimmed on the same instrument panel core material 2, but is set in a predetermined foaming mold, and the pad material 3 is integrally foam-molded on the outer surface.
Instrument panel 1 without opening 4 in upper surface 1a
May be configured.

Accordingly, as the instrument panel core material 2, there are an airbag mounted specification and an airbagless specification.
It is not necessary to perform injection molding exclusively for each, and in the case of a specification without an airbag, there is no need to prepare a dedicated dummy lid, which is very advantageous in terms of cost.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the airbag lid is attached to the opening formed in the upper surface of the instrument panel, the engaging direction and the engaging position of the locking hook and the lid lock. The air bag grid is bolted in a direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface without being restricted by
Since the nuts can be fixed, the front and rear end surfaces of the airbag lid and the front and rear edges of the opening can be preceded and the alignment of the airbag lid in the front-rear direction can be eliminated to improve the alignment accuracy.

In addition, since the mating surface between the front and rear end surfaces of the air bag grid and the front and rear edges of the opening can be formed substantially perpendicular to the upper surface in accordance with the bolt / nut fixing direction, the air bag grid is particularly suitable. Even at the rear end side, the parting portion is directed upward so that it is difficult for a seated person to see, so that the appearance can be further improved.

On the other hand, the lid lock is fixed to a bracket. After the bracket is attached to the air backgrid, the lid lock is engaged with the locking hook, and then the center line of the hook entrance is rotated to rotate the locking hook. Since it is attached to the back of the instrument panel in accordance with the tangential direction of the trajectory, the locking hook can be released smoothly when the airbag unit is activated, improving the workability of the airbag grid and improving the airbag grid. And ensuring the deployment performance of the vehicle.

Further, the peripheral edge of the opening of the instrument panel is not provided with a special structure for directly providing a lid lock, and the opening is formed on the upper surface, so that the airbag mounting specification is adopted. And, with the same instrument panel core material as the specification without airbag, the opening can be trimmed to this, or the opening can be used as it is without trimming,
This has a great practical effect, such as being very advantageous in terms of cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4 showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a relationship between an air bag grid and a lid lock.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lid lock.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an instrument panel to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a bracket attaching operation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing a process of forming an instrument panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a process of forming an instrument panel without an airbag.

[Description of Signs] 1... Instrument panel 1a... Upper surface 4... Opening 8... Airbag grid 15... Rotation locus of stop hook

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60R 21/20 B60K 37/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An instrument panel is formed on an upper surface portion on a passenger seat side of an instrument panel , and at least a front edge portion of the instrument panel is substantially flush with the upper surface portion.
An opening having a flat flange and near the rear edge of the opening
A boss formed on the back of the instrument panel,
An airbag lid having a locking hook at a rear end portion, is engaged removably with the locking hook, and the solid on the boss portion
And a locking means which is constant, polymerization of the front edge portion of the airbag lid to said flange
And the locking means is engaged with the locking hook.
In this state, the locking means is fixed to the boss portion .