JP4290518B2 - Automotive instrument panel - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an instrument panel of an automobile, and more particularly to an instrument panel provided with a downlight that illuminates a passenger compartment floor.

  Conventionally, a vehicle such as a minivan has a column shift with a shift lever provided on the side of the steering wheel, or a shift lever is arranged at the center in the width direction of the instrument panel to provide a foot space between the driver seat and the passenger seat. There is a walk-through type that is secured so that the occupant can freely move between the driver's seat, front passenger seat and rear seat.

  In this type of walk-through type vehicle, there is a strong need to install a downlight that illuminates the passenger compartment floor so that it can easily move between seats even at night.

Therefore, conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1 below, a downlight is provided on the instrument panel. FIGS. 3 and 4 show a conventional instrument panel and a cross section of a main part thereof. In the instrument panel 1A, a shift lever 8 is disposed at a center portion 10 at a center position in the vehicle width direction. downlight 3 is provided below the center lower portion 100. The downlight 3 is configured by forming an opening 31A in a vertical wall-shaped panel member of the center lower portion 100, and providing a light source 36 in a housing portion 35 attached to the inner surface of the panel member so as to surround the opening 31A. Has been. A light bulb is used as the light source 36, and the light bulb is supported by a socket 360 provided so as to penetrate the housing portion 35. Reference numeral 361 in FIG. 4 denotes an electric wire for supplying power to the light source 36.

By the way, the instrument panel of the passenger compartment is provided with a number of operation switches and operation knobs for controlling various devices and lamps such as an air conditioner and a hazard lamp of the passenger compartment. Since these operation switches and operation knobs are troublesome to attach separately to the instrument panel, in general, the operation switches and operation knobs are provided on a common operation panel, and instrumentation is performed via the operation panel. It is attached to the main body of the panel.

However, in the conventional instrument panel 1A, in order to provide the downlight 3 , a dedicated opening 31A is provided in the instrument panel 1A main body separately from the operation of attaching the operation panel, and a housing and a light bulb are not attached. In other words, work is troublesome and productivity is not good. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the problem of providing an instrument panel for an automobile that has a low productivity and does not require a troublesome work for providing a downlight.

The present invention is an instrument panel that constitutes the front of a passenger compartment of an automobile, and includes a plurality of switches that are formed separately from the instrument panel main body at the center center in the vehicle width direction and control an air conditioner or the like In the instrument panel of an automobile in which an operation panel, in which a kind, an operation knob, and a display device are assembled together, is mounted substantially flush with the instrument panel main body , the vehicle compartment side is slightly located at the lower end of the operation panel. provided integrally bulges projecting into, and forming an opening downward at the bottom of the bulging part, by installing a light source in the interior of the bulging portion, from the light source through said opening the center lower portion of the instrument panel provided with an accommodating portion of such accessory positioned below the operation panel by the light, and Dow to illuminate the vehicle interior floor thereunder Providing light (claim 1). Is provided with the down light on the operation panel, by attaching the control panel to the instrument panel, downlights are installed simultaneously.

The operation panel has a two-layer structure in which a transparent plate is superimposed on the surface of the operation panel body , and the transparent plate covers the edge of the transparent plate on the edge of the operation panel body surrounding the periphery of the opening. An opening edge flange that blocks light incident on the light source from the light source is integrally formed. The opening edge flange prevents light from leaking into the transparent plate.
Further, the operation panel is provided with an inner panel covering the lower end rear surface of the operation panel body in which the bulging portion is formed to form a hollow structure by the two panels, and the lower part in the hollow is sandwiched between the two panels. A circuit board for a light source traversing the inside of the hollow is attached, and light is emitted from a position directly above the opening toward the opening by a light source provided on the lower surface of the substrate.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the downlight is provided on the operation panel, and the downlight is attached to the instrument panel together with a plurality of operation switches and operation knobs, so that the productivity is good. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the light is not leaked to the transparent plate at the irradiation opening of the downlight, so that the illumination efficiency is good, and the light is not scattered around the opening, so that the appearance is good. According to the invention of claim 3, it is easy to attach the light source to the operation panel.

  In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an instrument panel used in a vehicle in which a shift lever is a column shift. FIG. 1A shows a front view of an instrument panel 1 made of a synthetic resin. The right panel on the right side of the instrument panel 1 faces the driver's seat, and the right panel has a speedometer and the like. The instrument panel M is provided. A rectangular opening 12 is formed at a position below the instrument panel M, and a column shaft (not shown) of the steering S is passed through the opening 12. In addition, a plurality of switches 4Y and 4Z are installed on the panel portion around the opening 12.

  On the other hand, the left panel portion of the instrument panel 1 facing the passenger seat is provided with an air bag device 13 on the upper surface, which protrudes and expands from the instrument panel 1 in the event of a vehicle collision to protect the passenger in the passenger seat. A glove box 14 is provided at the lower part of the section.

  The center portion 10 at the center in the vehicle width direction of the instrument panel 1 has a lower end extending downward from the left and right panel portions and extending to the vicinity of the vehicle compartment floor F. The center F1 in the width direction of the passenger compartment floor F is formed slightly higher than the floors on the left and right sides, but a space is secured above the floor center F1 by the shift lever as a column shift. Although it is abbreviated, a passenger | crew can move between a driver's seat and a passenger seat, and floor center part F1 makes the path | route which a passenger | crew moves between the front and back seats through the said driver's seat and passenger seat.

  The instrument panel 1 is provided with air-conditioning air outlets 7a, 7b, and 7c at the upper end position and the left and right ends of the center portion 10 at the center in the vehicle width direction, respectively. An opening 20 for storing a car audio (not shown) is formed at a position below the blowout port 7a at the upper end of the center portion 10, and a member separate from the main body of the instrument panel 1 is formed at a position below the opening 20. Thus, an operation panel 2 provided with a plurality of switches 4 for controlling an air conditioner and the like, an operation knob 5 and a display device 6 are installed.

  Hereinafter, the operation panel 2 which comprises the principal part of this invention is demonstrated. As shown in FIGS. 1B and 2, the operation panel 2 is a synthetic resin panel material, and includes a panel body 21 facing the passenger compartment side, and an opening edge of the opening 20 is formed on the panel body 21. A frame-shaped frame portion 22 is formed integrally. Fixing flanges 210 that protrude in the outer peripheral direction and are fixed to the instrument panel 1 are formed on the left and right side edges and the upper edge of the panel main body 21, respectively.

  The panel body 21 of the operation panel 2 has a double structure in which a transparent plate 23 is superposed on the surface thereof, and the panel body 21 produces a transparent feeling to improve the appearance. The operation panel 2 is provided with an inner panel 24 on the back side of the panel body 21 so as to cover the panel body 21, and the panel body 21 and the inner panel 24 form a hollow box.

  The operation panel 2 is provided with a dial-type operation knob 5 for setting the temperature of the air conditioning at the center position of the panel main body 21. Display devices 6a and 6b are provided. Above the operation knob 5, a switch row 4a is provided in which three switches for turning on / off the air conditioning fan, turning on / off the automatic air conditioning, and switching between outside air introduction and inside air circulation are connected in the horizontal direction. A seat belt display 6c for the passenger seat and a hazard lamp switch 4b are provided on the left and right sides of the switch row 4a. A switch row 4c is provided below the operation knob 5 in which five switches for turning on / off the front and rear defrosters, adjusting the strength of the air conditioning fan, changing the mode, and turning on / off the air conditioner are connected in the horizontal direction.

  Each of these switches 4, the operation knob 5, and the display device 6 are fixed to a substrate 25 installed in the inner panel 24. And the front-end | tip (operation part) of each switch 4 or the operation knob 5 penetrates the opening formed in the panel main body 21, and protrudes to the vehicle interior side.

  A downlight 3 for illuminating the central portion F1 of the passenger compartment floor is provided at the lower end of the operation panel 2. The panel body 21 that forms a double structure with the transparent plate 23 is provided with a bulging portion 30 that slightly protrudes toward the passenger compartment side at the center in the width direction at the lower end, and an internal space between the panel body 21 and the inner panel 24. Has been expanded. At the lower end of the bulging portion 30, an opening portion 31 that opens downward is formed between the lower edge of the panel body 21 and the lower edge of the inner panel 24. Note that the lower edge of the general part of the panel body 21 and the lower edge of the general part of the inner panel 24 on both the left and right sides of the bulging part 30 are closed together.

  At the opening edge of the opening 31, there is an opening edge flange 33 that is bent downward toward the lower end edge of the panel main body 21 that is curved toward the opening 31 side and is bent downward in a substantially L-shaped cross section. It is formed. The opening edge flange 33 contacts and covers the end surface of the lower end of the transparent plate 23 that curves toward the opening 31 along the surface of the panel main body 21, and light from the light source 34 described later does not enter the transparent plate 23. I am doing so.

A light source 34 is provided in the internal space of the bulging portion 30. A high-brightness LED 341 is used as the light source 34. The light source 34 electrically connects and fixes the LED 341 to the lower surface of the circuit board 342 by soldering. When the panel body 21 and the inner panel 24 of the operation panel 2 are assembled, the circuit board 342 The LED 34 provided on the lower surface is horizontally arranged so as to cross the internal space between the panels 21 and 24 so that the LED 34 is located almost directly above the opening 31, and the circuit board 342 is sandwiched between the panels 21 and 24. It is attached. A transparent lens member 32 is fitted into the opening 31.

As described above, the operation panel 2 provided with the downlight 3 that irradiates the light from the light source 34 through the opening 31 at the lower end is an opening for attaching the operation panel 2 formed in the center portion 10 of the main body of the instrument panel 1. 11 is fitted from the back side so that the surfaces of the main body of the instrument panel 1 and the operation panel 2 are substantially flush with each other. On the lower edge of the opening 11 of the instrument panel 1, a lower edge flange 110 having a substantially Z-shaped cross section protruding toward the back side of the panel 1 and the opening 11 is formed. The operation panel 2 is arranged on the opening 11 from the back side, and is engaged with the surface of the lower edge flange 110 so that the back surface of the lower end portion of the operation panel 2 provided with the downlight 3 is overlapped. an opening 31 in together when positioned in the position projecting into the vehicle compartment side than the lower edge of the opening 11, each opposite side edges of the right and left operation panel 2 and the upper edge of the respective fixed flange 210, the opening of the right and left of the opening 11 It is fastened by being overlapped on the side edges and the back of the upper edge of the opening.

  Thus, the downlight 3 provided in the instrument panel 1 illuminates the front side of the floor center portion F1 of the passenger compartment by the light from the light source 34 that passes through the lens member 32 of the opening 31 and passes downward. A drawer-type cup holder 15, a drawer-type ashtray 16, and a drawer-type accessory case 17 are installed at the center lower portion of the instrument panel 1 below the operation panel 2. When these are pulled out and used. Moreover, it is illuminated by the downlight 3 and is easy to use.

  An operation switch 4d for turning on / off the downlight 3 is installed on the panel surface of the instrument panel 1 on the side of the operation panel 2, so that the occupant can turn the downlight 3 on and off arbitrarily.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the operation panel 2 is provided with the downlight 3 and the operation panel 2 is attached to the instrument panel 1. At the same time, the downlight 3 is also provided on the instrument panel 1. Like this, there is no need to provide a dedicated opening for the downlight on the instrument panel, to attach a housing or a light bulb, and it is not necessary to connect a wire harness exclusively for the downlight 3. Instrument panel productivity is improved.

  In the present embodiment, the appearance of the entire operation panel 2 is improved by overlaying the transparent plate 23 on the surface of the panel body 21 of the operation panel 2. In this case, when the end surface of the peripheral edge of the transparent plate 23 faces the opening 31, light from the light source 34 leaks into the transparent plate 23 and light is scattered around the opening 31. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the opening edge flange 33 is formed on the periphery of the panel body 21 facing the periphery of the opening 31 of the downlight 3, thereby covering the periphery on the opening 31 side of the transparent plate 23. There is no light leakage to the transparent plate 23 due to the flange 33, the appearance around the opening 31 is good during illumination, and the illumination efficiency for the passenger compartment floor is also good.

1A is a front view of an instrument panel to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a downlight at a position along the line IB-IB in FIG. 1A. It is a front view of the operation panel used for this invention. It is a schematic perspective view of the conventional instrument panel. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the downlight attached to the conventional instrument panel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2 Operation panel 21 Panel main body 23 Transparent plate 3 Downlight 30 Expansion part 31 Opening part 33 Opening edge flange 34 Light source
342 circuit board 4 switches 5 operation knob 6 display device

Claims (3)

An instrument panel that constitutes the front of the interior of an automobile, and includes a plurality of switches and operation knobs that are formed separately from the instrument panel main body at the center center in the vehicle width direction and that control an air conditioner, etc. And in the instrument panel of the automobile in which the operation panel assembled together with the display device is attached almost flush with the instrument panel body ,
A bulge that slightly protrudes toward the passenger compartment is integrally provided at the lower end of the operation panel, and an opening directed downward is formed at the lower part of the bulge, and a light source is provided inside the bulge. Install and illuminate the center lower part of the instrument panel provided with a storage part for small items and the like, and the vehicle compartment floor below the instrument panel by light from the light source passing through the opening. An instrument panel of a car, characterized by a downlight. The operation panel has a two-layer structure in which a transparent plate is superimposed on the surface of the operation panel body , and the transparent plate covers the edge of the transparent plate on the edge of the operation panel body surrounding the periphery of the opening. The vehicle instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein an opening edge flange that blocks light incident on the light source from the light source is integrally formed. The operation panel is provided with an inner panel covering the lower end rear surface of the operation panel body in which the bulging portion is formed to form a hollow structure by the two panels, and the lower part in the hollow is sandwiched by the two panels and is hollow. The automobile instrument according to claim 1, wherein a circuit board for a light source that traverses the inside is attached, and light is emitted from a position directly above the opening toward the opening by a light source provided on a lower surface of the board. Panel.

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