JP6205296B2 - Assembly and knee airbag with instrument panel for automobile - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an assembly having an instrument panel for an automobile and a knee airbag as shown in the front part of claim 1.

  Common types of assemblies are disclosed, for example, in US Pat. No. 6,217,059 B1 (Patent Document 1) or US Patent Application US2002 / 0171231 A1 (Patent Document 2). Here, the housing which accommodated the airbag is arrange | positioned inside the lower part of an instrument panel, and is firmly fixed with respect to this. The air bag opening of the housing is disposed opposite to the knee tibia portion of the vehicle occupant to be protected, that is, the driver or passenger, and is basically disposed parallel to the surface of the instrument panel. In operation, the knee airbag is inflated between the knee tibia portion of the occupant to be protected and the instrument panel. The knee airbag is intended to prevent the pelvis of a vehicle occupant, particularly a vehicle occupant not wearing a seat belt, from moving forward, and from moving forward during a frontal collision.

  The importance of knee airbags in car safety concepts varies from region to region. Particularly in the United States, in areas where seat belts are not a legal obligation and are rarely worn, knee airbags are very important in car safety concepts. In Europe, conversely, wearing seat belts is legally mandatory, and knee airbags are often less important in automotive safety concepts, or reduce the specific gravity of knee airbag units to other safety devices. Sometimes weight is put on.

  This means that similar types of vehicles with knee airbags are often proposed in the United States, whereas in Europe there are often no knee airbags.

  This requires the development and manufacture of similar instrument types with different instrument panels. Due to the different size and complexity of the instrument panels, there is a very expensive development and manufacturing load that is costly.

US Patent No. 6217059B1 US Patent Application 2002/0171231 A1

  With this point as a starting point, the present invention is intended to improve general-purpose type assemblies that reduce development and manufacturing time and cost even for different types of vehicles with and without a knee airbag. The purpose.

  This problem is solved by an assembly having the features of claim 1. That is, the present invention relates to an instrument panel (10) for an automobile; accommodated in a housing (22) in a holding state, and in operation, a lower part of the instrument panel (10) and a knee tibia part (43 ) And a knee airbag assembly (32) that inflates between the housing (22) and the housing (22) continuously connected to a lower portion of the instrument panel. The molded part (20) is disposed on or in the molded part (20), and the molded part (20) forms at least a part of the ceiling portion of the footwell at the foot of the occupant.

  According to the invention, the housing is arranged on the molded part following the lower part of the instrument panel without being arranged in or on the instrument panel. Normally, this molded part forms at least the entire surface of the upper wall portion of the footwell provided for the vehicle occupant. Because the knee airbag housing is not part of the instrument panel and is not connected, an instrument with the same structure, whether or not the vehicle is equipped with a knee airbag The panel can be used at all times. The only requirement is to have two different molded parts, but it is very small and very simple compared to the instrument panel. Furthermore, it is always possible to use the same molded part, and in the case of a vehicle not equipped with a knee airbag, a cover that covers the opening of the housing is used. Such a process is further simplified, and the opening of the housing according to the present invention can be placed in a portion that is not visible to the vehicle occupant, thereby avoiding the time and cost caused by the visible gap.

  Often, when the air bag is inflated, that is, when the gas generator that inflates the air bag is activated, a large force is generated as is well known, so that the molded part that forms the housing is often applied to the lateral struts of the automobile. It is preferable to link directly.

  In order not to form a gap, the molded part should be connected to the instrument panel. Because of the simple structure, it is preferable that at least a part of the necessary connecting parts is clipped.

  The housing that houses the knee airbag can be a separate member connected to the molded part, or the housing can be molded integrally with the molded part.

Other embodiments indicated by the dependent claims are explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a longitudinal section through a front portion of a vehicle compartment. FIG. 1a shows another example excluding the knee airbag in the structure of FIG. FIG. 2 shows a state where the knee airbag is inflated in the structure of FIG. FIG. 3 shows the lower part of the instrument panel, with the molded part and the steering column shown in perspective view. 4 is another perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows the molded part of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the molded part of FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the lower part of the instrument panel and the molded part according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 shows the structure shown in FIG. 1 in a state where the knee airbag is deployed, and the upper end of the knee airbag is connected to the housing by a capture tape. FIG. 9 shows a state where the knee airbag is completely inflated in the structure shown in FIG.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross section on the passenger seat side of an automobile. An instrument panel 10 is disposed in front of the vehicle seat 19, and a footwell 50 is provided below the instrument panel 10. In the normal seat position, the occupant's knee tibia 42 is positioned in front of the lower portion of the instrument panel 10. The knee tibia portion 42 is disposed away from the instrument panel 10.

  As can be seen from FIG. 2, a knee airbag 32 that is inflated by the gas generator 30 during a frontal collision is provided. At least a portion of the knee airbag 32 is located between the occupant's knee tibia portion 42 and the lower portion of the instrument panel 10 when fully deployed. In particular, the knee airbag 32 prevents the pelvis from moving forward when the driver or passenger is not fastened. Further, the delicate knee tibia portion 42 is prevented from colliding with the instrument panel 10.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 22 of the knee airbag unit is disposed on the molded part 20, which extends from the lower part of the instrument panel 10 to the front of the vehicle and has at least a footwell 60. Form a part of the ceiling part of. The molded part 20 is usually an injection molded part made of plastic, and is basically arranged in the horizontal direction. The housing 22 can be integrally formed with the molded part 20 or can be a separate member that is firmly connected to the molded part 20. The footwell cladding 18 is connected to the rear part of the molded part 20.

  Compared to the instrument panel, the molded part 20 is small and has a mechanically simple structure. This only means that the manufacturing cost is slightly higher when the airbag unit (FIG. 1) is provided and when the airbag unit is not provided (FIG. 1a). Thereby, on the other hand, it becomes easy to use a single and the same type in a vehicle with a knee airbag and a vehicle without a knee airbag. In the final assembly process of the first vehicle type, it is only necessary to mount the first type of molded part 20 and to connect the second type of molded part to the instrument panel 12 in the second vehicle type. is there. If a version with a knee airbag unit is selected, it can be connected to the same system as the sensor system of the commonly equipped front airbag.

  3 to 6 show a first embodiment of the molded part 20, and FIGS. 3 and 4 show elements in which the molded part 20 is mounted on the lower part of the instrument panel 10. Indicates a state in which no molded part is mounted. Here, it can be seen that the knee airbag is a knee airbag on the driver's seat side. The structure of the molded part 20 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the region of the front edge, a latching element 26 is provided, which secures the molded part 20 to the instrument panel 10. A housing 22 is provided immediately behind the latching element 26 and is formed as a single part on the molded part 20 in which the knee airbag and the gas generator are housed. The housing 22 is continuously provided with a cover 24 covering the rear opening on the rear side. The gas generator and the knee airbag are mounted through this rear opening. Basically, the outlet opening of the knee airbag opposite to the rear cover 24 (not shown) is closed by a cover element. This cover element can be molded integrally with the molded part 20 and can be surrounded by a break line.

  A fixing hole 23 is provided next to the housing 22, and a screw passes through the fixing hole when mounted, and is screwed to the instrument panel 10. Together with the latching element 26, the molded part 20 can be sufficiently and stably fixed to the instrument panel 10 (see FIG. 3). The fixing element basically surrounds the housing 22 so that the force generated when the airbag is inflated is absorbed. Due to the rigidity of the molded part 20 itself, it is not necessary to provide further fixing elements in the rear part of the formed part.

  This makes it very easy to mount the molded part on the instrument panel 12, particularly as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. First, the molded part 20 having the latching element 26 is first installed on the vehicle. And then screw them on. With such a module structure, it is possible to attach a knee airbag to a vehicle that does not originally have a knee airbag. It is only necessary to replace the molded part that is not originally equipped with a knee airbag with a molded part that is equipped with a knee airbag unit, and it is only necessary to connect the gas generator to an existing sensor system. The molded part 20 described above forms the ceiling part of the footwell 60 or a part thereof, and the molded part 20 includes a through hole 28 for ventilation.

  FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. Here, the molded part 20 extends completely in the horizontal direction, and the outlet opening of the knee airbag 32 is arranged in a horizontal plane. Thereby, since the transition part (border) between the lower part of the instrument panel 10 and the molded part 20 is not visible to the vehicle occupant, a relatively wide gap can be provided. The molded part 20 can continue directly from the automobile lateral strut 50 and is preferably connected directly. Thereby, the force generated when the knee airbag is inflated is directly guided to the lateral strut without applying stress to the instrument panel 10. The present invention uses a knee airbag for a passenger in the passenger seat, and the glove compartment 14 of the instrument panel 10 is confirmed. The molded part 20 can be plastic injection molding or deep drawing.

  As shown in FIGS. 8a and 9, a capture tape can be provided that runs outside the knee airbag 32, which defines the knee airbag position between the instrument panel 10 and the knee tibia portion 412 of the vehicle occupant. help. Such a capture tape 34 is particularly necessary in the specific embodiment as shown in FIG. 7, where the exit opening of the knee airbag 32 is located at a position that is far from the occupant's knee tibia portion 42.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10: Instrument panel 14: Glove compartment 15: Wind screen 17: Vehicle floor 18: Footwell cladding 19: Vehicle seat 20: Molded part 22: Housing 23: Fixing hole 24: Rear cover 26: Latching element 28 : Through hole 30: Gas generator 32: Knee airbag 34: Capture tape 40: Crew 42: Knee tibia part 50: Lateral strut 60: Footwell

Claims (7)

In a knee airbag assembly that can be mounted on an automotive instrument panel (10),
A knee airbag (32) housed in the housing (22) in a holding state and inflated between the lower part of the instrument panel (10) and the knee tibia part (43) of the occupant in operation;
A casing- side surface that is flush with a lower portion of the instrument panel (10) and includes a molded part (20) connected to the instrument panel (10);
The molded part (20) is disposed so that the passenger compartment side surface thereof is substantially horizontal, and an outlet opening of a knee airbag (32) is formed on the passenger compartment side surface, and the molded part (20) and The boundary with the instrument panel (10) is configured so that it cannot be seen from the passengers in the vehicle,
The housing (22) is formed with respect to the molded part (20) independently of the instrument panel (10),
The knee airbag (32) is deployed in a curved form so that the passenger side is high,
The molded part (20) has a structure that is detachably locked to the instrument panel (10), whereby another type of molded part is obtained without changing the structure of the instrument panel (10). A knee airbag assembly characterized in that it can be replaced with a knee airbag assembly.   The knee airbag assembly according to claim 1, wherein the molded part is locked to the instrument panel by a clip-like connecting part.   The knee airbag assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the molded part is directly connected to a laterally extending column (50) of the automobile.   The knee airbag assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the molded part is a plastic injection-molded product or a deep-drawn product.   The knee airbag assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the housing is integrally formed with the molded part.   The knee airbag assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the housing is a separate member connected to the molded part. The knee airbag assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the molded part (20) forms at least part of a ceiling portion of a footwell at the foot of the occupant.

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