JPH0452122Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a mounting structure for knee pads in an automobile.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various methods have been proposed to protect the safety of vehicle occupants in the event of a car accident. For example, knee pads have been devised and put into practical use in case of a collision. In other words, these are installed under the instrument panel of the driver's seat, and in the event of a collision, the front seat occupant's knees hit the knee pads, which deform and absorb the passenger's kinetic energy, ensuring safety. It's becoming like that.

However, in general, the area where the knee pads are attached is narrow, resulting in poor workability during attachment, and the attachment strength is insufficient, resulting in the inconvenience that the knee pads do not function adequately. Also, if the knee pads are installed, the quality of the fit between the knee pads and the instrument panel becomes a problem.
There were various inconveniences such as low-pitched noise due to insufficient strength of the instrument panel.

In order to solve such inconveniences, a device described in, for example, the specification of Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 160854/1983 is known. In this method, a knee pad mounting bracket and a stay having an engaging portion at the tip are fixed to both side surfaces of the knee pad, and the engaging portion of the stay engages with a vehicle body member so as to be rotatable and slidable in the vehicle width direction. The knee pad is mounted by protruding a support member, and fixing the knee pad mounting bracket to the vehicle body member with the stay engaging portion engaged with the support member.

With this invention, when attaching the knee pad mounting bracket to a vehicle body member, the stay is engaged with the support member and the knee pad is substantially supported, so it is easier to work with than conventional methods. . Furthermore, since the stay is attached while being engaged with the support member, the mounting rigidity is also improved. However, this mounting structure has disadvantages in that it is not effective at all in reinforcing the instrument panel or preventing the generation of low-level noise.

There is a device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 18997-1983 that solves the conventional problems as described above.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, the invention of the above-mentioned Utility Model Publication No. 18997-18997 is
Problems include the large number of parts and the difficulty of making fine adjustments when attaching the knee pads to the instrument panel, especially in the width direction of the vehicle.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention was developed in order to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it has good workability in installing the knee pads, and also has good quality as the instrument panel is reinforced. The purpose was to provide a device that could prevent the generation of low-level noise, and the gist of this was to provide a bracket that fixed both sides of the knee pad to the vehicle body, and a bracket that could be attached and detached to the lower end of the instrument panel. A grommet is installed to form an engagement hole, and an engagement protrusion that is narrower than the engagement hole is integrally provided on the upper part of the knee pad so as to be inserted into the engagement hole and movable in the vehicle width direction. The knee pad mounting structure for an automobile is characterized in that the knee pad is moved in the vehicle width direction and fixed to the bracket while the engagement protrusion is engaged with the engagement hole.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In the figures, 1 is a left knee pad, 2 is a right knee pad, 3 is a vehicle body member, and 4 is a left knee pad.
is the instrument panel section.

The above-mentioned knee pads 1 and 2 have the same configuration, and the attachment structure to the vehicle body member 3 is also the same, and they are only configured on opposite sides, so below, only the left knee pad 1 will be explained. As shown in the cross section of FIG. 2, the knee pad 1 has a configuration in which a pad member 8 consisting of an insert member 6 and a buffer member 7 is bent into a semicircular arc shape and is open at the rear.

Insert pieces 9 and 10 are provided by protruding the upper edge of the insert member 6 at two locations to form engagement protrusions. In addition, mounting holes 12 and 13 are formed in the left side part 11 of both side parts, and a stud bolt protrudes toward the right knee pad 2 along the width direction of the vehicle in the right side part 15. 1
6 and 17 are attached. In FIG. 1, the right side surface portion 15 of the left knee pad 1 and the stud bolts 16, 17 are not clearly shown, so the same parts of the right knee pad 2 are shown with reference numerals.

Next, at the lower end of the instrument panel section 4, there is a grommet 22 as an engagement hole in the core section 21.
Two numbers 23 are provided. As will be described later, the insertion pieces 9 and 10 as engagement protrusions are inserted, and the width W of the grommets 22 and 23 is formed to a size that allows the insertion pieces 9 and 10 to slide within a predetermined range as described later. has been done. Furthermore, the main body part 3a of the vehicle body member 3 is provided with a left bracket 25 and a right bracket 26 as mounting brackets, and the left bracket 25 has mounting screws corresponding to the mounting holes 12 and 13 in the left side surface part 11. Hole 27,2
8 is open. And right bracket 26
is formed in a U-shape, and one support plate 29 that stands up has stud bolts 16 on the right side surface 15,
Attachment holes 31 and 32 corresponding to 17 are drilled.

In the above-described configuration, when attaching the left knee pad 1, first insert the insert pieces 9 and 10 into the grommets 22 and 23 as far as possible toward the left end side and engage them. In this state, the left knee pad 1 is attached to the grommets 22 and 23. 23.

Then, when the knee pad 1 is subsequently moved to the right, the knee pad 1 is moved within the above-mentioned predetermined range, and the stud bolts 16 and 17 are inserted into and engaged with the mounting holes 31 and 32.

In this state, left knee pad 1 is attached to grommet 2.
Since it is supported by the mounting holes 31 and 32 of 2 and 23, the operator can take both hands off the left knee pad 1, and the mounting holes 12 and 13 and the mounting screw holes 27 and 28 are almost aligned. The state will be as follows. That is, the stud bolts 16, 17 and the mounting holes 31, 32 constitute a positioning means 34 for mounting.

Therefore, the operator very quickly fixed the left side part 11 to the left bracket 25 with the screws 36 using both hands, and then tightened the nuts 37 on the stud bolts 16 and 17.
and attach the right side part 15 to the mounting bracket 2.
The mounting work is completed by fixing it to one of the support plates 29 of 6. The right knee pad 2 can also be attached in the same manner.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, the knee pad mounting structure of the present invention includes a bracket for fixing both side surfaces of the knee pad to a vehicle body member, and a removable grommet is attached to the lower end of the instrument panel to open an engagement hole. and an engagement protrusion that is narrower than the engagement hole and that is inserted into the engagement hole and movable in the vehicle width direction is integrally provided on the upper part of the knee pad, and the engagement protrusion is inserted into the engagement hole and is movable in the vehicle width direction. Since the knee pads are moved in the vehicle width direction while engaged with the holes and fixed to the bracket, the worker does not need to support the knee pads, and can use both hands to perform tasks such as tightening both side surfaces. This improves installation work efficiency. Additionally, the instrument panel section is restrained by engagement with the knee pads that are firmly attached to the vehicle body member, reinforcing the instrument panel section, which significantly improves the vertical mounting rigidity and improves the quality of the fit. improves. Also,
Since low-level noise generated between the knee pads and the instrument panel section is also prevented, there is no need to increase the clearance between the knee pads and the instrument panel section in order to prevent low-level noises, and the degree of freedom in design is improved. Furthermore, the number of parts, weight,
There are various effects such as an increase in cost etc. being kept to a minimum.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 1;
The figure is also a perspective view illustrating the main parts. 1, 2...knee pads, 3...vehicle body parts, 3a
...Main body, 4...Instrument panel, 6
...insert, 9, 10...engaging protrusion, 11,
15... Both side parts, 22, 23... Engagement hole, 2
5, 26...Bracket.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A bracket is provided to fix both sides of the knee pad to the vehicle body member, and a removable grommet is attached to the lower end of the instrument panel to provide an engagement hole, and an engagement hole is provided in the upper part of the knee pad. A narrow engagement protrusion is integrally provided to protrude from the engagement hole that is inserted and movable in the vehicle width direction, and with the engagement protrusion engaged with the engagement hole, the knee pad is moved in the vehicle width direction. A knee pad mounting structure for an automobile, characterized in that the knee pads are moved to and fixed to the bracket.