JPH05305850A - Knee protector in automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it lighter in weight as well as to reduce the cost of production by molding a protector body and a stay with resin as one body. CONSTITUTION:A protector body part 5 for protecting a knee a1 of a rider A in time of a collision is installed so as to be opposed to the knee a1 of the rider A. A stay part 15 whose tip is opposed to an instrument panel reinforcement 17 installed tight in a car body is installed in the backside of the protector body part 5 projectingly. In this connection, the protector body part 5 and the stay part 15 are solidly molded with plastics mixed in with a long glass fiber 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a knee protector of an automobile, and more particularly to a weight reduction measure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a driver's cab of a vehicle, when a passenger leans forward in a collision and hits a lower panel of an instrument panel with a knee, the collision energy at that time is absorbed to protect the knee. A knee protector is provided. As such a knee protector, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-70657, a rigid support body on the vehicle body side is provided with a pair of metal stays so that the protector body faces the knees of an occupant sitting on a seat. There is known a knee protector which is supported by the above and absorbs collision energy by plastically deforming the stay at the time of collision.

[0003]

However, in the knee protector of the above-mentioned publication, the protector body is constructed by providing a reinforcing plate made of a metal iron plate or the like on the back surface of the resin pad, and the stay is also made of metal. Since it is manufactured, there is a problem that the weight increases. In addition, the protector body and the stay must be separately manufactured and assembled, which increases the number of parts and the number of manufacturing steps, resulting in a problem of increased manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to integrally reduce the weight and reduce the manufacturing cost by integrally molding the protector body and the stay with resin. To do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the solution means of the present invention according to claim 1 is provided with a protector main body portion for protecting the knees of an occupant at the time of a collision so as to face the knees of the occupant. .. Further, a stay portion, the tip of which is opposed to a rigid support body fixed to the vehicle body, is projectingly provided on the back surface of the protector body portion. The protector body and the stay are integrally formed of synthetic resin mixed with a reinforcing fiber material.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the protector body for protecting the occupant's knee in the event of a collision is provided so as to face the occupant's knee. Further, a stay portion, the tip of which is opposed to a rigid support body fixed to the vehicle body, is projectingly provided on the back surface of the protector body portion. Further, a contact member having a receiving surface inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the protruding direction of the stay portion is provided on the rigid support side so as to face the tip of the stay portion. The protector body and the stay are integrally formed of synthetic resin mixed with a reinforcing fiber material.

[0007]

With the above construction, in the present invention according to claims 1 and 2, when the vehicle collides and the occupant's knee hits the protector main body, the protector main body is pushed toward the rigid support of the vehicle body. The tip of the part hits the rigid support. As a result, the stay portion is elastically deformed to absorb the collision energy, the shock to the knee of the occupant is reduced, and the knee is protected.

In this case, since the protector body portion and the stay portion are integrally formed by the synthetic resin mixed with the reinforcing fiber material, the weight is significantly reduced as compared with the metal one, and It is not necessary to separately manufacture and assemble the protector main body part and the stay part, and the number of parts and the number of manufacturing steps are reduced, so that the protector can be manufactured at low cost. The reinforcing fiber material mixed in ensures sufficient rigidity.

Further, in the present invention according to claim 2, since the tip of the stay is guided to the receiving surface of the abutting member on the side of the rigid support at the time of collision, elastic deformation easily occurs, the collision energy is efficiently absorbed, and the occupant is efficiently absorbed. Your knees are protected.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an instrument panel 1 of an automobile. On the right side of the lower half portion of the instrument panel 1, a knee protector 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a part of a lower panel. It is composed of and arranged.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the knee protector 3 is provided with a laterally long rectangular protector body 5 for protecting the knee a1 of the occupant A in the event of a collision. A skin material 5b is integrally joined to the surface of the base material 5a, and screws (not shown) are inserted into a pair of mounting holes 7, 7 formed on both sides of the upper end to oppose the knee a1 of the occupant A. It is attached to the instrument panel 1 as described above. A U-shaped notch 9 is formed in the middle of the upper half of the protector body 5, and a steering shaft 13 having a steering wheel 11 attached to the upper end is inserted into the notch 9. It is designed to be.

A pair of left and right stay portions 15 and 15 are provided on the back surface of the protector main body portion 5, and both stay portions 1 are provided.
The tip ends of the members 5 and 15 are opposed to an instrument panel reinforcement 17 as a rigid support fixed to the vehicle body at a predetermined interval, and a pair of abutting members 19 attached to the instrument panel reinforcement 17 are provided. The ends of the stay portions 15 and 15 are positioned between the both end protruding portions 21 and 21 of the reference numeral 19, and as shown by the phantom line in FIG. It is done like this.

Also, one vertical surface (right vertical surface in FIG. 4) 15a of each stay portion 15 is formed at a right angle to the protector main body 5, but the other vertical surface (left vertical surface in FIG. 4). The vertical surface 15b is formed so as not to be perpendicular to the protector body 5 but to be slightly inclined at an inclination angle α, so that as shown by the phantom line in FIG.
By applying a pushing force from one direction, elastic deformation is easily made in one direction (right side in FIG. 4).

Further, the base material 5 of the protector body 5
The a and the stay portions 15, 15 are integrally press-molded with a synthetic resin such as polypropylene mixed with long glass fibers 23, 23, ... As reinforcing fiber materials. As the long glass fiber 23, for example, a fiber having a fiber length of 5 to 50 mm and a fiber diameter of 10 to 20 μm is used, and it is preferable to set the weight ratio to the synthetic resin to be 30 to 50%. Therefore, the base member 5a of the protector body 5 and the stay 1
5, 15, that is, the rigidity of the knee protector 3 can be sufficiently ensured by the mixed long glass fibers 23. In particular, the long glass fibers 23 are projected in the respective stay portions 15 by press molding (in the arrow P direction to which a pressing force is applied).
Since it is oriented in the direction of, the rigidity can be effectively obtained.

Therefore, in the above embodiment, at the time of a collision, the protector body 5 is pushed in the direction of the arrow P by the knee a1 of the occupant A, and the tips of the stays 15 and 15 hit the contact members 19 of the instrument panel reinforcement 17, Stay section 15,
By the elastic deformation of 15, the collision energy can be absorbed, the shock to the occupant A's knee a1 can be reduced, and the knee a1 can be protected.

Further, in the above embodiment, the base material 5a of the protector body 5 and the stay portions 15, 15 are integrally formed by the synthetic resin in which the long glass fibers 23, 23 are mixed. The weight of the protector body 5 and the stays 15, 1
It is not necessary to separately manufacture and assemble 5, and the number of parts and the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Further, in the above embodiment, each stay portion 15 is
Since one of the vertical surfaces (the left vertical surface in FIG. 4) 15b is slightly inclined with respect to the protector main body 5 at the inclination angle α, the knee a1 of the occupant A is attached to each stay 15 of the protector main body 5. Even when it hits the corresponding portion, each stay portion 15 can be easily elastically deformed in one direction at the time of a collision, the collision energy can be efficiently absorbed, and the knees of the occupant can be reliably protected.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment.
In this embodiment, both vertical surfaces 15a, 1 of each stay portion 15 are
5b is formed substantially at a right angle to the protector main body portion 5 and the inclined surface 15c is formed at the tip, so that
As indicated by a phantom line, a pressing force is applied in the direction of arrow P at the time of a collision so that the elastic deformation easily occurs in one direction (right side in FIG. 4). Other than that, the configuration is similar to that of the first embodiment, and therefore, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the same operational effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment.
In this embodiment, both vertical surfaces 15a, 1 of each stay portion 15 are
5b is set almost at right angles to the protector body 5 (second
(Similar to the embodiment) and has a convex curved surface 15d at the tip.
To make it slippery. Further, a Z-shaped member is used as the abutting member 19 provided on the instrument panel reinforcement 17 side so as to face the tips of the stays 15. That is, the corresponding member 19 has a receiving surface 2 that is inclined at a predetermined inclination angle β with respect to the protruding direction of each stay portion 15.
5 is formed, and as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 6, a pressing force is applied from the direction of arrow P at the time of collision so that the elastic deformation easily occurs in one direction (right side in FIG. 4). Other than that, the configuration is similar to that of the first embodiment, and therefore, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the same operational effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, in this embodiment, the tip of each stay portion 15 (convex curved surface 15d) is guided to the receiving surface 25 of the contact member 19 at the time of collision, so that elastic deformation can be further facilitated and collision energy can be efficiently provided. It can be absorbed and the occupant's knees can be protected more reliably.

Although the vertical surface 15b of each stay portion 15 is inclined in the first embodiment, the vertical surface 15a on the opposite side may be inclined. Further, the inclination of the tip end inclined surface 15c of each stay portion 15 in the second embodiment and the inclination of the receiving surface 25 of the contact member 19 in the third embodiment may be reversed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention as set forth in claims 1 and 2, the protector main body portion protecting the occupant's knees in the event of a collision, and the stay portion protruding from the back surface of the protector main body portion. Since and are integrally molded with synthetic resin mixed with reinforcing fiber material, the weight can be significantly reduced without lowering the rigidity, and the number of parts and the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost is low. You can

According to the second aspect of the present invention, at the time of collision, the stay tip is guided to the receiving surface inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the stay projecting direction of the contact member on the side of the rigid support, so that elastic deformation is prevented. The collision can be performed smoothly and the collision energy can be absorbed efficiently, and the occupant's knees can be reliably protected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an instrument panel.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a knee protector according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the knee protector according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the knee protector according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a knee protector according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view of a knee protector according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Knee protector 5 Protector main body part 15 Stay part 17 Instrument panel reinforcement (rigid support) 19 Abutment member 23 Glass long fiber (reinforcing fiber material) 25 Receiving surface A Crew a1 Knee β Inclination angle

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A protector main body which is provided so as to face the occupant's knees and protects the occupant's knees in the event of a collision, and a rigid support which is provided on the back surface of the protector main body and is fixed to the vehicle body. A knee protector for an automobile, comprising: a stay portion having its ends opposed to each other, wherein the protector main body portion and the stay portion are integrally formed of a synthetic resin mixed with a reinforcing fiber material. 2. A protector body which is provided so as to face the occupant's knees and protects the occupant's knees in the event of a collision, and a rigid support body which is projectingly provided on the back surface of the protector body and fixed to the vehicle body. A stay portion whose tip is opposed to each other, and a contact member which is provided on the rigid support body so as to face the tip of the stay portion and has a receiving surface which is inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the protruding direction of the stay portion are provided. A knee protector for an automobile, wherein the protector main body portion and the stay portion are integrally molded of synthetic resin mixed with a reinforcing fiber material.