JPH0550889A - Knee protector structure for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a knee protector structure for car which is capable of protecting the crew of a car by effectively absorbing the impact load acting on the crew when the car collides, and capable of sufficiently ensuring the capacity of a glove box. CONSTITUTION:A knee protector structure has a protector plate composed of a glove box lid 5, and a pair of right and left protector brackets 21. The center positions C1 of the protector brackets 21 are arranged so that they are offset outward from the center positions C2 of the knee parts of the crew across the width of a car respectively, connecting members consisting of engaging pins 14, 15 for connecting the protector plate composed of the glove box lid 5 to the protector brackets 21 are provided, and thus the lateral movement of the glove box lid 5 is restricted by the connecting members.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a knee protector structure for an automobile, which protects an occupant from an impact load applied when the automobile crashes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-16552, a protector plate is installed in front of the knees of an occupant seated on a front seat of an automobile, and the protector plate is attached to a steering support member. It is supported by a U-shaped protector bracket attached to the vehicle, and when the knees of an occupant come into contact with the protector plate during a vehicle collision, the protector bracket is deformed to absorb the impact load at the time of the collision and the occupant. There is known a knee protector structure of an automobile designed to protect the knees of the car. Further, when the knee protector is arranged on the passenger seat side, a glove lid that covers the surface of a glove box installed in front of the passenger seat is used as a protector plate.

[0003]

When the glove lid is used as a protector plate as described above, a pair of left and right knee protector brackets are usually installed on the back side of the glove lid at positions facing the knees of an occupant. The glove box body is arranged between the two knee protector brackets. For this reason, there is a problem that the size of the glove box body is limited by the presence of the protector bracket, and a sufficient capacity of the glove box cannot be secured.

In order to secure a sufficient capacity of the glove box, it is conceivable that the width of the glove lid is set to be large and the protector bracket is arranged so as to face the outer side of the glove box. , The center position of the occupant's knee and the installation position of the protector bracket deviate in the vehicle width direction, and the impact load input from the occupant's knee to the protector plate during a vehicle collision is effectively transmitted to the protector bracket. In some cases, the shock absorbing action by deforming the protector bracket cannot be sufficiently obtained.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can effectively absorb the impact load applied at the time of a collision of an automobile to protect the knees of an occupant, and at the same time, protect the glove box. It is an object of the present invention to provide a knee protector structure for an automobile capable of ensuring a sufficient capacity.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has a protector plate formed of a glove lid arranged in front of a passenger seat, and a pair of left and right protector brackets for supporting an impact load input to the protector plate. In a knee protector structure of an automobile, the center position of the protector bracket is arranged offset to the outer side in the vehicle width direction with respect to the center position of the knees of the occupant, and the protector plate and the protector bracket are aligned with each other. A connecting member for connecting is provided.

[0007]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the space between the left and right protector brackets is set to be large, and the width of the glove box main body disposed between them is increased to secure a sufficient capacity of the glove box. be able to. Since the protector plate and the protector bracket are connected to each other by the connecting member, the lateral movement of the protector plate is restricted when the vehicle collides, and the impact load input from the knee part of the occupant to the protector plate is the above. It will be reliably transmitted to the protector bracket.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a vehicle knee protector structure according to the present invention installed on an instrument panel 1. The instrument panel 1 has a console box 2 at the center in the vehicle width direction. In addition to being installed, the glove box 3 is installed in front of the passenger seat located on the left side of the vehicle body. This glove box 3
As shown in FIG. 2, a glove box body 4 having a space for storing articles, and a glove box body 4
And a pair of left and right support shafts (not shown) protrudingly provided on the outer surface of the lower end of the glove box body 4, the glove lid 5 being installed on the front side of the glove box body. 4 is swingably displaced to move from the closed position to the open position.

The globe lid 5 comprises a pad material 6 made of urethane foam material, a substrate 7 disposed inside the pad material 6, and a covering material 8 for covering the surface of the pad material 6. The globe lid 5 constitutes a protector plate that faces the knees of an occupant seated in the passenger seat. On the side of the glove lid 5,
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mounting plate 9 embedded in the pad member 6, the side plate 10 joined to the outer surface of the box body 4, and the side plate 10 protruding laterally from the tip end portion thereof. A support bracket 12 including a protruding piece 11 is provided. In addition, a protector bracket 21 to be described later is provided on the mounting plate 9 and the projecting piece 11 of the support bracket 12.
Engaging pin 14 and second engaging pin 15
Is projected on the front side of the vehicle body.

Above the glove box 3 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a steering support member 16 such as a pipe member whose side end is fixed to a front pillar of a vehicle body is installed, and an airbag 18 housed in a casing 17 and an inside of the airbag 18 are provided. An airbag unit 20 having a gas generator 19 for generating the introduced gas is provided. The steering support member 16 is attached to the globe lid 5 in the event of an automobile collision.
A pair of left and right protector brackets 21 that support the sides of the protector bracket 21 are attached.

The protector bracket 21 has a vertical portion 2 whose upper end is fixed to the steering support member 16.
2, an arc-shaped bent portion 23 provided at the lower end of the vertical portion 22, and an inclined portion 24 extending obliquely upward from the bent portion 23. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, an engagement hole 25 into which the first engagement pin 14 is fitted is formed in the wall surface of the inclined portion 24 of the protector bracket 21. In addition, a protrusion 26 that protrudes laterally is formed on the inner side portion of the vertical portion 22 of the protector bracket 21, and an engagement hole 27 into which the second engagement pin 15 is fitted is formed on the wall surface of the protrusion 26. Are formed.

Then, the protector bracket 21
As shown in FIG. 6, the center position C1 of the vehicle is relative to the center position C2 of the knee 28 of the occupant, that is, the average position of the center of the knee when the occupant is normally seated in the passenger seat. The protector bracket 21 is arranged at a position offset outward in the width direction, and the left-right distance L1 of the center position C1 of the protector bracket 21 is equal to the center position C2 of the knee portion 28.
It is set to be larger than the left-to-right distance L2 by the offset amount.

As described above, the center position C1 of the protector bracket 21 is set to the center position C2 of the knee portion 28 of the occupant.
As compared with the case in which the center position of the protector bracket is arranged in front of the center position C2 of the knee portion 28, the lateral distance L1 of the center position C1 of the protector bracket 21 is larger than that of the protector bracket 21.
The width of the glove box body 4 arranged between the left and right protector brackets 21 can be increased accordingly to ensure a sufficient capacity of the glove box 3.

Then, the first and second engagement pins 14 and 15 projecting from the side of the globe lid 5 are fitted into the engagement holes 25 and 27 formed in the protector bracket 21, whereby the above-mentioned globe is formed. Since the lid 5 and the protector bracket 21 are configured to be coupled to each other, the collision of the vehicle occurs despite the fact that the center position C1 of the protector bracket 21 is offset to the outside of the center position C2 of the occupant's knee 28. At this time, the impact load inputted from the knee portion 28 of the occupant to the glove lid 5 can be surely transmitted to the protector bracket 21, and the protector bracket 21 can be deformed to effectively absorb the impact load.

That is, when the center position C1 of the protector bracket 21 and the center position C2 of the knee portion 28 of the occupant are offset in the vehicle width direction as described above, the load input from the knee portion 28. Accordingly, a moment for turning the protector bracket 21 is generated, and accordingly the protector bracket 21 is easily twisted in accordance with this moment to be in an inclined state. When the protector bracket 21 is twisted to form an inclined surface, the glove lid 5 moves laterally along the inclined surface to separate from the protector bracket 21, and the impact load is protected by the protector bracket 21. However, when the glove lid 5 and the protector bracket 21 are connected to each other by the connecting member composed of the first and second engaging pins 14 and 15 as described above, Can regulate the lateral movement of the globe lid 5 and ensure that the side portion of the globe lid 5 is brought into contact with the protector bracket 21.

Therefore, at the time of a vehicle collision, the occupant is urged forward, and the impact load input by the knee 28 of the occupant abutting against the glove lid 5 is reliably transmitted from the glove lid 5 to the protector bracket 21. can do. As a result, the vertical portion 22 of the protector bracket 21 is bent toward the front side of the vehicle body with its upper end as a fulcrum, and the inclined portion 24 of the protector bracket 21 is forwarded with respect to the arcuate portion 23 of its lower end as a fulcrum. When the protector bracket 21 is bent to the side, the impact load is gradually absorbed according to the deformation of the protector bracket 21, and a large impact is prevented from acting on the knee 28 of the occupant.

In the above embodiment, the engaging pin 1 fitted in the engaging holes 25 and 27 of the protector bracket 21.
Although the glove lid 5 is connected to the protector bracket 21 by the connecting member composed of 4 and 15 to restrict the lateral movement of the glove lid, the projecting pieces facing the glove lid 5 and the protector bracket 21 are opposed to each other. Alternatively, a hook or the like may be provided in a protruding manner, and the globe lid 5 may be connected to the protector bracket 21 by a connecting member formed of the protrusion or the like so as to restrict the lateral movement of the globe lid.

Further, in order to prevent the protector bracket 21 from being twisted and deformed by the moment generated at the time of the collision, the plate thickness of the inner side portion of the protector bracket 21 is increased to reinforce the protector bracket 21 or the protector 21 is reinforced. The structure may be such that a reinforcing rib for improving the torsional rigidity of the bracket 21 is provided. This way
When the vehicle knees in a collision, the protector bracket 21 is prevented from being twisted and tilted when the knee 28 of the occupant abuts the glove lid 5 in an oblique direction. There is an advantage that the applied impact load can be effectively absorbed.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the center position of the protector bracket that absorbs the impact load input to the protector plate made of the glove lid is set in the vehicle width direction with respect to the center position of the knee of the occupant. Since it is offset to the outer side of the glove box, the space between the left and right protector brackets can be widened and the width dimension of the glove box body disposed between them can be increased to ensure a sufficient glove box capacity. .

Further, since the protector plate and the protector bracket are connected by the connecting member so as to restrict the lateral movement of the protector plate, the center position of the protector bracket is set to the center of the occupant's knee. Despite the offset to the outside in the vehicle width direction with respect to the position, the impact load input to the glove lid from the occupant's knee during vehicle collision can be reliably transmitted to the protector bracket. Therefore, by deforming the protector bracket according to the impact load, there is an advantage that the knee portion of the occupant can be effectively protected from an impact at the time of a collision.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an instrument panel provided with a knee protector structure for a vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the knee protector structure.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a glove box.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a protector bracket.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a glove box.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Glove box 4 Glove box body 5 Glove lid (protector plate) 14,15 Engagement pin (connecting member) 21 Protector bracket 28 Knee C1 Center position of protector bracket C2 Center position of knee

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A knee protector structure for an automobile, comprising a protector plate formed of a glove lid arranged in front of a passenger seat, and a pair of left and right protector brackets for supporting an impact load input to the protector plate. The center position of the protector bracket is arranged offset to the outer side in the vehicle width direction with respect to the center position of the occupant's knees, and a connecting member for connecting the protector plate and the protector bracket to each other is provided. A knee protector structure for automobiles.