JPH0577659A - Automobile instrument panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automobile instrument panel which is improved in point of manufacture, handling and a reduction of assembling manhours by dividing the panel into two, in regard to the automobile instrument panel made of thermoplastic resin. CONSTITUTION:It is characterized in that an automobile instrument panel is made up of an upper member 1 made of resin, and of a lower member 2 made of resin, and specified gaps 23 and 26 are provided for the engaging surfaces of both the members.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instrument panel (hereinafter abbreviated as an instrument panel) including an instrument panel as a support for instruments arranged at the front of a driver's seat of various vehicles such as automobiles, Particularly, it relates to an instrument panel made of a resin molded product for automobiles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automobile instrument panel has not only its original function as a frame for mounting various instruments, but also a mount for various accessories such as a glove box, audio equipment, cigarette lighter, and control knobs / switches. In addition, it also functions as an attachment for the defroster, the air outlet for air conditioning, and the air conditioner controller.

In addition to the above-mentioned functions, a general instrument panel is a large-sized component that is conspicuous and therefore occupies a large part of the interior design of the vehicle and also plays an important role in terms of decoration and safety. Therefore, not only the mechanical strength must be above a predetermined level, but also the requirements for color, appearance, shape, safety, etc. must be satisfied.

[0004] Recently, automobiles tend to be required to have luxurious in-vehicle equipment as the user tends to be advanced. On the other hand, there is a strong demand that the weight should be reduced as much as possible from the viewpoint of resource saving and energy saving. In response to the former requirement, the size of the vehicle body has increased and high-grade equipment has been adopted. Therefore, the instrument panel also tends to increase in size.

If such a large instrument panel is to be molded by blow molding or other manufacturing techniques that have been conventionally used, the weight and the manufacturing cost increase. From the latter requirement, it is desirable to use a material that is as lightweight as possible and use a molded product that is thin and yet excellent in design.

However, it is difficult to obtain a product which simultaneously satisfies the above requirements. For example, an integrally molded product usually uses a single material, which limits the degree of freedom in terms of weight reduction, color, design, and the like.
Further, although the number of parts is small, it becomes a large-sized part having a complicated shape, which is disadvantageous in each process such as transportation, storage, and assembly.

Further, a defroster and an air duct for air conditioning are arranged below the instrument panel. This air duct is a tube body that is conventionally manufactured independently of the instrument panel, and is connected to a defroster formed on the upper surface of the instrument panel and each air outlet for air conditioning. In this case, in order to facilitate the connection, for example, a bellows tube or another tube having a complicated shape is used in combination.

Further, in the instrument panel, a wire harness in which electric wires for electric power and signals which are connected to various instruments, car audios, various control units and the like are integrated is arranged. The bundling and fixing of these cables and wire harnesses are complicated, which has hindered automation of the assembly process. In addition, these cables, wire harnesses, etc. may come into contact with the instrument panel and other vehicle members to generate an unpleasant vibration noise or chatter noise during traveling.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has sufficient mechanical strength and original functions, satisfies design requirements, and is advantageous in all aspects of molding, transportation, storage and assembly processes. An object of the present invention is to provide a resin instrument panel for automobiles.

[0010]

This problem is formed by a two-part member including an instrument panel upper member made of a resin molded product and an instrument panel lower member made of a resin molded product, and is required for an engaging surface of both members. This is solved by an automobile instrument panel in which a void is formed.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the bottom surface of the upper member and the upper surface of the lower member of the vehicle instrument panel according to the present invention are formed as a two-part member having engaging surfaces which are fitted to each other. Then, on this engaging surface, a void portion having an appropriate cross section required for the construction of the automobile is formed.

According to this structure, the upper and lower members can be manufactured from materials suitable for the respective members. Further, as a result of simplifying each shape, it becomes possible to adopt an optimum design. Further, each of these members can be used as an air duct for a defroster and / or an air conditioner for arranging a wire harness as a space formed in the engaging surface.

Since the air duct for defroster and / or air conditioning and the area for arranging the higher harness thus formed are secured, a separate pipe body, a fixing jig, etc. are not required. In addition, the binding process and fixing work of the wire harnesses are simplified, and vibration noises and chattering noises caused by these can be reduced.

[0014]

EXAMPLES The contents of the present invention will be disclosed below with reference to examples. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structural example of an instrument panel upper member 1 and an instrument panel upper member 2.

The upper member 1 is important for the interior design of the vehicle, and is exposed to a high temperature by being exposed to strong sunlight through the front windshield. Therefore, a material and a structure that are excellent in appearance characteristics and high heat resistance and do not hinder the safety of passengers and passengers are required. Such an upper member 1 not only functions as a mounting body for instruments, but also serves as a mounting portion for a defroster, an air outlet for air conditioning, a clock, and the like.

The lower member 2 serves as an attachment body for a glove box, an audio device, a navigation device, an air conditioner controller, and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to use a material excellent in mechanical strength and appearance.

A meter hood 12 is attached to the attachment position 11 of the instrument panel upper member 1 in this embodiment. Inside the meter hood 12, instruments such as a speedometer and a tachometer are attached. In addition, a tray for small items 13 is formed although it is optional.

An air outlet 14 for a defroster is formed at the front end of the instrument panel upper member 1. In addition, air outlets 1 for air conditioning are provided at the left and right ends and the center of the passenger compartment.
5 and 16 are formed. These air outlets are provided with air outlet covers 15c and 16c each having a function of adjusting the airflow direction, the air volume, and the like.
Is provided.

A glove box mounting portion 21 is formed on the lower instrument panel member 2. In addition, a channel 22 for introducing air from an air conditioner (not shown) is formed on the engagement surface of the lower member 2 with the upper member 1.
A void 23 is formed that includes The void 23 functions as an air duct for air conditioning, and communicates with the air outlets 15 and 16 of the upper member 1. In addition, the defroster air outlet 14 has a flow path 2 for the defroster.
5 and the air duct of the gap 26 communicate with each other.

The air ducts which are the voids 23 and 26 may be formed on the lower surface of the upper member or separately on both members in addition to the embodiment described above. In this case, it is natural that structural consideration should be taken so that air leakage from the duct portion does not occur, but it is omitted in the figure.
It should be noted that it is also possible to use these ducts or separately provided uneven portions so as to maintain the engaged and fixed state of the upper and lower members. As a matter of course, the protrusion and the receiving portion thereof having an appropriate structure can be configured in consideration of convenience at the time of disassembly and removal.

Further, the instrument panel lower member 2 is formed with a space 28 for accommodating various instruments and a wire harness 27 for transmitting signals and electric power for those instruments. It is possible to store cables and electric wires that were conventionally separately wired together. Therefore, the bundling process and the fixing work are facilitated, and the work man-hours at the time of assembling the automobile can be reduced.

The wire harness void 28 is also
Like the air gaps 23 and 26 as air ducts,
It is also possible to form the lower surface of the upper member or the upper and lower members separately. In this case, a thin strip wiring body in which a conductive stripe corresponding to a wire harness is directly applied or printed on the instrument panel member or a required stripe is separately printed can be used. With this configuration, the wire harness void 28 can be a very shallow recess.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state of each joint surface of the instrument panel upper member 1 and FIG. The same elements as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.
In this embodiment, the air duct 23a in FIG. 3 is formed at a position corresponding to the air duct 23 of the lower member 2 in FIG. The wire harness space 27 is formed on the lower member 2 side. However, as described above, each of these voids may be formed in any one of both members, or may be arbitrarily formed in an appropriate range so as to reach both members.

In the vehicle instrument panel according to the present invention, the upper member 1 and the lower member 2 can be formed of the same material, or different materials can be used if necessary. For example, the upper member 1 can be molded at an appropriate expansion ratio using a thermoplastic resin composition in which a foaming material is appropriately mixed with a polyphenylene ether resin.

Such a foam-molded resin instrument panel for automobiles exhibits higher elasticity than a solid molded article. Therefore, it is possible to mitigate the impact at the time of collision of an article or a human body and improve safety. As a material satisfying such requirements, for example, Noryl beads (trade name:
Nippon GE Plastics Co., Ltd.) can be used. Further, the surface can be subjected to a cosmetic treatment of any color and property.

The instrument panel lower member 2 is, for example,
A heat-composable resin in which a styrene-based material is arranged in polyphenylene ether can be used.

[0027]

According to the instrument panel for an automobile of the present invention, since the upper instrument and the lower instrument are divided into two parts,
The optimum material can be selected for each member. Therefore, it is advantageous in terms of molding, transportation, storage and assembly. Further, it is possible to integrally form the air duct, the wire harness space, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to reduce materials such as a connecting pipe or a bellows pipe as an air duct, an auxiliary material for processing a wire harness, and the like, and the assembling process is simplified. For example, at the time of assembly, the lower member is fixed to the vehicle body, and the upper member is fitted to the projections and the receiving portions provided on the both members, whereby the assembling and disassembling work is simplified. Reflexively, the disassembly or removal work for repair becomes easy. Disassembling or removing for recycling at the time of junk car has similar advantages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an automobile instrument panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a structure of an engaging surface of a lower member of an automobile instrument panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of an engagement surface of an upper member of an automobile instrument panel according to the present invention.

[Correspondence of reference symbols]

 1 Instrument panel upper member 14 Defroster blowout port 15 Air conditioning air blowout port 16 Air conditioning central air blowout port 2 Instrument panel lower member 22, 25 Air flow path 23, 26 Air gap 27 Air gap for wire harness

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An instrument panel upper member made of a resin molded product and an instrument panel lower member made of a resin molded product are formed by two divided members, and a required void portion is formed on an engagement surface of these both members. The characteristic instrument panel for automobiles. 2. The vehicle instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the required void portion is an air duct for a defroster and / or an air conditioner. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the required void portion is a wire harness storage area for instruments and / or electric / electronic devices. Instrument panel for automobiles. 4. The vehicle instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein a conductive path made of a conductive paint is formed in the wire harness storage area.