JPH06183307A - Knee bolster - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer a knee bolster capable of sufficiently protecting a crew's knee. CONSTITUTION:Regarding a knee bolster 20 composed of a plate 3 having a foam member 2 mounted thereon and a pair of energy absorbing brackets 4, 4 supporting the plate 3, a nearly V shaped reinforcement member 21 is arranged between the plate 3 and the pair of energy absorbing brackets 4, 4 and the central portion 21b of the reinforcement ember 21 is positioned near the center of the plate 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a knee bolster,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a knee bolster including a plate to which a foam member is attached and a pair of energy absorbing brackets that support the plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 6 to 9 show a conventional knee bolster. This knee bolster 1 has a structure in which a plate 3 to which a foam member 2 is attached is fixed to a member 5 on the vehicle body side via a pair of energy absorbing brackets 4 and 4.

This knee bolster 1 is provided for the purpose of protecting the knees of an occupant from collision dangerous objects such as the steering column 6 and various electric components.

In FIG. 4, 7 is an instrument panel, 8 is a steering wheel, 9 is a steering member, and 1 is a steering member.
0 is the occupant's knee.

[0005]

The knee bolster 1 of the prior art described above needs to reduce the impact force generated when the knees of the occupant hit the knee for the purpose of protecting the knees of the occupant. It is difficult to improve the rigidity of the knee bolster, and it is difficult to secure the rigidity of the knee bolster as compared with other parts.

Further, in the conventional knee bolster 1, in order to enhance the effect of absorbing the impact force generated when the occupant's knee is hit,
It was necessary to keep the distance from the knee bolster plate 3 to the occupant's knee as long as possible.

However, such a conventional knee bolster 1
Then, in an impact test or the like, when the knee of the occupant (dummy) hits the foam member 2, the energy absorbing brackets 4 and 4 fall to the left or right and the plate 3 moves.
The occupant was also turned laterally accordingly (see FIGS. 8 and 9).

For this reason, the impact absorbing action of the conventional knee bolster 1 is reduced, and the knees of the occupant cannot be sufficiently protected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a knee bolster capable of sufficiently protecting the knees of an occupant.

In the present invention, in order to achieve the above object,
In a knee bolster comprising a plate to which a foam member is attached and a pair of energy absorbing brackets supporting the plate, a substantially V-shaped reinforcing member is arranged between the plate and the pair of energy absorbing brackets, and the reinforcing member is provided. The central part of the plate is located near the center of the plate.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a knee bolster according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. For convenience of explanation, in FIGS.
Elements having the same functions as those shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of the elements will be omitted.

In the knee bolster 20 of this embodiment, the plate 3 is fixed to the member 5 at both ends 3a, 3a via a pair of energy absorbing brackets 4, 4.

Further, a substantially V-shaped reinforcing member 21 is arranged between the plate 3 and the base portions 4a, 4a of the energy absorbing brackets 4, 4.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, both ends 21a, 21a of the reinforcing member 21 are fixed to the bases 4a, 4a of the energy absorbing brackets 4, 4.

Further, the reinforcing member 21 has a central portion 21.
It is folded back at b to form an apex, and the central portion 21b is located slightly separated from the central portion 3b of the plate 3.

In this embodiment, since the reinforcing member 21 is provided, when the knee of the occupant (dummy) hits the foam member 2, the reinforcing member 21 causes the energy absorbing brackets 4, 4 to fall to the left or right. Instead, the knee bolster 20 is crushed as it is (see FIG. 2) and the deformation of the knee bolster 20 is stabilized.

Therefore, the impact absorbing action of the knee bolster 20 is improved, and the knees of the occupant can be sufficiently protected.

Further, by disposing the reinforcing member 21 between the plate 3 and the energy absorbing brackets 4 and 4, the distance from the plate 3 to the knees of the occupant can be made as long as possible, but unlike other ordinary parts. Since the rigidity of the knee bolster can be secured, the dimensional accuracy retention of the knee bolster alone is also improved.

[0020]

According to the knee bolster of the present invention, in the knee bolster comprising the plate to which the foam member is attached and the pair of energy absorbing brackets supporting the plate, the pair of the pair of energy absorbing brackets is provided between the plate and the steering member. Since the substantially V-shaped reinforcing member is arranged between the energy absorbing brackets and the central portion of the reinforcing member is located near the center of the plate, the knee bolster is crushed as it is and its deformation is stabilized. It

Therefore, the impact absorbing action of the knee bolster is improved, and the knees of the occupant can be sufficiently protected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state before a modification of an embodiment of a knee bolster according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state of a knee bolster according to an embodiment of the present invention after being modified.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a knee bolster according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a knee bolster according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a knee bolster according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a peripheral structure of a conventional knee bolster.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing peripheral components of a conventional knee bolster.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before deformation of a conventional knee bolster.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state after deformation of a conventional knee bolster.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 foam member 3 plate 4 energy absorption bracket 4a base portion 20 knee bolster 21 reinforcing member 21a end portion 21b central portion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plate having a foam member attached thereto,
In a knee bolster comprising a pair of energy absorbing brackets supporting the plate, a substantially V-shaped reinforcing member is disposed between the plate and the pair of energy absorbing brackets, and the central portion of the reinforcing member is the center of the plate. A knee bolster characterized by being located in the vicinity.