JPH10297345A - Footrest for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a shock absorption property at the collision without hurting the stability of a footrest at the usual time by forming a rib on the back surface of the foot placing surface of a box shape foot rest main body molded by a resin having the foot placing surface for placing an occupant's foot and also providing a shock absorption material for absorbing the shock on the back surface. SOLUTION: The partition wall of the front lower part of a car room is constituted by extendingly arranging a dash board 3 upward from the upper end of a toe board 2 erected in the obliquely front side from the front end of a floor panel 1. A footrest for placing an occupant's foot (a) is arranged with a front risen slant attitude on the toe board surface 2a which is the car room side surface of the toe board 2. The footrest is constituted by a footrest main body 4 having a foot placing surface 40 and the surrounding side plate 41 and a rib 42 is formed so as to reach the opened surface of this footrest main body 4. Further, a shock absorption material 43 formed by the elastic material of a rubber for absorbing the shock on the back surface of the foot placing surface 40, while positioning to a space surrounded by the rib 42 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a footrest for an automobile on which an occupant's foot rests.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a footrest is disposed on a toeboard surface which rises obliquely forward from a floor surface of a vehicle cabin in a forwardly inclined position.

Conventionally, in such a footrest, a hard member and a soft member are bonded to each other to form a footrest body according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-1644782, and an impact acting on a lower leg of an occupant from a toe board via the footrest at the time of a collision is provided. There is known one that absorbs with a soft member.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, there is a problem that the soft member is slightly elastically deformed in a normal state and the stability of the footrest is impaired.

[0005] In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a footrest capable of improving the impact absorption at the time of a collision without impairing the stability of the footrest in a normal state.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems,
The present invention relates to a box-shaped footrest body formed of a resin having a footrest surface on which an occupant's foot is placed, in an automobile footrest arranged on a toeboard surface rising obliquely forward from a floor surface of a passenger compartment in a forwardly inclined position. A rib is formed on the back surface of the foot rest surface, and a shock absorbing material for absorbing a shock is provided on the back surface.

According to the present invention, at the time of collision, when the load applied to the footrest increases to a certain extent, the box-shaped side plate portion and the rib of the footrest body buckle, and then the shock absorbing material is deformed and the impact is reduced. Absorbed. Normally, the rigidity of the footrest body is ensured by the side plate portions and the ribs, so that the stability of the footrest is not impaired.

[0008] By the way, the toeboard may be deformed rearward in the event of a collision, and the footrest rises from the upwardly inclined posture, thereby reducing the angle between the occupant's foot and the shin. In this case, in the upper region of the back surface of the footrest surface,
If only the shock absorbing material is provided without forming ribs, the upper area of the footrest body will buckle ahead due to the load at the time of the collision and the footrest surface will tilt forward, and the angle between the foot and the shin will be Reduction is suppressed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a floor panel constituting a floor surface 1a of a cabin of an automobile, and a toe board 2 rising diagonally forward from a front end of the floor panel 1.
And a dashboard 3 extending upward from the upper end of the toe board 2 to form a partition at the front lower part of the cabin, and a footrest for placing an occupant's foot a on the toe board surface 2a of the toe board 2 on the cabin side. Is arranged in a front-up inclined posture.

As shown in FIG. 2, the footrest comprises a box-shaped footrest body 4 having a footrest surface 40 formed of a resin such as polypropylene and a side plate portion 41 around the footrest surface 40. On the back side of the foot rest surface 40, a rib 42 is formed
Are formed. In the present embodiment, the rib 42 is formed so as to reach the opening surface of the footrest main body 4 so that both the side plate portion 41 and the rib 42 abut on the toe board surface 2a. The rib 4 is formed when the side plate portion 41 is slightly buckled.
2 may be in contact with the toe board surface 2a.

A rib 42 is provided on the back of the foot rest surface 40.
The shock absorbing material 43 is provided in a space surrounded by. As the shock absorbing material 43, an elastic material such as rubber or a plastic material such as hard urethane which is crushed by receiving an impact force can be used. The thickness of the shock absorber 43 is rib 4.
2 and the shock absorber 43 abuts on the toeboard surface 2a after the rib 42 buckles.

According to the above configuration, the foot rest surface 40 is always provided by the side plate portion 41 of the footrest main body 4 and the rib 42.
Is held in a predetermined upwardly inclined position with sufficient support rigidity, and the stability of the footrest is ensured.

In the event of a collision, the side plate 41 and the rib 42 first buckle due to the deformation of the toe board 2 or the load due to the inertia of the occupant. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the amount of collapse of the footrest main body 4 and the reaction force acting on the foot a.
The reaction force decreases by one point from point A where buckling 2 starts to buckle. When the buckling progresses rapidly, the reaction force drops sharply, and the subsequent increase in the reaction force increases the impact applied to the lower leg of the occupant. However, in the present embodiment, the resistance to the buckling of the rib 42 is obtained by the shock absorbing material 43, so that the buckling of the rib 42 progresses relatively slowly, and the reduction of the reaction force due to the buckling is also moderate. become.

Then, the shock absorbing material 43 is
The reaction force increases again from the point B abutting on a, but the deformation of the shock absorbing material 43 gradually increases the reaction force, and the shock applied to the lower leg of the occupant is reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment. This is also formed of a box-shaped resin molded product having the foot rest surface 4 and the side plate portion 41 surrounding the foot rest body 4, but the rib 42 is provided only in the lower region on the back surface of the foot rest surface 40. Is formed. In the lower region of the back surface of the foot rest surface 40, a shock absorbing material 43a having a thickness not reaching the opening surface of the foot rest body 4 is provided, while in the upper region of the back surface of the foot rest surface 40, An impact absorbing material 43b having a thickness reaching the opening surface is provided.

According to this, at the time of collision, the upper region of the footrest body 4 not reinforced by the ribs 42 is
The buckling causes the shock absorbing material 43b to be compressed and crushed prior to the lower region, and the footrest surface 40 is inclined forward. Therefore, a decrease in the angle between the occupant's foot and the shin can be suppressed. Thereafter, the footrest body 4 is entirely collapsed while the foot resting surface is inclined forward, and the reaction force acting on the foot is reduced as shown in FIG.
The impact applied to the lower leg of the occupant is reduced.

It is desirable that the shock absorber 43a provided in the upper region be made of a softer material than the shock absorber 43b provided in the lower region in order to efficiently tilt the footrest surface 40 toward the front.

[0018]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the impact absorption at the time of a collision without impairing the stability of the footrest.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the footrest of the first embodiment as viewed from the toeboard surface side.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between a crush amount of a footrest and a reaction force acting on a foot.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 2 of the footrest of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a Floor surface 2a Toe board surface 4 Footrest body 40 Foot rest surface 42 Ribs 43, 43a, 43b Shock absorber

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A footrest for a vehicle, which is disposed on a toeboard surface which rises obliquely forward from a floor surface of a vehicle cabin in an upwardly inclined position, comprising a box-shaped footrest formed of resin having a footrest surface on which an occupant's foot rests. A footrest for an automobile, wherein a rib is formed on the back surface of the foot mounting surface of the main body, and a shock absorber for absorbing a shock is provided on the back surface. 2. The footrest for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein only a shock absorbing material is provided without forming a rib in an upper region of a back surface of the footrest surface.