JP4046326B2 - Car knee bolster - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automobile knee bolster.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In order to ensure the safety of passengers in the event of a car collision, seat belts have been widely used. In the event of a collision, the seat belt restrains the occupant's body seated on the seat to mitigate the impact. In order to enhance the effect, it is also conventionally known to provide a knee bolster (for example, Patent Documents). 1). The knee bolster receives the knee of the occupant seated in the front seat at the time of the automobile collision, stops the movement of the knee, and regulates the movement of the occupant's waist, thereby cooperating with the seat belt and Is more reliably restrained.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-21456 (first page)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional knee bolster has the disadvantage that the structure is complicated, the number of parts is large, and the cost is high.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide an automobile knee bolster capable of reducing the number of parts and the cost.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a pad fixed to a vehicle exterior side surface of an instrument panel positioned in front of a front seat arranged in a vehicle interior, and a reinforcing member fixed to the body. A bracket fixed to the pad and facing the pad, and a pin formed integrally with the instrument panel is provided on the outer surface of the instrument panel on the outside of the passenger compartment. Further, the pin is fitted and the tip of the pin protruding from the hole is thermally deformed in a radially bulging state to prevent the pad from coming out of the pin. Propose a car's knee bolster.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0008]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front of a vehicle compartment with the front seat and door removed, and an instrument panel 1 is disposed in the front of the vehicle compartment R. FIG. An arrow F in FIG. 1 indicates the forward direction of the automobile, and a symbol W indicates the width direction. The front in this specification is based on this forward direction F, and the opposite direction is the rear.
[0009]
In the passenger compartment R behind the instrument panel 1 shown in FIG. 1, two front seats, a driver seat and a passenger seat, not shown in FIG. 1 are arranged. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between one front seat 2, the occupant P seated in the front seat 2, and the instrument panel 1. FIG. 2 shows the passenger seat among the two front seats.
[0010]
As can be seen from FIG. 2, a knee bolster 3 is disposed in front of the instrument panel 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the knee bolster 3 shown here faces the vehicle exterior side surface 11 of the instrument panel 1 positioned in front of the front seat 2 disposed in the vehicle interior R, that is, the vehicle interior R. The pad 4 is fixed to the surface of the instrument panel 1 facing the front side opposite to the front surface, and fixed to a body (not shown) constituting a skeleton body of an automobile made of sheet metal, for example. And a bracket 6 fixed to the reinforcing member 5. The bracket 6 is positioned opposite to the pad 4, but the bracket 6 and the pad 4 are not fixed and are configured as separate members. The bracket 6 and the pad 4 may be in contact with each other as shown in FIG. 2 or may be slightly separated. Further, the knee bolster 3 of this example is provided with a pair of pads 4 and a pair of brackets 6 positioned so as to face each of the pads 4 so that each knee of the occupant can be received. The number can be set as appropriate. For example, the knee bolster can be configured by one pad long in the width direction W and one bracket facing the pad.
[0011]
The reinforcing member 5 extends in the width direction W of the automobile. The reinforcing member 5 and the bracket 6 fixed to the reinforcing member 5 are made of a material having a high strength, for example, a metal such as a steel material. The bracket 6 is integrally fixed to the reinforcing member 5 by welding, for example. As the reinforcing member 5, a reinforcing member of the instrument panel 1 generally called an instrument panel reinforcement can be used.
[0012]
The pad 4 is made of, for example, a hard urethane foam or a material having a cushioning function such as rubber. The pad 4 is formed on the outer side surface 11 of the instrument panel 1, for example, with an adhesive or on both sides as shown in FIG. It is fixed by an adhesive tape 7 or the like.
[0013]
When the automobile travels, the occupant P seated in the front seat 2 wears a seat belt (not shown). When the automobile collides, the occupant P tries to move forward with respect to the automobile, but the movement is restricted by the seat belt. Moreover, the knee of the passenger P hits the pad 4 through the instrument panel 1 and the movement of the knee is stopped. At this time, the external force applied to the pad 4 is received by the body via the bracket 6 and the reinforcing member 5. In this way, the movement of the waist of the occupant P is regulated, and the occupant P is securely restrained and held by the cooperative action of the seat belt and the knee bolster 3, and the safety of the occupant P is ensured. Further, when an external force is applied to the pad 4, the pad 4 is deformed and absorbs energy, so that the impact applied to the occupant's knee is alleviated.
[0014]
As described above, according to the knee bolster 3 of this example, the pad 4 can alleviate the impact applied to the occupant's knee, reduce the number of parts, and simplify the structure. Cost reduction can be achieved. In addition, since it is not necessary to fix the pad 4 to the bracket 6 with screws or the like, the assembling workability can be improved.
[0015]
As a method of fixing the pad 4 to the instrument panel 1, the method shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, a pin 8 integral with the instrument panel 1 protrudes from the outer side surface 11 of the instrument panel 1, and the hole 9 formed in the pad 4 The pin 8 is fitted. On the other hand, the tip portion of the pin 8 protruding from the hole 9 is heated and melted, and the tip portion is thermally deformed into a state in which the pin 8 bulges in the radial direction as shown in FIG. . This prevents the pad 4 from coming out of the pin 8.
[0016]
The knee bolster according to the present invention can be disposed in front of the driver seat instead of being disposed in front of the passenger seat, or can be disposed in front of both front seats of the driver seat and the passenger seat.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the number of parts of a knee bolster having a pad can be reduced, the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced, and the workability at the time of assembly can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front portion of a vehicle interior.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram showing a positional relationship among a front seat, an instrument panel, and a knee bolster.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a bracket and a pad apart from each other.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a method for fixing a pad to an instrument panel.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2 Front seat 3 Knee bolster 4 Pad 5 Reinforcement member 6 Bracket 8 Pin 9 Hole 11 Car exterior side R Car compartment

Claims (1)

  A pad fixed to the vehicle exterior side surface of the instrument panel positioned in front of the front seat arranged in the vehicle interior, and a reinforcing member fixed to the body, facing the pad A pin that is integral with the instrument panel on the outer surface of the cabin of the instrument panel, and the pin is fitted into a hole formed in the pad. An automobile knee bolster characterized in that the tip of the pin protruding from the pin is thermally deformed into a state of swelling in the radial direction so that the pad is prevented from coming out of the pin.

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