JP5403141B2 - Knee airbag device for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle knee airbag device, and particularly to a driver seat lower panel of a vehicle knee airbag device.

  Patent document 1 is disclosing the knee airbag apparatus for vehicles. In the knee airbag device, a knee airbag module is disposed on the back side of the lower panel, and is fixed to a knee panel attached to the instrument reinforcement through a bracket.

  In the conventional knee airbag device, it is conceivable that the lower panel is broken by an impact generated when the knee airbag is deployed, and the broken pieces of the lower panel are scattered on the vehicle rear side (occupant side). As countermeasures, reinforcement measures such as reinforcement by ribs, increase in panel plate thickness, and addition of sheet metal inserts are performed on the lower panel.

JP 2004-098867 A

However, the countermeasures against cracking of the lower panel by the above reinforcement have the following problems.
Measures such as adding ribs, increasing sheet thickness, or adding sheet metal inserts increase the weight, increase material costs, and increase manufacturing costs.
Moreover, since a crack site | part is not stabilized, there exists a possibility that malfunctions, such as a fragment being scattered on the passenger | crew side, may arise.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle knee air that can prevent cracks in the lower panel when deploying a knee airbag without causing an increase in weight, an increase in cost, and preferably without causing defects such as scattering of broken pieces. The object is to provide a bag device.

  The vehicle knee airbag device of the present invention that solves the above problems or achieves the above object is as follows.

(1) A vehicle knee airbag device according to the present invention is a vehicle knee airbag device including a resin lower panel provided with a knee airbag opening, and a knee airbag module disposed in the knee airbag opening. is there. A flange portion extending forward in the vehicle front-rear direction is formed at the lower end portion of the lower panel. The lower panel is provided with a weak body portion extending downward from the edge of the knee airbag opening to the flange portion.

(2) In the vehicle knee airbag device according to (1), a clip seat that protrudes forward in the vehicle front-rear direction from the flange portion is provided, and a clip insertion hole is formed in the clip seat. The weak body portion extending to the flange portion extends along the flange portion and the upper surface of the clip seat in the vehicle front-rear direction forward to the clip insertion hole or to the end portion on the opposite side of the clip seat flange.

According to the vehicle knee airbag device of (1) above, since the weak panel is formed on the lower panel, when the impact from the knee airbag module is applied to the peripheral edge of the knee airbag opening at the time of the vehicle collision, the lower panel Breaks at weak parts and absorbs shocks.
In the present invention, the lower panel is allowed to crack, and the means (weak body part) for causing the crack is constituted by the weak body part. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, no measures are taken to add ribs, increase the sheet thickness, or add sheet metal inserts, so that the weight and cost of the lower panel are not increased.

Further, since the weak body portion extends downward from the edge of the knee airbag opening to the flange portion, the following effects can be obtained.
First, when the driver's seat lower panel is cut at the weak body portion when the knee airbag is deployed, the belt-like portion extending in the lateral direction (the vehicle left-right direction) below the knee airbag opening of the driver seat lower panel is formed with the weak body portion. It is deformed so that it is bent downward at the end opposite to the end on the side. Therefore, the belt-like portion remains connected to a portion other than the belt-like portion of the driver seat lower panel and does not scatter toward the passenger.

  Further, since the weak body portion extends downward to the flange portion, the crack does not progress toward parts such as a hood opener portion located in the vehicle left-right direction of the knee airbag opening. This prevents unexpected opening of the hood when the knee airbag is deployed.

  According to the vehicle knee airbag device of the above (2), the weak body portion extending to the flange portion has a front portion in the vehicle longitudinal direction along the flange portion and the upper surface of the clip seat, to the clip insertion hole, or the flange of the clip seat. Since it extends to the opposite end, the lower panel can be completely broken at the weak part when the knee airbag is deployed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of a driver seat lower panel of a vehicle knee airbag device according to one embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front of the vehicle toward the rear (a rear view of the driver seat lower panel when viewed from the driver side). It is an enlarged front view of the A section of FIG. It is sectional drawing seen along CC line of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vehicle knee airbag device taken along the line B-B in FIG. 1 (a two-dot chain line indicates a deployed state of the airbag).

A vehicle knee airbag device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 show a driver seat lower panel of the vehicle knee airbag device, and FIG. 4 shows the vehicle knee airbag device.
In the figure, “UP” indicates the upper side in the vehicle vertical direction, “OUT” indicates the vehicle lateral direction outside, and “FR” indicates the front in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

  1 and 4, a vehicle knee airbag device 1 according to the present invention includes a resin lower panel 10 provided with a knee airbag opening 11 and a knee airbag module 20 provided in the knee airbag opening 11. I have. The lower panel 10 is a driver panel side lower panel (hereinafter also referred to as a driver seat lower panel 10). The knee airbag opening 11 has a substantially rectangular shape in which a corner portion 11c is curved, and has a left-right side 11a extending in the left-right direction up and down and a vertical side 11b extending in the up-down direction left and right.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the knee airbag module 20 includes an airbag door 21, an airbag case 22 engaged with the airbag door 21, a knee airbag 23 and an inflator 24 held in the airbag case 22. Have. The airbag door 21 has an H-shaped groove portion 21a and upper and lower door portions 21b and 21c. The driver seat lower panel 10 and the airbag door 21 are separate bodies. The airbag door 21 is fitted in the knee airbag opening 11 and disposed in the knee airbag opening 11. On the extension of the outer surface (occupant side surface) of the driver seat lower panel 10, the outer surface (occupant side surface) of the airbag door 21 is located.

The knee airbag 23 is folded and disposed forward of the vehicle front-rear direction of the door portions 21b and 21c of the airbag door 21 before deployment. When the front collision of the vehicle is detected or predicted by the sensor, the inflator 24 is disposed. The expansion gas is supplied from the vehicle and expands and expands toward the rear and upward of the vehicle. At the time of deployment, the knee airbag 23 pushes and opens the door portions 21b and 21c of the airbag door 21 and deploys on the knee side of the occupant (driver) 40, thereby restraining the knee of the occupant 40.
In FIG. 4, a two-dot chain line indicates a state in which the knee airbag 23 is deployed.

  As the knee airbag 23 is deployed, the airbag case 22 is pushed up and down, and the vertical walls 21d and 21e of the airbag door 21 and the upper and lower portions 21f and 21g of the airbag door 21 are pushed up and down. Can be spread. When the upper and lower portions 21f and 21g of the airbag door 21 are deformed up and down, the upper and lower portions 21f and 21g of the airbag door 21 are laterally (vehicle lateral direction) above and below the knee airbag opening 11 of the driver seat lower panel 10. A vertical load is applied to the strips 12 and 13 so as to spread the upper and lower strips 12 and 13 extending upward and downward. When the knee airbag module 20 moves slightly forward of the vehicle due to the reaction force of the deployment of the knee airbag 23, the knee airbag 23 itself directly applies a vertical load to the strips 12 and 13. In either case, when the knee airbag 23 is deployed, vertical loads are applied to the strips 12 and 13.

In FIG. 1, the vertical load applied to the belt-like portions 12 and 13 is the largest at the central portion in the left-right direction of the belt-like portions 12 and 13 (reference numeral 13 c is attached to the center of the belt-like portion 13). Accordingly, a bending moment is generated at the left and right ends of the strips 12 and 13, and the left and right ends of the strips 12 and 13 (the ends of the strip 13 are denoted by reference numerals 13a and 13b), or The driver seat lower panel 10 may be cracked in the vicinity thereof.
In order to prevent this, conventionally, a rib is added to the driver's seat lower panel 10 (the rib is necessary to increase the out-of-plane rigidity of the driver's seat lower panel 10, but an additional rib is added to prevent cracking. However, in the present invention, the weak band portion 30 is provided in the lower belt-like portion 13 as will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, a recessed portion 14 that is recessed downward is formed on the upper side of the knee airbag opening 11 of the driver seat lower panel 10. The concave portion 14 forms an opening through which the steering column 25 is inserted in cooperation with an upward concave portion formed in the driver's seat upper panel.
A hood opener lever 17 for opening the hood is provided at a lateral position (right side as viewed from the driver) of the driver seat lower panel 10 outside the knee airbag opening 11 in the lateral direction of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a flange portion 16 that is bent from a general portion 15 facing the passenger compartment of the driver seat lower panel 10 and extends to the front of the vehicle is provided around the outer periphery of the driver seat lower panel 10. . Projecting from the flange 16 on the lower side of the driver seat lower panel 10 toward the front in the vehicle front-rear direction, below the lower corner 11c of the knee airbag opening 11 in the vehicle left-right direction (and therefore on the hood opener lever 17 side). A clip seat 18 is formed. The clip seat 18 is formed with a substantially rectangular clip insertion hole 18a. An under cover 26 is provided on the lower side of the driver seat lower panel 10, and a clip 27 fixed to the under cover 26 passes through the clip insertion hole 18 a to fix the driver seat lower panel 10 to the under cover 26. .

  A rib 19 (a rib that reinforces the general portion 15 of the driver seat lower panel 10) 19 that protrudes forward from the general portion 15 is formed on the front surface of the general portion 15 of the driver seat lower panel 10 in the vehicle front-rear direction. The rib 19 extends in the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction along the front-rear direction front surface of the general portion 15 of the driver seat lower panel 10. The ribs 19 are also formed on the upper and lower belt-like portions 12 and 13 of the knee airbag opening 11.

The driver seat lower panel 10 is formed with a weak body portion 30 extending from the peripheral edge (edge) of the knee airbag opening 11 in a direction away from the opening 11.
The weak body portion 30 has a notch 30 that is thinner than portions other than the weak body portion 30 of the driver seat lower panel 10 (the general portion 15 and the flange portion 16 of the driver seat lower panel 10). The reference numeral 30 is attached). As shown in FIG. 3, the notch 30 is a notch having a V-shaped, U-shaped, or rectangular cross section.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the weak body portion 30 is provided at the end portion 13 a on the hood opener lever 17 side of the belt-like portion 13 that extends in the vehicle left-right direction below the knee airbag opening 11 of the driver seat lower panel 10. It has been. The weak body portion 30 extends downward from the peripheral edge portion of the knee airbag opening 11 of the knee airbag opening 11. The weak body portion 30 extends to the lower flange portion 16 along the vehicle front-rear direction front surface of the lower belt-shaped portion 13, and clips the clip seat 18 forward along the upper surface of the lower flange 16 and the clip seat 18 in the vehicle front-rear direction. It extends to the insertion hole 18a. The end portion of the weak body portion 30 on the knee airbag opening 11 side is located at the lower corner portion 11c of the knee airbag opening 11 on the hood opener lever 17 side. The end of the weak body 30 opposite to the end of the knee airbag opening 11 is positioned at the peripheral edge of the clip insertion hole 18 a of the clip seat 18. It is not necessary to provide the weak body portion 30 in the extending direction of the weak body portion 30 over the entire projecting length of the clip seat 18 (the portion 18b from the clip insertion hole 18a to the projecting tip of the clip seat). Even if the weak portion 30 is not provided in the portion 18b, the clip seat 18 is cracked by the portion 18b when the breakage has progressed to the clip insertion hole 18a. However, the weak portion 30 may be provided in the portion 18b.

  The weak body portion 30 is not formed at the end 13 b of the lower belt-like portion 13 opposite to the hood opener lever 17. Therefore, when the belt-like portion 13 is cut along the weak body portion 30 at the end portion 13a on the hood opener lever 17 side when the knee airbag is deployed, the belt-like portion 13 is the end portion 13b on the opposite side of the hood opener lever 17, It bends and hangs down (without being cut) with respect to portions other than the belt-like portion 13. In FIG. 1, the state in which the belt-like portion 13 hangs down is indicated by a two-dot chain line (a portion denoted by reference numeral 13 '). Even if the belt-like portion 13 is broken from the portion other than the belt-like portion 13 at the end portion 13b, it simply falls downward and does not scatter toward the passenger 40.

  When the weak body portion 30 crosses the rib 19 formed in the belt-like portion 13, it is not necessary to form a notch in the rib 19. When the weak body portion 30 is cracked, the progress of cracking does not stop at the rib 19 site. However, the weak body portion 30 may also be formed on the rib 19.

Next, the operation and effect of the knee airbag device 1 of the present invention will be described.
First, since the weak body portion 30 is formed in the driver seat lower panel 10, the impact load from the knee airbag module 20 is applied to the peripheral portion of the knee airbag opening 11 (particularly the central portion 13c of the lower belt-like portion 13) at the time of a vehicle collision. ), The driver's seat lower panel 10 is selectively broken at the weak body 30. And the impact applied to other parts is relieved by the impact absorption when the weak body part 30 is cracked, so that the other parts do not break.

  In this invention, even if the driver's seat lower panel 10 is cracked, it is allowed to crack at a portion where no malfunction occurs. Therefore, unlike conventional methods, measures such as adding ribs, increasing the sheet thickness, or adding sheet metal inserts to prevent cracks may be taken, leading to an increase in the weight and cost of the lower panel. Absent.

  Since the weak body part 30 consists of the notch 30 formed thinly in the thickness direction of the lower panel, it is possible to ensure that the weak body part 30 is cracked.

  The weak body portion 30 is provided at an end portion 13a on the hood opener lever 17 side of the belt-like portion 13 extending in the vehicle left-right direction below the knee airbag opening 11 of the driver seat lower panel 10, and the weak body portion 30 is provided in the knee airbag opening. Since it extends downward from the edge of 11, the following trouble prevention effect is obtained.

  First, when the driver seat lower panel 10 is cut by the weak body portion 30 when the knee airbag is deployed, the belt-like portion 13 extending in the vehicle left-right direction (lateral direction) below the knee airbag opening 11 in the driver seat lower panel 10 is a belt-like shape. At the end portion 13b opposite to the end portion 13a on the side where the weak body portion 30 of the portion 13 is formed, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Therefore, the belt-like portion 13 remains connected to a portion other than the belt-like portion 13 of the driver seat lower panel 10 and is not scattered toward the passenger 40. For example, even if the belt-like portion 13 breaks at both the weak body portion 30 and the end portion 13a opposite to the side where the weak body 30 is formed, the belt-like portion 13 just falls downward and scatters toward the occupant 40. There is nothing.

  Moreover, since the weak body part 30 is extended below, a crack does not progress toward the hood opener lever 17 side located beside the knee airbag opening. This prevents unexpected opening of the hood when the knee airbag is deployed.

1 Knee airbag device 10 Lower panel (driver's seat lower panel)
11 knee airbag opening 11a left and right side 11b up and down side 11c curved corner parts 12, 13 knee airbag opening upper and lower band 13a lower band part hood opener lever end 13b lower band part hood End 14 opposite to the opener lever Recess 15 General part (portion facing the passenger compartment)
16 Flange part (part which bends from the general part and extends backward)
17 Hood opener lever 18 Clip seat 18a Clip insertion hole 19 Rib 20 Knee airbag module 21 Airbag door 21a Groove portions 21b and 21c of the airbag door Upper and lower door portions 21d and 21e of the airbag door 21f, 21g Upper and lower portions of airbag door 22 Airbag case 23 Knee airbag 24 Inflator 25 Steering column 26 Under cover 27 Clip 30 Weak body 40 Crew

Claims (2)

In a vehicle knee airbag device including a resin lower panel provided with a knee airbag opening and having a knee airbag module disposed in the knee airbag opening,
The lower part of the lower panel is formed with a flange part extending forward in the vehicle front-rear direction, and the lower panel is provided with a weak body part extending downward from the edge of the knee airbag opening to the flange part. Airbag device. A clip seat that protrudes forward in the vehicle front-rear direction from the flange portion is provided, and a clip insertion hole is formed in the clip seat,
The weak body portion extending to the flange portion extends along the upper surface of the flange portion and the clip seat to the clip insertion hole forward in the vehicle front-rear direction, or to an end portion of the clip seat opposite to the flange. Item 12. A knee airbag device for a vehicle according to Item 1.

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