JPH02234862A - Knee protector structure for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently absorb the shock of the knees stepwise with a main member, a sub-member and its support member at the time of collision of a vehicle by extending the sub-member and its support member upward of the knees of a driver on the upper side of the main member of a knee protector. CONSTITUTION:A knee protector is formed of main and sub knee protector members 11, 12, and a support member 13 formed on the upper end of the main member 11 to support the sub-member 12. The lower side of the main member 11 is fixed to a vertical rib 4L, and the support member 18 is integrally formed on the vertical part of the upper end part thereof. The lower half part 12a of the sub-member 12 is bonded to the vertical part of the main member 11, and the upper half part 12b is obliquely protruded toward the vehicle body rear side. Further, the upper end of the support member 13 is turned up to the body front side and bonded to a cross member 1. Hence, at the time of collision of the vehicle, the shock added to the knees of a driver moving frontward is successively absorbed by the respective members 11-13 stepwise.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a knee protector structure for alleviating the knee load when a driver's knee collides with the front wall of a vehicle interior during a car collision. .

(Prior art) The structure of an automobile knee protector is, for example,
This is disclosed in Publication No. 36434, in which steel plates are arranged diagonally toward the driver on both sides of the steering column, and in the event of a car collision, the driver's knees collide with these steel plates. At that time, the knee load acting on the knee is alleviated,
This prevents major damage to the knee.

(tJAM to be solved by the invention) Such a conventional knee protector structure is based on the premise that the knee moves forward in the event of a vehicle collision.However, in the event of a collision, the knee protector A so-called submarine phenomenon may occur in which the knee protector collides with an instrument panel or the like above the knee protector after a collision.

In other words, when a vehicle is involved in a head-on collision, the occupant's feet are moved backwards due to the retreat of the dash panel as the engine moves backward, while the occupant's waist is moved forward due to habitual force. As a result, the knees of the passenger once collide with the knee protector through the instrument panel, and then move upward, causing the passenger's knees to rise diagonally upward and forward, causing the passenger's knees to move upward, causing the passenger's knees to move upward, causing the instrument panel above the knee protector to move upward. etc. may collide. When this submarine phenomenon occurs, the knee protector cannot fully exhibit its original protective function of effectively absorbing the impact load applied to the knees of the occupant and protecting the knees.

In particular, in recent years, instrument panels have been slimmed down with the aim of improving passenger comfort and design, and the cross-sectional shape of the surface of the instrument panel facing the passenger compartment has become a gentle circle with less protrusion than before. It is formed in an arc shape, and knee protectors also tend to be formed in a gentle arc shape. In this case, the knee of the occupant that collided with the knee protector is guided by the gentle knee protector and tends to move upward, making the above-mentioned submarine phenomenon more likely to occur.

An object of the present invention is to focus on the knee submarine phenomenon that may occur during a collision, and to propose a knee protector structure that can protect the knee even if the knee is lifted during a collision.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the automobile knee protector structure of the present invention, a main body that is supported by a member on the vehicle body side at a position forward of the knee position of the driver during driving is provided. a knee protector member; a support member that is supported by a member on the vehicle body side at an upper part of the main knee protector member and extends above the knee position; and a support member that is located below the support member and above the knee position. A special feature is that it includes a sub-knee protector member that protrudes toward the sides.

According to this configuration, in the event of a car collision, when the knee that moves forward of the vehicle body and collides with a member of the main protector is lifted, this knee will collide from below against the subknee protector part that extends above the knee. However, the impact is alleviated by this sub-protector 1a'tHt. next,
When this sub-knee protector member deforms upward due to a knee collision, since the support member is supported by the vehicle body side member at the upper position, this sub-knee protector member is supported by the support member, After that, by the sub knee protector member and support member,
The shock caused by a knee collision is absorbed.

Here, 1 the above-mentioned sub-protector member is connected to the meter hood and the Inverner lower panel arranged on the upper part of the Inverner lower panel, and the front wall of the vehicle interior formed by the Inverner lower panel and the meter hood is protected. The rigidity may be increased. In addition, by setting the amount of overhang of the supporting member that supports the subknee protector member to be smaller than the amount of overhang of the subknee protector member, the thickness of the meter hood that covers both of these members can be made thinner, and the meter hood It is preferable that the degree of freedom in designing increases accordingly, and that a large installation space can be taken up for the meter box formed above the meter box. Note that the above support member may be formed integrally with the upper end portion of the main knee protector member by extending the upper end of the main knee protector member upward.

(Effects of the Invention') In the knee protector structure of the present invention, the sub knee protector member and its support member are extended above the main knee protector member toward the upper side of the driver's knees, and these provide protection against collision. It forms a double-structured shock absorbing part that absorbs the rise of the knees. Therefore, it is possible to suitably absorb the impact of the knee raised during a collision.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the instrument panel portion inside the vehicle interior of the automobile of this example. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the vehicle in this example is a left-hand drive vehicle. As shown in Fig. 3, a steering support cross member 1 extending in the vehicle width direction is arranged on the front side of the vehicle body on the back side of the instrument panel part, and both ends of these cross members 1 form the side surfaces of the vehicle body. It is supported by a panel (not shown). This cross member 1 supports a steering column 3 which supports a steering wheel 2 shown in phantom lines in the figure.

This cross member 1 is attached to the vehicle body floor panel (
(not shown). A knee protector structure 6 for protecting the right knee of the driver is arranged on the left side of the left vertical rib 4L of the vehicle body.A knee protector structure 6 having almost the same structure as this is arranged on the left side of the vehicle body with the steering column 3 in between. It is placed in the target position to protect the left knee. This knee protector structure for the left knee is the same as the knee protector structure for the right knee, so illustration and description of the structure will be omitted. The structural member having such a configuration is covered by an instrument panel having the shape shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the instrument panel section 7 consists of a group of various panels for installing each instrument, and from the lower end of the instrument panel section 7, an inverner lower panel 8 extends downward. It extends to As shown by imaginary lines in an exploded state in FIG. 4, a meter hood 9 forming an instrument panel portion is attached to a position covering the knee protector structure 6 for the right knee.

Next, the above knee protector structure 6 for the right knee will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. This structure 6 is composed of a main knee protector member 11, a sub knee protector member 12, and a support member 13 formed at the upper end of the main knee protector member 11 to support this member 12. There is. As shown in FIG. 2, the main knee protector member 11 is made of a trapezoidal steel plate that is narrower on the upper side as a whole.
It is fixed to the vertical rib 4L in an inclined state so that the lower side is located at the front of the vehicle body. The upper end of this main knee protector member 11 is bent upward to form a vertical part 11a that extends substantially in the vertical direction of the vehicle body, and the upper end of the main knee protector member 11 is bent narrowly toward the rear of the vehicle body for a certain distance. The support member 13 that extends by a certain amount is integrally molded. The upper end of this support part 13 is folded back toward the front side of the vehicle body,
It is joined to the cross member 1 by welding or the like.

Here, a joint 7 flange Ilb bent toward the front side of the vehicle body is formed at the end of the main 21 protector member 11 on the side of the vertical rib 4L, and this portion protrudes from the vertical rib 4L. It is joined to the side surface of the flange by spot welding, etc.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the sub-deep opening protector member 12 is made of a steel plate bent into a chevron shape as a whole, and the lower half portion 12a is attached to the surface of the vertical portion 11a of the main knee protector member 11. The upper half portion 12b is disposed in a joined state, and the upper half portion 12b projects obliquely toward the rear of the vehicle body at a steeper angle than the support member 13 described above. This overhang amount is set to be larger than that of the support member 13. This sub-21 protector member 12 has a left end of the vehicle body bent at a right angle toward the front of the vehicle body to form a flange 12c, and this flange 12c comes into contact with the left end of the vehicle body of the main knee protector member 11. ing.

Further, a bolt hole 12f is formed in the lower part of the lower knee protector member 12a, and the subknee protector member 12 is joined to the main protector member 11 with a mounting bolt (not shown). It looks like this. Further, the subknee protector member 12 has three bolt holes 12e formed at its upper end and lower end, and two of these bolt holes 12e are formed on the lower side of the invernero arbanel 8.
It is joined to the upper end part and the meter hood 9 is connected at one point on the upper side.
It is designed to be joined to the lower end of the . The state of connection between the sub knee protector member 12, the inverner lower panel 8, and the meter hood 9 is shown by imaginary lines in FIG. 1(A).

Note that 12d connects a rib (not shown) protruding from the back surface of the instrument panel lower panel 8 to the subknee protector member 1.
This is a relief hole for engaging with a pad core (not shown) disposed on the front side of 2.

In the knee protector structure 6 having the above configuration, the main knee protector member 1 is integrally formed with the support member 13.
1 is joined to the cross member 1 side, while the sub knee protector member 12 is joined to the instrument panel lower panel 8 side. After combining both parts in this state, the sub knee protector member 12 is joined to the main knee protector member 11.

In the knee protector structure of this example configured in this manner, the knee that moves forward during a vehicle collision first collides with the main 21 protector member 11, and the impact at the time of the collision is absorbed. Next, when the knee whose forward movement is restricted by colliding with this member 11 moves upward, the sub knee protector 12 protrudes above the knee on the rear side of the vehicle at a position above the main knee protector 11. The impact of the collision is absorbed by this member 12. Here, if the member 12 is unable to withstand the collision load of the knee and deforms upward, the member 12 will be supported by the support member 13 disposed above the member 12. Therefore, from now on, members 12 and 13
This absorbs the impact load on the knee.

According to this example, the double structure (member 1
2, 13), the knee load can be absorbed in a suitable state and the knee can be protected. Moreover, by having a double structure in this way, compared to the case where a single member, for example, the support member 13 of this example, is configured to have a larger amount of overhang, the sub knee protector member can be extended more easily. The thickness of the tip can be made thinner. As a result, the thickness of the meter hood that covers this part can be made thinner, which increases the degree of freedom in design, and also allows for more space for the meter box formed on the top of this member. Become.

Further, in this example, since the instrument panel lower panel 8 and the meter hood 9 are connected by the subknee protector member 12, the bonding strength between the two can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(A) is a partial sectional view mainly showing a sub-knee protector member having a knee protector structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(B) is a partial sectional view of a sub-knee protector member of FIG. 1(A). FIG. 2(A) is a partial cross-sectional view centered on the main knee protector of a knee protector structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. ) is a view of the main knee protector member in Fig. 2 (A) seen from the arrow ■ side, and Fig. 3 is a view of the main knee protector member in Fig. 1.
A schematic perspective view showing a portion of a vehicle body structural member disposed on the back side of an instrument panel portion of an automobile body in which the knee protector structure shown in FIGS.
This figure is a schematic perspective view showing an instrument panel portion covering the structural members shown in FIG. 3. Explanation of symbols 1... Cross member (body side member) 2... Steering wheel 3... Steering column 4R, 4L... Vertical rib 6... Knee protector structure...・Inverner lower panel (inner panel) 9...
...Meter hood 11...Main 21 Block protector part 12...
Subknee protector member 13...Support member

Claims (1)

[Claims] A knee protector structure that alleviates the driver's knee load in the event of a vehicle collision includes a main knee protector member supported by a member on the vehicle body side at a position forward of the driver's knee position during driving; a support member that is supported by a member on the vehicle body side at an upper portion and extends upwardly from the knee position; and a subknee protector member that extends upwardly from the knee position at a position below the support member. An automobile knee protector structure characterized by comprising: