JPH08295123A - Center console having rear duct - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the strength against an impact from the side direction by increasing the rigidity along the lateral direction of the vehicle. CONSTITUTION: Between the inner side surface 35 along the car lateral direction of a console main main body 12, and the outer side surface 36 along the car lateral direction of a rear duct 13, a reinforcement means 37 to combine the inner side surface 35 and the outer side surface 36 is provided. This reinforcement means 37 consists of the first engaging rib 38 formed to the inner side surface of the console main body 12, and the second engaging rib 39 formed on the outer side surface of the rear duct 13, and fitted to the first engaging rib 38, and by fitting both engaging ribs, a honeycomb structure is formed. The first and the second engaging ribs 38 and 39 are formed along the vertical direction, and the rear duct 13 is assembled in the console main body 12 from the lower side opening of the console main body 12, while sliding the second engaging rib 39 along the first engaging rib 38.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a center console provided with a rear duct, and more particularly, to improving the rigidity of the center console to enhance the strength or durability against impact from the side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A center console is arranged in the vehicle width direction at a center position in the vehicle width direction along the front-rear direction. This center console has a console body that is fixed to the vehicle frame (frame of the seat).

By the way, as an air conditioner for an automobile, there is a type in which conditioned air is blown toward the rear seat in order to improve the comfort of the rear seat space. In the device, a rear duct that guides air toward the rear seats in the passenger compartment is housed or formed in the console body (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. 58-56650 and 61-137010).

[0004]

In recent years, there has been a strong demand for increasing the rigidity of vehicle constituent parts against impacts from the lateral direction, and it is necessary to satisfy this demand even in a center console equipped with a rear duct.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a center console provided with a rear duct, which has improved rigidity in the vehicle width direction and improved strength against impact from the side. To do.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is a console main body fixed to a vehicle frame, and an air conditioner for an automobile which is housed in the console main body. In a center console including a rear duct that guides air from the device toward a rear seat in the vehicle compartment, an inner side surface of the console body along the vehicle width direction and an outer side surface of the rear duct along the vehicle width direction. A center console having a rear duct, characterized in that a reinforcing means for connecting the inner side surface and the outer side surface is provided between the center console and the rear side.

Further, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 2, the reinforcing means is provided with a first engaging rib formed on the inner side surface of the console body and the first engaging rib formed on the outer side surface of the rear duct. It is characterized in that it is composed of a first engaging rib and a second engaging rib.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the console body has a lower surface opening on the lower surface side,
And the second engaging rib is formed along the vertical direction,
The rear duct is characterized in that the second engagement rib is slid along the first engagement rib and is assembled into the console body from the lower surface opening of the console body.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the inner side surface of the console body in the vehicle width direction and the outer side surface of the rear duct in the vehicle width direction are connected by the reinforcing means, and extend along the vehicle width direction of the console itself. Increases rigidity. Moreover, the center console functions as a rigid body provided in the center of the vehicle, and the torsional rigidity of the vehicle itself is increased. Therefore, the strength of the center console against the impact from the side direction increases,
The amount of deformation of the vehicle frame due to the impact from the side direction is reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first engaging ribs of the console body and the second engaging ribs of the rear duct, which constitute the reinforcing means, are fitted to each other, whereby the center console The internal structure is a honeycomb structure, which further increases the rigidity along the vehicle width direction and further increases the strength against impact from the side surface direction.

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 3, the rear duct and the console main body can be assembled by simply inserting them relative to each other, which simplifies the assembling work.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the vicinity of a center console according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which a heater unit, an instroker and a center console of an air conditioner for a vehicle are connected. 3 (A) is
FIG. 4B is a side view showing the rear duct, FIG. 4B is a side view showing the rear duct, and FIG.
Sectional drawing which follows the A-4A line, the same figure (B) is sectional drawing which follows the 4B-4B line of FIG. 3 (B), and the same figure (C) is a sectional view which shows the state which accommodated the rear duct in the console main-body part. It is a figure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the center console 10
Is arranged so as to extend rearward from an instroker 11 provided at a central position in the vehicle width direction on an instrument panel in front of the vehicle. The center console 10 includes a console body 12 fixed to the vehicle frame and a rear duct 13 housed in the console body 12. The rear duct 13 is for guiding the air from the vehicle air conditioner toward the rear seat in the passenger compartment, and has a substantially bifurcated central portion so that the transmission lever can be inserted therethrough. Instro 1
1, an audio device 14 and the like are attached, and the attachment surface is covered with a cluster lid 15.

The console body 12 is molded from a resin material and, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 (A), the vehicle frame 2 is provided with an angle 20 on its rear side surface.
Fixed to 1. A lower surface opening 22 is formed on the lower surface side of the console body 12. 3A and 4
As shown in (A), the console body 12 has
A storage space 23 for storing small items is formed, and this storage space 2
A lid member 24 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) that opens and closes the upper surface opening of 3 is attached to be openable and closable.

The rear duct 13 is also molded from a resin material, and as shown in FIG. 2, is assembled into the console main body 12 through the lower surface opening 22.
As shown in FIG. 3B as well, an air inlet 25 for introducing air from the vehicle air conditioner is formed at the front end of the rear duct 13, and the rear side downstream end rises diagonally rearward. The rear vent portion 26 and a rear foot portion 27 extending in the vehicle width direction are formed in a branched manner. The air that has flowed down to the rear vent portion 26 further flows down through the guide duct 34 that is integrally formed within the console main body portion 12 or formed separately and accommodated, and from the rear vent outlet 28 formed on the rear end face, the rear seat It is blown out toward the upper body of the occupant. On the other hand, the air flowing down to the rear foot portion 27 is blown out toward the foot of the rear seat occupant from the foot outlet 29 formed on the side surface of the console body 12. Although not shown, the rear vent portion 26 or the rear foot portion 27
A door body for controlling the amount of air distribution to is provided at a branch position to both parts.

Heater unit 3 of an automobile air conditioner
As shown in FIG. 2, an air duct 31 for taking out conditioned air to be blown to the rear seat and extending rearward is integrally formed at 0. This air duct 31
The air inlet 32 of the rear duct 13 is connected to the air outlet 32 of the rear duct 13 through a seal packing. An engaging member (not shown) with which the connecting member 33 (see FIG. 3A) provided at the front end of the console body 12 is engaged is provided on the side portion of the air duct 31, and the rear duct 13 is connected to the console body 12. At the same time that the console main body 12 is engaged and fixed to the engaging member in the state of being assembled inside, the connection of the rear duct 13 to the air duct 31 is completed.

Particularly, in the center console 10 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4C, the inner side surface 35 of the console body 12 along the vehicle width direction and the rear duct 13 are provided.
Between the outer side surface 36 and the outer side surface 36 along the vehicle width direction of the inner side surface 3
Reinforcing means 37 for connecting 5 and the outer side surface 36 are provided. More specifically, the reinforcing means 37 is fitted on the first engaging ribs 38 formed on the inner side surface 35 of the console body 12 and on the outer side surface 36 of the rear duct 13. The second engaging rib 39 and the second engaging rib 39 are fitted together.

The first engaging rib 38 of the console body 12
As shown in FIGS. 3 (A) and 4 (A), is formed by a pair of plate members 40, 40 extending in the vertical direction, and a vertical groove 41 is formed between the pair of plate members 40, 40. To be formed. The first engagement rib 38 is not limited to the lower portion of the inner side surface 35, but also the storage space 23 and the inner side surface 35.
It is also formed so as to extend also in the gap 42 between.

The second engaging ribs 39 of the rear duct 13 are, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4B, both outer side surfaces 36.
Is formed of a plate member 43 extending in the vertical direction, and auxiliary plates 44 are formed on both upper and lower surfaces of the rear duct 13 so as to connect the plate members 43 on both sides. The thickness t2 of the plate member 43 is set to be substantially the same as the width t1 of the vertical groove 41.

The first engaging rib 38 is the console body 12
Although the second engaging rib 39 is integrally resin-molded with the rear duct 13 and the second engaging rib 39 is resin-molded integrally with the rear duct 13, a metal rib may be insert-molded or may be additionally attached as a separate component.

In the illustrated example, four sets of first and second engaging ribs 38 and 39 are provided, but the number thereof can be appropriately increased or decreased in accordance with the required strength, and the ribs 38 and 39 are also provided. 39
The position at which is provided is not limited to the position shown in the drawing, and can be changed as appropriate.

The operation of this embodiment will be described.

To assemble the center console 10,
The front end portion 43a of the second engaging rib 39 of the rear duct 13 is fitted into the vertical groove 41 of the first engaging rib 38 through the lower surface opening 22 of the console body 12, and the second engaging rib is formed along the vertical groove 41. While sliding 39, the rear duct 13 and the console body 12 are relatively pushed. As a result, the rear duct 13 is housed in the console body 12 while being positioned, and the assembling work is completed.
This assembling work is performed by connecting the rear duct 13 to the bottom opening 22.
Since it only has to be inserted from the inside into the console body portion 12, it can be performed extremely easily.

The center console 10 in which the console body 12 and the rear duct 13 are assembled and integrated in this way is connected and fixed to the heater unit 30 via the connecting member 33 of the console body 12, and the angle 20 and the vehicle frame. 21 is fastened and the assembling to the vehicle is completed. Simultaneously with the connection of the center console 10 to the heater unit 30, the air inlet 25 of the rear duct 13 is simultaneously connected to the air outlet 32 of the air duct 31 via the seal packing.

Center console 1 to be mounted on a vehicle
As shown in FIG. 4C, the internal structure of 0 is the first engaging rib 38 of the console body 12 and the second engaging rib 38 of the rear duct 13.
A honeycomb structure is formed by closely contacting or engaging with the engaging ribs 39. Therefore, in the center console 10, since the inner side surface 35 of the console body 12 and the outer side surface 36 of the rear duct 13 are connected to each other, the rigidity in the vehicle width direction becomes high, and the center console 10 receives a shock from the side direction. Strength is improved. Furthermore, since the center console 10 provided at the center of the vehicle functions as a rigid body, the torsional rigidity of the vehicle itself can be increased, and the amount of deformation of the vehicle frame 21 due to the impact at the time of a side collision is also reduced.

[0026]

As described above, according to the center console having the rear duct according to the present invention, the inner side surface of the console body in the vehicle width direction and the outer side surface of the rear duct are reinforced. By being connected by the means, the rigidity along the vehicle width direction is increased, and the strength against impact from the side surface direction is improved. Moreover, since the center console functions as a rigid body provided in the center of the vehicle, the torsional rigidity of the vehicle itself can be increased, and the amount of deformation of the vehicle frame due to the impact from the side direction can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first engaging rib of the console body and the second engaging rib of the rear duct, which constitute the reinforcing means, are fitted to each other, whereby the inside of the center console is Since the structure is a honeycomb structure, the rigidity along the vehicle width direction is further increased, and the strength against impact from the side surface direction is further improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a center console having increased rigidity while facilitating the work of assembling the rear duct and the console body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the vicinity of a center console according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which a heater unit, an instroker, and a center console of an automobile air conditioner are connected to each other.

FIG. 3 (A) is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a console main body part, and FIG. 3 (B) is a side view showing a rear duct.

4A is a sectional view taken along line 4A-4A of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line 4B-4B of FIG. 3B. (C) is a sectional view showing a state in which the rear duct is housed in the console main body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Center console 12 ... Console main body 13 ... Rear duct 21 ... Vehicle frame 22 ... Lower surface opening 30 ... Heater unit (air conditioner for automobile) 31 ... Air duct 35 ... Inner side surface of the console main body along the vehicle width direction 36 ... Outer side surface of the rear duct along the vehicle width direction 37 ... Reinforcing means 38 ... First engaging rib 39 ... Second engaging rib 40 ... Plate member 41 ... Vertical groove 43 ... Plate member

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page (72) Inventor Toshiharu Watanabe 5-24-15 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Calsonic Co., Ltd. (72) Toshio Ohashi 5-24-15 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Calsonic Within the corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A console body (12) fixed to a vehicle frame (21) and the console body (1).
2) The air conditioner for automobiles (3)
0) A center console comprising a rear duct (13) for guiding air from a passenger compartment toward a rear seat in the passenger compartment, comprising: an inner side surface (35) of the console body (12) along the vehicle width direction; Reinforcing means (37) for connecting the inner side surface (35) and the outer side surface (36) is provided between the rear duct (13) and the outer side surface (36) along the vehicle width direction. A center console equipped with a rear duct. 2. The reinforcing means (37) includes a first engaging rib (38) formed on the inner side surface (35) of the console body (12) and the outer side surface of the rear duct (13). A center console with a rear duct according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a second engagement rib (39) formed in (36) and fitted into the first engagement rib (38). 3. The console body (12) has a lower surface opening (22) on the lower surface side, and the first and second engaging ribs (38, 39) are formed along the vertical direction. The rear duct (13) has the second engagement rib (39).
While being slid along the first engaging rib (38), it is assembled into the console body (12) through the lower surface opening (22) of the console body (12). A center console including the rear duct according to Item 2.