Movable glove compartment having a rear mounted, remotely actuat

Details Movable glove compartment having a rear mounted, remotely actuat Movable glove compartment having a rear mounted, remotely actuat

1994-06-02

1996-09-24

Pike, Andrew C.

Land vehicles: bodies and tops

Bodies

Auxiliary article compartments

70256, 70258, B60R 706

Patent

active

055583857

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns a movable glove compartment for a motor vehicle.
With this type of glove compartment, e.g., the type known from German Patent 3932425 the locking part of the closing device is located at the upper edge and on the inside of the front part of the glove compartment and may be activated by a handle located on this front part, while the latching part designed in the form of a U-shaped bar is fastened to a stationary frame attached to the dashboard. Since the latching part and/or the locking part must protrude from the structural part that supports them to enable an interaction, there is a danger that the user will injure himself on the protruding parts and that objects kept in the glove compartment would get caught on these protruding parts. The fact that the handle fitted to the front part of the glove compartment to activate the lock is made of a relatively hard material in contrast to the front part itself that is made of a cushioning material for safety reasons also causes problems, because it can lead to injuries in case of an impact. And finally, the fact that the locking part and/or the latching part are visible when the glove compartment is open is not very pleasing from an esthetic point of view.
The task of the invention consists of the development of a glove compartment of said type, whose use prevents the danger of sustaining an injury.
With this invention, this task is solved by the features described below.
Because the locking unit is not fitted to the front edge of the glove compartment, as is commonly the case, but to its rear area, there is no danger that the user can injure himself on the protruding parts of the locking device, since it is impossible for him to come into contact with parts fitted to the rear area of the glove compartment. In the proposed arrangement of the locking device, said device will not be visible when the glove compartment is open, thus improving the esthetics. Because the movable part of the locking device is operated remotely, there is no need for a handle in the front part of the glove compartment; this presents advantages not only from an esthetic point of view, but also with respect to safety, because the whole front part can now be made of a cushioning material.
Preferably, the latching part is fitted to the center of the rear section of the glove compartment. It may consist of a locking bolt that interacts with a hook forming the locking device that by means of a spring may be moved to a position required to release the locking bolt; the area that comes into contact with the locking device when the glove compartment is closed consists of an inclined surface that by interaction with the locking bolt moves the hook against the force of the spring until the locking pin catches the hook.
The remote operation of the locking device may be achieved with a pulling cable that ends at the dashboard and has an operating knob. As an alternative, the remote operation may be obtained with a solenoid that may be triggered by closing a switch located on the dashboard, thus rotating the locking device into the release position.
A design example for this invention is described in the following with the help of the drawings. They show the following:
FIG. 1 A cross section through a glove compartment installed in the dashboard of a motor vehicle,
FIG. 2 a top view of the locking device for the glove compartment shown in FIG. 1, and
FIG. 3 a top view of the locking device for the glove compartment show in FIG. 1 depicting an embodiment in which a solenoid is used for remote actuation.
FIG. 1 shows glove compartment 1, exhibiting floor 2 that also forms the front part, side walls 3, a rear wall 4, and stem 5 at the upper edge of the rear wall. Glove compartment 1 rotates and moves in frame 6 fitted with lateral plates 7 and stems 8,9 that connect them. Frame 6 is attached to the dashboard, of which only cover plate 10 is shown. The connection between glove compartment I and lateral plates 7 of frame 6 is achieved on each side by two levers 11 and 12 that rotate

REFERENCES:
patent: 4630857 (1986-12-01), Zweiniger et al.
patent: 4886311 (1989-12-01), Trube et al.

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