Land vehicles – Wheeled – Running gear
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-12
2001-03-06
Camby, Richard M. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Running gear
C280S752000, C180S090000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196588
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an instrument panel structure of a car and, in particular, to an instrument panel structure for improving safety of the passenger in the front passenger seat when an unexpected collision occurs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a car with an air bag for the front passenger seat, the passenger in the front passenger seat is protected by an air bag which operates when an unexpected collision occurs. In addition, there are provided various measures for preventing a diving phenomenon i.e. “submarine” phenomenon that occurs when an inertia at the collision causes the legs, especially knees, to hit directly and crumple the instrument panel, resulting in the passenger being pushed under the instrument panel.
FIG. 8
is a sectional view of a conventional instrument panel structure.
FIG. 9
is an exploded perspective view of the instrument panel structure in FIG.
8
. As shown in FIG.
8
and
FIG. 9
, an air bag
22
for the front seat passenger is mounted in an upper portion of a space within the instrument panel
21
. A glove box
23
is arranged behind a lower portion of the instrument panel
21
.
The glove box
23
is kept closed by a locking mechanism which engages with a striker
23
B mounted at a bracket
23
A. The bracket
23
A is mounted on the inside of the instrument panel
21
. A lid
23
C covers the front surface of the glove box
23
i.e. the surface facing the front passenger seat.
A steering support beam
24
and a duct
25
for an air-conditioner are arranged within the instrument panel
21
. The steering support beam
24
is laterally laid in front of the driver's seat and the front passenger seat. Both ends of the steering support beam
24
are connected to the front pillars (not shown) respectively to support the steering system on the side of the driver's seat.
Knee guards
26
A and
26
B are mounted on the steering support beam
24
on the front passenger seat side at positions to face the lid
23
C of the glove box
23
. A knee guard bar
27
is laid between the knee guards
26
A and
26
B. The knee guards
26
A,
26
B face the inside left edge and the inside right edge of the lid
23
C respectively.
When an unexpected collision occurs, the knee guards
26
A,
26
B crumple to absorb the energy of the inertia F of the legs of the passenger in the front passenger seat and receive his knees and the lid
23
C together with the steering support beam
24
.
This prevents the glove box
23
and the front passenger from being pushed under the instrument panel
21
, thereby preventing the so-called “submarine” phenomenon.
The knee guard bar
27
is a pipe element. The bar
27
is laterally laid between the knee guards
26
A and
26
B and the ends of the bar
27
are fixed to the knee guards
26
A and
26
B respectively. This serves to reinforce the mechanical strength of the knee guards
26
A and
26
B. During the collision, the bar
27
supports the instrument panel
21
on the reverse side, thereby preventing an excessive deformation of the instrumental panel
21
, and also receive the chest thereby preventing the passenger from hitting his head against the windshield.
The duct
25
is communicated with any type of the air conditioners (not shown) to ventilate the outside air, inside circulated air, cooled air, heated air or the like into the interior of the car.
The duct
25
comprises a center duct (“duct center ventilation”)
25
A arranged in the central portion and a side duct (“duct side ventilation”)
25
B arranged on the passenger seat side. The duct center ventilation
25
A is communicated with a central duct outlet (“grille center ventilation”)
25
C built into the middle of the instrument panel
21
. The duct side ventilation
25
B is connected with the duct center ventilation
25
A and a side duct outlet (“grille side ventilation”)
25
D built into the passenger seat side of the instrument panel
21
.
Some other techniques to prevent the “submarine” phenomenon are described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open 234031/1985 and the Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open 46958/1992.
The above conventional instrument panel structures contain hollow ducts, the glove box (including brackets and a striker) and the air bag, which leaves a small remaining free space inside of the instrument panel structure, that is, within the dashboard. This makes it difficult to install other elements than the knee guards and the bar for preventing the submarine phenomenon.
In addition, the conventional “submarine” phenomenon prevention structure consists of a large number of elements. Furthermore each element must be strong, which causes to increase the complexity, manufacturing cost and the weight of the instrument panel structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, that is, to raise the safety level for the passenger in the front passenger seat by increasing support force for his or her knees when a collision occurs, to provide a space for arranging elements within the interior of the instrument panel, and to decrease the number of the elements.
In order to achieve this object, an instrument panel structure according to the present invention, which is provided in front of a front seat in a car, comprises: a steering support beam extended inside said panel structure in parallel therewith and supported by both side walls structure of said car; a panel for covering the steering support beam; a knee guard disposed between the steering support beam and the instrument panel; and an air-conditioning duct fixed to the instrument panel above the knee guard for forming a duct space with the instrument panel so as to strengthen said structure and to improve a safety level without increasing elements.
According to the present invention, a duct for an air-conditioner and a knee guard can support the passenger's legs during an accident, thereby preventing the “submarine” phenomenon and improving passenger's safety. Additionally, the duct reinforces the instrument panel, thereby reducing the need for other reinforcing elements in the instrument panel. This serves to reduce the number of elements and provide a space for arranging other elements.
Preferably, the duct has a cross section of L shape and both ends of the L shaped duct are fixed to the instrument panel. This configuration is much effective.
The duct may have a center connecting portion on a side of the driver's seat and a side connecting portion on an opposite side of the driver's seat. In this case, the center connecting portion is preferably connected with a center duct outlet (“grille center ventilation”) and the side connecting portion is preferably connected with a side duct outlet (“grille side ventilation”).
In addition, the duct is preferably provided with a rib or plural ribs extending downwardly from the bottom thereof. The rib increases the strength of the duct.
The rib may extend to the neighborhood of the steering support beam. Preferably the edge of the rib on the side of the steering support beam has a shape complementary to the steering support beam. Such a rib is supported with the steering support beam more reliably when the passenger's knees bump against the instrument panel and the duct.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5676216 (1997-10-01), Palma et al.
patent: 5865468 (1999-02-01), Hur
patent: 5934733 (1999-08-01), Manwaring
patent: 5951045 (1999-09-01), Almefelt et al.
patent: 6010147 (2000-01-01), Brown
Camby Richard M.
Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Smith , Gambrell & Russell, LLP
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