Cockpit having a forward-to-rearward dash plate slip plane

Details Cockpit having a forward-to-rearward dash plate slip plane Cockpit having a forward-to-rearward dash plate slip plane

2000-05-11

2003-06-24

Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)

Land vehicles

Wheeled

Running gear

C180S090000, C296S072000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06581967

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an apparatus which permits forward-to-rearward adjustability between two fixedly coupled members of a cockpit assembly during the manufacturing process of a vehicle and, more particularly, to a cockpit assembly in which the forward-to-rearward adjustability may be prevented by activating fastening elements of the cockpit assembly through an engine compartment of the vehicle.
2. Related Art
Vehicle manufacturers are often concerned with reducing the costs associated with constructing vehicles on an assembly line. In order to streamline the assembly process, the vehicle manufacturers often construct sub-assemblies in separate assembly lines and utilize the sub-assemblies as finished and/or semi-finished components in a main (or final) assembly line on which the vehicle is constructed.
One such sub-assembly which is of particular concern to vehicle manufacturers is a cockpit assembly. With reference to
FIG. 1
, a conventional cockpit assembly
18
may include a plurality of elements, such as the instrument panel
21
and the firewall
19
. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the instrument panel
21
includes many well known elements such as an instrument cluster, vehicle controls, stereo system, glove compartment, ventilation system, etc. The cockpit assembly
18
also includes a steering column support (not shown) which couples the steering wheel
22
, among other things, to load bearing elements of the cockpit assembly
18
. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other elements, such as the brake pedal
23
, accelerator pedal
24
, master cylinder, wire harnesses, transmission elements and controls, etc. may be included in the cockpit assembly
18
.
In accordance with known assembly techniques, the cockpit assembly
18
is treated as a sub-assembly (i.e., a substantially fully assembled element) which is connected with a body shell
10
of a vehicle by lowering the cockpit assembly
18
into an opening
11
of the body shell
10
(downwardly as illustrated by arrow
26
).
When the cockpit assembly
18
is in a suitable position, the firewall
19
is coupled to the vehicle sub-structure (or frame) at location
15
. The firewall
19
shown in
FIG. 1
fully separates the engine compartment
12
from a passenger compartment of the vehicle. As is known in the art, the firewall
19
is fixedly coupled to the vehicle sub-structure
15
using any of the known fasteners, such as bolts, screws, welds, rivets, etc. Thus, the firewall
19
is rigidly connected to the vehicle sub-structure
15
and should not move.
The instrument panel
21
and steering column support are fixedly coupled to a cross-car support
20
which, when the cockpit assembly
18
is installed in the vehicle, ensures that the instrument panel
21
, steering wheel
22
and other linkages are properly positioned and/or fixed for use. The cross-car support
20
is fixedly coupled to another area of the vehicle sub-structure, namely, the A-pillars
13
,
14
. More particularly, a leftward end of the cross-car support
20
includes a mounting plate
28
which communicates with a corresponding plate
30
at A-pillar
13
. Similarly, a rightward end of the cross-car support
20
includes a mounting plate
29
which communicates with a corresponding plate
31
of A-pillar
14
. The cross-car support
20
is rigidly coupled to the vehicle sub-structure at the A-pillars
13
,
14
using, for example, bolts
32
.
The cross-car support
20
is also rigidly connected to the firewall
19
by way of intermediate linkages (not shown) which ensure that the instrument panel
21
, steering wheel
22
, and other cockpit assembly elements become rigidly positioned with respect to the firewall
19
. Federal safety laws mandate that the steering column support be rigidly coupled to the firewall
19
via at least some of the intermediate linkages.
A substantial problem has been discovered with respect to the conventional cockpit assembly
18
of FIG.
1
. In particular, when the firewall
19
is rigidly connected to the vehicle sub-structure
15
, the mounting plates
28
,
29
of the cross-car support
20
often do not line up with the corresponding plates
30
,
31
of A-pillars
13
and
14
, respectively. Indeed, manufacturing tolerances (particularly in the forward-to-rearward dimensions) between the vehicle sub-structure
15
and the A-pillars
13
,
14
may vary. Further, component tolerances of the cockpit assembly
18
(again, in the forward-to-rearward dimensions) between the cross-car support
20
and firewall
19
may also vary.
The problem associated with the forward-to-rearward tolerances may be better understood with reference to
FIG. 2
, which schematically illustrates the forward-to-rearward component stack-up of the body shell
10
and cockpit assembly
18
. The body shell
10
is illustrated as an elongated member
10
extending in the noted forward-to-rearward direction. The vehicle sub-structure
15
is illustrated as a rigidly fixed member connected to the body shell
10
at a forward position. The A-pillars
13
,
14
are illustrated as rigidly fixed members connected to the body shell
10
at a rearward position. An ideal forward-to-rearward dimension, A, exists between the vehicle sub-structure
15
and the A-pillars
13
,
14
. Due to component tolerances, however, the dimension A may vary by &Dgr;A/2 in either direction, resulting in a total tolerance of &Dgr;A. The cockpit assembly
18
is schematically illustrated as a forward-to-rearward stack-up of the firewall
19
, the intermediate linkages
19
a,
the steering column support
22
a
and the cross-car support
20
. The forward-to-rearward dimension of the cockpit assembly
18
is represented by the dimension B. Due to component tolerances of the cockpit assembly
18
, dimension B of the cockpit assembly may vary by &Dgr;B/2 in either direction, resulting in a total tolerance of &Dgr;B.
As dimension A may vary by +/−&Dgr;A/2 and dimension B may vary by +/−&Dgr;B/2, the mounting plates
28
,
29
of the cockpit assembly
18
and the mounting plates
30
,
31
of the body shell
10
may not, and often do not, line up. Conversely, when the cross-car support
20
is connected to the body shell
10
before the firewall
19
is connected to the body shell
10
, the firewall may not properly seat at sub-structure
15
(either because of interference or gap).
In an effort to alleviate this problem, vehicle manufacturers have attempted to drive the tolerances &Dgr;A and &Dgr;B towards zero. As to the cockpit assembly
18
, reducing the tolerance &Dgr;B to zero requires the use of a custom assembly fixture, which ensures that the forward-to-rearward dimension B is achieved without a substantial tolerance &Dgr;B. The costs associated with developing and utilizing such a fixture are excessive. Further, scrap costs increase substantially as the tolerance &Dgr;B is driven towards zero. Similar problems are associated with driving the tolerance &Dgr;A towards zero.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new cockpit assembly and method of connecting a cockpit assembly to a vehicle body which: (i) does not require a custom cockpit assembly fixture; (ii) permits for variations in the forward-to-rearward dimensions of the cockpit assembly and/or the vehicle sub-structure; and (iii) meets the federal vehicle safety requirements regarding rigidity between the steering column support and the firewall.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, a cockpit assembly in accordance with the invention includes: a cross-car support having leftward and rightward ends, each end being adapted to connect to respective left and right A-pillars of a vehicle; a wall member having a central area defined by a periphery and a support mount disposed at the central area, the wall member being connectable to the vehicle such that the wall member at least partially separates an engine compartment and a passenger compartment

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