Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Enclosed compartment
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-07
2004-09-07
Engle, Patricia L. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Enclosed compartment
C296S037120, C312S330100, C224S483000, C224S281000, C224S926000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06786523
ABSTRACT:
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-107501, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawer apparatus adapted to be disposed in an instrument panel or a rear center arm rest of a vehicle.
2. Related Art
A drawer apparatus for vehicle such as a cup holder or a storage compartment for small things (hereinafter, referred as “vehicular drawer apparatus”) comprises a case and a drawer member. The case is installed in an interior member. The drawer member is disposed in such a manner as to slide in and out of the case. JP-A-2000-62512 discloses a vehicular drawer apparatus which can restrain the fall of a drawer member from a case when a large magnitude of impact energy is applied to the drawer member.
FIG. 12
shows a longitudinally sectional view of the vehicular drawer apparatus. As shown in the figure, a vehicular drawer apparatus
100
comprises a case
101
and a drawer member
102
. In addition, the drawer member
102
comprises a reciprocating portion
103
and a rotating portion
104
.
FIG. 13
shows an enlarged view of a circled portion shown in FIG.
12
. As shown in the figure, a first stopper
105
is provided in such a manner as to protrude downwardly from an upper bottom wall of the case
101
. In addition, a second stopper
106
is provided in such a manner as to protrude upwardly from an upper bottom wall of the reciprocating portion
103
. Furthermore, a projection
107
is provided in such a manner as to project upwardly from an upper bottom wall of the rotating portion
104
.
When the drawer member
102
is drawn out of the case
101
, the second stopper
106
comes into engagement with the first stopper
105
in the drawn-out direction. This position is the drawn-out position of the drawer member
102
. Here, in the event that a large magnitude of impact energy is applied in the drawn-out direction, the second stopper
106
sinks under the first stopper
105
, and there is caused a risk that the engagement between the first stopper
105
and the second stopper
106
fails, leading to a further risk that the drawer member is dislodged from the case
101
.
However, at the drawn-out position, the projection
107
pushes up the second stopper
106
due to the rotation of the rotating portion
104
. Namely, the second stopper
106
engages with the first stopper
105
while being supported by the projection
107
from below. Due to this, the risk that the second stopper
106
sinks under the first stopper
105
is small. Thus, in the vehicular drawer apparatus
100
, the dislodgement of the drawer member
102
from the case
101
is restrained only by a locking mechanism comprising the first stopper
105
and the second stopper
106
. In addition, impact energy is absorbed solely by the locking mechanism.
Incidentally, the impact energy absorption amount of the locking mechanism is obtained by a product of an impact energy F required for deformation and a deformation amount S. In the vehicular drawer apparatus
100
disclosed in the aforesaid Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication, the impact energy absorption amount E is secured by increasing the impact load F required for deformation. Due to this, the locking mechanism is required to have a relatively high strength. To be specific, a relatively high rigidity is required for engagement between the first stopper
105
and the second stopper
106
. In addition, in order to restrain the disengagement of the two stoppers, the first stopper
105
and the second stopper
106
themselves need to be prepared of materials having relatively high Young's modulus. The vehicular drawer apparatus of the forgoing Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication becomes expensive due to these reasons. Additionally, in the event that an excessively large impact energy is applied to the drawer, it is difficult to absorb the whole impact energy only by the locking mechanism.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has completed a vehicular drawer apparatus in view of the situations. Consequently, an object of the invention is to provide a vehicular drawer apparatus which can absorb energy even in the event that an excessively large impact energy is applied while no high strength is required.
(1) With a view to achieving the object, according to the invention, there is provided a vehicular drawer apparatus a vehicular drawer apparatus comprising a case installed in an interior member and a drawer member disposed in such a manner as to slide in and out of the case, the vehicular drawer apparatus being characterized in that at least one of the case and the drawer member has an energy absorption device for absorbing an impact energy applied to the drawer member in a direction in which the drawer member is drawn out while deforming the impact energy.
Namely, in the vehicular drawer apparatus according to the invention, the energy absorption device is disposed in at least one of the case and the drawer member. The impact load F required to deform the energy absorption device is set relatively low. In addition, the deformation amount S of the energy absorption device is set relatively large. Then, the required impact energy absorbing amount E is secured. In other words, the energy absorption device absorbs impact energy by deforming itself in a stepped manner.
The energy absorption device is preferred to deform easily to some extent. Due to this, the energy absorption device is required no high strength. Consequently, the vehicular drawer apparatus according to the invention becomes inexpensive. In addition, from the viewpoint of the structure of the vehicular drawer apparatus, it is relatively easy to secure a certain deformable area in the drawer member in a direction in which the drawer member is drawn out. Due to this, in the event that an excessively large impact energy is applied to the vehicular drawer apparatus, the whole impact energy can be absorbed when the energy absorption device is deformed sufficiently. Consequently, according to the vehicular drawer apparatus of the invention, a risk is small that the drawer member is dislodged from the case.
(2) Preferably, the energy absorption device is constructed as a graded energy absorption device which requires a small impact load to effect a deformation in an early impact stage and requires a large impact load to effect a deformation in a late impact stage. The graded energy absorption device is set so as to deform with ease in the early impact stage and then to deform gradually with difficulty as the impact applied becomes larger in the late impact stage. Here, in case the energy absorption device is difficult to deform in the early impact stage, the deceleration of the drawer member to the case becomes large. Namely, the drawer member that has started to move due to the impact is restricted by the energy absorbing member and decelerates drastically. This may cause a risk that a large impact load is momentarily applied to the drawer member and/or the case, whereby a defect is caused in the drawer member and/or the case.
In contrast, in case the energy absorption device is easy to deform in the early stage of impact, the deceleration of the drawer relative to the case becomes smaller. Consequently, according to the construction, the drawer member and the case can be protected against impact.
(3) Preferably, the energy absorption device may be constructed as a buckling device for absorbing an impact energy through buckling failure. The bucking device absorbs impact energy by allowing the buckling device itself to buckle and fail when an impact is applied thereto. According to the construction, impact energy can be absorbed in a stepped manner by suitably adjusting the size, number and configuration of the buckling device. Additionally, the absorbing amount of impact energy can be adjusted.
(4) Preferably, the energy absorption device may be constructed as a crushing device for absorbing an impact energy through compression failure. The cru
Engle Patricia L.
Posz & Bethards, PLC
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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