Cabin front structure of automobile

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9409606-B2
Application number	US-201414784672-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 10, 2014
Priority date	Apr 19, 2013
Publication date	Aug 9, 2016
Grant date	Aug 9, 2016

Abstract

When a front pillar on a driver's seat side is deformed to a vehicle rear side due to short overlap collision on the driver's seat side of an automobile, an instrument panel reinforcement bridged between left and right front pillars is bent at a long hole serving as a starting point and provided on an outer side of a column bracket in a vehicle width direction. Due to this, a steering column, which is mounted on the instrument panel reinforcement through the column bracket, is restrained from being displaced due to a load from the front pillar.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cabin front structure of an automobile, comprising:
a steering column provided in front of a driver's seat;
a column bracket, in which the steering column is mounted on the column bracket, and a front end part of the column bracket is supported by a cowl; and
an instrument panel reinforcement bridged between left and right front pillars, in which the column bracket is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement, and a long fragile part extending in a circumferential direction of the instrument panel reinforcement is provided in the instrument panel reinforcement on an outer side of the column bracket in a vehicle width direction, wherein
a knee air bag bracket, which supports an outer end part of a knee air bag module in the vehicle width direction, is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement on an outer side of the column bracket in the vehicle width direction,
an inner end part of the knee air bag module in the vehicle width direction is supported by a floor brace that is bridged between a floor panel and the instrument panel reinforcement, and
the fragile part is provided between the column bracket and the knee air bag bracket.

2. The cabin front structure of the automobile according to claim 1 , wherein the fragile part is provided in a rear surface of the instrument panel reinforcement.

3. The cabin front structure of the automobile according to claim 1 , wherein the fragile part is a long hole formed in the instrument panel reinforcement.

4. The cabin front structure of the automobile according to claim 1 , wherein,
in the instrument panel reinforcement, a large-diameter part on a driver's seat side and a small-diameter part on a passenger seat side are connected with each other at a diameter-reduced part provided on the passenger seat side of the column bracket, and
the diameter-reduced part is reinforced by a reinforcement member.

5. The cabin front structure of the automobile according to claim 4 , wherein
the reinforcement member includes a tensile reinforcement member joined to a front surface of the instrument panel reinforcement, and a compression reinforcement member joined to a rear surface of the instrument panel reinforcement.

6. A cabin front structure of an automobile, comprising:
a steering column provided in front of a driver's seat;
a column bracket, in which the steering column is mounted on the column bracket, and a front end part of the column bracket is supported by a cowl;
an instrument panel reinforcement bridged between left and right front pillars, in which the column bracket is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement, and a
large-diameter part on a driver's seat side and a small-diameter part on a passenger seat side are connected with each other at a diameter-reduced part provided on the passenger seat side of the column bracket; and
a reinforcement member that reinforces the diameter-reduced part, wherein
a knee air bag bracket, which supports an outer end part of a knee air bag module in the vehicle width direction, is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement on an outer side of the column bracket in the vehicle width direction,
an inner end part of the knee air bag module in the vehicle width direction is supported by a floor brace that is bridged between a floor panel and the instrument panel reinforcement, and
a fragile part is provided between the column bracket and the knee air bag bracket.

7. The cabin front structure of the automobile according to claim 6
the reinforcement member includes a tensile reinforcement member joined to a front surface of the instrument panel reinforcement, and a compression reinforcement member joined to a rear surface of the instrument panel reinforcement.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Eshima Mitsuaki
• Tokunaga Kazuya

Classifications

• B60R21/231

  characterised by their shape, construction or spatial configuration · CPC title

• B60R21/206

  in the lower part of dashboards, e.g. for protecting the knees · CPC title

• B60R2021/23169

  specially adapted for knee protection · CPC title

• B62D25/145 Primary

  having a crossbeam incorporated therein · CPC title