Upper Glove Box Assembly

• US 20100026030A1
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Automotive Components Holdings LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Luckett, Thomas J., Kim, Yoon
• Granted Patent: US 7,862,096 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 296/37.120
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 7/06 mounted on or below dashboards

Abstract

An upper glove box for the passenger side of an automotive vehicle in which a door is upwardly hinged and has an upper edge that is received into a void defined in the instrument panel when the door is opened. The revealed wall forward of the opening of the void is an integral portion of the foam injected instrument panel to provide the desired aesthetics.

Claims

1. An upper glove box for the front passenger side of an automotive vehicle comprising:

an instrument panel having an underlying rigid substrate and an outer flexible skin finish surface over an intermediate layer of relatively soft cushioning material forward of the passenger position;

a glove box structure that includes a bin for holding articles, wherein said structure has upper, lower and side panels to define the volume of said bin;

said instrument panel formed to have an upper portion of said finish surface near a horizontal plane and extended towards the passenger position to form a curved over finish surface visible by said passenger;

said instrument panel further formed to have a glove box installation receptacle with an upper portion of said receptacle having a downwardly directed finished surface extension of said curved over finish surface containing said flexible skin and intermediate layer;

said glove box structure mounted within said instrument panel receptacle and together therewith forming a void between said upper panel of said glove box and said finished surface extension portion of said instrument panel;

a door panel mounted to the upper portion of said glove box structure for rotational movement upward and outward during opening and downward and inward during closing about a predetermined axis; and

said door panel having defined upper and lower edges, wherein said upper edge of said door panel enters into said void when door panel is opened and said upper edge of said door panel exits said void when said door panel is closed.

2. An upper glove box as in claim 1, wherein a portion of said downwardly directed finished surface extension of said instrument panel forming said void is visible to said front passenger when said glove box door is being opened.

3. An upper glove box as in claim 2, wherein said void extends over the length of the glove box to receive said upper door edge when said door panel is opened.

4. An upper glove box as in claim 3, wherein said intermediate layer of said instrument panel is an injected foam material.

5. An upper glove box as in claim 4, wherein said door panel is mounted on a hinge attached to said glove box structure to provide rotation movement about said predetermined axis.

6. An upper glove box as in claim 5, wherein said predetermined axis is substantially horizontal.

7. An upper glove box as in claim 6, wherein said axis is offset from said door panel and said upper edge of said door panel to allow upper edge of closed door panel to travel an arcuate path that extends into said void when opened.

8. An upper glove box as in claim 7, wherein said hinge includes a spring to apply bias force said door in an open position.

9. An upper glove box as in claim 8, wherein said hinge includes a damper element to provide friction opposition to said spring bias force and control the speed of said door panel opening due to said bias force of said spring.

10. An upper glove box as in claim 9, wherein said glove box structure includes a lower latch that interacts with a manually activated release mechanism on said door panel to secure said door panel when it is in a closed position and to release said door panel when said mechanism is manually activated and said door panel opens via said spring applied bias force.

11. An upper glove box as in claim 8, wherein said spring is a torsion spring that is mounted to surround a hinge pin oriented along said axis.

12. An upper glove box as in claim 9, wherein said hinge includes a plurality of springs and damper elements mounted on said axis.

13. An upper glove box as in claim 12, wherein said hinges are located at opposite sides of said glove box structure.

14. An upper glove box as in claim 2, wherein said instrument panel is formed by an injection molding process in which foam material is injected into said downwardly directed finished surface extension as said intermediate layer.

15. An upper glove box as in claim 14, wherein said downwardly directed finished surface extension has the same surface appearance as the other portions of said instrument panel.

16. An upper glove box as in claim 15, wherein said void extends over the length of the glove box to receive said upper door edge when said door panel is opened.

17. An upper glove box as in claim 16, wherein said door panel is mounted on a hinge attached to said glove box structure to provide rotation movement about said predetermined axis.

18. An upper glove box as in claim 17, wherein said predetermined axis is substantially horizontal.

19. An upper glove box as in claim 18, wherein said axis is offset from said door panel by a predetermined distance and said upper edge of said door panel to allow upper edge of closed door panel to travel an arcuate path that extends into said void when opened.

20. An upper glove box for the front passenger side of an automotive vehicle comprising:

an instrument panel having an underlying rigid substrate and an outer flexible skin finish surface over an injection molded intermediate layer of foam material forward of the passenger position;

a glove box structure that includes a container for holding articles, wherein said glove box structure has panels to define the volume of said container;

said instrument panel formed to have an upper portion generally approximating a horizontal plane and extending towards the passenger position, and further formed with a curved over portion above said upper glove box;

said instrument panel further formed to receive said upper glove box with a visible and downwardly directed finished surface extension of said curved over portion containing said flexible skin and intermediate layer;

said glove box structure mounted below and rearward of said instrument panel and together therewith forming a void between an upper panel of said glove box structure and said finished surface extension portion of said instrument panel;

a door panel mounted to the upper portion of said glove box structure for rotational movement upward and outward during opening and downward and inward during closing about a generally horizontal axis; and

said door panel having a defined upper edge, wherein said upper edge of said door panel enters travels in an arcuate path and into said void when door panel is opened and out of said void when said door panel is closed.