INSTRUMENT PANEL WITH PASSENGER AIRBAG

• US 20190315301A1
• Filed: 04/16/2018
• Published: 10/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: PATNALA, MANOJ, MAZZOCCHI, NICHOLAS ANDREW, PERELLI, ALAN
• Granted Patent: US 10,752,197 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/0256 Dashboard liners
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/21537 characterised by hinges
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/205 in dashboards
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2165 characterised by a tear line for defining a deployment opening

Abstract

An instrument panel includes a housing and an airbag. The housing includes a chute elongated to an end and a door at least partially covering the end of the chute. The airbag is disposed in the chute. The housing includes a first ridge elongated along a perimeter of the end of the chute and a second ridge elongated along a perimeter of the door.

Claims

1. An instrument panel comprising:

a housing including a chute elongated to an end and a door at least partially covering the end of the chute; and

an airbag disposed in the chute;

wherein the housing includes a first ridge elongated along a perimeter of the end of the chute and a second ridge elongated along a perimeter of the door.

2. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a hinge connecting the door and the chute and elongated along the perimeter of the end of the chute.

3. The instrument panel of claim 2, wherein the hinge has an S-shaped cross-section.

4. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein the first ridge is elongated along more than half of the perimeter of the end of the chute, and the second ridge is elongated along more than half of the perimeter of the door.

5. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein the door and the end of the chute define a gap therebetween.

6. The instrument panel of claim 5, wherein the gap has a substantially constant width along the perimeter of the end of the chute.

7. The instrument panel of claim 5, wherein the housing includes a hinge connecting the door and the chute, and the hinge and the gap in combination are elongated along substantially all the perimeter of the end of the chute.

8. The instrument panel of claim 5, wherein the first ridge and the second ridge are elongated along substantially all the gap.

9. The instrument panel of claim 8, wherein the first ridge is elongated along the gap from a first end beyond the gap to a second end beyond the gap, and the second ridge is elongated along the gap from a first end beyond the gap to a second end beyond the gap.

10. The instrument panel of claim 9, wherein the first end of the first ridge is closer to the first end than the second end of the second ridge, the second end of the first ridge is closer to the second end than the first end of the second ridge, the first end of the first ridge is offset along the perimeter of the end of the chute from the first end of the second ridge, and the second end of the first ridge is offset along the perimeter from the second end of the second ridge.

11. The instrument panel of claim 9, wherein the gap is elongated from a first end to a second end, the first end of the first ridge and the first end of the second ridge are curved around the first end of the gap, and the second end of the first ridge and the second end of the second ridge are curved around the second end of the gap.

12. The instrument panel of claim 9, wherein the first ends of the first ridge and the second ridge contact each other, and the second ends of the first ridge and the second ridge contact each other.

13. The instrument panel of claim 5, further comprising a substrate, wherein the housing is attached to the substrate, and the substrate includes a slot elongated along the gap.

14. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein the housing is a single piece.

15. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a flange extending outward from the chute.

16. The instrument panel of claim 15, further comprising a substrate, wherein the door and the flange are attached to the substrate.

17. The instrument panel of claim 1, further comprising a substrate, wherein the housing is attached to the substrate.

18. The instrument panel of claim 17, wherein the housing is friction welded to the substrate.

19. The instrument panel of claim 17, further comprising a covering and a foam layer between the substrate and the covering, wherein the substrate has an outer surface and an inner surface, and the housing is attached to the inner surface.