Storage apparatus for motor vehicles

• US 4,630,857 A
• Filed: 12/12/1985
• Issued: 12/23/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Original Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Inventors: Zweiniger, Hansjurgen, Willenbrock, Horst
• Primary Examiner(s): SONG, ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US06/808,134
• Time in Patent Office: 376 Days
• Field of Search: 296/37.12, 296/37.9, 312/325, 224/282
• US Class Current: 296/37.12
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 7/06 mounted on or below dashboards

Abstract

A storage apparatus carried inside interior panels of motor vehicles is provided. The apparatus has a storage container which is open towards the interior of the panel and which is movable forwardly and downwardly in through guide levers arranged in a parallelogram. The apparatus overcomes dead center in a closed position flush with the panel and is spring-mounted on first stops through lever arms articulated on the panel at one end and on the storage container at the other end and is further mounted by a spring and shock absorber arrangement cooperating with the guide levels which is lockable on two stops in an opened position projecting from the panel. Specifically, two forward, laterally outer lever arms and a rear, triangularly shaped lever arm disposed parallel to the approximately vertical rear wall of the container are provided, and a spring and bell-crank lever arrangement engages below on a support point mounting on the panel and above on a transverse bar of the triangularly shaped lever arm.

Claims

1. A storage apparatus carried inside interior panels of motor vehicles, having a storage container which is open toward the interior of the panel and which is movable forwardly and downwardly through a guide mechanism arranged in parallelogram fashion by overcoming dead center in a closed position flush with the panel wherein the storage container is spring-mounted by way of lever arms articulated on the panel at one end and on the storage container at the other end and which is operatively connected to a spring and shock absorber arrangement cooperating with the guide mechanism and which is lockable on stop means in an opened position projecting from the panel, characterized in that two forward, laterally outer lever arms and a rear, triangularly shaped lever arm disposed outside of and parallel to the approximately vertical rear wall of the storage container are provided, and a spring and bell-crank lever arrangement engages below on a support point mounting on the panel and above on a transverse bar of the triangularly shaped lever arm.

2. A storage apparatus according to claim 1, further characterized in that the spring arrangement essentially comprises a cylinder portion, a helical compression spring disposed therein and a corresponding piston portion, and the cylinder portion is supported at its upper end by way of a pivot pin on a bracket on a transverse bar of the triangularly shaped lever arm and the piston portion is supported by way of a pivot pin in a corresponding cup in the support mounting, and the bell-crank lever arrangement comprises a cylinder portion rigidly connected to the support mounting and a piston portion which is acted upon by a helical compression spring and which supports in a cup the lower end of a bell-crank lever, the upper end of which is supported by way of a pivot pin on a bracket on the transverse bar on the triangularly shaped lever arm, whereby the actuating forces required to move the container of the storage apparatus are influenced to permit two different opening positions.

3. In a storage apparatus of the type in which a container is carried within the instrument panel of a motor vehicle and having four-bar linkage means interposed between the container and portions of the panel to permit forward and downward movement of the container from a closed position in which outer portions of the container lie flush with portions of the panel to an open position, an improved linkage means comprising:

a pair of forwardly located lever arms spaced laterally outwardly of the container and pivotally connected at their upper ends to portions of the panel and at their lower ends to portions of the container;

a rearwardly located triangularly shaped lever arm having a portion disposed, in the closed position of the container, parallel to and rearward from a substantially vertical rear wall of the container, and pivotally mounted at its upper end to portions of the panel and at its lower end to lower surfaces of the container rear wall;

means defining a transverse bar on the upper end of the triangularly shaped lever arm portion;

a mounting member fixed to a portion of the panel proximate the lower end of the triangularly shaped lever arm; and

a spring arrangement and a bell-crank lever arrangement operatively carried between the mounting member and separate portions of the triangularly shaped lever arm proximate the transverse bar, the spring and bell crank lever arrangements defining means for controlling selectable movement of the container from the closed position to a partially open position established by relative pivotal movement of the spring and bell crank lever arrangements and from there to a fully open position under assistance from the spring arrangement.

4. A linkage means as defined in claim 3 and further comprising means defining a forwardly and upwardly canted portion of the triangularly shaped lever arm between its upper end and the transverse bar.

5. A linkage means as defined in claim 3 and further comprising resilient stop means operatively disposed between the container and the panel to arrest further movement of the container outward from its fully opened position.

6. A linkage means as defined in claim 4 and further comprising resilient stop means operatively disposed between the container and the panel to arrest further movement of the container outward from its fully opened position.

7. A linkage means as defined in claim 5 wherein:

the spring arrangement comprises a slidably engaged piston and cylinder arrangement having a spring interposed between piston and cylinder and being pivotally connected at its upper end to a portion of the triangularly shaped lever arm proximate the transverse bar and at its lower end to the mounting member; and

the bell crank lever arrangement comprises a second slidably engaged piston and cylinder arrangement having a spring interposed between piston and cylinder and wherein the cylinder is fixedly carried with the mounting member and wherein the top of the piston defines a cup portion for receiving the lower end of a bell crank lever having its upper end pivotally connected proximate the transverse bar;

wherein the partially open position of the container is established by pivotally moving the linkage to a position wherein the bell crank lever pivoting in the piston cup portion to support the container against portions of the mounting member; and

wherein the fully open position of the container is established by pivotally moving the linkage to extract the bell crank lever from the cup portion and to permit the spring arrangement to urge the container to a position effecting engagement of the stop means.

8. A slidably engaged piston and cylinder arrangement having a spring interposed between piston and cylinder and being pivotally connected at its upper end to a portion of the triangularly shaped lever arm proximate the transverse bar and at its lower end to the mounting member;

and

the bell crank lever arrangement comprises a second slidably engaged piston and cylinder arrangement having a spring interposed between piston and cylinder and wherein the cylinder is fixedly carried with the mounting member and wherein the top of the piston defines a cup portion for receiving the lower end of a bell crank lever having its upper end pivotally proximate the transverse bar.

wherein the partially open position of the container is established by pivotally moving the linkage to a position wherein the bell crank lever pivots in the piston cup portion to support the container against portions of the mounting member; and

wherein the fully open position of the container is established by pivotally moving the linkage to extract the bell crank lever from the cup portion and to permit the spring arrangement to urge the container to a position effecting engagement of the stop means.