Motor vehicle cockpit
First Claim
1. A vehicle cockpit in a motor vehicle having a length and a width and a rear passenger area and a forward engine compartment divided by a front wall, a front windscreen above the front wall and a bodywork including a box section coupling the windscreen to the front wall, a cross member spaced rearwardly into the rear passenger area from the box section, the box section and the cross member lying in a common horizontal plane and defining a horizontal space therebetween extending over the width of the vehicle, the cross member together with the box section forming a closed structural system in said horizontal plane, a structural planar profiled member deformable on frontal impact, in an energy absorbing manner, having a front edge and a rear edge, the structural planar profiled member having an upper surface and a lower surface and having a width that extends over the width of the vehicle substantially occupying the horizontal space defined between the box section and the cross member and lying in said horizontal plane therewith, the rear edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the cross member and the front edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the box section to constitute thereby a part of said closed system that is used for energy absorption the structural planar profiled member defining a plurality of parallel stiffening ribs extending widthwise that are deformable to produce the energy absorption in chronological succession, the structural planar profiled member constituting a mounting platform, and a plurality of cockpit functional and operating elements mounted on said structural planar profiled member.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A motor vehicle cockpit is prefabricated and contains a flat shaped piece serving as a mounting plate for a visible shell, a heating or air-conditioning system and operational elements. An impact protection is formed by a box-section of the motor vehicle body that extends under the front edge of the windscreen and a cross-member. The impact protection is completed by the flat shaped piece that couples to the box-section and the cross-member, preferably coupled with a linear introduction of force. In the event of a vehicle frontal impact, the flat shaped piece and coupled box-section and cross-member absorb the energy of impact.
77 Citations
57 Claims
- 1. A vehicle cockpit in a motor vehicle having a length and a width and a rear passenger area and a forward engine compartment divided by a front wall, a front windscreen above the front wall and a bodywork including a box section coupling the windscreen to the front wall, a cross member spaced rearwardly into the rear passenger area from the box section, the box section and the cross member lying in a common horizontal plane and defining a horizontal space therebetween extending over the width of the vehicle, the cross member together with the box section forming a closed structural system in said horizontal plane, a structural planar profiled member deformable on frontal impact, in an energy absorbing manner, having a front edge and a rear edge, the structural planar profiled member having an upper surface and a lower surface and having a width that extends over the width of the vehicle substantially occupying the horizontal space defined between the box section and the cross member and lying in said horizontal plane therewith, the rear edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the cross member and the front edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the box section to constitute thereby a part of said closed system that is used for energy absorption the structural planar profiled member defining a plurality of parallel stiffening ribs extending widthwise that are deformable to produce the energy absorption in chronological succession, the structural planar profiled member constituting a mounting platform, and a plurality of cockpit functional and operating elements mounted on said structural planar profiled member.
- 22. A preassembled vehicle cockpit for installation and assembly into a motor vehicle having a rear passenger area and a forward engine compartment divided by a front wall, a front windscreen above the front wall and a bodywork including a box section coupling the windscreen to the front wall, a cross member spaced rearwardly into the passenger area from the box section, the box section and the cross member lying in a common horizontal plane and defining a horizontal space therebetween extending over a width of the vehicle, the cross member together with the box section forming a closed structural system in said horizontal plane, the preassembled vehicle cockpit comprising a structural planar profiled member deformable on frontal impact, in an energy absorbing manner, having a front edge and a rear edge, the structural planar profiled member having an upper surface and a lower surface and having a width to extend over the width of the vehicle so that when installed in the vehicle, the structural planar profiled member will lie in said horizontal plane with the box section and cross member and will substantially occupy the horizontal space defined between the box section and the cross member, with the rear edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the cross member and the front edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the box section to constitute thereby a part of said closed system so that the horizontal space defined between and including the box section and cross member in said horizontal plane will be used for energy absorption, the structural planar profiled member defining a plurality of parallel stiffening ribs extending widthwise that are deformable in chronological succession, the structural planar profiled member constituting a mounting platform, and a plurality of cockpit functional and operating elements mounted on said structural planar profiled member.
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43. Vehicle cockpit on a vehicle having a passenger area, a front windscreen having a lower edge and an engine compartment, the cockpit, comprising, extending below the lower edge of the front windscreen, a box section of a bodywork, which is completed by a cross-member to form a closed system, the vehicle cockpit further comprising:
- a flat shaped piece mounted between the box-section and the cross-member and constituting a pre-assembled fitted unit having mounted thereon a visible shell, an air conditioning system and functional and operational elements, said flat shaped piece coupled to the box-section and the cross-member so as to absorb, energy in the event of a vehicle frontal impact, the air conditioning system being divided into a fan unit disposed in the engine compartment, at least encompassing a fan motor, a fan, and a housing, and into an air conditioning unit which is disposed in the passenger area, the air conditioning unit containing functional planes disposed vertically one above the other and extending approximately horizontally, to form, respectively, subassemblies that combine identical functions.
- View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. Vehicle cockpit on a vehicle having a front windscreen having a lower edge, a passenger area and an engine compartment, the cockpit comprising, extending below the lower edge of the front windscreen, a box-section of a bodywork, a cross-member coupled to the box-section to form a closed system, the vehicle cockpit further comprising:
- a flat shaped piece on which is mounted a visible shell, an air conditioning system and functional and operational elements, as a pre-assembled fitted unit, said flat shaped piece being mounted between the box-section and the cross-member and being coupled to the box-section and the cross-member so as to absorb energy in the event of a vehicle frontal impact, and a support housing of the air conditioning system configured self-supporting and having at least one filter that is easily accessible from the engine compartment.
Specification