Knee airbag for vehicle

• US 8,308,189 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2009
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsushima, Hitoshi, Fukawatase, Osamu
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, DREW J
• Application Number:
  US13/203,373
• Publication Number:
  US 20120018987A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,344 Days
• Field of Search: 280/732, 280/730.1, 280/728.2, 180/90, 296/70
• US Class Current: 280/732
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/206 in the lower part of dashboards, e.g. for protecting the knees
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 25/145 having a crossbeam incorporated therein

Abstract

A knee airbag is provided to the lower part of a glove box door, and an airbag door provided to the glove box door opens in both upward and downward directions when the knee airbag expands. As the knee airbag expands, the rigidity of the lower part of the glove box door decreases, and this causes a relatively small reaction force, which corresponds to a relatively small load generated when the knees of an occupant having a relatively small body build make contact with the lower part, to be generated on the lower part of the glove box door. On the other hand, because the knee airbag is not provided to the upper part of the glove box door, the upper part can generate a relatively large reaction force which corresponds to a relatively large load generated when the knees of an occupant having a relatively large body build make contact with the upper part via the knee airbag.

Claims

1. A knee airbag device for a vehicle comprising:

a knee airbag that, due to gas being supplied, inflates and is expanded toward a vehicle rear side;

a glove box door that is provided so as to be able to open and close a glove box, and in which the knee airbag is accommodated in a folded-up state, and further, at which a rigidity of a lower portion of the glove box door is set to be lower than a rigidity of an upper portion thereof;

an upper rib that is formed at a position that is upper than an airbag module that is structured to include the knee airbag is accommodated within the glove box door; and

a lower rib that is formed at a position that is lower than the airbag module.

2. The knee airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the airbag module is accommodated within the glove box door at a position that is offset, toward a vehicle lower side, with respect to a central position in a door height direction of the glove box door.

3. The knee airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein due to inflation reaction force at a time when the knee airbag inflates and expands, a vehicle front side of the lower portion of the glove box door is deformed in a curved surface shape that is convex in plan view.

4. The knee airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein a vehicle equipment part that is supported at a vehicle body is disposed adjacent to a vehicle front side of a main body portion of the glove box.

5. The knee airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the glove box is supported, directly or via a bracket, at a vehicle body.

6. The knee airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein an instrument panel reinforcement, whose longitudinal direction is a vehicle transverse direction, is disposed at a vehicle front side and oblique upper side of the upper portion of the glove box door, and a load transmitting member that transmits, to the instrument panel reinforcement, load substantially toward a vehicle front side that is applied to the upper portion of the glove box door, is disposed between the instrument panel reinforcement and the upper portion of the glove box door.

7. The knee airbag device for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the upper rib is formed within the upper portion of the glove box door and extends in a door thickness direction;

the lower rib is formed within the lower portion of the glove box door and extends in the door thickness direction, and

a rigidity of the lower rib is set to be low as compared with the upper rib.

8. The knee airbag device of claim 7, wherein a thickness of the upper portion of the glove box door is set to be thicker than a thickness of the lower portion thereof.

9. The knee airbag device of claim 1, wherein a main body portion of the glove box is formed in a box shape whose upper surface side is open, and the glove box door is formed integrally with a vehicle rear side surface of the main body portion, and a reinforcing portion is provided at a portion of or an entirety of a peripheral edge portion of an upper end opening portion of the main body portion.