Mounting bracket for a control module, particularly for a motor vehicle.

Abstract

The invention relates to a mounting support (100) for a control module, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising a front panel (110) having a passage window (111) intended to be passed through by a gripping portion of a control member of said module, said support having, on the back of said front panel (110), a receiving housing (120) for the casing of said module delimited laterally by several partitions (121, 122, 123, 124) extending perpendicularly to said front panel (110) from its rear face; characterized in that it comprises at least one guide member (140) arranged at the rear of said receiving housing (120) and having a bearing surface extending coplanarly with the inner face of a said partition (122). Figure to be published with the abstract: Fig. 2

Description

Title of the invention: Mounting support for a control module, particularly for a motor vehicle. Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to control modules, particularly for motor vehicles. It relates in particular to a mounting support for such a control module. Prior art

[0002] Motor vehicles conventionally comprise control modules for adjusting at least one defined parameter, for example relating to the adjustment of at least one rearview mirror and / or the head-up display, or to a temperature and / or air flow setpoint propelled by a heating, ventilation and / or air conditioning device.

[0003] Such a control module generally comprises: - a housing intended to be fixed to a vehicle support, for example on a door armrest, a dashboard trim or the central console of the vehicle, and concealed behind a front panel of this support; and - a control member mounted so as to move relative to this housing and appearing, for example, in the form of a joystick.

[0004] This control member has at least one gripping portion intended to protrude through a passage window provided in said front facade in order to be able to be manipulated by a user.

[0005] For aesthetic and style reasons, this gripping portion is generally covered at least partially with a painted and / or chrome coating.

[0006] To mount this control module on the support, its gripping portion must be introduced through the passage window of the front facade of this support, while its casing must be introduced simultaneously into a complementary shaped receiving housing provided on this support on the back of the front facade and delimited laterally by several partitions extending perpendicular to this facade from its rear face.

[0007] This assembly is thus generally carried out by a simple translation movement in a direction perpendicular to the average plane of the front facade oriented from back to front.

[0008] As described for example in document US 6,600,118 B2, the housing may comprise several clipping means capable of cooperating by snap-fastening with complementary means provided on the walls delimiting the receiving housing for ensure the control module is secured to the bracket.

[0009] In certain configurations, the interior space located behind this front facade may be cluttered by certain elements preventing the control module from being mounted by a simple translation from back to front.

[0010] In such a case, the module must be inclined and / or translated in several successive directions, which leads to relatively high risks of friction of its gripping portion with the periphery and / or the edge of the passage window provided in the front face of the support and therefore of deterioration of its coating requiring replacement of the control module on the assembly line in the final factory (such a replacement representing a significant additional cost for the automobile manufacturer). Statement of the invention

[0011] The present invention therefore aims to improve the situation.

[0012] To this end, it proposes a mounting support for a control module, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising a front panel having a passage window intended to be crossed by a gripping portion of a control member of said module, said support having, on the back of said front panel, a receiving housing for the casing of said module delimited laterally by several partitions extending perpendicularly to said front panel from its rear face; characterized in that it comprises at least one guide member arranged at the rear of said receiving housing and having a bearing surface extending coplanarly with the inner face of one of said partition.

[0013] The invention thus makes it possible to limit the risks of friction and therefore of deterioration of the gripping portion of the control member of the module with the periphery and / or the edge of the passage window provided in the front face of the support element.

[0014] According to preferred characteristics of said mounting support according to the invention: - the latter comprises two said guide members constituted by two parallel ribs whose apexes form said bearing surfaces; - said ribs are spaced at least 20 millimeters apart from each other; - this comprises a single guide member consisting of a ramp whose support surface extends over at least a portion of the width of said receiving housing; - this is formed from several parts assembled together, the said guide member(s) being from a part separate from that from which the said front facade comes; - each said partition laterally delimiting said housing has a guide notch intended to receive, by sliding, additional guide means provided on a corresponding side wall of said control module housing; - two said opposite partitions among those laterally delimiting said reception housing each have at least one clipping window intended to cooperate by snap-fastening with a respective tooth provided on a corresponding wall of said control module housing; and / or - this consists of a dashboard trim for a motor vehicle.

[0015] The invention also relates, in a second aspect, to a subassembly comprising such a mounting support and a control module mounted on said support.

[0016] The invention finally aims, under a third aspect, at a motor vehicle comprising at least one such subassembly. Brief description of the drawings

[0017] The description of the invention will now be continued by the detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, given below for illustrative but non-limiting purposes, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: - [Fig.l] represents a front perspective view of a support element according to the invention on which is mounted a control module making it possible to ensure the adjustment of at least one defined parameter of this vehicle; - [Fig.2] is a rear perspective enlargement of the area where the control module is installed on the support element of [Fig.l] before the control module is mounted; - [Fig.3] represents a perspective view of the control module alone; and - [Fig.4], [Fig.5], [Fig.6] and [Fig.7] illustrate the successive steps of mounting the control module on the support element according to the invention. Description of the embodiments

[0018] [Fig.l] represents a three-quarter front view of a support element 100 according to the invention constituted in this case by a left-hand trim of a motor vehicle dashboard, and on which is mounted a control module 200 making it possible in this case to ensure the adjustment of the side mirrors and the head-up display of this vehicle.

[0019] An orthogonal reference frame XYZ is defined with respect to this trim 100, comprising three axes perpendicular two by two, namely: - an X axis, defining a longitudinal, horizontal direction, - a Y axis, defining a transverse, horizontal direction, which with the X axis defines a horizontal XY plane, and - a Z axis, defining a vertical direction, perpendicular to the horizontal XY plane.

[0020] In the remainder of the description and with reference to the reference defined above, the terms “longitudinal” or “longitudinally” will refer to a direction parallel to the X axis, the terms "transverse" or "transversely" will refer to a direction parallel to the Y axis, and the terms "vertical" or "vertically" will refer to a direction parallel to the Z axis.

[0021] On the other hand, the terms "front" and "rear" will be used to specify the longitudinal positioning of certain elements relative to the orientation of the X axis. Similarly, the terms "upper" and "lower" will be used to specify the relative position of certain elements relative to the orientation of the Z axis.

[0022] Formed in this case from several parts 100A, 100B, 100C and 100D assembled together, the dashboard trim 100 comprises a front face 110 originating from the part 100A and extending along a substantially vertical transverse plane so as to be opposite the driver of the motor vehicle.

[0023] With reference to [Fig. 3], the control module 200 comprises a housing 210 of rectangular parallelepiped shape, consisting for example of two parts assembled together by snap-fastening, and intended to be fixed, as illustrated by [Fig. 1], to the dashboard trim 100 on the back of its front panel 110, so as to be concealed behind the latter.

[0024] This control module 200 also comprises a joystick-type control member 220 mounted to pivot relative to the housing 210 in four perpendicular directions (up, down, left and right) from a central position towards which it is biased in the absence of external stress via elastic return means not visible in the figures.

[0025] This control member 220 comprises a gripping portion 221 intended to protrude, as illustrated in [Fig. 1], at the front and through a passage window 111 formed in the front face 110 of the dashboard trim 100 so as to be able to be manipulated by a user.

[0026] Still with reference to this [Fig.l], this gripping portion 221 has an annular zone 221A covered with a painted and / or chrome coating intended to ensure a certain harmony of style with other elements of the vehicle not shown.

[0027] As illustrated by [Fig.2] and in order to allow the control module 200 to be mounted on the dashboard trim 100, the latter has, at the rear of the front panel 110, a receiving housing 120 of a shape complementary to the casing 210 of this module 200 and delimited laterally by four upper 121, lower 122, left 123 and right 124 partitions extending perpendicularly to this front panel 110 from its rear interior face.

[0028] Each partition 121, 122, 123, 124 has a longitudinal guide notch 125 intended to receive, with longitudinal sliding, complementary guide means 215 provided on a corresponding side wall 211, 212, 213, 214 of the housing 210, so as to facilitate the introduction of this housing 210 into the receiving housing 120.

[0029] Two opposite partitions (in this case, the upper 121 and lower 122 partitions) among those 121, 122, 123, 124 delimiting the receiving housing 120 each also have at least one clipping window 126 (in this case two arranged on either side of the guide notch 125) intended to cooperate by snap-fastening with a respective tooth 216 provided on a corresponding wall 211, 212 of the housing 210, so as to ensure the fixing of the control module 200 to the dashboard trim 100.

[0030] Still with reference to [Fig.2], the dashboard trim 100 also comprises at its lower rear end several attachment hooks 130 intended to cooperate by interlocking with complementary attachment means provided on a lower dashboard trim not shown.

[0031] As can be seen in particular in [Fig. 4], the presence of these attachment hooks 130 prevents the operator in charge of the control module 200 on the dashboard trim 100 from carrying out this operation by a simple translation movement perpendicular to the front panel 110 and oriented from rear to front.

[0032] As illustrated by [Fig. 5], these attachment hooks 130 in fact force the operator to tilt the front part of this control module 200 downwards and then translate it from back to front along an axis A oriented obliquely downwards at an angle 0 with respect to an axis perpendicular to the front facade 110, which could lead to a high risk of friction of its gripping portion 221 with the periphery and / or the edge of the passage window 111 formed in the front facade 110 of the dashboard trim 100.

[0033] According to the invention and in order to facilitate the assembly of the control module 200 by an operator while avoiding any risk of damage to this gripping portion 221 of the control module 200, the dashboard trim 100 comprises at least one guide member 140 arranged at the rear of the receiving housing 120 and having a bearing surface 141 extending coplanarly with the inner face 122A (i.e. the one facing towards the inside of the housing 120) of the lower partition 122 along a plane P shown in broken lines in [Fig.4].

[0034] In this case and as illustrated by [Fig.2], the dashboard trim 100 comprises two such guide members constituted by two parallel ribs 140 extending along vertical longitudinal mean planes and the apexes of which form the bearing surfaces 141, these two ribs 140 being advantageously spaced at least 20 millimeters from each other.

[0035] As can be seen in this [Fig.2], these two ribs advantageously come from a part 100D from which the attachment hooks 130 also come and distinct from that 100A from which the front facade 110 and the partitions come 121, 122, 123, 124 laterally delimiting the reception housing 120.

[0036] We will now briefly describe the operations for mounting the control module 200 on the dashboard trim 100 according to the invention, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

[0037] Firstly, the operator in charge of this assembly must position this control module 200 above the attachment hooks 130 and opposite the receiving housing 120 of this trim 100 as illustrated in [Fig.4].

[0038] This operator must then tilt the front part of this control module 200 downwards and then translate it from back to front along the axis A until the lower front edge of its housing 210 comes into contact with the bearing surfaces 141 of the guide ribs 140, as illustrated in [Fig.5].

[0039] While then gradually sliding this lower edge forward along these bearing surfaces 141, the rear part of this control module 200 can simultaneously be gradually inclined backward so that the lower wall 212 of its housing 210 comes to rest against these bearing surfaces 141 of the guide ribs 140 (see [Fig.6]).

[0040] All that remains for the operator to do then is to slide this control module 200 in translation forwards along an axis perpendicular to the front 110 so as to achieve the snap-fitting of its housing 210 in the receiving housing 120 while the gripping portion 221 of its control member 220 passes through the passage window 121 as illustrated in [Fig.7].

[0041] Numerous variants are conceivable and it is recalled in this regard that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but also encompasses all the variants of execution within the reach of those skilled in the art.

[0042] According to embodiment variants not shown, the number and / or the conformation of the guide member(s) could thus differ.

[0043] For example, a single guide rib such as 140 could be provided, arranged in the rear extension of the central zone of the lower partition. The guide rib(s) could also be replaced by a single guide ramp whose bearing surface would extend over at least a portion of the width of the receiving housing and advantageously over at least 20 millimeters.

[0044] The guide member(s) could also be installed on the same part as that forming the front facade and the partitions laterally delimiting the reception housing.

[0045] The guide member(s) could furthermore be arranged at the rear of the receiving housing in such a way that their bearing surface extends coplanarly with the inner face of another partition delimiting the receiving housing.

[0046] Furthermore, the support could be constituted by an element of a vehicle at vehicle other than a dashboard trim, such as a door armrest or the center console of this vehicle.

[0047] The invention could also find its application in other fields than the automobile.

Claims

Claims

1. Mounting support (100) for a control module (200) in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising a front facade (110) having a passage window (111) intended to be crossed by a gripping portion (221) of a control member (220) of said module (200), said support (100) having, on the back of said front facade (110), a receiving housing (120) for the casing (210) of said module (200) delimited laterally by several partitions (121, 122, 123, 124) extending perpendicular to said front facade (110) from its rear face; characterized in that it comprises at least one guide member (140) arranged at the rear of said receiving housing (120) and having a bearing surface (141) extending coplanarly with the inner face (122A) of a said partition (122).

2. Mounting support (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises two said guide members constituted by two parallel ribs (140) whose apexes (141) form said bearing surfaces.

3. Mounting bracket (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that said ribs (140) are spaced at least 20 millimeters from each other.

4. Mounting support (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a single said guide member constituted by a ramp whose bearing surface extends over at least a portion of the width of said receiving housing (120).

5. Mounting support (100) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is formed from several parts assembled together, said guide member(s) (140) being derived from a part separate from that from which said front face (110) is derived.

6. Mounting support (100) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each said partition (121, 122, 123, 124) laterally delimiting said housing (120) has a guide notch (125) intended to slidably receive complementary guide means (215) provided on a corresponding side wall (211, 212, 213, 214) of said housing (210) of the control module (200).

7. Mounting bracket (100) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that two said opposite partitions (121, 122) among those laterally delimiting said reception housing (120) each have at least one clipping window (126) intended to cooperate by snap-fastening with a respective tooth (216) provided on a corresponding wall (211, 212) of said housing (210) of the control module (200).

8. Mounting support (100) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it consists of a dashboard trim for a motor vehicle.

9. Subassembly comprising a mounting support (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8 and a control module (200) mounted on said support (100).

10. Motor vehicle comprising at least one subassembly according to claim 9.

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